so did you contact Circuit City for comment? this doesn't seem true. it would be illegal to do so and no other news sources have come out reporting this. you say they bought the tv, but didn't mention if they returned/cancelled it, just that they went back and bought the tv they wanted. shoddy reporting

Here's my horror story -
Looked online with a 10% discount coupon last year to buy a 50inch plasma TV with free delivery and was going to buy it without the warranty because Best Buy was 4 year. Well, when I left the store, they talked me into buying the warrranty because it was 3 years CC warranty kicks in after the 1 year manufacturer that equals 4 years. And they also said that they would also honor the 10% online discount and throw in free set of Blu Ray discs and delivery. Well, when I got home, I found out that they took 10% off and added $90 for the Blu Ray discs even though I don't own a Blu Ray player, which essentially negated the discount. And they charged for delivery. Boo on my part for not having a calculator on hand and actually checking of the minuses (-) on the receipt, which was extremely convoluted and misleading. Only after I added everything up, did the total make sense because the minuses (-) didn't add up. So, the discount and charged "free stuff" negated each other.

Well, I hadn't accepted the delivery, so I tried to get the price changed before accepting. They looked at my paper work of the costs of what would have been an online purchase, and said they'd honor it but I'd have to accept delivery first. They even initialed it. Once I accepted delivery and came back, then they said that my numbers were wrong and that I did get the discount and movies free. Over the course of 3 days, I had to keep coming back because 1) the manager that could place the refund was in a meeting or 2) out to lunch or 3) not in until later in the evening. Only one guy on the entire staff can do refunds?!!!

Well, I got my money finally after much argument and threat of a full return. I was so disgusted, I threw the receipt in a drawer. Well, weeks later, I finally read the warranty and called to verify - I only had 3 years of warranty since the 1 year was concurrent... and I confirmed it with the phone support. Their only suggestion was from me to up it to 5 years at my cost. Those phone calls went on for 2 weeks. They said I must have misunderstood the terms, which is bull because I repeated it to the sales guy that sold me the TV at the time.

I love the TV but disgusted with the whole experience and it took a while to start enjoying the constant reminder in my living room. When I bought it, I felt good because the sales people made it a great experience... until the receipt and actual warranty was a total lie. As far I am concerned, they used my good will to steal from me.

Liars Liars Liars Liars. Never got a phone call back about the warranty. Never got the promised $50 gift card for all my troubles, which is fine because there is no way in hell I would ever step back into a Circuit City.

Once my warranty ends, I hope those a-holes go out of business.

I'm sorry, but the actions of one employee by no means qualifies as a declaration of the official policy of Circuit City. An article such as this should be labeled as "editoral" accepting that the reporter has not requested an official statement from Circuit City. If he has, he should report as such.

There was no mention in this story of "the consumers" asking to talk to the manager. It is almost certain that either the clerk in question is only holiday help who doesn't know what he is doing or the story is false.

It is certain that such deceptive practices are not CC policy and that no effort was made by "the consumers" to bring the attempted fraud to the attention of store management which is what they should have done (and is what anyone would have done if the story were true).

they deserver to go bankrupt if they can get this low. There's nothing worse than a store that intentionally deceive. Not much different from black stores...

Just think, you have one more thing to be grateful for: CC is going out of business before your warranty expires, which means you probably lose all coverage for those extra years you paid for!

Extended warranties are a scam, all too often they include language that restricts what they will cover and they charge a deductible on repairs that is greater than the cost of most repairs.

Circuit City doesn't deal honorably, never did.

But the real problem is people going out there and buying TVs they can't afford with money they don't have.

WTH? 12 months credit isn't enough, they've got to go for 24 months credit?

How about this, buy some used books, read those.

When you've got some of your credit cards paid off, then go buy the TV when you can actually afford it.

It looks like your story is at Best Buy because you say you left the store, then they talked you in to this deal. No mention that this took place at Circuit City till near the end of your narrative.

If this occurred on Black Friday, most retailers have a policy of not price matching competitors' Black Friday ads. I concur with previous poster -- no attempt seems to have been made to contact store management, and reporter apparently did not contact CC for comment.

[It did not occur on Black Friday. It occurred one week ago. -Rick]

One employee? Lol - he was the manager..

FYI, from the story:
"He asked the clerk why he had done this, and again the clerk replied he could not sell that TV at that price. The consumer then asked to speak to the manager and was told that he was the manager. They withdrew their application for credit and left the store."

