Update: This story will be featured on the Tom Martino Radio Show (troubleshooter.com). The show airs tomorrow (12/23) at 11am ET - 2pm ET. If you care to listen you can find a local affiliate at Tom Martino's Troubleshooter (check schedules) or listen online at KHOW online. I don't know the exact time they will be talking to me.

Note: This post was also made on the "CONFIRMED! QUICK! FLAMING HOT Circuit City video games deal: greatest hits/platinum hits/player's choice games are 2 for $9.98 NOW 12/12" thread. Since it brings up some interesting issues with how much a store is willing to protect the bottom line I believe it should be in Deal Discussion as well. This happened today.

Wow. I've been on Fatwallet for over 18 months.... this has been the most stressful and exciting deal I have attempted. Long story ahead...


I went to a local Circuit City at about 5:30pm (until this is resolved I will leave names out) to try to get some PS2 Greatest Hits titles. I got a young, very helpful CSR (CSR1) who ran up my first two titles (to verify the deal hadn't died on my ride home from work). First two titles went through just fine - just over $10 with taxes. He commented "Wow!! I'm going to have to buy some games after work!!". I asked him to help me pick some more titles for my sister in law (she is getting a PS2 for Christmas). Together with the CSRs help (as I said, he was really nice) we picked out 8 additional titles (I didn't clear out the store, just enough to make for a great Christmas present!). He rang these titles up, each coming up at $4.99. When he finished I paid for the transaction on my Visa card. Sounds like a hot deal, doesn't it?

This is where it gets ugly.

As he was bagging the games up another associate (CSR2) comes up and says "Hey, [CSR name], those are ringing up wrong - they're 2 for 30". My CSR replied "Uh, little late, I just sold them.". CSR2 responds "I'm getting the manager.". I wait around, as CSR1 (the nice one) finishes removing the protective cases and bagging the games. About the time he finishes the Department Manager shows up. He begins arguing that I can't leave the store. He tells me (in raised voice) that I need to return the items I purchased. I informed him that I purchased them, paid the price asked for them, and agree to the charges specified on my receipt. He physically blocks my egress from the store (specifically, from the middle of the store where we were at). He says "You didn't buy those." - my response "Your Circuit City receipt says otherwise - would you care to look at it." His response "I can't let you leave with those items at that price.". My response "Are you going to physically stop me from leaving your store?" My next request to him was "Fine. If you won't let me leave, call the police." (He did not want any of that).

This is where it goes from ugly to bad

At this point we have a nice audience. I was never very good in drama class... today I think I did better than I ever did in school! We have about 10 people watching by now. While my voice was not raised (above the point of normal speech), his voice was getting louder and louder. This drew the attention of the "Store Director" (so sayeth his nametag). My guess is that he was either behind me in the audience or was informed by a CSR that the Department Director was perilously close to having the vein in his forehead burst blood on the crowd. The Store Director begins telling me (now I have two man coverage... time to think back to football days!) that I cannot leave the store. I continue to tell them to either let me leave or telephone the police. He continues to state, nearly verbatim for what his underling had said, that I cannot leave the store with the merchandise I purchased at the price I paid. Finally, after a good 10 minutes of heated debating I inform them that I am leaving, and that if they wish to contact the police I invite them to do so. They once again tell me they will not "let" me leave - I asked them "do you plan to physically restrain me."

Ugly? Bad? Meet your friend violent

I decided to leave. That was unacceptable in the eyes of the store director. At this point we are face to face, about 2 feet apart (not close enough to smell breath, no touching toes). I begin to turn to walk towards the exit and he decides to protect his profit margin with force. He uses his right arm and shoulder to thrust into me while using his left arm to physically rip (as in - broken bag) the bag (with receipt) out of my right hand. He turns around and walks the couple steps to the register that the items were rung up at.

Note: I am a nonviolent person. Unless you threaten my wife, mother, grandmother, or Siberian husky I will not become violent.

