Circuit city advanatage is a scam

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kennyc28

Gawd
Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
589
I have had the worst time with C.C. insurance and I thought I would let everyone know :D

I had a video card go bad so I call them for my warranty. First they tell me to go to the manufacturer. I told them I didn't pay 50.oo so you can tell me to go the manufacturer. So they finally send me out a new card. They tell me I will get one in 10 days after the 14th day I call and ask them what's going on. They tell me it's going to be another 2 weeks because they has trouble finding a replacement. I was heated.

I asked them why didn'y I get a call. They said that there sorry typical customer service b.s. there alway's "sorry" but they can never do anything for you. Anyway I get the card and I install it. A couple of days later I decide to play a dvd and I get artifacts so I am like WTF I go to play a game and same thing.

So I call CC advantage they tell me I have to go thru the people they ordered the card from to get my card warrantied. I couldn't believe what they were telling me. They actually wanted me to go speak to a third party vendor that they ordered the card from and tell them to give me a new one. I told them I didn't order the card from them you did and it's not my fault or problem it doesn't work. Anyway they tell me they can't help me. So I break down and call OEM solutions the people they got the card from. They tell me that I need to call CC to get my warranty so I call CC back and they tell me someone from OEM solutions is calling me back his name was "Cooper". He has the nerve to tell me a video card either works or it doesn't work and that there is something wrong with my computer. I told him I put in another video card and it works just fine. He acts like a b*tch and says like a 2 yr old little girl were not going to warranty the card.

So now I call CC back (mind you I have wasted hours on the phone). They tell me again they should have warrantied the card. SO now I have to wait for them to speak to OEM solutions to find out why they wouldn't warranty the card. In the mean time I have been with a no video card for 3 weeks and a bum one for a week and still counting.

CC advantage is a scam they take your money but never want to warranty the product. They have 4,000 complaints with the Better Business Bureau (which I have added to the list) I also filed a complaint with the attorney general how I paid for a warranty thru them and they keep sending me else where to get my warranty. I swear if I hear "why didn't you send it back to the mfgr" one more time I am going to snap. The MF's

end of vent
 
wow I'm sorry to hear about this. I got frustrated for you just reading it lol
 
dude sucks. @ the I would not just stop with a replacement card, I would want my fing 50 bucks back too..
 
yeah, that sucks, i never buy "extra" warranties, and always RMA direct with the manufacturer of the product instead of the retailer i got it from, even Newegg, i still go directly to Crucial or whoever makes the product, usually adding a middleman only makes the process more lengthy
 
nobody_here said:
yeah, that sucks, i never buy "extra" warranties, and always RMA direct with the manufacturer of the product instead of the retailer i got it from, even Newegg, i still go directly to Crucial or whoever makes the product, usually adding a middleman only makes the process more lengthy
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I heard best buys "buyer protection" policy is very good? :confused:
 
I'd continue to stick to the people you paid for a warranty. At least to make their day a little harder each afternoon.

 
And if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the Circuit City AdvantageSM Protection Plan, you may cancel at any time for a refund (less any service fees paid and administrative fees, and proration that apply).
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Can you still refund it?
 
Jasonx82 said:
I heard best buys "buyer protection" policy is very good? :confused:
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well, first off, i never buy retail, grossly overpriced, i always order online from Newegg, Monarch or ZZF, occasionally Tiger Direct

secondly, the extended warranties are 90% a waste of money, floor sales guys at Best Buy and the likes dont get paid on commision, they get a flat rate of pay, hourly, but they do however get kickbacks when they sell the extended warranties, they are pushed hard to get you to buy their extended warranties for that reason, BB makes more money off of those warranties than the product in some cases

thats because 99% of people never use them, either because the product out-lives the warranty, or they just dont bother, which means those extended warranties are nearly "free money" on top of what they make on you when you pay $350 for a video card that you could get for $200 at Newegg that they only paid $125 for

i remember until very recently, BB was selling 9800Pro's for $300-350........or how about a PNY(worst brand card to buy) 7800GT for a mere....oh...$450.....yeah, then buy the extended warranty on top of that.....no thanks
 
