 The Wallpaper for the Desktop that I created to spell out the necessary repairs Necessary Repair SheetDon’t bother adding or updating software as there are no extraordinary software problems. If there are software additions or updates that should be made, please list them, provide them on disc or URL’s where they are available. I can add them and be current after I Ghost-back my drive from a recent good image. 1) On the screen’s physical surface, about 3-inches from the top, there is a line that has burned onto the surface from residual heat and dust rising up from the deck from just below the Space Bar, when the laptop is shut. 2) Screen has banding bar that is frequent, yet intermittent in the bottom 3-inches. 3) Battery maintains a charge for one minute. 4) Mouse buttons malfunction. 5) Some keys don’t work; some strike and repeat without being touched. 6) Headphone jack malfunctions. 7) Backside USB jack pair seems loose. Email me at: XXXXXXXXX@GMX.NET Included was a sheet laid on the keyboard with the same information. August 12, 2008Philip J Schoonover CEO/President Circuit City Stores Inc. 9950 Mayland Dr. Richmond, VA 23233 Dear Mr Schoonover, I have been a customer of Circuit City for many years. I’ve purchased a laptop, all its accessories, two camcorders and all of their accessories, as well as software and accessories for other audio/video items and computers that I own. I’ve enjoyed the selection from various manufacturers, some solely available at Circuit City. The knowledge and helpfulness of the employees and the competitive pricing has been a real plus. In 2005, I purchased my first new laptop at Circuit City in Novi, Michigan. It was a new Toshiba Qosmio. I’d been shopping around and the price was good at Circuit City and the sales person informed me of the extended warranty that went beyond the normal manufacturers warranty that I could purchase that would cover absolutely anything that would ever go wrong with the computer, whether it was an accident or a manufacturing defect. I purchased the warranty figuring it was a good investment to protect the computer from anything going wrong. A little over a year later, I dropped my backpack with the computer in it and it failed to power up. I took it in to the Novi store and expected that they’d fix it there on the spot, since the salesman that sold it to me had told me that they did the minor repairs right in the store. That wasn’t the case, he had to send it out. When I came back for my computer the store had lost it. He assured me that it had been fixed, but that it had just disappeared. To make good on this, he offered me a new Toshiba Qosmio with a wider screen as a replacement. This was not a great deal for me, since I couldn’t restore all my programs from a backup and several of the expensive accessories that I bought for my original were not compatible with this new model. To ease my pain, the manager said he’d provide me with this “accidental warranty” coverage and not only for the original 3 years that I purchased, but for 4 years and it would start anew, going through 2010. I told him of my travels and how it might be a hardship to bring it back to the Novi location, let alone be without it for long. He told me that the plan was perfect for me, because I’d not even need to bring paperwork and I could bring the machine into any Circuit City store in the world. I’d just give my name and they’d pull up the serial number and it would be part of the system accessible from any location. He assured me that it would be fixed free of charge under this warranty, up to and including full replacement. Since then, several problems with the computer have arisen. All are repairable; most just annoyances and inconvenient. I’ve suffered them knowing that I’d be without the computer for some time and this would severely reduce my productivity. Finally the keyboard problems were too much and I knew I’d have to take it in. I took it back to the Novi store and after some time, the salesperson did find my name in the system and accepted it and my power supply affirming this warranty. I was dismayed when he said it could take as long a month to get it back, but my hands were tied. They said it would go to Virginia or Texas for these repairs. A little over two weeks later, I received an email from another salesperson at the store telling me that they’d sent my laptop out to some third-party repair shop. The email included pictures of my laptop opened up. The salesperson told me that they’d sent back my computer because it had “water damage” and that was not covered by my warranty. I came into the store and found they’d sent it to a place in Illinois. In disbelief, I questioned where this water damage was in these photos. The salesperson told me I’d have to contact these “experts” at this place in Illinois and take it up with them. I repeated that even if there was “water damage” – which there was not – the warranty covered “anything”. They said I didn’t have that kind of warranty. I feel as if Circuit City has betrayed me. I was sold this extended warranty. I’ve had it affirmed that I have such a warranty on three different occasions. First, when they said they’d repaired