Comments on: Black Friday showdown: Best Buy vs. Circuit City

It could be the LA locations I visited, but I found much longer lines at Circuit City. That doesn't mean they were doing more business though. Best Buy was much better organized.

[chuchucuhi]

not at electronics stores but...

We went to the Disney Store which has about a 30min wait to get into the store and a 2 hour line that wrapped around the store. JCPenny took about an hour in line and so did Kohl's. I did used to work at Best Buy and they had several meetings with all the employees about that day and we would get in very early and get our final briefing before the store opened so they do try to stay a little organized. It's probably a little easier for them to pick up holiday help because you get the employee discount shortly after you're hired as a seasonal employee.

[twilla44]

Circus City

Went to get the Sharp 19" TV for $249 - Sorry they were out of them, but they had a crumby one for less money - $199. Same number of pixels, but the resolution was way different. The blacks were more gray than the Sharp. Just another bait and switch from them. Help was polite and tried to be helpful. Not their fault the store pulls bait and switch. Lots of people were grabbing the inferior one though. Did my homework before I got there and wasn't fooled. Thanks C/net for good information.

[spartan216]

this is why it's called BLACK friday

if you want to get the good deals, then you will have to wait in line for 12 hours like the rest of us. dont think you are special. in fact, you probably think you are especially smart for figuring out their little "game". NO. that is how you know you are at a good retailer. they dont have what you want, so they offer a solution. what more do you want? if you can't handle these things, then you should not go out on black friday. wait until all of the old, technologically deprived people go the next day... you are lazy and self-centered. get over it and move on.

[y2kdaddio]

Circuit City Is A Loser

I hope you folks have better luck at CC than I did. I will NEVER shop there again. They jerked me around on a rebate, even when they knew they were wrong. Then said they would send me the rebate. Then sent me a letter saying they wouldn't. I even went to the store, they said they made a mistake, but I had to resubmit everything again. The people at the store didn't even know what a PCI slot was in a computer. You can do better than Circuit City for price and especially for service. Shop somewhere else for better bargains and service.

[Chaoticamusic.com]

Chaotica CD search

I was trying to buy the new Chaotica CD "Prison on Decay" but I
wasn't going to wait in line at CC for an hour. Best Buy was sold
out , so I got it online at Chaoticamusic.com. I guess iTunes has
it too, but I want the actual disc.
I ordered a couple more as gifts for my sisters teen boys, while I
was at it.

[lingsun]

Sounds like Circuit City in Wisconsin too.

A couple of years ago at Circuit City I found out we would have to wait in line forever just to find out if they still had the advertised items. Today I went to Best Buy. I had my item before I got in line. They had so many checkers that I think the total wait time was only 5 minutes.

[cooperalex2004]

Minnesota

I work at the local Fox affiliate, and I was of course stuck in the
audio booth and unable to shop. I did however get to see
numerous stories from around the country and it seemed
Minnesota had the weirdest setup. The local Mall, Eden Prairie
Center (down the street), had over 50 stores open at 1 AM!!!
They even gave out three $1000 shopping sprees for the first
group of people. The lines were insane (I watched from our live
shot inside the mall) and the parking lots were at capacity with
people circling. The Best Buy (Not in the Mall) opened at 5AM,
and the parking lot was full well before opening, along with
people camping out from Noon on Thanksgiving to get their
$500 off the Generic Brand HDTVs. I am proud to say I did not
participate in the craziness, realizing the time wasted in some
lines isn't worth the discounts, along with the outdoor temp
dropping to 15 degrees overnight.

Crazy! Just wait for "Cyber Monday"

[curmudgeonlygoat]

Pleasant experience.

I normally avoid going anywhere near a mall on Black Friday, but
Office Max had some prices in their ad that I just couldn't pass
up. I went to the store about 10 AM and was amazed at how well
staffed it was. It was almost like having personal escorts through
the store. I was able to get evetrything I went for (which really
amazed me) and was finished and on my way out in under 10
minutes.

[Vonmaxx]

Circuit city has lost me.

Circuit city is off my list. Best Buy is BEST. Best Buy has people that
want to help and are there to help. Circuit City fired their best
employees this year, Because they were paid too much.

[HWGuthrie]

Circuit City was slow, slow, slow

My daughter and I went this morning (11/23) to pick up some great deals on DVDs at Circuit City. While most of the long lines snaked all through the store, we thought we struck gold when we found a line where we were about 12th in line. After an hour and a half, we finally got checked out. You are correct that their POS computer system is way outdated and is a major source of their problems. It's shameful for a store that represents itself as a technology company. They had the same problem last year and we doubt we will shop there on Black Friday ever again. There are way too many other good stores out there.

