> Circuit City botches GPS car installation - AND WON'T PAY $12K DAMAGES!! (horrible service)

FYI...

> Circuit City Botches GPS Install, and will NOT pay the $12,000 in damages!

Also watch the 2-minute YouTube clip by the car's owner and see what the CC installer did (fire hazard), by not acquiring the right adapter. And the poor guy cannot get his 2007 Honda Civic released back to him either. Another REPORT (and comments) <here.

Here's what one viewer said...

"What's so sad is how incredibly simple of a job that SHOULD have been. I installed a nearly identical unit in my own car in about 4 hours. The majority of that mess is because of their [CC] decision to hack and splice instead of waiting for that (less than $20 retail) adapter. Otherwise, you only have to splice (in a more professional manner) two wires if I remember correctly. (One to your speedometer to measure speed, and one their lawyers require you patch into a brake signal light so as to prevent you from programming while driving.) Otherwise it's so "plug and play" it's silly. What a shame."

Edit... Do you REMEMBER CC's old ad jingle (motto) from several years ago? - "Welcome to Circuit City, where service is state of the art" (!?!?!?)

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Apr 1, 2008]

Aren't they sinking finacially? I know BB is kicking their arse.

> Housing Slump Hits Circuit City Firedogs...

Circuit City Stores Inc. March 31 said it was cutting and repositioning 67 employees from its 3,000-member FIREDOG installation service.

The installation service, which specializes in home entertainment and computers, has reportedly generated more than $300 million in revenue since bowing as a counterpoint to Best Buy Co.’s Geek Squad.

The Richmond, Va.-based No. 2 consumer electronics retail chain cited the ongoing drop in home sales — including a 13% drop in new home sales February — for the staff reductions, according to a spokesperson.

Some affected Firedog staffers will be transferred from new construction to existing commercial accounts, including hotels, while others will receive severance.

Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court refused an appeal by Circuit City seeking to overturn lower court rulings in an overtime arbitration case.

The chain, whose CEO, Philip Schoonover, is under pressure to reverse mounting losses, made news last year when it cut 3,000 sales personnel in an effort to rehire them at lower wages.

Circuit City reports financial results April 9. -[END]-

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

I'll be very surprised if CC is still around come this year's holiday shopping season.

and that couldn't happen to a finer company. They're horrible and have continually gone down the drain. I worked at one doing tech work for three months before I left. It became apparent very quickly that they no longer gave a crap about customer service, they just wanted as much money out of you before you hit the exit (and then trying to make the tech bench become salesmen...NOT what I signed up for). Add to that the fight I had with the manager over his interpretation of the B2GO ad a few months back (of which he was wrong) and yeah....I hope they go down.

Jservo, what was his interpretation? I can imagine...

But yeah, CC has gone down the drain since long ago...their stores are horribly organized, they have nobody to help you look for anything...you have to hunt them to be able to 'pay' for your items...the stores seem depressing...they need a good turnaround or else, they'll go down like CompUSA did (I was surprised about them!)...

I remember when my brother bought a 80 gig PS3 from there. I was informing him that he needed a HDMI cable for hook up to his HDTV. What was funny was that this teenager sales rep swore me up and down that it came with one. I told him that I've bought 2 of them and neither one of them came with an HDMI cable. So I asked him what does a HDMI cable looks like and he grabed a component cable off the rack. So I imeediately grab a HDMI cable from of the rack of their shabby TV area and said look and remember. Once apon a time they were really good but BB has been killing them over the past 5 yrs. Their stores are in so much disarray, the staff is ignorant, and when you walk in and look around you wonder to yourself how the HECK are they still in business.

[Post edited by tony1569 on Apr 2, 2008]

Here's yet another reason I'm disappointed with C.City... (which I'll share with everyone) -

Around late 2004/early 2005, Circuit City decided to sell their card revenue 'accounts receivable' to CHASE Bank, which pays them at the time of a customer purchase, and which Chase collects a percentage fee of the sale (and earns interest after 30 days from balances not paid off, except for longer-term 0%-interest promo sales).

Well, I always take advantage of any of CC (or BB's) 60-90-180 days 0%-interest deals, and have a c.card from both (along with my major name c.cards). I can avoid having to pay any interest by paying for purchases within the promo-time limit, and have done so for about 12 years now (been a cardholder with each since the late 1990s).

So, let' say I purchased a $200 DVD player, and had 3 months 0% interest to pay for it. And let's say that during that time, I might buy some DVDs on the same card, and could still pay these discs off within 30 days so as to avoid interest charges, while continuing to pay off the DVD player within 90 days. So, in this example, I've made extra purchases after also having a 0% interest promo balance to.

