Beware of Comp USA

[Bill_Hancoc]

Not trying to be a donkey here but i have found many great things at compusa for 10$ on there weekly sales...Bluetooth headset, 80gb Harddrive, and those are only things that i have gotten so im sure there are many good things there that you might have use for there....

I understand you reason for posting and thank you for the warning

[Beth Sweet]

Pretty much the point of this thread was not for people with nothing better to do than to dissect my posts word by word, but rather to warn people that Comp USA's customer service policies are sketchy. I hope that those of you who read this will take it as such.

[Steve W]

Beth, I am with you on this one. If you returned something then I can accept the store credit thing. In this case however the company withdrew services and I would be on their case to refund my money. I would try the failure to provide line, keep calling higher and higher in the company and there is always small claims court.

[Bharat Nain]

Personally, I'd go to Best Buy or Circuit City to purchase higher priced items because my personal friends and I have never had a good experience with their customer or tech support. Most of the stores don't have experienced reps either. But that is my conclusion from visiting two different stores at a regular basis and your experience might differ.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

What service were you supposed to be getting with this "Network program"? What were the terms of service for this program?

I would try and argue that what ever the $30 was for is now defective and try to return it. Also, argue with people in the store, not over the phone. It's much harder to walk away from a person than to hang up on them. If you're polite enough and have a valid argument you might get your money back from the store.
Having your grandmother argue for you also helps. Managers are suckers for old ladies.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Ogre

Having your grandmother argue for you also helps. Managers are suckers for old ladies.

I went into an electronic store to purchase a flat screen tv. It was a nice size, a nice purchase - I was at the counter for well over an hour, no one could seem to work out all the paperwork for me. By the time the purchase was concluded -
I was much older than when I went in. Much much older. And I had to go back a second time with that long a wait again. I don't watch that tv (it is in our office) and I won't go back to the store. I don't like aging there.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Beth,
I agree with you that CompUSA is one of the worst retailers on the planet. I have a long list of abuses that chain has heaped on myself and a few friends. I will only go in when forced to do so by friends or work. I will not spend any of my money in one of their stores ever again. The fact that they are still around is a tribute to the uninformed computer public allowing a store to take advantage of them.

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

The fact that they are still around is a tribute to the uninformed computer public allowing a store to take advantage of them.

Actually, CompUSA isn't alone in this statement, I have had significantly bad dealings with Best Buy and Circuit City as well. It seems to be more of who you are dealing with on that particular day, and whether they get a commission for their sales. Bottom line is that in chain stores, you won't find too much technical advice walking the floor; you need to get into the back room repair shop to discuss the nerdy stuff.

TRUE STORY: In 1971 my parents moved and purchased their house from a real estate agent. Many years later I took my mother to a dealer to purchase a new car. The same person who sold her the house was now selling cars. Just like an electronics floor walker, he knew all the options and amenities, but as soon as you asked a question about something under the hood he was lost. Moral of the story: a salesman is a salesman is a salesman.

Beth, it is fairly common that if you make a formal complaint to the store manager about such return policies that they have the discretion to make a cash exchange. The reason they make it dificult is so folks give up. Or, you could always use it alternatively as a birthday gift for someone.

[Kristian Calhoun]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

Personally, I'd go to Best Buy or Circuit City to purchase higher priced items because my personal friends and I have never had a good experience with their customer or tech support. Most of the stores don't have experienced reps either. But that is my conclusion from visiting two different stores at a regular basis and your experience might differ.

Originally Posted by Bill Moore

Actually, CompUSA isn't alone in this statement, I have had significantly bad dealings with Best Buy and Circuit City as well. It seems to be more of who you are dealing with on that particular day, and whether they get a commission for their sales. Bottom line is that in chain stores, you won't find too much technical advice walking the floor; you need to get into the back room repair shop to discuss the nerdy stuff.

Personally, I make my purchases at Best Buy rather then Circuit City [Which is in a shopping center right across the highway from Bestbuy] or CompUSA, mainly because their prices are lower, and they always have what I want in stock. But I always research exactly what I want before I buy it so that when you do walk into the store, and the salesman approaches you, you do not get hassled into purchasing something that you do not actually need just because they're trying to persuade you to do so.

For example, when I was buying my computer from Best Buy [which runs the Geek Squad service, which IMHO is wayyy over priced], before the salesman would ring up my purchase at the register, he brings out his little paper with all of the Geek Squad services on it, and attempts to get you to purchase at least two of them [because then you'll save X amount of dollars and be prepared when you get a virus!...not really, because they try to get you to purchase Norton...] Anyways, they also wanted to burn me a recovery disc, because they claimed, "That most people don't know how to do it themselves." I replied with, "I am not most people." And that pretty much shut him up. Then when he was ringing up my printer, he reaches under the counter and conveniently pulls out a Geek Squad brand printer-usb cable, and says that I will be needing that to set up my printer because this particular model didn't come with one. And boy did he feel stupid when I pointed to the list of box contents on the package and showed him that it already came with a 6' printer-usb cable.

