This really takes the cake in my book. I bought a laptop computer at Circuit City last January. Usually I never get the extended service plan when I buy electronics but I’d heard that laptop screens are really persnickity and break at the drop of a hat and are really expensive to fix AND the salesperson assured me that with this plan the computer would be fixed or replaced if unfixable.
Forward to January of this year, a few days after the regular warranty runs out my power cord breaks, so I think “no problem, I’m covered under the ESP.” and gather up my receipt and take it to the nearest store. I bring in the whole computer because there was something weird going on with the battery, too so I figured “might as well kill two birds with one stone.” Two weeks later I get a call that my computer is ready to pick up so I go on my lunch hour and hand them the claim tag. They bring out the computer and that’s it. I said “There should be a cord, too.” and after much rooting around in the back they bring it out.
I take it back to work and go to plug it in to make sure they looked at the battery, and guess what? The powercord hadn’t been fixed! I bring it back after work and they stare blankly at it and say: “Oh. We’ll just order a new one.” So the gal spends like 10 minutes punching things into a register and scratching her head and can’t seem to get it ordered so she drags a manager over and he hands me a new claim slip for a new cord. I ask the girl how long it will take and she shrugs and says: “Oh, about 6-8 weeks I guess.” I assume she has brain damage and leave with my claim slip.
That was on February first, around the second week in March I’m seething and I call them up and say “What the hell is the story with my power cord? You ordered my new one a month and a half ago and it still isn’t in yet?” I mean we’ve all seen the volume of stuff they move through that place and I’m sure if they called Compaq and said “Hey item such-and-such is selling like hotcakes, I need to double next week’s shipment” the stuff gets there no problem. How hard is it to toss a power cord in with a shipment? The girl takes the number off my claim slip and says stupidly: “It’s not here yet, we’ll call you when it comes in.” I tell her that #1, duh I know that. #2, there is no excuse for them not replacing it immediately, even if they had to yank a cord off a floor model, and #3, I paid an extra $300 for the ESP specificly so I wouldn’t have to go through all this crap. She asks me to hold, and I assume she was spending the 15 minutes I was waiting looking for a loaner cord or speaking to a manager about my situation. She comes back on the line and says “No, it’s not here yet, we’ll call you when it’s in.” JEsus! I was so frustrated I just slammed the receiver down.
A couple weeks later it’s the end of March and my husband calls them up and is passed through about 3 three managers asking them all if they think 2 months is a “timely manner” for replacement of a basic part. He asks for the store manager and is told he isn’t in yet (around 10:00). He calls the store back later in the afternoon, asks for the manager and is told “He’s already left for the day.” (3:00!) He leaves his number and describes the problem and requests the manager call him. Manager does not return his call.
March 27, husband calls corporate office and obtains information about how to cancel and receive pro-rated refund on ESP and is assured the cord would be in by Thursday of that week. Receive recorded message on FRIDAY (March 31) that the requested item is ready to pick up.
Today, April 3rd, I go to Circuit City on my lunch hour, hand the girl (same one every time BTW) my claim slip and she punches it into the computer. She says “Is there a charge?” and I say “NO THERE IS NOT! I HAVE THE SERVICE PLAN!” and slap THAT receipt on the counter. She goes to get a manager and says “She has the service plan but there’s a charge for $18.97” and I’m thinking “now why is a replacement cord $60-$90 dollars and they’re trying to charge me $18?” and I look at the package she has on the counter AND IT’S THE WRONG, FUCKING CORD!!! I can’t believe it! I almost fell over and died. I told the manager as calmly as I possibly could that it was the wrong cord, I waited 2 and a half months for them to order me the wrong cord, and they sure as hell better not expect me to wait another 2 and a half months for them to “try again” and maybe get the right one. He stared dumbly at the cord and said “It’s a two part cord, right? Why don’t you take this home and try it and see if this is the part that’s broken.” OK, that makes sense. My husband had taken the old cord to work because, working at NASA, he assumed that maybe someone there liked to tinker and could possibly fix it. No, I need the other half of the cord, which brings me up to right now.
When I walk in to the store tomorrow, with my WRONG cord and my BROKEN cord, would it be at all wrong for me to refuse to leave the store until I have a working cord in my hands? I don’t think that’s out of line, and I really don’t think I’m asking a lot, especially for something they probably have lying around in spades. You have no idea how pissed off I am at all of this. For all I know they didn’t fix the problem with the battery either! I wrote a letter to the corporate office essentially wishing them dead and you can bet your ass I’m never EVER setting foot in one of their stores again, and I’ll see to it that no one I’ve ever met will either. ARRRRRGH! DAMN YOU CIRCUIT CITY!!!
