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  1. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    2 things...

    If you don't know already know about it, BlackFriday emails you info about holiday killer specials- they are at (logically enough 8) ) http://www.blackfriday.info/

    Second, here's just one typical comment about the sudden demise of Circuit City :
    Circuit City is dying today, and will be a mere memory in just a few short months, because the company's executives ran the business into the ground.
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10093574-17.html

    A few weeks ago, I got a very odd call about my Toshy laptop I'd bought nearly a year ago, from Circuit City. The caller had a very heavy 'subcontinental' accent, and seemed to know a heck of a lot about me. He allegedly wanted to extend my warranty, but as he was eventually going to ask for a credit card number I asked him to call back later or give me a phone number. He couldn't/wouldn't give a number and never called back.

    Thing is, Circuit City is now up for grabs, and with a bunch of disgruntled techs suddenly missing a Xmas bonus, a job, etc.

    Somebody should ask: What is now the status of extended warranties? What legal protections guard their massive customer database in this situation?
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  2. Banned
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    My brother used to be a department manager at Circuit City and he left a few years ago for another job. I asked him what he thought about them having problems and he told me that he wasn't surprised. I know from stories he told me that his store's management was pretty incompetent. They got rid of people they should have kept, kept people they should have let go and did a lot of things that probably cost them sales. Best Buy is already looking into buying some of the stores that will close as it provides a cost effective way to open new Best Buy stores.

    Circuit City is pulling out of some places entirely. However, they have filed for reorganization, so they will theoretically stay in business. Extended warranties will probably still be valid, but when the nearest store is 200+ miles from where you live, that does make it kind of inconvenient.
    As far as legal protections on their database go, since they are in business it should be protected. However, one of the biggest credit card fraud cases in US history happened where some disgruntled employees sold stolen information to outsiders. And some companies foolishly give unprotected access to employees working in third world countries where lax laws and questionable legal systems make it well worth trying to make some money by selling customer data. Will either of those be a problem here? There's no way to know. Hopefully not. If Circuit City does go out of business entirely (that Cnet article thinks they will eventually) those extended warranties will be worthless.
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  3. Originally Posted by ahhaa
    Somebody should ask: What is now the status of extended warranties? What legal protections guard their massive customer database in this situation?
    Extended warranties are underwritten by a third party
    CC FAQ
    "We have made no changes to our Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans. In fact, our Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans are insured by third-party financial institutions, so consumers can be confident their plans will be in effect based on the terms of the contracts."
    tgpo famous MAC commercial, You be the judge?
    Originally Posted by jagabo
    I use the FixEverythingThat'sWrongWithThisVideo() filter. Works perfectly every time.
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  4. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    Extended warranties are underwritten by a third party

    yeah... but so were subprime mortgages, right?

    ANFSCD- keywords Trek Winona :
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7722407.stm
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  5. Circuit city financial is actually Chase, so from this stand point Chase is one of the more established creditors. It will be interesting and I will probably see it up close. I turned in one of my Canon HV20's last week for repair/replacement.

    My fingers are crossed.
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  6. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    what happened to your HV20?
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  7. Member louv68's Avatar
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    This news totally sucks. I guess I'd better hurry up and spend my gift cards before I lose them.
    -The Mang
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  8. Well I have 2 HV20's and 1 HV30. I bought both HV20s from circuit city but one of them I put the accidental insurance on and marked the camera. This camera has been put in the firing zone numerous times. It has been mounted to the back of a back stop filming my youth fast pitch softball team play, it has been on the pool side during my kids water polo games, it has been on a few water rides, roller coasters etc. It has taken a beating. It is suffering with a few problems as an end result and now that I have some down time from shoots I have sent it in for repair or replacement. Don't get me wrong, while it was in some tough spots it was not full neglect where I intentionally submerged it in water or it got hit by a 12" DreamSeam softball at 55 mph but it has been tested.

    Some problems I am having with it is it at one time shut off and was not responsive for a day. Capturing video from tapes there is a popping noise and drop frame issues. I can take the same tapes and capture from them on my other camera. Interesting enough I detected this problem when I first purchased this camera it was an open box that I got for $550. So this problem I think was pre-existing, but was easilly worked around.
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  9. They are only restructuring & can stay in business.

    But I think you mean a red friday for them.
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    I guess they do have some financial problem.
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  11. From what I read they'll be closing a hefty amount of locations and, obviously, their filing is to protect themselves. Circuit City has been headed in this direction for quite some time and the Blockbuster deal falling through definitely didn't help them.

    Circuit City may end up dying but I think they have some time before that will actually happen. They need to downsize and try to reorganize first.
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  12. their Protection Plans is very expansive $319 for $999 TV.best buy $149 for 4 years
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  13. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    I've never been very fond of CIRCUIT CITY. I did buy my 51" 16x9 WS HDTV there but that was ... well this Christmas that will have been 3 years ago. I don't think I've bought anything there since at least nothing major.

    Compared to BEST BUY the prices in general were higher at least for more day-to-day stuff. For instance blank DVD prices at CIRCUITY CITY were always ridicules. Same thing when it came to the price of computer hard drives. I do notice that sometimes they have decent prices if something is on sale otherwise it's expensive.

    I also hated the look and layout of the place. I hated how they displayed DVD discs ... everything was so tight and hard to flip through them.

    I won't miss them but at the same time I'm not crazy that BEST BUY will be left as the only major electronics store in my area. For instance I hear people on this forum often mention FRY'S but they aren't in my area. In fact never would have heard of them if not for this website.

