Today Best Buy announced that it was officially freaking out about the current financial meltdown: “In 42 years of retailing, we’ve never seen such difficult times for the consumer,” Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy, said in a statement. “People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we’re not immune from those forces.” A Best Buy employee forwarded us an email that went out to all associates this morning — stressing that a renewed commitment to customer service was the way forward during these troubled times.
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Circuit City Gets A Loan, Lives To Fight Another Day
By 11.11.08
Circuit City has secured a loan from Bank of America that will pay for its operating expenses until it emerges from bankruptcy next year, says Bloomberg. This financing gives CC a new lease on life — Yes, we may yet see the bankrupt retailer rise from the ashes to continue its proud tradition of ignoring customers who are standing at the register.
Timeline: How Circuit City Came Undone
By 11.10.08
Bankruptcy is a time for reflection, we guess, so we put together a nice little time line of Circuit City’s precipitous decline over the past 2 years. We begin our journey in March of 2007, when Circuit City announced that it was firing everyone who knew what 1080p meant so that they could hire cheaper labor…
Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy
By 11.10.08
Circuit City has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to their press release, this will allow them to undergo corporate restructuring, cut costs, get out of leases and figure out a way to still make a go of it. The stores will continue to operate, and they will seek to still allow for returns, exchanges, and gift cards.
"High-End" Supermarket Wegmans Slashes Prices To Stay Competitive
By 11.7.08
Wegmans, an “upscale” grocery chain with stores in 5 Mid-Atlantic states, is cutting prices to stay competitive during the post-Wall-Street apocalypse.
Christmas Creep Confessions: We Played Christmas Music On Halloween
By 11.5.08
An anonymous reader, who works at a certain bookstore, says that her manager started playing Christmas music a week before Halloween… and on Halloween itself.
Best Buy Sells "New" Laptop Used By Employee
By 11.5.08
Best Buy sold Clif a “new” laptop one of their employees had bought, used, and returned. They made up for it by giving him an actually new laptop with a slightly better configuration, then tried to upsell him to the Best Buy extended warranty. Two things I enjoyed about this story: 1) The clerk he went to return the laptop to was the same employee who had used the laptop (Clif knew this because he saw the guy’s resume on the laptop) 2) Clif then subsequently asked to speak to the manager in private and explained the situation there. That’s the classy way to do it.
Walmart Stores Begin Playing Christmas Music
By 11.4.08
Joel Sackey in San Antonio, TX reports that both his local Walmart and Sam’s Club, effective November 1st, have started playing Christmas music. (Photo: vidaarctique)
Circuit City Lies About Guitar Hero Release Date To Get You To Go Away
By 11.3.08
David went to Circuit City yesterday to buy a copy of the new Guitar Hero game, which, according to our extensive research, is currently on sale at Circuit City. Unfortunately, the employees at this particular store refused to sell him the game, then lied about its release date, so that they wouldn’t have to correct an error in their computer system. Why were they so reluctant to fix the mistake? Because the game was priced at $10,000 in the system, and to mark it down to its actual price would “look bad.”
Best Buy Caught Using Sneaky Sneaky Tricks To Sell HDTV Calibration Service
By 11.3.08
I’ve read some bad Best Buy stories in my time here at The Consumerist, but this one really takes the asshole cake. To sell its special HDTV calibration service, this Best Buy in NC set up two identical model HDTVs, both showing ESPN. As seen in the picture tipster Robert took, the “calibrated” one is noticeably better. That’s because it’s showing ESPN HD and the one on the left is showing just regular ESPN. You can also see how a set of box have been placed in front of the non-calibrated tv on the left so you can’t see that’s it not ESPN HD. That, my friends, is quintessential deceptive marketing. Robert’s story of what he saw, and the rivers of bullshit and non-answer that came out of the Best Buy employees’ mouths when he confronted them about it, inside…
Complete List Of Closing Circuit City Stores
By 11.3.08
Inside, as supplied by Circuit City, a complete list of their 155 stores that will be closing, a story we broke yesterday.
UPDATED: Breaking: Circuit City Closing 155 Stores
By 11.2.08
According to anonymous insider tips, Circuit City is closing 155 stores and withdrawing from 12 markets. This will be officially announced tomorrow at 8am, says our source. A scan we received of a letter distributed to CC employees helps corroborate the story. The tipsters say that store employees were told this morning. No information was provided at that time about severance pay. Employees in certain departments, like car installation, and Firedog, will likely be out of a job within 48 hours. Warranties will still be honored. UPDATE 6: Here’s the complete official list of closing stores.
Geek Squad's Unionizing Efforts Met By Best Buy's Concerned Bulk Email
By 10.31.08
Emails are shooting around to Geek Squad employees, encouraging them to join the Communications Workers of America union, so Best Buy retorts with emails of its own to voice its concerns. In an email sent by corporate management, Best Buy spoke of its concerns about unions, that unions would hinder its ability to speak with and negotiate with each Geek Squad employee individually. For, there’s nothing like the closeness created when one employee negotiates with a hydra. That’s just one fun piece of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the email, posted inside…
Circuit City Sells Counterfeit Camera For $1134.99, Customer Guilty Until Proven Innocent
By 10.31.08
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…
Reach Sears Executive Customer Service
By 10.27.08
To escalate a complaint at Sears past the completely useless 1-800 number, call 847-286-2500 and ask for Mr. Lampert’s office (Ed Lampert is the chairman of the board). When the executive assistance picks up, tell them you want to file an “Executive Complaint.” Said the reader who submitted this tip, “A single call to this group is actually well on my way to resolving a problem that 4 calls & 3 transfers at the 1-800-4-my-home line could not handle.” Don’t forget to be calm, professional, and succinct when you speak with them.
Target Pays $3.1 Million For Falsely Accusing Customer, Via Bulk Email, Of Passing Funny Money
By 10.27.08
A jury awarded Rita Cantrell $100,000 in actual damage and hit Target with $3 million in punitive damages after a Target employee sent a group email falsely accusing her of passing counterfeit bills. Rita was trying to buy stuff with a 1974 $100 bill which the store employees didn’t recognize and thought was a fake. A loss-prevention employee then sent around a group email containing her picture and the false allegation to 31 different local, state and federal law enforcement offices, malls, department stores, home-improvement stores and grocery stores. The email result in the Secret Service interrogating Rita at her work place, but they were able to check out the bill and determine it was genuine. “Every aspect of Rita’s life was harmed by Target,” said Cantrell’s attorney.
Circuit City: The Lost Years
By 10.23.08
This clip is a sort of medley of all of Circuit City’s dashed dreams and hopes, as told through their ads from nearly two decades ago. Look at the first one, the ad that announced their arrival to the New England area. What do the eager young bucks in it promise and how have those promises stood the test of time?
Why Circuit City Is Dead
By 10.23.08
If you were confused about why Circuit City might close 150 stores, this customer complaint sent in by William O’Donnell makes it pretty clear: Circuit City sucks. They try to get out of price-matching with a nearby B&H, out of the 3 hard drives he went through, one was missing parts and one wasn’t even the right drive, and they try to tell him that it’s supposed to come missing parts. Basically, when they don’t know what they’re talking about, they just make some shit up to make their lives easier. That’s what happens when you cut costs by firing anyone who knows what they’re doing. Here’s Will’s tale:
