PhotoDude.com

Thu. Jan 27, 2005

Circuit City and Rebate Pricing

[The following is a letter composed to be sent to Circuit City, knowing full well it won’t change a thing. But I have a feeling it’s a common complaint, so I’m also posting it here.]

I was recently in one of your stores, and had a rather disturbing experience, from a customer point of view. And I’m not writing to you because I expect you to change a thing. I writing to let you know your current business practices have cost you my future business. And I don’t think I’m alone, just judging by the reaction of one of your employees.

When I pull the Circuit City ad section out of the Sunday paper, I do so at my leisure. I have time to peruse the fine print in search of product details (you know, the stuff that makes people want to buy), but almost all of the fine print relates to the convoluted rebate pricing structure used to arrive at the advertised price.

I’m certain you are relentless in your rebate pricing because you’ve seen how you profit from it. Unless it’s one of those rare “instant rebates,” you know that most customers aren’t going to send in the rebate forms. Why? They forget, or it’s too much hassle, or they know it’s a waste of time. Because it’s been my experience that fully 50% of the time that I do send in the rebate, they go into a black hole. No cash ever comes out.

So I read your ads in the Sunday paper with a completely jaundiced eye. But it’s OK, because I can figure out at my leisure exactly what I will actually pay, despite your rebate claims.

However, when I step into a physical Circuit City, I’m not so understanding. I expect certain traditional pricing standards to be upheld. The big bold price next to the item on the rack is what you’re going to pay at the checkout counter up front.

Not at Circuit City.

I recently spent precious moments of my day standing in front of a rack with a wide array of rechargeable batteries. All kinds of configurations, and all kinds of pricing. Each item hung from a tab with a big bold price on it. I stood back from the rack, looked over the selections and their bold pricing, and made my choice. I admit, I was in a hurry. You should assume most of your customers are, and use this information to help them, not take advantage of them.

But at the checkout counter, my $19.95 item rang up as $34.95. Whoa, I said to the cashier, that’s not the price you have on the rack back there. He immediately handed it back to me, and curtly told me to take it up with them “back there” (I later realized this was a defensive move on his part, as he sees this all the time).

So I walk back to the rack to double check … yep, there it is, boldly priced as I thought. But then I look closely at the label … and I mean closely ... to read the fine print:
$34.95
-$5.00 Circuit City mail-in rebate
-$10.00 Manufacturer mail-in rebate
$19.95

Obviously, that’s a mere facsimile of what I saw, but you get the idea. And in my opinion, that’s very deceptive price labeling, apparently based on the hope that people like me will just bite the bullet and pay despite the sudden sticker shock, because it’s what they’ve chosen, and they’re in a hurry.

And you’re right, that’s exactly what I did. This time. But I’ll never do it again. You sell products that are available from a multitude of outlets, outlets where the bold price on the rack is the same as what you pay at the counter.

You do it to serve customers, not attempt to deceive them. It’s a simple concept, easily executed. And one I will reward by never setting foot in Circuit City again.