Circuit City – This is Unacceptable
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One of the great things about the time we are living in is the immediate dissemination of information available to us all. For example, today, Circuit City announced that they were laying off 3,400 of their highest paid workers and replacing them with lower paid and less experienced workers. And if this was not enough, they are offering to those laid off workers an opportunity to re-apply for their same jobs at of course a lower pay rate.
Pretty much what Circuit City has done is taken the employees who have been their the longest, who have worked to be knowledgeable about their products and services, who have tried to be the best sales people they can and have been kicked to the curb and replaced with people who will not be able to do the job as well as them. Though that is not important to Circuit City, what is important is they will be paid less.
I could put on a three piece suit and pretend I am Lou Dobbs and argue about the decline of the middle class, but I am not going to do that. My question is what is Circuit City’s management saying to its consumers, its customers, us? My read is they are saying that we really are not too concerned about giving you our customers the best customer experience when you come into our stores or order our products online. Our only concern is to our shareholders and to make MORE MONEY!
What bothers me even more is it does not seem to bother Circuit City’s management that news like this would cause their customers to stop going to their stores and buying their products… Do they think that we NEED Circuit City so much that we cannot live without them? They can give us the bottom of the barrel service and we will keep coming back?
I can’t speak for everyone, but Circuit City, you have just lost a good customer with me because it will be a cold day in hell when I shop with you again. You have to realize that there are consequences to your actions and I am hoping that through stories like mine and throughout the blogosphere we see in the coming months a significant drop in your revenues and you realize that just like each one of us, you are held accountable for your actions.
Update: I have started a petition to hopefully get Circuit City management’s attention. If you would like to let your voice be heard, please click here and sign your name to an online petition. Many thanks.
Technorati Tags: Circuit City, laying off
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This company is going down! I’ve never been so on-board for boycott than I am now. I can’t use the language on my tongue without outraging someone. But this is the epitome of outrageousness.
Bye Bye business from me C.C.. And no afterthought corporate apology or reconsideration will sway me from a lifetime boycott unless the instigators body parts are displayed in all their store locations! Preferably not in formaldehyde to mask the putridness of this obscene ethic!
The height of corporate stench!
Michael – Great to hear!! Thanks for coming by and commenting…
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to inform people of this. I hadn’t heard about this yet. I’d actually been boycotting circuit city for a while now after they had already delivered me unacceptable service- of which by the sounds of it is not likely to improve. At the time, I was looking to purchase a laptop and informed one of the sales people of it and that I only had one simple question. As I started to ask, another customer interrupted, and the sales staff talked to him for the next 30m or more (more because I left and bought the laptop elsewhere).
It’s a terrible thing for C.C. with their service already being so low. Thanks again for the heads up!
This kind of thing is common in the Third World. The big retail chains in the Philippines routinely accept sales people only for 6-month or so contractual positions. Afterwards, their services are terminated and they have to re-apply again. This way, the company does not have to give benefits.
They claim it is the only way they can be profitable enough to be able to employ a lot of people. Given the huge unemployment in the country, a lot of people bite out of sheer need. They say it’s better to have some kind of income than none at all.
I am surprised and disgusted that even a First World company would do the same. Shame on Circuit City inded.
My boy Cord, I had no idea you were such a liberal. WOW! I’m not feelin CC for this move either. It just ain’t right for the employees. BUT, ya gotta ask what role we play (the consumer) in it. We are constantly DEMANDING more and more for less. It is a nasty ass, tight margin, high-volume space CC playin in. If they can’t keep expenses down, AND prices down, that duck ain’t gonna fly. If we want service and are willin to pay for it, then this move will kill CC, but if the move doesn’t hurt sales, (despite your petition) it tells us all we need to know. We want service until, we have to pay for it.
Antman,
I agree with you that the bottom line is their revenues. What I don’t agree with is your analogy about why they needed to do these layoffs. Laying staff off is the easy way out that management takes when they are in trouble. It is simply a move that cuts of the nose to spite their face. This will not solve any of CC problems other than giving them a short term boost from a cost perspective.