I can't stand dealing with those people over the phone, when they think they're actually important. I think things would be much different if you could talk to people face to face. Or in this case, nose to nose with a finger in the chest. . . . :mad:
 
Earp Child said:
I can't stand dealing with those people over the phone, when they think they're actually important. I think things would be much different if you could talk to people face to face. Or in this case, nose to nose with a finger in the chest. . . . :mad:
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thats why i love being close to Monarch, it's the only "brick and mortar" place i will buy from, and then only when i need it TODAY not in three days :)
 
Welcome to the Club, took me about 5 months to get a working GF4 4600 (had to replace it 4 or 5 times) and I paid Top Dollar for that card when it first came out. it was the most expensive video card out at the time. By the time I got one that worked correctly the price had dropped $200 so I replaced it with something new and better!

This was Manufacturers warranty + about $100 in shipping charges to return it every time the mem would go bad (artifacting) I'm really not a fan of Nvidia cards, even though I currently own a 7800 gt :p
 
Sorry for your experiance. I hope that things work out for you.

For most computers and components, extended warranties are usually a bad bet. For things like widescreen HDTV's though, they can come in really handy. You're not going to mail a 50" inch TV through the mail. You need son site service for that.

But yes, obviously retail stores make money on those waranty programs, otherwise they wouldn't sell them. I've had good and not so great experiences with them, but in the end, they did save me money.

It's really luck of the draw.

Good luck again.
 
nobody_here said:
thats why i love being close to Monarch, it's the only "brick and mortar" place i will buy from, and then only when i need it TODAY not in three days :)
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Now that kicks ass! If only we were all so lucky to live near a monarch, ZZF or the egg; the world would be a better place for everybody.
 
Quote:
And if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the Circuit City AdvantageSM Protection Plan, you may cancel at any time for a refund (less any service fees paid and administrative fees, and proration that apply).


Can you still refund it?
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It also says within the first 30 days on another piece of paper. This a good racket they got going.
 
i remember until very recently, BB was selling 9800Pro's for $300-350........or how about a PNY(worst brand card to buy) 7800GT for a mere....oh...$450.....yeah, then buy the extended warranty on top of that.....no thanks
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well i have never had any problem with the two PNY 6600 cards i have owned. i doubt there is anybody on here with two BFG cards that didnt have to rma atleast one of them. :p
 
heatlesssun said:
Sorry for your experiance. I hope that things work out for you.

For most computers and components, extended warranties are usually a bad bet. For things like widescreen HDTV's though, they can come in really handy. You're not going to mail a 50" inch TV through the mail. You need son site service for that.

But yes, obviously retail stores make money on those waranty programs, otherwise they wouldn't sell them. I've had good and not so great experiences with them, but in the end, they did save me money.

It's really luck of the draw.

Good luck again.
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agreed, big screen tv's are about the only consumer item that is worth paying for an extra warranty, i dont know of any TV manufacturers offering lifetime warranties on their products, i have one, no i didnt buy the extended warranty, because i think i can handle the one $400-500 service call to converge and replace a part on the chance it happens outside of the warranty provided

on the other hand, you can always buy a BFG, EVGA, or XFX video card, no matter where you buy it from, and you wouldn't need to buy any extended warranties, they are already covered for "life"

another thing many people are not aware of, is if you do buy a video card from BB for instance, and you put it on a major credit card, many of the credit card companies will double the manufacturer's warranty automatically, you just have to call your CC company and ask them, so if a card comes with a 3 year warranty from the manufacturer, you could likely already have a 6 year warranty period if bought with a CC, in which case spending the extra for an extended warranty is pretty useless

trek554 said:
well i have never had any problem with the two PNY 6600 cards i have owned. i doubt there is anybody on here with two BFG cards that didnt have to rma atleast one of them. :p
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great! glad you are one of the ones who hasn't had trouble, but there's a reason PNY cards dont have a lifetime warranty and why they tend to be the cheapest of the bunch, i have seen far too many horror stories from PNY consumers, the sheer number of BFG consumers dictates that you will hear of more "bad cards" from them, but those guys get new cards after 2 years, PNY owners dont
 
extended warranties like at best buy are usually 10% of the price. so if you are buying a high end video card (that happens to not have a good manufacturers warranty), you are betting around $50 that your card WILL break in a short amount of time. on their end, they lose nothing, even if you use your warranty, they are not paying for returns. as less than 1% of all consumer electronic products break in the first year or 2, best buy gets a nice house advantage. only buy cards with good warranties (evga, bfg). or use pay pal. for a small fee (fee!) you get a 100% REFUND if you are not satisfied with the product. its much less than an extended warranty, but i am not sure about the other details.
 
