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Circuit City

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Robert of San Jose CA (8/4/05):
Purchased computer w/4year warrenty. Called for service in Feb. 2004 (keyboard inop). The response, "no such thing as an intermittent hardware failure; nothing we can do". Finally got them to send a box so it could get fixed (6-28-05); I listed 6 problems. It was returned with 2 problems fixed, one problem made worse, and at least one not addressed. Above all, one of two restore CDs were lost. I notified them, and a month later still don't have the right CDs and the remaining problems have not been dealt with.

Wayne of Laguna Beach, CA:
On 5/06/99 I purchased a computer from Circuit City specifically because of the Build To Order System Circuit City incorporated in 8/98.

BTO allows you to order computer hardware directly from the manufacturer; in my case it was Hewelett Packard. I advised the sales associate that my business computer had "crashed" and I had to have a very powerful replacement to run my programs and that they did not have what I needed readily available. He advised me and my computer tech who was accompanying me that if we used Circuit City's BTO system they could then gaurantee availability and delivery of said computer.

We checked the BTO system for the computer I needed and the soonest delivery could be made was 5/19/ 99. The Sales Associate advised I could also receive overnight shipping or two day or regular. I paid an extra fee to have two day wich would put us at 5/22/98, well before a major client deadline of 6/ 1/99.

Because of this ordering process I was required to pay 100% of the purchase price up front, and they would guarantee delivery..or so I was led to believe. I paid in full with my American Express card and was told I would be contacted when the computer arrived.

Long story...short....after waiting till 5/24/99 I called the Tracking Dept. and they advised me shipment was "enroute to store, should be here by 5/26/99. I waited till 5/28/99 and then contacted the store manager, who could tell me nothing about my order, just that "what do you want me to do about it?".

I then E-mailed corporate and tried to get either my product delivered or a refund, because I am out a computer AND the money to purchase another from a competitor. I was sent back to Tracking and told "Sorry about the inconvenience".I have received absolutetly no help from the store in getting my merchandise or refund.6/7/99 and no computer....and no client.

I advised Circuit City from the start that I HAD to have this computer and that a large project was riding on this. I have received nothing but a runaround and meanwhile my small business is going down the drain fast...especially due to lack of funds to purchase something else.

I was verbally told the reason I had to pay for this all up front, was so delivery could be gauranteed. I am now out $3,563.94 for a computer I need to make a living with and the money to get another. After I realized on 5/28/99 that Circuit City was going to leave me hi and dry I tried to get a refund to purchase a different computer from another competitor, who would deliver in TWO days, Circuit City would not comply and was told by management to "just have to wait". In short...I'm a 30 yr old father of a 8 month old with bills to pay and Circuit City has pretty much taken my livelihood.

I have my own architectual business and am in a corner...can't make money without the computer and can't purchase one with all money tied up with Circuit City, Inc. Can somebody please help me..as this is my last resort. I cannot sleep, am worried about bills, and my company is losing face daily.

"Where service is state of the art!" It has now been a month since I paid for the computer.

Alan of Orlando:
This is a list of contacts I have had with G.E. and Circuit City about getting my computer repaired. I have been paying for a seperate telephone line ($28.00 a month) and Internet Service Provider from AOL ($19.95 a month) while waiting to have this taken care of. So far I feel I have been just shuffled around

• Performa 6400/200 Repairs with Circuit City -- Extended Warranty
• Beginning of March - Called store to have repair. They gave me the in- home repair number. I called them and they said it would be a couple of weeks before someone could come look at it. I called the store and they said I could bring it in to them and perhaps it could be fixed sooner.
• April 4th - Called, they said they would return call with e-mailed status
• April 5th - They did not call, I called them, they said call tomorrow.
• April 6th - Sherry said the technician (the first technician) my computer was assigned to was on vacation till the 12Th. I was told I could exchange it but would have to call local store to authorize. (Stan)
• April 7, 1999 Talked to Craig, he had no idea what I was talking about. He said they were two different companies. They can't authorize anything. I should not call them. He said the computer was taken back to Circuit City.
• Talked to Michelle. She said service was canceled 4/7/99, and it was sent back to the store. I would have to call CSP to fix it.
• Called corporate number. Waited on hold for 25 minutes. Talked to Stan, he said it was assigned to a new technician (2nd technician) . What?
• David Swinson said he would check on it for me and keep in touch.
• 4/19/99 No word yet on status of computer. I called today. They said they would e-mail tech repair and get status and call me.
• 4/21/99 I called because they did not call me yesterday. I spoke with Melanie. She said it had been assigned to yet another "Master" technician (3rd technician) on the 19th. What? She also said that no parts have been ordered so it doesn't appear that anyone has looked at it yet, right?
  
