24 minute guarantee headache.

When I said "The employees must be punished..." I didn't mean they
should get punished. I meant they probably do get punished. Using must
as in "This bread must be old, it's stale." I didn't even think twice
when writing that. People do sometimes interchange the word must with
the word probably as in the example I gave. I don't think they should
be punished. I think that they probably do get punished for having to
give out the cards. That would explain their extreme reluctance to
give them out. That was my point.

Everyone jumped on me so fast about that, that I couldn't even keep
up...

You have a very valid complaint! You did your research, and clearly
you understood what circuit city's policy is! I'm glad you stood your
ground! You were armed with facts!

I do have to question that policy! If I order something online at 10am
Monday...I wait until the next day to pick it up..doesn't that mean I
automatically qualify for the $24?? I mean, the policy clearly states
that it is 24 minutes and time in line is excluded! I don't think I
read anything about "time flying by, until you want to pick it up"

The only part I didn't like about the letter was where you called for
"punishment" even though I understand that it was under total
frustration and anger. Otherwise, you brought up good points! Good for
you!

I hope they resolve this problem..lots of gray areas in that policy!

you were screwed and i don't have a problem with the all caps. if
anyone deserves to vent, you do. congratulations for standing your
ground and making them honor their policy. It's precisely what i
would do. I honestly don't know about "compensation" though. But
they certainly owe you an apology.

I'm not a big fan of Circuit City...I prefer BestBuy. However, Circuit
City is impressing me more and more. They did honor the 24 min
guarantee for me without a hassle - I was impressed. However, I am
disappointed in this situation.

I just went to their website and it states "...if we don't have your
order ready for you within 24 minutes of your confirmation email, a
$24 gift card's yours.". The "fine print" states wait time in line is
excluded. At the same time, their tag line is misleading. I'm
disappointed in CC for this type of positioning.

If I didn't get to the store until 2 hours after my confirmation
email, I would have expected my order to be ready for immediate pick
up too! If the "24 min clock starts ticking" when you are at the
pickup counter with a CC Rep helping you, then what does the timestamp
on the confirmation email really have to do with the guarantee??
Shouldn't they really have timers at the pickup counter?

I ordered a DVD Recorder online. When I arrived, there was no line.
Even though the internet said the item was in stock at that store, it
wasn't. The rep immediately offered the $24 gift card since the order
wasn't ready. She started to offer alternatives to address the
situation. (Stellar customer service would have been someone
immediately calling me telling me that there was a computer error.
They marked on my order sheet not in stock.)

Since I live in a metropolitan area, the Circuit City 20 min away had
one in stock. She arranged everything and I went to pick it up at the
other CC.

Thanks for sharing your experience - it level set (lowered) my
expectations about Circuit City.

Having read the entire thread and all of the responses here, I really
don't have much to add except Thank You Everyone. This is the kind of
open discourse and feedback people NEED to see. I understand the anger
and frustration of the customer and all the well made points in the
letter and the responses.

I think the company did well to give the gift card to keep a customer
happy. It shows that they actually looked at and considered the
issue.
The O.P. could easily have cancelled the order over the gift card
issue and taken his business elsewhere.

I agree "punishing" an employee and demanding an apology to make sure
this dosen't happen to anyone else in the future was a bit much, but
it's what happens when we write with a lot of emotion from our gut.
I've done it before as have many others.

Anyway I hope you enjoy your new t.v. for many years...and I hope to
see more exchanges like this because this is what PFB is really about.

between CC and BB.. i go to Best Buy.. and i know some of the people
who work there. so im not rude if my order isnt RIGHT infront of my
face when i get there. Sorry i dont put myself in situations where im
in a total rush. I dont see why people do that.. causes frustration
and who knows what else.

The two all-caps paragraphs are a bit much, as is the demand for
compensation: while the purchase was big ($1400) the amount in dispute
was small ($24) and you DID get it in the end, so I'm not sure why the
store would give you more money.

That said, this looks like a valid complaint and I hope Circuit City
pays attention and gives you the apology you deserve.

I read the FAQ and details carefully and it sure does say that you
will get your item with 24 minutes.

However, reading carefully, I can see how they'd make the argument
that it's 24 minutes from the time you reach the front of the line.

I know, this isn't what it says. It says the clock starts when you
complete the online order.

However, there's a logic problem in the way that the present it.

Suppose you arrive at the store, as Mike did, MORE than 24 minutes
after the order. Should the item IMMEDIATELY appear? They give you
14 days to pickup. Surely, every item ordered, but not yet picked up,
isn't just sitting on the counter.

