O/T warning about Circuit City

Nancy Howell · Jun 11, 2008

I'm not going to give all the ugly details, but I advise you not to purchase anything from Circuit City. You have to force them to stand behind their warranty.

I purchased an E machines computer from them in Feb. 2007 which turned out to be a lemon. I also purchased an extended warranty. The computer crashed 4 times in 14 months, 3 times for the same problem.

The last time it crashed was on April 28, 2008. I returned it to the store as I had the other 3 times. It took almost 6 weeks to get it resolved. The store manager and assistant manager would tell me the extended warranty was responsible. City Assure who handles the extended warranties, (a CC subsidiary) told me the store was responsible. It would take two pages to explain everything that went on.

They were less than truthful, did not return my calls and it was a frustrating and unpleasant situation. Even though they eventually replaced the computer, the experience was unpleasant enough I will not purchase anything from them again.

If you want more details, email me.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 11, 2008

Nancy,
1. E-Machines is a cheapie, bottom of the heap of computers.
2. Extended warranties are really not a good buy, Consumers Union and others on TV have said for years DO NOT pay for extended warranty.
Tom

Anonymous-0 · Jun 11, 2008

Considering it's corporate policy to fire low paid workers simply since they worked there too long and can be replaced by even lower paid new hires, small wonder.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2007 03 28 circuit city layoffs_N.htm

Aaron Ford · Jun 11, 2008

I had a bad experience with them last Christmas. Trying to purchase childrens mp3 players from their mail order sales staff was an excercise in futility as I did not speak Indian and he did not speak English. After many attempts at communication I finally asked what country he was in. He had no answer. I hung up.

Called Vann's in Montana and spoke with a real English speaking salesman. Shipping ended up being cheaper with Vann's. Wished I would have called them first.

Aaron

tlak · Jun 11, 2008

A computer repair that I get mine from said to especially buy extended warranties on laptops, because they're so labor intensive to repair. Where would she have been if she didn't have it?

Bob - MI · Jun 11, 2008

Don't mess with them they are idiots and you have to out-smart them.

Contact your state Attorney General's office and ask them what your rights are under your state's law. I have found that contacting the AG's office is an effective tool when you have issues with:

Extended warranties
Insurance Companies
Auto Repair

Often times the AG'S website has helpful sections about what your rights are with different issues. Once you get a feel where you are at, contact Circuit City management one last time and inform them that you are filing a formal complaint with the AG's office. You want to use the language that they have "breached the contract" that they sold you in the form of the extended warranty.

I have found this phase of the process to be like turning on the lights and watching the roaches scatter. If you keep your cool, document when you contacted them and what the result of that contact was, you will have the baseline of information that will hang them.

Be professional but do not give up. I could tell you some great stories about how this has worked for me. Best of all, it's FREE.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 11, 2008

Yup. We've had problems with CC. This was the first time we bought anything from them. Never gonna buy from them again.
We ALWAYS buy the "Extended Warranties" on any computer gear. It has saved us a LOT of cash when the machine starts having trouble.

Nancy Howell · Jun 11, 2008

I agree that E machines are junk, but I didn't know that at the time. Since I tend to have bad luck with electronics, I always buy the extended warranty and it has proved to be a wise policy for me. If I had not had the extended warranty on this machine, they wouldn't have done anything. Unfortunately, they replaced it with another E machine, so I bought the extended warranty again. I have no doubt there will be another chapter in this melodrama.

JT · Jun 11, 2008

Extended waranties are for the profit of the company selling them. I do the service work for 2 Lowe's stores. their warranty only mirrrs what the factory warranty does. That covers defects inmaterial and workmanship, and 95% of the time it is not a defect, it is from abuse and/or neglect. If you got CC to cover anything, you are a lucky lady. I would not darken their door to use their restroom, no way I would buy anything there!
Jim

paul · Jun 11, 2008

Extened warrenties are a real problem. An auto warrentee company from down south (Florida? Georgia?) went belly up, & the warrenties they sold for 4 years are worthless. but a lot of folks are carrying the card with thrm yet, thinking they have coverage......

Best Buy, CC, anywhere else - it is a 3rd party offering to insure your stuff, independent business from the store selling to you, and independent from the manufaturer.

If they do their job right, they don't have to settle many claims. If they do their job wrong, they will go under & you are without warrenty.....

Laptops & big screen TV's, there is some consideration. As they can fail & big bucks.

Other stuff, totally worthless.

You are putting your money into a company that is totally out of the loop & has no interest in making things right. Big gamble.

--->Paul

rhouston · Jun 11, 2008

My general feeling is purchase 3 year warranty on computers (After 3 years money is better spend on replacement rather than repair)

Laptops if they are for business or student get accidental damage protection (again 3 year warranty and 3 year accidental damage)

tlak · Jun 11, 2008

Usually it's double coverage for the first year, but a 2-3 year warranty, it's on the extended.
I agree though, I never buy extended but I would buy it on a laptop or big plasma.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 11, 2008

I did a stint as a salesman with a competitor and or same kind of retailer as CC, not sure if they were up here, had left, or came back, we also used to have Crazy Eddie's up here, "Our Prices are Insane" LOL, who can forget that one, though he had to leave the country for awhile, some people were looking for him. Construction was really in a slump at the time, I'd have never taken a job in that business. I was actually good at it too, but I did things differently on the floor than the other "sharks" waiting for prey did. I honestly did not care for those types, ( no offense to anyone either )the mentality seemed to be par for the course, in addition to the industry having a slease like image, all these places were just high pressure sales, you have to make your numbers, then your commission, including 15% accessories and extended warranty sales,that 15% is a big number to these retailers. You have to read those extended warranties with a fine comb, and have them walk you through a mock claim, they really just want to get you out the door asap.

