Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

CompUSA To Shut Down

Well I am not sorry to say, that I am glad they are going out of business. It is a miracle they lasted this long.

Most of what they did was sell their extended warranty, charge a lot for unnecessary repairs, and push the customer to more expensive systems when the customer needed a lot less. They also attacked the Mac a lot and had Mac machines with nobody there, no keyboard, no mouse and locked to some demo (if they were powered).

I used to get into a lot of discussions with the salesmen there and had some of their customers leave the store to a competitor when I saw the crap they were pulling.

Miracle I was never arrested for causing them problems.
 
akadmon said:
I shop in Nashua (NH) where there is a CircuitCity right next door to a BestBuy. As it is almost impossible to find parking in the BB lot, I just park 30 yards up the hill by CC. The conclusion is obvious: CC cannot compete.
Click to expand...


At least CC has DVD's on sale/discounted. BestBuy has very few, not to mention their High Def Discs are retail prices. (I can buy HD DVDs at Amazon discounted to $18 no tax fee shipping, while they're $25 - $30 plus tax at BB).
 
I am glad they are gone

My only experience with them was terrible. I bought a Powerbook G3 (Remember them? they were so beautiful!) and the sales guy got me to buy some insurance plan for it. He said that if it ever broke they would just replace and give me a new one (back in the days I was kind of naive. Seven months later my dog stepped over the cord, the computer fell from my desk and the screen broke. I went to CompUSA with my insurance plan and they said that it didn't cover the screen so they could repair the computer but not the screen (the computer was fine) I told them the whole story and they told me I "got the wrong idea or misunderstood them". I went to find the guy that sold the computer to me, then the manager then went through the whole thing and the same story, they couldn't do anything. One very nice lady from the store told me that there had been other 4 people that got ripped off with the insurance plan and none of them got their laptops replaced. I never went back to that store.
 
this sucks. i mean, it's not like i like compusa, but it's the only large "computer" store... i mean, best buy hardly sells anything for computers (i'm talking hardware...).

the only other place is fry's but the closest one is over 200 miles from me.

all BB and circuit city sell is stupid tv's, music and appliances. i hate those places. i guess i'll have to buy online.

i just hope some other place comes in and fills the more computer oriented niche compusa had (although they were becoming more and more like BB recently).

EDIT: i hope there are some really great deals when they are selling off all their crap.
 
Not yet - we're on a slow price wind-down through the holiday season. The average right now is 5% on Apple hardware, 10% on Apple accessories, 10% on hard drives, etc...

I think after Christmas is when the real sales will happen, but don't quote me on that...they don't tell us until like the day before it's actually gonna happen.
 
Daveway said:
Via Engadget.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/05/rumor-compusa-going-out-of-business-in-january/

Can't say I'm surprised after closing a majority of stores a few months ago and no longer being the exclusive big box retailer for Macs
Click to expand...

Although they were the source of the games I played in my early years that is about the extent of their existence for me. They have always had what seemed to be a relatively low level of choice with regards to actual computer components and software. They offered more of a little bit of everything but nothing was really good enough to make you want to buy it, especially since you could get most of the things they sold cheaper online. The only time I ever really enjoyed being in a CompUSA store was when I went to the one in San Francisco which has a huge underground store with so many choices it's unbelievable. But aside from that their stores always seem to be pretty dismal and missable, the San Francisco store was simply a exception...perhaps if they endeavored to make all their stores like the San Francisco one they would've done better...

- John Musbach
 
CompUSA bought and closed The Good Guys and then tried to merge the two under one roof. My local CompUSA store was was incompetent before the merger and downright screwed up afterwards.

They didn't know jack about any of the flat screens, phones or cameras. They just pushed what was on sale.

To be honest though, computers have become much more mature and there really isn't a need for a computer store anymore. If you need a computer you configure it and order it from Dell or Apple. You'll have it in a week. If you need one faster, go to Staples or Best Buy. Need software? Download it with a credit card or get it in two days from Amazon.

Back in the day there were tons of little companies making the same software. Now those companies are all bought and sold and all we have left are Adobe, Symantec, Apple and Microsoft.

Back then, computers were a hobby instead of a tool. People spend money on hobbies.

Here's hoping Circuit City is next. God they suck.
 
Almost everyone of my CompUSA experiences has been pretty bad.

I've shopped there for various items. I've ended up with some decent deals here and there. But for the most part, I've never had any trip there that I've raved about.

I can count dozens of rebates I never got. Price matches that were never honored at the register. Sales clerks that didn't know squat about anything computer-related. Prices that were as much or more than retail. Mac support that was dismal, at best.

The worst was several years ago when I went to buy a laptop for a client. I spent no less than 2 hours trying to pay cash for a laptop. They refused to sell it to me without an extended warranty. I finally had to go back to the client and find another model (they had specified a particular model for compatibility reasons) that met their needs at another store.

