Comments on: Bedlam breaks out at Circuit City

Best Buy mega-stores Circuit City to oblivion and pandemonium ensues at the hapless retailer.

[Talon234]

Unfortunately, customer service in the US is abysmal. It not just a Circuit City problem- it is quite epidemic in all areas of business. Growing up in the 70's, Japanese products were considered to be inferior and no one bought their products. Now, look what has happened- they arguably make the best cars and electronics and they streamlined the process of manufacturing and customer service to there. What did the americans do, they ******* and moaned and demanded more money to make cars that are always getting recalled or breaking down due to shoddy workmanship/poor quality assurance. Our healthcare is more expensive, we demand more pay for doing less work and we are surprised that our jobs went to India or some other 3rd world country. Keep in mind that yes, japanese cars have been recalled recently due to problems. However, keep in mind where those cars have been made or assembled- America. It used to be that America took pride in themselves and the work/products that they produced. If America does not wake up from this fantasy life that they have been living, it won't be a recession where there is 1-3 millions jobs lost but a full scale depression. Breadlines, half-way houses and billions out of work will be the norm. Stop *******, stop moaning and get back to work like your life depended on it- just like the 3rd world country workers do

[BigGuns149]

While poor customer service didn't help CC, I think poor prices and poor selection were equally if not a higher factor in the failure of CC. BB is still doing OK, but nobody would say that their customer service is much better.

You don't have to have the best prices to stay in business, but particularly in a down economy competitive prices prove an important factor in people's buying decisions. Circuit City AFAIK didn't really try to offer either competitive prices or good service. They were simply another big box electronics store that didn't offer much to differentiate itself in the way of better prices or selection. A lot of people will go to a store with better customer service all other things being equal, but most people aren't willing to pay too much more for better service. Ironically even a lot of people who I think that would benefit from better trained employees often seem reluctant to pay more for better service nevermind geeks who just want to be able to get in and out quickly.

[axaaddict]

What a disappointment! Only offering 10% off electronics. I looked at two items and can easily beat the liquidation price on the internet.

[BigGuns149]

Ergo the reason for CC's decline... prices so bad that even some local retail stores have better prices nevermind the internet. Retail can charge a bit more for things that you need right now (eg. a PSU), but a lot of things that nobody really needs right now you have to stay as competitive as you can price wise with mail order.

[setgo]

Former CC employees, it's not your fault. I am a former associate that worked in the corporate office for about 6 years. I am truly saddened by your job losses. I wouldn't wish this on anybody because it's tough being unemployed and it makes you feel like less than a man when you can't contribute to your family's budget. I sincerely wish you all the best in your job hunting and I hope that our new president can help get everyone employed again real soon.

Having come from the corporate headquarters, I know that there were some serious missteps along the way. CC's poor management and policies trickled down and most of you just did things the way you were trained. My wife and I always gave CC the first opportunity after I left. Just this past Christmas we wanted to get a 32" LCD TV with stand and warranty for my kid's room. We went to CC and waited... and waited... and waited. The prices weren't that great and the stock was limited. We left CC and went to BB which is always right across the street and we got quick service. They had a good price on the Samsung TV because the had older models still in stock. We bought everything there. We spent over $700. Like I said, it's not your fault but don't look for a whole lot of passion from the consumer at this stage. Your fingers should be pointed to management.

[minonda]

Maybe Best Buy is better organized but once they have your money they don't give a damn about you as a customer. For me, that's an ENORMOUS disincentive to return. There is a Best Buy less than a mile from me, but I will NEVER buy from them again after they dissed me. I spent $3000 there in a 6-month period, but that wasn't enough to make them think maybe they should give me basic customer service when I needed it. If I need electronics, I get them online from Amazon, NewEgg or TigerDirect.

[jtb74129--2008]

What people fail to realise when shopping at a liquidation / going out of business sales is that a liquidation company has bought everything (and I do mean everything inside that building) and the way they make money is to raise the prices back to or higher than MSRP. They then start to mark everything down 10% a week until everything is gone. They don't care about the smart shopper who realises that their discounted price is higher than the original street price. They are going after the shopper who thinks that everything is cheaper than before and is willing to buy it then. As shoppers become more knowledgeable about pricing, the liquidation companies will start offering lower prices from the start. Until then, intelligent shoppers can go to this circus and get a good chuckle at the feeding frenzy.

As for those who slam Best Buy. I have worked for both CIrcuit CIty and Best Buy as a manager. Circuit City lost their way long before Best Buy put a strangle hold on them. I was a manager at CC during the first of 3 lay-off's, when they fired all of their commissioned sales people because they made to much money. CC did this 3 times in a period of 6 years. They were a wolf caught in a trap and chewed off the 3 legs that weren't trapped. Best Buy has a business plan that works and they are following it. CC didn't and now they are no longer. Simple.

