NEW YORK, 5:24 AM, SAT JUL 19 | 19 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | RSS
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Circuit City

circuit city

Bear Breaks Into Circuit City, Has As Much Luck Locating An Employee As You Do

Colorado Springs police say that the vandal who broke into a closed Circuit City wasn't trying to steal electronics — it was a confused black bear. More »

mergers and acquisitions

Yikes: Blockbuster Dumps Plan To Buy Circuit City

Blockbuster has finished snooping around Circuit City's medicine cabinet and the verdict is in: Blockbuster has changed its mind. More »

circuit city death watch

Rumors: Circuit City's "Unbeatable Price Guarantee" No Longer Unbeatable?

A tipster tells us that more than a year of hemorrhaging money is finally taking it's toll on Circuit City. Rumor has it they will no longer be able to adjust items to below cost — even if they're price matching. More »

customer service

Circuit City Calls The Cops On Customer Who Tried To Redeem $40 DTV Coupon

Circuit City wouldn't let Larry redeem his $40 digital transition converter box coupon unless he signed a credit slip agreeing to pay $40. Larry refused, and asked to cancel the transaction. Circuit City's manager responded by calling the police before following Larry into the parking lot to write down his license plate number. More »

disasters

Circuit City Loses Even More Money: $164.8 Million

Circuit City reported yesterday that they've managed to lose $164.8 million in the first quarter, which is even more money than they managed to lose in the previous disastrous quarter. In fact, this will be their 5th straight losing quarter. Same-store sales, considered the most important indicator of the health of a retailer, dropped 11.3 percent. Ow! More »

24 minute guarantee

RESOLVED: Circuit City 24 Minute Guarantee Means Whatever Rob, The Supervisor, Says It Means

Dustin wrote back to let us know that Circuit City corporate had contacted him about his difficulty with their "24 minute guarantee." It seems that the general manger of the store had misunderstood the guarantee completely. Apologies were given and gift cards were received. More »

24 minute guarantee

Circuit City 24 Minute Guarantee Means Whatever Rob, The Supervisor, Says It Means

Reader Dustin is upset with Circuit City because they tried to tell him that their 24 minute guarantee meant he had to be waiting at the store for more than 24 minutes. After Dustin explained that the 24 minute guarantee was supposed to mean that the item would be pulled from the back within 24 minutes of his confirmation email, the supervisor said that Dustin " would have had to come in within 24 minutes to qualify." We're pretty sure that's not how it works, because Circuit City's policy specifically says that's not how the guarantee works. More »

customer service

Circuit City Calls The Cops On Customer Who Requests A Price Match

Emmett writes: Dear Mr. Schoonover:

I would like to make you aware of an incident that occurred in your Burnsville, MN Circuit City yesterday. I read about your Unbeatable Price Guarantee on your website. I had an ad from Costco for a Magellan GPS that was significantly less than the Circuit City price. Before driving 20 miles in a snow storm, I called your Burnsville store and spoke with Tom. Tom told me that because Costco is a local retailer, I would be eligible for the Unbeatable Price Guarantee...

More »

fines

Big Box Retailers Fight Back Against FCC's Recent Fines

Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears are all contesting the FCC's recent fines against them for not properly following analog transition rules in their stores, reports Ars Technica. Last week, Best Buy submitted a 41-page response (PDF) that claimed among other things that the FCC has no authority to fine them. More »

ominous

Blockbuster + Circuit City = "Exclusive Content and Content-Enabled Devices"

Blockbuster has recently drawn the ire of movie enthusiasts by inking "exclusive" rental deals with the likes of IFC. The upshot of this deal is that Blockbuster will retain the exclusive physical rental distribution rights for IFC titles for three years after each street date. Why is this important? Because Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes wants to buy Circuit City for the following reason: More »

complaints

Circuit City Sells Employee Busted Floor Model TV, Refuses To Accept Return

Anthony paid Circuit City $1,271 for a new 40" Samsung LN40A550, but what he received was a "scratched up, dinged to hell, beaten and abused FLOOR MODEL OPEN BOX" LN40A330. As a Circuit City employee, Anthony thought exchanging the TV or receiving a refund would be a cinch. Boy, was he wrong. More »

pr

Circuit City Finally Refunds $169 Fraudulent Charge

The lady whom Circuit City charged an extra $169 for an HDTV installation will finally get her money back. The fee was because it was over a fireplace and fireplaces are usually made of brick. However, this fireplace was fake and the wall was drywall. When a local TV news investigation team started asking questions, Circuit City Spokeswoman Jackie Foreman just kept chirping, "It's resolved." Two days after the report aired, Jackie told the reporters, "Byrd's installation was not standard…due to a miscommunication; Ms. Byrd will receive a refund."

Woman gets refund of Firedog's extra fee [WRAL] (Thanks to Cheryl!)
PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Will Not Refund Your $169 Even If The Local News Calls On Your Behalf


refunds

Two Months Later, Circuit City Still Hasn't Refunded Customer His $338

Bobby's brother canceled an order the day after placing it, and everyone he's spoken with at Circuit City seems to agree that they owe him a prompt refund on his cash. But that all happened on March 7th and 8th, so why is Circuit City still saying the check is in the mail? Are they waiting to get their stimulus check first? More »

pr

Circuit City Denies Its In-Home TV Calibration Is A Total Scam

Speaking on behalf of Circuit City in regards to our post, "Circuit City's In-Home TV Calibration Is A Total Scam", Mike Vallebuona of New Media Strategies (a company that protects its clients from "online attacks, rumors and misinformation") send us the following pulsating pile of drivel: More »

ripoffs

Insiders: Circuit City's In-Home TV Calibration Is A Total Scam

According to a Circuit City employee, their in-home tv calibration service is a complete ripoff. Basically they give the employees glasses like you might get at a 3D movie and they're then supposed adjust the balance and contrast and brightness with the remote control. When he complained to his manager, his boss said to just, "make believe you're changing some settings. When you're done, tell them how much better their TV looks. Besides, once you perform the calibration, they can't get a refund." Will we soon see Circuit City in-home calibration kits being hawked in the back pages of Boy's Life? Full letter, inside... More »

bad install

Circuit City Will Not Refund Your $169 Even If The Local News Calls On Your Behalf

Tiffany Byrd hired Circuit City's Firedog to install her 40-inch Samsung TV over her (fake) fireplace. When she told the Firedog rep that she wanted the TV above a "fireplace," Firedog told her it would cost an extra $169 because fireplaces were often made of brick and other substances that make it difficult to attach TVs. Tiffany told them that her fireplace was fake and the wall above it was normal drywall. Firedog said that if the tech got to her house and found that the fireplace was indeed fake, her extra $169 would be refunded. The tech installed the TV with no problems and noted on her receipt "Basic wall installation. Waive Charge." Now Circuit City is refusing to refund the money and not even a call from her local TV news station could compel Circuit City to change its mind. More »

Blockbuster has offered to buy Circuit City for a little over $1 billion, with the goal of creating "a chain that could sell portable devices and entertainment for them, much like Apple Inc.'s stores." [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

fines

Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence

The FCC handed out a whole basketful of fines to electronics retailers today: $1.1 million for Sears and Kmart; $992,000 for Wal-Mart; $712,000 for Circuit City; and amounts between $168,000-384,000 for Target, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics. What made Christmas come so early? They were all failing to warn consumers that analog-only TVs and tuners will stop working on their own when the digital switchover comes next year. More »