i haven't had problems like yours...but i've had my experiences and i'll never buy more than an ipod cover or game from best buy or circuit city let alone compusa.
 
nobody_here said:
great! glad you are one of the ones who hasn't had trouble, but there's a reason PNY cards dont have a lifetime warranty and why they tend to be the cheapest of the bunch, i have seen far too many horror stories from PNY consumers, the sheer number of BFG consumers dictates that you will hear of more "bad cards" from them, but those guys get new cards after 2 years, PNY owners dont
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well the PNY does have a three year warranty after the card is registered. thats the same as a lifetime warranty to me. i dont know what kinda of support i would actually get from PNY though. i will keep my fingers crossed. :D
 
I know all about how warranties work. I sell them for a living!

First of all most people who know anything about computers at all don't go to buy their parts at Bestbuy. It's usually the parents of 10 yr olds who come to the store to ask what can they do to make their 4 year old computer play their son's favourite game. These people have no clue about what a computer is and how it works. Believe me I have been paid over $90 for just installing someone's PCMCIA wireless card. So these warranties are good for those kinds of people.

I know it can be frustrating to deal with customer service people who don't know anything about a product's problem. But then again how can they. Stores like Bestbuy sell a million products and most of the staff is comprised of part time high school kids. They are given strict policies to follow. So if your manager tells you you can't return a product or refund it or exchange it under warranty? what are you to do.

Most customers don't realize this. Instead of asking for a manager they give these young kids a hard time as if the line level employee stands to gain from not helping them out. It's mostly the kind of customers that have never had a retail job or have had one too many and think treating employees like shit is their right because they bought a warranty. I am often surprised by how many people I see every day that have the nerve to accidentanly damage the product and then bring it back for warranty coverage.

I am just making a point here about the overall nature of retail business. I hate the system myself. But instead of trying to fight it I shop at newegg. I do buy more expensive items at a brick and mortar store though.

The intention here is not to flame or offend. I can tell you this much though, if you really really want your issue resolved, ask to speak with a manager. Give him the whole story. ASk him to make a decesion for you. If he can't ask to speak with a manager who can. If they try to give you a corporate no. or help desk line, say that you have already talked to them and were assured the matter would be resolved in the store for you. For the most part individual stores and their corporate offices don't have a direct means of contact. Thats why it is so hard to get help on issues where you need input from both. Don't let your problem become one of those issues.

I can assure you that you're problem will be solved in 5 mins. I have seen people walk away with new stuff even without a sales reciept and warranty of any kind just cause they had good people skills. But trying to insult a manager or an employee won't earn you any respect and they might just give you a hard time cause you are not being nice.

And yes... I do work at Bestbuy. I feel sorry for the customers there at times. But you have to realize that for every 5 people that are pissed off cause they didn't get what they deserved under their service agreement there are a 100 others that get new product replacements everyday cause these are huge companies we are talking about and yes they can afford to let you walk away with stuff if they wanted.
 
Buying in retail is usually not worth it for most computer parts. However, I do like to buy things like monitors in a store. If there's a problem, just take it back without the shipping hassle.

The thing is though for most people who are computer savy, buying retail or etail systems like is probably not a bad deal. Computer's are very complex these days, and really, the reason most of here know a lot about computers is that we spend a LOT of time with them. Most people just view them as an appliance, not a hobby.

And the thing about a warranty is that they can be VERY convenient when the service is good. Best Buy's TV warranties usually are worth it on a high end TV. Had to use them a couple of times and the service is great, and the problems got fixed, for less than the cost of my paying out of pocket.

