When I think about tech stores that people dislike, a few always come to the top of the list. First, there is BestBuy. Their prices are higher than OfficeMax, their mail-in rebates
rarely ever pay back (at least, I've still not received my last 3 rebates), and their employees seem to actively run and hide if you have a question. BestBuy is a truly horrible store. (As an aside, I now refuse to buy anything based on a mail-in rebate. If the in-store price is not better than other stores, then I go elsewhere.)
While some people dislike Circuit City, my experiences have not been too bad there. Then again, I rarely find anything I want to buy. I seem to buy more technology products from Target than Circuit City.
However, one tech store has been consistently bad: CompUSA. Their prices are high -- when I can find the prices. You see, the tags on the shelves don't clearly list the prices. Everything has a company code that cannot be easily matched to tags. I frequently don't know how much things costs. They also have mail-in rebates that, as far as I know,
never paid back. And compared to CompUSA, the blue-shirted helpers at BestBuy are friendly and knowledgeable.
When CompUSA announced that they were
going out of business, nobody mourned the loss. (But lots of people
recalled bad experiences.) However, it just seems that they are not going out of business fast enough, and the horror stories continue to pile up.
The most recent story is that a CompUSA store
refused to accept cash for a purchase. This led to many different hostile responses; some based on fact and some not. For example, many people complained that this was illegal. However, shops and businesses
do not need to accept cash.
As CompUSA goes out of business, I can fully understand why they would not want cash transactions for large purchases. First, without a long-term future, the company would not be able to recoup losses from large counterfeit purchases. In contrast, fraudulent in-store credit card purchases would not be too significant. Second, they could cut back on armored car services (for additional savings).
However, I see a much bigger screw up coming down the line. CompUSA will be closing 103 stores. Some stores are already
selling shelving and displays. I really expect them to sell the store's computers and point-of-sale systems in the last few days. And those will almost certainly contain credit card, customer, and corporate information. In my paper on
Point-of-Sale Vulnerabilities, I mentioned the risk from using credit cards during going-out-of-business sales. CompUSA is just asking for more problems. Their compromise will probably be the next big thing.
Thanks to the Funsec mailing list for the link to the story and legal interpretation.
I agree about rebates, it took me over a year to get the last one I sent in. They figure you'll give up (and I should have, it took more than $25 of my time to get the $25). Rebates are nothing more than a legal scam.
Interesting that I hear so many people rag Best Buy yet I've had nothing but good experiences there and continue to go back (to the exclusion of most others, but especially Circuit City!). The only reason I went to CompUSA was the sale, and it turns out the 10% I saved on an external USB drive was less than what I later found the drive selling for (on sale) at Best Buy! Doh! All sales are final, of course. Oh, well, lesson learned. Even when going out of business, CompUSA sucks.
CompUSA isn't owned or run by CompUSA any more... the same company that owns dozens of other companies that are going out of business owns it now- and as far as not accepting cash- so one local person screws up and you site the entire chain-not sure that is very clear thinking The 7000 people that lost their job went to work everyday to didnt all NOT care, worked hard to make a dollar, and are now working toward closing the storedown, or are already left. Try to put yourself in that position just for a moment.
Rebates are often forced on the retailer from the manufacturer in order to protect their "price vs. value" and they have the final say...Best Buy is accountable for a missing rebate check I never got- but I don't blame them entirely, the manufacturer has done their part to make that happen as well.
As for prices- the less retailers there are ( no matter if it is CompUSA, Macy's, Bombay Co. or someone else that is being liquidated) means eventually prices will go UP at Best Buy and Walmart, and they will be happy to tell you they are still the low price- there will be no one left to compete at any level. Prices have already gone up a Best Buy on certain things.
As CompUSA's director of technology services (http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Gertenbach_Mark_1186188854.aspx and http://blog.channelinsider.com/content001/microsoft/compusa_fallout_stand_by_your_smb_man_microsoft.html), I am pleased to have you respond to my blog entry. However, I believe you are mistaken. My reply is very detailed and will be posted as a blog entry tomorrow.