I follow the Store Director (with his Department Manager in tow) to the register. At this time there are over 20 people watching. I guess wresting doesn't come on Monday nights? I ask the Store Director (who is now trying frantically to run a return on the items) "Now that you have assaulted me do you want to add theft and credit card fraud?". My wife walks up (who had been observing from a safe distance the entire time) and takes my cell phone and asks for our attorneys card (note: forget AMEX. don't leave home without an attorney) and begins dialing his number. The store director takes in the fact that he has just assaulted a customer (devil shopper) in front of over 20 other customers, and said customers wife is now dialing either their attorney or the police. He thrusts the remains of the shopping bag (with contents) at me and screams "TAKE THEM AND GET OUT OF MY STORE."


Epilogue

For those that did not already know this (or if I'm wrong, give me a good number) Circuit City's main offices close at either 8PM EST or 5:30PM EST, depending on which number you are directed to. The local police department was open. We had an obligation that could not be missed that we needed to go to immediately after leaving, but called the police to discuss what happened. Tomorrow, unless Circuit City decides to formally apologize (I'll gladly waive my right to file charges - he didn't hurt me) I will be filing charges with local law enforcement. The police department strongly encouraged doing so.

Update:

I spoke with Circuit City Executive Response (and their Public Relations... and their Legal Department). The individuals I spoke with sounded as appalled as everyone here about what happened. There is no resolution yet, but it is being forwarded up the chain. I informed that I would like a response, even if it is preliminary, today. My preference (as relayed to CC) was to deal with them directly in working out a solution to remedy the situation and prevent it from happening again. I specifically told them I would prefer for them to address this on their own, rather than as a result of me filing charges (to happen after work today) and this being sent to local media outlets. Denver has a lot of radio stations, news channels, and even two major newspapers. Right before the holidays this is not what they need.

All things considered - there is nothing at CC I need/want. What I want is to know is that this won't happen to another shopper.

Update

I have now spoken with nearly every Executive Assistant at CC HQ!

The last one I spoke with was assistant to the Chairman, President, and CEO (same person). She seemed like a genuinely nice lady. Granted, she spent as much time questioning why I purchased the games / how I found the pricing / price mistake stuff than the actions of the store director. I have a feeling a case of CYA is oncoming. The upside is that they will be reviewing the video footage (meaning it is being preserved) and I should hear from the regional vice president (I have heard him refered to as RVP as well as Regional Manager) within 48 hours.

I have given them until COB Thursday to get back to me. In the meantime I will be speaking (again) with my attorney (although if you happen to be an attorney practicing in the state of Colorado send me a PM). I'm going to go file a police report this evening. At the very least, it documents what happened.

I'll keep everyone updated on what is going on. I really wish the deal had been dead yesterday - this sucks right before the holidays.

UPDATE 12/16

I did not hear back from Circuit City today. I filed a formal complaint (criminal) against the Store Director this evening with Lakewood, CO police department. I will be sending the information about what has happened to local media outlets (tv,print,radio). I tried to give Circuit City the opportunity to handle the situation in a timely manner. I did not ask for money, only for an apology and certain internal actions (reprimand the managers, do not punish the young associate, implement better policy).

UPDATE 12/18

atene said:

can someone help me find the original hot deal post on this? I just checked my charge card and found the CC ran charges against my card 2 additional times without my signature AFTER i left the store to effectively charge my card $15 per game. Filing dispute and fraud charges with Card company - but want to warn others.....

This has not happened to me. I cannot verify the veracity of this claim (no disrespect meant, atene) but I would advise everyone who has been following this thread to check with their credit card companies to see if this has happened to anyone else here.

UPDATE 12/21

It has been a week since my last conversation with Circuit City's corporate office. I have not received an apology, nor to my knowledge has Circuit City done nothing to prevent this from happening again. In addition to that, after reading many of the other posts in this thread (and the other) it seems that this sort of manager is not unique to my store. What happened to jigglypuffy was absolutely unacceptable (see the original thread to read his story). What happened to me is unacceptable. My choice not to litigate was a personal choice - most people are much quicker to sue.

I've had a few requests for phone numbers. I did not post them originally because I wanted to give Circuit City a chance to make it right. It seems very unlikely that Circuit City is going to do anything. To that end, I'm providing the telephone number for my contact at Circuit City. If you want to sound off to them about this, something that happened to you, or other issues that is your choice.

This number is for the office of the President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Circuit City, Mr. Alan McCollough. His executive assistant is named Marilyn. The store this happened at is the Lakewood, Colorado store.

