Comments on: CompUSA clarifies details on store closings

Extended warranties, gift cards, rain checks, and rebates will be honored. All sales are now final.

[High On Life]

Oh Well!

I Bought my lap top from them and when it needed serviced I got it back scratched on the cover,I complained and nothing was done.I never made another purchase GoodBye CompUSA!

[RussJr]

CompUSA is no loss

My last purchase was four years ago for a switch, and like a moron I purchased the extended warranty. What a rip-off. They tried to replace my switch with a hub and after a lot of wrangling over a 45 minute period, two "associates" and manager they told me to shove it.

The interesting part was after I found out their "extended warranty" was only good for a one time use! Of course none of this was made clear by anyone at the time of purchase. Subsequently I did a lot of research on the Internet and found postings from ex-employees that stated that they were severely reprimanded if they did not sell a warrant on EVERY item going out the door.

Good riddance to a rip-off company that I feel gave little, if any, value-add to a brick and mortar purchase. They died by their own hand.

[dbs529087]

bull

this comment you made of the warrant is good one time is every where appantley you dont pay attention to that and you have no idea what your talking about i work for compusa in tn and trust me buddy if they told you to shove it they had a reason to more then likely you were being a what is that word oh an a$$ so get over on bad expereince is not enough to make a comment

[drbruce2]

CompUsa

The reason CompUsa is going out of business is because of the attitude of their employees. They always acted as if I was imposing upon them. They did not like me interrupting their conversations. That was during the rare times somebody was on the sales floor.They did not know their products, and did not want to know their products.They could not make recommendations, and invariably knew less than I did. Their attitudes did not arise out of the blue; it filtered down from management. They were hoisted from their own petards. Pity.

[docster87]

sad

I liked them, sad to see them go. I got some great over the top
unexpected service from them. Can't say it of the national chain,
but the Clearwater Florida store was/is the BEST store ever.

[bcsimac]

CompUSA closes down

I actually worked for this company back in the late nineties
through 2001. I agree the service and management sucked.
They were so into selling "extended warranties" that they forgot
about people and people's needs. They did treat employees
badly at times. As for the guy who said the employees didn't
know the products and couldn't make good product
recommendations, sir I can tell you one thing. I knew my
products, brands, developers, and the companies that made the
products and services. I was the kind of guy who cared about
knowing my products and knowing what to recommend for what
the customer wanted to do. I took extrodinary pains to make
sure I knew ahead of time of any possible software or hardware
bugs or issues that might arise in a product. I would download
bug fixes, patches, software updates, and shareware and
freeware that might be helpful for solving many users problems.
I was signed up to more newsgroups, blogs, newsletters, and etc
than I could even read or manage. I cared about taking care of
customers. I gave everything I had into my job and my
profession. I am sure there were many other employees who
were as dedicated.

[orphu]

I worked for them also

I was in their corporate sales department and, speaking only about the location at which I worked, someone like you would have been an anomaly. Our retail sales people cared about getting discounts on hardware/software, and not much else. It got so bad that corp sales people starting coming in through the freight delivery area because if someone saw us on the sales floor and even thought we worked there, we'd end up spending the rest of our day on the sales floor, which was not what our job was. And, support from the coporate office was laughable. It's too bad to see competition to the other electronics retailers go away, but Comp hung themselves with poor leadership, from the top down.

[johnxtampa]

IT'S THE REBATES... (and it serves them right)

Yes, there are lots of complex reasons for their downfall, but using myself as an example, I'd easily have spent more than $1,000 at CompUSA instead of a combination of Staples, Best-Buy (ugh), and the Internet, if it weren't for the fact that just about every time you see something you want at a good price at CompUSA, it was "after rebate"...

Here's a shopper's tip... Just a little looking around and patience, you can get everything you want at the "after rebate" price, WITHOUT shopping at a place that uses rebates. It's true, I've been doing it for years.

[Save_Me_from_my_Govt]

IT'S THE REBATES... (and it serves them right):

You are SOOO right. I worked for CUSA for a couple of years, and I know from the "inside" about the "mail-in-rebates" scam. In every case in their advertising, the prices are ALWAYS "after rebates" pricing, and even after I left the company, I would NEVER buy ANYTHING that was based on mail-in-rebates. It was a guaranteed way to either lose the money, or give them the use of it for up to 6 months.

And you are also right about being able to find everything you want at the "after rebate" price without shopping there. Ten minutes on the Internet, and you can find it without the hassles.

CUSA is a victim of their own flawed decisions about marketing and employee-compensation. They couldn't keep any decent people because the primary job of every CUSA employee after they got hired was to search for a decent paying job.

[sanenazok]

Only so many electronics retailers

The reason they're closing is that there are only so many electronics retailers that can fit in the market. BestBuy and Circuit City took away the high margin items from CompUSA (tv's and other entertainment components) so CompUSA turned into a warranty store. Then BB and CC started selling their tech services and then it was just a matter of time.

