The Part is In

Circuit City called Wednesday to let me know that the part for the TV arrived. They said they would come out Friday. One team has to come out between 9 and 11 to de-install, then the technician will come out between 12 and 2 to install the part, then the install team will come back out from 4 to 6 to re-install.

I had zero-confidence that they will be able to execute such a logistically complex plan. And I was right.

I took off work on Friday. The de-installers didn't come out as scheduled. The technician called me to ask if the TV had been de-installed and gave me his number to call him when it had. I spent a lot of time on the phone with FireDog and Circuit City's warranty department on Friday speaking to about 6 different people. Again they apologized all over themselves which ment nothing at this point. After being hung up on twice and laughed at by a CSR once, I finally reached Dan who acted like Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction in Circuit City customer service. At that point in the day Dan wasn't able to do anything else but reschedule the de-install, technician, and re-install for Saturday.

Saturday morning the de-installers came out on schedule and took the TV off the wall and set it on the floor in front of the fireplace. I called the technician to let him know it was time to work his magic. He said that he didn't know the de-installers came out, that he was now booked and might not be able to come out. Kelly & I came unglued and spent another portion of our lives we'll never get back on the phone with everyone at Circuit City.

Aparantly the technician, not having received word that the TV was de-installed, cancelled the appointment himself. No other technicans would come do the work because he had the power supply with him and he is the only technician servicing my zip code. Dan was on vacation that day.

If all that wasn't bad enough, now the story get's rediculously stupid. I decide what the hell, try plugging the TV in. I do. It works fine. WTF?! Are you kidding me? Is this some sort of cosmic retribution for materialism? After some research in manual I discover that the AC cord that they gave me with the tv is not the right cord. The one that comes with the TV has clips on the end that clip onto the TV so it won't shake loose but the one I got was just a regular AC cord.

There was nothing wrong with the power supply, it was becuase it was a open box item they had the wrong cord with it. That's why it worked for a week fine while it was on the floor, but shortly after it was mounted it stopped working because the cord came loose.

When the technician was there and he looked at the TV for all of 5 minutes before determining that it was the power supply I asked him to check the cables. He did and said they were fine. If I find that guy, I'm going to strangle him with a clip-less AC power cord.

Dan called back on Sunday to see how everything went. I explained to him everything that happened. He arranged for the correct cord to be available at the store for me to pick up. Sunday afternoon I picked up the cord.

While at the store, the stupidity of the average employee at the customer service counter puntuated the entire story. The average age of the customer service person at Circuit City appears to be 15 and the ratio of employees to customers is about 5:1. Its like a swarm of stupid bees in red t-shirts in there. I explain the story and I tell them I'm there to get the cable and that I spoke with Jennifer the manager. The guy behind the counter is not impressed by my story. Its as if this sort of absurdity is common. They ask me to wait while they find Jennifer. I wait, and wait, then another manager arrives and says that Jennifer has left for the day. I tell him my story and produces the cable from behind the counter.

Dan was able to schedule the installers for Tuesday from 2-4 to put the TV back on the wall. Again I leave work early to get home in time. When I get home there is a message from the installer saying they are running behind schedule and to call them. I called them and they said they were triple booked for the 2-4 time slot and would the 4 to 6 time slot be okay. I'm so close to the finish line I tell them to come whenever as long as they come that night. They get to the house at almost 8pm.

They install the TV, clean all the fingerprints off of it, sympathize with my situation, we have a few laughs and they leave and its done. So if anyone wants to come over and watch TV, we can.

The de-installers came out and took the TV off the wall as scheduled, but when I called the technician he said he was already booked and that no one had scheduled him to come out. I later found out from his superior that he was booked, but he canceled it because he thought the TV hadn't been de-installed first.

I just found out that Circuit City is possibly facing bankruptcy. Great.