A Gamestop Rant? That's a new thing!

Survivalism

Survivalism

CAGiversary!
I've always hated it when people rant on Gamestop. I'm a firm believer of, if you don't like their trade-in values or gutted games but keep shopping there anyway, you deserve to get ripped off. This isn't about that, this is a new thing that happened for the second time today. The first time, I kind of shrugged it off as just one of those things that happens sometimes, but twice in a row? I'm not sure what to make of it. It sounds incredibly trivial, really, but I know my fellow nerds will all understand why this is a big deal.

I went in today and bought a used copy of Oblivion. As I'm sure most, if not all of you can relate, when I buy used games, I dig around for the one in the best condition, and always, always with the instructions. If I find one I like that doesn't have the booklet, I'll take it from another copy. I will not leave without that booklet. Quite frankly, I think they should knock off a buck or two if a game isn't complete, but that's neither here nor there.

We have two Gamestops (on the same road); one's in the mall and the other is in a shopping plaza, and I frequent this one much more often. They have a better selection and a cute girl that works there, you figure it out. At this one, they've recently started keeping the used games in the back room as opposed to right behind the desk where they normally are in...any other store ever. So I give him my case and he takes it in the back to get the disc, and he comes back and rings it up. He also didn't take the 10% for my EDGE card, but, whatever, it's not about the $1.50. It didn't occur to me that I should check it out while I was there; Oblivion comes with that huge map so the case has got some weight to it and it felt all right. I get it home, no fucking instructions. The dude took the booklet OUT of the case. Seriously? There's ANY reason for that to happen? TWICE? Are they stockpiling instruction booklets? Why leave the map, why not just take everything out? I would have paid the extra $5 to buy it new from somewhere else if I had known this is apparently new store policy. Has this happened to anyone else?
 
Only thing I can think of is that because online now they say 360, Wii and PS3 games come complete with original case and manual, they take manuals from the stores for the disc only copies they want to sell online.
 
Do you live here in Racine? The GS setup (store location-wise), hot female worker at the one in the shopping center, etc... sounds almost identical. Just curious.

Anyways, yeah, it sucks. The ones here are getting worse as far has even having the actual cases go. So many Xbox games on the shelf in the crappy generic GS case with that dumb cartoon on the front. The PS3 selection, while slimmer at both, seems to at least have complete games though.

I would go back there though and tell them that prior to checking out, you looked and your copy had the booklet inside, and that once you left, you saw it was gone.
 
i always check and recheck after i get a title to make sure no funny tricks also to make sure the disk is in a working state. Also i have noticed that the 4 stores that i have within 3 miles of each other all have 1 girl now working there. worse part that they are not very helpful. The girl at play-n-trade is hot and a gamer. p.s. i live in va. It is getting much harder to get a complete title at the store anymore.
 
Never had that happen to me. Kinda lame. I was at my local GS this afternoon and brought home a copy of infamous - case and manual in tact. Sounds like the guys running your local GS are just douches.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']Only thing I can think of is that because online now they say 360, Wii and PS3 games come complete with original case and manual, they take manuals from the stores for the disc only copies they want to sell online.[/QUOTE]

I never even thought of that, I bet you're right. God, that's shady.

[quote name='RAMSTORIA']very odd. but you should have checked before you left.[/QUOTE]

I should have and won't be making the same mistake again. I'm not even entire sure it's the same case I picked out. It's a freakin' shame that it's necessary to make sure they didn't switch something you were willing to pay for with something you weren't right underneath your nose.

[quote name='Jerajdai']Sounds like the guys running your local GS are just douches.[/QUOTE]

This, too. Nobody in there is an outright douche, but the guy was definitely my least favorite employee. He's the one that's always pissed off that he's there and complains whenever he gets the chance, I have no tolerance for that.

Unrelated but equally-amusing story: I applied there a while back and spent five days of my life trying to track down the manager. On Monday, he opened at 10 and went home by noon, then he just plain wasn't there until Friday. When I finally found him, I waited in the store for two hours to talk to him while he interviewed someone. One person for two hours. Turns out it was a cute Asian girl. Uh-huh.
 
I still don't see why they are selling gutted games as new. Their policy is that you have 30 days to return an unopened game but how the fuck are you going to do that when they can just say that the game you are returning was used because it was gutted? Thats the sole reason why I don't go their to buy gifts.
 
One time during a b2 g1 sale I picked up some 9.99 games and all of them had 48 hour code cards in them and the guy at the register took them out and I didn't notice. I was going to give them to a friend so he could play online with me. I went to the tellgamestop.com site and filed a complaint on him and ended up taking the games back. I was thinking it was weird because if he wanted the 48 hour codes why didn't he just take them out of the cases off the shelf when they weren't busy or something.
 
They're keeping the used games in the back room now at the store you went to, OP? That's a bit weird, since they have all of the used games crammed into those 4-6 drawers behind the counter at every GS around here. And yes, I do mean CRAMMED in there.

But I do agree that you should have been more vigilant and re-inspected the game BEFORE leaving the store to make sure it was complete/mint because I have no doubt they'll probably think you took out the manual and just want a spare by going back days after the purchase to ask for it.
 
I do the same thing you do with the instruction booklet, I usually end up having to shop there by myself because it drives my girlfriend crazy when I finally find a game I want and have to look through all the cases to find the perfect one.