Those plans are sometimes worth it, really depends on what the item is, something you have to assess. We actually had a decent company backing the plan, and the claims were handled to most peoples satisfaction, others retailers were not, again depends on the item.

Nancy Howell · Jun 11, 2008

Do you know the name of the auto warrant company?

El Toro · Jun 11, 2008

I bought a new Amana refigerator from them back in 2002 and I bought the extended warranty too. The compressor was defective and I called them
at their store and they said to call the extended
warranty number. Never could get any response from them. I called Amana and they sent a man out and said it was the compressor. I still had the old refrigerator that was working and transferred everything back to it. Amana replaced the compressor in my kitchen after ordering the compressor in. Haven't bought any appliances from them since. Hal

J.C.in AZ. · Jun 11, 2008

E Machines are sold at Wal Mart also along with several other low price lines. No high pressure sales talk,buy it if it doe not work bring it back and get another one usually with ,depending on who is working that Dept,no negative issues.I prefer Dell for all around satisfaction but none are fault free IMHO. JC

RobMD · Jun 11, 2008

I like best buy for my electronic junk.

TomH in PA · Jun 11, 2008

When they try to sell me an extended warranty that's 10-20% of the cost of the product I wonder what kind of quality control they have when they're expecting that kind of failure rate.

John M · Jun 11, 2008

I buy all my electronics from CC, and I have NEVER had any problems with warranty issues from them either. Sounds like you didnt put your foot down enough, and get right dirty enough with them. I refuse to go into Best Buy, since they employ nothing but a bunch of idiots, who dont know there rears from a hole in the ground.

Dave from MN · Jun 11, 2008

same issue with our laptop. They even had the gall to let it sit for 4 weeks and then come back and say it wasnt covered because the warrenty expired! YA, 3 weeks AFTER they recieved it in there service dept. I just told the manager that we had spent X amount of dollars there in the last 10 years and that we wouldnt spend $1 dollar there in the next 100 years. Apparently they didnt need our business. Custumer satisfaction doesnt matter in todays, "who else are they gonna buy it from" mentality of big businesses. Mom and Pop shop, charge me a bit more, I will gladly buy it from you! Also I havent been to Walmart for a few years and I am doing just fine, have the tools I NEED, and didnt have to pay all that much more that I would have at the Big W.

1936 · Jun 11, 2008

I thought it was just me. I have not darken a door way at CC for 15 years. Reason never had the sale items in stock this is my red flag to stay way away from any store. Usually will go under some how CC keeps reeling in the Tuna.

VaTom · Jun 11, 2008

My experience was just the opposite.

Bought a laptop privately, still under mfg. warranty. Harddrive died. Purchased from BestBuy, but it was recommended that I take it to CircuitCity for warranty repair.

They suggested that I not have them replace the harddrive, but take the time to send it to HP because HP would go through the whole computer and fix everything. Whereas the CircuitCity repair would only replace the harddrive.

Great service, sending it in to HP. HP didn't do so well, came back with a new problem, had to send it in again, but CircuitCity did exactly what they should.

First trip to HP, they also replaced the motherboard. Good advice, good service from CircuitCity here. Computer's fine now.

D&amp;Dservice · Jun 11, 2008

(quoted from post at 10:04:04 06/11/08) Nancy,
1. E-Machines is a cheapie, bottom of the heap of computers.
2. Extended warranties are really not a good buy, Consumers Union and others on TV have said for years DO NOT pay for extended warranty.
Tom

This all has a familiar ring to it!!!!!!!!!!!! :roll:
D&Dservice
Regular

Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 213
Location: REVA, SD

Report to Moderator
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:49 pm Post subject: Re: Dad really made me mad today. OT if you couldnt guess

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lawn_ranger wrote:
(quoted from post at 15:17:51 06/07/0 well have you ever owned a belarus tractor?
No sir, not ever, I work on farm machinery and vehicles for a living, and I have had them apart from one end to other, By no means a terrible machine, my gripe is, and I have seen it on this forum a million times, crying and whining about the economy then buying some off brand machine to save a buck..........then cussing someone because they cant get the machine fixed, or it cost a ton of money to find some part that no one has or can get and have it shipped from another country. then have the gall to complain about the mechanic was taking too much time or charging them too much money! It was the mechanics fault that they bought some piece of overseas crap that parts arent readily available for. Are overseas products here to stay,, most definitely, and yes there are good products with excellent support that are from overseas. But in the case of this little pickup, I know where this is heading, Its all the rage to import these things right now..............but will parts and support be available in two years? Then when the thing drops dead, guys like me are the ones listening to the the whining!

jim in N M · Jun 11, 2008

AMEN,AMEN Nancy. I wouldn't buy a thing from those crooks, I even called the home office and ther're worse crooks than the one's in the stores !!!! Jim in N M

WGM · Jun 11, 2008

I have had Campaq, Dell, Gateway and Hp computers in the past and now have an E Machine. It may be low grade crap but it's been the best computer of all of them. Not one problem. Can't say that about the rest. Also, why pay big bucks for a computer which will be obsolete in a few months and if it does take a crap I'm not out much.
I agree, extended warranties are a rip off.

GA Dave · Jun 11, 2008

WGM, I'm with you. emachines are as good or probably better as others in their price range. They are made by Gateway from floor sweepings. No need for extended warranty. I've had my $299.00 emachine since 7/27/06 and have been very pleased with it. I did upgrade the RAM to 1GB ($24.00 on sale) because I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator X. BTW, I got this unit at Office Depot. David.....

O/T warning about Circuit City

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads