Complaint Review: Circuit City - State College Pennsylvania

Well.. Where do I start! I purchased my 36" Phillips TV on 7/23/03. It was a model sold on the floor(Open Box) I thought it was a great buy.. you know.. the picture with in a picture box, extra features etc..(boy was I wrong on that!) I purchased the City advantage Protection Plan. (Thinking... Just in case something might go wrong!) I spoke to the Operations Manager who SOLD ME the Cityadvantage plan and did state to him... so if something goes wrong with the TV I will get the same size with features etc.. exchanged for free... He stated yes!

Well.. I had it for 2 days and the remote stopped working with the TV. The TV did work if you changed it manually but of course the picture in a picture did not work, neither did the other features without the remote. So.. we got another remote from Circuit City and that did not work either... we proceeded with having it fixed in the home, then sent out to repair and then again to repair.. oh.. by the way.. did I tell you, now it is December 1st, 2003 before they called us back and stated that they no longer make the part for the Phillips TV and it would fall under the Lemon law. So we could pick up the TV from the repair shop and return it the store for another TV.(Boy did I have patience from July 2003 until yesterday December 1st 2003.)

I am afraid my patience ran thin at the store when we returned the TV and requested another 36" for the replacement. (This is where it gets good!) Of Course, Circuit City stated that they no longer carry that brand of TV that I purchased in July... I said ok... just give me another 36" TV.

The new Operations Manager offered us a basic 32"(different brand) with no extra features or we could upgrade to a different brand 36" TV and pay the difference or he could give us a gift card for what we paid for the TV and Cityprotection Plan but we could not get our cash back. (Why would a store sell an item with a Service Plan and not be able to offer a comparable item for free if the TV falls under a Lemon Law that they can not replace with.)

Hummm.... I did repeat to the Operations Manager when I bought this agreement in July the other Operations Manager(Who should be very knowledgeable of the Cityadvantage Protection Plan)stated that if there was a problem and it could not be repaired that it would be exchanged for another 36" TV.

Unfortunately we got screwed... the Operations Manager would not negotiate with us anyway shape or form... he stated that was their policy, take it or leave it! Take the 32" basic model or pay hundreds of dollars more for the same type of 36" with all of the features that we currently had.

I strongly suggested to him that the employees (you would think especially the previous Operations Manager) be knowledgeable of the Agreements that they sell and to make sure that all customers are aware of this. Apparently they only tell you bits and pieces of what they think you should know and not what is hidden in the agreement.

I had heard that the State College store was #1 in the Western Division, well, if they have to sell products to consumers with Cityadvantage plans like that I guess that's how they come to be #1.... ripping off customers for their own store benefit.

WILL NEVER BUY AGAIN FROM THEM

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.