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We’ve seen (and written) our fair share of advice concerning the Circuit City liquidation, but now it’s time to hear from an actual Circuit City employee about what’s really going on.
Circuit City employee Sam wrote in to Consumerist with the following tips:
It’s true that “not much is actually on sale.” High-margin items like blank CDs and flash drives are particularly jacked up – basically “anything in the computer area.” Curiously, Sam notes that cables have been marked down somewhat but they’re “still way more than online.” Video game consoles are also somewhat affordable.
It’s also true that the remaining employees don’t care about customers all that much. “It is hard to care when you know the job is gone in 2 months anyway.” They’ll show you where stuff is located and answer product questions, but motivation beyond that seems to be almost non-existent. Managers, especially, seem to be taking it especially hard. Says Sam:
“They have been stripped of all of their power, and are relegated to people that are allowed to have keys. Chances are they needed their job more than the part-timer like me, and they are not very happy about being jobless soon, and they are making it known.”
Sort of along those lines, none of the prices in the store can be changed. Everything is set by the liquidation firm and, as such, neither the employees or managers can change prices on anything.
Finally, on behalf of all Circuit City employees, Sam asks that people try to keep their opinions about Circuit City to themselves.
“I have had more than a few qualms with my job and the company the past few years, trust me. But I am still sad to see it go. I helped out a lot of very nice people, and I genuinely believe I helped them out and went above and beyond for them. I may be the exception, but I helped as much as I could and didn’t sell people things that I didn’t think they could use. Part of what is so depressing about working there right now is how smug people seem to be about us closing. You don’t think the price on that camera is good? Neither do I, and I am sorry that I and 34,000 other people losing their jobs could not have saved you 12 more dollars on a camera. See how much better it gets in 6 months when Best Buy is the ONLY option for that TV you are looking for.”
I’d think it would get irritating to help customers dig through what’s left of your store while they complain about prices being too high and saying stuff like, “No wonder you guys went out of business.” Not to say that all customers are like that, but I’m sure there are more than a handful that run their mouths as though the employees had any control over the stores closing.
Anyway, some of us here used to work at Circuit City way-back-when (I worked at #3136 in Edina, MN and Matt worked at #3631 in Flint, MI) and we wish you guys the best of luck.
6 Liquidation Sale Tips From A Circuit City Employee [Consumerist.com]
I found the two employees I spoke to at the Raleigh Crabtree CC very helpful.
The first came up to me as I was just looking around and asked if she could help me find something. Her tone was that of someone wanting to be helpful, not someone performing a dreaded task.
The second I had asked about a possible further discount on a keyboard display model (I did preface my question with an apologetic “I don’t mean to sound like a vulture…”). He politely explained that the manager had stated “no discounts other than what is posted” earlier that day. I did have to wait for him, but only because he spent 5 minutes politely helping the two guys in front of me.
Service at CC was always hit-or-miss. I was pleasantly surprised by the two hits the other day.
Once upon a time I worked for a similar place called “The Federated Group”. I worked there for a few years where I saw it taken over by the “Atari Computer Corporation” and saw the company be thoroughly and progressively ran into the ground (it also didn’t help that the former owner inflated the value by $10 million and was living happily in Brazil). Anyway, what I basically learned was that the ones most responsible for that company’s demise were those jackasses in the corporate offices nowhere near a real store. People who had no being in charge of a retail electronics store were placed there because Daddy’s company (Jack Tramiel of Atari) now owned this company.
I’m sure bad upper management was pretty much the root of CC’s problems as well.
Thanks for sharing that Sam, but all of your negativity towards the customer is really misguided and should be put back on the Circuit City management and liquidators. Its always easy to shoot the messenger but its the management that totally mishandled the company even for two more years after they pinpointed the problems. Sorry you lost your job. You will find another. My son was a CC employee also and lost his job. As I became more in touch with the true Circuit City mentality, I look upon my son losing his job as a blessing in disguise.
Sam’s comments are very helpful to put things in perspective.
It’s probably no surprise to anyone that Circuit City is going down (though certainly sad). After all, the services have not been great and for the most part, they have not been able to compete on prices with Best Buy or Walmart and many other online stores.
Still, liquidation sales don’t necessarily mean great deals as far as I am concerned. CompUSA did not have any good deals when they went out of business.
It’s probably time to make sure that if there are outstanding rebates in process, they are still valid.
Personally, I have been avoiding Circuit City rebates for quite some time based on the advice at: http:/www.uberi.com
They also have a quick note about liquidation sales in general. They have saved me from a lot of headaches through deals and shopping advices from time to time. Very much similar to what Sam said. Maybe someone will find it helpful too.
By the way, it was nice when Best Buy decided to eliminate all rebates about two years ago. That was a nice touch.
Yeah, the prices are crap (so far) but anyone taking it out on the employees is an idiot. I did, politely, ask an employee what was on sale, because the prices didn’t seem like “liquidation pricing” to me, but I didn’t whine and bug him.
At any rate, I can’t stand Best Buy, so I suppose I’ll be buying local. I just did buy a very high ticket item 2 days ago at a local store that price matched Best Buy anyway.
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