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View Full Version : Circuit City former worker confessions


alexkosheck
06-12-2007, 10:50 AM
Interesting read

http://consumerist.com/consumer/tender-my-resignation/27-confessions-of-a-former-circuit-city-worker-267566.php

95Blue240sx
06-12-2007, 11:10 AM
Meh...I never bought anything at circuit city. So much bs to go through.

ManoNegra
06-12-2007, 11:59 AM
I worked at Circuit City in the same department too. Lot of what that article raises is true but it's not always a black and white issue. Also store policy and practices vary slightly from location to location.

DUFFM4N
06-12-2007, 12:01 PM
yeah seriously...i dont even think ive ever been inside a circuit city..id much rather go to Best Buy

RedlineRacer
06-12-2007, 12:12 PM
Circuit City sucks, atleast the one near my house. That place is so shady. I used to work at Best Buy for 3 years, and almost none of that garbage happened. I have never even heard of a "Code Green", but of course you are going to be checked out by someone different. Thats why its call "Check Out". The sales people have to do their job, not ring people up.

exitspeed
06-12-2007, 12:17 PM
CC sucks. I only go there if all else fails.

Plus a lot of what that guy was talking about is just sales. Big deal. Some of it was not right though.

ManoNegra
06-12-2007, 12:19 PM
^You're absolutely right but the one thing CC had over other chains was that their employees were very knowledgeable - Best Buy, Good Guys and other chains would raid CCs for managers and employees. Not anymore, now they're all clones of each other.

But like it was mentioned in that articles. Get them to discount your stuff with accessories and warranties and then return them later and keep the discount. Works like a charm.

exitspeed
06-12-2007, 12:25 PM
^You're absolutely right but the one thing CC had over other chains was that their employees were very knowledgeable.

I always chalked that up to working on commission. When the food on your table is directly effected by how hard you work and how much effort you put into it, of course you will want to be more knowledgeable and try that much harder.

People never in retail sales don't understand retail at all. I miss it sometimes, but most of the time I don't. There's nothing like the feeling of closing someone on the most expensive products you have in the store when you know you did everything perfect. And I'm not talking about pressuring people or hammering them as we call it. Just knowing you found exactly what they were looking for and have ended their miserable shopping experience on a positive note its nice.

ManoNegra
06-12-2007, 12:38 PM
Well the commission part was definitely a huge incentive I won't lie but the company back then made big efforts to train the reps - they had computerized lessons that we had to finish to be certified on new stuff, they scheduled vendor training seminars and on-store demos.

Yeah on good days it was really cool, some people could pull close to 4k a month. Could also suck on slow months and days plagued with returns. That's another thing people don't realize: returns hurt you so it was on your best interest to be honest and upfront with people. If you lied to get a big fat sale it would come back and bite you in the ass.

IMO the problem was the pressure that was put on by managers to meet quotas and hit numbers. That was the main problem I had with the job. I was extremely knowledgeable, would present all the facts I had and let people make up their minds on what they needed which wasn't the way to have managers like you. That and I couldn't deal with rude or stupid customers, didn't have the patience. I would recomend warranties on stuff I knew from experience that would benefit from it - like laptons or expensive PDAs and cameras but I would never force people to buy them with scare tactics like many people did. So when the time for the restructure came it was bye bye CC.

SochBAT
06-12-2007, 12:45 PM
Bestbuy isn't that good either Mel. FYI, they've got an internal website, denoting all sales and specials, if you ever ask em for assistance with pricing/specials. IIRC, the state of Connecticut sued BB for that.

On a sidenote, Consumerist is a site EVERYONE should bookmark.

exitspeed
06-12-2007, 01:18 PM
Bestbuy isn't that good either Mel.

I only buy shit like CD's and Games at BB.

I would only purchase bigger items at a place like that after I already did all the research I needed to do and they have the exact item I'm looking for on sale.

jilo
06-12-2007, 02:56 PM
an odd thing happened to me at circut city just the other day.

ive needed a stereo for my s14 for a while, and it was getting to be too much. i went to cc and forund a cheap panasonic mp3 cd player with a front aux in for my psp. 99.99. ok no prob. salesman comes up, i tell him what i want and he says 99, im like ok but 50 would be better and he laughs. when he rings the shit up, it was 68 with tax...... i kept my fool mouth shut, and payed for it. thought it was weird but who cares its money off.

ManoNegra
06-12-2007, 03:16 PM
^Must be a coincidence, from what I remember salespeople didn't have the ability to alter prices.

azndoc
06-12-2007, 03:47 PM
What.... I can lowball at CC. Didn't even know that. Will try that next time. I've had my practice on Zilvia. LOLz

alexkosheck
06-12-2007, 04:21 PM
I didn't know you could lowball at electronic stores, period.

