We all know the story: Circuit City Stores spiraled down from its high point in the late 90′s to bankruptcy in 2008 and then liquidation in 2009. Systemax then bought the rights to the brand a few months later and quickly relaunched CircuitCity.com. Since then Systemax has been racking in the cash. So much cash in fact that Systemax is thinking about opening some Circuit City retail locations. Seriously.

Of course they won’t be the Circuit City stores of old, but there might just be a market for these locations as there has been a void in the retail scene since all the stores shuttered, leaving Best Buy as the lone national electronics retailer with Walmart picking up the slack. It’s unknown where or how many of these locations Systemax would open but chances it would replicate the CompUSA retail rebirth with only a small number of locations in one region.

We just wonder if Circuit City 2.0 could gain traction after its very public demise. Post-recession consumers tend to be a skeptical bunch. [CBBN via CEPro]

This is a 23-inch Acer monitor. It’s on sale at Circuit City’s Web site (yes, they’re back as a Web site) for $160, down from $230. 1080p, the whole nine yards. I bought a 23-inch Acer monitor for myself for Christmas. It’s nice enough, though the lack of headphone jack isn’t cool. My fault, didn’t do the research.

Some manufacturers have implemented returns restrictions that prevent CircuitCity.com from being able to accept returns or offer exchanges, replacements or credits on their products for any reason. Products from manufacturers such as Compaq, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Toshiba, Epson, and others are not returnable to CircuitCity.com FOR ANY REASON. All support as well as exchanges or replacements for DEFECTIVE merchandise, including within the first 30 days of ownership, must be handled directly with the product manufacturer. CircuitCity.com cannot accept any returns nor offer replacement, exchanges or credit for ANY product missing the UPC code. Only the product manufacturer can replace any DEFECTIVE item missing the UPC sticker.

Terrible, right? Well, the site has since been updated with less intimidating but still anti-consumer wording. We also found that the list of brands under this policy is a lot longer than previously stated.

Some manufacturers have implemented returns restrictions that prevent CircuitCity.com from being able to accept returns or offer exchanges, replacements or credits on their products for any reason. Please check the item listing on our website to determine if special return policies are applicable to your products. Support as well as exchanges or replacements for products with manufacturer or supplier restrictions, including within the first 30 days of ownership, must be handled directly with the product manufacturer or supplier. You can find the manufacturer or suppliers contact information in your product manual, in the item listing, on the manufacturer’s website or at our help center .

I did some looking around and it seems that CircuitCity.com will accept returns on all major purchases like computers, HDTVs, monitors, and most digital cameras. Per the new wording, each product page indicates what the return policy is for the shown item.

Sure enough, if the 30 Day Guarantee logo is shown in the information bar, the product can be returned for a full refund within 30 days.

If that logo is missing though, this section is displayed at the bottom of the page indicating that an exchange can be made, but no refunds will be granted.

NewEgg also has a limited return policy. However, it doesn’t seem to be as prevalent and only a few brands (marked by a *) full under the policy.

These are some of the brands that I found that have restrictions on returns. It seems to be random and not every product from these brands fall under this tough policy. I’m sure there are more and if you find any, drop a note in the comments below and I’ll add it too the list.

• BTI
• imation
• TurtleBeach
• Tritton
• xitel
• Nintendo *
• Microsoft Xbox items *
• Sony Playstation items *
• Kodak *
• Western Digital
• Seagate
• Netgear
• D-Link
• HP
• Cisco
• Linksys
• Genius
• InFocus *
• Epson

After seeing this ridiculous return policy, why would anyone shop at the new CircuitCity.com? I know I’m not going to buy anything from the site. Their prices aren’t that special. I would rather spend a few dollars more at NewEgg or Amazon and have a legitimate return policy.

Sure enough, CircuitCity.com is back up and ready to sell you some electronic wares. Systemax, the same parent company of Tiger Direct and CompUSA.com, scooped up the bankrupt brand a few weeks ago and just relaunched the site this morning. Too bad that the original company went down in glorious fashion and took 35,000 American jobs with it. At least this new site has some great deals. Serious.

