On Thursday afternoon, November 23, after viewing the special ‘After Thanksgiving’ circular, I planned on purchasing the 32-inch Olevia LCD television advertised for $499.99. On November 24 I waited in line at the Braintree, MA location only to find that the location had a limited number of televisions. Unable to obtain a voucher to purchase a television and after asking for a raincheck, the sales clerks suggested I check www.circuitcity.com during the day, in the event a few more were released for online purchasing. As luck would have it, around 4:30, I noticed that the television was available online this time for $474.99, a price noted as valid through November 25, if I purchased the item.

Quickly I began to enter my information online when all of a sudden my page refreshed and my information disappeared. Also gone was any reference to the television. When I called Customer Service I was told that the television was not available. They had no idea what I was talking about when I told them that I saw it on the website no more than 10 minutes prior to my call. I then called a few of the local locations; hoping one would be in stock. The Taunton, MA location had two but they were on hold for those customers who had a voucher. They would be able to release them on Saturday if they were not purchased by the close of business on Friday.

At 9:00 Saturday morning I called the Taunton, MA location and the television sets that were in stock on Friday were now sold. Again I checked www.circuitcity.com and found that the televisions were again being offered for $474.99. I called around and found that the Burlington, MA location had three of the 32-inch televisions in stock, but according to the clerk in televisions, the price was now $849.99. I questioned him about the online price being $474.99 and after checking he stated that the Burlington, MA location would be able to match the price but unfortunately they could not hold one aside. Off I drove, some 30 miles, but once I arrived things changed namely the offer to price match.

According to the manager, an error was made with regards to the Saturday morning price and the incorrect price was being pulled from www.circuitcity.com. And, even with a copy of the attached document in hand, the manager refused to consider honoring the advertised price. Dissatisfied with the blatant display of false advertising, I asked for a telephone number for the District Manager and was referred to (800) 251-2665. There I was to ask for Oz Engin. Unbeknownst to me, I reached Customer Service and the representative was unable to assist beyond telling me that the item was $849.99. Furthermore, I was not able to speak with a District Manager.

As the 32-inch Olevia LCD television is no longer available I requested Circuit City honor the price quoted online ($474.99) on Friday, November 24, by refunding me 125% of the difference between the Circuit City advertised price and what I paid by going to a local competitor, who advertised the same exact make and model of LCD television. I have made several attempts (phone, email, and in writing) and am awaiting a response from their corporate offices.

My wife purchased a widescreen LCD monitor on Dec. 17, 2006 for my Christmas gift. I connected it to my PC and found that I would need to purchase a new video card.

We went to Circuit City (Concord Mills, NC) to return the monitor, but they relentlessly refused to waive the 15% restocking fee ($60). We were unaware of the policy, but it actually is posted:
1. Below the cash register (where one cannot see it since the cashier is blocking it)
2. On the back of the receipt (which can only be viewed after the purchase) and
3. At the return counter.

The worst part of it all is that they said that all the major stores (specifically naming Best Buy) have the same policy.

I went to Best Buy later that same day (Dec 26, 2006) to purchase a video card. I found that their restocking fee list does not include monitors. I also verified with the salesperson at Best Buy that they would accept the return of an opened monitor without any restocking fee.

Either Circuit City was misinformed about their competitions' policies or they were lying (as they implied my wife was when she stated that she was unaware of the restocking fee).

Obviously, I will never return to any store of theirs. If someone starts a class action lawsuit, please add my name to it.

Imagine you are waiting in the checkout line to purchase the two new, fancy, techno electronic items sitting in you’re shopping cart at Circuit City.

Suddenly the manager –or some boss- comes from behind you, pulls the two items from you’re shopping cart, puts them back on the shelf and increases the price of the items by 20%. When you ask what is going on, the manager states that it is company policy that they can remove the items, change the price of the items, will not honor the price you wanted to pay for them, and that the shareholders are what drives this “policy”.

This is exactly what happened to me when I tried to make an online purchase on the CC website; It goes something like this:

I am browsing the CC site and find a computer monitor and small LCD TV that I want to purchase. The prices have this red line through them stating that if I want to see the “real” price I need to place them in my shopping cart. I am elated when I find that I am going to be saving an additional 20% on the purchase of these items and promptly go to the checkout process to purchase them.