No, I'm not talking about the one in the article, I'm talking about the one guy who's calling himself different names (Peter, Aaron and Dave) on this comment board, always ending his title sentences in "..." and saying the same bloody thing (Not to mention the chance of three out of five comments' authors call themselves by their first names is in the nanometers). It's ridiculous, get a real job CC PR-douchebag. Seriously.

Advice from someone who use to work at those retailers that sells extended warranty.

1. Stores always hire TEMPORARY/SEASONAL employees during the holidays.
2. We, the temp/seasonal employees BS all we can about the warranty to people that don't read the warranty paper. Why??? Extended Warranty gives us more $$$comission$$$ than the merchandise itself.
3. After the holidays, we're out and along with our big bonus from selling BS warranties.

Why we do it? My manager once told me to do it, and, let's face it, we do what we must to survive and make money during the holidays.

So, IF you're even thinking about buying any warranties, treat all words coming out of the sales person mouth as BS. :D

I work in retail as a Corp Mgr for a company that could be considered a CCity competitor, and there is no way that they, or any other retailer, would attempt fraud like this. Anybody can write anything they want - it doesn't make it true. My observations of CCity is they are actually one of the better retailers when accomodating customers.

On the off chance, I Googled "circuit city">"bait and switch". Was I surprised by how many recent and not so recent occurrences of bait and switch have gone on at Circuit City. I know, here in CA, Walmart was found to be over-charging customers. But a deliberately doing a bait and switch is not right, especially after agreeing on the price.

I do not believe the "sales clerk" was the manager. The customers should have gotten the name of the employee and contacted the store from a phone to speak to the manager. A sure fire way to find out if he was truthful or not.

And I do agree that the reporter should have gotten a comment or two from the store. But, as an ex-employee of Fry's, I know the first response would be "we do not do that".

everyone does those dots. its to show the title continues in the comment.

To elaborate on this further, the legal ramifications of a fraud like this far outweigh the small gain CCity would make. It just doesn't make sense. Items such as televisions have such a high mark up, a manager could just adjust the price, and the company would still likey make margin. It just sounds very much like a false story. No disrespect to the author, but in my retail experience when I hear extreme one-sided stories like this, it is generally bad/false information from the customer, or just an attempt to work up the readers at the retailers expense. Being in retail for 32 years, and knowing the business, I have to give CCity the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Well, warranty is third party outside of CC, so I will be covered when they go out of business. I only bought the warranty because the terms matched BB's 4 years, which ended up not the case. I went through all the manager hierachy and coorperate phone tree to try to get my issue resolve, but after they got my money and I accepted delivery... ...they didn't give two flips. In the end, I choose not to even buy anything at all from CC store or CC online and just tell people my story as a warning. They lost my business because there were times since then that I would have bought more stuff... instead I will support the businesses (even if it's a few more dollars) that have always done me right. Time lost dealing with those types is just not worth the potential savings... ...if it might end up costing you more anyways.

Circuit City's websire no longer lists a Capitol Hill location, that store does not belong to Circuit City anymore, it has been closed and sold to a liquidation company. Perhaps a little investigation before publication is in order?

I hate all those pseudo electronic stores that don't even sell component level electronics but I have to agree with Sean Carter. There's no way they would attempt such fraud. If they are in financial trouble then they try to liquidate their overstock not alienate the customers and lose them to a competitor. CC and all the other stores for that matter had ALWAYS matched prices unless the competitor's price was a limited sale tag. So something is seriously missing in this article.

I caught the comment above about loosing the coverage you have paid for with Circut City declaring bankruptcy. Not true; CC's extended warranty is backed by GE Assurant Insurance, a third party. They will be honored for the full term.

If this happened to me I'd have called the corporate store, while inside of CC. CC is actually one of the nicer stores and have will honor a rebate even when the rebate company doesn't. For example HP didn't honor a rebate for a printer I bought at CC and I told CC managers and they gave me the money for the rebate, on the spot. All I needed was the denial letter from HP. How many other stores do this?
If CC or any other company was pulling a "bait and switch" it's against the law. Why did the consumer not contact corporate? Why not interview the manager? Oh I know why, this makes for a good story on a company that's filed for bankruptcy.
F- for lack of newsreporting. Get your facts together and show the "whole" story, not just a one sided story that "looks good" to your readers. You actually look bad and made a fool out of your newspaper, not only to your locals but to those out of state. (FYI google sent this report as a CC report. I wonder what the manager of this CC is thinking right now. Hopefully he or she tells their side and makes your news reporting look even worse then it already does.