[kenlight1]

I will miss their web site. I found the site to be particularly helpful when researching products. I thought their user comments and rating of goods was excellent. It was always helpful to see which stores had it in stock and it was a breeze to order on-line and pick it up at the store.

[keithrt49]

I went into Circuit City a few months ago to check out a Samsung flat-screen LCD TV I wanted to buy. On that day, Circuit City was the only retailer that had that particular model in stock. During 15-minutes in the store looking at the Samsung and other TV's the few employees in sight stood around a cell phone kiosk and talked among themselfs. Not one offered any assistance. I, of course, left without buying.

This was not an isolated incident and one of the major reasons I gave up on Circuit City years ago. For a retailer to leave $3000 on the table is tantamount to suicide. One can only wonder how many other sales were missed that day.

Keith

[saedre]

The exact same thing happens to me at Best Buy all the time. The difference is that if you approach an employee at Circuit city and ask for help, they'll help you. Best Buy employees turn and run when they see someone's eyes meet theirs, then they go to a computer and act like they're helping someone already (of course that "someone" is nowhere to be found).

[Myshkin57]

saedre: I've never been able to get anyone to help me at Circuit City without spending at least 30 minutes trying to hunt someone down. They've lost several sales to me because of it. The reps at Best Buy are not much better, but the Geek Squad guys I've spoken to have been very helpful even when I've asked them questions not about products I'm buying at that moment.

[raiderred01]

I had a fine experience in my cc, but 10% was a joke. start off at 30% and go from there.

[Rants&Raves]

Why ? Stores are full anyway; supply meets demand.

[rexanator]

In one of the Denver Circuit City - same story as repeated across the country. Lots of people, minimal markdowns and the prices were okay - not great but okay. What was the excitement? I can sum it up in two words - Liquidation Sale. We are Americans, the ultimate Sunday Carnivores. We love our beer, football, electronics and the only form of shopping that is done is when someone is going under. While we feel bad for the company and the employees, we do love our pocket books. Its capitalism at its finest! Why do you think Congress gave the banks a bailout and was reluctant to give the auto companies one? The answer is liquidation sale! If you close a bank, we lose money - what fun is that? But put Chrysler on the ropes, whoa baby - mega car sale. That people can get into. Its sad but it is simply who we are...

[inachu]

they failed because how they treat their customers.
Each store always sold a computer but never gave the cd's that must go with it.
Sales people always took those home.

[TexasReader]

Many new computers don't come with CDs these days regardless of where you buy them. It's ridiculous to accuse Circuit City employees of stealing the operating system CDs.

I didn't think Circuit City was a great company, but in my experience their customer service wasn't nearly as atrocious as at Best Buy. I can't figure out why CompUSA went out of business (I had experienced great service there) and Best Buy is still around.

[BigGuns149]

CompUSA had rather poor prices so I wasn't shocked that they closed most of their stores. Fry's pretty much beat them in price, selection, and in some cases even customer service. Virtually every CompUSA store that was near a Fry's not surpringly closed. FYI, CompUSA is still in business, but they are only running 23 stores now.

Customer Service is still important, but price and selection tend to be more important. In my experience Circuit City seemed to have neither. Best Buy didn't have dramatically better prices in fact some of their list prices are above MSRP, but BB stores are quite a bit larger than CC stores and hence tend to have quite a bit better selection. BB's selections still pales to the likes of Fry's, but for most average people it is good enough.

If CC had better customer service it clearly wasn't a compelling difference to a lot of customers because a lot of customers took their business elsewhere years ago.

[Noneyabeeswax]

"FYI, CompUSA is still in business, but they are only running 23 stores now. "

Only because Tiger Direct bought and reopened those stores.

[simkatu]

Even when Circuit City has 30% off, they are selling junk and floor models and their still are few if any really good deals. And the worst is having to deal with a bankrupt company with your new product. I'll pay $10 more for my big screen TV and use a solvent retailer instead.

I know why the company went down hill since 2003! After their employees had made management BILLIONS of dollars they put the workers on salary only! Now they had no motovation to work hard and look what happened! Sure, maybe it works for Nordstroms, but they also pay well.
Go to their web site and read the company history area. Up Up Up till they did that!

[bigd5340]

Maybe they can ask our congress for a bailout? Our taxpayer dollars are already being given away to poorly managed companies with highly-paid CEO's, etc.
It sucks that so many people have to lose jobs due to poor top management.
Blame them, blame our government.