The issues that CC had will still be there after this layoff happens. They have a problem with their business model and for them to survive in the long term, they need to change it. But because they are a large organization, that is much easier said than done. So instead they take the easy road out and layoff the people who know the most and most likely are delivering the best customer experience which is central to any consumer business.
I also disagree that we were ever paying for service before and we will absolutely not be saying for service after these layoffs. Type in Circuit City sucks into Google and look how many results there are. They have much larger issues than overpaid staff and this does nothing except hurt them as a business in the long run. I have seen it in action myself.
But if this thinking makes me a liberal, I can absolutely live with that label. Thanks Antman as always for your comments and thoughts!
Cord. I just started reading your blog the other day and find it very interesting. I am with you on this Circuit City thing. Granted, I don’t shop there as their prices are way high and I buy most of my stuff online. However, the few times I have been in there I was unimpressed nonetheless. I am a big believer in sometimes you just have to not worry so much about profits and more about human beings. I signed the petitiion
Andrew,
Thank you very much. Though as I stated in my response to Antman, I don’t think the issue here is profits vs. doing the right thing. I think the issue is poor management not knowing or willing to make the changes necessary in their business model for their long term survival. You just said it in your comment. Their prices are too high and you buy online. That would be my response as well. How many other people would respond the same way? Sure seems like they cannot survive in the long term if more and more people follow our mindsets.
Thanks for the comment and coming by, I hope you come back.
Cord dawg, love the passion, it is what makes the world go round. Hey money, I don’t think they NEEDED to lay the people off, nor do I agree with the move. However, I am not sure they had much of a choice. I got 10 bucks payroll is the highest expense item, and second highest impact to cash after inventory. When companies get into trouble they go here cause it is the only place to bail themselves out. To your point, this is not a strategic move. If it is; they are more stupid than I thought they were. They are doing this because they weren’t strategic 12-18-24 months ago. Now they are just reacting. The key will be to see what they do with the savings and if they address their strategic plan then. I got faith in our system, if ya do stupid stuff, ya lose your customers, if ya don’t ya won’t. This is where my point was, if laying off all these good employees was a bad move they will know it because sales will slip. If sales don’t slip, what does that say? Keep kickin it dawg, ya got power in them words ya write! Much love
Antman,
I absolutely agree with you. We will see how this all plays out. Much love back to you my brotha!!
Thanks!
I voted with my money. Just spent $4K this weekend. Was looking at the goods at Circuit City. Walked fifty meters and took my business to BestBuy instead.
Ducky – 4K huh? Sweet! What did you buy? Fill us in. Great decision!! Thank you for your comment.
Cord: pick up here from Wharton on the CCity issue –
Cord: pick up here from Wharton on the CCity issue —
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1703&CFID=7811816&CFTOKEN=64288228&jsessionid=9a307ae35dec7d357a7f
Stephen – Thank you, real interesting article and I agree with them that the way Circuit City handled this was more than just “cynical”. No matter the financial reasons behind it, they are still a consumer company and the only way people can stop this happening again is through their wallets which is why I will not be shopping at CC ever again. Thanks again for the link.
I’m glad to know I am not the only person who remembers this outrage to the working man. To plagiarize the POW slogan, “I will never forget” You’d think any exec worth his million dollar bonus would have more sense. It’s bad enough we have to deal with worldwide Islamic terrorism now we need to be concerned about our economic stature in the capitalist world when we have idiots running mega-companies making bonehead mistakes that would be grounds for termination at a dollar store. I suppose he was making room to hire those 12 million illegal aliens, oops-not.
If I was working for Circuit City, I sure felt angry and betrayed.
But what satisfaction a 30 years old employee has to go down with a sinking company? On the other hand, if an employee got a better paid job, he would switch without anybody pointing finger at him…. betraying his employer, ha ha. my foot.
The biggest question is: has any customers pay any company extra contribution to the old-employee’s fund? I haven’t heard yet.
By the way, I was let go 15 years ago when I was approching 50… In hi-tech, that is very old, and I was not a hanging around person.
After this I am going to buy from Circuit city. Frankly I don’t see it staying. But if there are miracle, this purchase helps in a very small way.
Thank for letting me see things a little bit differently.
-ic