dcprules

I'm really getting mad at Circuit City. Two weeks ago I got in on the buy a gamecube get NFL Street/$10 gift card for free. They didn't have the game in stock at the time (though they were advertising it and Madden 2004 for free instantly, not one or the other though it said one or the other in the AD), so they put a ticket on my receipt so I could pick it up. They informed me it would be in in a few days. I've gone back three times since and they still don't have it in. One time I heard a shipment of it that was supposed to come in didn't, the next time I heard all of their copies of it were stolen, and today they told me they still haven't gotten any recently but to check back tomorrow.

Why wont they at least give me my $10 gift card? I've asked, they say not until you get the game because we have to do it at the same time. I even asked them to hold the items for me but they said just call in later. I'm really tempted to just return the stupid gamecube and get my money back. Any suggestions or has anyone experienced all this hassle before. I used to really like Circuit City, used to.

Wow, sorry about the long vent.

wm lopez

There better than Best Buy, so chill.

Tony Dvdfan

I would go back on monday or tuesday, probably get the biggest shipments then, to cover weekend sales....if they dont have it then, ask if they would substitute a different game instead. I would say dont walk in on the war path, cause then they really wouldnt want to help you....
Out of curiousity, what area are you located in? Ive been hearing about alot of game theft problems locally.

chemosh6969

I just recently "picked up" a shipment of NFL Street and I'd be willing to sell it to you at crackhead prices

uNCSUcks

I would suggest calling first before you go in. If you would want a different game you could ask for a substitution like Tony said. Unless things have changed since I worked there, employees have no idea when they are going to get a shipment in. If the computer says there are some in transit, it could take up to 7 days for them to actually receive it. Another possibility is to try to find a friendly employee or manager that would be willing to call you when they get the game in. I would do this for customers all the time, of course the corporation doesn't seem to care quite as much about hiring helpful employees versus hiring cheap high school labor now. You could get lucky though.

Captain Harlock

Circuit City has been on the downward slide for about a year now. Frequently when I have gone into the store near me they either are "out of stock" or "the shipment hasn't arrived yet". Here's some examples from this past year;

In March of 2003 Metal Gear Solid Substance was due to arrive and be discounted selling for $29.99. The "shipment didn't arrive", but the game was on the shelf the following Monday AFTER the sale ended.

This fall Freedom Fighters didn't arrive till after a month after it's release.

Prince of Persia is currently "out of stock". Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this, but it seemed the ran out just in time for the Prince of Persia/Splinter Cell promotion.

Beyond Good and Evil was "out of stock" during the week it sold for the heavily discounted price of $9.99. The CC outlet two towns over apparently had "a whole big stack of them" when I called them on the day before the sale ended. This, and the Prince of Persia story above, makes me think they are sitting on these games till the price goes back up.

Prices on the shelf are seldomly updated. How hard is it to send someone with a list and a pricing gun and say "mark these games down"?

The GTA Double Pack "didn't arrive" on time to go on sale for it's initial discounted price.

And most recently, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers has finally been discounted to the price of $19.99 but the game is suddenly "out of stock".


I'm starting to think that this store is either being marked for closing or is being poorly managed. I'm guessing the latter is probably true.

dcprules

Hmm, thanks for all the thoughts. I checked back with them today and they still don't have it in stock. I've been wating to open the gamecube until they get it in stock, which hopefully will be soon. The box is just stitting there, so tempting to open.

velveeta

Well, I won't have to worry about Circuit City B&M because they've just announced the closing of 19 stores, including the single store they have here in Omaha. CC says these stores were losing money for them. That's true here in Omaha, due in part to their bad location IMO. They're right across the street from their main local competitor, Nebraska Furniture Mega-Mart (owned by Warren Buffetts' Berkshire Hathaway), and a few blocks from a large Best Buy. I'm not sure why CC thought they could compete price-wise with NFM, but on most items they simply couldn't. I did shop at CC once in awhile, usually if I wanted to avoid crowds at NFM, so I would just price-match the item at CC.

I'll still continue to use CC for online orders, but I've noticed their shipping has gotten considerably slower.

POWERBOMB

Can you go to another store?

NitroJMS

Beyond Good and Evil was a close-out item that was part of the 50% off sale after X-mas. It was limited to supplies on hand, so some stores may have had little to no copies available. Two Towers is the same way. We don't get in copies of old titles normally.

As for new game releases like Prince of Persia, Freedom Fighters and GTA Double Pack, it sometimes takes a few weeks to get certain new games in. Unless its a major new release (Madden, Mario, Zelda), we won't have it the day it comes out.

Captain Harlock

That may be true, but in the case of Metal Gear Solid Substance there is no valid excuse. Especially since the sunday flier advertised it as "Available March 6th". If you advertise something being available on a certain date, unless the truck gets run off the road or the Fed Ex plane crashes you better damn well have it. Same with the Splinter Cell/Prince of Persia deal that was advertised in the sunday circulars. If they don't have it, I believe some states require a store to honor it with a rain check.

Like I said I think this is a case of this store being poorly managed.

BJacks

Everyone knows that CC is not the place to go for new videogame releases. With the exception of high profile titles, they hardly ever get anything in on time. I worked there, so I know first hand. When Call of Duty came out, the kid in the dept had never even heard of it.