804-527-4000 extension 3220

you may want to try the 800 number at

800-251-2665 extension 3220

Update 12/22

This story will be featured on the Tom Martino Radio Show (troubleshooter.com). The show airs tomorrow (12/23) at 11am ET - 2pm ET. If you care to listen you can find a local affiliate at Tom Martino's Troubleshooter (check schedules) or listen online at KHOW online. I don't know the exact time they will be talking to me.

Update 12/31


The only major update I have to offer is that I spoke with the detective from Lakewood Police Department. He was very courteous, and seemed pretty competent. He did go to the store and question the manager and the employees on duty that night. He also reviewed the security footage. Two things came from that - 1) The employees are circling the wagons and standing by the manager, saying he did nothing aggressive. 2) The security cameras are not very effective - this was in the middle of the store and was "just out of range" of any of their cameras. From what the regional director at Circuit City said the camera coverage is rather minimal - it seems many of the black domes are empty.

At this point there is not much left that can be done. Without security footage legal proceedings against the manager are off the table. I got torn up verbally by the sit-in host of "Tom Martino's Troubleshooter", and I am persona non grata with Circuit City.

As an information security professional I take monitoring (network) activity very seriously. I am both surprised and disappointed that a major retail chain does not excersise the same diligence in monitoring their stores.

Update 1/4

Wow. I never thought this thread would generate the volume of response it has. I thank everyone who has posted, including those who think poorly of me. I'd like to respond to some of the questions / comments....

1. Regarding our prior obligation.... I did not want to post it originally because it had nothing to do with what happened, except for timing. My wife and I both take classes at the same college. The day this happened also happened to be the last day to sell books back to the bookstore at the college. This whole event occured on short errand that started with "Do you mind if we buy a couple more games for your sister before dropping off our books?". We expected to be in and out of the Circuit City. Since the bookstore closed less than an hour after we left Circuit City I wanted to get to the school without any other delays. I didn't think "Hey - if I file a police report right now I'll have a better chance in a lawsuit" - my exact comment to my wife (who wanted to call the cops and wait) was "The police aren't going to pay us for the $500 in books we have in the car." Right or wrong, you can judge - but I didn't want this to cost us the book money, as that gets reinvested into books for spring semester.

Also - I know you can sell books on the internet, but going to the bookstore is easier and a guaranteed thing. Since going to the bookstore was more important than going to Circuit City in the first place, please don't tell me that I should have sold them on the internet and not bothered with the bookstore. I understand that would have been one possibility.

2. I'm sure if you asked the Circuit City managers I was no angel. I didn't yell at them, that is the truth. I did not threaten them or otherwise attempt to intimidate them. I did, however, stand in the middle of their store and not give in to their demands. I sure don't think I came off as an angel or an innocent. My opinion was, and still is, that after a sale is made the have no right to demand return, and hassling me wasn't going to change that fact.

3. I have never claimed that what happened was representative of other Circuit City stores anywhere. This was one experience. I have not said that all Circuit City managers are bad, or that Circuit City is a bad company, or anything of the sort. Many Fatwallet members speak of having good Circuit City stores - my response to that is that I am happy for you! What two employees did, right or wrong depending on your point of view, is not a sizable sampling of a national retailer.

4. Would I do things the same again? Probably not. In fact, I would listen to what hundreds have said here and do the following:

A. Keep your cool! (I did that) Even when tempers flare do not let it get the best of you. The last thing anyone wants is to read about "Fatwallet member arrested at local electronics store"
B. Call the police and wait for them to come to you.
C. Get witness names.
D. Contact an attorney immediately.
E. Do not discuss what happened with the business, except through your attorney.
F. Do not post what happened on the internet.
G. Be patient. Steps B - F will takes months or years to produce any measurable results.

Perhaps I missed something, but that is what I will be taking away from this thread. I tried to negotiate a (non-monetary) fair and equitable solution.... I was naive and foolish. As an American who was raised in Europe I have learned the valuable lesson that nothing gets done in America without attorneys and [the threat of] litigation.


This will be the final update to this post.