I've routinely bought items from CompUSA but only when they were on sale. Funny, last time when I bought something online, CompUSA shipped it to the wrong address BUT the UPS guy noticed the mistake! Oh well.

[BigGuns149]

I disagree slightly...

CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy coexisted together just fine for much of the late 90s. They were all usually profitable companies ~10 years ago so I disagree that there is a limit on electronics retailers. Circuit City started firedog only about a year ago, so I don't think that CompUSA died due to competition from tech services. Furthermore, I understand that CompUSA's tech services were growing fairly well, the problem was that they were losing far more millions on their inventory than their tech services could make up for.

Furthermore, CC I understand would be >$100 million dollars deeper in debt were it not for their warranty sales. Circuit City may be going down next. There are rumors that they are subject to a buyout.

The real problem is that retailers aren't selling things that people want to buy and a lot of people dislike the retail experience so much they are willing to wait for mail order. In some cases it is cheaper even after shipping. I see so much junk on the local electronics ads that I don't see anybody realistically wanting to buy.

I would definitely agree though that competition has driven down margins, which played a factor, but I don't think it was the only factor.

[clsmithj]

Tiger Direct, Newegg, Frys contributed to their death

I kind of think the online retailers killed CompUSA which they had closed half of there stores awhile back to focus more to their online service, when TigerDirect and NewEgg come along with better deals, low and fast shipping. Coupled with other online retailers CompUSA became just another e-store in a sea of many. Plus they were getting out ranked by the electronic retailer Frys locally.

[akbar_or_jeff]

sorry to see them go

But I will have no trouble picking the bones of the dead body. CompUSA is really the old model of doing business, the customer was lucky to be allowed to shop in the store. By and large the floor folks knew nothing about the products (once in a while ya would find a sharp one, but they would not be there next time). They pushed ya a warrenty that was worthless. The selection was usually poor. But what chapped me in the wrong place was when the shinney new store opened here in Cincinnati, I went in looking... was impressed with a machine that was in the "Business" section ( this was late 90's ) I asked the "Business" sales guy to wrap one up, he asked how many I want, I told him one. And he no kidding laughed at me. I replyed, I hope you realize I am in the biz, and you just sealed the deal that I will recommend people go anywhere but here for products. He could not have cared less... and that interaction sums up the idea of customer service for the entire company.
I am guessing that everything will be no less then 40% off after christmas... too bad Apple will buy back the stock instead of discount it. I wanna new Mac Mini.

[BigGuns149]

You are clueless...

I am a bit befuddled to say the least. If you had such bad experiences with CompUSA why are you sorry to see them go. I think while the one guy was a bit mean in laughing at you that I won't not shop somewhere just because one employee is mean. Most business customers don't buy one of ANYTHING! If you have ever worked as a consultant for SMBs or even just an electronics retail store you would know that. When I worked for Fry's we regularly had business customers come in and buy 3-4 computers sometimes more. I remember having one business customer buy 100 flash drives! He probably found it a bit unusual that you were only buying one, although laughing at you wasn't warranted.

Contrary to what you said Apple will not buy back the stock. For two reasons: one Apple generally doesn't buy back inventory from retailers and Apple is about to update several of their products at MacWorld in January. Most manufacturers have return quotas in place for defective products usually about 10% anything beyond that and it is generally your problem unless you return it back to them within a fixed number of days(sometimes retailers accidentally order the wrong product or too many). Anything beyond that and they don't have to buy it back even if it is defective. Hence, if CompUSA probably can't return all their Apple inventory back to Apple. When CompUSA closed in Southern California they sold the Macs at a discount albeit a lot of people picked them up before they got past 10% discount because Apple is so rarely discounted anywhere.

I am a little befuddled as to what the new model of business really is. Other from having a little more competitive prices I am not sure how Best Buy are running their business much different. The blue shirts are pretty much clueless and most business products needed to be order through Best Buy for business (mail order), which is somewhat pointless since there are places like Fry's and Microcenter where I can pick up the product today and the products that aren't carried there I can buy cheaper with better return policies than BBB at other mail order vendors.

Bottom line I would be hard pressed to believe that you are in the "biz" otherwise you would understand why CompUSA failed. No matter what most people say most people don't buy somewhere based upon the knowledge of the employees or the selection provided they carry the products you want. For most people the only criterion is price. I remember dealing with people whom could get a machine with hard drive that was three times bigger, twice the ram, and a far better for $50 more and they wanted the cheaper desktop. Nevermind the cheaper machine took a good 20-30 seconds longer to boot, they just didn't care. Except in some of the larger markets I think that CompUSA would have trouble keeping the doors open trying to focus on the small percentage of customers whom really care about service.

