Will the New CompUSA Retail Stores Survive?

[Jrybll]

I used to work at CompUSA - closing was a nightmare. Recovery took an eternity which was complicated by a customer who did not have the courtesy to realise that the salespeople were tired by the time of closing. In addition the late shoppers often kept messing up what was cleaned up without buying anything. Most of the time the last minute shoppers were the ones whose credit card would not go through and or were rude.On the other hand, the earlier shoppers were often polite and respectful. For those people I would bend over backwards to see that they had a pleasant shopping experience whether it was for a $29 flash drive or an expensive electronic equipment with all accessories. Retail has both its rewards of meeting wonderful people and the frustrations of "kranky" customers and "challenging" managers.

 

[Guest]

it would be nice if the "new" compusa is as you say.
and your description of the "old" is exactly the way it was here. especially with the "service policy". unfortunatly BB and CC have little to nothing to offer for computer parts, and i prefer a hands on experiance to purchasing online. and i was Almost upset to see the compusa store close. hope if it comes back someone gets it right this time.

 

[Guest]

So you wanted a drive swapped after the warranty period even though you didn't purchase the service policy and you think you're justified? Sorry but you're not entitled to that. You had the option to buy it and didn't, so blame yourself not everyone else. Next time, use your self-righteous head and get the service policy or just eat the cost without whining about it. Oh, and you might want to display some simple common courtesy and get your shopping done before 9 at night so that the employees don't have to work late and can be on time for whatever they have planned instead of having to wait for spoiled children like yourself, who couldn't plan their day better.

 

[dmacfour]

u know, you could tell the customer that you were closing, and that you needed them to be done shopping, couldn't you?

 

[mothballd2]

Wow, you're actually whining about a store closing at 9pm and its employees actually wanting to go home after an 8 hour shift? Holy crap! I had no idea that CompUSA employees weren't allowed to have lives outside of their stores! That their entire existance needs to be spent serving you, the customer with the broken watch. Seriously, go f*ck yourself.

That said, I worked at the CompUSA up in Anchorage, AK for about 1 month. One of my coworkers was a little senile, anytime a customer walked away from their shopping cart he'd mistake it for a 'restock cart' and start putting everything in it back onto the shelves. Once or twice, he'd restock the last item of something and a different customer would grab it. I don't miss working at that store, the service was terrible when I worked there and for about a year after, but in the last year or two of its existance the customer service really improved. And sort of a fluke of its location maybe, but the prices were actually competitive with both local retailers and online merchants.

 

[mothballd2]

Dmacfour, the old CompUSA did do just that. And thats what the author of the article was panning them for- telling their customers that they were closing.

 

[Reubenrosa]

It amazes me how bad this was written. Lets go over this.

The return policy is 30 days. Beyond 30 days you go to the manufacturer like anyone else.. and get an rma. But you thought you were special and demanded that you get it exchanged because it was beyond 30 days just a few days out. Guess what? The manager was 100% correct if you had purchased a new drive with an extended plan they could taken care of you. Its not like you had purchased lets say.. $2grand of items on one receipt and one item had a problem.. and in order to keep your business they ignored their corporate policy.

Plus you had not shopped at the store in 8 YEARS! I swear some folks are so stupid. Its called retail in 8 years do you know how much turnover most businesses go through? Especially because its retail! you must have never worked in the public eye.

You deal with the average person on a daily business in an electronic retail environment. As far as working past 9pm.. Hey sunshine.. you think people enjoy working an extra 25 minutes because little johny wants to wait to the last second to take forever to find a movie? Retail workers have lives! The fact you didn't consider that speaks volumes. you sir are the type of Consumer that us in the retail sector want to avoid! You are condescending ,arrogant and rude. Its always easy to post on the web how you were so nice and calm in asking for a return. But having been a veteran of electronic retail for nearly... 15 years. I know that most people walking up to customer service rarely act that way.

 

[Reubenrosa]

It amazes me how bad this was written. Lets go over this.

The return policy is 30 days. Beyond 30 days you go to the manufacturer like anyone else.. and get an rma. But you thought you were special and demanded that you get it exchanged because it was beyond 30 days just a few days out. Guess what? The manager was 100% correct if you had purchased a new drive with an extended plan they could taken care of you. Its not like you had purchased lets say.. $2grand of items on one receipt and one item had a problem.. and in order to keep your business they ignored their corporate policy.

Plus you had not shopped at the store in 8 YEARS! I swear some folks are so stupid. Its called retail in 8 years do you know how much turnover most businesses go through? Especially because its retail! you must have never worked in the public eye.