Update... I forgot to mention this:


What I neglected to mention was that the Department Manager, prior to the arrival of his Store Director, made reference to an email that was sent out. He said something along the lines of (I apologize if I cannot quote directly, it was a heated debate) "We got an email on this. It's a mistake." I asked him "Is it your mistake" - "No!". "Is it CSR1's mistake??". "No." "Is it my mistake??" "No.". "Ok, fine. Did you tell CSR1 about this? When you got this email did you think to get everyone together and tell them about it?" "No, he didn't know." - "Ok. If he didn't know, and it wasn't his mistake.... did you send me the email?"

That was about the point the veins in his forehead begin losing structural integrity.

Holy crap,I'd tell them to stick the apology up their bunghole.
File the charges,hope you got names of people that witnessed this,and definately call your lawyer.
I'd settle for nothing less the his job.
Fark corprate,they need to let him me the poster child for incompetence.
He should have called cops if he thought he was in the right,rather than assult you.
He was lucky it wasn't someone with a short fuse,he might have got the crap beat out of him.

nice job undefined. You showed them not to mess with FW.

fishie74 said:Woah!! That's bas a**! This is just me speaking, but I would infer that a very large plasma TV with all the trimmings delivered and installed would make the whole situation go away nicely See what that does to CCs bottom line!!

Funny thing is it won't work where i live (8350ft elevation). In the other thread I listed what I would like to see most:

What I really want is a formal reprimand against the Store Director, a written apology for his physical assault (in exchange for a forbearance of my right to sue), and a written statement that CSR1 will not be punished or terminated for a period of no less than 6 months. I don't want to be responsible for a nice kid getting fired. No deal is worth that.


starpilot said:
Holy crap,I'd tell them to stick the apology up their bunghole.
File the charges,hope you got names of people that witnessed this,and definately call your lawyer.
I'd settle for nothing less the his job.
Fark corprate,they need to let him me the poster child for incompetence.
He should have called cops if he thought he was in the right,rather than assult you.
He was lucky it wasn't someone with a short fuse,he might have got the crap beat out of him.


If the Store Director gets fired I won't lose sleep over it. If the really nice young guy that helped me find games (my last game system was a Sega Genesis, help was in order) gets fired I will lose sleep over this.

seiromen said:
Just reading this thread gets me heated and wants to go to Circuit City and punch someone.

I think Circuit City has openings for store managers with that attitude. Better to take advantage of deals there. Besides, most of the people working at CC at this time of year are trying to earn a little extra $$$ for their family - it's hard to harbor illwill towards them.

Nice. You really put the red chilli (as in your avatar) up the CC manager's <u know where>

mnsweeps said:Nice. You really put the red chilli (as in your avatar) up the CC manager's <u know where>

Funny you should mention this.... I keep "Da Bomb" (look it up, 1.5 million scoville units) in the back of my Jeep for days like today!

Let's see:

Civil: Assault, battery, false imprisonment
Criminal: Assault, false imprisonment, robbery

I'd personally demand at the minimum that CC fire the "store director".

I soooo hate CC...Went to a CC once to look at a laptop, decided I didn't want to purchase the laptop. I ended up going to the Office Depot next door, in there for 5 minutes and I'm being paged; go to the Service Counter and it's the salesman from the CC next door trying to get me to come back and purchase the laptop. That was over 5 yrs ago, and last time I stepped foot in a CC; now just ocasionally I take advantage of their free shipping for $9.99 CD's. Hope you take every legal action towards CC you can, noone deserves to be assaulted and embarassed like this in a store over $4.99 video games.

cocacolakid said:follow up with your lawyer and a lawsuit, AND press charges. don't let them get away with physically assaulting customers. not only should the director lose his job he should get plenty of hours of community service from a judge. and Circuit City is financially responsible for their employee physically attacking a customer.

Yes, I'd say STICK it to these guys. It's not as if the case of abusive, harsh, and demeaning managers is an isolated one at CC. I have not yet dealt with a single CC store manager who has been polite and co-operative over anything; two have stood two inches from me while talking (I'm over 6 feet tall and don't get intimidated easily) and telling me that they are going to flout corporate pricematching policy, ONLY to be later told by people at CC corp that they would have to. I hate CC, I only go there when I can get $30 200GB+ HDs.