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Circuit City: Super Paper Mario Scam

2old2play.com — Circuit city scamming the hordes of gamers to help drive customers to their stores?

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 13, 2007

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  • aldenhg, on 10/12/2007, -10/+85I dunno. I think of Circuit City as a turd sandwich. Best Buy has to be the world's largest douche.
  • razmig, on 10/12/2007, -8/+73i am probably going to get dugg down to hell for this, but if the guy actually read the ad, he'd know it never said "sold out".
    the problem with game release dates is they tend to come out on Mondays and that is when they are shipped. They don't usually
    arrive until Tuesday. I know everyone HATES EB games but if you check their pre-order book in the front, it says "release date"
    and then "street date" next to it, which is usually the next day.

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/paper-mario/paper-mario-at-circuit-city-250967.php here is an example of the ad, which promotes a shipping date and time,
    not anything to do with being sold out.

    so tell this guy to quit his bitching, even though circuit city may be an awful store, the problem is not with them...it is with you.
  • jewdiknight, on 10/12/2007, -7/+59Hitler is truly evil. Circuit City is the worlds largest Douche.
  • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -19/+57They are not scamming.
    This is yet another example of a dumbass customer not reading the fine print.
    Yeah, it sucks, but it's not a scam.
  • tuxthepenguin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Funny how everyone is a lawyer on the Internet
  • abohling, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Here's what my ad says in the small print, exact copy
    "(3) Offer valid this week only for select video game New Releases on the advertised release day from 2pm until close of business. In-store only. **Gift card good for future purchases only."

    The only other words on the ad are the large ones "guaranteed^3 in-store 2pm or get a $20 gift card**"

    I'm not passing judgment one way or the other but those are the facts as I see them.
  • SlackerCS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21Actually it's called "fine print." They only guaranteed shipment, not availability. Learn2shop pls.
  • kajoob, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24There is a "3" next to guaranteed and a " ** " next to the 2pm in the ad which indicates that there are qualifiers to the offer somewhere down at the bottom of the page. I'd like to read the fine print before claiming that Circuit City is evil. Maybe the guy just failed to read the fine print.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19"Funny how everyone is a lawyer on the Internet"

    Now, I'm not a big city law-yer, (adjusts suspenders) but it seems to me like this was a classic case of READ THE FINE PRINT WHEN THE ADVERTISEMENT CONTAINS ASTERISKS.

    Corporations 1, Uninformed consumers 0.
  • DigTheDoug, on 10/12/2007, -16/+34The ad said "Guaranteed in-store 2pm or get a free $20 gift card". I don't care if it didn't say "Sold Out", if something guarantees that it will be in the store or I get something, and its not in the store, I damn well expect to get something. I don't care what legal loopholes they made sure to stick in, its just bad practice.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Maybe you're not building nice enough ant farms.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17On the internet, especially on Digg, everyone is not just a lawyer, but everyone is also a doctor. Everyone is also an architect. Everyone is an expert on EVERYTHING.

    Yet for some reason, I never get ANY actual factual advice on Digg.
  • victorguttmann, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16No. It's not. And don't.
  • LiquidChimera, on 10/12/2007, -15/+28Truly evil?? A little overboard. I think you should be ashamed to have gone to Circuit City to begin with.
  • Platysquirrel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Ants aren't attracted to ant farms. I don't get the last sentence.
  • Thorlord, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12OH but they are asshats for phrasing it so ambiguously.
  • jjcechva, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10who didn't see a catch coming...

    besides, whenever digg advertises a loophole that's supposed to make you money, it rarely comes thru because nobody can afford to give every digg reader xx amount of money or x free item
  • themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I knew they were going to do something like this but you all Dugg me down when I tried to warn ya.
  • GuitarDude5321, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I work at a Circuit City and the store referred to in this story made a mistake. Circuit City's new policy is to give the customer a $20 gift card in the event that a guaranteed game is not available during the week that it is advertised. This is for ANY reason, including if it sells out. Of course, they only do this with games that they are able to have a large quantity of. So yes, they should have absolutely gotten the gift card. My particular store never came close to selling out, but obviously there was a problem with this store's shipment. I'm not a die-hard CC defender or anything but I just wanted to make it clear. It's actually a pretty cool deal for customers...as long as the individual stores understand and follow the policy correctly.
  • Tu13erhead, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Direct link:

