Comments on: Last days of Circuit City: Lousy bargains, rumpled salespeople

Don Reisinger spent a few hours at Circuit City over the weekend and he didn't like what he saw.

[MafiaPenguin]

Buy MS Equipt for below $70 and register, go to the sbscription center, and get $70 back + free MS Office 2007!

[HlLLARY CLITON]

If I were working there I'd sold you that tv for $10...whats CC gonna do fire me?

[tigerjuju]

Be warned. The Circuit City liquidation sale is really a scam.

I own a Harmony One remote, bought it for $150 after $30 rebate from Amazon 3 months ago. I went by one of the CC store a few weeks ago, the remote was priced at $199 after 30% off. It showed the regular price for the remote was $284. I have been following this remote closely since it was first introduced at CES. I know the MSRP is $250, not $284. I have never seen any one (including Circuit City before liquidation) selling this remote at a price higher than $250. They increased the regular price to give customers the illusion of a higher discount rate.

It's a wonder why CC did not go out of business sooner.

[ehumokay]

"I need a new HDTV."

No you don't. You simply WANT one. And the fact that you didn't really give an explanation as why you you needed one is of little help either.

[Homo-Consumerus]

"I was drawn to the Panasonic TH-58pz800u, which was on sale for approximately $2,600 at the store. I own the 50-inch model of that plasma and couldn't be more pleased with its quality. So when I saw it offered at such a discount, the wheels started turning and I was thinking about how I was going to be able to fit it into the back of my SUV."

I have never seen such beautiful poetry. Thank you.

- **** Consumerus

[Homo-Consumerus]

"I was drawn to the Panasonic TH-58pz800u, which was on sale for approximately $2,600 at the store. I own the 50-inch model of that plasma and couldn't be more pleased with its quality. So when I saw it offered at such a discount, the wheels started turning and I was thinking about how I was going to be able to fit it into the back of my SUV."

Your art lifts up our spirits in these times of need. When the world is crumbling around, you continue to hold high the best of the American values. Thank you again.

- **** Consumerus

[Jotas]

Dead on with the story. I along with three other co-workers have experienced the same thing at three different Circuit City stores. Put it this way, only certain items have been a great bargain but in reality it all as been overpriced and priced back to the MSRP price point. This liquidation was a joke.

[wahoospa]

From what I understand, Circuit City is already out of business. All the goods are owned by the company doing the liquidating. The liquidating company bought everything. They also, by law, have the right to bring in new merchandise to sell during the liquidation. A local TV station went to Circuit City a week or so ago and found there was really no discount on many, many items. In fact lots of time liquidating companies jack up the prices above retail before bringing them downward during the going out of business sale.

[pghcraig1]

the author of this article is clueless and should really stop writing for cnet as most of the trash he puts in print is just off.

hello dude... going out of business. not really being laid off.

you still act like circuit city is doing something wrong? there is no more cc. its a liquidation company.

no uniform.... well hey, would you really care at this point either?

[zigzag8336]

A somewhat similar situation happened to me. I had just got my Income Tax check and I had been in need of a new TV for some time now. Well, I had money to burn and I remembered that Circuit City was going out of business, what better way to get a new TV for a bargain right? Wrong. I got to Circuit City and found a decent selection of TV's remaining , and 30% off nonetheless, but, to my dismay, they were still more expensive than Best Buy! (where I had gone earlier in the day). I ended up buying a Samsung 40" 1080p LCD TV on sale from Best Buy for only $800, and that was cheaper than ANY of the HD TV's that Circuit City had to offer, even with their 30% off.

I heard from one of my friends that right before Circuit City started their going out of business sale, they jacked up their prices, so when they marked them down 30%, it was basically like they were selling things at regular price again. I don't know if that's true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, what has Circuit city got to lose, their reputation? They're going out of business anyway right?

[geofflee99]

I had a terrible experience with warrantee situations with Circuit City and told the manager 8 years ago they saw my last dollar. The poor service and not getting it mentality is why they are facing liquidation. I've told everyone I know and turned all my purchases away from them for a long time now. This article is not suprising at all to me.

[captn39]

In most cases the liquidation company owns the inventory within a store. Circuit City is just a shell the real company now in each store is the liquidation company, most time they will not deal with the price of items because the liquidation manager has to make his numbers in the closing of the store. As for the individual who was wondering what sucker would buy an extended service plan the plans are not and have never been owned by Circuit City they are owned by an insurance company like N.E.W. So any one who purchases a service plan with a product form Circuit City would have full protection they would have to contact the owner of the service plan...