You deal with the average person on a daily business in an electronic retail environment. As far as working past 9pm.. Hey sunshine.. you think people enjoy working an extra 25 minutes because little johny wants to wait to the last second to take forever to find a movie? Retail workers have lives! The fact you didn't consider that speaks volumes. you sir are the type of Consumer that us in the retail sector want to avoid! You are condescending ,arrogant and rude. Its always easy to post on the web how you were so nice and calm in asking for a return. But having been a veteran of electronic retail for nearly... 15 years. I know that most people walking up to customer service rarely act that way.

 

[Reubenrosa]

It amazes me how bad this was written. Lets go over this.

The return policy is 30 days. Beyond 30 days you go to the manufacturer like anyone else.. and get an rma. But you thought you were special and demanded that you get it exchanged because it was beyond 30 days just a few days out. Guess what? The manager was 100% correct if you had purchased a new drive with an extended plan they could taken care of you. Its not like you had purchased lets say.. $2grand of items on one receipt and one item had a problem.. and in order to keep your business they ignored their corporate policy.

Plus you had not shopped at the store in 8 YEARS! I swear some folks are so stupid. Its called retail in 8 years do you know how much turnover most businesses go through? Especially because its retail! you must have never worked in the public eye.

You deal with the average person on a daily business in an electronic retail environment. As far as working past 9pm.. Hey sunshine.. you think people enjoy working an extra 25 minutes because little johny wants to wait to the last second to take forever to find a movie? Retail workers have lives! The fact you didn't consider that speaks volumes. you sir are the type of Consumer that us in the retail sector want to avoid! You are condescending ,arrogant and rude. Its always easy to post on the web how you were so nice and calm in asking for a return. But having been a veteran of electronic retail for nearly... 15 years. I know that most people walking up to customer service rarely act that way.

 

[Guest]

I will never, ever understand customers who walk into a retail store and demand to receive top class service (more servitude these days) at minimum prices by staff that is on minimum wage, overworked and with no serious advancement opportunities within retail.
In relation to the closing time comment, OMG! What can I say? How can you expect someone to just stay there waiting for you to decide when it is time for them to go home? Closing times are there for a reason. Even retail employees have lives, unlike some of the customers.
I guess that poeple will come up with lame excuses along the lines of "I am a customer, I deserve to get served because I spend money". To those people I reply in advance: If you have never worked in retail you simply cannot comprehend what I am saying (which is a pity but a reality as well).

 

[Guest]

Look, everyone complaining about someone coming in towards closing needs to quit b1tching. If you dont like it, get an education and dont work retail. Opt for another shift instead of closing. When a customer "chooses" to give your store its business, they are your number one priority. It is that person giving your store additional revenue so it does not close. I understand you need to run home and hop on the internet so you can rub one out. But a few extra minutes wont kill you. Beside your not salary and it works into overtime if your 40 hrs a week. So STFU and man up...

 

[Guest]

My last experience TWO experiences with CompUSA were rather unpleasant. The first one was a buyer beware/buyer be informed issue. As they were "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS EVERYTHING 30-50% OFF", I purchased a LCD monitor that was still $50 higher than buying it online. That was my fault, but I can't help but imagine that they marked certain items higher then wrote a slightly higher price below it to give the consumer the perception that they are saving money or getting a sweet deal. But let's suppose that they did NOT do that, the higher regular prices would explain why they went out of business.

The last experience I had with them was still in the "going out of business" phase. I purchased seven items and paid cash. When I got home, looked at the receipt, a total of eight items were on the receipt. The last item was still in the store. It was a UPC sticker from a product that I did not plan to purchase, or even see in the store. The sales clerk padded my total bill with an item hidden conveniently behind the counter to lessen the financial burden of CompUSA's going out of business sale.

I can't see this as being the act of a single individual who may have been potentially losing his job, but of the entire staff including management. This was outright deception and theft. This was no accident. It wasn't something done to every customer, but every other few customers that came in I'm sure got the same treatment.

Now, I'll explain my very first experience with CompUSA that I can remember. I purchased a flatbed color scanner in the early 1990s. I recall spending $150 for this model. It wasn't the best one at the time, but the price was reasonable for what I was purchasing. As I removed the box from the shelf and headed towards the cashier, a 'sales rep' stopped me and warned me about the 'importance' of getting an extended warranty. He explained to me that the bulb in the scanner was rated at roughly 1000 hours and it would burn out. He then explained that the extended warranty would cover the repair and/or replacement of the scanner for two years, and all I had to do was simply bring the unit back to the store. He also mentioned that the cost to repair the bulb was $199 (higher than the price of the whole scanner). As I stood there, I quickly did the math and asked the sales clerk how CompUSA or the manufacturer could make a profit if I left the scanner on 24/7, it would burn out every six weeks and they would repair it for FREE. He side-stepped the question by saying that the extended warranty was ONLY $75. I asked him the same question again demanding an answer and the first word out of his mouth was "...Uh..."

