Support NeoGAF

[Joe]

http://fatwallet.com/forums/message...eadid=410173&highlight_key=y&keyword1=circuit

definitely an entertaining story to say the least, i have it bookmarked to read the updates.

 

[DrForester]

Wow, the lakewood colorado circuit city.

I may have worked with this manager back when i worked at Circuit City.

 

[Hero]

Wow.

 

[cvxfreak]

Dang.

 

[ChrisReid]

At this point we have a nice audience. I was never very good in drama class... today I think I did better than I ever did in school! We have about 10 people watching by now. While my voice was not raised (above the point of normal speech), his voice was getting louder and louder.

Rolling eyes out of my head..

Edit: Ugh, bitches that carry around their attorney's card make me want to stab everyone's eyes out. Just running around the world waiting to create incidents like this, get it all over the radio and tv, acting like it's his god-given right to exploit penny pinching typographical errors while having the cash to keep a lawyer on call, all the cheapskates at fat wallet treating him like a god, grrrr.

 

[Vyse]

Moral of the story? Don’t be greedy. It was obviously a mistake in their computers (The ad read 2 for $30). If he just stuck with the two titles he initially had, he could have gotten away with it. BTW, I scored R&C: Going Commando and Sly for $10 bucks.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i'm cool with a store denying a sale when they realize it is an obvious error, but he already fucking paid for the shit and had it bagged. case closed dude, he beat you that round let him leave with the titles. that shit is ridiculous those managers or whoever should seriously be fired. one thing i have learned in retail is that you have to pick and choose your "fights", and this is a losing fight for the managers cause odds are CC is going to be in a heap of shit over this, from a PR perspective AND a legal perspective. give him the fucking games, let him get away with getting a $50 discount or whatever it ended up being, and call corporate to fix the mistake so it doesn't happen again.

 

[Mrbob]

Moral of the story? Don’t be greedy. It was obviously a mistake in their computers (The ad read 2 for $30). If he just stuck with the two titles he initially had, he could have gotten away with it. BTW, I scored R&C: Going Commando and Sly for $10 bucks.

I agree with the moral, but I'd flip it on the retail side. The loss on the games is a drop in the bucket compared to the PR shitstorm the company is going to receive because of this.

The Department manager and Store manager picked the wrong battle to fight here. Let the guy leave, and then inform the employees that no one else can get in on this mistake. Print a retraction is the paper and bam you are set.

The department manager should be taking the bulk of the blame for not knowing what was going on in his own department. Ads are printed weeks in advance. He should have known about the error ahead of time and had banners placed in the department apologizing customers about the inconvenience of having something posted incorrectly in the ad.

 

[theo]

if theres one thing i've learned from my 5 years in retail, do not chase after customers after they have either paid or left the building. you are just asking for legal trouble if you chase after shoplifters. choose your battles wisely, and have witnesses to back you up.

and yes, printing retractions up and placing them in every possible spot (location of product, on sides of registers), as well as informing your associates of the mistake should be a mandatory practice.

ugh...retail sucks

 

[Kuroyume]

The customer is ALWAYS right. Don't screw with us.

 

[Drozmight]

Awesome. The Man -1.

 

[xsarien]

Rolling eyes out of my head..

Edit: Ugh, bitches that carry around their attorney's card make me want to stab everyone's eyes out. Just running around the world waiting to create incidents like this, get it all over the radio and tv, acting like it's his god-given right to exploit penny pinching typographical errors while having the cash to keep a lawyer on call, all the cheapskates at fat wallet treating him like a god, grrrr.

Oh, I agree completely. When a store has a legitimate deal going on, sites like fatwallet.com can be invaluable in sorting out the whos, the whens, and the wheres. But obvious price screw ups in a computer system also manage to make it onto that site, and that just causes headaches. People will walk into stores, claiming they "know" of the error and want the price honored, stores have either fixed the problem in the interim, heated exchanges take place, etc. I always try to think of the situation from both sides. What if I were Circuit City? I'd be pretty steamed that a bunch of cheapskates on some message board were exploiting an obvious mistake. Extend the analogy enough, and it could be interpreted as theft, although not likely.

