[Wlogan31]

You're out of luck. Without CC, your extended warranty is basically non-existent as they contract third parties to do the work when and if it's needed.



I agree. I'm not talking about customer service or anything, that's too YMMV. But CC actually has sales/clearances I can take advantage off. BB rarely, if ever, has any good sales.

I have a Circuit City credit card and have accumulated ~$400 in gift cards to date. If they file bankruptcy before I use these do I lose them?

Guess I should run out and buy a TV...

[Pookymeister]

btw why did you buy it. c. city is crazy expensive for the extended warranty?

I had a 4 yr warranty on my last tv from CC.

First experience was with black shadows on corners of TV - pretty much right after delivery. Repairman was 3rd party and was a retard. He wanted to take TV back to shop. I told him no way, and looked inside the tv myself while he was there. I saw the problem right away...the foam covering for the light inside was blocking partially the bulb. Duh. Pushed it back in and tv was fine.

2nd was about 2 years later. There were spots and clouds on tv. Turns out light engine was bad. Guy that came was CC branded with shirt, etc. He replaced the engine no problem and said it was a $1000+ part.

3rd was when warranty was almost up and I called about getting a replacement bulb. They just asked me if i knew how to replace it, and then shipped it right to me. Pretty sure they are a couple hundred bucks too.

My current tv has another warranty on it, and i think its worth it(assuming it lasts). At the very least, you can get a bulb(rear projection tv) out of it and that almost covers the price.

Edited by Pookymeister, 10 October 2008 - 06:13 PM.

[tangytangerine]

I have a Circuit City credit card and have accumulated ~$400 in gift cards to date. If they file bankruptcy before I use these do I lose them?

Usually when a company files for bankruptcy, the gift cards become useless since the store doesn't have to honor them. It happened to one store right after christmas last year(Sharper Image?), where anyone that didn't use the gift cards right after christmas were left with a worthless piece of plastic.

So if there's something you could use, it might be a good time to use those gift cards now. Especially considering how much their stock is worth right now.

[SaraAB]

I think some states have a law now stating that a company has to honor their gift cards no matter what even if they are closing..

Bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean closure though, look at Kmart, they declared bankruptcy and they are still open, so this could just mean a restructuring or a closing of some stores.

Any clearance sales will probably be run by scammy liquidators which means the prices would be jacked up from the current instore prices and worse than online prices so I am not betting on any sales here.

[BillyBob29]

The problem with CC, and many retailers, is that they rely heavily on credit to keep fresh inventory coming. Well that credit just isn't there right now for most companies and CC's balance sheet is just in horrible shape so any credit they are getting is likely at horrible terms.

This is going to put a great deal of pressure on their day to day financials.

I wouldn't be surprised to see CC or another major retailer just close up for the night on some random Monday and not reopen again on Tues. This has already happened to many large chain restuarants and unless the credit market improve soon it is a matter of when, not if, this same thing happens to a major retailer.

[anarch]

Not a surprise after they fired all their competent employees last year and replaced them with drones. Since then, I've been to 7 or so Circuit Cities in the area: only one has had knowledgeable and helpful employees.

[Snake2715]

return that TV warranty... I believe you have what 30 or 60 days to come in and buy it so wait it out and then buy it if you feel safe.

use the gift cards as well asap.

[Antic]

btw why did you buy it. c. city is crazy expensive for the extended warranty?

If I pay more than $300, I get the extended warranty. It's pretty much payed off every time as well. The biggest example is with my iPod. I would have been SOL 5 different times if I didn't have it. Each time I kept getting a brand new one, and after about a year they'd fail again. I could have never afford to buy a new one each time, so the 30 or 40 dollars I spent for a warranty paid off

With the tv, I can't gamble on not having any sort of warranty. I'm a student, unemployed, and if it ever messed up I don't have that much money to buy another or the parts. I'd rather shell out the money for a warranty while I have it, and then hopefully be covered for those 5 years. The warranty for me has always paid off though with each product.
The tv I bought last year was the 52" Sharp Aquos LCD they had on Black Friday.

[daminion]

Bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean closure though, look at Kmart, they declared bankruptcy and they are still open, so this could just mean a restructuring or a closing of some stores.

They merged with Sears.

However the CC issue might be real. The fact is, with this economy no one is really willing to lend money. And with no money coming in to pay the bills, buy new merchandise, or pay employees they could be in trouble.

Remember CompUSA of just a year ago...

