In the light of the news of your current "trouble", I thought I might shed some light on a few experiences which I have had in your stores recently. Let me start off by saying, that I am the customer whom you hate... not in a bad way though... What I mean is... I am the guy who will not tell you that I am unhappy, I just won't come back... for some reason, reading about your company's slipping against BB, I felt compelled to give you an opportunity to act. I work retail myself, so I know what to expect from a Big Box retailer.
I was shopping at your "new" Oswego, IL store looking for a Christmas gift for my wife. Upon reading many reviews of a particular digital picture frame, I found that your store was the one to carry it. I ventured out in the snow to buy this gift. Once I got to the store I was looking at the frames and was greeted and assisted by a nice young man. Unfortunately, he was not very knowledgeable in the product and had to ask 3 or 4 other people for the answers to my questions. After it came down to wanting to make the purchase, he said that they were out of stock and he didn't know when they would be getting any more. He insisted that the warehouse just "ships whatever they want, we don't know what's coming". This sounded odd to me, so I asked to speak with the manager. He pointed to a man in the rear of the store dressed all in black. I asked what his name was and he replied, "I don't know, he's just the manager". "Okay" I said, and off I went to eventually find myself talking to Leon. Leon also backed up the younger man by saying that he also had no idea when or even IF they would be getting in any more of the frame I wanted. I asked if he would be willing to sell the display and he refused. I asked him if he would be able to find the frame at any other locations. He then went on to "try" to explain to me that this store was a newer type of system and he couldn't log into the older stores computers to check inventory levels. He suggested that I call around. At that point, I was a little miffed... In retail you NEVER send a customer away!!! They might not come back!!! So, I gave him another chance. I asked him if HE would be able to make some phone calls and attempt to locate this item. He seemed a little put off by this, but did make the effort. He checked about 5 or 6 stores which I mentioned but then made a comment along the lines of "good luck finding one". That was a little much. He suggested that I "go home and get on the internet and see what stores show they have one in stock". To that comment, I asked him, "Don't you have internet here in the store? Can't we just do that here?" Leon looked at me like a deer in headlights and said, "Sure, I guess we could do that." He then took me back, and handed me off to a young employee. This action showed me that Leon was done with me and did not want to spend any more time with this customer. And to make matters worse, the guy who helped me, I don't think he'd ever used a PC before. I eventually took over the controls, found a store which said they had them, put their phone number in my cell phone to call and verify qty. - Now why should the CUSTOMER make all these requests for service? In a dog eat dog world of retail, price is NOT the only thing... SERVICE is... keeping your customers happy will keep them coming back. The end of this story goes like this. The store which showed they had them (Arlington Heights, IL) did NOT have any, so my phone call saved me a trip. The Oswego store would not sell the display for the "As Advertised" Polaroid 10" Frame for $139. Now the "sale" is off, and I don't see the frame even listed anymore... It looks as if it was discontinued and I wasn't "allowed" to buy the display for the price I wanted!!! Very disappointed in your stores, your employee's and your Managers.
The second scenario is not as bad, but might have sealed the "boycott" deal from the "customer who doesn't tell you they won't be back"... Shopping for a gift for my father, the Casablanca DVD. Looked on your website, said you have it, and the price was $1 less then BB. So far so good... So, against my better judgment (from the previous experience), I go to the Naperville, IL store. I had a LOT of trouble with your DVD selection. Couldn't find the title I was looking for. I walked around for (no joke) 10 minutes and no one said a word to me. I went to the counter where the laptops were and asked for assistance. The gentlemen told me to find a guy in a red shirt. Apparently he worked in a Circuit City, but not able to help people in Circuit City? Might be an outside vendor or something, who knows.. So, my hunt was on to find a "red shirt". Found one, he enlightened me to the fact that all the DVD's were mixed, as before I was only scanning the front cover (not knowing there were different ones behind). He couldn't find it either, so he went off to check (probably a computer)... he came back and said they didn't have any and walked away... no offer to order it or check elsewhere!!! POOR SERVICE AGAIN... I was upset, so I go over to a computer, get on the internet, and realize I made an error. The title I was looking for was only available as an online order. Why did I have to find this out myself? Was your staff to busy to give great guest service? Did he NOT want to sell me something that day? Anyway, I drove across the street to Best Buy, spent (no joke again) 2 minutes in the store, found the title I wanted and checked out. And, mind you, there was NO ONE in line at CC, and I waited in a line 10-15 deep at Best Buy. But in the end, Best Buy got my money, and Circuit City has left a bad taste in my mouth TWICE.
Keep in mind, I don't think I have EVER told a retailer about my bad experience. I just don't go back. So, something about CC has compelled me to let you know. Just do something about it, if not for me, but for the next customer you may scare away!
I would like a reply, so I know that someone actually read this and understood where I am coming from. Not some "canned" reply...