Circuit City

[r5TPsooner]

Seriously folks, is there a worse electronics retailer in the states? I know some folks complain about Best Buy but at least you get helped when you walk into the door and they'll even match prices with Amazon.com if you ask.

I went into the Circuit City on Memorial & Penn last nite to purchase a camera with fewer bells and whistles than my DSLR. Walked in, the place was deserted, maybe two other customers besides me and a camera sales girl that was a teenager and twirling her hair trying to act cool. Of course, the camera (Panasonic Lumix TZ5) that I wanted to look at and hopefully demo a bit, had no power supply, so I asked if she could find an alternative power supply.

She replied, "I guess." So she have heartedly looked for another power supply but could not find one. I then asked her if she would spend $300 of her own money on anything w/o being able to see how it works. Her reply? I guess not.

I just walked out shaking my head as I tried to buy a few things there last year too for the new home but I guess that I looked to "poor" in my t-shirt and shorts to afford a couple of Plasma TV's, a new home theater system, new DirecTV Tivo, as well as the ****ing cables to go with it! I mean, there were actually salesman doing nothing but staring at the walls. Didn't they realize that I had Bruce-like cash on me at the time and wanted to go ape ****?! No, because no one ****ing asked!!!

I called the manager and he apologized but did not offer anything meaningful except that he was "sorry." Unfortunately, I already knew that.

Worst CS evar!

Thanks for allowing me to Norm, err, I mean vent.

[StoopTroup]

Anyone working at Circuit City probably short circuits when you say "If you'd spend $300 of your own money".

[Scott D]

As one person put it a couple of months ago. With Blockbuster being the leading candidate to purchase Circuit City, you'll get Blockbuster's wide of selection of in stock items to go along with Circuit City's overly aggressive teenage sales personnel. A marriage made in retail hell. ;)

[StoopTroup]

I'd like to manage one for about 2 weeks just to see how many people are up to my challange in a sales contest. :D

[SoonerInFla]

I think they quit paying commission a few years back. Instead of getting an overbearing salesperson you get people that don't care if you buy anything or not.

[85Sooner]

They cut commission sales years ago. Then last year fired most of the sales staff when they were reorganizing and then offered to hire them back at lower salaries. CC is on its way out.

BTW why does being on commission automatically make you "overbearing"?

People who are paid by their production produce a lot more and generally care about what their doing more than those who are not paid by their production.

[Jerk]

They cut commission sales years ago. Then last year fired most of the sales staff when they were reorganizing and then offered to hire them back at lower salaries. CC is on its way out.

BTW why does being on commission automatically make you "overbearing"?

People who are paid by their production produce a lot more and generally care about what their doing more than those who are not paid by their production.

I am also an employee who gets paid by how much I produce, as I am not hourly or salaried. I can't just come to work, do nothing while riding the clock, and expect to get a paycheck. I think it makes for a much better employee, myself.

[King Crimson]

most of the time, you give people an incentive...they do more. caveat emptor.

however, i'm not real hung up on customer service. they are just people working a job--not my personal, temporary servant. how they handle it is on them, not me. waiters and waitresses are the same. my state in life is not threatened by whether or not my water glass is topped off every 3 minutes.

if i'm going to spend more than about 20$ on something, i'll do some research on my own and not be trusting some 23 year old World of Warcraft ace working on commission about this or that.

[yermom]

They cut commission sales years ago. Then last year fired most of the sales staff when they were reorganizing and then offered to hire them back at lower salaries. CC is on its way out.

BTW why does being on commission automatically make you "overbearing"?

People who are paid by their production produce a lot more and generally care about what their doing more than those who are not paid by their production.

we've heard your rants here ;)

when i'm looking at something in a retail shop, i'd much rather have to find someone that have to pry them off me

digital cameras are kind of a mess because you generally can't store pics or see what the pics actually look like on a computer. i like to check out cameras that people i know have, otherwise you are kinda rolling dice

[Soonermagik]

They just recently filed bankruptcy.

[r5TPsooner]

most of the time, you give people an incentive...they do more. caveat emptor.

however, i'm not real hung up on customer service. they are just people working a job--not my personal, temporary servant. how they handle it is on them, not me. waiters and waitresses are the same. my state in life is not threatened by whether or not my water glass is topped off every 3 minutes.

if i'm going to spend more than about 20$ on something, i'll do some research on my own and not be trusting some 23 year old World of Warcraft ace working on commission about this or that.

So what you're telling me is that you would have spent the $300 on the camera w/o being able to fire it up, and if you didn't like it then just returned it later?

Gotcha. Good idea but my time is limited and getting to there store once was hard enuff in itself. When I purchase something, I want to know that I'm going to keep it as my time is limited and precious.

