Circuit City lied to Ian about giving him a discounted iPod Touch, but now he has a satisfactory resolution. He writes:

After writing a number of emails to Circuit City and after a making few more (fruitless) calls, I tried something new and posted my story to their public online customer service forums. The forum manager responded very quickly and promised that someone would call me back to resolve things. I received two calls last Thursday from Circuit City staff who wanted to help fix the situation;

…unfortunately I was on a plane at the time, and had meetings all weekend that prevented me from calling back. But this morning, I got a third call, this time from a supervisor in the Sales department (the same department which had originally called me).

Unlike the customer service people I spoke to last week, the supervisor I spoke to today was incredibly friendly and helpful – after I explained the situation in detail, he apologized, then explained that what happened was NOT how Circuit City usually does business, that I was not the only person who’d experienced trouble last week, and that the issue has now been dealt with.

The supervisor then offered to give me an additional discount on the item, which I was happy to accept – and I picked up my new iPod this evening. It’s charging and syncing as we speak!

It may be time-consuming and rather annoying to have to fight for your rights as a customer, but it’s important to do it… and although it took a few days, Circuit City really did step up in the end, acknowledge the problem and make it right.

And I’m happy to report that they’ve kept a customer today.

Interesting, Ian wasn’t the only one who experienced the bait and switch. But by escalating his issue and posting it in their online public customer service forum, he was able to get a very satisfactory solution. Another technique to remember. They might be able to ignore calls and emails, but dirty laundry up in their base is hung for all to see, and so sometimes they try to clean it quickly.

PREVIOUSLY: Very Strange Circuit City iPod Touch Bait And Switch

(Photo: Dan_H)

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