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/circuit-city/circuit-citys-paper-mario-scam-251388.php
  • tehdvd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8if they gave out 20 dollar giftcards I think people who didnt even want the game would try to pretend they wanted it just so they can get the card.
  • i22yb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9As abohling pointed out (who happens to be the only one in this thread that actually read and posted the fine print)... The ad fine print stated "on the advertised release day from 2pm UNTIL CLOSE OF BUSINESS". So the big wording states it will be in the store at/by 2pm and the fine print elaborates by saying you have until close of business that same day. I interpret that to mean that if I walk in at 8:45pm and they are sold out then I get a $20 gift card. The ad implies that they have ordered enough stock that they will not run out on release day and are backing it up with a $20 store credit guarantee. Furthermore, there is no disclaimer in the fine print stating that if they get stock in and then sell out on release day that the offer is no longer valid (the "until close of business" negates that argument).

    If I had gone into the store after 2pm and they had given me that line of bull, I would have demanded the phone # for the district manager and called him/her from there in the store and said I want my gift card or i'm calling the state attorney general and reporting this as false advertising. Don't waste time with the BBB, they are NOT a government agency - they are a business themselves that charges a fair penny to other businesses to become one of their "members" so they can go around advertising how they are a member of the BBB (another marketing scam in and of itself).

    I also agree that "In-Stock" and "In-Store" are synonymous from a customer stand point - after all, if it's in your store, then it's in stock!

    I don't even own a Wii; however, I was in my local 24hr Walmart last night at around 11:50pm and they had about 2 dozen Super Paper Mario games in their display case still (maybe if Nintendo would speed up their console production they'd sell more of all those games floating around).

    Peace out diggers!
  • tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It said "guaranteed in-store 2:00," not "guaranteed in your hands at any point after 2:00." It would only be a bait-and-switch if they offered fun-sized Snickers bars or something instead of $20 gift cards.
  • weezerrock86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Its not really all that shady, and its not even close to a bait and switch. It clearly states in by 2PM or get a gift card. NOT guaranteed in stock all day long or get a gift card. Yea its a stupid ad because they probably had the game a week before it came out like most retailers do, but it wasn't lying.
  • Thorlord, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7i dont think its that evil.
    not because i used to work for circuit city (left on bad terms, they are asshats)
    but because i wish they had said this for Gears of War launch, and Splinter Cell DA launches as they were 2 days late in my area. and i would have gotten two $20 gift cards.

    so rather than just say "ohh shady" realize that offering $20 for somone to just show up is an unrealistic idea as they would be handing out gift cards all freaking week. a $20 gift card if they dident get the shipment in on time, is actually a reasonable and quite nice gesture saying "You dident wait here for 30 minnutes for us to tell you the shipment isint coming, have this gift card"
  • Octanum, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Well, if it was there at 2PM like the ad says, than I don't see a problem.

    The person didn't say at what time they arrived.
  • aggrazel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I really find it hard to fathom why anyone at Circuit City thought this would be a good idea for a promotion. Either you lose money giving away $20 gift cards or you piss a bunch of customers off. I don't care if you need to read the fine print, I could have told them that most people don't, and most reasonable people would believe that "Guaranteed in-store by 2PM or you get a $20 gift card" means that either you can buy the game then or you get a gift card.

    It was a dumb promotion to begin with, and all they have done is driven customers AWAY from their store, I can't imagine this is going to help their bottom line any. I, for one, will cease buying anything from them, ever again.
  • HeyGabe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Just for the record, that attitude completely ***** me out of a Wii.
  • Pic0, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5really?
  • 60effects, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe they're suggesting you go to that bastion of righteousness, Wal-Mart.
  • ibuyufo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I went to Circuit City Tueday at around 6 pm after work and they didn't have any more super paper mario. They gave me a $20 gift card and I took that gift card and went to another circuit city which had it. I ended up getting the game for $30 + tax! Good deal and I don't think it's a scam.
  • Hoffer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't think it's any kind of tactic. This is like the second or third game they've done this with. Everytime, it says the game will be in store by 2:00 pm. If the game arrives at 10:00 am and sells out by noon, then the game was in store by 2:00 pm.

    I've never seen anything that says if the game sells out by 2:00 pm. People are trying to make too much out of this IMHO.

    They'll probably never hand out these gift cards anyway. I'm sure the games they pick for this are in store a week before they go on sale. Kinda like how Crackdown for the 360 was in stores 2 weeks before on sale date, but couldn't be put on the shelves.
  • ldkronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Nintendo never ships out their products before the street date"

    Then explain how some people ended up finding Super Paper Mario in stores on Monday afternoon.
  • ispshadow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This way to the egress! This way to the egress!

