Circuit City Returns Under Systemax

animeking503 was one of several readers to send word that after closing its doors earlier this year, CircuitCity.com is alive and kicking once again. Systemax Inc., the company that owns TigerDirect and CompUSA, purchased the Circuit City e-commerce brand name last month, and has now re-launched the website with promises of lower prices and better service. The Consumerist points out that the new site's return policies leave something to be desired.

Then again it's not really Circuit City

[Jesterace]

Just like the original article it does state that it's not Circuit City it's Systemax. I've personally never dealt with Circuit City as I'm in Canada. the only thing close I guess was "The Source by Curcuit City" which basically was Radio Shack prior to that. Not being able to return unused printer cartridges doesn't surprise me much considering even Walmart won't take them back either. The other major brands HP, Compaq that kind of surprises me because you couldn't just take that fancy laptop back to HP or Compaq and get a refund.

Visited the site

[revlayle]

I mean the prices are pretty good and the site is full of useful content and info about the products. However, it's not Newegg, millions of product reviews are already there, competitive prices already and pretty decent customer services. The new CircuitCity.com is ultimately "meh" to me. I mean if you HATE Newegg, this might be an OK alternative... i guess.... MEH

Consumer laws

[AnalPerfume]

No corporate policy trumps consumer law, it's the other way round. Do any consumer protection laws in the US guarantee something more that these cretins are trying to push? I used to work in a store where we were told to use "company policy is set in stone" as an excuse for getting the customer to accept something less than the law guaranteed them to.

Having said that, companies don't lobby politicians into NOT modifying the law pushing the company / consumer balance further in their favor. Judging by many laws / regulations etc you'd think they were written BY corporations and handed to the government to act on.

Re:what's the point?

[CastrTroy]

Well, Best Buy bought out Futureshop here in Canada. They had plans of opening up Best Buy's, and closing down Futureshop. What they found out, is that after they opened the Best Buy stores, they made just as much money with Best Buy as they did with the Futureshops, and didn't Lost any Business at the existing Futureshop stores. They also realized that a lot of people, probably a majority of people aren't even aware they are owned by the same company. So many customers will make remarks about bad customer service and say they will go to the other store, while the employees snicker at them. I'ms sure that This is basically the same thing. Most people will have no idea they are the same store, and they will think they have a real choice about where to shop.

One a tiny positive note

[Anonymous Coward]

At least they will have just one price for a particular item now. I worked at CC and quit shortly before they declared bankruptcy, and I felt like an idiot every time I had to explain to a customer that we couldn't match the price on our own frickin website.

Re: No, really...

[symbolic]

I had an experience not too long ago that had me asking the same question. I first went to the website of a well-known bookseller to check the price on a particular item. They had a list price and an online price. Quite naturally, the online price was cheaper, but I was willing to fork over the list price because I still thought it was reasonable. I walk into the store to find that the shelf price was 60% over list. When I inquired as to why this was, I got the usual smattering of excuses, and an assertion that they would not be able to match the list price on their own website. After some discussion, I placed the item back on the shelf and left. A day later, I purchased the same item from an online retailer at a price that was 30% less than their list price.

So yeah, brick-and-mortars can whine about the fact that they have to charge sales tax, and that this gives online retailers an advantage, but please...when you pull this kind of crap with customers, EXPECT to lose business.

Re:Why would you want the Circuit City brand name?

[mysidia]

Because there is a lot of recognition for the brand name.

Even if 25% of the past customers are unhappy with Circuit City and will never buy again due to 'poor service' or poor experience in the past, there are still those 75% of the population (a significant number) who would still buy from Circuity City, or give them a second chance...

That 75% (of past circuit city customers) is a significant portion of the population.

Probably a much larger population than Tiger Direct's customer base.

Re:Brothers in Suckitude

[ImaLamer]

God, yet another NewEgg fanboy. Because shopping online shouldn't be about choice - it should be about worship!

Not that I have anything against NE, it's just that this thread is looking to be spammed by their employees.