LOL nice try. But try harder. I've seen urban legends that make better story telling!

CC employees don't make $$comission$$ not even on extended warranties. Nice try tho! (Oh get your facts straight before writing a comment, it makes it a bit more umm believable!)

I have no doubt in my mind that the author either fabricated or omitted truth in this article. Circuit City will mach any competitors price that is advertised, non closeout/clearance, competitor has in stock and is within a fare distance of the store. Perhaps one of these criteria was not met we can't know since the author was so vague.

[The floor clerk (who was also the manage) agreed to match the price. When the sale was rung up, the clerk-manager intentionally rang up a lesser product for delivery. Had the two not specifically and intentionally noticed it, they would've received a product that is nearly what they wanted, and probably wholly adequate, but not the product they ordered. -Rick]

But beside that point we cannot rationally nor logically assume that every single CC employee is the same or commits the same act. We don't and shouldn't be blamed for one persons acts that were probably in all reality justified.

I work at circuit city. whoever the person was at the store did honor store policy but made a bad customer service decision. the employee should have been upfront about not being able to match the price. unfortunatly every business everywhere has some bad employees.

the price match policy however did not apply to the customers purchase. the price match means the customer gets the lower of the two offers. if another retailer offers the exact same item with the exact same financing it is a match providing that it is a real retailer within a 25 mile radius. no, ebay does not count. it also has to be a real store that is authorized by the manufacturer to sell the said item. if there is a 100 dollar price differance but a longer no interest financing you save more money at circuit. i know at my store we sit down with the customer and work out the math with them. if need be, adjust the price so they get a better deal at my store. the policy very explicitly states it is item for item/offer for offer. the sales person at the store was completely wrong in lying to the customer and in my opinion doesnt deserve to work at circuit, but as long as the price match is within our policy we beat it, at least at my store.
In my store we dont want customers, we want guests, that come back repeadedly. I know most of my customers by name and follow up after they have made their purchase. we do whatever we can to work with every customer to give them what they want.

[The sales clerk told them directly that they would match the price on that very item. And did so twice, by two separate clerks on two separate days. It was only during the ringing up that the switch was made, and the reality of them not honoring the price was discovered. -Rick]

To me this seems pretty fake. If this was indeed true why is it no one has heard of it, why is it they way the couple spoke to a "manager" seems suspect, and the fact that they would tell a customer yeah ill give it to you at that price then ring up a different tv all in a few minutes is idiotic. If anything it seems that you are posting a obvious editorial since this has no back up, no reporting on who this "couple" is and who this "manager" is. If they indeed where tricked by a manager you would think you would mention who and look more into it.

Remember back when CC management decided to replace their higher-paid upper-level employees with lower-paid ones? Incidents like this is the result.

All the stores in Georgia are empty . Most of anything worth buying is soldout on-line already . And they are not honoring my rewards points from my Circuit City card . Just close the doors already . And if they did survive , I'm cancelling my card and never going back into that store again !

I'm pretty sure if you would of asked for a manager that this issue would of been resolved the first time.

Best Buy does this stuff all the time. Just because you have one bad experience at circuit city, shouldn't just give everyone the go ahead to tell the company to "die". There are alot of good employees at circuit city that could be out of jobs soon.

Oh and also, CC isn't on commission anymore (since 2001), so its not like they get any more $BUCKS& for selling warranty (covered by a third party), which are really good on some items. Learn facts before you just throw words out there.

Doesn't matter if management was aware of the fraud or not you are on the hook for the scams your worker bees run on the clock. As far as CC people not being on commission that MAY be true, but I am sure they have a quota or sales goal - which is what this is really all about.

Heads should roll on this one.

Circuit City is not a bait and switch. Circuit City does match prices. The error is that they do not match on Black Friday. Most retailers do not. This was the first year Walmart has provided the service.

[The article was published on Black Friday, however the event took place over one week prior. -Rick]

Hahahaha....Ummmmm READ AGAIN !!! Maybe, it's RTFM? :D

Let me help you understand the differences between PAST and PRESENT tense....who used to is past....past does not necessary mean one day ago...

And if you knew anything about CC, you would know that they use to pay their Sales Counselor comission. Lastly, did I said I work for CC???? I said RETAILERS...that could mean any retailers...

Guess you live in a world full of CC only and no other retails business exist other than CC for you.