Just check out the deals on the front page: 1TB external hard drive for $89, a BlackBerry Curve for $19, and a GE digicam for $49. Maybe if the original Circuit City had such deal, they would still be in business.

We knew that CircuitCity.com was going to relaunch and it looks like that will happen real soon. Systemax Inc. did indeed purchase the brand and website from the bankrupt company and has plans to relaunch the website. The updated CircuitCity.com has info about the the launch and new company right now, but expect the full site to be up in a few days.

“Circuit City’s business is up for grabs right now and we expect to get our share,” Gary Severson, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of home entertainment, said in an interview with the newspaper.

Wal-Mart executives said the stores would soon offer Palm Inc’s Pre smartphone, a highly anticipated gadget. The retailer also is adding to its selection of higher-end televisions by manufacturers Sony Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, and broadening its array of movies, the newspaper said.

As I said before there is no reason to buy electronics in a big box store. Delivery is swift and decisive and usually free and the price savings you get online far outweighs the “convenience” of wandering down to Best Buy and being hassled over extended warranties.

A tipster informed us about the mysterious CircuitCity.com message a week ago, and it seems that the brand might indeed be resurrected. Systemax, of TigerDirect and CompUSA fame, is interested in purchasing Circuit City‘s brand name and website for $6.5 million. There is a chance for other potential bidders to submit offers until May 11. Systemax has done an alright job of raising CompUSA from the burning ashes that was the bankrupt brand, but it will be interesting to watch what happens with Circuit City.

It seemed that Circuit City, who was once the US’s largest electronic retailer behind Best Buy, went down in a much more public way than CompUSA by closing 567-ish stores and laying off 34,000 people. Still, it doesn’t take that much overhead to run a website and at least improving a damaged brand is somewhat easier than creating a new one from scratch. There might be someone out there that doesn’t know that Circuit City is gone.

CircuitCity.com is also temporarily closed, although we anticipate the website will reopen in the coming weeks. Please check back for updates.

So yeah, it looks like Circuit City might rise from the ashes just like CompUSA. Too bad this doesn’t mean that 30,000 employees will get their jobs back as the website – if the statement ever pans out – will probably be ran by only a few folks. More as we get it.

[Thanks for the tip, Nate]

Not that ANY of you would ever sell your console without deleting all your personal files and credit card information off of it first but just in case, here’s a reminder why you should do just that. Apparently a refurbishment center bought up a bunch of Circuit City’s pre-owned consoles that were to be “in working condition, and with maybe a few components missing.”

The rest, according to Kotaku, who received the information from someone who worked at this particular refurbishment center:

Instead, not only does he allege that the majority of consoles [were] broken (217 of 227 Xbox 360s were “non-functioning”, and 167 of 205 PS3s), but, more importantly, that a “large quantity” of them came with something extra: sensitive personal information.

Friends lists. Photos. Videos. Sexy home videos. Arcade games. Credit card details.

The facility discovered this while repairing the damaged consoles. They’d fix them, turn them on, test their network connectivity, then suddenly start receiving friend requests, chat requests, game invites, etc. What’s more, with the user details still recorded on the system, they could have easily purchased game content on an unsuspecting former owner’s credit card.

It’s very possible that whoever was responsible for wiping the data from these consoles at Circuit City before they were sold to this other place was either let go or didn’t care to do any actual work. Either way, it’s probably best to clear all that stuff out yourself.

Ex-Circuit City Pre-Owned Consoles Include Credit Card Details, Home Porn [Kotaku]

Here it is, friends: the last thing in the last Circuit City store in Robinson, PA. Actually, it wasn’t the last. The vultures had picked the place clean but Rob at BBG writes:

As the day drew to a close, a fake hollow display camera supplied an endless cycle of excitement and disappointment.