But it really is a crap shoot no matter how you slice it.
 
kennyc28 said:
I have had the worst time with C.C. insurance and I thought I would let everyone know :D

I had a video card go bad so I call them for my warranty. First they tell me to go to the manufacturer. I told them I didn't pay 50.oo so you can tell me to go the manufacturer. So they finally send me out a new card. They tell me I will get one in 10 days after the 14th day I call and ask them what's going on. They tell me it's going to be another 2 weeks because they has trouble finding a replacement. I was heated.

I asked them why didn'y I get a call. They said that there sorry typical customer service b.s. there alway's "sorry" but they can never do anything for you. Anyway I get the card and I install it. A couple of days later I decide to play a dvd and I get artifacts so I am like WTF I go to play a game and same thing.

So I call CC advantage they tell me I have to go thru the people they ordered the card from to get my card warrantied. I couldn't believe what they were telling me. They actually wanted me to go speak to a third party vendor that they ordered the card from and tell them to give me a new one. I told them I didn't order the card from them you did and it's not my fault or problem it doesn't work. Anyway they tell me they can't help me. So I break down and call OEM solutions the people they got the card from. They tell me that I need to call CC to get my warranty so I call CC back and they tell me someone from OEM solutions is calling me back his name was "Cooper". He has the nerve to tell me a video card either works or it doesn't work and that there is something wrong with my computer. I told him I put in another video card and it works just fine. He acts like a b*tch and says like a 2 yr old little girl were not going to warranty the card.

So now I call CC back (mind you I have wasted hours on the phone). They tell me again they should have warrantied the card. SO now I have to wait for them to speak to OEM solutions to find out why they wouldn't warranty the card. In the mean time I have been with a no video card for 3 weeks and a bum one for a week and still counting.

CC advantage is a scam they take your money but never want to warranty the product. They have 4,000 complaints with the Better Business Bureau (which I have added to the list) I also filed a complaint with the attorney general how I paid for a warranty thru them and they keep sending me else where to get my warranty. I swear if I hear "why didn't you send it back to the mfgr" one more time I am going to snap. The MF's

end of vent
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Just take it back, talk to the manager and tell him you just want a refund under these circumstances.
 
Kasher_Khan said:
I know all about how warranties work. I sell them for a living!

First of all most people who know anything about computers at all don't go to buy their parts at Bestbuy.
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Hey...I've bought partws at Best Buy, CompUSA, Circ City, etc...and I have even had problems with some of the parts. A quick trip to the counter and I get a new part in trade.

I don't see whats so hard here, unless the guy is insulting people, it should be pretty smooth.

Now...if you go up like a spoiled kid cussing and such, you deserved to get screwed. You have to be nice, but firm.
 
Yea, that's really terrible, I work at a best buy, on the geek squad to be exact and with the service plans you always get taken care of in store, thats what i like, i dont feel like i'm trying to scam somenoe like i did when i worked for toys r us, if something happens with the product ( not to it ) it's either fixed, replaced or sent out to service by us with a max turn around of 2 weeks, usually most people are happy with that.
 
nobody_here said:
secondly, the extended warranties are 90% a waste of money, floor sales guys at Best Buy and the likes dont get paid on commision, they get a flat rate of pay, hourly, but they do however get kickbacks when they sell the extended warranties, they are pushed hard to get you to buy their extended warranties for that reason, BB makes more money off of those warranties than the product in some cases
Click to expand...

If BB is like CC, then no, employees get nothing from selling the warrantys. As an employee, you're expected to ring up $x in transactions and based on that, sell y% of warrantys. Maybe you'll make employee of the month and get your picture on the wall if you sell enough, but other than that, it all goes to corporate.
 
send it back to the MFG.