First, as far as the price match goes, if Circuit Shitty is doing a 24 month no interest program, and HH gregg is not, and they happen to have a lower price with 12 months no interest it is NOT the same deal.

[Mark, you're missing the point. The clerk may be under no legal obligation to honor anything. However, he said he would on the floor and then switched the item out at checkout hoping the couple wouldn't notice. That's a shady business practice consumers need to know about. -Rick]

Im sure the exchange went this way:

Person: "So you have this sony xbr for 2500 dollars huh?"

CC Clerk: "Yes we do sir"

Person: "And you price match competetors?"

CC Clerk: "Yes we do, as long as its the same model and isnt on clearance, we 100% match competitors deals, and total price."

Person: "Excellent..."

Comes back the next day...

Person: "OK i will take that sony xbr that hh gregg has for 300 dollars less, and you guys have 24 months no interest, I will take that too."

CC Clerk: "Sir we can match the price, but not the no interest, since HH gregg is doing a 12 month program, it isnt the same deal."

Person: (in a lame attempt at an 'Ah ha!' moment "But you said yesterday you price match!"

CC Clerk: "We do, we price match deals, we could do it for cheaper at 12 months no interest...or get you a very similar TV that is both cheaper and you can get the 24 months no interest."

Person: "Sure"


And then they spazz out. I have worked at both Circuit Shitty, and at Best Buy, its the same issues at BOTH places. To accuse circuit city of going out of business for this is absurd, if you want to give reasons they are going out of business there are way more horror stories that are both relevant and 100% factual.

To me, the author of this story, Rick, sounds like the dude from NC that got "taken" by Circuit was a friend of his bitching about it over thanks giving dinner. How about being a credible author and contacting Circuit City, to be unbiased, but no, this was much easier.

I will never shop at Circuit City again after working for them, but its not because of issues like this, this is just a dumb person trying to take advantage of 18 year old sales people, and a manager realizing what was going on the next day and not letting it happen for that douche bag customer.

And I'm speaking from personal experience here. They advertised a great deal online for a laptop only a few months ago, but said you could only order it by phone and not online. A bit odd, I thought, but this was a good deal. Called them up and a woman told me that it was an error, but offered to sell me a much more expensive laptop. The *error* stuck around for hours and hours before it was finally removed. Even if it was an honest mistake, they're still required to honor their advertised prices. (Otherwise there would be no incentive to fix these "errors" LOL.) I'm sick of them and their policies.

Mr. Hodgin makes several mistakes in his story and conclusion. I did a quick check of filings on PACER and found the following:

[Ed, you're missing the point. Regardles of any legal abilities enabling or disabling CC, two separate sales clerks (one of them also being a manager) told the couple that CC would match h.h.Gregg's price.

Everyone agreed and they went to checkout. There, the clerk/manager switched the product. When confronted about it, he said "Oh, we can't actually match that price" basically.

CC lied to the consumers and tried to sell something lesser as something greater. Consumers need to know this. -Rick]

-----
1.CC is still in bankruptcy filed in the Eastern District under Ch 11 so bankruptcy rules trump any state laws and FTC regulations.
2. First Day orders- EDVA local rules prohibit "loss sales" with out approval by the court and the creditors committee. The creditors committee has not met yet so no way the item could have been sold on a price match at less than cost. The concept of fair value is a real exercise:
"Market Participant Assumptions
SFAS 157 requires that fair values be based on the perspective of a "market participant." Consideration of the market participant's viewpoint in fair value estimates is not new; the use of market-participant assumptions is mandated in Statements 141, 142, and 144. For example, when determining fair value in the context of an impairment, both Statements 142 and 144 provide for the use of market participant assumptions when that information is "available without undue cost and effort." Otherwise, an entity's own assumptions may be used.

"Definition Of Fair Value
Fair value is defined in SFAS 157 as "the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants in the market which would be the most advantageous for the asset or liability." Notably, this definition focuses on exit values, e.g. the value when an asset is sold, rather than entrance values."