  I received a email response from Kevin Gray at Circuit City@CCEXTERNAL. He said General Electric is the administrator of my Computer Support Plus plan, and recommended I call them. I could not get through on these lines. continuously busy.
  
  
  I called back to make sure I was talking to the right person. Marla said to call her tomorrow if I do not hear from a manager today.
• 4/22/99 They called and said it was assigned to a new shop technician on 4/21/99
• 4/22/99 Called Marlo, she said they called and got no answer yesterday. I have an answering machine, it had messages on it yesterday but none from them. They asked me to call back in one hour.
• 4/22/99 I called back. Michelle, Marlo was at lunch. Technician is at lunch. They left him a message to call me.
• 4/26/99 Eddie Alikin called Parts ordered are installed, now the Hard Drive is failing. Ordered a new Hard Drive. Also said they are not supposed to work on Apple computers! What? Now they tell me? My extended warranty has just been renewed. What Does That Mean?
• 4/30/99 Circuit City Called. Said they ordered the part last Wednesday.
• 5/5/99 1-800-365-8958 I called Glenda to get status. Parts still on order. I requested that someone call me.
• 5/7/99 No one has called me. I called and talked to Tera. She said parts were received 5/5/99. said service manager will be notified to call me.
• 5/7/99 Eddie called. Said they had to order another motherboard, bad chip. It will be in Monday.
• 5/9/99 Eddie called Said computer was fixed. Said Circuit City will call when it arrives in the store for me to pick up.
• 5/11/99 I went to Circuit City and it was there. They didn't call me. I took it home, it doesn't work again.
• 5/12/99 I Called Eddie. He said it worked for them. Told me to bring it back and they would fix it.
• 5/12/99 I Called David Swinson and left a message.
• 5/12/99 Talked to Travis, we went through trouble shooting. The only thing that shows up on screen is the cursor. Travis told me it was a monitor problem and that they would send me a new monitor. I told him I didn't think it was a monitor problem. I switched out the monitor with another computer and the same thing happened. Travis obviously was not the person I should be talking to.
  
  I was then told (after talking with Travis for 45 minutes while he kept putting me on hold to ask someone else what to do) that an in-home repair person would be calling me in 7-10 days. Today is the 24th.
• 5/24/99 - Wrote a letter to G.E. Tech Team L.P. Consumer Relations Dept. P.O. Box 551756 Dallas Texas 75355
• 6/1/99 - Alesia called and left message that would be at my house to fix computer (replace motherboard and Pram battery) Wednesday June 2 between 8 and 12. I have to call her back and reschedule. I will be working. She said to call local provider to change time (that was on the message). She left no number for me to call so I'm guessing.
• 5/27/99 - (Service Order No. 2873622) Repair person came. Replaced system board (motherboard). Still doesn't work. He said he would order another one and they would be out next week to replace it.
• 6/2/99 - (Service Order No. 2105792)Steve replaced the system board (motherboard), memory card, battery and cache. Still does not work. He called Vanstar. They are supposed to replace the computer when they replace the motherboard three times. They didn't want to replace the computer because the first motherboard was replaced by circuit city. I told them that the repair person that came on 5/27 said it would count because vanstar was billed for it. I had to argue the point with them. They conceded and said that they would close my account with them and turn it over to G.E. for replacement. She said to give them about a week to get in touch with me.
• 6/14 - No contact yet.

I am the technology coordinator for my school. I do research at home on my computer. I have had to go in early and stay late at work to do my job I usually do at home. I have had to continue paying for an extra telephone line designated for the computer I have not been able to use. I have had to continue to pay for Internet Service Provider (AOL) without being able to use it because of my computer being in the shop for 4 months now.

Jennifer of Woodbridge, VA, writes:
I purchased a Sony PCV-200 computer, a CPD 100-VS 15" monitor, and a 4-year extended warranty from the Woodbridge Circuit City location on December 24th, 1997. Ticket # 081401384314 total $3,035.05

During the first year of ownership the computer and monitor were covered by the manufacturer (Sony). I experienced some light problems during this year and Sony resolved the problems in a professional, timely manner.

Mid February of this year (approximately a month and a half after the warranty switched over to GE Warranty Management-this is who Circuit City contracted to cover their warranty plan) my hard drive began to loose data.