Well... once C.City sold their c.card revenues to Chase, the bank ENDED the ability to pay off any subsequent smaller purchases if you are ALSO carrying a 0%-promo offer. So, IF someone say, bought a $2000 HDTV and received 2-years 0% interest, on their C.City card, and THEN also occasionally made small (or additional) purchases on the same card, the Chase bank WOULD NOT ALLOW YOU TO PAY OFF THESE SMALLER PURCHASES until the $2000 TV balance was paid(!), therefore building a high interest charge (around 23% on average!) on these additional purchases.

Talk about a shock! Well, I'm certainly glad I discovered this accounting trick on just a $175 DVD player purchase, and not on a big-ticket item (like a HDTV etc). Cause after I bought that 2005 Sony 'upconversion' 1080i player (w/90 days 0% interest to pay off), I used the same card a few weeks later and bought some DVDs and CDs. IT WAS THEN (the next month's statement) that I noticed the extra interest charges (just for the 2nd DVDs/CDs purchase), even though I had paid a sufficient amount to clear (pay off) the 2nd purchase, along with an amount paid on the DVD player balance.

I went to the local C.City store and complained, and even phoned Chase to get the lowdown - which was explained that they no longer would allow ANY payments to be directed to other purchases while you had a 0% interest promo purchase balance to pay off! I was upset, and complained, and told them I would be no longer be making as many smaller (extra) purchases (as before) on my card because of this accounting trick - all done by Chase to increase their revenue (interest) from C.City cardholder purchases.

Of course, this was a NEW change in policy, as C.City didn't do this before Chase came along, and Best Buy has ALWAYS allowed customers to pay and clear any purchases on their cards regardless of whether they had a 0% interest promo balance too.

In fact, I purchased my recent (December) Pioneer KURO plasma from Best Buy with a 3-year 0% interest promo offer (must be paid off by Jan 2011), and I can still make other purchases on my BBuy card, and pay them off every month WITHOUT ANY INTEREST being added to these smaller purchases.

Just another example of customers (especially us adults who've supported them for years) defecting from C.City to buy from their competitors, like Best Buy, Fry's, Costco, Target, Walmart, Sams Club, Tweeter, Modia (Home Theater Store), and the many online outlets.

And yes, to avoid more interest charges from Chase bank on that 2005 purchase, I went ahead and just paid off the ENTIRE balance the next month (DVD player, discs, etc), and will always remember to only use my CC card for either small purchases, -OR- a one-time 0% interest offer ONLY (with no furthur purchases until the balance from the 0% offer is paid off).

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

Quote:
Jservo, what was his interpretation? I can imagine...

The ad clearly stated HD-DVDs B2G1, not just ones shown (as most ads of that nature do). He wanted to argue it was just ones shown. I even doubled checked this online-not purchasing online, just the in-store ad-and he said those are different. He refused to honor the ad.

MOnday morning I called corporate offices and lo and behold it WAS all HD-DVDs. I went to the other local cc and they honored it without issue. Even the young lady behind the register (NOT that store's manager) couldnt believe the other store's arrogance.

That store has always been trouble for a lot of people, but its across from the mall, so it still does decent business. I would have understood if the ad said something about applying only to the shown HD-DVDs. Most of those ads will say that (saying something like "selections shown" or "on these select titles" if such applies.

cc is just very customer unfriendly. Much worse than many other chain stores.

> Circuit City Hopes for a Turnaround - from April 3, 2008 - bad financial results (all downhill) since they fired over 3,000 of their best and most-experienced staff and sales associates last spring.

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

I think can scrape up a thousand dollars. 200 shares of CC stock would make a nice return if the company turns around.

Quote:
Their stores are in so much disarray, the staff is ignorant, and when you walk in and look around you wonder to yourself how the HECK are they still in business.

You are exactly right, nobody could've said it better...

What turnaround can we expect? Unless they hire BB's CEO, I doubt it...they'll have to make huge changes to the way they manage their horrible and insipid stores...and good one about the HDMI, I know the feeling of knowing more than the sales teen from any electronics store...

FYI...

> Circuit City Responds to Shareholder - STANDS GROUND (against changes requested by Mark Wattles, former head of Hollywood Video)

"Wattles’ letter made a series of demands for changes in the company’s structure and business strategy and notably called for the replacement of chairman and CEO Phil Schoonover. It included a number of indications that he felt Schoonover and his management team had made poor decisions and were at least in part responsible for the financial trouble the company has experienced in recent years."

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Apr 6, 2008]