[spartan216]

what do you expect?

it is called BLACK friday for a reason. when you come out to a store on black friday, then you should be prepared to wait in lines... as for the POS, i should say that these are the most dependable systems and computers anywhere. they do not crash or freeze like the other technology stores. when you go high-tech, be prepared for a crash sometime down the line. this same thing can be said about waiting in line. when you are in a line averaging 20 seconds a person, that is great until the system goes down. then you will have to wait for the company to contact IBM, have IBM to call the store back and have the store make a claim. then IBM will spend about 30 minutes trying to fix the system. then the cashier will re-boot the computer. after about 45 minutes, you will be able to check out. meanwhile, the faithful circuit city customer will stand in a line averaging 30 seconds a customer (only a few seconds longer) and be out of the line faster than the customer at another store, plus, they will get a better buy. so you can go to best buy or staples, or whereever you might go, but be prepared for their high-tech systems to crash at any minute

[dromesburg]

Circuit City - does what they do BEST - NOTHING!

GREAT WAY TO START THE 2007 HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON....

How about I get up early this morning and place an online order
to pick up 1 seagate external hard drive at the Circuit City 7219
McKnight Road, Pittsburgh PA 15136.

I order 1 Seagate 500GB external drive for $129.99, after
rebates it will cost me $79.99....

Today is the busiest shopping day and I only want 1 item, this
external hard drive. I place my online order, receive an order
number and show that my credit card was to be billed. My order
status shows that I can go to the store and pick up my order.

1st I called the phone number for the store on my receipt for
my online order. I wanted to call ahead just to make SURE my
drive would be ready and waiting for me to pick it up. I call the
number and over the course of 38 minutes, I hear at least 9
people state, who are you holding for, what are you holding for,
please hold on, please hold, hold, etc... After 38 minutes and
never being able to ask my question ONCE, I hang up.

I drive over 40 minutes to the store thinking, I can only imagine
what my experience will be at the store. Low and behold I WAS
NOT DISAPPOINTED! First I am told my order isn't even in their
computer and I am holding in my hand the receipt for my online
order that specifically states the stores address and to GO PICK
UP MY ORDER AT THE STORE. Then the girl disappears for a
while in the back, so I already know what is going to happen, I
remain calm. Then she comes back up to tell me they have no
drives, they do not have my order and this is their busiest
shopping day of the year.

I said to her; It doesn't matter to me what today is, if you offer
IN STORE PICK UP and tell me I can pick up my order and I ONLY
order 1 item, that is all I care about. If you can't properly handle
someone ordering 1 single hard drive online for instore pickup,
then you SHOULDN'T offer in store pickup, period! Doesn't
matter if its a slow day, busiest day or fast day, you offer a
service, showed I could pick up my order, there is really nothing
else to understand. Then she told me that everything is
"HANDLED" through their corporation office. Pushing the blame
to some one else. I told her it didn't matter again, you offer this
service, etc...

I asked for the manager, JON was the managers name. He had a
slight attitude to start with, I briefly explained what was going
on, he said he would see what he could do. He comes back with
a 750 GB and tells me this is the best he can do and the drive is
$189.xx and I ask about rebates and he tells me there are NONE.
So for twice the rebated price I can get a price for 1/2 more
store space, pay twice the price, no rebates and so far I've only
wasted 3 hrs of my day now. I said to JON where is the win in
this offer for me? He said this is all he can do. He tells the girl
behind the counter to give me a $24 gift card for their 24
minute guarantee and I said forget IT. I do NOT want a gift card,
I only wanted my drive so I could go home and do whatever I
need to do... I call Circuit Citys customer service number and it
is solid busy for 2 1/2 hrs so nothing will happen there.

I am not being unreasonable and I didn't yell, scream or make a
scene. As I told the girl, it is SO EASY TO JUST SAY I am sorry
and brush it off like its nothing because only MY TIME WAS
WASTED, no one else's! This is BS and I know I can't be the only
one that had this problem. IF YOU OFFER A SERVICE OF THIS
TYPE, WHY ARE YOU HELD LIABLE FOR NOT KEEPING UP YOUR
END OF YOUR OFFER? This is CRAP and so is CIRCUIT CITY!!!!!!

[nicmart]

Ain't that the truth

If it can be botched, Circuit City will botch it. Their sole
innovation seems to be inventing new ways to botch.

[Gobovision]

Are you insane.