Being very proficient in computer technology I recognized this as a hard drive problem almost immediately and backed up my most important data to zip disks. I then called GE Warranty Management and began the phone call with personal information such as my address, telephone number and serial number from the machine, as well as other miscellaneous information. The technician explained to me that I needed to return the computer to its factory condition prior to calling with a problem and that I should do this now and call them back afterwards. I explained to him at this time that the hard drive would not accept data, therefore I was unable to use the system recovery CD to recover the factory "state" but that I would take out all of the hardware that was not in the system when I bought it.

I proceeded to take all of the hardware that did not belong, out, and called GE Warranty Management Services back. The technician I spoke with this time instructed me to get into DOS and run snacks on hard drive and to call them back after I did that. So that is exactly what I did.

During scandisk (after 6 hours the hard drive would stop responding and I would get a specific error). I repeated this 3 times to make sure the results were the same and documented the exact syntax for the technician. I proceeded to call GE Warranty Management back to let them know what happened and give them the exact scenario and the technician told me that it can take up to 24 hours to run scandisk on the hard drive of "some" computers so I should run it all the way through.

At this time I again explained to him that scandisk stopped on its own and that it would not "Finish". he then told me that he could not troubleshoot the hard drive any further until he received and documented the data that followed the completion of scandisk. At this point he hung up on me. I called back and asked to speak with a supervisor. the supervisor informed me that he was unable to pull up my case using my "case ID" and that I was not in their computer system. The supervisor went through all of my information again, resubmitting it to the computer. He them told me we would have to start all over in the process of troubleshooting.

After a few "tests" the supervisor determined the hard drive needed to be replaced. He told me he would order a new hard drive and that a technician would call me to set up an appointment as soon as they received the part.

Two weeks passed and I received no phone call. I decided I would call GE Warranty Services and inquire about the replacement hard drive. After some searching, I was told I was not in their computer system and that I would have to resubmit my information and we would have to troubleshoot the hard drive once again. So after a few phone calls they again told me it needed to be replaced. The technician again told me he would order the part and that I should expect a call from a technician when they received the part to set up an appointment.

About two weeks passed this time with no word from GE Warranty Management Services so I decided to call again. This time I called and was relieved to find out I was in the system. Although they claimed the "third party" (contractors for GE Warranty Management) was trying to get a hold of me at my home number and they received no response. The technician double checked my telephone number and said he would e-mail them and let them know that I was waiting.

Two more weeks passed with no phone call. I again called GE Warranty Services and again they said that the contractors reported no answer at my home phone. I then requested they change my home phone number to my husbands' work number.

Another week passed and my husband received no phone call. I then called GE Warranty Management and asked for a supervisor. He proceeded to say that there was no information regarding the hard drive at this time and he would look into the issue.

A week later my husband received a phone call from the technician asking to set up an appointment. Three days later the technician came out and replaced my 6 GB hard drive with another 6 GB hard drive and left.

Shortly after the technician left I discovered the hard drive that they replaced was bad. I proceeded to call GE Warranty Management and let them know my bad hard drive was replaced with another bad hard drive. Again we went through troubleshooting processes and they determined after a few phone calls that the hard drive needed to be replaced. Again we would go through the same process, with the same results. After only two weeks the bad replacement hard drive was replaced with another hard drive. Only this time instead of the original 6 GB hard drive they brought a 4GB hard drive. I was elated to have a working hard drive so I did not pursue the missing 2 GB.

My problems did not end there. At the beginning of May my computer starting locking up for no apparent reason. No errors, no warnings, no specific amount of time. I hesitated but proceeded to call GE Warranty Management. Phone calls were ended by technicians with things like, unplug the system from the UPS unit and plug it directly to the wall, and it is a software problem. I exhausted every avenue possible by myself prior to calling GE Warranty Management to try and avoid involving them. I had my memory tested, I purchased UNIX Red Hat 5.2 to exclude a software problem and miscellaneous other things. I finally called the Circuit City Cool Line and explained my problem and they put me in touch with none other than a GE Warranty Management supervisor. The supervisor acknowledged it was a hardware problem and began troubleshooting. He determined the motherboard, processor, and cache needed to be replaced.

Two weeks later a technician came out with JUST a motherboard. He witnessed the computer lock-up. Seven minutes after he left the computer lockd up again. I immediately called the cool line and they again put me in touch with GE Warranty Management. The woman on the phone told me they should have brought a populated motherboard (motherboard with processor, and cache intact) and that she would reorder the parts and have a technician out to replace it correctly.