It's interesting to note that when this shit happens on online stores, the purchases are generally not honored. The order is cancelled, with an e-mail going out to the buyer simply stating that the price was an error, and such is life. But this isn't amazon.com, and there are more traditional rules of conduct that should be followed. The people running the store should've simply acknowledged the error, let the guy leave, and not allowed anymore sales of games at that price. Grabbing the guy, grabbing his "legitimately" purchased items, and trying to return them back to the store is where the line was crossed; the threat of legal action was simply to make the rep realize just how far he'd gone to save his pride, I don't think - realistically - that this would get too far in the legal system before someone on Circuit City's side decided to just settle.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

It's interesting to note that when this shit happens for online stores, the purchases are generally not honored. The order is cancelled, with an e-mail going out to the buyer simply stating that the price was an error, and such is life. But this isn't amazon.com, and there are more traditional rules of conduct that should be followed. The people running the store should've simply acknowledged the error, let the guy leave, and not allowed anymore sales of games at that price. Grabbing the guy, grabbing his "legitimately" purchased items, and trying to return them back to the store is where the line was crossed; the threat of legal action was simply to make the rep realize just how far he'd gone to save his pride, I don't think - realistically - that this would get too far in the legal system before someone on Circuit City's side decided to just settle.

the difference here being that he already paid for the items. i guarantee you've never had a web deal like this, had the charge on your card go through and then the store saying "oh we have to revoke that deal, we just realized it was a mistake...". they always catch it before they charge your card. if you've already had your stuff rung up and bagged, it is yours at that point (correct or incorrect pricing)

 

[Mrbob]

In retail you gotta be on top of your game all the time. I remember when I used to be in retail, I had a customer come in who wanted to buy a pair of subwoofers. At the time the store I worked for matched internet prices. These were fairly expensive subs, and his prices listed on his sheet were extremely low (Like 15 bucks each). A red flag came up for me and I knew something was up. I told him I was going to check my back stock to make sure I had some in stock, when I already knew we had some. What I wanted to do was use the computer in back and check and see if the price was legit. Well, it looks like my notion was right, as when I checked the website they were selling the subs for 75 bucks a piece. The guy had photoshopped a 1 in place of the 7. Went back out, told the guy we had the subs in stock but due to the internet price matching I also had to verify the price on the website. Told him the special the website was running must have been over because the price was back up to 75 bucks. Said I would match that price for him (Which was still cheaper than what we had them for). The guy got furious saying he was going to complain to a manager that I wouldn't match his 15 dollar price and I replied that I was more than happy to go online with the computer in the office and show him. Knowing his gig was up he just grabbed the price sheet and walked out of the store! :lol Kill 'em with kindness I say. I've noticed in retail that you can get customers more agitated when you are completely nice to them and firmly defend your position, while having proof to do so, than getting all irate. That way you stay in control as well.

 

[xsarien]

the difference here being that he already paid for the items. i guarantee you've never had a web deal like this, had the charge on your card go through and then the store saying "oh we have to revoke that deal, we just realized it was a mistake...". they always catch it before they charge your card. if you've already had your stuff rung up and bagged, it is yours at that point (correct or incorrect pricing)

*cough*

But this isn't amazon.com, and there are more traditional rules of conduct that should be followed. The people running the store should've simply acknowledged the error, let the guy leave, and not allowed anymore sales of games at that price.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

There was no need for a retraction in this case. The ad had the games as 2 for $30. The people coming in wanting the 2 for $10 were simply people who had heard about the error in the computer. All that needed to be done was to inform corporate about the mistake, and warn the associates not to ring up the games as part of the package deal in the computer. Of course, I agree that once the games were paid for, it was too late to do anything about it. I'm sure the store knew that the computer was ringing this deal up incorrectly, and the associate should have been warned of this fact. The only thing you can do in such a situation is chalk it up as a loss.

 

[Matlock]

That guy got owned for fraudulent activity, pure and simple.

Then he had to bitch out.

 

[fart]

uh, the guy did nothing fraudulent matlock. the cc manager attempted to steal the merchandise back from him after ownership had changed, and physically assaulted him. the proper course of action (which he should have been taught by his employer to cover liability and so on) would have been to notify all staff not to ring up any more games until the mistake was fixed. once the sale was made, there was nothing he could legally do about the games sold.

if he really wanted to get fancy he could have offered gift certificates in exchange for returning the merchandise or something, but clearly this guy was too fucking stupid to do anything intelligent.

 

[Matlock]

True on the last part, but taking advantage of a computer error like such is fradulent.

 

[fart]

the customer has no way of knowing that it's a computer error without an employee telling him such. for all he knew cc just lowered the price. it's not like it hasn't happened before. even the clerk thought it was just an unannounced price drop.

besides, since the games were in the ad, eventually someone was going to try and buy them. are you going to accuse that person of illegal activity?

 

[SKluck]

Insane. At my company (OMX), anything that EVER goes above store level (i.e. district manager or corporate offices) results in big penalties for the store (loss of jobs, reprimanding), and major apologizing to the customer, as well as some kind of compensation for them, free stuff, gift cards, whatever.