[megabob6666]

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

They had a very strange business philosophy - sell the expensive stuff in the stores and sell the less expensive stuff online. I would have bought more from them if they sold the less expensive stuff in the stores. For example, if I needed a 3-pin fan adapter, their price online was $3.99, but in the store, it was $9.99; moreover, they would add shipping charges to the online stuff to make it almost as expensive as shopping in the store. If I am going to buy the stuff online, I'll get it from Newegg or Directron where the prices are low and the shipping is cheap and fast; even with shipping they are 20 to 25 percent cheaper than CompUSA. Their philosophy doomed them to failure, but if they had recognized why that was sooner, they might have salvaged their business.

[GlennW007]

Best stuff already gone??

Went to the Store Friday. Most items marked 10% off of high MSRP prices. Still, a lot of product was already gone. Most computers/laptop marked with a store manager price & that's it. RIP Comp USA.
I wonder if the clerks will show up at BB, CC, or one of the Office stores. OD, OM, Staples may be the big winners here.
Let your fingers do the shopping for stock on hand.

[jamesrfla]

So sad.

I like CompUSA because, they are the only store in our area that sells motherboards and CPUs.

[The_Decider]

Their "sale" is amusing

I went in the other day to see if they had anything worth buying.

10-20% off meant they were still by far the most expensive store in town. Even more then the mom and pop shops.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Sale prices are no sale

A few months ago when they closed the stores in my state, I went there hoping to find a good deal. I found a radar detector on sale- final closeout price! 10% off MSRP! Fantastic! Or... their 'regular' price was about $20 less than the MSRP. In this case I asked if I could just buy it at the regular price on the shelf tag instead of the 'special' sale price being advertised as it was cheaper that way.

They weren't happy about it, but they did do it. And then went back and removed all the shelf tags from their radar detector displays.

At one time it was a great store, but then we left the 90's.

[throckmorton_Mondo]

CompUSA

Dec 17, 2007
Newport News, VA

CompUSA is finally going out of business.
After dealing with them over the years and watching them start their Over priced merchandise + Rude and Ignorant staff policy they implimented some years ago and for reasons I can not understand, I am glad to see them finally going out of business. I would puzzle over the practices they used seemingly to convince people NOT to shop with them. I even spoke with different staff members over those same years
marveling each time that any one of them would have a "Technical" job let alone "any" job, at least one dealing with other living humans.
Anyway, when they are about 2 weeks from actually closing their doors I will drop in for a last look.

So long and thanks for all the fish(y) deals

[spruceman]

Compuka

Glad to see them go. Hope something good occupies their former retail space. Got burned by them back in 1998; and never bought anything from them subsequent unless I was sure it was a loss leader. I'm glad this area has a MicroCenter--never had a problem with them.

[steeldenali]

Horrible Customer Service

Due to Fresno's lack of a Fry's or any like store, I had to shop several times at the local Comp USA. I bought a 2 thousand dollar computer and several other expense items from the Best Buy next door simply becuase after 30 + minutes of watching idiots (woops, "employees")stand around and talk instead of helping a customer I couldn't take it anymore. One time I can understand, but not everytime I went in that friggin store.

ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!! C'mon Fry's (or anybody else for that matter)

[uspancho]

Hey bull, I read your comment or answer to RussJr, because she had a problem with a extended warranty at CompUSA. And you said to RussJr:
====================
this comment you made of the warrant is good one time is every where appantley you dont pay attention to that and you have no idea what your talking about i work for compusa in tn and trust me buddy if they told you to shove it they had a reason to more then likely you were being a what is that word oh an a$$ so get over on bad expereince is not enough to make a comment
====================

But, let me tell you some... bull buddy buddy. I support her, because... YOU ARE WRONG, AND ALL YOU SAID IS A "LIE", AND IS A "ROBBERY", TOO. WHEN YOU HAVE A CUSTOMER YOU "NEVER BUT NEVER AND NEVER YOU SAY A EXTENDED WARANTY COVER ONLY ONE TIME!!", BECAUSE IF YOU SAY THAT TO A CUSTOMER, THAT CUSTOMER DOESN'T BUY A EXTENDED WARRANTY, BECAUSE THE CUSTOMERS AREN'T STUPID SPENDING MONEY FOR SOMETHING THEY CAN'T HAVE. CompUSA SHOULD BE 100% CLOSED, OR MAYBE IS ALL READY CLOSED... JE JE JE. THAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR CUSTOMERS AND VERY BAD FOR YOU. SO, DON'T BE FRESH POSTING STUPID ANSWERS OR COMMENTS.

OK?... BULL BUDDY BUDDY BUDDY BUDDY.

[retracmj]

I have bought most of my computers and computer supplies from CompUSA. I have used them for computer repairs also. I have always been very satisfied with their products and service. I hate tht this is happening.