[ironsnakemx]

I am sorry for all the people that lost their jobs because of CC closing but really the store was a piece of crap, horrible customer service and expensive as hell............ Every time i go to Best Buy a Salesperson is allways willing to help out .... i have bought almost all my electronics at Best Buy and i have never been mistreated .....Sorry but the only 3 times i went to CC they were allways mean to me .....specially the last time i went to one like 7 months ago there was this guy with pony tail and glasses who was very rude to me when i asked about the price of a laptop as it was more expensive in store than the price online.......never shopped at CC because of these problems

[littleM]

There is a sucker born every minute, and most use Windows Vista Ultimate on their $5,000 HP Media Center PCs that they bought at Circuit City with home equity loans they got from Lehmann who invested in AIG morgage-backed securitiies, which American taxpayers just gave $500 billion to bail out.

[tad0900]

Went to the sale at Circuit City 3 times looking to buy ANYTHING - but walked out empty each time. The last time I went, I had been in Best Buy the same morning, and even Best Buy's prices were cheaper - not to mention Amazon.

[lambstudio]

You're exactly correct. I found the same situation in the Circuit City in Middletown, NY i was never impressed with the store when it was solvent. I can understand why it's in trouble. What ever happened to, "Market Driven Quality"?

[knorwitz]

I was is the Montgomeryville, PA store last night. Four red-shirted kids, I mean employees, were playing basketball with a soccer ball and trashcan in a taped-off area. Not a care in the world.

[Wheeler89]

It is unfortunate that Don has to mock these employees . They plus 35000 co workers will be going to the unemployment line next week. The problem is the liquidation company who gives these employees at most a few weeks extra to find another job. If you go to a liquidation sale do not expect a high level of service and product knowledge. Do not expect a deal until the percentage is a least in the 40 to 70's. The liquidator lays out the law to the remaining employees and if you do not follow it you will be gone instantly. Once CC is done Best Buy and other competitors will raise the prices . Liquidation is never good for the consumer in the long run. Also Don maybe out of touch the the rest of the nation who cant afford to load $3000 TV 's in there "SUV" to add to the collection of his HDTV's. What about if the laid of people do not read CNET no more because they have to sell their PC.

[rristucciacnet]

I went to a CC liquidation sale to buy myself a new hard drive. I found the unit I wanted and a reasonable price, so I bought it. When I got home and opened the box, instead of a 500GB SATA-II Western Digital drive I found a 320MB EIDE drive that WD stopped selling in 2001. Someone at CC had opened up the box, replaced the drive with an old, obsolete unit. Thankfully, the people at Western Digital really know how to take care of customers (unlike CC) and agreed to replace my drive. Stuff like this makes it hard for me to feel sorry for the employees at my local store that lost their jobs.

[mase7277]

Yea Don's article was completley subjective.. I have been with the company for 6 years now and seen some of the things that have gone on. For Don to sit here and basicaly state his opinion and assume everyone will follow is a failure on his part. some things are priced alright others could be bettter but your always going to have the foreign market have one up on you.. I've seen plenty of times Best Buy couldnt match our prices as well as sometimes we couldnt touch theres. This liquidation has gone so well they gave us 8 days left of employment far ahead of the original march 31st. So Don go sit on your thumb. I was at work yesterday and sold 17k in display tvs in 2 and a half hours.. People are still buying from us bc chances are we have decent prices comparing with local markets. liqudators are basing there markdowns on sales and have held it steady bc we are doing 200% to budget most days. Don you have to look at the whole picture dude.. its little people like you that make me sick. and your right some employees really dont care anymore.. some do.. go to mcdonalds go to target you see the same thing. so add another finger with that thumb. Don can we write about unemployment being raised next?? have a great day!

[cfinger67]

First of all, to all the bitter CC employees about to hit the streets, you are one of the "indirect" causes of CC's downfall... CC was once a "Good to Great:" company built on flexibility and customer service. Then your corporate management decided to save money and let go of all the "expensive" professional salespeople and replaced them with hourly workers, all but indistinguishable from the dudes working at Wal-Mart (despite your protests to the contrary). Now look at how many of these same "replacement " CC employees are posting their "I don't care anymore" venom in blogs and forums. Nice. Love the ones blaming customers for not shopping at CC back before the liquidation, as if that would have made a difference. And stop the hate for those buying tvs you can't afford. If someone can, how does that affect you and your situation? Whining will not help you replace your $8 hour job. It's sad to see CC fail, but they lost sight of how to best position the company within the consumer electronics market. BB sucks, too. Bricks and mortar establishments will continue to fade away as long as bitter, disaffected workers show more interest in playing grab ass and talking to their buddies than actually providing quality customer service. To those that still value helping customers, I hope you find good employment, as you are a rare commodity!