I work at a retail electronics store. So even if CC says they offer some in store pickup, you have to be slightly intelligent enough to know what black friday is. You really and truly anticipated that the people who sat outside in the freezing cold for several hours did it in vain. You actually believed that all those people would have sat there outside when they could have got the same deals and availability from the comfort of their owns homes on a computer. Maybe it isn't the store's fault that you are so self-important that YOU are the only person clever enough to have thought that they could have sat at home and got the same deals that the people outside all night deserve. I do agree their website should have informed you of this, but you're one of the reasons McDonald's coffee cups say hot on it, come on, are you joking. Welcome to the real world the lazy way out isn't the way to go on Black Friday. Now I have informed you, so next year you won't be putting down some other business because of your own stupidity. By the way next year if you try that again, make sure to announce what you are at the store for, I'm sure all the miserable, cold customers who waited outside for those deals wiould love to show you what they think about your way of shopping. Just to let you know at my store we disconnect the phones for the first six hours. Realize that large companies like CC and BB need to cater to the majority customers. The girl in the store also has a good point, do you truly believe the girl standing at the counter or the manager is incharge of the decision to make online purchases available for in-store pickup. Hell yeah, that is a corporate issue. I'm sure that what you call pushing blame is her only option. Did she give you a corporate number to call. You have to realize that an employee at a checkout has less direct communication with the corporate offices that you the customer holding that number in your hand. Or is it likely that at the morning meeting the employees make suggestions that are sent to corporate, so that they can go ahead and make that change. Sure the girl making 7.50 and hour probably has more say in the company than a customer. If she offered an opportunity to contact the corporate offices and you didn't take it, then that is all they will ever know of it. That girl can't call and explain what has happened, she isn't the customer. So next year either get out like everyone else and wait or just stay home, but don't assume there is an easy way out.

[CyberPoint98520]

Sounds like Eugene,OR store

We had a similar experience at the Eugene/Springfield, Or store. For a retailer that is trying to sell you the latest and greatest technology, they really need to address the entire system they have for checkout. We completed our shopping in less than 15 minutes, and waited in line for nearly 2 hours to purchase the items.

On the other hand, I followed up with a visit to BestBuy and Target.

Target was most impressive, with a line as long as that at Circuit City, but I went from the end of the line to checkout in under 15 minutes. I have to say, I have never seen a retailer have it so together. Very impressive.

BestBuy was a breeze, as we had waited outside all night for a voucher, that sped us thru checkout in what was basically an entirely ignored department. (Major appliances are just not a doorbuster item most years). BestBuy smartly used those registers for all kinds of purchases, not just fridges and freezers.

[rexworld]

Kmart was good, CompUSA was friendliest

Surprisingly, I found the KMart near me did an excellent job on their Thanksgiving Day sale. Unlike a normal day at KMart, they had plenty of checkout lanes opened and lots of staff wandering the aisles to help you find stuff.

While waiting to get into the store, they had even posted security guards to prevent cheaters from sneaking into the line. They directed all late comers to the back of the line.

The CompUSA late-night sale (also held Thanksgiving Day, just like KMart) was the friendliest. They handed out slices of pumpkin pie and bottled waters. And they handed out vouchers for the limited items about 30 minutes beforehand so you knew whether you should keep waiting, and they also had plenty of staff on hand to help out.

[kmtkr]

Configuration help, pls.

Can anyone tell me how to block access to Ina Fried's blog and posts, etc. I'd like to screen out all content related to this person, thanks.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Child protection filters

You can find many web tools for all the OS's out there to help your browser prevent you from seeing any content with the phrase or keywords you choose. Child protection filters would be your best bet.

Or you could simply not read them in the first place.

[mjconver]

Turn off your computer

You're obviously too ignorant to use one.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Frys offered cuts in line for $108.79

In Renton, WA, the Fry's store there had employees going through the line offering people a chance to cut to the front of the line for $108.79, though the price went up to $200 later on.

Eventually the managers stopped the practice once it became known and deny any knowledge of it. Hmm.... I wonder what product line you put that sort of charge on your sales receipt as?

King 5 News (NBC):
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_112307BUB_frys_electronics_KS.300a9b66.html

[woolberg]

Circuit City Bad but Staples worse...

I decided to make Staples my first stop this year because their price on the new TomTom GPS was the lowest. For the first time this year, they handed out vouchers for big-ticket items. I got one for the GPS. Went in the store, got a flash drive and SATA drive then was told the GPS was in a different line. No problem. I should have known when the Manager called over to the other section to tell them not to give out items to people without vouchers that I was in for a long morning. He held my items and I waited patiently in the other line for about 25 minutes. When I gave the clerk my voucher he looked at it for a second then said "let me check to see if we have any in the back". A few minutes later he told me to go see Joe (the manager) in customer service (where I just was). Once there he informed me that all the GPS units were gone (although I was the 10th person in line and the first to recieve a voucher). I told him that was unacceptable and that his staff should have known to verify the vouchers. We went on back and forth for about 10 minutes before I finally wore him down. He gave me a "comparable" GPS unit for the same price (I don't know if Omnitech and TomTom are comparable, but since this is a gift for someone else, whatever). Total time before I left the Store: 1 hour 30 minutes. For three things. **** poor. I "only" waited 45 minutes at Circuit City. I think I'll wait for Cyber Monday next year...

