What Exactly Can You Buy With This Circuit City Coupon?
Reader Michael wants to know what exactly he is expected to buy with this Circuit City coupon? It's for 8% off purchases over $199, but it excludes, um, lots of stuff.
I was looking for cheap t.v.'s online and was happy to come across an 8% off coupon for Circuit City through my AAA membership. I figured I'd have a fat chance of being able to use it on a cheap Vizio t.v., but I was still surprised to find so many exceptions on the coupon.
It excludes, among other things, "advertised specials, notebook and desktop computers, software, monitors, music, movies, games, game hardware, hard drives, [and] select MP3 players…" The "advertised specials" exclusion sounds especially problematic given the fairly voluminous Circuit City ads I get with my Sunday paper.
I guess I'll have to use it for a camera strap. (So long as it's not a Sony camera accessory, because those are excluded too!
...and as long as the camera strap costs over $199...
Here's the fine print:
Restrictions: This offer is good for 8% off $199 or more. This coupon is good for one (1) use only and applies to total qualifying purchase on a single sales receipt dated between 05/01/2008 and 12/31/2008. Not valid on previous purchases. Offer excludes advertised specials, notebook and desktop computers, software, monitors, music, movies, games, game hardware, hard drives, select MP3 players, Olevia, Element, Toshiba televisions, Vizio, Nikon digital cameras, Bose, Apple, select Polk models, Kicker, all Sony DSLR cameras, all Sony camera accessories, all Sony XBR televisions, Verizon, Outlet, firedogSM, Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans, pre-order/backorder products, SON KDSR60XBR1, SON KDSR50XBR1, SYM SC520FDF, SHA LC20B8US, HIT 51F59, SYL 6620LCT, SDK SDMX31024A18, SDK SDMX44096A70, HIT 51F59A, SHA 32SC26B, GMN SP2720, GMN SPC330, GMN SPC340, GMN SPI5, TTM GO300, GMN NUVI780, GMN NUVI5000, GMN NUVI260W, ELA 014633159110, ELA 014633159110, ATV 047875951235 and gift card purchases. Delivery fees, shipping charges and sales tax not included in total purchase calculation. Not combinable with select Circuit City offers.
Too bad, too. We were really interested in that SHA LC20B8US, and the SON KDSR50XBR1...
This is a test contextual ad for the SHOPPING category. It should appear on all SHOPPING entries, unless the subcategory has its own ad.
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Comments:
Why, you can buy $199 worth of Mad Magazines!
I was going to link a coupon to you that I used on Friday(8/1/08) to get 10% off my TV. However, when I found the link again they added this line in bold: Offer excludes all Televisions. Weird that they changed this so quickly and I was definitely given the 10% off.
Hey, it doesn't exclude magazines...
Talk about an EXCLUSIVE coupon!
I dunno a LOT of Sandisk memory cards? Wait, those are camera accessories? If Circuit City coupons were B&M, I'd probably give a damn.
You can buy the Vizio at Sam's Club for considerably less.
"Uh, anything in this general area right in here. Anything below the stereo and on this side of the bicentennial glasses. Anything between the ashtrays and the thimble. Anything in this three inches right in here in this area. That includes the Chiclets, but not the erasers."
I just got a Home Depot coupon of much the same flavor, so I didn't even bother to keep it once I realized I'd probably never be able to find an item it applied to.
I'm sure it applies to HDMI and USB cables with 500% markups.
When I get a coupon like this in e-mail, I tend to shoot back a scornful e-mail in return to the effect that customers are not fooled and that they are creating ill will.
Crud i'm too late to make the Mad Magazine joke And to make a reference to The Jerk :(
I get these all the time from various places and never use them since it's too much work to figure exactly what i can use it on or it's for stores that are 10% pricier than other stores (i'm looking at you Bed Bath and Beyond).
Well, you can buy Monster Cable and power conditioners... they cost like $199. Or more... www.circuitcity.com
Hey lets not knock Circuit City, after all their pr guy does have a sense of humor...
How did they come up with 8%? If it excludes that much stuff, at least be generous and round up to 10%.
Perhaps you can purchase the family in the picture? Unless that's what item GMN SP2720 is.
51 copies of Mad Magazine, obviously.
Macy's coupons are the same way. The ones i get in the mail are useless so I just throw them out. Gee, i can get 10% off a pair of socks. yay for me. seriously though...whats the point of giving coupons out that you can't use on anything you realistically would want.
Best buy coupons are the same way. 10% off nothing useful.
You guys don't get it. It's a joke flyer. Didn't you guys here about the new cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace? This flyer was made by that same guy.
Yeah, but at least Best Buy puts out coupons specifically for 10% off video games, music, and movies... At least it is good on most PC accessories, which include keyboards/mice, hard drives, networking equipment... Also, they say they are not good on advertised specials, but they still work anyways. The system is unable to tell the difference.
And they wonder why their business is tanking...
I firmly believe that part of it is that they hope MOST people don't read it thoroughly and it's just to get people into the store. CC and Macy's and best buy hope that once they get up to the register with their merchandise and realize they can't use the coupon, they'll figure they already spent the last hour picking out their size, trying stuff on, etc that they might as well get it.
