[bennyfreshness]

It comes down to product.

If your product is in high demand and you have incredible mind share (as the mentioned brands do), revenue will follow. With more revenue you can afford to ramp up your customer service.

This article seems to claim that revenue is directly correlated to payroll costs. So spending more on payroll will somehow magically increase revenue? Then everyone would be doing it. There is a delicate balance.

Lastly, Circuit City failed because they couldn't innovate as fast as other competitors, namely Best Buy, not because they tried, as a last ditch effort, to save money by hiring temp workers.