Is Gamestop Evil? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Exhuminator]

WHY DO PEOPLE STILL BUY GAMES AT GAMESTOP

WHY

[RyaNtheSlayA]

WHY DO PEOPLE STILL BUY GAMES AT GAMESTOP

WHY

Because it's convenient, not all the employees at every location are terrible, and if you take full advantage of their rewards system you can get some pretty great deals.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Another thing they've done, is SERIOUSLY cocked up my rewards account. Like, I can earn points, points which they can look at from their store, but if I log in at home, it claims I have no card, even though I've had a card for years. Thusly, it claims I have no points, and thus can't actually USE THEM :I

I do like their B2G1 sales though. Those are about the only times I buy things there, but I spend so much when I do that the 10% off actually pays for itself and more.

I mostly shop there because a location is very very close to my house, so its convenient when they happen to have some harder to find weird Wii or PS3 games that I can snag for cheap. Sometimes I gotta go to one of the two locations 10 miles out from me, because they're much larger with bigger draw pools, and thus get weird/cool stuff more often. As someone who virtually NEVER buys games new, or even close to when they come out (I think the last game I bought new was Wolfenstein New Order on PC via Steam), the cockier parts of their pre-order culture never really hit me.

[Jmustang1968]

I am so done....put in a preordered FE Fates SE on 11/14/15, go to pick up and get the "Uh, we don't know what happened, if you want we have a extra copy of the one with digital codes". If i wanted that i would've ordered that, no i ordered the SE I want the SE. So here I am a hour and a half later still on the line with gamestop customer support trying to figure it out for myself what happened. If this falls through I'll be heading by there before work hoping they're open and know what happened to my preorder. Gamestop is nice sometimes but this feels like the second time this has happened.....

What happened was someone at the company accidentally opened up pre-orders again on 11/14 when they had already been closed. It was an accident and whoever went in to pre order that day, would not get their CE as they already had their allotment filled.

[darsparx]

Another thing they've done, is SERIOUSLY cocked up my rewards account. Like, I can earn points, points which they can look at from their store, but if I log in at home, it claims I have no card, even though I've had a card for years. Thusly, it claims I have no points, and thus can't actually USE THEM :I

I do like their B2G1 sales though. Those are about the only times I buy things there, but I spend so much when I do that the 10% off actually pays for itself and more.

I mostly shop there because a location is very very close to my house, so its convenient when they happen to have some harder to find weird Wii or PS3 games that I can snag for cheap. Sometimes I gotta go to one of the two locations 10 miles out from me, because they're much larger with bigger draw pools, and thus get weird/cool stuff more often. As someone who virtually NEVER buys games new, or even close to when they come out (I think the last game I bought new was Wolfenstein New Order on PC via Steam), the cockier parts of their pre-order culture never really hit me.

This so much this...

@Jmustang - actually that was the online orders from what I've read that were made after 11/18 though I did mine on 11/14. Supposedly the real screwup is that a store near to this one closed, and when they did this one absorbed the preorders. They've called the inventory line or whatever and won't hear back until monday on the situation. If this falls through I'll probably end up waiting to see if someone neglects to pickup theirs or supposedly they'll basically super mark down the physical editions and that third campaign. I somehow manged to get someone who is one of those few super compassionate workers that is going to try everything in her power to fix it....and I just hope this doesn't fall through since when I start working nights again I'll be SOL to fix it after that point...

[Sarge]

Others have mentioned it, but you can find games that you normally can't find elsewhere, for pretty reasonable prices, especially if you leverage a B2G1 sale. They don't get all my money, but they're a viable option, particularly if you've got a store staffed with good folks. Mine has always had solid folks in there, but I've been in some (malls in particular, it seems) that have losers manning things, and the shopping experience suffers.

[Fragems]

They are also about the only place that bothers stocking sub $5 games.

[darsparx]

Others have mentioned it, but you can find games that you normally can't find elsewhere, for pretty reasonable prices, especially if you leverage a B2G1 sale. They don't get all my money, but they're a viable option, particularly if you've got a store staffed with good folks. Mine has always had solid folks in there, but I've been in some (malls in particular, it seems) that have losers manning things, and the shopping experience suffers.

Yeah that's why I'm stuck going there between the one at work, and one in indian trail. Both have ladies who are the best when I go in there. The guys that are there other times suck since they're the most disinterested pieces of crap ever....

[Exhuminator]

I haven't stepped foot in a GameStop since 2007.

But before then, every time I bought a used game from a GS, it had a scratched up or resurfaced disc, may or may not have included a manual, if the manual was included it was bent, and the case was usually generic with a printed insert, and always always had stickers on it. This was the situation. Every. Single. Time.

The only way to get games in good shape, was to buy them new. But "new" means the games were already opened. And we've already been down that road in this topic a few times. So yeah, not "new" in my book.

And then there's the buying of the games, which meant copious corporate spiel from the clerk about plans and warranties and specials and so on.

Nothing about any GameSpot experience I ever had, has ever made me want to go back.

I think I just have higher standards.

[Sarge]

I've gotten quite a bit of complete and in-good-shape games from there, but you're right that there are a ton of scratched-up and generic-case games, too. Depending on the game, I'm quite picky about getting it complete. I'll put up with it if it's for something that's a bit rarer (like Hexyz Force). I also ask to look at the disc before I make a purchase, and if it looks bad, I don't buy it. I think the guys here are a little pickier about what they take in, though, which probably improves things. It's the manager and employees that have discretion on whether they take something in or not. I also believe, with their refurb center now, that they probably ship a fair amount off. Resurfacers are a lot better than they used to be, and it's saved a few of my discs that I've bought that were a bit sketch.