Circuit City recently placed an ad last week in their ad circular that promised lucky buyers a free copy of Call of Duty 3 with the purchase of CoD4. When shoppers showed up to pick up their copies, Circuit City refused to honor the offer.
The practice of "bait and switch" is a tactic used by stores to fool people into coming into its place of business by offering something incredibly good and then switching the advertised item out for something else or claiming they have run out of stock.
In this case, CC outright refused to make good on their deal and said they wouldn’t honor the offer because the ad was a "typo."
That’s one big typo, if you ask us. (See ad below)
One customer relates what he and his friends went through when the showed up at Circuit City to claim their free game of CoD 3:
"Today, like many anxious gamers, I went to Circuit City (Store # 3111) to pick up the highly anticipated "Call of Duty 4" for the XBox 360. I chose to pick it up at Circuit City as this week’s circular ad listed a free copy of the previous game "Call of Duty 3" with purchase.
"When I went to check out, I was told that it was a misprint and that they refused to honor it. Myself, along with about half a dozen co-workers were rightfully angry that we wasted our lunch hour on this Circuit City bait-and-switch, that has become too common with this outlet lately. I would urge other Consumerists to skip out on Circuit City and try for another retailer (Target has a free $5 gift card)."
The incidents of Circuit City refusing to own up to store policy maybe more common than people realize. Circuit City’s offer to give customers a $24 gift card, if an order placed over the internet isn’t ready in 24 minutes for store pick-up, is somewhat under suspicion as well.
Some customers who tried to collect on the gift card because their orders weren’t ready in time were told by customer reps that they didn’t qualify because, "The timer doesn’t start until you walk through the door."
A phone call to Circuit City customer service said the same thing. But a quick look at the guarantee on their own webpage says that the clock starts after the confirmation email arrives and not when a customer shows up.
The bait and switch tactic is illegal in many states and carries a penalty fine as well. If you’ve experienced this and believe that you are a victim to this scam, contact your local consumer agency to file a complaint.
[via theconsumerist]
