Beware Circuit City closeout deals: No refunds on broken gear

[spinbaby]

Stories are pouring in from outraged shoppers who thought they could get a great deal on equipment from Circuit City as part of its fire sale liquidation. The problem: Circuit City won't let you open sealed boxes to inspect merchandise before you take it home -- and all sales are final. No returns. No exchanges. That's not so great if the gear is hopelessly broken.

One Minnesota family spent $1,500 on a 50-inch plasma TV and found the glass shattered once they got it home. The store refused to take back the TV and instead referred the issue to Circuit City headquarters, where no one answered the phone. The family is checking with Panasonic, the manufacturer, to see if it's covered under warranty.

A similar problem happened to a Boston customer, who paid $1,100 for what turned out to be a totally busted Samsung TV. She got a refund from her credit card company, but only after a local TV station made inquiries on her behalf. Be warned: Consumerist says that getting credit card companies to help you out may be difficult in cases like this where a bankruptcy is involved. (As I understand the specifics of the Circuit City case, normally your credit card company will just "charge back" the merchant in question, but in this case the merchant is going out of business and has federal bankruptcy protection during the process.)

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/124232

[T Wolf]

1. Too bad they aren't running any of those "no payment 'til 2011" sales. If so, you could

just wait them out.

I guess they aren't THAT stupid.

[LakeSamish706]

2. It should be easy enough to do a charge back through the credit card company...

But who knows in this day and age...

[2Design]

3. once they go in to bankruptcies - I avoid them - most of the time the

prices are higher than their best sales price for at least two months and after that the store and merchandise looks so picked over it is not worth it - just because they say close out does not mean it is a deal

[newtothegame]

17. Exactly....

I love the closeout deals that turn out to be 5% off everything storewide. That ain't a deal. I have the feeling that a lot of the time they tell you they're closing out, and everything must go, blah blah blah, merchandise is being moved somewhere else, and they've got no incentive to move anything unless they get the maximum possible price for it. Not too often does liquidation mean liquidation.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. I resisted the urge to buy there - went to Best Buy instead.

There were some attractive sounding deals, but what good are they if you're stuck with a box full of broken or defective components.

No thanks.

[LakeSamish706]

5. Check out TigerDirect.com, it's usually pretty good pricing and sells most....

everything that BestBuy sells.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. That's online sales, right? (I've never heard of them).

When I buy something like a big screen TV I want it straight from a brick and mortar store, not off the back of a local delivery truck.

I will check out their site, though.

[stranger_with_candy]

6. Duh

Did they miss all the huge "No Returns, No Refunds" posted all over the store? I am not too sad to see Circuit City go away but these people seem to be lacking a little common sense.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. what a username - priceless.

Oh, man, that is funny.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[MattBaggins]

19. Not even close

Reasonable expectation.

No return no refund on items from a going out of business sale is perfectly legitimate on functioning merchandise. It is by no means an excuse to pawn off TVs with busted glass. That is an attempt to criminally defraud a buyer.

[Cheap_Trick]

7. The Circuit CIty in Wichita has a table set up where you can open and inspect merchandise

and see if it works.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. I checked out the Circuit City in Huntington Beach the other day

and unless your in the market for 10,000 blank CD's or bare computer bits deals were few and far between - most stuff was 30% off full retail price, which it never was to begin with.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. I heard they marked up to the MSRP and then knocked 30% off.

No big deals there.

[dysfunctional press]

12. it's usually professional liquidators that handle these "sales"...

and not the stores or home company themselves.

so usually the 'deals' aren't what you might be led to believe by the big flashy signs, or the guy in the gorilla suit at the intersection nearby.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. I should have made an offer on the gorilla suit.

At least that wasn't full of broken glass.

[nc4bo]

14. We bought a Lexmark printer from CC a couple weeks ago

yea yea I know but we needed a cheap printer to take the burden off of the expensive HP printer.

Anyway got it out the box, inserted the cd for install instructions, found and plugged in the power cable then went to plug in the usb cable...Guess what? There WAS NO USB cable with the printer - and yea, it's supposed to come with one.

Btw, the box was factory sealed!

Thank goodness we had a broken Lexmark laying around and the usb cable from the old one fit find for the new one.

No More CC deals for us. Hubby and I kept saying to each other, "What if this was a new stereo system or some other higher end electronic product or even a PC!!". We'd be SOOL.

Buyer beware!!

[Mudoria]

15. Caveat emptor

[MattBaggins]

22. Caveat Emptor is no defense for committing Seller Fraud

Try that in court.

[progressoid]

16. So Circuit City still sucks huh.

No surprise.

[cynatnite]

18. No one saw the 'NO REFUNDS' signs posted everywhere?

They had them here so much that you couldn't miss them. We bought a printer and a few other items. No problems.

[AngryOldDem]

20. Caveat emptor.

That's what "All sales final," "No returns," and "Cash only" mean at going-out-of-business sales.

[AlCzervik]

21. there are giant NO REFUNDS signs posted all of CC. I bought 8 movies, the 2nd season of boondocks

and a spindle of cd-rs for $70 on Saturday night.

[4_TN_TITANS]

23. Imagine if it was a car you were stuck with

from a bankrupt auto company.