I purchased a video camera online at the official Circuit City website. Unit arrived but would not load tapes. The error code the unit display was listed in the manual as one the consumer must contact a JVC service provider about.
I called customer service number on the shipping package, spoke about the error code, and established that the unit needed to be returned. I was told I would have to wait three days for a shipping label to arrive and to use that to ship the unit back. For faster resolution, I could take it to a local store. This seemed like a good plan and we happily plotted to drive an hour or so to a store later that day.
Nearest store is Decatur, 58 miles, hence the need to have ordered online in the first place. Second closest is Fairview Heights, which is easier to drive to. Called this store and was told it is no longer in stock and has been discontinued. After calls to all stores within 150 miles, we learned it is DISCONTINUED and will not be restocked anywhere.
So the product I bought less than a week ago online is already not carried in stores and not available for exchange anywhwere in this state or neighboring ones. That information was not available at my time of puchased online, nor told to me on my first customer service call.
Not yet discouraged, I called the Fairview Heights store and asked for a refund if I can't get an immediate exchange, and was told there would be a 15% RESTOCKING FEE for open items returned for refund. I understand that is store policy, but this item is defective and not currently in stock and not going to be restocked since it has been discontinued and isn't functioning properly. So I pay them to restock what, exactly? I was told this was policy; if the box is open, we forfeit 15%.
They ship me a bad product, charge me for the shipping of this bad product, I spend the gas money to drive it to the store for refund because exchange is not possible, and they keep 15%?
When I asked the person if this sounds fair, to buy online and lose 15% plus shipping plus gas, he said that if I wanted the full refund, I could drive to their store and buy a more expensive camcorder with the full "in-store credit" for the returned unit!
Ship a faulty product to a consumer, and when the consumer shows up at a store with a unit bought less than a week ago, the choices are to spend more to get a more expensive camcorder that works, or face losing 15% of your money for nothing if you want a refund. Isn't that a twisted bait and switch?
This was not satisfactory to me, as I will not only be out the original express shipping costs, but gas to drive the 118 miles round trip and more money for a unit I didn't order in the first place. And even if I did make the drive, I now cannot have my full money back for services and goods NOT provided to me by this company, I can only have a percentage back. I asked to speak with a supervisor to see if this was truly happening.
I was being transferred to the manager and then disconnected, so I called back. I was subsequently made to repeat the problem 8 more times to 8 different people, most of whom did not understand why I didn't want to come to the store and lose 15% and gas money for being shipped a bad product, like it was my fault. They all said if the product was open, I had to pay the 15% restocking fee for the broken, discontinued item, no exceptions.
I cannot recoup the express shipping fees which I paid in good faith for what I thought was a quality product delivered in a timely manner. I lose 15% plus shipping because they deliver a bad product? And no one seems to understand my problem with this? I asked to speak with a supervisor in charge.
The 9th person I spoke with only gave a first name, which I stated on an earlier form, and said he was not required to give a last name. I was told that shipping it back to them and waiting for them to ship a replacement would be the only way to get that unit replaced without monetary loss on my part, but I would have to wait three days for their shipping label to arrive, and they would not ship a replacement until they received my product. This was a solid solution, with one exception. I asked if this was tracked shipping to guarantee that they receive my product, and was told it is NOT. SO WHAT IS TO PROTECT ME FROM FURTHER LOSS DUE TO THEIR MISTAKES AND NEGLIGENCE?
Because trust with this company is now a HUGE issue, since they have had my money for a week and do not seem to care that I do not have in hand a working product, and still have no idea when I will get a working product. I asked if I could get a FULL monetary refund instead of product replacement if I shipped the defective item right back to them. I was told they STILL keep 15% restocking fee for all open items. Ship me a bad product AND don't have to provide a full refund because I opened the box to see if it worked? Unbelievable. I asked if he had a supervisor and he said he "did not". Also unbelievable.
I asked what I needed to do to return the product with proof of receipt to protect myself from further loss so I could at least get my product and be done with this rotten service. I was told that for additonal charges to my credit card AT MY FURTHER expense, I could ship the item with tracking for my own peace of mind. And I will.
So I am now:
1) Paying shipping fees x2 for a product that should only have been shipped once.
2) Eventually receiving a product I would not have purchased in the first place if I knew it was being discontinued and IMPOSSIBLE to exchange in any store within 150 miles less than one week after I purchased it. (No one said "it will be in stock next week, or next month". They said "discontinued" and "out of stock and will not be in stock". The website did not say this at all. It said "sale".)
3) The fact that they can legally keep 15% to sell a person a defective product, then charge us upon return to "restock" something broken and discontinued and "not going to be in stock"... How is that even remotely legal or honest business practice? Charge me more because they sold me a bad unit? That's exactly what they did!
What is to keep them from continuing to sell and ship a percentage of defective products and keeping 15% under the guise of restocking fees? They are taking our money for nothing, and not providing the goods as promised. How can they restock an item that is broken and discontinued, anyway?
My point is that I paid for a product that does not function and to get one that does, they are making me pay even more when it is their error, their mistake. They tried to get me to buy a more expensive product and forget this one, saying I could buy a product of equal or greater value and knowing there were no models of equal value, which is good salesmanship but rotten customer service and not good business ethics. I wonder how many people fell for this trick and shelled out an additional $75 to $120.
And the question on a larger scale is this: WHO OR WHAT is to stop them from knowingly shipping or selling and reselling a percentage of their defective products, raking in the 15% of that because no one knows the product is defective unless you open the box (because they only give full refund on unopened items), and taking our money for nothing???
This is an unfair business practice to charge 15% on all opened items, even defective ones. We do not know its defective unless we open it. Tracked return shipping should be provided AT THEIR EXPENSE, not mine, when the product is not available in stores anymore and they ship the consumer a defective unit.
Online sales should clearly state that a unit is being discontinued, WHEN it is being discontinued, and should clearly state when online items will not be available for in store exchange if the unit is defective so the buyer can make an educated decision regarding level of service in case of unfortunate scenarios such at this one.
So my complaint is that they took my money and haven't provided a product, won't provide one unless I ship the defective one back, won't pay for tracked shipping which in this case would be more than prudent, can't give me an exchange in any store within 150 miles unless I buy a more expensive unit, and want to keep 15% restocking fee to restock a product that has been discontinued, if I want my money back instead of waiting indefinitely for an untracked camcorder to show up by mail.
How can it be legal to ship a defective product and then keep 15% when people try to get a refund for the defective unit because we opened the box???
The exchange promise is useless when there are no units available for exchange so soon after purchase, making in-store credit translate into the classic bait and switch.
Warn everyone: buyers beware at Circuit City online!
Natasha
Altamont, Illinois
U.S.A.
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