ALERT Circuit City liquid. sale-NO REFUND-NO XCHNG-NO PEEK BOX $1,500 BROKEN NEW PLASMA TV

[ainitfunny]

Family Receives Broken
T.V. from Circuit City

Created On: Saturday, 21 Feb 2009, 4:39 PM CST

* Paul Blume

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - A metro area family is outraged after they receive a faulty television at a Circuit City liquidation sale.

The cash-strapped family saved up $1,500 to buy a new plasma television at the Circuit City store in Maplewood. But when they opened the box, the monitor glass was shattered.

Circuit City is going out of business and clearing out inventory by supposedly slashing prices. Kile Duffy and his wife Alicia bought a brand new 50-inch Panasonic plasma television from the Circuit City Store in Maplewood.

The couple tells FOX 9, they weren't allowed to open the box until after completing the purchase. Store employees placed the new T.V. in the back of their pickup and the Duffy’s headed home. Duffy’s wife said she was fuming over the shattered monitor and called a Circuit City manager immediately.

The manager told her they have no refund or exchange policy. He told her to call a lawyer. FOX 9 crews visited the store on the family’s behalf, but were kicked out.

The couple read the fine print of their receipt and understands that all sales are final. The manager who asked FOX 9 to leave Circuit City ended up giving crews a phone num

ber to call at corporate headquarters.

No one answered the line.

As for the Duffy’s, they're waiting to see if the Panasonic warranty may cover the shattered glass. Experts urge shoppers to examine all equipment before making a purchase in a liquidation sale. But the Duffy’s apparently were kept from doing that by store employees.

 

[BigBadBossyDog]

Uh, huh. The family is strapped for cash so they run out and spend $1500 on a new idiot box. At a going out of business sale. Where any fool would know no warranties apply.

Then they throw it in the back of their pickup and drive it home.

And they expect sympathy?

And the media ran around wasting time and gas on their behalf?

These folks make Maplewood MN look really, really bad.

Either this story is a bad joke or people up there are suffering brain freeze.

 

[VesperSparrow]

Cash strapped family?
More like 'Just got income taxes back, taxes which I didn't pay in the first place'....

Wife helps hubby unload devil-box, drops devil-box, shatters monitor, blames Circuit City...

 

[Fisher]

You can buy a brand new Sony or Sharp 52 inch LCD for roughly the same money. From a store like Costco that has a good return policy

Why take a chance like that?

Stupid.

 

[LouKy]

I just bough a 52 in. Sony LCD KBR6 for 1500.00 bux at CC.
Full 1 year factory warranty...2 year extended. i checked mine before we left the store.
I think they screwed it up on the way home and are trying to blame someone else for their stupidity.

 

[Hfcomms]

To purchase a major ticket item from a bankrupt retailer without even inspecting the item first....well what can you say? They took a $1500 bath and hopefully learned a lesson.

 

[Rich30N90W]

I went Monday to look at the local one - what a joke - the only deals I saw were DVD's (the PC/X360/Wii games were already gone) and some TV console/stands marked way down. The TV's though, what a joke.

58" Plasma, floor model (ie, set on torch contrast for 6+ months, 12+ hours a day, fingerprints, scratches, etc), open box, strictly as-is, $2600. Amazon brand new in box, $2450 to your door :screwy: - umm yea, if it was $900 I'd maybe consider buying it, but they are just insane. Same with items in the box - they were selling for maybe 10-15% off MSRP, still hundreds higher then online or even Best Buy sales. Sucker born every minute I guess

 

[Red Baron]

Most "liquidation sales" are a hoax and a scam.

Upon filing for bankruptcy most retailers will sell all of their inventory to a professional liquidator for pennies on the dollar.

The liquidator will lease the distressed property back from the retailer.

Here's the good part!

The liquidator brings in their own temporary employees and brings in their -own- pennies on the dollar merchandise and tries to sell the stuff for top dollar pretending they are at some kind of big discount.

As weeks go by they slowly drop prices until their margin can no longer support the lease and the temp employees.

They haul all their stuff away to the next "store closing" and repeat the cycle.

Very profitable with huge margins and few fixed costs other than the inventory they bought for a song.

 

[mbo]

Why do we pander to idiots?


Does not the MSM have something better to do than try to garner sympathy for hydrocephalics?