I'm thinking CC just doesn't want to lose anymore money than the 12 billion they have and want to prevent coupon erosion.... and employee discount erosion.... At least in my area, CC seems to be dead set on making a come back by selling TVs.
It excludes a lot but you can still buy some fairly high priced items if you're in the market. You can get any Canon DSLR like the XTi for a fairly decent price.
The thing is, other than the listing of specific serial numbers, the types of exclusions on this coupon are pretty standard. Best Buy coupons have pretty similar exclusions on them.
Sean Martinez
Circuit City
Austin, TX
FireDog Car Installations
3.5 years with CCity
Fake!!!! Total Fake.
XBR1 stopped selling early last year.
We had XBR2 and XBR4 late last year.
We only Sell XBR4 and XBR6 now.
Do a search with copy/paste: ie. TTM Go300
All come back with nothing. If it doesn't come up in search, it is Out of Production, or OOP.
By the way ask any associate for a good deal on an OOP TV, it wont be on display, but we will have them in the back.
@bravo369:
Yep, it's a ploy to get people into the store. I don't even bother walking into these big box electronics stores anymore. Pretty much everything I buy that's not an "I need it now" purchase I do online. I'd rather pay a little more and get known quality and service.
At least it's not quite as bad as Office Depot's coupons, which exclude "technology items".
Probably best to take this up with AAA, actually. They may not realize that their members are being directed to Circuit City and receiving little or no benefit in return.
@TerpBE:
Not a problem for me. That's where I get my flintknapping materials and animal skins for my loincloths, etc.
I have a SON KDSR50XBR1. It's a Sony 50" LCoS TV. I'm not sure why it's excluded from the promotion, seeing as how Sony doesn't make LCoS TVs anymore, and haven't made this particular model for nearly 2 years now...
Extremely YMMV, but could you purchase (with cash) $199+ worth of items that the coupon is good for, "lose" the receipt, then return the items for store credit (at full value)? I read Circuit City's return policy saying they need a receipt, but I'm sure some intrepid deal-seekers could find a sympathetic employee and pull this off. Just sayin'...
lol, I got a similar coupon back in April as a token of appreciation since I signed up for their credit card (they had a deal on a hdtv I wanted). What I received was what they call a "Circuit City free gift card", worth 10 % off of your next purchase of $50 or more.
Sounds great right? I held on to this for awhile, hoping my wife would break down and agree to our purchase of a PS3 (you know for blu-ray), even though we really didn't have the dough for it. Anyways, at some point I decided to see if there were any conditions to the deal. Yup, as you probably already guessed, there were. Alot.
The conditions of offer state "Offer good for one use and applies to total qualifying purchase on a single sales receipt within specified offer dates. Not valid on previous purchases." (good so far) "Offer excludes computers, music, movies, games, Game Hardware, Sharper Image, Verizon, Infinity, Velodyne, Bose, Polk, Apple, Kicker, MTX Thunder, LG, KEF, Denon, Nikon, digital cameras, Outlet, firedog services and Circuit City Gift Card purchases." Well, son of a bitch.
What the F was I supposed to get with this then? I guess I was supposed to get my lawyers (imaginary) together and have them see if there were any holes in this. I just want to say "Hey Circuit City, thanks for the gift card, but how about next time, you tell me what the F I can get with the card instead. I'm sure the list would be alot F'n shorter!"
@bravo369: Yup. For fun, bring a load of stuff up to the counter, let 'em ring it up, then present the coupon and watch the fun as they say you can't use it and you say "oh well" and take a walk. Hate to bug the clerks and stockpeople like that, but until enough people make it clear that this game is unacceptable the companies will keep playing us.
@Carencey: AAA is basically an auto and oil lobbying firm. Wasted trips to Big Box stores located on the outskirts of town are completely in line with their business model.
What the heck are you complaining about, Michael? Go and buy $200.00 of MAD magazine. Uh, sorry I forgot, they removed them
Do they sell bubble gum?
@TerpBE: At least with Office Depot, I can stock up on office supplies using the coupon. They send enough of them out that I can wait for the REALLY good ones that knock like $10 off $25. I stocked up on engineering paper that way with an Office Max coupon I found online.
You can buy cell phones with this coupon. That's about the only thing I can think of that could end up being over $199
One other observation: Sales tax here is 8.25%. If I found something I wanted at CC on Amazon for the same price with free shipping, using the coupon would cost me more.
looks like you might be able to use it to get an hdtv converter to use with your old tv!
--a $199 converter that is.
Aha I think you might be able to buy batteries. Everyone rush to Circuit City to buy over $199.00 in batteries to save a 8%.
Because the ONE item for which coupon is valid has only a small markup and 10% would eliminate the store's profit.
Of course finding the ONE item is the difficult part.
If I was wanting a Vizio TV, I would hold off until the next woot-off, and get it for way more then 8% off and $5 shipping. They do Vizio tvs quite often.