This 3-step-process of checking out and purchasing the items are basic: 1: Provide your shipping address if the shipping address in not correct then provide that. 2: Input any coupons that you may have, summarize you’re purchase and shipping. 3: Provide a payment method and finalize the purchase. I received this nifty –get a free gift card worth 10% of your purchase of $199 or more- coupon and entered this “code” into a field on the 2nd step. After the code was entered something strange happened, the 10% gift card was ADDED to the total of my purchase items, that is, the two items plus 10% of their total cost was added to the total the CC site was asking me to pay for.

I thought this strange and proceeded to the 3rd step to see if it would be removed before I paid for these items.

I inputted my Circuit City Credit Card number –that had a $3000 limit- and as my finger is about to click the process key the step 3 of 3 page with all my information, CC number and summarized purchase disappears. I click the back button and I am informed that my shopping cart is now empty.

I though this just to be another –internet snafu- until I went back to add these items back to my cart. These items where now not red-lined and where not on sale anymore and where now 20% more than what I was going to pay for them! I was livid to say the least. Fortunately for me I hit my print screen of the 3 of 3 page before my items where taken back.

I immediately called customer service to get my items back in my cart –at the negotiated price I was going to pay for them- and after an hour on the phone told me that I needed to go to my local CC store and ask the manager to honor that price -if I had proof- and that there was nothing that they could do about it because that is there right, and I am bound by the terms of these purchasing policies when I go to make online purchased through their website.

When I went to my local Circuit City store in San Luis Obispo I was told by the manager that the only people that could authorize the sale of my two items was corporate and provided me with a number to call –the old pass the buck. I told him that I already had talked with corporate and that they told me to talk to him. At this point I was given a 5-minute speech about how he would fire one of his employees if they ever tried to lower the in-store advertised price of an item and was more interested in providing me with a detailed summery about is job function then trying to solve my issue with his company.

As I cut my Circuit City Credit Card in half and handed it to him, I provided him with the fact that if you piss-off one customer you loss the business of 20 other people.

If I was a stockholder of this company I would be outraged at how my investment is being treated as my dividends depend on how my customers are treated and how I want them to come back and make future purchases. This is why CC is a bad investment, bad company to work for, and have the lousiest customer policies in the business. BEWARE AND NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH CIRCUIT CITY!!!

I purchased a 24" Polaroid TV from Circuit City in January 2006, with an extended service plan. The TV stop working in September of 2006. Circuit City scheduled for Chaparral Electronics to repair the TV as this is one of their vendors that they use for repair. The day they were scheduled to pick up the TV, September 8, Chaparral contacted me and demanded that I return home two hours before the scheduled appointment to give them the TV, otherwise, I'd have to wait for "some other day" for them to come by. They stored my TV in a Budget rental truck over the weekend. A week later, when no one called me to advise of the status repair, I contacted the owner, Buddy Martin, who proceeded to yell at me and tell me that I was "lucky it hadn't taken a month to look at the tv." He then hung up on me three times. I called back that afternoon at 4:00 and asked again about the repair status. The owner refused to tell me, saying instead that the Operations Manager, who was out of the office for the day, would call me on Monday and "tell me how it was." I insisted on getting at least some details and he replied, "I don't think anyone can answer your questions." Again, very rude. I waited on Monday, but, no one called, so I called Chaparral back and spoke with part-owner "Trey" who advised that he was very familiar with the situation and proceeded to tell me that he didn't "agree with the way I handled things" as I had contacted Circuit City corporate office, as I was appalled at the poor treatment. I was was further shocked when "Trey" advised that the necessary part was on order for arrival that Friday but "well, UPS could, you know, lose it or something" hinting that the repair of my TV just might be delayed. Interestingly enough, the part was "delayed" another week. Fearing retaliation and potential additional damage to my TV given "Trey's" vocal disdain for my contacting Circuit City's corporate office, without notice, I lost three hours of work time to drive to Chaparral and retrieve my TV and return it to Circuit City for them to handle. I researched this company on the Better Business Bureau and discovered that this company has 17 complaints, many unresolved. Wonder why! This is definitely NOT a good company to do any business with. I would think Circuit City would not want to be afffiliated with this company as, unfortunately, I do not have a very positive view of Circuit City. While the local store simply exchanged the TV, the Corporate Office did nothing but make a couple of meaningless calls to Chaparral, despite my begging them to help. I received only one follow up voice mail from Circuit City Corporate office from "Jason" advising of the delay in the part's arrival and "thank you and have a nice day." Shame on Circuit City!!!

-Sandi in Houston