C. Senor
06-12-2007, 04:38 PM
yeah thats the good thing about CC they go lower on shit..its crazy...damn then i guess the one by my house is gangsta..we bought our big screen tv from there. got a good deal and no probs...bought the 5 year plan...about a month before the 5 year plan the tv starts to fuck up...call them up..they come out...didnt have the right tools, ordered said about a week, a week later they come back and fix our tv...bought 2 laptops from them...work great no probs so far. as a matter of fact i just lost my wallet there yesterday...they called me today and told me they found..i got it back with absolutely nothing missing. but i guess once again life deals that luck of the draw thing.

RedlineRacer
06-15-2007, 06:04 AM
FYI, they've got an internal website, denoting all sales and specials, if you ever ask em for assistance with pricing/specials.

What do you mean by this? BB has a internal website for employees only that is mostly clearance stuff or stuff that might have a little defect in it for really really cheap. But, thats the only internal website I know that BB has.

Jefferson
06-15-2007, 10:30 AM
Man when I used to work at curcuit city that shit sucked, my manager was such an ass. Its funny how true some of those things are in the article

tunerzimage
06-15-2007, 11:52 AM
yeah CC was always the once place id go if NO OTHER stores had what i was looking for. and i always felt weird shopping there for some reason....

delphis
06-15-2007, 02:56 PM
What do you mean by this? BB has a internal website for employees only that is mostly clearance stuff or stuff that might have a little defect in it for really really cheap. But, thats the only internal website I know that BB has.


I think what they had was an internal website that had different items that were on sale then what was in the add that they sent out, so if a customer came in saying I saw this on sale in the paper the would go to those terminals in the store that anyone can access and say, "oh I am sorry that item isn't on sale/in stock but we have this similar one over here." it was basically false advertisement and is the same thing as what the guy refered to in the article as Bait and Switch.

but I do enjoy going there simply for the fact that you can haggle with them. I used to work at guitar center and it was the same shit, but a little bit more pro on the sales side of things with less shady tactics and more honesty about the service plans.

AbsoluteZero
06-15-2007, 04:26 PM
Wow I knew there was a reason why I didn't like CC... They have super poor customer service as well... I went to one CC to by the hd player for my 360 and the guy said they didn't have it so I went to a different CC and bought it there... then I went back to the first CC and asked again and they said they had it... people are lazy!

CKAMC
06-15-2007, 05:26 PM
and another reason why I buy from newegg

sleepy_s13
06-15-2007, 05:45 PM
I want to buy a hundred dollar radio for 68 bucks. I know a guy that works there Ill have to hit him up!

Edcel
06-15-2007, 06:48 PM
i work at circuit city...(am actually on the zilvia at work :P) it sucks..but i only work part time more like 3 days a week so they dont bother me and i dont bother them..i work in the car stereo install and most times im here on zilvia lOL but yeah the store sucks..im only here cus they didnt fire me from the big lay off and cus..im cool like that ;p

SlowCoupe
06-15-2007, 08:10 PM
i work at circuit city...(am actually on the zilvia at work :P) it sucks..but i only work part time more like 3 days a week so they dont bother me and i dont bother them..i work in the car stereo install and most times im here on zilvia lOL but yeah the store sucks..im only here cus they didnt fire me from the big lay off and cus..im cool like that ;p

no they didn't fire you b/c you are not at the pay cap for your department.

pr0tus
06-15-2007, 10:50 PM
From the sound of it, that circuit city just has shitty managment, or doesn't pull enough profit. The employees at my local CC are great, helpful and no pressure. I don't even remember being offered accesories, for anything. For the last two years I have picked up new computers around christmas time, the last one was a combo deal that ended up being $200 after returning the CRT and keeping the discount, and using a coupon printed from fatwallet :)

k0uki
06-15-2007, 11:13 PM
ahha wow relates to the cc i work at a lot

Edgar
06-17-2007, 02:23 PM
I did'nt read what anyone on here posted, but I briefly did read the link.

Build you own computers and your problem from all this crap is solved. All these companies suck.

infinitexsound
06-19-2007, 08:27 PM
compUSA does the same shit... tho theres a loophole in the compusa warranty.. if u break it ... it would be replaced... =)newer better laptop in so so years...

s14xman
06-19-2007, 08:48 PM
i like CC. I always bargin with them. I got a 42'' samsung plasma marked as 1500 for 1000 and a 50'' samsung rear projection marked at 1700 for 1200, all i did was ask. I hate Best buy! They are like electronic Nazis, just a bunch of cool looking stuff and a 100" t.v. on the wall just so people are like "wow best buy is so good". I try not to get sucked in to all that stupid shit.

ManoNegra
06-20-2007, 02:51 PM
Costco is/was the best when it comes to warranties. Bring it in (electronics) anytime while under warranty for any reason and they'll replace it with a new one or give you credit for another one.