Forums | MacLife

baldprof wrote:

What is wrong with those people?

When welfare runs out, you have to "work" somewhere.

D'Eyncourt wrote:

Whenever I go to Circuit City or Best Buy I feel like a pariah.

I feel like that everywhere

Yeah - last time I went in to BestBuy to get a wireless router - same thing. Couldn't get help for smurf.
I knew what router I wanted - but I was looking for a firefire cable for my iPod.

I suppose having the Bicycle helmet on didn't help - I wasn't going to be buying anything big - but smurf, that's lousy service, and lousy service like that does effect where I buy stuff when I am buying something big.

There's only one thing you can do:  Before you enter any of these places, try to know just what it is you want, and where it is within the store. Avoid any and all contact with the red shirts (circuit city) or blue shirts (best buy)

This is what the low-wage/high-turnover business model has led to. Shoddy service, goods which are frequently over-priced. (my own opinion) and consumers who are not left with any options, or any real choice.  This is not the way it was 25 years ago.

There was a comatose looking dude leaning up against a post at the front of the store who, because of his dress and name tag, appeared to be a manager of some sort. I decided not to bother the guy. Why interrupt his nap?

The problem: This month, he's working at circuit city. Next month, he'll be working at the Cingular store across the street, or perhaps the quickie oil change place. Maybe he'll go back to delivering pizza.  Heck, maybe he'll decide to totally veg out, and get a job as a contract security guard at the mall. (Gets to flirt with the babes!) He doesn't care. There's no reason why he should.  This is the way the entire country will be doing business before too long.

I don't know that the commission system was/is any better. There's a chain around the New England area called Levitz Furniture. ("You'll love it at Levitz!") Their entire sales force is strictly commission. They have a policy: In every store, whoever comes in dead last in terms of sales every quarter gets fired.  So, the "in your face" mentality is pretty nasty. I have heard the company gets in trouble with the state office of consumer affairs frequently, but I don't know that as fact.

Off topic:  Has anyone noticed the demise of Sam Goody music stores, and Suncoast video stores?  The last remaining stores in the Boston area appear to have taken a final dirt nap.

Why would you take your laundry circuit city?

theres one levitz in the Los Gatos/Campbell area of The bay area (I believe). ONe day you see "blowout sale. We are going out of business." The next day you see "Grand reopening sale" Beats the heck outa me. I think it was levitz, i cant remember though.

I didn't say commission was better necessarily.  It made me do all sorts of things I still feel guilty about.  It's just a good motivator, that's all.  Circuit City does suck, they treat their employees and customers terribly.  For instance, when CompuServe rolled out its "Sign your soul over to us and get a free computer" scam we HAD to complete 20 of those transactions a month or run the risk of termination.  I hated doing that.  The job as a whole was fun thanks to my wacky co-workers but the pressure just got too high after almost two years and I had to move on.

Oh, that and the shirts were WAY too big.  Try wearing a men's large when you weigh 110 pounds.

Last edited by nannyandnutro (2005-02-19 7:17 pm)

master_chief wrote:

theres one levitz in the Los Gatos/Campbell area of The bay area (I believe). ONe day you see "blowout sale. We are going out of business." The next day you see "Grand reopening sale" Beats the heck outa me. I think it was levitz, i cant remember though.

I thought that was a Breuner's... i think ive sorted through like 6 of thier "going out of buissnes" fliers in the sunday (sf) chronicle. What a complete waste of paper (who cares!?!)

My strategy is to go into those stores with a specific product in mind, ignore all sales people, and buy my apple stuff from the website.

Enigma wrote:

Off topic:  Has anyone noticed the demise of Sam Goody music stores, and Suncoast video stores?  The last remaining stores in the Boston area appear to have taken a final dirt nap.

Eh, doesn't affect me, I love the newbury comics on newbury st. Of course their "used cds" are way over priced, but whatever.

I shop at Circuit City.

All I do is go online, find what I want, check the available inventory in 3 different stores in my area, and pick one store. I reserve the item online, and print out my reservation slip. I simply go to the customer service desk and pick up the item and pay for it. A simpler and better process than looking for someone to help you.

-RC!

RCoaster wrote:

I shop at Circuit City.

All I do is go online, find what I want, check the available inventory in 3 different stores in my area, and pick one store. I reserve the item online, and print out my reservation slip. I simply go to the customer service desk and pick up the item and pay for it. A simpler and better process than looking for someone to help you.

-RC!

That's an excellent suggestion; frankly I don't know why I didn't think of it. I think I'll do just that tomorrow.

Donovan Osaya, you have a job which you enjoy; good for you. You are correct about what is important for the long term survival of a company, happy customers. Perhaps the lack of that is why Circuit City is having some financial problems.
I had just thought that since this store is in a fancy new building, right across the road from Best Buy that they might try harder. I guess not.

By the way folks, I did email Circuit City and here is the response I got:

"As one of the nation's leading specialty electronic retailers, we
attribute our success to a superior service commitment, and your
satisfaction is our goal.  Regrettably, like any enterprise, we fall
short of our intentions on occasion, and customer feedback helps us know
of shortcomings.  We thank you for taking the time to write your
experience and apologize for any inconvenience you may have encountered.

Our store management is ultimately responsible for your satisfaction at
the point of sale.  We encourage you to seek out the members of our
management team when you are in our facilities and make observations
that are disquieting enough to discourage you from completing your
shopping visit.  There are Store Managers, Operations Managers as well
as Floor Managers on duty when our stores are open.  We strive for equal
treatment of our patrons and will accept nothing less from our
associates.

Your comments have been forwarded and will be reviewed with the store
management team to ensure that any shortcomings are appropriately
addressed.  The store management team will contact you regarding your
issue."

I guess I am sort of amazed that I got a response. But that last part sort of intrigues me; I wonder if I'll hear anything from the local management?

The New Guy wrote:

The last time I went to the local Circuit City I got yelled at for making the Macs do things other than get vandalized.

I don't shop there anymore. You can find much better prices on everything there online, even with shipping. If there's something I need RIGHT NOW, I'll go to Best Buy, but only because I have friends that work there.

Mine doesn't even have any Macs.