LifeSlices: CompUSA calls. Oops, our bad!
I got a phone call last night from Loretta Anderson of corporate customer service at CompUSA apologizing for the incident involving the empty box and offering restoration. Loretta called back this morning to tell me a $300 gift certificate is in the mail. I’d basically written the whole thing off, so this was a pleasant, albeit unexpected, surprise. Thank you, Loretta.
This incident has given many lessons, and I want to share a few here.
Firstly, somebody at CompUSA picked up on the story as it was flying all over the internet yesterday (and continues today). This is a lesson in the power of community — the very people CompUSA needs to court as customers spread the word and reacted angrily to what most viewed as a rip-off. I did nothing to manipulate “coverage” — I only wanted to share a slice of my life. The community took over from there.
Another lesson is how the web is changing the nature of authority. Businesses have black and white rules, but the public isn’t black and white. This mentality is fostered by a top-down, modernist culture that needs absolute adherence to rules in order to function. But nobody consulted the people on this. In fact, the reason we have judges in a free society is so that rules can be considered on a case-by-case basis. In the retail world, however, the onus is entirely on the consumer to find someone to function as judge, and the trouble generally isn’t worth it. Retailers know this, and so it goes.
I say this, because I’ve been taken aback by the number of people, especially on Digg, who were adamant that I was some sort of con artist trying to steal a camera from CompUSA and get away with it. People, really.
Another group of people sided with the belief that I should’ve opened the friggin’ box at the store. These well-intentioned onlookers weren’t there as I bought 12 items for $3,339.99. Was I supposed to open each? If the answer is yes, then we’ve got a bigger problem than even I thought.
Still another group suggested that I’m an idiot, because the box without the camera would’ve been too light. I should’ve noticed that, they wrote. Well, there was a 3/4 inch thick manual and other peripherals in there, so I defy anyone to hold it and “tell” that there’s no camera inside. Sheesh.
There’s a lesson here for CompUSA and all retailers. The web was alive with this story yesterday, and it moved so fast that there was no way any company could have jumped in to control it. That means companies need to rethink the whole notion of customer service and then mean what they say when spouting fancy slogans touting how they value customers. I’m not anybody special, but every customer should be considered special in the world of buying and selling. I keep waiting for someone in the business world to realize how anti-customer telephone answering systems have become, but I’m not holding my breath.
Buyer beware? Seller beware.
I certainly hope that CompUSA CEO Roman Ross has learned to take a letter from a disappointed customer seriously and that he sets in place systems to treat people like people instead of pests that can be swatted away by underlings.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to pass the story along to somebody else and to those who voted on Digg and other sources.
And thanks, again, to Loretta, although I gotta tell ya, I’ll get the camera, but I won’t be shopping there again.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
[…] CompUSA says it is sending Terry Heaton a $300 gift certificate after his misadventures buying an empty box there. I would have hoped for an actual camera, but Terry seems cool with the chance to go back and buy one again. (You can bet he’ll look in the box.) The story caught fire on the web, and CompUSA noticed. Terry writes: This is a lesson in the power of community — the very people CompUSA needs to court as customers spread the word and reacted angrily to what most viewed as a rip-off. I did nothing to manipulate “coverage” — I only wanted to share a slice of my life. The community took over from there. […]
June 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
[…] CompUSA says it is sending Terry Heaton a $300 gift certificate after his misadventures buying an empty box there. I would have hoped for an actual camera, but Terry seems cool with the chance to go back and buy one again. (You can bet he’ll look in the box.) The story caught fire on the web, and CompUSA noticed. Terry writes: This is a lesson in the power of community — the very people CompUSA needs to court as customers spread the word and reacted angrily to what most viewed as a rip-off. I did nothing to manipulate “coverage” — I only wanted to share a slice of my life. The community took over from there. […]
June 5th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
I’m glad CompUSA finally paid you what you were owed, Terry. But it’s a shame it took an online firestorm to make it happen. I, too, will never shop at CompUSA after reading how shoddily you were treated at every level of interaction with the company. Now I see why I have always been warned away from them.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
[…] Source:Megite Technology News: What’s Happening Right Now I got a phone call last night from Loretta Anderson of corporate customer service at CompUSA apologizing for the incident involving the empty box and offering restoration. Loretta called back this morning to tell me a $300 gift certificate is in the mail. I’d basically written the whole thing off, so this was a pleasant, […] (Read on Source) Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
June 5th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Front page of foxnews.com!! Glad to hear you got the refund, but this doesn’t make up for the fact that CompUSA has terrible customer service. I certainly won’t shop there ever again and will tell my friends not to shop there. A manager should never treat his customers like that.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Honestly, I think it is your mistake for not checking the box. If the box was not sealed, it surely had been opened by somebody at some point at the store. I always check the box when I buy anything that looks like the idiots may have taken it back as a return and put it back on the shelf. You could have avoided all this by just checking the box at the store. How do we know you are telling the truth? We are all assuming that you are telling it straight. You really should have checked the box.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Terry, don’t forget about checking “reviews” of stores you shop at. That’s where the community operates best, at a central location where reviews are compiled together.
