Circuit City Deceptive advertisement and sales practices Chicago Illinois

Ok a few things....

The first item was clearly advertised in an accurate way so the consumer could call before they come to any location and waste their time. Ads are created/printed weeks before they come out and 300 out of 600 Circuits had the laptop that we are trying to get rid of at a loss I'm sure.

It would not be practicle to spend $500,000 trying to create different ads and ad delivery for each zip code that had a laptop to sell or vice versa. This is just how it is and I do not know what else to say. If the ad does NOT say close out, limited quantity, or likewise CC is obligated to special order the product with 20% down (refundable if you change your mind) and sell for the ad price! There are other options as well called direct ship.

Second thing is some promos are web only at CC. Which as silly as it sounds you have to pay for it online where you get special rebates/free stuff offers & then you can pick it up at the counter. They do this to drive new customers to our web site.

We offer online stations for customers to do this in store if needed for a better deal. Some times a sales person can get confused as to what is an instore or web only offer. It can be tough to keep clear.

Third is the discount on the warranty... we are not suppose to do that. Warranty on a laptop is worth every penny and when selling a low margin product like computers its silly to discount product to sell a warranty. So that seems weird.

Good luck in the future but it sounds 50/50 on the issues created here.

I don't work at CC but I work for a popular department store that runs circulars every week. Occasionally, there will be something in the flyer that is on clearance. My store might have two in stock of the clearance item while the store in the next town over might have 100.

Now, say it's Saturday and the new sale starts on Sunday. In the circular, it says that there's a printer on clearance. Say a customer comes in on Saturday and sees two of these printers which he buys. Then another customer buys one. And so on. Well, if we have, say, 20 in stock, and they all sell out on Saturday, we're not going to have any for Sunday, the day that the circular comes out. What some of you don't understand is that when an item is marked clearance, chances are, it's being discontinued from the store. The store, therefore, wants to get rid of them. The store can't stop customers buying the item just because it goes on sale the next day. Generally, the clearance items are discounted A LOT. So when customers see a good price on something, they buy it. My store puts out clearance items as soon as we get them. There are times where we put out an item on clearance WEEKS before it is advertised in the circular. If it's sold out before the circular comes out, tough. Clearance means clearance.

What I suggest you do is to read the fine print (you know, where it says "quantities limited" or "no rainchecks"). Also, call the store before you drive there. Closeout items go quickly. It's wise to make sure that they have them in stock before you go to the store to buy it, only to be disappointed when there's none in stock.

Jeremy's theories about what constitutes bait and switch have become increasingly bizarre and are now downright laughable.

Apparently, if Circuit City had a single advertised computer in Helena, Montana 2 months prior to an advertisement in a completely different part of the country, then that is just good, honest business according to Jeremy. It's all the customer's fault for not "getting there soon enough," despite the fact that the single computer was in Helena, that it was sold out two months ago, and that the original advertisement was in a newspaper thousands of miles away.

If Jeremy's the CC employee who "always works for his customers," I'd hate to see what the truly disgruntled CC employees have to say.

Remember guys, it's not bait and switch to advertise something you don't have. CC might have had a handful of laptops...a few weeks ago...somewhere within the continental United States.

Get real.

Don't shop at CC. They lie too much.

Circuit city circulars are distributed NATIONWIDE. Which means while one store my be out of stock of a specific item, One on the other side of the nation may have many in stock.I do apologize for you not being able to utilize our sales but getting angry over something like this is pointless.

I understand your frustration but simply put, you should have gotten there earlier, There was a reason that laptop was sold out weeks earlier. It more than likely had the same deal on it, it was a closeout, and we were trying to get rid of an older model. WE dont control how many of a specific laptop toshiba makes, we just try to get rid of old stock.

Let me spell this out for you with the important words in all caps (since you appeared to have missed them). A "closeout sale" item is NOT when they have ZERO (as in none) items for sale for a full TWO WEEKS before the advertisement. Two weeks is more than ample time to pull an advertisment for a product of which you have NONE.