Regardless, I went to Best Buy yesterday and was met by a sales associate immediately. They had the camera and I asked him if they would match the Amazon.com sales price. He asked his manager and said "NOPE."

I said thanks for your time and purchased it online last nite. Also, an 8GB video card (speed 6) costs $80 at Best Buy and $30 on Amazon.

I was blown away by the price difference on these items.

[King Crimson]

So what you're telling me is that you would have spent the $300 on the camera w/o being able to fire it up, and if you didn't like it then just returned it later?
.

where are you getting that from what i said? :confused:

[r5TPsooner]

If there's no customer service which in my mind is part of keeping the demo models on and running, what other choice is there but go to another store?

[85Sooner]

So what you're telling me is that you would have spent the $300 on the camera w/o being able to fire it up, and if you didn't like it then just returned it later?

Gotcha. Good idea but my time is limited and getting to there store once was hard enuff in itself. When I purchase something, I want to know that I'm going to keep it as my time is limited and precious.

Regardless, I went to Best Buy yesterday and was met by a sales associate immediately. They had the camera and I asked him if they would match the Amazon.com sales price. He asked his manager and said "NOPE."

I said thanks for your time and purchased it online last nite. Also, an 8GB video card (speed 6) costs $80 at Best Buy and $30 on Amazon.

I was blown away by the price difference on these items.

And I am sure you will get the service you paid for. Did you look at the camera? Try it out? Get information from that sales associate?

Most sales associates can read what kin dof customer they are dealing with. One that needs more attention or one that prefers to search on their own and ask the periodic question. THAT is the difference.

[soonerboomer93]

heh, last time I went to BB i had to pwn the sales associate for telling me bad information

[yermom]

i like talking to car salesmen that spout crap about cars that i know is wrong

the internet is so bad for sales people...

[RacerX]

So what you're telling me is that you would have spent the $300 on the camera w/o being able to fire it up, and if you didn't like it then just returned it later?

Gotcha. Good idea but my time is limited and getting to there store once was hard enuff in itself. When I purchase something, I want to know that I'm going to keep it as my time is limited and precious.

Regardless, I went to Best Buy yesterday and was met by a sales associate immediately. They had the camera and I asked him if they would match the Amazon.com sales price. He asked his manager and said "NOPE."

I said thanks for your time and purchased it online last nite. Also, an 8GB video card (speed 6) costs $80 at Best Buy and $30 on Amazon.

I was blown away by the price difference on these items.

I paid $250 for a pocket digital without ever seeing it in person. It's a great camera, BTW.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Regardless, I went to Best Buy yesterday and was met by a sales associate immediately. They had the camera and I asked him if they would match the Amazon.com sales price. He asked his manager and said "NOPE."

I ran into this buying my HD TV.

Walked into Ultimate on word from more than one guy that there's a salesman that looks out for firemen. Hooks us up. Walked straight up to the TV I'd already been shopping for over a month, and when a salesman walks up and politely asks if he can help us out, I calmly ask, "I'd like to keep my money in Tulsa. Will you guys price match this set right here with an internet price?"

He promptly replied no, shipping, overhead, I got five kids to feed, yadda yadda yadda.

To which I promptly replied as I laughed in his face, "Well, I guess you don't get to sell me a TV today, champ. Take it easy."

I'll never waste my time again.

[r5TPsooner]

I ran into this buying my HD TV.

Walked into Ultimate on word from more than one guy that there's a salesman that looks out for firemen. Hooks us up. Walked straight up to the TV I'd already been shopping for over a month, and when a salesman walks up and politely asks if he can help us out, I calmly ask, "I'd like to keep my money in Tulsa. Will you guys price match this set right here with an internet price?"

He promptly replied no, shipping, overhead, I got five kids to feed, yadda yadda yadda.

To which I promptly replied as I laughed in his face, "Well, I guess you don't get to sell me a TV today, champ. Take it easy."

I'll never waste my time again.



Yep, if they would have gotten within $20 I would have purchased it locally and paid the sales tax. $266 with no sales tax and free shipping vs $319 plus sales tax not much of a comparison. With sales tax, $75 was a big enuff difference in my mind to go elsewhere.

Here is the camera btw. Seems pretty nice.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-TZ5K-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B0011Z8CCG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1214829596&sr=8-1

[85Sooner]

Funny , you didn't answer the question. BTW what was the original point of the post? Evidently it was to show that the girl at CC was pretty intuitive and knew it was not worth wasting her time. huh?

[r5TPsooner]

Funny , you didn't answer the question. BTW what was the original point of the post? Evidently it was to show that the girl at CC was pretty intuitive and knew it was not worth wasting her time. huh?

Funny, I did answer the question but some folks just don't have a grasp on reading comprehension.