Google “CompUSA reviews” and read the results and weep. CompUSA gets some pretty bad reviews from many review sites.
Sure, you might have gotten a good deal on “clearance items” but knowing how bad the reviews are for a company like CompUSA may have convinced you to look inside those colorful boxes you bought to make sure you weren’t getting bricks or air, not to mention for you to be well aware of all the other problems customers are writing about in their CompUSA reviews.
Don’t forget about the quality of the company you are doing business with! I get many of my electronics at newegg.com because they have stellar reviews.
Bottom line, rewarding companies with a history of good business practices encourages good businesses to proliferate.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
[…] LIFESLICES: COMPUSA CALLS. OOPS, OUR BAD! — I got a phone call last night from Loretta Anderson of corporate customer service at CompUSA apologizing for the incident involving the empty box and offering restoration. Loretta called back this morning to tell me a $300 gift certificate is in the mail. Source: Terry Heaton’s PoMo Blog Author: Terry Heaton Link: http://www.thepomoblog.com/archive/lifeslices-compusa… Techmeme permalink […]
June 5th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
[…] Source:Techmeme LIFESLICES: COMPUSA CALLS. OOPS, OUR BAD! — I got a phone call last night from Loretta Anderson of corporate customer service at CompUSA apologizing for the incident involving the empty box and offering restoration. Loretta called back this morning to tell me a $300 gift certificate is in the mail. Source: Terry Heaton’s PoMo Blog Author: Terry Heaton Link: http://www.thepomoblog.com/archive/lifeslices-compusa… Techmeme permalink Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
June 5th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
WAR EAGLE!!!!!
June 6th, 2007 at 4:33 am
I still side with CompUSA, my cousin worked for one of the closing stores like the one you purchased your camera from. Gordon Brothers had actually bought everything in the store from CompUSA, so you really bought it from the liquidator not CompUSA. Since CompUSA didn’t want the bad press they did something they really didn’t have to do by giving you a gift certificate. I’m sure they had a ton of complaints from the closing stores and were overwhelmed by them. Congrats on getting someone who was not directly or legally responsible to cave in, its good for you, CompUSA messed up on one thing by allowing the the people working in the closing stores to still wear the CompUSA uniform since if they were not in may have driven home to people that they were not shopping an a CompUSA store.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:07 am
I had a similar problem with CompUSA a few years ago. First, they sold me a vid card as new that had already been opened. Second, the vid card in the box they sold me was not what was advertized on the box.
I noticed this at the checkout counter because the vid card I bought was supposed to have a huge and heavy heatsink on it, and the box was very light. I opened it right there and a cheapo vid card with no heatsink was in the box. Someone probably bought it, replaced the card with anything they had, and returned it. CompUSA tried to sell it to me as a new vid card.
I asked the cashier to get me the product I had just paid for, and he called the manager over. The manager then acused me of taking the box to my car and exchanging the card and trying to return it. It took me a good 5 minutes to convince him I was trying to buy a product and not return something. No wonder CompUSA is having problems.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:45 am
About ten years ago I called in a commercial order to CompUSA in Norfolk VA. They said “It’ll be ready Thursday.” So on the specified day I went to pick it up….and it took about an hour, shuffling back and forth from salesman to customer service to manager and back, for me to locate anyone who had heard of me or my order. And once they’d located the purchase order, it took about another forty minutes to get the stuff together and out the door.
I have been back to CompUSA since then though. Once. When I needed something today and CompUSA was the only place that had it.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:05 am
In CompUSA’s defense, the amount of absolute bullsh!t they deal with on a daily basis is staggering. I know this because I have seen firsthand ploys and deceit to rob them of their goods. How many times do you think they have sold a box of software, had the ‘customer’ take it home, copy it, and return it? Even nastier, buy a physical item, take it home, replace it with something weighty, re-shrink wrap it and return it?