If I get there and the advertisement says "closeout" and they tell me, "Sorry we sold our last one this morning," then you are correct: no harm, no foul. I knew (or should have known) it was a closeout, and I wasn't early enough to get the product. But when I get there and they tell me they haven't had a single unit for the past TWO WEEKS, that NO stores in the Chicagoland area have had the item for TWO WEEKS, and the employees themselves wish that they would not advertise a product of which they have NONE, then that IS DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING. Plain and simple.

Clear?

Advertising a product as closeout when you don't even have a single product (nor have you had one for two weeks) is deception. It is not being "upfront."

Your inability to grasp this point leads to me to wonder how sincere your desire to "work for the customer" truly is.

Let me spell this out for you with the important words in all caps (since you appeared to have missed them). A "closeout sale" item is NOT when they have ZERO (as in none) items for sale for a full TWO WEEKS before the advertisement. Two weeks is more than ample time to pull an advertisment for a product of which you have NONE.

If I get there and the advertisement says "closeout" and they tell me, "Sorry we sold our last one this morning," then you are correct: no harm, no foul. I knew (or should have known) it was a closeout, and I wasn't early enough to get the product. But when I get there and they tell me they haven't had a single unit for the past TWO WEEKS, that NO stores in the Chicagoland area have had the item for TWO WEEKS, and the employees themselves wish that they would not advertise a product of which they have NONE, then that IS DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING. Plain and simple.

Clear?

Advertising a product as closeout when you don't even have a single product (nor have you had one for two weeks) is deception. It is not being "upfront."

Your inability to grasp this point leads to me to wonder how sincere your desire to "work for the customer" truly is.

Let me spell this out for you with the important words in all caps (since you appeared to have missed them). A "closeout sale" item is NOT when they have ZERO (as in none) items for sale for a full TWO WEEKS before the advertisement. Two weeks is more than ample time to pull an advertisment for a product of which you have NONE.

If I get there and the advertisement says "closeout" and they tell me, "Sorry we sold our last one this morning," then you are correct: no harm, no foul. I knew (or should have known) it was a closeout, and I wasn't early enough to get the product. But when I get there and they tell me they haven't had a single unit for the past TWO WEEKS, that NO stores in the Chicagoland area have had the item for TWO WEEKS, and the employees themselves wish that they would not advertise a product of which they have NONE, then that IS DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING. Plain and simple.

Clear?

Advertising a product as closeout when you don't even have a single product (nor have you had one for two weeks) is deception. It is not being "upfront."

Your inability to grasp this point leads to me to wonder how sincere your desire to "work for the customer" truly is.

Let me spell this out for you with the important words in all caps (since you appeared to have missed them). A "closeout sale" item is NOT when they have ZERO (as in none) items for sale for a full TWO WEEKS before the advertisement. Two weeks is more than ample time to pull an advertisment for a product of which you have NONE.

If I get there and the advertisement says "closeout" and they tell me, "Sorry we sold our last one this morning," then you are correct: no harm, no foul. I knew (or should have known) it was a closeout, and I wasn't early enough to get the product. But when I get there and they tell me they haven't had a single unit for the past TWO WEEKS, that NO stores in the Chicagoland area have had the item for TWO WEEKS, and the employees themselves wish that they would not advertise a product of which they have NONE, then that IS DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING. Plain and simple.

Clear?

Advertising a product as closeout when you don't even have a single product (nor have you had one for two weeks) is deception. It is not being "upfront."

Your inability to grasp this point leads to me to wonder how sincere your desire to "work for the customer" truly is.

When an advertisement clearly states that it is a CLOSEOUT item, that means that there is a limited supply, it will not be available in all locations, and when it is sold out, its sold out. I dont know how you can be much more upfront then that. Its noted right below the price in the advertisement. I work for circuit city in michigan and the majority of my customers are aware of the stipulations regarding these items.

