Circuit City -- Great Prices Don't Necessarily Mean Good Service
Written: Aug 14 '06 (Updated Dec 01 '06)
| Ease of Ordering: |
 |
|
| Selection: |
|
|
| On-Time Delivery: |
|
|
|
| Full Review |
I am a comparison shopper and proud of it! So when I needed a notebook computer case, I went surfing the internet for the best deal. One of my online stops, and ultimate purchasing choice, was CircuitCity.com.
Navigating the Website
At the Top
The top of each web page offers a series of links to navigate the site. Starting from the top, the red banner offers a toll-free phone number for ordering. To the right of this is a link to the shopping cart, order status, “my account” and a help button.
Beneath those links in the red banner are text links to: What’s New, Services, Outlet, Gift Cards, Shop by Brand, Weekly Ad, Store Locator, Catalog. A black band beneath these links offers additional links to: TV & Video, Audio/MP3, PCs, Cameras, Car, Home/Office/Phones, Games & Toys, Movies & Music.
An orange banner proclaims, “Free Shipping or 24/24 Pickup Guarantee on Orders $25 and Up”. The 24/24 guarantee means that Circuit City will have your online order waiting at the Circuit City store of your choice within 24 minutes or less. If the order is not ready, you will receive a $24 Circuit City gift card.
A search box is located at the right. You can search all the products by keyword or narrow the search results by one of these categories: TV & Video, Audio/MP3, PCs, Cameras, Car, Home/Office/Phones, Games & Toys, Movies & Music. For example, I searched all products by typing in the keywords “computer case”, and the search results came back featuring 17 categories and subcategories (with some pretty wild selections that did not resemble a notebook case). The first category listed was “Bags and Cases” with 63 matches.
The Middle
The center of the Home Page features a selection of product images with links to those products as well as links to information pages. For instance, there is a selection of “Click and Learn” articles about various products for sale (ex: “Home Theater Demystified”, “Internet and Networking Explained”, “Choosing a Digital Camera”). The articles are not in-depth studies, however, they do offer some useful information. For example, the article on “Choosing a Digital Camera” has four sections titled: “Decide How You’re Going to Use the Camera”, “Choose Megapixels and Zoom”, “Pick the Best Size Camera for Your Lifestyle”, “Get the Complete Package”.
The Bottom
The bottom of the Home Page offers an area to sign up for email notices from Circuit City. There are also links to: Financing, Sales & Rebates, Outlet, Weekly Ad, Catalog. There are service links, too: Pay My Bill, 24/24 Pickup Guarantee, Protection Plans, Additional Services, Request a Catalog. You can also click a link to learn more about: Guaranteed Security, Privacy Policy, Automatic Price Protection.
Beneath this area are even more links: About Circuit City, Business Sales, Affiliates, Careers, Investor Info & Newsroom, as well as a Contact Us link and a link for Tax-Exempt purchases.
Shopping the Website – My Experiences
Each product page shows an image of the product with a button to enlarge the image. The name of the item is in large bold print with product details in smaller print beneath it. The price is to the right of the item. If a rebate is offered, the rebate price is listed with the final price after rebate. The Circuit City price is in bolded red print. Beneath the price is a green “Add to Cart” button.
Sometimes the page will say “See Sale Price in Cart”. I dislike this feature. It makes one add the item to the shopping cart in order to see the price.
Scrolling down the product page, one can find more detailed product information and customer reviews. There is also information about the product specifications and whatever accessories come in the package or additional items that Circuit City sells that can be used with the product. Sometimes there is a “Click and Learn” link if there are articles that relate to the product.
Using the search feature, I located the computer case I wanted to purchase. The product page informed me that this item was a “Web Only Special”. I had to click the link I dislike, “See Sale Price in Cart” in order to find out the special price. The web page showed the regular price of $59.99 with a line through it, which is the retail price the manufacturer suggests. The special price was $38.99, a bit less than other websites selling this same case. A pop-up window showed me the savings and sale price, informing me the item had been added to my cart. At the bottom of the pop-up window was a gray button saying, “Remove From My Cart”. Since I wanted the item, I left it in my cart and decided to check out.
Checkout & Payment
I clicked the shopping cart icon at the top of the product page. This opened a screen that showed my purchases in the cart. I then clicked the green “Checkout” button. This prompted me to enter my zip code. I was asked to choose how to get the purchase: 1) Have it shipped, 2) Locations for pickup. I already knew I wanted it shipped, and that I qualified for free shipping since the item was over $25. Then I had to enter my email address.
This opened a window where I filled in my shipping address and contact information. There is a handy check box to click if the billing address is the same as the shipping address. Next the shipping choices are displayed: Standard Service with arrival estimates (the way my free shipment would go), or upgrade to Premium Air for $9.99, or upgrade to Express Air for $16.99.
I had the option of adding a free gift message. There was also the choice of entering a code for a gift card, merchandise card or coupon. Circuit City accepts: Circuit City Plus, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Circuit City/Bank One. I like it that the website asked me for the 3-digit id from the back of the credit card for more secure shopping. I then reviewed the order and hit the “Submit” button.
The same day I placed the order, Circuit City sent me an email confirming my order with the order number. A day later, I received an email stating the order had shipped. The email included the FedEx Ground tracking number along with a link to track the package.
Receiving the Package
As are my experiences with FedEx, the driver dropped the box at the door and ran for the FedEx truck to zoom off into the sunset. Why don’t the drivers ever ring the doorbell to let the customer know they left a package at the door? It’s a good thing I saw the driver making his get-away.
The brown cardboard carton was dented along the bottom edge. I carefully cut the carton open, not trusting that enough packing material was inside should the knife blade come too close to the computer case. It’s a good thing I was careful. While the soft-sided case was wrapped in clear plastic, and a few air-filled plastic pouches were inside the carton to cushion the case ... there was not enough packing material to save the case should I have dug deep with the knife to open the carton.
The case was in pristine condition, though, which made me happy. I have only ordered from CircuitCity.com a few times and have never had to phone customer service or return an item.
A great feature of ordering from CircuitCity.com is that I can return items directly to my local store within 30 days of purchase for either a refund or exchange. Note that certain items such as digital cameras, camcorders, computers and peripherals, projectors, PDAs, GPS and radar devices must be returned within 14 days and you will be charged a 15% restocking fee if the original box is opened. I don’t believe in the restocking fee policy and personally avoid ordering items where restocking fees apply.
Summary -- Update December 1, 2006
Originally I had rated this store with 4 stars, but I have to change my rating to 2 stars.
On November 26, I placed an order for a computer game (a holiday gift). I received the confirmation email, thanking me. Then on November 30, I received another email stating that Circuit City was having problems fulfilling orders, but they would let me know when the computer game shipped. Today, I received an email stating that my order had been canceled. No explanation. Just canceled. I can't recommend an online store that doesn't even provide an explanation for the non-shipment. Thankfully I placed my order early so that I have time to find this gift elsewhere.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Please read my other reviews.
BestBuy Online Store
Buy.com Online Store
Staples.com Online Store
BJ’s Warehouse Club
Hogwild Online Store
Harry and David Online and at the Mall
Cooking.com Online Store
The Republic of Tea Online Store
Kohls Online Store
Keepsake Quilting Online Store
Joann.com Online Store
Pogo.com Online Games
Copyright 2006 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Computer Case & Computer Game
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.