;)


nah, seriously though, that is terrible. I hope you get something out of it.
 
truffle00 said:
If BB is like CC, then no, employees get nothing from selling the warrantys. As an employee, you're expected to ring up $x in transactions and based on that, sell y% of warrantys. Maybe you'll make employee of the month and get your picture on the wall if you sell enough, but other than that, it all goes to corporate.
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Then BB isn't like CC. Cause employees at BB and OD both get kick backs from PPPs.
 
truffle00 said:
If BB is like CC, then no, employees get nothing from selling the warrantys. As an employee, you're expected to ring up $x in transactions and based on that, sell y% of warrantys. Maybe you'll make employee of the month and get your picture on the wall if you sell enough, but other than that, it all goes to corporate.
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all i know specifically about is Best Buy, i know this because when i talked the guy down from a $1800 total tax delivered bill on my TV to $1060 i asked him if he was losing out on commission by doing that, then he explained the deal to me, and then asked me to buy the extended warranty, which i declined, because i was really only budgeted for $1000 at the time anyways, but he also told me that many of the high dollar items have 300-400 built into the price so that when a "bargaining" consumer offers them less they can still make the sale, and that for every one person that talks them down, 5 more buy at full sticker price, which means they are just making a killing

so in the end it is the extended warranties that are really pushed at BB
 
you actually purchased fm circuit city?!?! LOL wow that cracks me up those idiots that work there told me that there was a recall on ipod nanos when i went to buy one so i go to Best Buy down the street tells me that there was never a recall and that circuit city doesnt know crap....lol learned that day to either get my electronics from best buy target or newegg
 
Not defending the CC warranty but if you look in their City Advantage booklet the way it works is say for example, you buy a two year plan; The first year its handled by the manufacturer and the second year it's CC giving you the same manufacturer warranty. So it is a 1 + 1 deal. Some of the plans include extras like power surge or something that is active during both years. But defects in the first year go to manufacturer unless otherwise stated.

Unfortunately, these warranties are pushed and some BB, CC, etc..are pushed hard to the point with the sales associate will say almost anything like "it covers anything incase something happens". We all know thats not true. Another example lets say someone is being sold a "2 year" warranty. Some associates will even go as far as saying "The first year the manufacturer takes care of it and then it is two more years with CC so its really 3 years". That is a flat out lie and some will even say it with the booklet there in the customers face but who reads it anyway?

People don't read their warranties and then get shafted in the end because they thought they were getting something else. Not saying you deserved what happened but I bet if you read that booklet you would of returned that warranty ASAP. That said not all warranty plans are the same, some CC plans do work differently and some CC's will take the device in the first year and send it to the manufacturer for you and depending on the product give you a replacement.

The lesson here is that if you ever think about extended coverage you should always take a "time out". Tell the associate "excuse me while I look at the plan" and see for yourself. There are good associates out there that will tell you when it does benefit you and when it doesn't. The new corporate agenda (BB, CC) is "provide the solution" best for the customer but things never change and those that are helpful and objective don't usually last very long.

Until I get a new job I won't tell you their dirty secrets. Some do come in handy but you should read them yourself before listening to the sales associate :p
 
martinmsj said:
Until I get a new job I won't tell you their dirty secrets. Some do come in handy but you should read them yourself before listening to the sales associate :p
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That sums it up nicely. Extra retailer warranties are a scam 90% of the time.

I've got my "yeah, right" look down to a science, to the point where checkout clerks at these places don't even ask.
 
Office max is the exact same way,

it is very misleading and irritating..

probably the worst part about office max, is the fact that you have to talk to someone in India to even deal with your warranty...

talk about an exercise in frustration.


This is something that everyone should be aware of and always skeptical..
 
nobody_here said:
well, first off, i never buy retail, grossly overpriced, i always order online from Newegg, Monarch or ZZF, occasionally Tiger Direct

secondly, the extended warranties are 90% a waste of money, floor sales guys at Best Buy and the likes dont get paid on commision, they get a flat rate of pay, hourly, but they do however get kickbacks when they sell the extended warranties, they are pushed hard to get you to buy their extended warranties for that reason, BB makes more money off of those warranties than the product in some cases

thats because 99% of people never use them, either because the product out-lives the warranty, or they just dont bother, which means those extended warranties are nearly "free money" on top of what they make on you when you pay $350 for a video card that you could get for $200 at Newegg that they only paid $125 for

i remember until very recently, BB was selling 9800Pro's for $300-350........or how about a PNY(worst brand card to buy) 7800GT for a mere....oh...$450.....yeah, then buy the extended warranty on top of that.....no thanks
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I used to work for Best Buy. We never got kickbacks for selling warranties. The problem is they train you to do it over and over again, and if you aren't selling them, then it looks bad on your review, or worse you can be subject to disciplinary action.