[sudeten]

The author seems to blame the competition. "Ask your casual consumer, who is familiar with both stores, why Circuit City failed and the answer is often summed up in two words: Best Buy" and Amazon. Based on my experience with the local Circuit City in North Little Rock, and what I have been reading from other sources, this is ridiculous. Circuit City failed because of TERRIBLE SERVICE. I had stopped going to the local Circuit City several years ago, after their clerks could not even find some of the advertised specials (anything less than seveal hundred dollars), purchases were rung up incorrectly, and I had to wander around the place without assistance. Why go to Circuit City for their specials when you can't find anything except the thousand-dollar items Best Buy is not perfect, but Circuit City with its present management, if the local one was typical, really was certain to fail. Customers simply will not deal with a retailer which offers indifference and poor service when there are alternatives.

[BigGuns149]

I am sure that customer service was a contributing factor, but a big problem was that customers became jaded with mail in rebates and without mail in rebates almost everything at CC even ad items was MSRP. BB largely eliminated the practice and hence got the business of much of these jaded customers.

[TexasReader]

It's too bad this happened to Circuit City and not Best Buy. After the poor customer service I experienced when returning a defective laptop computer to Best Buy I will never shop for a major purchase there again. Ironically, the author of this article is critical of Fry's Electronics but I personally went to Fry's to buy a computer after the Best Buy ripoff and I learned that Fry's allows you to return a computer with no restocking fee even if it's not defective and you're simply not satisfied. I appreciate any merchant who stands behind their product and not only bought a laptop there that I'm happy with, I I also rewarded Fry's with my business on my next major purchase (a TV).

[DonnaGator]

I went into a Circuit City store yesterday hoping for a good deal on a zoom lens for my new digital SLR. The lens I wanted was 10% off the regular price. Then I noticed that Circuit City's "regular" price for the lens for $250, even tho the manufacturer's suggested retail price is $230. A 10% discount on an inflated above-retail price is no bargain. While there, I spotted a camera bag that sells for $70 everywhere else, and Circuit City was selling it for $100. So I left empty-handed.

[cbluff]

As a recently laid off employee myself (not from CC) I can sympathize with the 34,000 workers who were just let go. It's called empathy -- even for the workers who ignored customers or who were woefully uninformed. But that's a separate feeling from expressing anger, disappointment, criticism or fill-in-your-emotion-here for the corporate identity of Circuit City and I hope the store employees recognize the difference on these boards. The disdain is actually for the anonymous upper management the consumer never sees and thinks led CC down the path of bankruptcy, but unfortunately the hourly floor clerk becomes the face of the problem and bears the brunt of the consumer wrath. Even so, that's no excuse for treating a salesperson rudely, especially when sale prices (and virtually every other corporate decision) is out of their hands.

I was unaware of the migration away from commissioned salespeople; I just know that I thought I had (almost) been a victim of bait-and-switch in the New Haven store in 1998 and that was enough to steer me away from CC for the most part forever on principal alone. However, I did just have to buy a car stereo and I found CC cheaper for a comparable unit plus I could have it installed immediately versus waiting a week at BB. Of course, that's because CC had no customers. But price alone isn't necessarily enough; shopping is usually about more than price, but also the general atmosphere and expected success rate. However, lack of competition is never, ever good, but I don't think CC deserved to stay in business just to keep BB on its toes (or employees employed). Hopefully, a better run electronics retailer will learn from CC's demise and emerge to keep BB honest -- one that emphasizes employee training and good customer service. Oh wait, that sounds like Apple (without the low prices)...

[dlauber]

Sadly Circuit City has deserved to go under for a long time. The corporate culture produced a lousy shopping experience. I can't count the number of times I went to Circuit City only to find that the store never received the advertised item. And the sales staff was generally pretty ignorant concerning their products and just plain not helpful. And talk about a lousy product mix....

While Best Buy is more conveniently located for us, I'll take Fry's Electronics any day over Best Buy even though it's a 25 minute highway trip compared to 10 minutes to Best Buy. Fry's selection, prices, and generally knowledgeable and helpful salespeople go the extra step -- and the sales at Fry's are just great. Fry's is hear in the Chicago area too, not just California and Texas. Now for appliances, out here, we go to ABT Electronics which can't be beat, literally. But for anything computer, Fry's is the place.

[OnlyAd]

I see it as a simple problem of corporate greed. How? The compensation is so skewed in favor of executives. Fire one and you can keep 20 or may be 40 regular employees. And at the end employees have to pay for the wrong decisions of these so called top brass. America needs accountability and cap on what a person can get irrespective of their position in the company. I would say if you earn 50000 a year CEO should earn no more than 300,000 a year and not 30,000,000. Company will have enough resources to keep its operations straight and profitable if these leaches will leave anything on the table.

[dadoggybone]

It's amazing how the mentality here is to blame the customer for wanting merchandise at a discount. I think what the Circuit City employees have only corporate managers and the marketing teams for their lost jobs. The only way you can stay in business as a retailer is to understand the consumer and adjust your marketing trends accordingly. Surely, if the $30 USB cables on the shelf have not sold in the past month, then clearly the $25 profit margin needs to be reduced.