 

[Dobbin]

On the other hand, there are "fitness for intended purpose" laws which cover one in the event that goods are bought which are damaged. You have to have some assurance that something you can't determine the condition of beforehand can serve it's intent in the purchase. If you can't determine before purchase the fitness for service, then you're covered against the loss if it doesn't. And this includes "no examination - no returns - no guarantees" situations.

You buy a CD. You can't exactly 'test play' it ahead of time. Posted in the store is a disclaimer that all CDs opened are NON-RETURNABLE. (This to prevent people from "ripping" the CD original and then returning it for credit.) You open the CD and attempt to play it. It won't even play.

This one you can bring back for a full refund. And ultimately it won't be the store's problem as they'll simply ship it back to their source for credit too.

Joe

 

[Dennis Olson]

What Red Baron said. That's the way it is. I would never buy ANYTHING "big ticket" at such an event. But I will state that the people in the OP should have walked away from the sale.

 

[Usually Curious]

My dh bought a camera at CC the other day. He paid 40% LESS than he found it on the internet. It was brand new, in the box, which he opened and inspected all the equipment.

You can get good deals, you have to do your homework and be pretty savvy.

 

[dissimulo]

I can't imagine spending $1500 on a TV, much less one that I couldn't examine before purchase. Might as well buy a lottery ticket.

Caveat emptor.

 

[WildDaisy]

They just got hit with a $1500 Stupid Tax.

If you are "cash strapped", why in the world would you be buying a luxury item like that?

 

[jba48]

Cash strapped family?
More like 'Just got income taxes back, taxes which I didn't pay in the first place'....

This statement makes no sense. I may be missing something. But tax refunds are on money you do pay in -- actually, overpay in. If you've paid too much, you get a refund. What am I missing?

 

[dissimulo]

This statement makes no sense. I may be missing something. But tax refunds are on money you do pay in -- actually, overpay in. If you've paid too much, you get a refund. What am I missing?

You're missing the "earned income credit," which is a tax credit for income that you, in fact, did not earn. Low income people get it.

(But, this would be a big assumption. For all we know, they diligently saved every spare time, the kids sold lemonade and banked the profits, or dad knocked off a convenience store.)

 

[mbo]

On the other hand, there are "fitness for intended purpose" laws which cover one in the event that goods are bought which are damaged. You have to have some assurance that something you can't determine the condition of beforehand can serve it's intent in the purchase. If you can't determine before purchase the fitness for service, then you're covered against the loss if it doesn't. And this includes "no examination - no returns - no guarantees" situations.

You buy a CD. You can't exactly 'test play' it ahead of time. Posted in the store is a disclaimer that all CDs opened are NON-RETURNABLE. (This to prevent people from "ripping" the CD original and then returning it for credit.) You open the CD and attempt to play it. It won't even play.

This one you can bring back for a full refund. And ultimately it won't be the store's problem as they'll simply ship it back to their source for credit too.

Joe

... unless marked "as-is" or other similar characterization. Check your contract law.

 

[summerthyme]

This story really doesn't pass the smell test! That much broken glass, and NO ONE noticed the slightest "rattle" or other "odd noise" coming from that box?

Riiigghhhhtttt...

And "cash strapped" and "paid $1500 for a big-azz TV" simply doesn't fit in the same sentence in MY world... which I know probably isn't the real world these days.

It's getting worse out there.

summerthyme

 

[G-Man]

at a Circuit City liquidation sale.

Like so many "others" Circuit City went broke and has filed for bankruptcy - (as in closed down, selling out, another failed business, lost their shirts, going out of business forever etc.) what part of "liquidation" do they not understand


but did they pay cash or credit card???? If they used a credit card they may be able to have the purchase removed, if they paid cash there is a very good chance that the employees there just pocketed the money......

 

[Doc1]

A different perspective

Not to engage in too much thread drift here, but if anyone really thought about it, they'd insist that the MSM and TPTB paid them $1500 to install one of those advertising and mental programming boxes in their home.

Best regards
Doc

 

[juco]

Most "liquidation sales" are a hoax and a scam.

Upon filing for bankruptcy most retailers will sell all of their inventory to a professional liquidator for pennies on the dollar.

The liquidator will lease the distressed property back from the retailer.

Here's the good part!

The liquidator brings in their own temporary employees and brings in their -own- pennies on the dollar merchandise and tries to sell the stuff for top dollar pretending they are at some kind of big discount.

