Gamestop Hate

[Flash Strife]

Most of us Gamestamp employees will attempt to go above and beyond for our patrons. Don't let the shitheads or the awful corperate practices getcha down.

So I've read. Heard that some employees would actually call other stores if they don't have enough pre-order bonuses to see if they have any extras to send their way. Sucks that the guy who gave me my copy didn't help me out, especially since he was the same person who promised they would have it on the phone the day I made my pre-order.

[Brushfire]

So I've read. Heard that some employees would actually call other stores if they don't have enough pre-order bonuses to see if they have any extras to send their way. Sucks that the guy who gave me my copy didn't help me out, especially since he was the same person who promised they would have it on the phone the day I made my pre-order.

The guy prolly just saw you as a number. Man I hate working for Gamestop a lot. But I gotta pay the bills somehow. Once I find a better job I am bailing so hard.

[Gollgagh]

Sadly I only had one in the store Gollgagh. If I can find another I'll let you know, but at the moment, we only got the one.

No worries, I can probably find one elsewhere somewhat easily

[Brushfire]

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/10/gamestops-motion-to-dismiss-used-games-class-action-lawsuit-den/

Everything the plaintiff is alleging is true.

[Native Jovian]

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/why-would-gamestop-sell-new-games-as-used-profit-rarity-and-of-course-profi

Relevant to this thread.

[Flash Strife]

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/why-would-gamestop-sell-new-games-as-used-profit-rarity-and-of-course-profi

Relevant to this thread.

Get it now before it becomes vintage. >_<

[EdgeCrusher]

Everyone at cheapassgamer is up at arms right now over the xenoblade thing. Funny thing is, gamestop is basically doing what they do, but at a larger scale. And by that, I mean flipping a game to a demanding market to make more money off of it than they should have. Just kinda funny to see people get so devastated and butthurt over a practice they hold dear. But oh well, shoulda bought the game when it came out instead of sitting there saying "Herp derp I'll buy it when its $10, NO DEAL!"

As you can guess I hate most CAGers.

[Native Jovian]

I don't really have a problem with them selling it at an inflated price -- if that's how much people are willing to pay for it, then more power to them. What bothers me is the fact that they're branding them as used to do so. If people are willing to pay $90 for a used game, then why wouldn't they be willing to pay $90 for a new game? There's either some sort of MSRP deal where they're not allowed to sell a new game for that much -- in which case shucking off the plastic wrap and selling it as "used" is actually kinda shady -- or else they don't think that people would be willing to pay that much for a new game (but are for a used one), which is stupid.

[Flash Strife]

Pretty sure they can't sell new games WAY over MSRP without possible repercussions, that's why they gut them and raise the price by calling the games used, it allows them to sidestep any deal they have. Also found this...

XD

Edited August 16, 2013 by Flash Strife
Messed up a part. I feel asleep

[Annie Felis]

Yeah, this is not a legal way to get around the MSRP standard. The games aren't actually pre-owned or used. Gamestop can sell its used games for whatever they want, but this will probably get them in trouble. It'll probably help with the piracy of Xenoblade, too. People pirate games based on their availability, followed by their price.

[zircon]

In the U.S., as far as I'm aware, you can sell stuff at whatever price you want. There are sometimes limits on what price you advertise something at (MAP - minimum advertised price) though, and possibly some additional local restrictions. But manufacturers have not been able to dictate retail prices for a long time.

[Gollgagh]

I've never heard of the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" being a legally-bound price, anyway; where are you guys getting that?

[Argle]

I've never heard of the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" being a legally-bound price, anyway; where are you guys getting that?

+1, I've never heard this either. I would assume a store could sell it above teh MSRP, and simply no one would buy it.

[Mirby]

Arizona teas are have an MSRP of 99¢ but there's a store there that sells it for $1.25; even puts the price tag over the 99¢ printed on the can itself. It's right next to a Walgreen's that sells the exact same thing for, you know, 99¢.

So no one really goes there to buy it because, as Argle pointed out, it's above MSRP.

However, for a much sought-after game like Xenoblade that isn't as readily available, the situation is slightly different.

[Native Jovian]

I've never heard of the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" being a legally-bound price, anyway; where are you guys getting that?

I don't think it's a criminal matter -- no one's going to get arrested over it, certainly -- but it could be a civil one if the retailer has a deal with the publisher that says "if you buy from us, you have to sell at the MSRP". If Gamestop is buying at the publisher rate, then turning around and calling new games "used" in order to get around contract agreements, then they could get in trouble with the publisher for that. Given that Xenoblade's publisher is Nintendo, that could be a big deal.

Emphasis on "could". I don't know if it's actually the case.

[Flash Strife]

You don't HAVE to sell at MSRP, though I thought they had a deal with Nintendo to sell this game and that the deal would mention something about selling it at MSRP, though I would have no idea about that sort of thing. Just seems slimy that it would be reprinted (if it's true) and that GS would get a majority of the profit by calling it used. Unless Nintendo is in on it too, then they would just look worse then they already do in my eyes.

[alrubedo]

I had a Gamestop employee recently come off smug as all hell. My girlfriend recently acquired a new copy of Xenoblade Chronicles for around $90 off Amazon and I couldn't have been happier, but before we went online we tried to go through our local store and a few third party locations and no dice. We understood the game was rare, but we kept at it.

Just the other week went in there and one of the guys says, "We were just talking about you. Isn't this the game you were looking for?"

