Laptop Computer / Circuit City Inc

This is the first time I've written to this site but my feeling is that things like what I'm about the explain happen every day at Circuit City stores and someone needs to speak up. This incident happened at the Dickson City, PA location.

My mother and I were in the store that day shopping for a laptop, which was to be a christmas present for my sister (this detail is important). After a lot of comparison shopping, we had settled on a certain computer first seen in an ad about a month ago as the best fit for her needs. My mother went to the store, alone at first, where she was told that the computer was not in stock. No real surprise there I guess, being as Circuit City is notorious for advertising products it either understocks or does not actually have, though since it has been advertised on and off for at least a month it confuses me as to why they would not have it. The salesman said they could order it, then tried to bully her into buying it right then and there and adding all kinds of NECESSARY software packages without taking into consideration the remote possibility that none of these would fit her intended needs. He also told her that he didn't work on commission, which I doubt but really can't prove one way or the other. So I told her to get out of there, and we'd head back later that night when I could analyze what he was telling her and cut through the B.S. She is not exactly made of money, and this was a big purchase for her.

So, we returned later, where the same pushy jerk was still on duty. I noticed that he was also the department manager. Wow. So we do the standard routine, him trying to push extras to boost the sale, me cutting out the things that weren't really needed for this computer (or where I knew of a cheaper alternative, as I have built and repaired computers and know better places to find software and components for them), and them him looking at me out of the corner of his eye like I was suggesting walking through the store naked for not agreeing that every one of his "suggested enhancements" weren't vital for the computer's well-being. "Well, if you're not buying Norton, do you have antivirus software that has never been used? Yeah? What brand?" I answered in an effort to make conversation, but really how is that his business? (As a side note, the only virus that ever decimated my computer was one that Norton didn't stop while I had it). Meanwhile, while he was processing our intended transaction, we were trying to explain that this was a Christmas present for my sister to take to college next fall, which he nodded and made some small talk. This comes into play shortly. He then suggested a way to finance this was to open up a Circuit City charge account, which my mother agreed to do. Eventually, the three of us made our way to the service desk to complete this transaction.

This is where things get interesting. After processing her credit application (she was approved), we asked if the computer would be shipped to us. "No," we were told, it would be shipped to the store, and we would have to pick it up. Inconvinient, but still no foul. Then I asked when it would be arriving. "Can't say for sure" I was told. "But it will be here in time for Christmas, right?" In my mind, I saw no way it couldn't be. It was the first week of December, and besides, we had made it clear what our intentions for this computer were and the time by which we needed to have it. So imagine my surprise when he replied "Don't know". Thats it. No "I can't make any promises, but it should be", or no "Well, I can't say for sure, but it can take a while around this time of the year". Just "Don't know". I was dumbfounded. You'd think a guy who had just spent a half hour pushing every computer add-on known to man would have better sales and people skills than that.

The two of us wasted about 2 hours of our time on this. The credit card needed to be canceled, as she had no desire to sign up for it otherwise, eating into more time wasted. My mother filed a complaint online for the grossly unsatisfactory service received, but despite their promise to reply she has still not heard from them. They advertised a computer no store had in stock, had a salesperson try pushing unnecessary extras down a woman's throat, then wait until it practically had to be dragged out of him to let it be known that the computer couldn't be promised in time for Christmas. A computer listed in the store circular that week as an advertised special.

I am reporting this not because we suffered any great loss, but because this shoddy level of service and blatent bullying of customers no doubt occurs daily at any Circuit City store (as well as their competitors most likely). When you walk down their aisles and the employees swarm like vultures asking if they can help you, it would be nice if occassionally they actually meant it. However I don't really blame the employee in this case either. Judging by the other testimonials I have read here, this seems to be the company's MO itself. When the going gets tough and the complaints pile on they seem to cut and run, leaving their customers hanging and wondering what their recourse is. Mine was to write this, and tell my story.

J.C.M

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