Trust me, were not trying to deliberately deceive you. I'd rather not deal with an irate customer if I dont have to, and trust me when I say this, every sale we have, at least at my store, we have the item in stock previous to the circular. We have no control on how fast these items sell out. I just wish you guys would realize that we dont take pleasure in these situations. Myself and my management staff hates these situations and we avoid them at all costs. We ALWAYS work for our customers.

Per wikipedia, the definition of "bait and switch" is "a form of fraud in which the fraudster lures in customers by advertising a good at an unprofitably low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute good is."

Even if they advertise "no rain checks," if they knowingly have, say, one unit available and fully understand that many, many more people will be coming in and be unable to obtain the advertised product, I would argue that this satisfies the above definition of "bait and switch."

In the above case, the advertisement ran when there was not a SINGLE advertised computer available in the Chicagoland area for two weeks prior to the advertisement running. This was confirmed both by the salesperson at the time as well as myself by checking out Circuit City's website.

When they are advertising a product at an extremely low price for which they have NO units available at the time, how exactly is this NOT deceptive advertising or "bait and switch?"

The more I think about this, the more outrageous it seems. I'm going to forward this on to the state's attorney's office and see what they have to say.

They have been sued numerous times by attorneys general is several states concerning deceptive advertising. Here is an example in 2004 where NJ sued CC over (surprise surprise) deceptive advertisements:

http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/press/circuit.htm

Note specifically that CC agreed to change its policies in 1996 after getting in trouble in NJ over their advertisements, and here they are getting sued over *exactly* the same thing. Note also the quote that reading the small print should not "...involve the use of a magnifying glass to read too-small type."

Similar situation in 1999 in Michigan, specifically regarding rainchecks. Before 1999, CC wouldn't even announce rainchecks. When they got in trouble, though, they rounded up their legal team and concocted a "legal" way to deceive consumers.

Absolutely this is bait and switch. Just because they have "rainchecks" buried in fine print does NOT make ordering a dozen laptops, advertising EVERYWHERE the low prices, selling out the laptops in three minutes, and telling the other 400 consumers "oh...well you're too late" with the sole purpose of getting people into the store to sell them other stuff they do not need ethical.

Don't shop at CC. They will lie/deceive you every step of the way.

In the end, it is not "bait and switch" because CC put the disclaimer right there with the price. If that is not there, then believe me, they will do what they can to get you that model. Like most of the reports on here, you cant fault the company because you dont read the fine print.

Sorry, but "bait and switch" is when you advertise something that you have no intention of selling, only to draw people into the store to sell them different (usually higher priced) items. Ordering a dozen laptops, and telling the rest of the 400 people who want one that they're too late is a bait and switch. CC targets the impulse buyer with this deceptive advertisement, to sell the consumer something else, and then will give the consumer the runaround whenever they try to return the (usually broken) product.

...and once again, CC has a duty and an obligation to train its employees. The kid was not an "idiot", CC simply refused to train him. Lying to consumers both orally and on paper? I can't think of a better reason to avoid CC.

People like throwing out the term "bait and switch" whenever they cant get what they want that's in an ad, which isnt what "bait and switch" is. Now the ad for Chicago has a Toshiba laptop for $450(I'm assuming this is the one). Well right below it, there is the caption "closeout, no rainchecks". Now yes, in Chicago, it was sold out all over and most likely because it's already at a low price before the ad even came out. Regardless, they put it on the ad because there are still places out there that still have some in stock and the company wants to get rid of them. In the end, you went there because of a good deal, and the deal was on closeout where you couldnt get a raincheck. By putting it on the ad itself, that does not constitute a "bait and switch".

Now of course, you're there and if you decide you want to get a laptop that around the same price, hey go for it. You dont have to if you dont want to. You can just wait for another deal to come along and between Best Buy and Circuit City, there's a deal like this almost every month.

As for the sales kid, yes he was a newbie and seemingly an idiot. Some new guys are quick to make the sale and will say something is free with rebates when it really isnt. There's really no excuse. As for the $50 savings on the warranty, that is something that managers do to get their employees to sell more warranty, and if you're still not interested, no big deal. Again, this kid sounded new or maybe just dumb since it was a sloppy transaction.