Watching the sinking of the HMS Circuit City reminds us that we’re entered a strange new era. Think of it as evolution and, in a way, survival of the fittest – although it can be argued that Best Buy deserved to die as well. The mom and pop appliance stores were where our parents picked up a TV – Sears if they wanted to go crazy. Those fell away to the Wal-Marts and Best Buys of the world and now the supply chains are tightening and it just doesn’t make sense to have many more Big Box stores. In a time when you can order almost anything online and the wealth of information on electronics makes everything a commodity there is no way to add a “human” touch to sales without raising prices.

Godspeed, former Circuit City employees. Good luck.

Regardless of random old gadgets still occupying shelves, March 8th is the last day you’re going to see the stores open. The last couple of days the stores might even be selling off fixtures and displays so it might be worth your time to snag some A/V switches, large speaker selectors, and other random crap for next to nothing. Hell, I got a whole stack of component video amps for nothing. Ebay!

Here’s some consumer electronics heartache for you. A couple in Boston bought an $1100 Samsung TV from Circuit City’s liquidation sale, only to find out that, once they got home and opened it up, it was shattered. Why didn’t they inspect it at the store, you ask? Well, apparently the signs in the store say “DO NOT OPEN THE MERCHANDISE” alongside other signs that say “ALL SALES FINAL” and “CHECK YOUR PURCHASES,” among others.

Guess who refused to return the broken TV? Yes, that’s right, Circuit City – rather, the liquidation company that’s handling the selling-off of Circuit City’s assets. So you can’t open the merchandise to check it before you buy it, but you’re supposed to check your purchases even though all sales are final.

A big part of this problem may be that the couple drove the TV to their house before opening it. A case could be made that the TV shattered in the car, right? You shove it in the back seat, screen facing forward, and slam on the breaks – that could cause a screen to shatter.

It’d be interesting to see what would have happened if the couple had opened the TV in the store right after paying for it. If the TV had been shattered, it would have probably been a much tougher case for the liquidation company to refuse a refund.

But who’s going to unbox a gigantic TV before putting it in their car? The kicker here is that this liquidation is covered under federal bankruptcy laws, not local laws, so the couple isn’t covered like they normally would be had they purchased the TV under normal circumstances.

According to TheBostonChannel.com:

A spokesman for the liquidation group, Great American Group said, “We have signs posted indicating all sales are final,” and “Consumers are protected by the manufacturers warranty.”

But Samsung wouldn’t help Gina and Emilio, saying their TV was damaged, not defective, and not their concern.

“No one’s there to help us … we’re out $1,100,” Gina said.

Gina has appealed to her credit card company but so far Citizens Bank has not said whether it will help.

We’ve been covering this liquidation for a while now and it’ll be nice when it’s finally all over since there haven’t been a whole lot of heartwarming stories coming out of it. The important thing to remember is that liquidation firms are not in the business of providing customer service or making sure they’ll maintain lifelong customers. They’re in the business of selling whatever’s left in a store as quickly as possible at as high a price as consumers are willing to pay. Once it’s paid for and out the door, they’ll likely do whatever it takes to keep merchandise from coming back into the store.

If you’re going to shop liquidation sales, it’s probably best to stick to smaller ticket items like software, DVDs, and music – stuff you can’t normally return anyway. Not $1100 TVs that may very well have been mishandled in the back of the store.

[TheBostonChannel.com via Consumerist]

While we failed to find much of anything at the Circuit City liquidation sales, apparently a whole bunch of other people did. The liquidator overlords are reporting that they managed to sell more than $1 billion of Circuit City’s inventory at these sales. In fact, many Circuit City stores have either closed up permanently, or are about to shut the doors because the sales have gone so well. Not a good thing for the soon to be unemployed Circuit City pawns. More discounts should be coming soon though at stores still open.

Scott Carpenter, executive vice president and director of operations for Great American Group which has been running the sales said this,

Deeper discounts will be offered on selected items beginning Thursday and will continue until all inventory has been depleted.

