WARNING - Circuit City Ruined Christmas Surprise for my Nephew

[ReneeQ]

I wanted to warn others about this, as I have never thought of or encountered this problem before.

I ordered the Classic Disney TV and VCR/DVD combo from Circuit City.com for my sister as part of my 7 year old nephew's Christmas from Santa. I put it on my credit card, as she doesn't have a credit card, and had it shipped to her house. It was free shipping.

Today when they returned home from school, what is sitting on their front porch, in plain view of my nephew? The TV and VCR/DVD player in their FACTORY BOXES. Circuit City had just slapped shipping labels on both boxes and sent them out. So there are pictures on the outside of the boxes of what is inside the boxes.

My other complaint is that UPS should not have left the boxes without a signature, as they could have been stollen. They ALWAYS leave a pick up ticket, and if they had done so today, they could have scheduled a delivery out of view of my nephew.

I just can't believe they don't rebox your order into a plain box, ESPECIALLY this time of year, with so much holiday shopping going on. I called Customer Service and pretty much got a "sorry, that's the way it is" attitude from Circuit City. He explained they ship everything out in factory boxes and just put a label on the box.

I order a lot of stuff online, and have never run into this before. Everything I've ever received has been double boxed, though I've never ordered from Circuit City before. I am sending a letter to their corporate office expressing my dissatisfaction and asking this policy be changed, or at the very least, a warning be put on their website, or some sort of option for plain packaging.

The annoying part is my sister could have just as easily picked it up from her local Circuit City, but with the free shipping, and this hectic time of year, we figured this would be easier. And she wouldn't have to figure out how to go shopping at Circuit City without my nephew with her.

So, not only has his Christmas surprise been totally ruined, he now wants to know "how did Santa know I wanted that, when I haven't even been to visit him yet to give him my list?" This is a smart kid, so the next thing will be "Mom and Dad are probably Santa." It's sad to see our kids grow up too fast.

Thanks for letting me ramble. Maybe this will prevent someone else from experiencing the same problem.

-Renee

 

[undertheradar]

Many retailers use "original" packaging. Read the disclaimers and you will see that they warn of this. We have noticed that Circuit City and Best Buy are both shipping items with stickers on the packaging that list the contents of the packages. I ordered an item that was $300.00+ that was left on my doorstep, yet my $149.00 XBOX system required a signature in person. It depends what the shipper requests.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

When my dh was overseas I couldn't get to a store without my kids for Christmas shopping so I ordered pretty much all of their gifts online and when they came the UPS driver came up to the door and let me know that some of the items were in their original packaging before he got them out so I could occupy the kids. I guess I just had a really thoughtful driver. .

 

[tjmw2727]

I feel for you, we learned this lesson two years ago, luckily we got the first package when the girls were not home. Everything possible is sent in the original packaging with a new label - saves on the costs allowing us the "free shipping". Even the box from Disney came with the Disney logo this year. Lucikly that was gifts we ordered together for friends and family and not santa stuff. My girls also know the shape and color of the AG box by heart so I have those delivered to my sister's house.

Kudo's to the nice UPS driver that was a heads up move!

Now I have stuff shipped elsewhere and or try and time the shipping for a weekday as it usually comes while the girls are in school.

TJ

 

[Robmom]

Best Buy does the same thing. I just realized that I ordered an MP3 player for my DD from Circuit City. I hope it is not in the factory box!

 

[Brian Noble]

he now wants to know "how did Santa know I wanted that, when I haven't even been to visit him yet to give him my list?"

'

Well, since santa is watching you to keep his naughty and nice list up to date, he must have been watching while you were talking about this. He's pretty busy, and likes to get things out of the way early when he can.

I feel for you though. My recently-turned-six DD is starting to ask probing questions about Santa *and* the tooth fairy.

 

[crisi]

It costs a lot of money to repackage. And shipping costs get to be a huge factor.

But thanks for the warning. Not everyone reads the small print on the web sites or has ordered enough on line to realize they often ship in original packages.

 

[Becky2005]

I actually thought all retailers did this! LOL!!! So, I just assumed anything I ordered would be obvious and I have YET to have the UPS man wait for a signature for anything, even when I'm home! I don't ever recall getting things in different boxes than original ones.

Usually, they ring the doorbell, by the time I get to the door from upstairs (less than 2 minutes) they are heading back to their truck).

I know one year my DH ordered me a Vermont Teddy Bear - well those come in very obvious boxes since they have "breathing" holes for the bears, etc... (It actually came late due to a snowstorm - he ordered it like a couple days before Christmas with priority shipping and barely got here in time!).