When I got off of the phone with her I thought to myself I do not want to go through another two weeks of waiting. So I called my local Circuit City where I had originally purchased the system. I talked with the Manager, Steve S. and he proposed I bring the system in to the store and he would give me a replacement computer while my computer was being fixed.

I get my computer back a week later and nothing was done to it. I called the 1-800 # supplied to find out what was done and was told that there were no hardware problems and that they fixed some software configuration issues. Wait a sec, when I sent the computer to be fixed I fdisked, formatted, and inserted the system recover CD and did nothing else. So maybe he is saying Sony has problems with the condition in which they shipped the computers from the factory, but for the first year my computer never froze up and was running that same software. Also when I sent the computer to be fixed I mentioned the hard drive issue - that the hard drive they replaced my 6Gb HD with was a 4GB and they replied by saying that Sony told them that the Sony PCV-200 (my model) only had a 4.2 GB hard drive. That really made me wonder, when I got the computer it had a 6GB hard drive in it. Someone, either Sony or Circuit City replaced the hard drive before I purchased it *thinking* it was brand new. Also paying for a brand new one. Now that I think back the software was in a Software library notebook and it was not sealed (should it have been).

*Update* I called the manufacturer of the original hard drive and tracked it via serial number to SAMS in Hagerstown, MD. How could a SAMS retail hard drive turn up in a brand new computer.

So here I am today - I talked to Tracy C. from the CEO's office and explained to her my endeavors with GE Warranty Management. She offered me a few options.

1. She could pro-rate my extended warranty ($259.99 Retail). Reason for denying this option- For the first year of service Sony covered my warranty so she is going to pro-rate my $259.99 for a year and 6 months of service (1 year being that of Sony and 6 months of GE Warranty Management service). The reason I purchased a computer from a retail store versus building my own and saving $1,500 was to ensure my computer was in working order for four years.
2. She could call GE Warranty Management and advise them that I would be calling back to try and resolve the problem. Reason for denying this option- *Although she did call GE Warranty Management and the techncian admitted he was desperately trying to get me to send my computer in for repairs. I have had absolutely no success dealing with GE Warranty management and hope I never have to deal with them again in my life time. This would be a short term solution but, I would still have to deal with GE Warranty Management for two and a half more years.
3. She could set up another drop off of my computer to my local Circuit City but could not guarantee that the machine would be repaired because the problem has to occur in the presence of a technician to be diagnosed. Reason for denying this option- If the technician does not look at my system or use it for a period of time normal use" the problem will more than likely not occur. The technician(s) that serviced my computer when I sent it through the store did not even tighten the screws I had left loose from the hard drive and caused the hard drive to be in the bottom of the unit when I picked it up. They also said they performed some software configuration. Odd, when I sent the computer in to be fixed I accidentally plugged the zip drive in incorrectly which caused errors throughout the Operation System and when I got it back the errors where still there and the zip drive was still plugged incorrectly.

I am asking that my money be returned to me despite my use of the computer for one year. For the past six months I have been paying DSL charges (signed a year contract) for ISP $153/month and not been able to utilize this service due to my computer not functioning. I have also had to resort to using my local library, campus, and neighbors' computers to complete college enrollment course (ELI- Extended Learning Institute), check e-mail, and complete assignments. I do not see any other solution due to the fact that I will have to deal with GE Warranty Management for my remaining 2 and a half years of warranty or go without a warranty - which takes us back to the reason I purchased from a retail store that offered an extended warranty.

Dongmei of Normal, IL:
We brought an open box eTower 466is machine at the Circuit City store in Bloomington, IL, without original box. The reason we brought the machine was because the price plus $75 rebate from manufacturer. But, when I filed rebate request, I noticed the manufacturer requesta the original UPC barcode. So I called the store, they assured me that the manufacturer will honor the rebate as long as we send in the orignal receipt.

So, I filed the rebate and 10 weeks later, the rebate was refused because of missing UPC barcode. I went back to the store and told them what happened. The store manager told us if we write eMachine a letter, we are going to receive the rebate which is totally different from what I was told from eMachine.

The representative from eMachine told me they have strict policy about not giving rebate for open box machine. But the store manager refuses to call eMachine. He also specifically told me that he didn't have time to deal with my case. I am very surprised by his rudeness and arrogance.

The Circuit City not only did unethical thing by telling me the wrong information when trying to sell their product, and also acted in bad faith in this case by refusing to correct their mistake.

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