As weeks go by they slowly drop prices until their margin can no longer support the lease and the temp employees.

They haul all their stuff away to the next "store closing" and repeat the cycle.

Very profitable with huge margins and few fixed costs other than the inventory they bought for a song.

I can vouch for that, Red Baron. Our DD was the manager of a jewelery store that closed a few years back and she was stunned (and angered) at the liquidation team that came in to handle things.

 

[Hansa44]

I just realized that if I buy a big ticket item at Costco, I rarely open the box first to see if all is intact.

The reason being they have all their items on display and the boxes are underneath the displayed item so an unopened box gets loaded on a cart and I buy it. Same if I order from Amazon or anywhere.

But that absolutely should be a return policy if product is damaged. Even at a liquidation sale. If no return and you can't open box to check...no sale!

 

[Dennis Olson]

Indeed Hansa, but if it were an "all sales final" event, I'd probably open the box and make sure the item was at least intact in a gross sense.

 

[Ravekid]

The cash-strapped family saved up $1,500 to buy a new plasma television at the Circuit City store in Maplewood. But when they opened the box, the monitor glass was shattered.

The couple tells FOX 9, they weren't allowed to open the box until after completing the purchase.

The manager told her they have no refund or exchange policy. He told her to call a lawyer.

The couple read the fine print of their receipt and understands that all sales are final.

As for the Duffy’s, they're waiting to see if the Panasonic warranty may cover the shattered glass. Experts urge shoppers to examine all equipment before making a purchase in a liquidation sale. But the Duffy’s apparently were kept from doing that by store employees.

So they were cash strapped, but spent $1,500 on a TV. Next, they were told they couldn't tear open the box (once a factory sealed box is open, it is an open item, I don't care how many staples or how much tape you use to re-seal it) and inspect the item. They were likely surrounded by signs that said "ALL SALES FINAL" or similar language. They decided to take the risk. They then let people totally unknown to them handle their $1,500 gamble and let them load it in their truck. They then get home, find out they lost on their gamble and now want their money back?

Then the news station thinks they are going to get an answer and seem surprised that no one from a company that will be non-existent within days, weeks, or months bows down to the almighty media.

While you may be , I am my ass off.

 

[Brutus]

Stupid hurts.

Stupid *SHOULD* hurt.

 

[Worrier King]

They should of put it on a Credit Card then disputed the purchase.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/trav...ems_paid_by_credit_card_lost_or_damaged_.html

The law requires that credit card holders receive a measure of coverage for packages that are lost or damaged. If a card does not have such coverage, you should look for another vendor. According to the Federal Credit Billing Act, if your card lender bills you for merchandise that has been lost, damaged, or stolen, you do not have to pay that bill.

If you end up being billed twice for the same merchandise, you don't have to pay that cost either. And if your credit card firm tries to force you to make payment, you have every right to file a complaint against that company. Complaints should be filed with the Attorney General or other appropriate authorities. If you receive a package that is damaged, and the merchandise is broken, you should not accept it and immediately contact the party that sold the merchandise. You must file a petition of reimbursement or replacement BEFORE you contact the credit card lender.

Insurance policies are provided by most credit card firms to protect you against damaged or lost merchandise. A few lenders impose the stipulation that the cardholder pays at least $50 if a damaged package is received in the mail. These kinds of stipulations are included in the card's terms and conditions rules. If damage occurs, you must write to the lender to explain the situation. You should ignore any fees charged for the package, if you have refused it; once you pay off the card with that bill attached, your rights decrease.

If the lender imposes a charge a month later, or if the lender adds the wrong date at which the item was bought and tries to charge higher or lower fees than the actual price of the merchandise, you do have protections under the law. If you have purchased something, but the seller does not deliver the product on the date that was stated, you can refuse to pay the charge, and if you did not agree to pay for products delivered to your home, you can refuse the charges as well.

You must know your rights under the law in regard to credit cards to avoid any problems. Because mail delivery is very unpredictable, you can never know if you are receiving what you ordered or if the product will be damaged or broken on delivery.

You must always collect evidence to prove your case. The best thing to do is get everything in writing. Make sure that you write your credit card lender to explain all the details of a situation and keep copies of your correspondence with the lender, as well as the lender's responses. Letter should be labeled 'billing inquiries' and addressed to that department. You should provide all of your personal information such as account numbers and send your letter promptly.