I like the idea for Santa of saying "he's watching you all the time to see if you've been naught or nice, so of course he would know what you have on the list"...but then that does bring up the "then why am I bothering to tell him?" ROFL!!! I don't know my 7 year old cornered me this year and demanded to know if Santa was real, Yes or No, plain and simply but he doesn't have your typical 7 year old thinking either, he's way too logical/analytical for his own good at times. LOL!!!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Brian,
When my DS got old enough to start questioning Santa, I made it clear that if you tell others, especially Mom , that you don't believe in Santa, then Santa quits coming. If they're old enough to not believe, they're old enough to understand what you're saying. To this day my 12 yo. DS tells his Dad & I that he believes in Santa, and that he always will. On the down side, Santa may still be having to visit him, when he's 50.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

One idea for not "blowing" santa is to clain that the TV is from mom and dad. Of course then "Santa" has to bring something else but it might be worth it to get another year or two out of the magic.

Jordans' mom

 

[ReneeQ]

Thanks everyone! My sister told my nephew something to the effect of - "me and daddy saw it on your list and we decided to get it for you, since Santa isn't able to get you EVERYTHING on your list. We are sorry your surprise got ruined, but it is still for Christmas, so we are saving it until Christmas." She calls the "Elf Hotline" daily to give a report to Santa on his behavior (I think this is hysterical), and he's being a perfect angel, knowing what's on the line. I still sent my letter to Circuit City, but don't know when, or if, I'll hear from them.

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks everyone! My sister told my nephew something to the effect of - "me and daddy saw it on your list and we decided to get it for you, since Santa isn't able to get you EVERYTHING on your list. We are sorry your surprise got ruined, but it is still for Christmas, so we are saving it until Christmas." She calls the "Elf Hotline" daily to give a report to Santa on his behavior (I think this is hysterical), and he's being a perfect angel, knowing what's on the line. I still sent my letter to Circuit City, but don't know when, or if, I'll hear from them.

So glad it worked out what a great "save" your sister came up with. I know a few friends of mine that have the packages shipped elsewhere just in case.

TJ

 

[4DisneyfansinNC]

A similiar thing happened a few years ago to me when I ordered something for DD from toysrus.com. A nursery playset. Thank goodness my UPS driver was smart enough to ring my bell and tell me he had put a box "over there" out of sight.
And here's a photo just for laughs for you. We saw this guy last week when we were on our way to Disney, in Daytona. Cracked us up! We had to take a pic!

<img height=300 src=http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid149/p2d6b1309c736ea694e28aac0e78ba91a/f5f1faac.jpg>

 

[bigbabyblues]

Oh, I'm so sorry his surprise was ruined! Glad your sister was able to think of something to tell him, I would have told him it was a surprise from you, and wrapped it for Christmas with a tag from you.

I've noticed on things I was looking at on Toysrus.com that a lot of things ship in their original packages too. I was afraid something similar would happen with the things I ordered, but it didn't. My UPS man never requires a signature, even if I'm home. He leaves things on the front steps if we don't answer the door, I've never gotten a slip that they were here but didn't leave anything. When my DH used to sell computers, they left them on our back porch, but it was a different driver.

Glad it worked out ok,
Steph

 

[pyrxtc]

Brian,
When my DS got old enough to start questioning Santa, I made it clear that if you tell others, especially Mom , that you don't believe in Santa, then Santa quits coming. If they're old enough to not believe, they're old enough to understand what you're saying. To this day my 12 yo. DS tells his Dad & I that he believes in Santa, and that he always will. On the down side, Santa may still be having to visit him, when he's 50.

This is what I said to my oldest. Only those that believe receive! But at least now she doesn't ask for outrageous things anymore.

 

[lucyem]

This is pretty normal for large items like tvs or computers. I own a retail & online store. I make a great effort to repackage what I can. But sometimes when it is a very large item, the cost of another large box and packing material plus the cost of extra shipping charges for the weight, not to mention the time involved can make it impossible for us to repack the item. We do warn people. It is too bad Circuit City did not have a warning on the web site especially on items like this at Christmas time.

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

Hello Renee ~

Let me just say that really stinks for what happened...and I hope the magic of Santa Claus isn't ruined....and hopefully this will make you laugh...I've asked 'Santa' for the exact same gift!

 

[ReneeQ]

Thanks everyone. Santa is still alive and well, at least for this 7 year old! His Mom and Dad gave him the TV and VCR/DVD combo today and he was thrilled. It's sooo cute! He actually realized on his own that since "Santa sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake" that he also sees you when you're making your list.

I still wish we could have avoided this and I can't find a disclaimer on Circuit City's website warning about shipping in original packaging. If double boxing is too expensive, they could have covered it with brown paper. Still no word from Circuit City in response to my letter.

Hopefully this will prevent anyone else from having a surprise ruined. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

 

[loveswdw]

Amazon.com/Toysrus.com does this too. My 1 year old received a new wagon for Christmas from his grandparents and it arrived on our doorstep in its original package. Thank goodness my son is too young to realize that its for him!

loveswdw

 

[the kabuki]

Was looking at Walmart's website and after reading this I noticed that there is a small box on the order form asking if this is a gift, as the item comes wrapped in its' original package. I assume that they will put it in another box if it is a gift .