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

[avrame]

Wait, how is it sold if still in the store? He must have meant on hold.

My guess, an employee was wondering why some many people were calling in about a game, and in the end, decided to buy it and sell it on ebay. I mean, they told me it sold, yet it was in store, and they would not sell it.

All signs point to a dishonest employee.

[gtmtnbiker]

People also don't seem to realize that LP keeps listings of all these reports that even the DMs can't access.

What the hell is an "LP" ? It would be nice if you spelled out the acronyms at least once. (e.g, District Manager (DM)).

[ZenErik]

Loss prevention.

[flamepanther]

People also don't seem to realize that LP keeps listings of all these reports that even the DMs can't access.

What the hell is an "LP" ? It would be nice if you spelled out the acronyms at least once. (e.g, District Manager (DM)).

Shh! It's more fun if we get to make up what it stands for! (e.g., DM = douche monkey)

[gtmtnbiker]

Loss prevention.

Thanks for cluing those of us who never worked in retail.

@flamepanther,

[lisalover1]

Time to tell my tale!

As per noiseredux's thread about Hyperdimension Neptunia, I started looking for copy of the Premium Edition, without having to pay the Ebay price ($90+). I found a large number of my local gamestop carry used copies of the "Premium edition", so I gave them ring, and all of them told me that games were either 'game and case only' or 'no artbook is included'. I asked one of the gamestop if they can find a used copy with the artbook anywhere, and the guy replied "I don't think so, we are told to never accept the bonus items for games like this as they take up extra shelf space and not many people look for them."

Shelf space, I understand, but saying people don't look for them is an understatement. I mean, at my local GS, I see 4 Halo Reach Heroic editions and 2 Gears of War Steelcase editions, don't those take up 'space' as well? Frustrated, I posted on Facebook if any of my buddies has a copy to sell, and start watching auctions on Ebay.

ANYWHO. I found a NEW copy of the game at a gamestop 2 hours away. I gave a call to the store, and asked them about the game. "Yes, it is a new and sealed copy of the premium edition. A customer asked us to special order it for them 3 days ago, but said they do not want it anymore." I asked the lady if they can ship it to a closer store, and she said I had to get that stores permission first. I visited my local store, and they told me "No, we can't get games shipped here. Shipping for one game is expensive, esspecially since big box games like this are easily damaged." Understandable.

I call up the faraway Gamestop to hold the game for me, I'll be down tomorrow to pick it up. She took my name and number and placed the game into the hold drawer for me.

The next day, my wife and I leave my workplace and start heading down to the gamestop to pick up my game. I decide to give them a call to see what time they close to make sure I'll make it in time. The girl on the otherside of the line, "Sorry, the guy that special ordered the game came back in and said he wanted it now, so we sold it to him."

...WTF. Not only did they place it on hold for me, AFTER the guy who ordered it gave it up, but they sold it to the original customer, and FAILED to call me about the matter. If I didn't call, I would have wasted a 2 hour drive, only to find out my game isn't there. She claimed that she would order another copy for me, but it's been a week and no contact has been made.

Now for the kicker. My buddy lives in that area. He called me up claiming that he found a copy in the gamestop that I was calling, and asked if I wanted him to buy it for me. I tell him yes. He calls me back 10 minutes later saying the clerk there claims "this copy has been sold already".

Seriously. Fuck everything about that shit. Thanks to Labor Day weekend, I manage to snipe an unwatched auction and scored my game for $70. But as of now, I refuse to do business with gamestop. I've cancelled ALL of my preorders with them (some 6 games), and placed all my preorders on Amazon.com.

And for the record, screw everything about 'Gamestop exclusive' content.

What a tale, glad everything worked out in the end.

Wow, I am really glad that I preordered the Premium Edition of that game; the value of it really shot up quickly!

[ZenErik]

I'm glad I had a good friend ship me a mint copy of Neptunia for $35 even knowing that he could sell it for double or more on eBay.

I really love that game.

[avrame]

Time to tell my tale!

As per noiseredux's thread about Hyperdimension Neptunia, I started looking for copy of the Premium Edition, without having to pay the Ebay price ($90+). I found a large number of my local gamestop carry used copies of the "Premium edition", so I gave them ring, and all of them told me that games were either 'game and case only' or 'no artbook is included'. I asked one of the gamestop if they can find a used copy with the artbook anywhere, and the guy replied "I don't think so, we are told to never accept the bonus items for games like this as they take up extra shelf space and not many people look for them."