Bottom Line: Research what (additional) services/purchases you absolutely need before you actually buy something so that you aren't fooled by the sales rep and "special" store offers.

Oh, and you never actually said what this "Network" program entailed either.

[Beth Sweet]

Sorry, I ended up off of CD for a bit last night, got dad to take me shopping and out to dinner.

The "Network" was a program where everytime you purchased something from the store, you got points and eventually your points added up to money on a gift certificate. You paid $30 to begin and then as long as you made 1 purchase each year your account stayed open. I was told that because of the expensive laptop that I had purchased, I would get lots of points so I should join. And I didn't mind that because, over a year or two, I could rack up enough points to be able to buy something nice that I would want (MP3, scanner/copier etc).

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by Beth Sweet

Sorry, I ended up off of CD for a bit last night, got dad to take me shopping and out to dinner.

The "Network" was a program where everytime you purchased something from the store, you got points and eventually your points added up to money on a gift certificate. You paid $30 to begin and then as long as you made 1 purchase each year your account stayed open. I was told that because of the expensive laptop that I had purchased, I would get lots of points so I should join. And I didn't mind that because, over a year or two, I could rack up enough points to be able to buy something nice that I would want (MP3, scanner/copier etc).

Paying for a "rewards" program is not right. I work at Staples as a Sales Associate and Resident Tech (PC repairs, etc). Our rewards card is free to sign up for and will payout for the purchase of a laptop. (I've had customers come back and show me the check)
Unfortuneatly, its sounds like you got sucked into the corporate trap.

AS far as salesmanship goes, I'll admit I'm not a very good one. I'm very honest with my customers, and will help them with smaller problems and questions. While my sales figures aren't great, I've had many customers give positive feeback to the managers.

[sanddrag]

It comes from the top IMHO. Companies who push their managers to push their employees to make the sales often have terrible customer service. Making the sales and helping the customer are two distinct things if you ask me. Very rarely to they join into a package everyone is comfortable with.

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Ogre

Paying for a "rewards" program is not right. I work at Staples as a Sales Associate and Resident Tech (PC repairs, etc). Our rewards card is free to sign up for and will payout for the purchase of a laptop. (I've had customers come back and show me the check)
Unfortuneatly, its sounds like you got sucked into the corporate trap.

AS far as salesmanship goes, I'll admit I'm not a very good one. I'm very honest with my customers, and will help them with smaller problems and questions. While my sales figures aren't great, I've had many customers give positive feeback to the managers.

Moral of the story: Let's all go to the Staples where Jeff works.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Beth Sweet

The "Network" was a program where everytime you purchased something from the store, you got points and eventually your points added up to money on a gift certificate.

Well, you were going to end up with a gift card anyway, even if they hadn't canceled the program!

There are many stores with "rewards" programs; airline "frequent flyer" programs are a similar game. Examples: department store underwear (buy 10, get the 11th item free); all three major southern California grocery chains; Target; toy stores; Borders; even a major chain of "Christian" bookstores.

What the store programs all have in common: They collect data on your purchasing habits so they can hone their skills in getting you to buy more stuff. They usually advertise their cards as free. You sacrifice your privacy (which is probably already gone if you use anything but cash to make your purchases) in exchange for "benefits" that may or may not interest you.

I've never before heard of any stores making you pay money to get the rewards card; that's poor business sense on their part, and maybe CompUSA realized this shortly into their program and canceled it. Maybe they'll come out with a FREE program, like other stores.

Why I sacrificed my privacy to get rewards cards from all three grocery chains (Albertson's, Ralphs, and Vons/Safeway): Team 330 arranged for our school to be part of their community outreach programs. Every time I use my card at one of these stores, a small percentage of my purchase gets credited to our school, which directs the funds to our team. Our team gets hundreds of dollars a year in this manner, and our supporters don't have to do anything except register their cards and shop at their favorite store. The other reason is that a shopper has to have the cards to get the discount prices.

Another disadvantage of rewards cards: Carrying all of them around in my wallet!

[X-Istence]

Originally Posted by KarenH

I've never before heard of any stores making you pay money to get the rewards card; that's poor business sense on their part, and maybe CompUSA realized this shortly into their program and canceled it. Maybe they'll come out with a FREE program, like other stores.

The paid rewards programs work with some stores, where it is a membership only store and the discounts are enough to warrant signing up. Costco for example has paid membership, and if one buys in bulk it will eventually cause the fact that you paid money to join seem little since the savings are so huge.

My dad paid $145 for his Costco membership, and he saves a total of almost $10,000 a year on all the purchases made. (6 people in the family).