Now at Comp USA they do get spiffed for warranties. However the money isn't all that great, but it does help the salesguys out because they get paid crap to start with. Best Buy actually pays decent for retail.
 
Another Best Buy employee here. Management bitches when you don't sell warranty, but nothing happens to your paycheck. The only products that warranties are good on are TVs, iPods, cellphones and maybe laptops.

TVs to fix whatever onsite, iPods to replace the battery if it goes (and it does), cellphones to get that first free exchange and laptops for free cleaning.

Our employee of the month wall hasn't been updated for over 4 months and I don't think it'll ever be.
 
trek554 said:
well i have never had any problem with the two PNY 6600 cards i have owned. i doubt there is anybody on here with two BFG cards that didnt have to rma atleast one of them. :p
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i have had 2 BFG cards both cards worked great >.>
 
Don't buy shit again fro Circuit City serve them right.
Also if i was you, i would ask to speak with the manager or store in charge.
Don't talk to those dumb ass employees
 
Spike23 said:
Don't buy shit again fro Circuit City serve them right.
Also if i was you, i would ask to speak with the manager or store in charge.
Don't talk to those dumb ass employees
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It's disrespectful and arogant attitudes like that, that makes the employees wanna give you a hard time even when they can actually help you. Most of the time the managers don't wanna face the customers cause they do have the ability to make a decesion that would help the customers situation. But instead the force the poor employees to lay down rigid policies and the kids get yelled at for saying only what they are told.

There are always a few bad apples. But like I said before, in general the employees will be willing to help you if you keep a cool head. Those of you that don't work in retail don't realize how many customers we see each day that ask us to do stuff that no warranty will ever cover.
I have seen customers that want to return a computer because their OEM onboard graphics chip in an Emachines level computer won't play DOOM3. And this after 14 days and no PSP. And they make a fuss if you tell them there is a restocking fee.

Also to clearify the service plans. A 3 Yr plan on a product means that if something happens to it within the first year (already covered by manufacturers warranty) you get a new one (Best buy gets its money back from the manufacterer). If something happens to it after that 1 year, the store would usually replace items like graphics cards cause its not worth their time or money to have it fixed. But if it is a Computer or big item, it is sent out for service if not repairable in the store (problems like bad video card,hard drive and memory are fixed in store - CPU and Mobo issues or OEM PSU's can't). It takes about 14 weeks on avg for the product to get back. 3 qualified repairs means that if you bring it back the 4rth time, the store will decide to give you a new product based on whether or not it meets the repair criteria (bad batteries and software issues don't qualify).

Also no matter how many times you explain to the customer that software issues aren't covered by the warranty, the customers that are not computer savy get pissed off and give you the "what the hell did I buy the warranty for" speech. And sometimes I think it is the fault of the employees who sell the Service plans for not explaining it entirely, but in a busy store with several customers you can't spend all day with one customer, espeacially if they have agreed to buy the warranty. The ones that are smart ask more questions while they haven't agreed to the sale, and the employees are forced to stick around and answer questions in hopes that they still might sell one.

Lastly, the BB employees don't make anything off of selling PSPs(performance service plans) but there is always pressure from management and you do get a lecture if you sell a couple of computers without any PSP's on a given day.
 
crazymonkee84 said:
you actually purchased fm circuit city?!?! LOL wow that cracks me up those idiots that work there told me that there was a recall on ipod nanos when i went to buy one so i go to Best Buy down the street tells me that there was never a recall and that circuit city doesnt know crap....lol learned that day to either get my electronics from best buy target or newegg
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Or you got duped by the best buy employee while circuit city tried to actually follow by the rules. There was an ipod nano recall on a large batch. Think it was around November / December'ish. If CC was one of those stores in which those batches were being sent too, then they wouldn't have had the product and the employee did the right thing.
 
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