[KaneRobot]

Hope my $70 certificate in rewards points arrives before they go tits-up. I would have redeemed online but I'm going to use it on an Elite and I want to be able to inspect the box to try to grab a Jasper when these new bundles show up in stores.

Wlogan31, redeem that shit ASAP if you're doing it by mail. If you redeem by mail it says it takes several weeks to arrive - my redemption was 2 weeks ago and still nothing.

[pazuzuindc]

I had a 4 yr warranty on my last tv from CC.

First experience was with black shadows on corners of TV - pretty much right after delivery. Repairman was 3rd party and was a retard. He wanted to take TV back to shop. I told him no way, and looked inside the tv myself while he was there. I saw the problem right away...the foam covering for the light inside was blocking partially the bulb. Duh. Pushed it back in and tv was fine.

2nd was about 2 years later. There were spots and clouds on tv. Turns out light engine was bad. Guy that came was CC branded with shirt, etc. He replaced the engine no problem and said it was a $1000+ part.

3rd was when warranty was almost up and I called about getting a replacement bulb. They just asked me if i knew how to replace it, and then shipped it right to me. Pretty sure they are a couple hundred bucks too.

My current tv has another warranty on it, and i think its worth it(assuming it lasts). At the very least, you can get a bulb(rear projection tv) out of it and that almost covers the price.

I agree with you on the rear projection thing when bought elsewhere.... i got my rptv from crutchfield and the 5 year service plan was $199 and it coveres one bulb. the bulb for my tv is $250 and it gets a lot of use so i see it as valuable. but when my in laws were looking at a lcd tv for $1200 and the warranty was $400 i was like hell no.

[elmyra]

I heard a while ago a bunch of the cc stores were going to be closing. I wonder if the clearwater store is one. The place has looked like shit for months and everything is just thrown on the shelves in no particular order. It's like the K mart of electronics stores.

Is that Clearwater, Florida you're talking about?

[Chacrana]

CC>BB

I would hate for CC to go. If CC does go, you can get on BB's price going up by quite a lot.

Doubt it - it's not like CC is the only store peddling electronics.

[SaraAB]

I doubt BB even sees CC as a threat anymore, they probably see Walmart and Target as more of a threat since they sell the basics and the lower-end stuff that people tend to buy when it comes to hard times. CC is small and has a lot of expensive products, The person who would have bought item x at BB might just be buying a lower model available at Walmart this time around. You can't buy groceries and other items either at BB and since people are driving less due to high gas prices instead of going to BB to buy a video game they might just buy it in walmart since they will already be there for the groceries instead of making that extra stop to BB for example.

[IAmTheCheapestGamer]

When montgomery ward closed down years back all their customers were sol because they backed the warranties.

Actually, Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise were both online only web retailers the last time I checked, but they were BOTH still in business.

Any clearance sales will probably be run by scammy liquidators which means the prices would be jacked up from the current instore prices and worse than online prices so I am not betting on any sales here.

Thus far, I've been to store closings for Kmart, Sam Goody, Toys R Us and even a couple of CompUSA stores and while I agree, the prices usually are jacked back up to MSRP for each item.

Of course, most NORMAL consumers think that 20-30% off of MSRP is a phenomenal deal and they'll rush in at those percentages and clean the place out of anything GOOD.

Mind you, about 3 or so years ago when Transworld bought Sam Goody, it took forever for their store in Paramus, NJ to empty out and on one of the final days of business they still had some old PS1 games that were worth a good buck.

But unfortunately I was just as broke then as I am now sometimes.

CompUSA isn't completely out of business though, since I believe they were bought out by Systemax or one of those online only PC sites.

[Bstiff]

Is that Clearwater, Florida you're talking about?

yep

[MSUHitman]

If CNBC or another financial network reported on this, I might believe it. Since it's coming from the Consumerist, which I equate with soccer moms going on there to bitch about how they had to wait longer than 5 minutes to be waited on at Best Buy and how they should get a gift card for terrible service, I'm more inclined to just ignore the story.

Either way, if they DO go outta biz then maybe I can finally snag an HDtv for cheap.

Oh and this'll teach 'em for going after Speedy AND firing all of their seasoned employees.

The story about the bad recommendation to suppliers about CC is from a story in the Washington Post. As another poster said, there was another article that showed CC, Borders, and Talbots were looking to be the next 3 national retailers to go under soon. Consumerist took those stories (which are linked in their piece) then did a post about it yesterday.

[IAmTheCheapestGamer]

The story about the bad recommendation to suppliers about CC is from a story in the Washington Post. As another poster said, there was another article that showed CC, Borders, and Talbots were looking to be the next 3 national retailers to go under soon. Consumerist took those stories (which are linked in their piece) then did a post about it yesterday.

