Circuit City sold Ronald a fake camera for $1134.99, and now they’re holding the fake and his money hostage. The camera was no Kodak disposable, but a Nikon D90 Digital SLR. When he opened the box at home, inside was a D50 covered with crappy D90 stickers and affixed with a fake serial plate. Circuit City should give him his money back or a new D90. Why should Ronald be punished for Circuit City’s inability to maintain control over their supply chain? He shouldn’t. He should file a chargeback with his credit card company. Ronald’s letter of complaint to Circuit City’s consumer affairs group (consumer_affairs@circuitcity.com), inside…
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to convey my displeasure concerning an ongoing, completely unsatisfactory retail experience with Circuit City. Yesterday, October 28, 2008, I purchased a Nikon D90 Digital SLR camera at store number 854 for $1021.49 ($1134.99 -10% coupon) plus Maryland state sales tax. It was sold as new and unopened. Upon unboxing later that evening, I discovered the camera was in fact counterfeit. A lesser model, the D50, had been altered to appear to be a D90. Crude D90 stickers covered the model badging and a false serial plate was placed on the underside. A number of accessories were also missing and the included product information was entirely Spanish. (If needed, I can provide all serial numbers attributed to the box and its contents and photos to support my statements)
I contacted the store via telephone early this morning and explained my findings to the Floor Leader, Charles. He was immediately suspicious of me and first and foremost explained that I should not expect an immediate refund or exchange, and that they needed the camera to “investigate.” I visited the store this afternoon to return the camera and review my options with Charles. Charles again stated he would not refund or exchange the counterfeit camera and stated loss prevention was going to investigate, and that I would be contacted in 24-48 hours. He was not open to, nor would he discuss any alternatives. The Manager on duty made no attempt to address the situation. The Floor Leader simply ran back and forth between me and the manager conveying next steps and my options.
I returned to the store later in the afternoon on October 30, 2008 to take pictures of the counterfeit camera for my reference and to obtain a record from the store stating they were in possession of the merchandise. The gentleman I worked with earlier in the morning, Charles, was “on his way out the door” and would not see me. The Manager on duty would not see me either. The CSA Supervisor stated he was the Manager and would help me. The record I obtained from the store to state they are in possession of the counterfeit camera was a handwritten note and initials on the bottom of my receipt. This is simply unbelievable for a major retail chain. I was told “Nikon was tracking the serial numbers.” I frankly do not understand why I am being held “hostage” in this matter. The fact that Circuit City has somehow allowed counterfeit/altered products into its supply chain is not the consumers’ problem, yet, the consumer is being held at fault for this issue. The store and it’s staff have from my perspective, labeled me guilty until proven innocent.
The customer service staff made no effort to apologize for my inconvenience ( I live 30 miles from the store, and I’m facing four to five trips to take care of this) or for the sheer embarrassment of a major specialty retail outlet selling customers counterfeit merchandise. I am deeply disappointed in Circuit City’s handling of this situation thus far.
In the end, I sit here writing this account with no faith in the company or it’s store employees, no camera, and Circuit City holding approximately $1100 of my funds.
I hope to expedite the handling of this issue and pass along my observations of store personnel and vague policies that continue to damage the reputation of your company.
Respectfully,
Ronald P.
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I would get this handled BEFORE they file for bankruptcy and the OP is screwed
And the response he will get fro CC:
“Oh, for please to take our apologies. I had to leave the 7-11 unattended for 15 minutes to tell you how seriously we take these concerns sir. It will be my pleasure to pass on your note to corporate in order for to fix these concerns in the future. Thank you and we appreciate your business”
The credit card companies only require one good faith attempt to return the item. You returned the item and the store refused to refund the money. End of story. File the chargeback and purchase the item elsewhere.
Circuit City has no legal right to hold the item and the money. File a police report and contact your State’s Attorney General.
Next time buy from B&H. As a professional photographer, there are not many other camera stores that can beat them. The D90 you can pickup for $999 with free shipping. Just saved yourself $134+tax AND all that fuel cost you’re now wasting to drive back and forth.
I find it very interesting that you are upset with Circuit City for trying to find out what is going on. I hope you don’t actually think that they did that to you on purpose? Or that issues like this can be solved over night. If you look at it from their perspective you are of course the first person to suspect. Any retailer would be the same way. They have to protect their inventory. People pull this type of scam all the time and that may be what happened to that camera before you bought it.
I hate this website because it’s goal is not really to help people with consumer issues or to think things through relationally its to make all businesses look terrible. The site is 100% one sided and 100% biased Way to help out the economy by bad mouthing the engine of the economy. I think Circuit City is a great Company. But you won’t ever see an artical on this site about how well I am treated every time I go in there or how much money I have saved by getting the Protection plans from them. I do agree that the management at that particular location may need to be addressed for not trying harder to help you out but again look at it from their side. They likely have already called the police to investigate the issue.
This once again proves the ignorance of Circuit City employee’s. When you have untrained and unknowing people taking back returns you have this problem, not to mention internal theft and things like that. Now, its still to early to make a final decision on this, but the consumer does live 30 MILES away, and I certainly wouldn’t drive 30 MILES just to make a fake exchange, nor would I just throw $1300 out in cash just to try and get it back. Even if the guy did manage to buy a fake camera from someone off the street or something, usually they still sell for $500 or half of what retail is. Not to mention 2 important points:
1) The product was sealed. Usually knock off products have been opened and have no shrinkwrap.
2) The camera is imported. Anything could have happened on its way to Circuit City.
Because of CC’s bad history, I would most likely say the guy is right, if I were him I would have demanded to talk to a manager, especially with that much money at stake, if it was a $200 camera it’s a different story, but it’s not. Don’t think he’s making a big deal, because I have seen and dealt with plenty of consumers giving hell over something as simple as $10 or $20.
I did buy a Sony Mavica back in july 2001 and I remember talking to the sales guy “I hope you guys don’t go out of business like the last company did when I purchased my first camcorder”. He said ” Man don’t worry about that We will never go out of business, wer’e too big”. Guess where I purchased my new Sony Camcorder? Circus City! Hey CD why wont my password work?
Charge it back. CC is just stalling until they can go bankrupt and you have to compete with the liquidation vultures for your money.
Charge it back and order the same from Amazon or B&H or other such reputable dealer.