my first unit (although they lost it). Secondly, when the manager gave me the warranty anew and extended it to a fourth year. Third, when I brought the machine in for repairs this time. I feel like they took it, opened it up, found it to be too much work and looked for any excuse to not fix my computer. This is exactly the type of situation that makes people weary of shopping at big box electronic stores. I have several choices in the area where I could shop for electronics and computers. Some are local businesses that have been in the area prior to my birth. For the past 14 years, I’ve been teaching Internet and Computer classes at our local Farmington Hills Library to hundreds of residents. I’ve discouraged people from buying computers online and have sold many people on buying at Circuit City because of the direct contact they’d receive with real live people. I chose "your" store to make my purchase. By the time you receive this, I’ll have been one month without the use of my laptop. Services I’ve paid for are due to expire. Is there a way we can rectify this situation? Very Truly Yours, Michael Lewis [address here] Email: [address here] September 23, 2008James A. Marcum - President & CEO Allen B. King - Chairman Circuit City Stores Inc. 9950 Mayland Dr. Richmond, VA 23233 September 23, 2008 Dear Mssrs. King and Marcum, I am two months and two weeks with out my laptop now. I’ve been awaiting a formal letter through the post and have still not received one. I’ve received an email from Ms. Rolando that is appalling in its disregard for the truth and me as a customer. I have waited to see it on Circuit City letterhead, so I could share it at my classes and ask their advice on my course of action. Of course, it has never arrived. Students in my Internet/Computer class at the Library have asked me each week for the past 2 1/2 months, about where my laptop is, as I have had to borrow the use of one of the student’s for the sessions. I’ve related the reneged-Warranty saga, without being too disparaging toward Circuit City, believing that the company still is going to do the right thing. In the interim, I’ve had two people who have been in the process of buying new computers. Both volunteered that they wouldn’t consider Circuit City now. One has already purchased from Staples, the other is in a holding pattern waiting for more info about Vista and the 32/64 bit dilemma. I’m not sure how not fixing my computer helps the company in its turnaround. Further, I’ve read about a big push on HDTVs at Circuit City in the area of the warranty. I don’t see how my telling people about my bad experience and shoddy treatment with my Anything-Goes-Wrong Warranty will allow that to be a big selling point for Circuit City. I also read that the company intends to steer towards Internet sales. I can’t imagine how that can play out well when myself and others on the Web, relate their unpleasant experiences with Circuit City. I’ve been keeping up on investment affairs related to Circuit City. I’ve watched the stock get to where it is and even talked to a person at one of your bigger stockholders. The feeling has been that the company was going to bankrupt. Just now I’ve seen news that Mr. Schoonover has been removed. I’m hoping this is in an effort to turn around the company. Now would be the perfect time for Circuit City to do right by me with my laptop, which is still waiting for repair in the Novi store. Although I have a desktop, the laptop is necessary for the Internet/Computer class I teach weekly at the Library. As such, I’m thinking of taking up a collection to buy a new laptop for that purpose. Along the way, although it won’t please me, I’ll explain to anyone willing to listen how I paid nearly $2500 for my previous computer with the Everything warranty at Circuit City and how worthless it turned out to be. I’m guessing (hoping) with the President’s removal, that my bad experience has not really been linked to Circuit City as a whole, but is tied to some bad decisions by the President that trickled down and snowballed to become bigger bad decisions in the company at the customer level. These manifested themselves as poor customer relations and the diminished value of the company. Let me know soon when I can pick up my fully-functioning laptop or when I should start taking up the collection to buy a new one elsewhere. Sincerely, Michael Lewis [address] Email: [address] November 6, 2008Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:50:07 -0500 If Computer City doesn't intend on giving me a comparable replacement from all the ones being sold at fire sale prices at your liquidated stores, please repair my computer this week. Whichever option you choose for Computer City, I want a response through postal mail from Mr. Marcum directly as I'm not certain he's seen any of this correspondence. The recent attached "Letter to Guests" from the Investor Relations by Mr. Marcum is totally counter to how I'm being treated as a customer. I'm certain he has no idea how shabbily I've been treated. "Putting" me "first" would not have me 4 months without my computer and 2 weeks without a response. I want Mr. Marcum to give this his personal, direct and immediate attention. Michael Lewis -------- Original Message --------