I honestly wish my company wasn't such a whore sometimes, most managers will bend over backwards for the customer, because sales are sales and result in bigger bonuses for them.

In my opinion, anything the customer gets away with within the bounds of normal shopping is free game. Price errors, coupons, whatever. But tighten that shit up the second they leave so it can't happen again.

For example, Recalled items are sometimes marked down to .01 as to kind of put a red flag up for the store to send it back to corporate. If a customer finds that item in the store, I'll gladly sell it to them, and then pull all the others off the shelf.

 

[karasu]

Good. Take advantage of more Computer errors. It's like Punch Drunk Love. It's so stupid to feel sorry for large corporations. I don't understand it at all.

 

[element]

im kinda shocked that people are on the side of CC on this. I mean, yes the customer did take advantage of the store, but EVERYONE does it, stores and consumers. Way back when I worked in retail if a sale was finished, there wasn't anything to argue about. End of story.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

how does a moron like that get to become a store director? Like someone else mentioned, the obvious, most sensible thing to do is let the guy leave with his winnings, then afterwards pull all the games until the glitch is fixed. A potential lawsuit and bad publicity (in additon to possibly losing your job) is somehow equal to a $30 loss?

 

[AlphaSnake]

Wow...I think everyone in this story is a douchebag, quite honestly. I love the part where the wife starts dialing the lawyer and then they contact the police. Are you fucking kidding? Jesus, just knock over a magazine rack or something and move the fuck on. Smile at the director guy and call him a piece of shit as you're leaving, don't call your lawyer just because he put his hand to stop you from moving. Physically assaulted...:lol :lol What a joke. Shit like this is beyond fucking pathetic.

/rant

 

[mj1108]

It would have been even funnier if CC had magazine racks and he ended up pushing over a magazine rack. :lol

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Wow...I think everyone in this story is a douchebag, quite honestly. I love the part where the wife starts dialing the lawyer and then they contact the police. Are you fucking kidding? Jesus, just knock over a magazine rack or something and move the fuck on. Smile at the director guy and call him a piece of shit as you're leaving, don't call your lawyer just because he put his hand to stop you from moving. Physically assaulted...:lol :lol What a joke. Shit like this is beyond fucking pathetic.

/rant

if the Store Director physically ripped the bag out of your hands, and started trying to put shit back on your credit card w/o your consent, you would just push over a magazine rack and walk away? At that point you would have 2 choices: either call an attorney/cops, or beat the everloving shit out of him.

 

[AlphaSnake]

if the Store Director physically ripped the bag out of your hands, and started trying to put shit back on your credit card w/o your consent, you would just push over a magazine rack and walk away? At that point you would have 2 choices: either call an attorney/cops, or beat the everloving shit out of him.

No, I definitely wouldn't leave after he takes my bag. I just wouldn't throw a hissy fit and start calling my lawyer and cops. He got his shit back, he didn't need to act like a bitch and have his woman call the lawyer. Tell the director he's a piece of shit, push over a magazine rack (or one of those spinning discount CD displays) and be done with it.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Like someone else mentioned, the obvious, most sensible thing to do is let the guy leave with his winnings, then afterwards pull all the games until the glitch is fixed.

You don't even need to pull the games. Just tell the associates not to ring the games up in the package. Tell them to ring them up as normal, and then price change them to 2 for $30. It's annoying, but pricing errors like this aren't the end of the world. Hell, if the associates were trustworthy, they could just as easily have been granted a price-changing license for the day. Again, I will say that it was the fault of Circuit City. The manager, director, and another associate seemed to know about this error, thus the associate in the story should have been notified not to ring the games up as part of the package as well. It's as simple as that.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

No, I definitely wouldn't leave after he takes my bag. I just wouldn't throw a hissy fit and start calling my lawyer and cops. He got his shit back, he didn't need to act like a bitch and have his woman call the lawyer. Tell the director he's a piece of shit, push over a magazine rack (or one of those spinning discount CD displays) and be done with it.

read the story again. He got his shit back AFTER his wife threatened to call his lawyer, so the threat, whether it was real or not, worked, and made the store director realize how fucking insane he was being. Again, the only other option probably would have been to get violent with the guy, which probably would have just gotten his ass arrested or something.

 

[NotMSRP]

Does not matter who believes in who's side is right. The manager's behavior is absolutely inappropriate in a business environment.

 

[AlphaSnake]

read the story again. He got his shit back AFTER his wife threatened to call his lawyer, so the threat, whether it was real or not, worked, and made the store director realize how fucking insane he was being. Again, the only other option probably would have been to get violent with the guy, which probably would have just gotten his ass arrested or something.