Get proof that you sent the letter too; mail is at a local post office and ask for a receipt. Creditors have 90 days from when they receive your letter to investigate the problem. Once the letter is in the hands of the lender, that lender cannot legally take you to court. They can use the disputed charges against the limits you have on your credit card, however.

 

[Josie]

Could someone PLEASE define what "cash strapped" means? To me "cash strapped" could mean one of two things. It could mean that you only have $10 left in your checkbook to last a week till next payday. Or it could mean that you only have a $10 bill in your wallet. The other $1490 is in your checking account just waiting for you to make a withdrawal. Like someone else said, "This doesn't pass the smell test."

 

[dimensiondancer]

but did they pay cash or credit card???? If they used a credit card they may be able to have the purchase removed, if they paid cash there is a very good chance that the employees there just pocketed the money......

About the credit card, if they had a CitiBank card they will fight for the right of the customer. I know Citibank is VERY good about that.

I had a bike stolen and I was able to get $250.00 from Citibank because I purchased it with my card. I had to file the police report and send them a copy, but they credited the $250.00 (that was the limit) to my acct.

Also, they had a real bitchin deal on buying a new vehicle. Last summer, I got a $800.00 rebate from Citibank when I purchase my new Toyota. Check came in the mail just as promised. You build up rewards with use and I had $800.00 worth.

Sorry for the drift.

Yeah, I would never purchase sight unseen or non tested big item from a liquidator. They are preaching that on all news media here in Dallas to not do that, and they say shop around for prices first.

 

[brandyh29]

I have a hard time believing they saved up this $1500. That sounds like something thrown in the story for sympathy. They probably bought this with their tax return. But anyways, that was just dumb on their part. I would never make a purchase that big with no return policy. No way!!!!
They could've gotten a 32 inch LCD for around $500-$600. Dummies.

 

[truthseeker]

Really after reading these responses, Lord Jesus, there is no hope we all deserve whats coming.

Circuit city is selling alot of broken stuff. Im sorry but this is fraud.


Customers Burned In Circuit City Closeout Sale

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/asseenon5/18773855/detail.html

Liquidation sales promise great deals on big-ticket items, but as Team 5 Investigates discovered, customers may change their minds once they get home and open the box.

Team 5's Susan Wornick took a look inside Circuit City's close-out sale.

Customer Gina Reis paid $1,100 for a big screen Samsung TV at the liquidation sale, only to get it home and discover it was completely unusable.

"It's shattered from here all the way up, and then on the other side as well," said Reis.

When the couple took the set back to the store ... "They said, 'Sorry, your problem, not ours," Reis said.

Repairs would cost $2,000 and Circuit City said it would do nothing.

"I expected to get a TV that was working," Reis said.

There are plenty of signs in the store that say "Final Sales" but nowhere does it say the merchandise may be defective.

Team 5 Investigates discovered that while consumers are warned about final sales, they have no way of knowing if what they're buying is bad. In the Natick store, inspections are allowed only after a customer pays, and in Somerville, one sign says "Check your purchase," but another sign says, "Don't Open The Merchandise."

"This should never have been sold," Reis said.

In a regular retail transaction, the state law would require a refund, repair or replacement, but in a liquidation, federal bankruptcy court overrides state law, meaning there is no recourse and there is no disclosure.

"You never see a sign that says, 'Buy this in this liquidation sale but purchase at your own risk,'" said consumer law expert Barbara Anthony.

A spokesman for the liquidation group, Great American Group said, "We have signs posted indicating all sales are final," and "Consumers are protected by the manufacturers warranty."

But Samsung wouldn't help Reis, saying her TV was damaged, not defective, and not their concern.

"No one's there to help us ... we're out $1,100," Reis said.

Reis charged the purchase to her credit card. After Team 5's calls, Citizens Bank agreed to give her a full refund.

 

[johnswahoo]

I'm not worried, soon cash won't be worth anything and they won't be cashed strapped any more. Our Gov't has promised us an opportunity to visit food lines shortly. So that Television is as worthless now as it will be in the future.

 

[TBonz]

What morons.

First of all, if something is NON-RETURNABLE, I'm opening the box to make sure that it works properly. Plugging the appliance in too! If I am not allowed to do so, I walk out of the store.

Not being allowed to inspect the merchandise beforehand (if such was the case,) and not being allowed to return it when it's taken home when it's found to be defective is FRAUD.