[Rarb3]

Circuit City was good to me

I went to Circuit City (Lewisville, TX) late in the day (around 5PM) to buy a SanDisk 4GB Cruzer for $22 I'd seen online. Their website indicated the store still had inventory, but I half expected them to be sold out when I got there. I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the product then asked a young female employee if she could help. After ensuring that the store's inventory system indicated that they still had stock she looked all over the department shelves for 10 minutes, then she searched the back of the store. She finally came back empty handed but then told me we could check the "returns" area to see if they had stock there. We finally found the item I was looking for and she directed me to a cash register where I could pay with minimal waiting. While paying I asked her how her day was going: she was still upbeat and smiling even though she'd been working since 4:00AM and would be working until 8PM. And she'd be working another 10 hours on Saturday. She had previously worked at Best Buy but told me that Circuit City benefits were better.

Bottom line: your mileage may vary - I was very fortunate and a very happy customer - and I was only buying a $22 product!

[vikram31291]

I paid 25 for a 4gb jump drive, but then later realized i could have gotten one for 7 on tigerdirect.com. We ended up paying about triple what we had to.

[DoingSoSo]

I don't shop in the craziness.

I shop online and have since I got my first computer.
Ya'll are welcome to the 3:00 AM craziness. There isn't ANYTHING worth all that, I don't care what it is! Besides a lot of the Black Friday deals were available to online shoppers, LOL.

[gsmiller88]

I stayed in bed...

My town only has a Wal-Mart, Kmart and a Lowes--none of which
were worth crawling out of bed at 4 in the morning to shop at any
of those stores.

[Mr Jordan]

Slept Like a Baby

ooo yaaa

[Evayy]

did great

Got to jc penny's early got in got 4 items a few freebes and went to starbucks then home
Was very happy with bf experaince. Much of my shopping done online sears that offered bf sales early.
We got our electronics eariler in the year and great sales.

[NateStreet]

The CC Black Friday Experience

I couldn't help but click on the article when I saw it on Cnet. My perspective is a bit different as I was working at Circuit City during Black Friday of 2006. All I can say is - NEVER AGAIN....

The comments made by the author were not surprising, in fact, when I worked there, they scheduled the staff to get to the store at 3am to open up at 5am. When I arrived at the store at 3am there were 200+ people in line which ran all the way around the store.

The only thing I can compare the opening of the store doors to would be a football punt return led by the Patriots. As this was my first time working on a black friday I don't I was completely prepared for what I was about to see. Most, if not all of the staff at Circuit City all the way up to the store managers previously worked at Best Buy and seemed to be prepared. I was completely new to retail at the time, but the entire experience certainly put hair on my chest.

The story of the day was an elderly woman who fell and hit her head on one of the isles. As she was clutching her head and BLEEDING she asked an employee where the FLAT SCREEN TVS were. If you haven't been to a black friday, you might not understand this but I have never seen so many elderly adults push, butt and shove each other for spots in line.

I stopped working at Circuit City the following February and can probably address some of the issues or at least what was told to us from the managers.

MANY people comment on the out-dated system that was/is used in stores. Circuit City had been delaying releasing the new systems because it was simply too expensive. When you have one computer, it may be easy to upgrade to the next operating system without thinking too heavily, but if you have thousands of computers nation-wide, you can see how the numbers would easily sky rocket into the millions of dollars.

I remember employees who worked at Circuit City in the 80S, come into the store, and direct me through the menu system as it was quite possibly the most un-intuitive operating system you can imagine. With all of it's faults, it was relatively fast and stable. Although it doesn't look like it from the outside, in the 6-7 months that I worked there, the system only went down once for about an hour. It wasn't during Black Friday either amazingly enough, it was just a random weekday!

So, that said, since I've left it looks like most but not all of the stores have upgraded the system that they use. I ask the people working there if they like it, and to MY SUPRISE most of them say "NO". It's slow and doesn't do everything that the past OS did. I guess you get what you asked for...

I can't help but "sigh" at reading some of the stories of "bait-and-switch" and "false advertisement". I CAN assure you that the 18-year old ringing you up had absolutely nothing to do with that. I saw a lot of angry customers and I actually started to wonder if Circuit City was doing this on purpose. I guess I won't ever really know. Typically, items that were on "sale" were items that the store was discontinuing or trying to get rid of. So, there were times when people would show up when the store opened only to find that the items had already been purchased online!

If you have never worked in retail, it's an experience I think everyone should have at least once.