Yeah, but he still went to the cops after it all ended.

 

[aoi tsuki]

No, I definitely wouldn't leave after he takes my bag. I just wouldn't throw a hissy fit and start calling my lawyer and cops. He got his shit back, he didn't need to act like a bitch and have his woman call the lawyer. Tell the director he's a piece of shit, push over a magazine rack (or one of those spinning discount CD displays) and be done with it.

So your method is to act like a little bitch throwing a tantrum? If he called the manager a piece of shit and left, nothing would change. Those managers would still be there, and it would be a matter of time before something like this, or some less offensive happened. By complaining to the corporate offices, notifying the cops and their attorney, and hopefully the media, they're telling CC and other businesses that behaviour like this is unsuitable, and it won't go unpunished. It's tragically funny, because all the managers had to do is let the guy have his games, and take any number of actions to prevent future mishaps.

Oh, and just try calling the manager a piece of shit and start knocking stuff over. When i was working at Best Buy, i saw the cops escort customers out in cuffs on a couple of different occassions for just that.

And for whomever made the comment about people and attorney, why else would you have your attorney's card in your wallet if you don't intend to use it? They're not expensive either, with prepaid legal services running $20 a less a month. And like he said on the site, he could've filed a suit before even trying to get some resolution from CC. i don't fault him for taking legal action instead of just fuming, bitching on a message board about how he got screwed, and letting another company stick a metal rod up the collective ass of the consumer.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

No, I definitely wouldn't leave after he takes my bag. I just wouldn't throw a hissy fit and start calling my lawyer and cops. He got his shit back, he didn't need to act like a bitch and have his woman call the lawyer. Tell the director he's a piece of shit, push over a magazine rack (or one of those spinning discount CD displays) and be done with it.

you're an idiot. i suppose he should have just let them return the games and gone on with his happy day, huh? some people only understand through legal threats; the guy was nice enough to tell circuit city that he didn't even want ot press charges - he easily could have. the fact that the guy was trying to take advantage of the company is one thing, but when he was nice enough to back off from becoming a real asshole, all they do is take advantage of him.

after all the "threats" you dish out on the forum in your real-life stories, i'd be surprised if you just knocked over a rack and went on your merry way.

 

[AlphaSnake]

you're an idiot. i suppose he should have just let them return the games and gone on with his happy day, huh? some people only understand through legal threats; the guy was nice enough to tell circuit city that he didn't even want ot press charges - he easily could have. the fact that the guy was trying to take advantage of the company is one thing, but when he was nice enough to back off from becoming a real asshole, all they do is take advantage of him.

after all the "threats" you dish out on the forum in your real-life stories, i'd be surprised if you just knocked over a rack and went on your merry way.

Nice, call me an idiot.

And what's this about me dishing out threats? What threats have I "dished" out? The fact is, this guy is wasting his time getting in touch with like a dozen different people. And worse has happened to me, let's get that straight pal -- and by law enforcement officials, no less. See, I had witnesses around me when I was jumped by 6 cops and they all noticed how hard the cops were on me. 3 people came up to me and said if I wanted to press charges that they'd testify. What did I do? I got back into my car and left. I didn't make a fuss about it, I didn't yell at the cops. I was completely out of breath and scared fuckless. You ever been manhandled by six cops?

This guy's little shopping fiasco is bullshit compared to that. They thought I was driving a stolen car. Piss off.

 

[Hero]

You are never, ever supposed to physically 'assault' a customer. Every single retailer I have ever worked for made this very clear. Even if the customer is stealing, you're not supposed to touch them in any manner.

 

[Nerevar]

Nice, call me an idiot.

And what's this about me dishing out threats? What threats have I "dished" out? The fact is, this guy is wasting his time getting in touch with like a dozen different people. And worse has happened to me, let's get that straight pal -- and by law enforcement officials, no less. See, I had witnesses around me when I was jumped by 6 cops and they all noticed how hard the cops were on me. 3 people came up to me and said if I wanted to press charges that they'd testify. What did I do? I got back into my car and left. I didn't make a fuss about it, I didn't yell at the cops. I was completely out of breath and scared fuckless. You ever been manhandled by six cops?

This guy's little shopping fiasco is bullshit compared to that. They thought I was driving a stolen car. Piss off.

:lol

so the fact that you gave up your constitutional rights and acted like someone who is scared shitless gives you the right to criticize others for exercising theirs? I'm sure your story is somewhat complex and you're not telling everything, but if anything you should learn a lesson or two from how that guy handled his situation.