Shelf space, I understand, but saying people don't look for them is an understatement. I mean, at my local GS, I see 4 Halo Reach Heroic editions and 2 Gears of War Steelcase editions, don't those take up 'space' as well? Frustrated, I posted on Facebook if any of my buddies has a copy to sell, and start watching auctions on Ebay.

ANYWHO. I found a NEW copy of the game at a gamestop 2 hours away. I gave a call to the store, and asked them about the game. "Yes, it is a new and sealed copy of the premium edition. A customer asked us to special order it for them 3 days ago, but said they do not want it anymore." I asked the lady if they can ship it to a closer store, and she said I had to get that stores permission first. I visited my local store, and they told me "No, we can't get games shipped here. Shipping for one game is expensive, esspecially since big box games like this are easily damaged." Understandable.

I call up the faraway Gamestop to hold the game for me, I'll be down tomorrow to pick it up. She took my name and number and placed the game into the hold drawer for me.

The next day, my wife and I leave my workplace and start heading down to the gamestop to pick up my game. I decide to give them a call to see what time they close to make sure I'll make it in time. The girl on the otherside of the line, "Sorry, the guy that special ordered the game came back in and said he wanted it now, so we sold it to him."

...WTF. Not only did they place it on hold for me, AFTER the guy who ordered it gave it up, but they sold it to the original customer, and FAILED to call me about the matter. If I didn't call, I would have wasted a 2 hour drive, only to find out my game isn't there. She claimed that she would order another copy for me, but it's been a week and no contact has been made.

Now for the kicker. My buddy lives in that area. He called me up claiming that he found a copy in the gamestop that I was calling, and asked if I wanted him to buy it for me. I tell him yes. He calls me back 10 minutes later saying the clerk there claims "this copy has been sold already".

Seriously. Fuck everything about that shit. Thanks to Labor Day weekend, I manage to snipe an unwatched auction and scored my game for $70. But as of now, I refuse to do business with gamestop. I've cancelled ALL of my preorders with them (some 6 games), and placed all my preorders on Amazon.com.

And for the record, screw everything about 'Gamestop exclusive' content.

What a tale, glad everything worked out in the end.

Wow, I am really glad that I preordered the Premium Edition of that game; the value of it really shot up quickly!

Sad thing is I did preorder the game. I missed the launch day due to weddign stuffs, and did not get a chance to pick up my copy. I figured 'meh, i'll be able to find it elsewhere later'

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Sad thing is I did preorder the game. I missed the launch day due to weddign stuffs, and did not get a chance to pick up my copy. I figured 'meh, i'll be able to find it elsewhere later'

You realize that you have, I believe 48 hours to pick it up if you preorder it - otherwise it goes on the shelf and you lose your deposit. (I may be wrong on the specifics, but that's what I remember an ex-GS employee telling me..)
Which is fishy, since the store you were going to drive 2 hours out of the way to pick up somebody's else's 'no-longer-wanted' copy, decided to sell it to the original customer anyway once they changed their mind..

As for the Pokemon carts, I completely understand everything PepharytheWorm and CRT are saying. I do realize the legal precautions a major corporation must take in order to avoid lawsuits. My main complaint was how the whole thing was handled. All the clerk had to do was say, "let me get a manager," or "my manager is in tomorrow - come in at this time and he can give you the low-down." It really could have just been dirty contacts making the games not work - is that REALLY worth destroying them over? Why can't Gamestop employees or managers exercise a little common sense and try to clean the contacts first before deeming product unfit for distribution..? Hell, some Play N Trade employees fix consoles that are ringed or otherwise broken..

Oh, and the fact that the Gamestop clerk took the carts I wanted, shadily snuck them into a bag under the register and said he couldn't sell them to me, (only to ask me if I knew how to fix them as I was leaving,) was probably the biggest reason for my complaint.

[TEKTORO]

Im just waiting for microsofts next gen console to say"fuck it Im going all digital" and turning paticular game stores into kiosk's.Then all us retro gamers can rejoice for we are sitting on gold mines?Thee mighty cart,disc and essence of what gamings about.