Know Before You Buy - CompUSA To Close After Christmas

After acquiring privately-owned computer retailer CompUSA, the new owners have announced plans to close the company's stores.

This is important news for consumers who purchase holiday gifts at those stores. Returns, refunds and exchanges may not be possible after the holiday depending on how fast the company moves to sell store locations and close the retail business. If the chain is even still selling gift cards, we would hope that full disclosure of the chain's pending demise is printed on the card.

Gordon Brothers, a well known equity firm that also owns Things Remembered and Toys R Us among other well known brands, made front page news throughout the country today with its announcement to close the large computer store's retail operations. We think it is incredibly irresponsible, however, that neither the new owner's site nor the main CompUSA site included any of this important consumer information 24 hours after the deal was announced.

One wonders how this lack of information was created in an age of push-button technology, instant messaging and the ability to publish data on the web within minutes. In the absence of a simple message reassuring consumers that their purchases will be protected for a certain amount of time, we can only advise the well known axiom, caveat emptor, buyer beware.

Labels: CompUSA, Gordon Brothers

posted by George Bounacos at 12:32 PM |