treatment of employees

I work for these people and NEVER in the course of my entire life have
I EVER workded in an enviroment of "JERKS" in all my life. Their
attitude towards the people that work for their web site is constantly
instilled with the "fear factor". They are consistently pushing
people that work there to push sales on people no matter what it
takes. I have heard employees mis-represent themselves about
exteneded warranties and so on. One of the worst lies, and the list
goes on, was when a call center representative told the customer that
during the the one year warranty on a HDTV, that Sony charges a "trip
fee" to your home during the one year warranty on a TV. This guy has
been there for 2 years and he knows that's a lie and I reminded him of
that!! You would not believe what these people are telling customers
JUST to make a sale to keep their jobs, not to mention, make their
"bonus money" for the sale. I wish that the FCC would monitor their
calls. NEVER call their web site without first reading, and knowing
what you want to buy. The stores are even worse and the turn over
rate is horrible. My heart goes out to those that were fired for
"making too much money". What a load of crap, however, in the long
run?, trust me, they are much better of now mentally than ever before.

I'm buying a new computer. It won't be from CC. I sent them a letter
to this effect. Of course, the person that reads our letters is more
likely to be underpaid than the CEO (who still hasn't volunteered to
cut his salary). Let's hope that the person reading these letters
appreciates our support, as they go in search of a better job.

On behalf of underpaid employees everywhere, Thank you.

i have two words that i swear is at least 80% of what's wrong with
this country: Corporate Greed. We don't need third world countries to
bring about the downfall of the U.S. We are doing quite well
destroying ourselves. Hats off to to the Corporate States of America.

I heard about this on the news and was horrified that a company could
display such blatant greed. I was only in Circuit City a few times,
but will not go back. CC technically has the right to fire people if
they want. However, it comes across as condescending when they offer
to rehire the employees at near minimum wage. I also agree with the
other posters who suggest the quality of service will go down. I hope
it comes back to bite them from behind, so to speak.

Thank you for writing this letter! I too heard this story and vowed to
never shop there again. I appreciate you voicing what a lot of people
feel.

and since they laid off a lot of highly skilled employees, service
quality will go downhill. and how about adding insult to injury by
telling said employees that they can still apply for lower position
jobs? jerks...

That does it! I am not shopping at CC. They're greedy nuts!

I'll never set foot in another CC again.

Excellent letter. I've seen this topic in blogs, but I hadn't seen it
here, yet.

Circuit City won't be getting my business anymore, either. They're
going to lose more money in boycotts than they will by hiring people
at 2/3 the salary of those they're laying off.

I will never shop there either because of this. I wish all this
feedback would get to them. Businesses that treat their employees
like garbage make me SICK and one day they will all be out of business
because of it!

The saddest part is that this is just symptomatic of how too many
companies view their employees.

There is no honor in longevity and "working your way up the ladder"
anymore. Now, if you're over 35 and have been at any one job more
than 5 years, they wonder why you aren't actively pursuing more growth
opportunities!

There is always someone fresh out of college that would be only too
happy for the job and will work for peanuts, even if they don't
necessarily have the background and years of experience and expertise
to back their work up.

It seems many companies are more interested in quantity (of salary)
rather than quality (of work).

What sickens me is that there will be new employees to replace the old
ones. I don't think I could ever need a job enough to take it from
someone else. Those employees that were fired worked their way up the
food chain and up the pay scale. Then all of a sudden someone in
management, presumably someone making big bucks says "Hey, in order
for me to get my bonus this year, I'll cut all of the "overpaid"
ground floor employees to save a buck." Now what's going to happen
when all of America sides with the fired and refuses to buy CC's
merchandise? I certainly won't go into a CC location now.

I think this whole idea is sending the wrong message. I hope other
companies don't follow this lead. The idea of being hired and working
your way up in a company based on the experience and knowledge and
training one learns along the way. That's a valuable asset to the
company.

CC didn't keep these people and pay them "just because". They kept
them because in the electronics business, you have to stay up on the
latest technology (Especially with hdtv's etc).

I understand companies can "fire at will" but this makes no sense at
all. I can see the new people being paid minimum wage and customers
left on their own because of no useful help at all.

What will keep these people working, knowing the same could happen to
them if they ask for a raise?

They'll hire part timers and not give them health benefits. The money
it takes to train people who aren't motivated is a waste.

I think CC is shooting themselves in the foot.

Thanks for bringing this topic to PFB. It's been a pleasure to read.

What really gets me angry about this is that they fired them because
CC thought they were paying them too much. They fired people that have
been working for them for years and years. I know a person that was
fired along with the other 3400 and he had worked for them for seven
years. Now he doesn't have a job and he has two kids to feed.

Yeah, I know that some people say it's "just business." But how can
the folks at CC's corporate offices think like that? Firing their
highly skilled employees just to save a buck?

Oh yeah...I didn't mention in my letter how awful I thought that CC
would let the employees they fired reapply for their jobs at the lower
wages--in ten weeks! Makes me angry!

And I can only imagine how the employees still with CC feel right now.
If I was working for them now, I would certainly try to bail out soon
and find an employer that treats me with a little more respect.

Isn't that just a shameful thing to do? When I worked in Des Moines,
a nearby small, private collge participated in the program whereby
employees of the college can send their kids there for nothing or next
to nothing, or at any one of several other similar schools that had a
special agreement set up.

This college decided to "privatize" its maintenance and janitorial
staff. At the time, the bulk of those employees had been at the
school for about 20 years, and many of them had children approaching
age. It was a great gig -- live in a small down, near a decent-sized
city, and send your kids to private college that you otherwise
couldn't afford.

All of these employees lost this benefit, a benefit for which they put
up with mediocre jobs with mediocre pay for so long. They were
encouraged to reapply for their sames jobs via the firm the school was
going through, but since they'd no longer be direct employees of the
college, they woudln't be eligible for the free education program.

How do some people go to sleep at night? How can they live with
themselves? In the end, when their days are nearly over, will they
look back fondly on these actions?

I just don't get how people can do that to one another, on such a
personal level.

I have never been a consistant customer of this company but now I will
NEVER step foot in one of their stores again. I, too, think this is an
appaling thing to do. Its just awful!

This appalls me too. I will no longer be shopping at CC as a result.

Disgusting!

Nicole,

This is what happened to my husband. He was with CC for close to a
decade, worked himself up from warehouse to CSM, and then the firings
came. Yes, he was told he could stay and just take a BIG cut in pay,
but he refused, went back to school and is now working as a military
contractor, making a whole lot more than he would have ever made at
CC!

That being said, CC came a-calling my hubby at Xmas time, wanting him
to work for them again! He turned them down.

CC has a very high employee turnover rate, at least here, because of
the way they treat employees. Sad but true, and the only thing we as
consumers can do about it is vote with our feet and money, by shopping
elsewhere.