I'm sorry for my negative reaction when you offered the Compaq. You probably didn't really know the specifications of my model and were told by someone else that the "bigger hard drive, faster processor and webcam" features in the offer of the Compaq would be a more than adequate replacement. I've since reviewed the five models of Compaq laptops still in stock at the CC web page. None of them come close as a replacement for my Toshiba Qosmio. I've checked the Compaq website and don't see all of the models CC stocks as ones still being produced by Compaq. At the Compaq website, when I select the subheading for "Entertainment Powerhouse" (which most aptly describes my computer), no Compaq computers are listed, just ones with the HP name. I've researched others and the "HP HDX 18t/16t Premium series", customized comes the closest. I also contacted Toshiba about Qosmios. Our discussion revealed that new models come out next week. I can't research those until then. I've attached a PDF that contains the specs for my machine. Tech folks understand that I chose the Toshiba Qosmio because it was like the Swiss Army Knife of pro-sumer Media-oriented laptops. Also, I have two power supplies for my Toshiba which I believe are proprietary to my model. I know that my purchased-at-CC Kingston travel power supply has no adapter that I can use with it. I bought my Fuji digital camera with an xD card to match the reader using Toshiba technology native to my Qosmio. My second purchased-at-CC SONY digital video camera requires the Firewire port for video transfer for editing and off-loading to DVDs or hard drives. The TV tuner and its easy-to-view at any angle screen were features I sought and used. Three months have passed without use of my computer. Before bringing it in for repair, it took several days of my time preparing it for backup to facilitate reinstallation after the necessary repairs would have been completed. Although a new replacement will have its advantages, reinstallation of all my software and data, one-by-one will take several weeks. If I was unable to do this myself, it would be very expensive to employ a qualified IT to put everything back into place. Still, I'm up for the task on a current comparable computer. Respectfully, Michael Lewis Barbara_Rolando wrote:
November 7, 2008 EmailTo: Barbara_Ronaldo This will work if:
You can ship it to the Novi store and I'll pick it up along with my old laptop. I'd have to guess it would arrive early next week? Thank You, Michael Lewis Barbara_Rolando wrote:
November 11,2008 Ronaldo EmailSubject: DELIVERY DATE FOR COMPUTER From: Barbara_Rolando Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:04:23 -0500 Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 11/12/2008. Tracking Number: 1Z 6F8 871 03 3077 444 1 Type: Package Status: In Transit In Transit Scheduled Delivery: 11/12/2008 Shipped To: NOVI, MI, US Shipped/Billed On: 11/10/2008 Service: Barbara Rolando Executive Response Specialist Office of the Chairman, President and CEO Circuit City Stores, Inc. Tel: 804-486-1052 Fax: 804-486-1066 ============================ The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. This message is intended only for the designated recipient(s). It is subject to access, review and disclosure by the sender's Email System Administrator. If you have received this message in error, please advise by return e-mail so that our address records can be corrected and please delete immediately without reading, copying or forwarding to others. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. Thank you. November 19, 2008 Email TO: Bruce_Besanko Since you and your goals for Circuit City are quoted in this article, perhaps you would be interested in resolving my computer repair: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/business.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-11-16-0084.html For the chain to turn itself around, Circuit City needs to maintain current customers and re-engage In papers filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Bruce H. Besanko, the chain's executive To that, Circuit City launched a marketing campaign in September that "sought to restore its brand -------- Original Message --------
Please hand deliver this to Mr. Marcum, since I'm not sure he is aware of all these problems. For the record, as I roll into my fifth month without my computer, Circuit City did not want to repair my computer, which is why the company has offered the replacement. One of the company's big concerns was to eliminate my warranty which should have assured me of a working computer through much of 2010. If my machine had just been repaired or the replacement were identical, and there was consideration for the hours of my lost time, expired software and the ease of reinstallation may have ended this matter. Friday, November 7th, you telephoned. There was an urgency from you to accept this "new and not refurbished" laptop with very little information as to what it was. I told you I was unfamiliar with it by model number and needed to check the specs. You said I needed to decide this very fast. I