Originally posted by Sun Baked
And READ THE WARRANTY in full, before you do anything. Don't go by what a salesman says, they want the commision.
Agreed. I worked for Circuit City for two years (finished last summer) and the reason I chose not to return was because of the warranty.
Forgive my rant, but here is the story with Circuit City and their warrantee. As you probably know, sales counselors at Circuit City make all of their money from commissions. Commissions are based on the mark up on a product and they are by no means consistent. You could sell a $3000 Sony computer with Trinitron monitor and make $25, however, if you sold an HP printer with a couple packages of paper, a warrantee and some ink, you might make $30. Circuit City and its salesmen make their money from the warrantees and accessories. The warrantee, known as "cheese, makes or breaks a sale as the salesman receives 15% of the cost of the warrantee. If you sell the "cheese," you can turn a $20 laptop commission into a $76 sale (warrantee normally runs $369 for three years, 15% of $370 = about $56!).
Computers alone, even Macs, do not carry much of a mark up, and thus selling the warrantee (and accessories) is not only necessary for the sales counselor to make money but for the store to remain profitable. At any given store, there are between 60-100 sales counselors and 6-9 managers. The managers work under a store manager, and if the store is not maintaining its assigned profit, the store manager here's about it from the district manager, the managers get it from the store manager, and the managers rattle the sales counselors. As a sales counselor, you are expected to sell so many accessories and warrantees relative to your sales: About 10-12% of your sales should be accessories and approximately 8-10% should be warrantees. If your numbers are not there, you get "coachings" from the managers where you are basically told to get your but in gear. Apparently if you get more than a few coachings you can even loose your jobOne of the reasons why I quit.
Though I loved selling technology at Circuit City (especially Macs), I did not feel right about this pressure and the need to see one's customers as dollar signs. Circuit City didn't seem to care how you sold the "cheese" just as long as you did and it didn't get returned. Though ever sales counselor goes through training in the different areas of technology, you are never told much about the warrantee. Your managers teach you how to fill out a "cheese sheet" which helps persuade the customer to purchase a warrantee, however, sales counselors are given few specifics regarding the warrantee. When I worked at Circuit City I took the time out to read the fine print, just so that my customers would not suffer from my ignorance.
True, there are many sales counselors who care only about their commissions, yet this is not the case with all sales counselors and such a generalization should be avoided. The Circuit City warrantee does have its gaps, and there have been instances when people have been taken advantage of, however, there have also been many circumstances when people have saved large amounts of money because of the warrantee. Thus, while I had some sour experiences with Circuit City and their warrantee it is not all bad, and to cheat Circuit City into buying you a new computer only questions your integrity-- something you can't put a price on.
Bill