She was not intuitive but lazy in more ways than one! I knew more about the camera than she did, thanks to the internet and the write-up on sites like Amazon.com. What I wanted from her (it seems that you fall into the category that salesman should be awful at there job and lazy too, and still get my business) was to find me a power source for the camera so that I could look at it. Ya know, like see the LCD screen, zoom, how easy the functions are to use. She didn't/couldn't find me a power source, made me feel like my business wasn't important, so I went to her competitor as stated in my ORIGINAL (reading comprehension) post.

No big deal, it's just funny that places like CC hires these teenagers who could care-a-less, then think that folks are gonna buy stuff from that store on average more than not.

[Taxman71]

Commission or no commission is irrelevant.....good service is dependent on management. I can think of dozens of places where the help is friendly and helpful that do not work on commission....I can also think of commission or tip-based places where the help is horrid.

Having worked in commission, salary, tips, etc., you can gauge the quality of management by the attitude of the employees. Bad management usually indicates nobody cares anymore and the place is going under soon.

[mdklatt]

Seriously folks, is there a worse electronics retailer in the states?

No.

[r5TPsooner]

Commission or no commission is irrelevant.....good service is dependent on management. I can think of dozens of places where the help is friendly and helpful that do not work on commission....I can also think of commission or tip-based places where the help is horrid.

Having worked in commission, salary, tips, etc., you can gauge the quality of management by the attitude of the employees. Bad management usually indicates nobody cares anymore and the place is going under soon.

You're exactly correct. As a person who owns his own company, if I had an employee who acted like that I'd want to know. He was apologetic but it wasn't like he offered me a special discount or tried really hard to get me back in the store for my business and the mention of Amazon.com never came up as I asked that question over the phone at another CC.

[85Sooner]

Funny, I did answer the question but some folks just don't have a grasp on reading comprehension.

She was not intuitive but lazy in more ways than one! I knew more about the camera than she did, thanks to the internet and the write-up on sites like Amazon.com. What I wanted from her (it seems that you fall into the category that salesman should be awful at there job and lazy too, and still get my business) was to find me a power source for the camera so that I could look at it. Ya know, like see the LCD screen, zoom, how easy the functions are to use. She didn't/couldn't find me a power source, made me feel like my business wasn't important, so I went to her competitor as stated in my ORIGINAL (reading comprehension) post.

No big deal, it's just funny that places like CC hires these teenagers who could care-a-less, then think that folks are gonna buy stuff from that store on average more than not.

From what I read you went to her competitor but did not buy from said competitor. Did I miss something?

[85Sooner]

Commission or no commission is irrelevant.....good service is dependent on management. I can think of dozens of places where the help is friendly and helpful that do not work on commission....I can also think of commission or tip-based places where the help is horrid.

Having worked in commission, salary, tips, etc., you can gauge the quality of management by the attitude of the employees. Bad management usually indicates nobody cares anymore and the place is going under soon.

Agreed.

[sooner_born_1960]

He did indeed buy from one of her competitors.

[JohnnyMack]

Amazon is a good place to buy electronics. No matter what 85 thinks. :)

[Animal Mother]

So what you're telling me is that you would have spent the $300 on the camera w/o being able to fire it up, and if you didn't like it then just returned it later?

Gotcha. Good idea but my time is limited and getting to there store once was hard enuff in itself. When I purchase something, I want to know that I'm going to keep it as my time is limited and precious.

Regardless, I went to Best Buy yesterday and was met by a sales associate immediately. They had the camera and I asked him if they would match the Amazon.com sales price. He asked his manager and said "NOPE."

I said thanks for your time and purchased it online last nite. Also, an 8GB video card (speed 6) costs $80 at Best Buy and $30 on Amazon.

I was blown away by the price difference on these items.

I bought a Klipsch center channel speaker at Best Buy and barely got them to match their OWN on-line price.

[frankensooner]

There is only one day worth shopping at Circuit City and that is Black Friday. I cleaned up this last year. Saved about a 1000 bucks. ;)

[SoonerInFla]

BTW why does being on commission automatically make you "overbearing"?



85Sooner- " Overbearing " was a poor term to use. Motivated would have been a better choice. I was in Electronic and Appliance sales for years in Pensacola before everybody quit paying commission. In fact, the last place I worked was at Circuit City for a very brief time. They closed the Appliance Dept. I was in and were rumored to be headed to hourly wages so I evacuated. It's funny now. Used to be you couldn't walk through CC without getting approached by a
" motivated " salesperson. Now, it's a task to get somebody to ring you up.

[mdklatt]

I don't trust anybody who is motivated primarily by money. Reward people for a good job, sure, but if doing a good job isn't worth it for its own sake then forget it.