A sale at less than "Fair Value" requires the Judge to determine that the asset value is impaired.
3. Saying I need to go home and check cancels any price agreement. The claim that they came back the next day with the agreement as to price is false as matter of law and particularly bankruptcy law.
4. Tuesday the 18th, "An attorney for Panasonic attending the hearing by conference call said the company would request an injunction asking the chain to return its merchandise. Circuit City carried Panasonic products on a consignment basis." Sony did the same on the 19th. So the rules for sales could have very easily changed by the time the customers came back.
4. The buyers clearly lied about the credit application. The PACER docket sheet shows that GE Capital did CC's prepetition financing and was not included in the DIP financing plan. That was turned over to JPMorgan Chase. CC customer financing wasn't approved until the 24th. So if the incident occurred the week of the 15th-22nd there was no one authorized to make the loan. If Mr. Hodgin's statement that the incident occurred before the 24th is correct then the customers have misrepresented a significant portion of what happened.
5.It is very common for the rules and procedures to change hourly for the debtor as the creditors make their filings especially in the first 10 days as creditors and vendors jockey for position. Since the customers wanted a Sony TV it is very possible that an overnight fax to the store would change or cancel the deal after Sony's request for protection.
6. Mr. Hodgin's conclusions reflect a lack of understanding of the rules of bankruptcy and the statement of "Deceit and Lies", unless he is speaking about the buyers, puts him perilously close to a business visit by the US Trustee under 18 USC 157(3). Claim to be dumb, they will believe you, and publish a retraction.

There is enough erroneous information around without people who do not understand the complexity of the bankruptcy process screwing it up.

5 years ago, I bought several items together with one that had $40 mail-in rebate. However, Circuit City did not honor the rebate at all. Since then, I have never bought a single item from Circuit City.
Well, I am not sorry the Circuit City at all. It deserves it.

The manager at the Dallas Circuit City is an Alien. He has tentacles under his shirt and he sucks the life force out of customers w/out them knowing. You don't believe me? Well, it has to be true, because it's written here. Don't you know everything in print is true? (LOL) Maybe both me and Rick should be working for the National Enquirer. HB

This really is no suprise to me. I use to work at a Best Buy where that was more of a practice than a mishap. Warranties always overlap.. buy the 3 year warranty if you want, but you only get 2 years of it because the first year is covered by the manufacturer in almost every case anyways. Not only is there the common "miscalculations" with warranties, but never expect to pay what they tell you unless you have checked and double checked your sales receipt. Ever bought a computer and been offered "free" netzero or whatever they throw at you when your at the register for "only $ .01, and all you have to do is call them to cancel if you dont want it"? Why do you think they charge your credit card for that .01 instead of take cash and REQUIRE that you call? The arabs on the other end of that line make you so pissed that you usually hang up before you actually get it cancelled, and then still charge you monthly for the service you dont get. There are many reasons employees like myself have quit, its not that uncommon to get shafted when you think your getting a deal. The only employee that doesnt care what kind of deal your getting, or what the store is getting in profit, is the one that doenst greet you. Think about it.

I fully agree with you: nowadays when all people should be more careful about their spending, some apply for 24-months credit for what? For a TV which will be obsolete before they pay their first rate! $2200 for a TV? I wonder if they have mortgage on their home!

I just went to Circuit City in San antonio to see if they would order the "City Deal" for the Samsung 42" Plasma TV WebID: PN42A450 plus the XBOX 360 Arcade version for a grand total of $799.98. Suposedly no stores in San Antonio had these TV's in stock, verified with calls and web page inquiry. This store actually had one on the floor. So I asked if I could get the deal. They refused citing an error on the advertisement. They proceeded to offer a cheaper TV and the XBOX for $769.98, which I refused. The advertisment and the WEB Page sale were incorrect? I don't think so! The have blatantly lied to my face with the smoking gun in their hand. I will refuse ti buy anything else from Circuit City for they foster a dishonest market place with little regard for honor and integrity. Good Bye Circuit City. This world is a much better place with one less immoral store.

Nov.28,'08----Multiple deceit. Purchased a Samsung 40A550 per web site 800#. Immediately attempted to schedule delivery and after four day's of hang by...the computers are down...we will call you back within 2 hours,(I called Corporate. I got a delivery date.)



The Basic delivery fee of $54.99 included unpacking the box, inspecting and hooking up to a video source, ensuring there is a picture, removal of packing materials and old T.V. to be recycled if desired. All delivery did was place the box on the floor, give me a receipt and leave. On the receipt the $54.99 delivery fee that was disclosed to me was increased to $69.99.
During the ordering the salesman told me I absolutely needed the MONSTER HDMI cable for $92.00.
I used it and ordered an HDMI cable from Amazon.com for $1.41 s&h, and I failed to detect any difference in picture or audio quality.
The Samsung LN40A550 has a very impressive picture.
Monster cables are a rip off and basically a tool to improve their profit margin.