Before Christmas, Circuit City was advertisng on TV, their website and in signs plastered all over their stores a "24 minute or $24 Gift Card Guarantee" If your order wasn't reading within 24 minutes of the time the order was placed online, you were entitled to a $24 gift card. Yeah, right!
A couple of days before Christmas, I placed an order for a DVD recorder online. There was one on sale for $20 cheaper in the store, but I didn't have time to wait on long lines and with the guarantee I thought I wouldn't have to wait long in the store.
I placed my order at 11:42 A.M. And immediately headed out to the store. I got there at 12:02 and there was a long line for the web pickup window. I didn't mind waiting on this line because I knew I probably would have to wait in some kind of line. I finally got to the desk and gave the clerk my confirmation receipt and ID, and she gave me a piece of paper and told me I had to go on another line.
I got on another long line. As soon as I got on it, someone took the slip and I thought I would be out of there soon. I waited and waited while they found the items for the people in front of me, and I still had to wait when I was next in line. I expected the item to be sitting there ready for me to pick up at this point, but it wasn't.
When I finally got my item, I asked the clerk if I was entitled to the gift card because I had to wait way over 24 minutes. He told me to ask Renee, which I did, and she said "No". I asked why and she looked up the gurantee online and said that it doesn't apply to time waiting in line and that I had to be at the store within 24 minutes (which is absolutely false because it does not say that anywhere). I asked for her supervisor and Nick Vasillaquos came over and said that wait time in line doesn't count. I said that even without the time waiting in line, it was longer than 24 minutes, because at this point the time was 12:59, almost an hour later, and he basically told me tough luck.
Two other customers were also complaining about the wait and they just kept quoting that waiting in line doesn't count and didn't want to listen to the fact that from the time the order was placed, even without counting wait in line time, it was longer than 24 minutes.
I came home and immediately emailed Circuit City and never received a reply from them. I called customer service and they kept repeating about the wait time, but said he would give the information to someone to investigate.
I will NEVER buy anything at circuit city again!!! They are dishonest and rude. They claim in their advertising "In a rush, so are we. Your time is more precious than ever during the holidays. We're proud to be the only store offering you the guarantee that your online purchase will be ready in 24 minutes, or you get a $24 gift card". Yes, my time was precious and that's why I picked up the order instead of getting it shipped to me for free. How dare they advertise this and not stand by it! They should be very ashamed of themselves.
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