And when confirmed, he added, "Bet'cha paid more for it online, didn't you?"

I took all my restraint to not smack the smugness of his mug with the facts that not only was my copy factory sealed, new, free of scratches, but it didn't come from Gamestop. The disk was being sold pre-owned for $90 and was scratched to Hades and back.

And another instance - We attempted to pre-order Saints Row 4: Wub Wub Edition (and no, not a fan of the name of the bundle but, hey, as a collector of the series and genre in general, why the hell not, right?) and we had the money ready, and with no explanation, this slow fellow (speed, not mentality) working there states, "Oh, we can't order that particular one anymore. But you can order the more expensive one for only thirty dollars more."

And then later we found out you COULD still order the Wub edition. Maybe it's a mixed bag of reviews but generally the employees at my Gamestop openly admit their policies and such blow.

EDIT: After reading more posts of people not receiving their games from the employees handling the transaction. I haven't had that happen but what I do is before I make a purchase, I must: A) Handle the disk myself and look for wear on the disk, both surface and edge wise; B)If it's special edition but I know nothing of the game, and they don't have the extras, I'm willing to forgo the extras because the last time this particular thing happened, it was Radiant Historia and I had not played it prior so soundtrack wasn't important; And C) I only work with female employees. I refuse to work with the males at our Gamestop because they're not only arrogant, but they lack insight to customer service while the females are all hardcore gamer types who know their stuff.

Edited August 16, 2013 by alrubedo

[Brushfire]

I have a legit beef with Gamestop.

They lost my paycheck.

Yup.

Lost it.

Somehow it is my fault too.

"We deposited it in a bank account that wasnt yours, even though your direct deposit was set correctly to your actual bank 8 days earlier. Still your fault though. Do all of the leg work to get this corrected for us."

"Fuck..."

[Brushfire]

During a "training" session today a piece of Gamestamp propaganda.

"DLC and Downloadable Titles are great solutions for gamers that want to "Go Green.""

Yet most DLC and DL Titles are printed plastic cards, and all videogames require electricity to run.

So yeah.

There is that.

[CinnamonJihad]

Okay, here is something that has been sort of bothering me. Yesterday I went to Gamestop with my friend and he picked out a couple of used games to buy, one being the Witcher 2 for Xbox. While he was waiting in line another friend of mine came in who I went to talk to while my other friend was checking out. When my friend was done we left Gamestop and he proceeded to tell me how he really "lucky" because he had got a brand new disc for the Witcher 2. The lady working there told him that apparently someone had bought the Witcher, opened the case, and returned it about an hour later without even playing the game, so despite being sold as "used" it was actually brand new.

Maybe I'm over thinking it, but this story sounds dodgy as shit to me. It sounds way too convenient for Gamestop that something like this happened and I just can't bring myself to believe that someone bought the game to open it and return it.

So there is my 2 cents

[Argle]

Okay, here is something that has been sort of bothering me. Yesterday I went to Gamestop with my friend and he picked out a couple of used games to buy, one being the Witcher 2 for Xbox. While he was waiting in line another friend of mine came in who I went to talk to while my other friend was checking out. When my friend was done we left Gamestop and he proceeded to tell me how he really "lucky" because he had got a brand new disc for the Witcher 2. The lady working there told him that apparently someone had bought the Witcher, opened the case, and returned it about an hour later without even playing the game, so despite being sold as "used" it was actually brand new.

Maybe I'm over thinking it, but this story sounds dodgy as shit to me. It sounds way too convenient for Gamestop that something like this happened and I just can't bring myself to believe that someone bought the game to open it and return it.

So there is my 2 cents

What would be the benefit for Gamestop to lie about a used game being new, though? Not sure I see the angle.

[Brushfire]

I have seen that happen from time to time.

The policy when buying new games at Gamestamp is: Once the shrink wrap is gone, then the game is yours. You CANNOT return it. You have a 30 day window for an exact exchange, but that is it.

People buy it, get it home, and then they trade it in cause the manager isnt willing to work with the customer and just take the return.

Being the advocate of the customer that I am, I will just take the return and be done with it.

[CinnamonJihad]

I wasn't thinking they were lying about the disc, it just seems strange to me that they are selling a new game as used. Normally this wouldn't be strange to me, but since used game sales are much more profitable for them, it just seemed very weird to me. However, like I said earlier it could just be me over thinking it. Also, Brush says it happens so maybe my friend really did just get lucky by getting a disc someone decided not to play after buying it.

[Annie Felis]

I have seen that happen from time to time.

The policy when buying new games at Gamestamp is: Once the shrink wrap is gone, then the game is yours. You CANNOT return it. You have a 30 day window for an exact exchange, but that is it.

People buy it, get it home, and then they trade it in cause the manager isnt willing to work with the customer and just take the return.

Being the advocate of the customer that I am, I will just take the return and be done with it.

Yeah, this is most definately true. Whenever I've bought PC games at Gamestop, the sales clerk has made absolutely sure I understood that if my PC didn't have the proper specs to run the game, I couldn't return it after opening it. I got an especially long lecture when buying Skyrim and told repeatedly I'd be better off playing it on PS3 (which I wasn't, patches come for PC first).

[Argle]

Isn't that the policy of most retail stores though? Once the seal is open they don't want it back for obvious reasons. Idk, I haven't bought a new physical product game in eons.