    Competition is a good thing.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
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  14. Member
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    Originally Posted by handyguy
    They are only restructuring & can stay in business.
    That may be if they can convince the court that reorganization under Chapter 11 has a reasonable chance of success. If they can't satisfy the court and the creditors committee, the court can refuse Chapter 11 and force liquidation. In either case, a gift card is considered unsecured debt - translation, you're SOL if you haven't used your gift card BEFORE they file. Run, don't walk to use your gift cards.
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  15. Member lacywest's Avatar
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    It would be a bummer to see the one in Visalia California go under ... the next two stores are in Fresno and most likely Bakersfield.

    The one in Visalia is a decent 30 minute drive and they do price match with Best Buy ... which is in the same shopping area.

    My reason for concern I bought my 51" Sony HDTV from them and it is one of those projection type and it needs a tuneup ... the picture is no longer crisp ... it has a washed out gleem to it ... almost like there is dust inside. I've thought about opening it up and seeing what could be cleaned. I have a field right behind me and dust is everywhere inside my home ... especially in my living room.
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  16. DVD Ninja budz's Avatar
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    From what I've read CC got some sort of 1.1 billion loan to basically protect themselves & to pay the vendors. It's the vendors who are afraid of not getting paid for their goods which is probably why CC doesn't have a BLACK FRIDAY AD yet. Honolulu only has one CC which is 14 miles from where I live. I've never been impressed with their sales staff even when they had the one's who supposedly were top notch & knew their products.
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  17. Member yoda313's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by fulcilives
    For instance I hear people on this forum often mention FRY'S but they aren't in my area. In fact never would have heard of them if not for this website.
    Actually the other month there was a sporting event that FRYS sponsored. I think it was a golf tournament or maybe racing. So they are getting more exposure.

    However like you there isn't a Fry's in my area either.

    The one thing I didn't like initially about Circuit City was the pushy sales people. Granted there are times at Best Buy I feel like I have to shout out for somebody to get answers but I usually know my answers before I ask them. I just some times to get a reassurance before I pick something up. Or it might be an updated model that I haven't seen before. But at least at Best Buy you can feel free to literally "JUST BROWSE" and you won't have a million sales people hover around you.
    Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
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  18. Member wtsinnc's Avatar
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    I don't know if it's true, but a Best Buy employee told me that they are paid a salary plus a small commission on each sale, while circuit City employees were paid on a commission only basis. That (if it's true) might explain the difference I see in attitude.

    Where I live (North Carolina), Circuit City has a presence comparable to Best Buy, but the shopping experience is totally different with Best Buy offering generally friendly and knowledgeable associates while a trip to Circuit City is totally frustrating as well as depressing. At Circuit City, I cannot get waited on regardless of which area store I visit and the employees seem to be singularly and totally absorbed in making themselves unavailable. Watching a group of them walk into work, it looks like Bataan !
    Following one particularly bad experience, I called the corporate headquarters in Virginia and was advised to try another store.
    -Total BS and a Howdy GO To Hell and that is the problem; no one within the organization seems to care.

    BB has competition here in the form of Walmart and Sam's Club, Costco, and H.H. Gregg, a retailer that sells appliances as well as computers and home entertainment products, but the overall price structure is generally ridiculous. Whether or not Circuit City survives, the current economic conditions are going to squeeze all of the above to offer more competitive pricing, and that will be good for us.
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  19. DVD Ninja budz's Avatar
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    BB doesn't have the best sales peeps either. The one's I've come across are just as the ones at CC. None the less it's far and few in between that you'll fine a reputable knowledgeable sales person in any retail store these days! Most of the old COMPUSA employees went to work for BB when they opened up here in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was funny to see the ones working in blue!
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  20. Member
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    I don't have a problem with BB employees. I'd rather they not know much like every other store. I can usually get them to understand what I need. What bothered me with CC was that they were always trying to screw me over. I bought most of my equiptment at CC in the 90's and every time I went in to buy something on sale, they conveniently never had it and always talked me into buying the higher end model.

    I bought my first two computers there and that's why I'll never buy anything from them again. I told them money was no opject since I'd just gotten a settlement and told them I wanted something that was powerful enough to do graphics and video and they sold me an HP with a 560mhz celeron CPU. I took it back and tried to exchange it for something better after about 15 days and they told me it was too late to exchange it. Since I didn't know the difference between a Celeron and a PIII, I let the guy talk me into buying almost the exact same model with the same Celeron CPU as the 1st one for $1000. I paid for a 3 year service plan and after two years, called to get help and got an automated message that told me the model was no longer covered.

    CC doesn't get any more of my money and if I need a new computer, I build it myself.
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  21. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by yoda313
    Originally Posted by fulcilives
    For instance I hear people on this forum often mention FRY'S but they aren't in my area. In fact never would have heard of them if not for this website.
    Actually the other month there was a sporting event that FRYS sponsored. I think it was a golf tournament or maybe racing. So they are getting more exposure.

    However like you there isn't a Fry's in my area either.
    Fry's remains unique. Totally private and growth from profit. They require an attitude and a smart customer. High ticket items like computers, computer parts, designer kitchens and HDTV sets have smart commissioned sales people. The rest of the store has sales people that ask you what the product does. Still, I buy more there than Best Buy.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry's_Electronics

    Forbes: "The customer is always right? Not at Fry's"
    http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1997/1103/6010086a.html'
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