I’m with you - I deal with people and companies honestly and expect the same. When they don’t reciprocate, I don’t deal with them. Period. So I do understand banning them from your shopping venue. However, before you lock that ban in, maybe you could consider the reason of why they were unwilling to answer to you. They get scammed every day.
(disclaimer, I don’t work, nor have I ever, for CompUSA. I just know how I’d feel if I owned the chain and I think I’d be pretty suspicious of just about every customer too by now.) Just my $.02…
June 6th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Just order from Newegg online. You’ll get it in 2, 3 days with no problems and at a fair price. And no, I don’t work for them, I’ve just bought a lot of stuff there and never been disappointed.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I’ve had pretty good luck buying stuff from Circuit City online then going to pick it up. I bought a 1 GB xD card for a new camera. The card croaked after a couple of days. I took it back to Circuit City with the receipt and got a replacement, no questions asked. Didn’t have the plastic package anymore either, but did have the case and the paper inside the package. I like being able to buy and pick up the same day.
As to CompUSA, one of the stores that closed was in our area. We bought our first iMac from that store, the original bondi blue, back in 98/99, whenever they came out. Paid $300 for a three year service contract. Never had one call or contact from them again. Luckily never had to have my iMac serviced, but you would think they would want to stay in contact for further sales. They had a Mac “store” that was almost never manned; none of the employees knew anything about it. They were always more expensive than other computer stores. Rarely found anything in there I bought.
Newegg is good; Fry’s also, and I buy stuff from MicroCenter online.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:59 am
I purchased from the liquidation also, and when I tried to insist on looking in the box and making sure the item worked, they were appalled and drug their feet on the issue and tried to hurry me through the line. You really can’t win with these things, because if you *try* to look in the item, in many cases they tell you that you can’t.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Get acquainted with the facts:
CompUSA had no legal responsibility. $300 is a pittance to them, as a fee to combat this insane PR hype. All of the attention has been diverted away from the liquidator — all of the drama should have been, “Will they pay?” Did we find eager reports from Terry Heaton about the status of his claim with the liquidator? No. Like all litigious Americans, he went for the deepest pockets.
I know that I write this comment at the almost certain risk of it being deleted by Mr. Heaton, but trust me, it’s in my Windows clipboard and I’m heading to the next dozen blogs to fight back against this absolutely laughable hype.
(Disclaimer among many: I have no fondness for CompUSA and certainly don’t work for them.)
June 6th, 2007 at 10:56 am
[…] In summary, he blogged about his encounter. Which then got picked up by other blogs, then read by thousands of other people, all the way up to a feature story on Fox News website. […]
June 6th, 2007 at 11:18 am
[…] Update: Heaton got his cash back! Well, in the form of a gift certificate, which kind of sucks, but still, we’re glad for him. […]
June 6th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
To Paul: although a liquidator may have been selling the items, the CompUSA sign was still above the store, and they profit from sale of said items. They are in the end, responsible for the activities that happen under their auspices. Claiming it’s someone else’s fault is a bit of buck-passing becoming all-too-familiar these days. To be honest, your post seems more like astroturf to me.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
The same thing happened to my brother at CostCo (well actually my dad). We got it back from the store and everything was there except for the camera. Then we noticed it said “demo” on it. But they sent us the camera the next day (I guess they keep track of inventory pretty closely and realized their mistake).
June 6th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
While I agree with the posters who pointed out that this probably wasn’t CompUSA’s fault, it certainly was in their best interest to help you straighten out this mess. One of the problems with these in-store liquidation sales is that you have no guarantee that the goods being offered haven’t been brought in by the liquidator from somewhere else. I occasionally go to “warehouse sales” and other venues where all sales are final, and I always make sure I know what I’m getting–mainly because I know that the folks I’m buying from won’t be there next week!
Also, it’s imperative to use a credit card like Amex which stands behind you if you have a complaint. They will simply suspend the charge until the vendor provides proof that they have satisfied you. Now that’s customer service.
