ebgames.com local store search

[Backlash]

Is it possible to find out what B&M stores have a product if it's not in stock online? I really hate how their site doesn't give you a product page if it's not in stock, instead of giving the normal details with a big Out of Stock warning.

This is one situation where gamestop.com is much better.

[bostonfrontier]

call the store

[Backlash]

There are 28 EBs within 50 miles of me.

[The Successful Dropout]

There are 28 EBs within 50 miles of me.

guess you better get busy ;)

[Backlash]

Doh. So I guess there's no way using the site, huh? :(

[Apossum]

nope. and yeah, it does suck that they pull the product page. wouldn't it be easier just to put "Back ordered" like gamestop?

[billyG]

nope. and yeah, it does suck that they pull the product page. wouldn't it be easier just to put "Back ordered" like gamestop?

I assume they do it so people don't back order stuff online?

[PaP3rKuT]

i dont know maybe thats why i never shop at ebs but i hate calling stores coz they are usually too lazy to check for u and that they dont have it and when u go in there u can actually find the product

[argyle]

Eh, not like Gamestop's is always that accurate anyway. I had checked & found a Gamestop about an hour & a half away that claimed they had both Suikoden 2 & Ogre Battle for the psx. I called, but the girl who answered was useless - basically, she didn't know & didn't care. Well, it just so happened that I had to go that way on business last Friday, and that GS was 1.5 miles from where I was going to be working.

So I stopped in, and this time was greeted by a useless guy - I told him what I was looking for, and he goes "Uhhh, the website just tells you what the warehouse has, not the store." So I corrected him. He then starts looking in the PS2 games when I had clearly stated 2 or 3 times that it was a psONE game I was after. So after triumphantly showing me a copy of Suikoden III, then looking some more after I shot that down, he comes over to where I've been going through the psx games all this time to declare they don't have it. Then he looks at me REALLY confused, and slowly asks "Was it a PS2 game or a PSOne game you were looking for?" "PSONE!" (very irritated by now) "Oh...well, all of those are here" And at that he wanders off.

Anyway, I continued to look through 2 full shelves of games, TWICE. I looked at every title there. All I came up with was the case for Ogre Battle, no sign of S2. I took the case up to the desk knowing how this would end - every other psx game had the cd in the case except this one. But maybe they were smart enough not to leave the disk of a $35 game in the case, right? Maybe? No, of course not. Stolen.

So "yay" for Gamestop's game locator. :-|

[PaP3rKuT]

Anyway, I continued to look through 2 full shelves of games, TWICE. I looked at every title there. All I came up with was the case for Ogre Battle, no sign of S2. I took the case up to the desk knowing how this would end - every other psx game had the cd in the case except this one. But maybe they were smart enough not to leave the disk of a $35 game in the case, right? Maybe? No, of course not. Stolen.

So "yay" for Gamestop's game locator. :-|

well im sure the inventory locator doesnt update on stolen goods, and mayne the suik 2 is somewhere in the store...because they usually keep the expensive games behind the counters or maybe an employee just stash the game somewhere so he can buy it when he gets paid...but still it hasnt been sold yet so the invent search is not as faulty as most peopel thinks

[urzishra14]

well im sure the inventory locator doesnt update on stolen goods, and mayne the suik 2 is somewhere in the store...because they usually keep the expensive games behind the counters or maybe an employee just stash the game somewhere so he can buy it when he gets paid...but still it hasnt been sold yet so the invent search is not as faulty as most peopel thinks

i always thought GS employees stash games.. but the time i went into mine i got threads of fate, persona, i saw that firefighter game, starcraft 64 and kirbys so i thought it was kinda weird i usually thought that the employees scooped up the good games before they even hit the store floor.

[Backlash]

I assume they do it so people don't back order stuff online?

The website can show the product without letting someone order it. It would just say Out of Stock and not have the Add to Cart button on the page.

[Kain Vincent]

i always thought GS employees stash games.. but the time i went into mine i got threads of fate, persona, i saw that firefighter game, starcraft 64 and kirbys so i thought it was kinda weird i usually thought that the employees scooped up the good games before they even hit the store floor.

Not every GS employee stashes games, but that could be because they don't like those games. Of course, if it's "rare", then it's a different story.

[PaP3rKuT]

well it depends on if they really want those games because i remember when i picked up a rez the employee told me it was traded in the night before and if i didnt pick it up, she would of brought it when she got off and unload it on ebay...but atleast she was nice about to tell me that the game was there. im sure most of the employees doesnt really care much for rare games but some of them mite

[schultzed]

nope. and yeah, it does suck that they pull the product page. wouldn't it be easier just to put "Back ordered" like gamestop?

I prefer EB's straight up approach to stock. First come, first served.

[dfg]

There are 28 EBs within 50 miles of me.

Me too. I was looking for an OOP PC game that I didn't want to spend $70+ on online. So I printed up the whole list, 6 per page, getting ready to sit in my car and call them all. But after calling the first one and finding that they didn't have it in their store, the guy offered to check his whole district on the computer. None in his district had any, but then he recommended I call a different store in a different district, so that they could check district-wide also. Repeat, rinse. Yeah, there are nearly 40 stores around here, but after only 3 phone calls (but an hour in rush hour traffic), I had a copy waiting for me for $10. Plus, I was out at some boondocks store that had a new-to-me selection to peruse (i.e. I picked up some more stuff I couldn't find elsewhere).

Oh yeah, don't forget that it really improves service and the clerks' willingness to assist you on the phone when you say "please", "thank you", and "I appreciate it".

[billyG]

i always thought GS employees stash games.. but the time i went into mine i got threads of fate, persona, i saw that firefighter game, starcraft 64 and kirbys so i thought it was kinda weird i usually thought that the employees scooped up the good games before they even hit the store floor.
Most of the time they do, any game store that doesn't have any collectors/e-bayers working there is a rare find in itself.


There have been many times that I have gone into a GS/Eb and asked about one of the games I need still and the first thing the guy will say is "that goes for $80+ on e-bay" or "If we did I would have bought it"

[argyle]

well im sure the inventory locator doesnt update on stolen goods, and mayne the suik 2 is somewhere in the store...because they usually keep the expensive games behind the counters or maybe an employee just stash the game somewhere so he can buy it when he gets paid...but still it hasnt been sold yet so the invent search is not as faulty as most peopel thinks


I'd bet you that the game wasn't "stashed" or bought by an employee at this store - these people were completely ignorant of games. Suikoden 2, most likely, was the target of a 5-finger discount. Since as I mentioned, they didn't keep the expensive games behind the counter or that's where Ogre Battle would have been.

And my point is, if Gamestop employees don't bother to use basic precautions to keep these games from getting stolen, does it really matter if the locater shows it in stock or not? If any part of the system is broken, the system is useless.

One more point - saying "please" might help you out on the phone if the people actually care in the first place. If they don't, it doesn't matter what you say. Most of these stores keep their PSOne games in a big bin all mixed together, and as soon as you ask if they have one they decide right then that they're not about to check.

EDIT: Also, how long does it take the system to update? I just checked, and that same store still lists Ogre Battle as being in stock. So either the system is slow to update, or the employees didn't bother to remove it from the system even though I brought them the empty case show that it had been stolen...