 

[iamthevillain]

when I first read this tale I was outraged because I thought the original sale price was 2 for 10 to begin with and the manager guy figured that was wrong. BUUUUT after learning that the customer KNEW FULL WELL BEFOREHAND that the price was a computer error and still insisting on scamming store, I changed my mind.

hey that guy knew he was working the store and he shoulda cut his losses intead of being a little bitch. GRANTED, his shit was bagged and charged, but they could have still you know renegged the charges and restocked the games. that guy knew he was getting off on the computer error shoulda just got his two games and bailed. he got what was coming. but the manager shouldn't have resorted to his tactics....frick they were both idiots.

 

[AlphaSnake]

You are never, ever supposed to physically 'assault' a customer. Every single retailer I have ever worked for made this very clear. Even if the customer is stealing, you're not supposed to touch them in any manner.

What? When a customer is stealing, you have the right to jump him. God knows my former ast. manager at EB did it and nothing happened to him.

 

[AlphaSnake]

:lol

so the fact that you gave up your constitutional rights and acted like someone who is scared shitless gives you the right to criticize others for exercising theirs? I'm sure your story is somewhat complex and you're not telling everything, but if anything you should learn a lesson or two from how that guy handled his situation.

Uhh, where'd I say that? eXxy said I would've done more than just scoff at the whole situation if I were in the same postion. And I brought up the fact that I was in a worse situation. And as far as my story is concerned, there are no hidden details. It's not complex at all.

And no, the guy didn't get assaulted. The director just stuck his body out, like -say- a basketball player would and snatched the bag. The petty shit some people come up with is so absurd and pathetic it's not even funny. Why is this guy wasting his time? He's acting like a bitch (aside from the fact that he ripped the store on a printing error). Where has he gotten so far with the dozen different execs he's spoken to?

Nowhere, really. The guy's a little bitch and he knows it. "Physically assaulted"...give it a rest.

(BTW: The whole "piece of shit" and "magazine rack" bit is a little joke I don't think you picked up on.)

 

[Roshamboi]

Once the draw is open and money is exchanged. A sale is made. That sale or transaction is done with. The only reason someone should come back with any disputes would be to either get proper change. Thats it. The person who paid the money owns that there item. End of freaking story.

Granted if the guy just bought a 60inch plasma for $.02 i would deffinatly raise a flag to that. But this is just some petty attempt by a store manager. I still think it was bad conduct on the store managers part.

When i tried to get some games after i heard of this error. I ran into a problem with management and they wouldnt let me get the games i was just about to hand cash over for. I disputed the fact that the nice lady had already asked me for a certain amount of money. But that doesnt matter. Now if the money had gone into her hand and into the cash register. And a receipt pops out, or i sign a receipt for a credit card purchase. The items listed on the receipt are then mine.

This guy should have been allowed to go out the store with his purchases.

Roshi

 

[ConfusingJazz]

What? When a customer is stealing, you have the right to jump him. God knows my former ast. manager at EB did it and nothing happened to him.

Actually, you have no legal right to physically assault somebody in a situation like that.

 

[Incognito]

you're an idiot. i suppose he should have just let them return the games and gone on with his happy day, huh? some people only understand through legal threats; the guy was nice enough to tell circuit city that he didn't even want ot press charges - he easily could have. the fact that the guy was trying to take advantage of the company is one thing, but when he was nice enough to back off from becoming a real asshole, all they do is take advantage of him.

after all the "threats" you dish out on the forum in your real-life stories, i'd be surprised if you just knocked over a rack and went on your merry way.

 

[Crow357]

how does a moron like that get to become a store director? Like someone else mentioned, the obvious, most sensible thing to do is let the guy leave with his winnings, then afterwards pull all the games until the glitch is fixed. A potential lawsuit and bad publicity (in additon to possibly losing your job) is somehow equal to a $30 loss?

Most of the managers that I've worked for in my lifetime have been idiots that were able to get the job because a relative fixed it so they got that job. Most managers are morons.

I've posted this story on some other web boards I frequent and the CC horror stories are comming out of the wood work. Sounds like there are lots of idiots in management at CC's all over the country.

 

[Rorschach]

Most of the managers that I've worked for in my lifetime have been idiots that were able to get the job because a relative fixed it so they got that job. Most managers are morons.

I've posted this story on some other web boards I frequent and the CC horror stories are comming out of the wood work. Sounds like there are lots of idiots in management at CC's all over the country.

This is true for most of retail. Promotions are a reflection of how much ass you kissed instead of how hard you worked. Back when I worked in retail, every new manager we got was an idiot that though he knew what was going on and barked out orders that made no sense just to flex their power. I'm sure anyone that has worked retail has their share of stories.