In the end, though, I buy almost everything electronic online now. If you know what you are looking for, it is so easy to get the best price & delivery terms that it makes no sense to go and stand on line in a crowded store. Add in the fact that there is no local sales tax on internet purchases and it’s a win-win.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I have always had bad experiences at compusa, I took a printer in for service (HP told me to take it there) and they lost my box it was in (the original packing). They told me it wasn’t there responsibility to look after my box, I asked why they took it then? They said . . . nothing. When they asked what I wanted I said “A box for my printer”, I was told, “Where can I get that from”. I replied “You have lots of printers, give me a box”. The Manager laughed and said, “then I’d have to try and sell a printer without a box”. What an ass. I can tell you I was delighted when I received a survey from HP about my experience!
June 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
There’s a reason why CompUSA is closing stores. And, for me, they can’t get it done fast enough. Go bankrupt, dissolve, and good riddance!!!
June 6th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I’m glad things finally worked out for you. Years ago my mother bought an empty box that was supposed to have a microwave turntable in it at Wal-Mart. She wrapped it up and gave it to my sister as a present. To my sister’s surprise, there was nothing in the box. Turns out the one they had on display went with the box. Fortunately, Wal-Mart didn’t give her any hassle. They’re good about that.
CampUSA on the other hand regularly advertises products on sale that they never have in the store and they don’t even give rain checks. I stopped even trying.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:54 am
[…] Learning from the Dell Hell fiasco, CompUSA realizes that Terry Heaton has found an audience for his complaint about a missing camera. They’re sending him a gift certificate. Via. […]
June 8th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
[…] Enkele lessen die Heaton leerde van dit verhaal: […]
June 12th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Glad you got your money back. I believe the “will not shop there again” comment is entirely too much — none of this is CompUSA’s fault. Rather it is the liquidation company who is to blame for this mess, and arguably you yourself. CompUSA is only peripherally involved.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
[…] June 5: Terry finally gets a call from CompUSA apologizing for the situation and promising a $300 gift certificate from the store. […]
June 25th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
My girlfriends and I bought a bad lcos from compusa.
The screen kept getting a darker and darker circle around it and it kept get bigger till it looked like an oval…
Well I called the warranty people and chewed b___ and they dispatched a tech a company called a1 well. It turns out that his computer was down and he lost our info so he never came. I called again and we waited once more and the excuse was his truck was broke. I got them to send a different tech. And when he examined the set it was that the Light Engine was damaged,
Now keep in mind it has taken me 3 months to get a tech to come and the tv is under warranty. They told me two weeks…
Ok so we were told that we have to bring the set back and pick out a tv. The manager (who looked like Mr clean) would approve it. Well We went and we took the set back and had hours earlier discussed a set we wanted. And asked the Salesman if they oked us to get the set that night…HE said yes.
I had to get some sleep because I had to work in the morning . So I let my girlfriends take my truck and get the tv. The next day I found out that Mr clean had not oked the tv and we were out a set for 3 days. They offered us a refund but we were told it would take 10 days to process and they were talking about store credit and gift certificate! We ended up getting a sony 1080 I and it was good but we had a few issues with it. We were told we could return it if we had any issue within 10 days.
We returned the set. And the Manager had his guy check it out…. Well I felt like something was wrong. So I film him “testing the set” with my small digital camera. Well after 15 minutes of him fumbling around with the set Mr Clean came back and told us he was not going to return it.
His reasoning was that the Hdmi port was not working and we must have damaged it.
HIs Sales Guy phillip was smirking at us. Btw
I explained to him we never used that and that his guy was not wrong. Well he refused to budge so we loaded it back up in my truck after discussing legal matters and us getting an attorney
After we loaded the set back up I cam back in with my girl friends and we showed Mr Clean the video I took of his guy testing the hdmi with the power on- on the set. And he ask me “what kind of person videos everything?!” he was clearly shocked. I said “ Oh I video all my transactions”
we left and I tested the HDMI with my pc at home and it worked. So I documented this fact with my digital camera and then called him the next day. I didn’t have to tell him the hdmi worked because he immediately agreed that they would refund the set.
We took it back the Sunday and I filmed the entire transaction covertly with my camera in my purse just in case…. It took a month to get our money back. Though! And we had to call and chew B__ts to get that done. Also we went to same and got a 47 inch vizio. 1080 p way better. For the same money.
So the lesson is. Documentation! If you film these slimy types they will bend…
And btw Phillip got canned apparently I talked to Mr Clean offered to show him in the store how I tested the Hdmi port and it worked and that apparently tore it for him…
I am sure that took care of Phillip and his little smirking issue.
We won. It took some doing though Comp USa is crooked as heck