Two days later, the manager called me (i called the main corporate complaint dept.) and asked why I didn't purchase there. I told him that I was trying to buy a laptop and felt like I was buying a car. He simply said, "sorry to hear you had a bad experience" and then nothing. No, "Please come in and we will do what we can to help" Since then, I think I've spent a total of $200 there on things they had deals on.

So I am glad they are gone. They mismanaged themselves for years and spent way too much time worrying about the dollar and hardly any time worrying about the return business.

The place I miss the most is Egghead. I know Newegg is pretty much the same people and I shop there when I can, but the stores were nice, staffed well and had some great deals back in the day.
 
chillywilly said:
I can count dozens of rebates I never got.
Click to expand...

They got me once and I stopped buying anything that said "rebate" versus "sale".

chillywilly said:
The place I miss the most is Egghead.
Click to expand...

Well, back in 1988 and before they were pretty cool. By 1991 they were the most expensive and least stocked computer store in town. CompUSA and Computer City ran rings around them back then.

My biggest gripe when it came to CompUSA in the final days were that they had absolutely no clue how to do the internet thing. I don't care for Circuit City but I can go to their site and order a camera and in 24 minutes I can pick it up at my nearest store. CompUSA would take my order (take my credit card number), tell me where the nearest store was and I'd get there and they wouldn't have my product pulled. "We have to check our inventory," they'd say. Then they would take to to a register and check me out. I'd say that they took my card online but that was just to "hold" inventory which it obviously didn't do because they had to check their inventory.

Grrr.

It was run like Mexico, the country, is run. Pinchi Carlos Slim.
 
I don't do rebates anymore except for Staples, which holds the record at 9 days from submissions to seeing the check in the mail.

CompUSA had lower prices than Egghead back in the day. But I liked the experience at Egghead better than CompUSA.

Of course, if we only had a Fry's here, that would make me happy. Closest one to me is 7 hrs away.
 
chillywilly said:
Of course, if we only had a Fry's here, that would make me happy. Closest one to me is 7 hrs away.
Click to expand...

Fry's has a LOT of cool stuff and a lot of different options (instead of ketchup they also sell catsup). My problem with them is that they used to sell returned stuff as new and I still don't trust them to this day.

Personally, I LOVE Micro Center but they are a trek for me. They don't have washers and dryers, don't have car stereos, don't have Bose sound showrooms... they just have Macs, PCs, Cameras and everything in between those keywords... at reasonable (and sometimes FANTASTIC) prices.
 
For anyone interested, CompUSA just put a 20% discount on ALL Applecare plans - I would assume this discount will get better in the coming weeks, so I may be buying my Applecare through them instead of through Apple directly :)

-Bryan
 
Hey Shawn, Bryan here - I ended up getting the Mac Pro through my NAPP discount - it's prepared for shipment, and should be on its way in a few days :D:D

I'll stop by your store pretty soon!

-Bryan
 
I went there thinking I'd find some big going out of business discounts. Their products were reduced no more than 20%. They're 20% overpriced to begin with!
 
zdobson said:
I went there thinking I'd find some big going out of business discounts. Their products were reduced no more than 20%. They're 20% overpriced to begin with!
Click to expand...

What do you mean their products? CC is effectively out of business. They sold all their inventory to some investment firm for probably 20 cents of the dollar, i.e. they did not turn everything over to a charity. It's those guys who are trying to make a profit now, not CC. Can you blame them? Quit complaining, people.
 
GoKyu said:
For anyone interested, CompUSA just put a 20% discount on ALL Applecare plans - I would assume this discount will get better in the coming weeks, so I may be buying my Applecare through them instead of through Apple directly :)

-Bryan
Click to expand...

UPDATE: AppleCare is now 50% off-- provided you can still find one for your specific Apple product; the pickings are getting slimmer. Picked one up for my iMac today at only $85.
 
dXTC said:
UPDATE: AppleCare is now 50% off-- provided you can still find one for your specific Apple product; the pickings are getting slimmer. Picked one up for my iMac today at only $85.
Click to expand...

Yep. I stop by at least 3 times a week to see when they reduce their prices more (after they mark them up again, which I noticed with some items like wireless routers and video games).

Picked up an iPod AppleCare for $28.
 
I went today to the CompUSA in downtown San Francisco and they were gone of all mp3 players except for the zunes, they still had all models for sale...

I thought it was very funny

and all their accessories in stock
 
gkarris said:
CompUSA wasn't it SoftwareHouse then CompUSA, then bought ComputerCity (owned by Tandy). I remember buying my Performa 6100 System from ComputerCity before they were bought out (those were the days...)

They have recently gone down hill and closed all their Chicagoland stores anyways. They're already gone here, everyone's a BestBuy, and most Apple customers are at the Apple Store, popping up all over here now...
Click to expand...

Well, some Best Buy stores in Chicago area are sell Mac now, don't forgot to add Circuit City that's where customers are shopping for electronic and computer stuff but Circuit City don't carry Mac stuff, except for iPod.

I prefer to shop at Best Buy over Circuit City, CC has been gone in decline of sale over years and their share is much lower.

There's Fry's and Micro Center too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back