~~~CIRCUITCITY.COM~~~THE PLACE FOR JUST WHAT I NEEDED CONSUMER ELECTRONICS GALORE
Written: Mar 12 '06 (Updated Mar 12 '06)
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A few weeks ago, my husband suggested that we get one of those personal video recorders for our computer. I really had no idea what he was talking about, but he said we "needed" something that would transfer our old VHS home movies to DVD since VCR's will soon be a thing of the past. That seemed like a logical "need" as we certainly want to keep the ability to access all those old memories current. Over the 2005 holiday season, my hubby had received a Circuit City gift card from our brother-in-law as he works in the west Nashville, TN location. The closest store for us is in Knoxville and we rarely go, so this was also a great opportunity to spend his Christmas present at the same time. So online we went to CircuitCity.com to purchase a WinTV-PVR. Read on to find out more about our smooth and error free online shopping transaction at this popular consumer electronics website featuring the Just What I Needed logo.
~~~The Online Store~~~
Just about any electronics related item can be purchased here at the CircuitCity.com website: digital cameras, printers, memory cards; camcorders; TVs and home theater equipment; DVD players/recorders including TiVo and portable units; MP3 and other audio equipment; PCs, notebooks, and other computer accessories including software; car stereos and other equipment including satellite radio; home office accessories including phones and PDAs; video games and electronic toys for kids; movies and music including song downloads; and much more too detailed to mention here, including numerous services like photo processing, PC services, online trading, internet, and so on (see website for complete listings of merchandise and services). They offer many of the same things that can be found in their brick and mortar store, yet with a twist. Standard shipping is free for orders over $25 (and when you are talking electronics, most purchases will come to way more than that anyway!), or shoppers can conveniently order online and then pick up the item at their local store. Their 24/24 Pickup Guarantee goes like this: we have your online order waiting at your chosen store in 24 minutes or less. If we don't have it waiting for you by then, you get a $24 gift card on us. Those looking for the convenience of shopping online for guaranteed in-stock items verses driving all the way to the store just to walk out empty handed are sure to enjoy this service immensely. So when it's electronics you "need" or want, there's surely something for everyone at the CircuitCity.com website.
~~~Ease of Ordering & Customer Service~~~
Since their website is very user friendly and simple to navigate, we had no problems choosing what we wanted to order online at CircuitCity.com. Detailed product descriptions as well as color photos of merchandise are clearly displayed within each category listed. The red, black, and yellow color scheme used on their web pages make the site easy to read and follow while browsing. Shoppers can either type in the specific product they are looking for or look through the drop down menus for items of interest. If shopping with the Circuit City Rewards Program Visa, the are currently offering "No interest until August 2007 on combined purchases of $299 & up." Again, check the website for details and terms. Setting up an account was quick and easy, so any future purchases should be even less time consuming since they securely store our personal information. Checkout is broken down into three easy steps once items are placed into the online shopping bag. Both a confirmation email of the order as well as shipping notifications are sent to keep shoppers updated on the status of their merchandise. For customer service issues, then can be contacted via email or phone. Since our online transaction at CircuitCity.com went without a hitch, we did not require any additional assistance with our order.
~~~Payment Methods & Shipping Costs~~~
If you happen to place an order online at CircuitCity.com for merchandise totaling less than $25 (such as a music CD or a movie on DVD, etc.), the charge for standard shipping (which is 3 to 9 business days according to the website) is currently a very reasonable $1.25. In this day and age of soaring gasoline prices, this is certainly a welcome surprise as I hate to feel like I'm being ripped off with higher and higher shipping costs. Need your order faster? Premium Air in 2 to 3 business days ($5.99) or Express Air in 1 business day ($8.99) can also be selected as shipping methods if desired. Of course Standard Shipping orders over $25 via Fed-Ex Ground are free, so if you are in no hurry then this is the way to go. Payment can be made in a variety of ways: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, or with Circuit City credit or gift cards. We used both a gift card as well as a credit card in the same order and no errors or problems were encountered with either. So for hassle free online ordering of "needed" electronic items, we'll certainly be returning online to CircuitCity.com in the future and will recommend them to our friends.
~~~Our Online Shopping Experience~~~
We placed our order for the HAU 1045 Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 online at CircuitCity.com on Sunday, February 26, 2006 after browsing the site for the best personal video recorder that would suit our needs. After reading a few online reviews first to make a more informed shopping choice (of course!), this one seemed reasonable for the price of $99.99. Once we set up an account including user name, password, as well as shipping, billing, and payment information, our order was quickly completed without incident. We used my husband's CircuitCity gift card online and then placed the remaining balance owed on another credit card. That was it. Our confirmation email stated the estimated arrival date of delivery would be 03/09/06, but we received our order well before that! In fact, it shipped on Monday, 02/27/06, and it was delivered the very next day on 2/28. Talk about speedy standard shipping. We were very impressed with just how fast our order came. The correct item was shipped in perfect condition. My husband then installed the PVR himself into our Dell computer and has mostly just watched TV shows with it on our flat screen monitor ever since. Hmmm! And here I thought he "needed" this electronic device to transfer our VHS home videos to DVD, or so he said :-) This "need" remains to be seen at this point. So much for burning our old memories! View more information about this particular PVR we ordered online at CircuitCity.com here:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/Search.do? c=1&context=&keyword=HAU+1045+Hauppauge+WinTV-PVR-150+&searchSection=All&go.x=17&go.y=10
~~~Overall Recommendation~~~
When looking for "needed" and not so "needed" electronic items for purchase online, look no further than CircuitCity.com. They seem to offer just about anything you'd ever want and then some at competitive prices and very reasonable to even free shipping. And for those living near a local brick and mortar store, shoppers can also enjoy the convenience of picking up their merchandise the very same day less than a half hour after placing the order online! Talk about fast and convenient. I'd be willing to try this at least once. Only we don't live close enough for the "pick-up" terms to apply here but we still had our order shipped and in our hands less than 48 hours for free, which is alot to expect and very hard to beat! In conclusion, we are very impressed with the fast and accurate service we received when shopping online at CircuitCity.com. We'll definitely be back and recommend this online electronics store highly to all based on our flawless initial purchasing experience.
***Begin shopping online today at CircuitCity.com by copying and pasting the following URL into your computer's web browser:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/home.do
***Or shop by phone if desired:
1-800-843-2489
***Customer Service Issues:
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Attn: Customer Support
9954 Mayland Dr.
Richmond, VA 23233
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? WinTV-PVR 150
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