So, in other words, The Consumerist couldn't come up with their OWN story on the subject and instead added a tiny bit of their own shpeel to it? Classic internet publishing at it's finest.

Mind you, I can't say that I didn't see CC's failure coming, since they've been floundering for a while now. I just hope the regular shmucks don't grab up all of the decent HDtv's at 20-30% like most regular consumers(morons really) do during store closing sales.

[jaysapathy]

Speaking as someone who lost his job when CC laid off their top 30% ("You can go on vacation for 6 weeks and then come back making $7/hr instead of $12, or just go away") I hope they get buttfucked. Won't miss them at all -- horrible business practices. The CEO took the money and ran. Holiday season or not, CC is fucked.

[Trish005]

I worked for ccity too and remember when they let go all the seniors that knew a lot..and then they let go the roadshop s&i manager and basically made the sup. of install do all the work he did..i could careless if they go under.They were stupid to let all their good employees go and hire high school kids that didnt know anything. I had to work that morning and it was me and a cashier that wasnt a manager because all the seniors were scheduled to open...I feel sorry for all the people that will lose their jobs but ccity wont be missed when they close

[srad1968]

Circuit City is on it's death bed. Their stock has dropped below .40 per share. If you pre-order a game there they may not be there when you go back to pick up their game. They reported losses of $239 million in the second quarter this year.

They might bounce back, but I would just be very careful letting them hold on to your money.

LINK

Edited by CheapyD, 12 October 2008 - 03:28 PM.
moved to shopping/deal discussion forum

[YoshiFan1]

I might get rid of my GC's soon. I'd hate to lose the value of them if they go bankrupt

[DOMINATOR912]

I feel bad for them, I worked there for almost 5 years and never had any problems. I left last March but still have a lot of friends working there.

[SaraAB]

Consumerist isn't as bad as it used to be, if you just read the articles and ignore the comments and of course take everything with a grain of salt. They have also cleaned up the comments considerably.

Some Compusa stores were bought out by Tiger Direct, and some others closed. Some stores turned into Tiger Direct retail outlets. I wouldn't buy anything from Tiger knowing that they are just selling mostly overstock from closing stores. Its very possible that Tiger Direct could buy out CC too if they go under.

The stores here will empty out fast because people over here totally buy into the liquidation and thrift store hype of "ITS ALWAYS A GOOD DEAL cause its 20% off". I have learned to ignore it and just get my stuff online where its cheaper and I might even be able to get a better, newer product for less money. Yeah a 64mb SD card for 50$ is a good deal according to the Kmart liquidation shoppers...

The worst was the TRU closing sale where they kept randomly marking the percent off up and down, one day it would be 70% off and then the next it would be 50% off.

[neocisco]

I used most of my gift cards these weekend. I have no faith in my employer at this point.

[pazuzuindc]

Actually, Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise were both online only web retailers the last time I checked, but they were BOTH still in business.

wards closed down in 2001 and was re-opened in 2004 as a new company.

man it just blows for these companies to be in business for so long. wards was open in 1872

It is ironic that circut city opend nearly 20 years before best buy.

Its like hechingers vs home depot. hechingers opend in 1912 and home depot i think came around in the 70's i think and caused hechingers to go under. and yes i know it is still around but only as a web site.

these companies that go under still have a name that is marketable to even if circuit city closes down maybe in a few years it will come back only as an online retailer.

[neocisco]

At this point, that's the only thing going for CC, the value of the brand. If anybody shows interest in buying CC it would be primarily for that reason.

[Weedy649]

Best Buy's service plans are insured so if they would ever go under then you would still be covered. Not so sure about circuit city.

I've been to circuit about once in my life. Seeing as how best buy was one of my first jobs it always felt like behind enemy lines if i was even in the same parking lot.

[pazuzuindc]

Best Buy's service plans are insured so if they would ever go under then you would still be covered. Not so sure about circuit city.

I've been to circuit about once in my life. Seeing as how best buy was one of my first jobs it always felt like behind enemy lines if i was even in the same parking lot.

The Best Buy Performance Service Plan program is fully underwritten by a member company of the AIG group of companies.

aig huh...makes me feel better. haha

[cdrober]

IF CC does go under that is bad for us, this will really reduce the competition to Best Buy and even to Amazon (Amazon has matched CC ad prices before) and we as consumers will end up seeing less deals (or at least a lowered quality of deals) in the long run (this is my opinion).