    This was downright shady. Yes, it may have the fine print that covered them, but seriously... what did they think Joe Consumer was going to think when he got to the store and realized it meant something completely different?

    "Wow! I should shop here more often! I love businesses that try to attract attention by implying something that they never intended."

    Circuit City, understand this:

    There is no way I will ever walk into your store again. Not if your handing out free blow and happy endings from Eva Longoria. And for the people that talk smack about my rant...Yes, they will care. It only takes enough people to feel the way I do.

  • UncleCrapper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2*****. The fine print said: "Offer valid this week only for select video game New Releases on the advertised release day from 2pm UNTIL CLOSE OF BUSINESS" (emphasis mine). Why the hell would the fine print include that phrase if the intention was not to give a gift card to customers that found that the game was out of stock at 6 PM?

    A Circuit City employee also confirmed that this is their policy in another post.
  • UncleCrapper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3THANK YOU, guitardude5321. That is exactly how I read the add as well. The ad guaranteed that a copy of the game would in-store from 2 PM to the end of business. If you came in to buy the game in that time and the store was out, you got the gift card. How ***** hard is that to understand? Blah blah blah read the fine print yada yada corporations 1, uniformed customers 0 blah blah blah.

    I am not trying to run anybody down here, but other than a gift card if the game was out of stock, what was Circuit City advertising?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think he was looking for, "Roach Motel."
  • dethsesh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3maybe they actually expected to have enough in stock for anyone who came in, and gift cards wouldnt even be needed
  • bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1OP of this thread is right, Circuit City wasn't shady at all.

    It was a very confusing offer they had I think, and was probably a bad idea, because it's now pissed people off. But given the Wii's demand, people shouldn't be surprised that the game sold out day 1.

    Best Buy was also advertising the same thing, it'd be there by 2 PM, but w/o the Gift Card. I called them at 11AM and picked my copy up at noon.
  • Zoglog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Bury this crap, i saw this stupid article all over yesterday. It's just from idiotic freeloaders who didn't read the conditions of the deal. Scam my ass.......... more like retarded consumers.
  • ZeroMP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I went into one the other day and right as I walked in the door some employee dropped a ham sandwich he was eating and I stepped right on it!

    Does that count?
  • ZeroMP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I picked my copy up at Best Buy just cuz it is on the way home from work.
  • ibeetle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Circuit City are crooks... you say let us boycott them.
    Best Buy are *****... you say let us boycott them.
    GameStop/EB Games are crooked *****... you say let us boycott them.

    So... if everybody are cooks and/or *****, and if we are supposed to be boycotting everyone where are we supposed to buy our games?
  • andshewas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why is everyone against pre-ordering at gamestop or eb? I've pre-ordered plenty of times...never had a problem. If you want, you can put just $5 down, too. Not sure why everyone gets up in arms over pre-ordering. Rather than bitch about the store not having it, secure your copy.

    Just my opinion.
  • o0joshua0o, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sold out = not in store
  • thepiebot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3How is it not bait and switch?
  • i22yb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agreed, not only that but a $20 gift card for use against merchandise only really costs them probably $10 because they only paid wholesale cost on the items you are going to buy with it. And, to me, for them to shell out $10 at their cost ($20 given to me) is fair compensation for me wasting time and gas at potentially 30 miles each way to end up not getting what I want when they "guaranteed in-store 2pm". If they had no intention of having enough stock AND were not going to honor the $20 gift card then their ad should not have had the word "guaranteed" in it at all - they should have simply stated "stock arrives at 2pm". The $10 cost should be written off by them as a marketing expense since it would have almost guaranteed to them that you would return to their store and buy something for more money anyways. If they had just honored it many people would probably have bought ANOTHER game on the spot and then came back to buy Super Paper Mario when their next shipment arrived since they were saving $20 (that's half of another game to the consumer). Retail marketing 101 says spending a few bucks to create a repeat customer is more financially beneficial than offending your customers and having them NOT come back!
  • dvsbastard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@DigTheDoug

    If only we could selectively choose the conditions of guarantees / contracts / SLA's we wish to abide by, the world would be a better place (well at least for consumers)...
  • o0joshua0o, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Circuit City is doomed anyway. Probably as a result of shady business practices like this....
  • prkchpsndwiches, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I try to buy my games from Amazon when I can, Free super saver shipping, and triple points on my Amazon card. No crap retail stores to deal with.
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