hustled to find the spec sheet and told you that this would be sufficient, though I'd need to know that my power supplies would work with it, so that I would have a spare for this obsolete computer. You told me you were unclear about this. I reiterated that if my power supplies would work with it, I'd not need a spare. Without the compatibility of these power supplies being verified, you emailed me back asking for a home or work address to send this to. I replied that shipping it to the store was appropriate since I was also to receive my old laptop as you had offered. My directions and approval were in the email of November 7th that was sent and sent again. The conditions couldn't have been more clear: This will work if: 1. It is minimally as specified in Toshiba's [G45-AV680] spec sheet which I've attached here. 2. Although the machine is obsolete, it minimally includes Toshiba's one year warranty as specified in the attached spec sheet as a new product. 3. The computer is new in a sealed box and not refurbished. 4. My existing power supplies will interface and operate with it. If not, I'll want an additional power supply to have for a spare as my second one is now. 5. As you offered before, return my old one back so I can use it for any of my old programs which may not run under Vista Ultimate. You can ship it to the Novi store and I'll pick it up along with my old laptop. I'd have to guess it would arrive early next week? There was no dispute of these terms. They were the terms and the impetus of shipping it to the Novi store as opposed to another address. In the hubbub of the CC layoffs and reorganization filing, your reply was a UPS tracking number. I did a resend of my email, but you didn't reply further. I had to guess that you had many other things to deal with and all would be well when I went to pickup the computers. As you recall, my computer was "too bad to be repaired" is what you told me was Circuit City's position. So, in recognition of the hours of lost time by having to reinstall all my programs anew and not being able to use my Ghosted backup on another computer, you offered to give back my laptop to me along with a different machine as a replacement. That seemed appropriate to me and others I've shared this saga with. It was clearly part of the conditions of accepting this obsolete new-in-the-box Q45-AV680 Toshiba. This should have been a simple pickup at the store, instead it had me once again the victim of a belligerent and adversarial CC employee. I arrived at the unmanned Firedog desk (Wednesday, Nov. 12 around 11:00AM) and encountered a young lady on the floor that "used to" work in the Firedog area. Dropping the cordon and helping herself to the terminal, she looked up my name. Whatever she read caused her to leave the area to consult with someone else. A few minutes later, another employee arrived with a box labeled "Qosmio" and set it on the counter in front of me. The box for this "new" computer had a seal that was more than just tampered with. The box was torn open above the tamper proofing tape and the tape was in the most fragile condition. It looked like it had been opened in a manner to allow the tamper tape to not be completely broken. As I waited for a manager to appear, I looked across to the other side of the counter to a line of old laptops with one open and running. Imagine my shock to see my "too bad to be repaired" laptop sitting on the counter behind the register, powered-up displaying the unique Desktop screen that I created to explain the necessary repairs. There it sat fired-up complete with my email address prominently displayed for every passing customer to see. It was obvious that my computer was being used by the employees and may well have been for the past several months. This is tantamount to taking an automobile in for repairs at an auto service center, only to find later that the employees have taken it out for joyrides or have been eating lunch inside it. To make matters worse, it was running with expired Anti-Virus software. Shortly, a man who identified himself as the manager walked up and promptly said, "There you go. A new $1400 computer." As I quizzed him about the torn up box, he quickly said it was new. I didn't want to argue. I asked him to return my laptop, also as agreed to. He told me that I'd not "get two computers!" I was having my buttons pushed. I was challenged, interrogated and berated as to all that had transpired that would let me "get two computers!" We never even got around to the spare power supply and a verification for the Toshiba warranty. I'm not sure if his belligerence was from anger towards CC or a loathing and contempt for customers. Maybe both? Whatever the cause, it was not in keeping with the company's new initiative to return to the notion of putting the customer first. After seeing how my computer was being used in the store, I couldn't help but sense that the manager was coveting my original computer for some reason. Maybe to let it drop through the cracks and spirit it away as though it had been given to me? Whatever the plan, it was very suspicious that he'd want to keep this laptop that had been being used by employees, yet was