One way to make money on DTV converters

From a thread at Consumerist:

They tried this dual deal on me, I passed and decided not to buy, asked them to cancel the transaction.  The next day went to BestBuy only to find Circuit City had claimed the $40 from the Gov card.  Went I went back to the Circuit City, the “manager” said if I didn’t calm down he'd call the cops, then asked me to leave the store.  I said no, go ahead and make the call.  I wasn’t yelling or raving but I was upset.  I’ll never do business at a CC again.  This has to be a corporate initiative of some sort because two other folks I know in this town were treated the same way. - “cybrbkr” at 11:12 PM on 06/22/08

Appears that when you redeem one of those HDTV converter “coupons,” Circuit City presents you with what looks like a charge card slip that reads “The cardholder agrees to the credit card amount shown hereon and agrees to perform the obligations set forth in the cardholders [sic] agreement with the issuer.” (Except it isn’t a credit card, it’s a “coupon.”  That’s what the government calls it.)

So customers wonder why they’re required to sign two charge slips, get suspicious, and cancel the transaction. And Circuit City conveniently “forgets” to reverse the coupon redemption.  And if someone starts asking questions, they threaten to call the cops.

Excellent business model: Get $40, deliver nothing!

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:32:10 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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