So, how many minutes DO they get between the time you arrive and the
item is in your hands? 5? 10? Since money is on the line, surely
there HAS to be a definition of how long it takes to get an item from
the holding area to the desk. Now, I'd expect it be under 5 minutes.
Most likely under 2. But, I can see someone arguing that they placed
the order hours ago, so if the item isn't physically on the counter
when they arrive, they deserve the gift card.

In this case, Mike isn't making this claim. 20 minutes is clearly
wrong. They owe his the GC.

But I can see the argument. I don't agree with it, but I can see it.

Never take the cashier's word for it. Speak to the manager.

You had me until the CAPS, the demand for compensation and calling it
a crime. It's poor customer service but it certainly is not a crime
no matter how you felt.

I agree that they should have honored the guarantee as soon as their
failure to have your TV ready on time was brought to their attention.

But I am not sure that the cashier should be punished.

Most of the time when I encounter problems which a company is supposed
to address in pretty clear-cut ways, I also discover that the
front-line workers don't have the tools -- the information, the
authority, etc. -- to actually address the problems. They don't cause
the problem, they can't fix the problem, and yet they're the ones I'm
supposed to blame and the ones that people farther up the hierarchy
choose to blame too.

If she went into the back to speak to a manager and came back saying
you could have the card, it is quite possible that she had to get a
manager's permission to give it to you.

What happened to you shouldn't have happened. But the person who
actually told you "no" may not have been the one who decided that the
answer you would be given was "no", if that makes sense.

Other than that and the compensation and the all-caps paragraphs, I'm
completely with you.

Your dates are wrong...

11/24 was Friday, Black Friday in particular
Saturday was 11/25

So did you have a print-out that said 11/24 or 11/25? Because if you
ordered it on the 24th, you said it yourself, there are no
guarantees.

Oh, and take off the Caps Lock key.

There I was with about 15 other customers behind me in line talking
about the EXACT same thing. We all expected to receive our gift cards
after seeing those blaring signs all over the place and waiting over
and hour to get our merchandise! Nope. It is all very unscrupulous.
The manager claims the time spent waiting at the customer service line
does not count. You can wait an hour just to get back to the pick up
area, and then you only have to wait 24 minutes from the time stamped
on your receipt at the customer service desk, they don't give a hoot
about the on line purchase email. I should have just had it shipped to
save me a headache.

Circuit City definitely needs to honor their guarantee! It shouldn't
matter if you spend $1400 or $14 - if that's their policy, they need
to adhere to it.

I really wish this hadn't degenerated into an all-caps tirade, though.
The letter was very well-written up until that point. Also, I think
you should get an apology, but what more do you want? "Apologize to
future customers for failing to meet their 24 minute guarantee"? So
you're assuming CC will do nothing to change their behavior, and every
customer after you will, in effect, get screwed over, so they need to
apologize ahead of time? That's far too over-dramatic! The $24 gift
card was a slap in the face, how? You got what you wanted; they
honored their guarantee. A slap in the face would be if you spent
$1400 and they DIDN'T give you the gift card, now THAT would be a true
"up yours" situation!

Lastly, just because you spent $1400 in their store doesn't mean
you're entitled to have the sotre employess cater to your every whim
and make sure you leave in a chipper mood. Yes, I understand that you
were angry and frustrated with the situation, and you had every right
to be. But peppering your letter with constant reminders of how much
you spent there won't earn you any bonus points. The bottom line is,
CC owed you a gift card, regardless of what you spent.

And YOU need to calm down a bit before spouting off about it being a
"crime" that you left angry and how you'd like for the employees to be
"punished". That's highly over-dramatic and won't accomplish much.

Frankly Mike, you had me until the last paragraph.

I was able to overlook the two paragraphs in all caps. I was even able
to overlook the fact that you felt the need to point out *four times*
that you spent 1400 dollars.

Then you had to trot out the demand for compensation for 'making you
feel furious and angry'. What is the going rate these days for
angering someone? Another gift card? Cash? The managers head on a
platter?

Look, you were treated badly. I commend you for wanting to point this
out to corporate. But in my opinion, your letter lost all credibility
when you made the ridiculous demand for compensation.

I would be a lot more sympathetic if you lost the attitude. Yes, they
did not fulfill their guarantee and should have volunteered the gift
card without the hassle, but your attitude leaves a lot to be desired.
The fact that your spent $1400 does not give you leave to act like
self-centered blowhard.

:) I'll be honest here, when I worked retail, I would do my best to
annoy customers that acted like they owned me. If you were polite and
cordial during all this, then you deserve an apology and I'll offer my
own for calling you a blowhard above. If, however, you had this
attitude in the store....well, what goes around comes around, yknow?