The individual stores are on their own. Once a store sells out, that’s it. Eventually even the fixtures and displays will be sold. I scored a few large white boards for $5 and tried to get a 20-foot step ladder but someone had already put a deposit on it. When the signs say everything must go, everything must go.

• 30% off camcorders, DSLRs, point & shoots, CDs DVDs, photo frames, and GPS units.
• 25% off plasmas, home audio, software, and office gear
• 40% off furniture.

Good luck and godspeed.

Despite our attempts to inform everyone that the Circuit City liquidation deals are scams, apparently some people are still spending their money at the dead retailer. In fact, there the liquidator overlords might start another round of markdowns starting today because the sales are going so well. The distribution centers are almost cleared out and it seems Circuit City’s days are coming to a close.

Scott Carpenter, executive who has been overseeing the liquidation,

We are very pleased with the reception that these clearance sales has received, and we anticipate that more and more people will come out to take advantage of the great bargains being offered, with the Super Bowl coming this Sunday, we expect many consumers to be purchasing HDTVs, especially in the 50″ and larger widescreen sizes.”

Apparently perception is everything and people are will to drop their cash on items that seem on sale, but really are not. It’s sad really. Eventually, there should be some good deal but so far we have yet to hear of a single one.

We’ve seen (and written) our fair share of advice concerning the Circuit City liquidation, but now it’s time to hear from an actual Circuit City employee about what’s really going on.

Circuit City employee Sam wrote in to Consumerist with the following tips:

It’s true that “not much is actually on sale.” High-margin items like blank CDs and flash drives are particularly jacked up – basically “anything in the computer area.” Curiously, Sam notes that cables have been marked down somewhat but they’re “still way more than online.” Video game consoles are also somewhat affordable.

It’s also true that the remaining employees don’t care about customers all that much. “It is hard to care when you know the job is gone in 2 months anyway.” They’ll show you where stuff is located and answer product questions, but motivation beyond that seems to be almost non-existent. Managers, especially, seem to be taking it especially hard. Says Sam:

“They have been stripped of all of their power, and are relegated to people that are allowed to have keys. Chances are they needed their job more than the part-timer like me, and they are not very happy about being jobless soon, and they are making it known.”

Sort of along those lines, none of the prices in the store can be changed. Everything is set by the liquidation firm and, as such, neither the employees or managers can change prices on anything.

Finally, on behalf of all Circuit City employees, Sam asks that people try to keep their opinions about Circuit City to themselves.

“I have had more than a few qualms with my job and the company the past few years, trust me. But I am still sad to see it go. I helped out a lot of very nice people, and I genuinely believe I helped them out and went above and beyond for them. I may be the exception, but I helped as much as I could and didn’t sell people things that I didn’t think they could use. Part of what is so depressing about working there right now is how smug people seem to be about us closing. You don’t think the price on that camera is good? Neither do I, and I am sorry that I and 34,000 other people losing their jobs could not have saved you 12 more dollars on a camera. See how much better it gets in 6 months when Best Buy is the ONLY option for that TV you are looking for.”

I’d think it would get irritating to help customers dig through what’s left of your store while they complain about prices being too high and saying stuff like, “No wonder you guys went out of business.” Not to say that all customers are like that, but I’m sure there are more than a handful that run their mouths as though the employees had any control over the stores closing.

Anyway, some of us here used to work at Circuit City way-back-when (I worked at #3136 in Edina, MN and Matt worked at #3631 in Flint, MI) and we wish you guys the best of luck.

6 Liquidation Sale Tips From A Circuit City Employee [Consumerist.com]

The Source are small retail outlets; think Radio Shack. Best Buy just opened three small locations in Canada and so this purchase could rocket forward their infiltration plans in the Great White North. So far there hasn’t been any official announcement of potential buyers. If a buyer isn’t found, these stores could find their way onto the same path to liquidation hell that the US locations are currently on.