Why not Circuit City

[MarkBarbieri]

Why did we bail out the banks and the auto companies, but not Circuit City? Does it come down to political influence, or was there some rational reason why the first two make sense but not the third?

 

[lvanleer]

Well I don't profess to be an economist however my feeling is that we bailed out the banks and auto industry because they are integral parts to our financial and manufacturing systems....if they were to fail a lot of related industries would fail with them however Circuit City is just one large chain of retail stores....the products that they support and sell are offered at other establishments such as Best Buy, Sears, etc......just my theory.

 

[Charade]

I want my bailout.

 

[pr surfer]

Because they aren't essential to the US economy

 

[rascalmom]

Maybe a few politicians owe a few more favors to the UAW and Big 3 than they do to Circuit City retail workers?

We can't bail everyone out - all businesses are feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

The question is where do we draw the line? I think it should have been at the banking industry, but obviously the Big 3 supporters disagree.

 

[LakeAriel]

I agree we can't bail everyone out but I will miss Circuit City...

 

[JR6ooo4]

What about the construction industry. They employeed way more than circuit city and they are cutting jobs more than any other industry.

But since a bunch of jerks were making so much money on it, which appears to be the main cause of this economic problem, all the related industries are completely forgotten.

Mikeeee

 

[Piecey]

If the banks would have failed... eventually most everything would have failed. Circuit City included.

I don't know much about the auto industry and their bailout.. Just know I didn't want to stick around and see what happened if our banking system failed!!

 

[S. C.]

Maybe a few politicians owe a few more favors to the UAW and Big 3 than they do to Circuit City retail workers?

We can't bail everyone out - all businesses are feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

The question is where do we draw the line? I think it should have been at the banking industry, but obviously the Big 3 supporters disagree.

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone had to rag on the UAW in this thread. There are already tons of threads for all of you UAW haters.

 

[bicker]

I suspect that that is because of how readily rag-able they are.

 

[S. C.]

I suspect that that is because of how readily rag-able they are.

Bicker..you are slipping..what took you so long? I thought you would of been first in line to get your stab in!

 

[bicker]

To be honest, I don't see the close connection that rascalmom sees.

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

Because the loss of Circuit City will not destroy the entire US economy. If the banking system collapses we will all be in line at the soup kitchen.

 

[Golf4food]

Circuit City had already undergone a bankruptcy and attempted to keep going and failed. If they couldn't turn things around after the bankruptcy there was no reason to bail them out. There customer service has been terrible for a long time and their prices were not all that great either (had to be very careful when buying from them as many things were cheaper elsewhere). I don't recall the last time I saw an employee in a CC that was over 19 years old and most of them seemed to know very little about the products they were trying to sell. Sometimes a company gets what it had coming.

 

[Micca]

Because the movers and shakers already have flat screen tvs with surround sound?

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Because the loss of Circuit City will not destroy the entire US economy. If the banking system collapses we will all be in line at the soup kitchen.

Codswallop! That's only the myth that the thieves in Washington and Wall Street have cooked up for us.

 

[rt2dz]

If the banks would have failed... eventually most everything would have failed. Circuit City included.

My thoughts exactly.

In addition, Circuit City is one store/company not an INDUSTRY. It's one thing if Ford alone was failing, but it was each and every auto manufacturing company going down at once. Cars are closely connected to everything (and parts are needed to keep those cars already sold running); TVs and Blue Ray players are luxury items those in hard times should be doing without anyhow.

OP--When was the last time you were in Circuit City? They had little selection, high prices, and NO customer service. We bought our flip down DVD player there for the car (great sale). It was defective. Obvious from the moment we tried running it. They supposedly got another one from a different store; apparently they only had one at that store. We were told it was in after we called them since they didn't seem to want to call us. Showed up to have the broken parts swapped out (the TV is removable) and they sold the unit to someone else. We had to wait two weeks for another to come in from the warehouse. And then it didn't come in. Several phone calls to managers, district mangers and so forth and we finally got a new unit they purchased from Best Buy. Nope, they wouldn't refund our money. And, yes, we had a warranty too. Circuit City deserves to go down.

Personally, I don't think we should have bailed out the auto industry. Really, since most things are insured through the banks, bailing them out probably saved money in the long run. That's just a guess though.

 

[edwardsfire]

Even..I, the conservative republican, had a disagreement with Bush now and then. The bailouts were a biggie.
I dont support ANY of them.
In the past companies went under, thats life.
Let the free markets be free.
So, anyways, i oppose circuit city getting one also.

 

[Callie]

Customer service varied so much from store to store. The store I was at had great service (people always wrote in about it) but the one across town was just, bad

 

[bicker]

Customer service was a reflection of the behavior of the American consumer. Ever since around 1999, folks would visit Circuit City, pick the brains of its staff, see/touch/feel the products, and then go home (to "think" about it) and buy off of the Internet, from suppliers who didn't have to pay as many people to know about the products, didn't have to pay them to be standing by waiting for someone to come in to browse, didn't have to sacrifice stock as floor models, didn't have to deal with the added costs of paying rent in hundreds of towns and cities, but instead could build a tight, highly-controlled, warehouse operation, with staffing determined hourly based on very tight aggregate forecasts, fed orders by an automated online ordering system, offering products at a significant discount, and therefore gaining market share at B&M's expense.