Needless to say, that one experience has caused me to never purchase an extended warranty on an item for any price especially when it starts at the moment of purchase. When the sales rep repeatedly pressures the to just buy it without explaining the concept of the warranty or showing you a written explanation of the warranty prior to purchasing the item, you can guarantee that it is a pure profit item for the store that you will NEVER use or need.

Honestly, I was glad to see CompUSA close, and now that they are trying to reoranize and re-open, I will avoid them like sour milk on soggy corn flakes.

 

[Celtic]

CompUSA is crap..I would'nt buy a monitor cable from them if it was 1/2 off!

 

[Guest]

yea i'm with az23... if you've never work retail then why are you saying such things. it could very well be that maybe those days you walked in, those salesmen already had a bad customer before and could still be a little pissed off... as far as wanting to chase people out the door. i work retail and i still do, it's really annoying that you, the customer would walk in at like 8:55 and then start asking a million questions and still not buy anything. we as salesmen are still people and it is in our job description to help out customers, but we still are humans with our own lives that we would like to get back to at 9:00. if we were all cooks and you came in at clean up to order 15 cheeseburgers i would bet that at least one of them one have more then secret sauce in it, not cause we're bad people but you as a customer have no common sense.

 

[ROMbler]

[citation][nom]az23[/nom]Have you ever worked retail? If so maybe you don't mind waiting 15 minutes of your evening just so some lazy person that waited until the last minute can finish doing whatever they feel like, but plenty of people like myself do. If not then you really have no idea.[/citation]
I've worked retail and understand how annoying it can be to have to wait on a stragglers at closing time. Especially if it has been a long hard day. But, and here is the difference, I would NEVER let the customer know it.

 

[Guest]

"Look, everyone complaining about someone coming in towards closing needs to quit b1tching. If you dont like it, get an education and dont work retail. Opt for another shift instead of closing. When a customer "chooses" to give your store its business, they are your number one priority. It is that person giving your store additional revenue so it does not close. I understand you need to run home and hop on the internet so you can rub one out. But a few extra minutes wont kill you. Beside your not salary and it works into overtime if your 40 hrs a week. So STFU and man up..."

Um excuse me but I was 18 when I worked at bestbuy going to school paying my own way. But hey its my fault for not leaving high school with a four college degree. May be its my fault for not having parents that could afford to pay for my college. Oh you think could just go to my manger and ask for another shift? When they blow their hours on over time that means the next weekend there was 3 people working instead of 5.

Yep because at the time I had not finished my education I'm worth less and should to be treated like crap. Oh this whole idea that you can just get job is myth.

 

[Guest]

While your other thoughts may be very valid, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a retail franchise store to close at closing time.

If it were a mom & pop store, maybe, but even then, to demand or expect that a store accommodate you after their closing time isn't reasonable, if they do, they are going above and beyond any reasonable persons expectations...

For them to treat you as a customer during business hours, now that is something that goes without saying... And sadly, it isn't just the particular CompUSA store that you were unfortunate enough to have to deal with, it's an equal percentage of any retail chain store. All have good and bad examples...

I, like you, was unfortunate enough to have a bad example of a CompUSA store in the next town (Boulder, CO). Employees that have no clue about much of anything, especially how to be a salesperson...

 

[Guest]

First of all, I'm not sure why compusa even exists. Its doesn't really do anything particularly well. If its a computer store then make that the focus. They made the mistake of trying to compete with Bestbuy on Bestbuys terms, i.e. carrying a little bit of everything. Carve your nitch. Just be a computer store.

Secondly, the notion that "the customer is always right", exists in your head and your head only. Large companies have policies and rules just like, well, the rest of the world. Follow the rules and don't cry when they aren't broken for you.

 

[fulle]

First of all, this article is amusing. The writer clearly never worked a day of customer service in his life, and it feels like a cry fest over a manager making an exception to a clearly stated policy.

For the defective product, many times the manufacturer will replace the item if it defects after the 30 day store period. For example, KLIPSCH speakers have a 5 year defects warranty. If you actually payed 300 dollars for a replacement, without looking into more options, you are either extremely lazy, stupid, or have money to burn. I assume all 3.

CompUSA's customer service practices were actually not that bad. At least their representatives were somewhat informed about products, and attempted to be helpful. Its uncompetitive prices that was the company's downfall, and that alone.

Personally, I find BB's customer service practices extremely annoying (asking me if I need help every 2 minutes, seriously, leave me the fuck alone!)... but if they're selling an HDTV for 20 bucks less than CC, they get my money.

 

[FLGibsonJr]

The best computer store I have ever been to is Micro Center. If CompUSA wants to expand in storefronts they should benchmark Micro Center.