I don't care if someone is going out of business. Not allowing a return under those circumstances is fraud.

It was stupid of them to not get a manager to let them see the merchandise, or to not walk out of a store if not permitted to see the stuff beforehand.

I don't trust most liquidation sales for electronics and such anyhow. Towels, I mean, you can see the quality or lack thereof. But electronics and such cost more and are more prone to have issues. I'd rather pay a bit more and be assured of returning something if it is faulty, then taking a chance on a business that is closing its doors.

Sometimes a bargain isn't a bargain after all.

 

[Ravekid]

Well, I was pretty much on CCs side, but after reading a few more posts, I am now wondering if certain store managers are not just selling items they _know_ to be broken. We have reports of people at other stores being able to open their items and look them over. We have a report of conflicting signage. Now this:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irmWZmMlki7isG4T9NmoHzSlAMJwD96IRVL83

"Circuit City Stores Inc. received permission Wednesday to pay executives and other workers incentives to stay with the company as it winds down operations for what was once the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer.

If those employees meet all the targets set for them, Circuit City said it will add about $250 million to the company's value to help it pay its growing list of creditors.

Attorneys for Circuit City said employee turnover threatens the wind-down plan and the company's ability to maximize value for the estate and its stakeholders.

Under the revised plan, 14 executives will split as much as $1.63 million if they achieve the target tasks."

They know there is likely no recourse for these customers, so maybe they are OK with selling broken merchandise?

 

[BigBadBossyDog]

About the credit card, if they had a CitiBank card they will fight for the right of the customer. I know Citibank is VERY good about that.

I had a bike stolen and I was able to get $250.00 from Citibank because I purchased it with my card. I had to file the police report and send them a copy, but they credited the $250.00 (that was the limit) to my acct.

Hopefully, Citibank did not do a charge back to the merchant. This incident makes no sense. Why would Citibank refund your money for something that has nothing to do with the purchase? I assume it's some kind of insurance policy, not a charge back. Still, it makes no sense. That should be something on your homeowner's policy, not your credit card issuer. IMO.

 

[Dennis Olson]

RK, there ARE NO STORE MANAGERS. The entire store is staffed by the liqudator. There are no CC staff in those buildings.

 

[dragonslayer2001]

The

family got ripped off, pure and simple. No matter what kind of mistakes they made, they got ripped off for a grand.

Broken merchandise. All of you thinking they derserved it, well, remember that next time YOU get ripped off by some pos cause you weren't paying attention -

kind of like the housing crash - I knew it was coming, just as I knew the world wide economy was going to fail -

most of you didn't have a clue, not a real one. Do you deserve what is happening to you right now?

No. You deserve some justice and payback, and so does this family.

I hope the liquidator got his a_s reamed by the credit card company.


The family didn't pay $50 for a $1500 TV. They paid over a grand. Got it? They deserved something that works for that much money.

This was a rip off pure and simple and most of you are defending it.

 

[CountryboyinGA]

I bet if they went down there and started whipping somebody's ass they'd get a refund.

If I lost 1500 bucks like that I'd likely open up a tractor trailer load of 55 gallon drums full of ass whup.


1500 bucks? Oh HELL NO..... somebody's got an ass whuppin coming.

CB

 

[dimensiondancer]

Hopefully, Citibank did not do a charge back to the merchant. This incident makes no sense. Why would Citibank refund your money for something that has nothing to do with the purchase? I assume it's some kind of insurance policy, not a charge back. Still, it makes no sense. That should be something on your homeowner's policy, not your credit card issuer. IMO.

That is a bonus Citibank offers to get you to purchase something with their card. It is a type of insurance and they do not charge it back to the merchant as far as I know. The limit is $250.00, or it was back when I used it.

 

[Firebird]

Uh, huh. The family is strapped for cash so they run out and spend $1500 on a new idiot box. At a going out of business sale. Where any fool would know no warranties apply.

Then they throw it in the back of their pickup and drive it home.

And they expect sympathy?

And the media ran around wasting time and gas on their behalf?

These folks make Maplewood MN look really, really bad.

Either this story is a bad joke or people up there are suffering brain freeze.

Just think of the preps those sheep could have bought

 

[Knell]

One of DH's co-workers had a similar experience at the local CC but the glass was only cracked, not shattered. Like the ppl in the original post, no refund, etc.