written off as "too bad to repair". To terminate this line of questioning of me, I asked that he call you. He refused to call you. At first he didn't know who you were, then he said he'd spoken to you repeatedly and you directed him personally. As I walked out of the store, he shouted to me from over 100-feet away, "Don't you want your computer?" I didn't bother to ask this "manager" his name. Circuit City's store employees are Circuit City's problem - in more ways than one - not mine. His actions and attitude are in stark contrast to the Circuit City Press Release of November 10th: "'I want to thank them for their continued loyalty and dedicated effort as we go forward with the belief that implementing long-term and lasting change to our business will come by satisfying our customers, one at a time,,' concluded Marcum." This press release was included in the SEC filing regarding the bankruptcy reorganization that includes "Forward-Looking Statements" about "the ability of the company to attract and retain customers." Again, I don't know what you actually knew of the condition of this computer as it was shipped from someplace in Illinois to Novi. It may or may not be new. It is definitely NOT in a sealed box. The damage of the box was consistent with items shipped to a Dollar Store, not that of shipping a pricey pro-sumer computer. I do feel I dodged one bullet by not having it sent direct to me. It is a two-year old machine that may have a battery that is even older than that. This one-year warranty with Toshiba should help to assure that this machine is not Dead On Arrival. I'll look at this Qosmio computer and assess if it is new and not refurbished or damaged. If, despite the cardboard box's lack of integrity, all is OK the following will be done:
I am concerned for Circuit City. I do want it to reorganize and get back to where it was a few years ago. Having the stores in our communities, I believe is quite beneficial. Sincerely, Michael Lewis  Nov. 26, 2008 - Five Months w/o My Laptop As Employees Use It In-StoreTo: Jim_Marcum Subject: Five Months w/o My Laptop As Employees Use It In-Store 11/26/08 Dear Mr. Marcum, et al., The attached letter is either filled with typos, total disregard for the facts of the matter or a return to the ways that marked the bad era of Circuit City which brought it to where it is today. For obvious reasons, I sense that Mr. Marcum and others at Circuit City that have made statements to the Press, on the Circuit City website and in SEC filings, have no knowledge of what has come at me from Circuit City. I still feel that how I've been treated is not the company's behavior as a whole, but rather some independent, aggressive and passive-aggressive employees operating unchecked in the chaos of this reorganization. In one of Ms. Ronaldo's numerous phone calls, she verified my "anything" warranty and gave faint apologies for the company's error. Then she offered the Compaq computer and return of my computer, promoting it to me as an upgrade. I tried to find the computer on the CC website and Compaq's, yet couldn't find anything near comparable to my computer, let alone an upgrade. Additionally, my original computer was offered back to me in recognition of my loss of the ability to use my Ghost backup, as a way to rectify that, time lost with my computer being gone so long and I assumed a gesture of goodwill. The erroneous dates in this letter would be funny if this matter wasn't so serious. So would the crummy charge about "disrupting our flow of business." Of course, I would like to keep my defective computer. This was not my suggestion, it was Ms. Ronaldo's. It seems appropriate under the circumstances. Those circumstances include my witnessing the use of my computer in the store with my personal information made accessible to many. The mention for me to cease "calling" Circuit City headquarters reveals the the lack of consideration that I've received at the hands of Ms. Ronaldo and Circuit City. Perhaps to cover the fact that I had previously requested to receive NO phone calls, as Ms. Ronaldo repeatedly telephoned me at my friend's office. I had requested to receive responses via postal mail in the same way as I had communicated to Circuit City. Then came emails from Ms. Ronaldo that were contrary to our phone conversations or omitting pertinent information she spoke. The fact is, I've never telephoned Circuit City's headquarters. My dealings with Circuit City escalated beyond the store level back in August. The only reason for me to deal with the "manager(s)" at the Novi store at this point is to receive the "new" obsolete G45AV680 as specified in the conditions under which it was shipped to the Novi store or to pickup my fully repaired Qosmio along with a 2008 or better Norton Anti-Virus and Systemworks to cover subscription time lost while the store has held and utilized my computer over the past several months. You can review the pertinent correspondence collection at: http://sites.google.com/site/worldmikel/circuitcity I've shared it for review with a few friends with successful Retail experience. Sincerely, Michael Lewis |
CircuitCity
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