I haven't ever had this happen however, and I'd be so angry if it had happened to me. I will not buy a game without all it's original contents unless I get it for a discount. If i'm paying 54.99 for a used game, I better get everything it originally came with, save for inserts for games and what not.
 
Buy a used copy with the instructions, then return it without instructions to original store. If you feel like it, bitch the employee or manager out because they deserve it.

And they've done similar things to me, such as disc-swapping (showing me a pristine disc and then giving me a scratched up one). I gave them hell for that shit.
 
[quote name='bringerofdeath']I still don't see why they are selling gutted games as new.[/quote]

Like most of their policies and practices, they continue to do it, because they can. Little kids and soccer moms don't care.

Their policy is that you have 30 days to return an unopened game but how the fuck are you going to do that when they can just say that the game you are returning was used because it was gutted? Thats the sole reason why I don't go their to buy gifts.
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If you're buying a "new" game from them and are concerned you might have to return it, they will "seal" the game with a sticker or something. Of course, I've never had a problem getting a sealed game from GS, so I've never actually seen this practice (nor do I think I'd actually want it, to tell you the truth), but I've seen this mentioned by numerous CAGs.
 
I had a small inconvenience too lately at GS. They had multiple copies of a game I was buying and I specifically picked out the black label version. Guess which disc they put in the case and I didnt find out til I got home? I know I should have looked to make sure I didnt get one of the red label greatest hits versions, but it was the after Christmas rush and I was buying 5 other games with it during the B2G1 sale. I normally look at my games, but this one time, the damn idiots got me. I went back the next day and got my black label disc and it was in better shape than the GH one.
 
Survivalism... you don't happen to live in pittsfield, do you? Your gamestop setup sounds like the exact same as mine.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Like most of their policies and practices, they continue to do it, because they can. Little kids and soccer moms don't care.

If you're buying a "new" game from them and are concerned you might have to return it, they will "seal" the game with a sticker or something. Of course, I've never had a problem getting a sealed game from GS, so I've never actually seen this practice (nor do I think I'd actually want it, to tell you the truth), but I've seen this mentioned by numerous CAGs.[/QUOTE]

I'm one of those numerous CAGs who have reported having this happen and once I see that it's a newsed copy of a game, I just ask for a sealed one. No sealed copy=I walk out without buying anything.

I still don't get why the hell more customers aren't actually annoyed by this, but due to their prime customer base being as you said(soccer moms and their brats), they don't really care since their stuff is usually in shit condition so they're used to it.
 
The only time it doesn't bother me is if it is a cheap game. Pipe Mania for PS2 was $1.99 new. It was the display copy. I still bought it for that price, now if a game that was more than $9.99, I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't sealed.
 
I'm pretty sure the game that you got instead was actually backstock that they had of Elder Scrolls. The just had too many cases on the floor and put some in the back and took one of those to sell to you without checking for the contents. Just be sure to let them know what you want next time and as others have said, you have 7 days to exchange it.
 
Why all this fuss about exchanging it, returning it, filing a complaint, etc.? Just go back and ask for the instruction booklet. If you are civil about it, then there won't be a problem at all.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']They're keeping the used games in the back room now at the store you went to, OP? That's a bit weird, since they have all of the used games crammed into those 4-6 drawers behind the counter at every GS around here. And yes, I do mean CRAMMED in there.[/QUOTE]

At the one, yes. The other one still has them all at the desk, but it's also a much smaller store. I'd understand if it was a matter of having more product than floor space, but it's only the current-gen games in the store room. They're undoubtedly rotating more current-gen games than last-gen, so why would you want your employees to be constantly moving around the store like that instead of on the floor selling? That's not something management would overlook, which leads me to believe it's intentional, probably to have manuals to ship out like someone said.

[quote name='allout1986']I'm pretty sure the game that you got instead was actually backstock that they had of Elder Scrolls. The just had too many cases on the floor and put some in the back and took one of those to sell to you without checking for the contents. Just be sure to let them know what you want next time and as others have said, you have 7 days to exchange it.[/QUOTE]

Hah, there were three! If they were going to do it that way, why don't they just have one display case for everything and keep all the games in the back?

And to everyone saying "just go back and get it," that's not the point. I can GET a manual. It's the principle of switching out the one I wanted to pay for with whatever they had laying around. That's not something you should have to worry about at any store ever.
 
I always re-inspect each used game I buy at Gamestop at the store before I give them my credit card. If the disc is not up to standards I ask for another one. Sometimes they are cool with it, other times the guys complain about it. I also make sure I get the best looking case and a manual.

I would be pissed too if an employee swiped the manual.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']very odd. but you should have checked before you left.[/QUOTE]

Seconded, They've jacked me in the past multiple times, they even sold me a copy of Yakuza 1 that was the Demo disc, all this because the @$$ hat at the counter gave me grief over seeing the discs before I bought them, (I mainly looked to see if they weren't used as sand paper testers, not thinking they'd jack me on a demo disc version of a full game)

But honestly before they put that stupid white sticker on there inspect the inside, check the game out and make sure you're 100% satisfied before paying for it, regardless if they are inconvenienced by how much of their PRECIOUS time you're eating up.

And for the guy who commented on the GH version of the game, if it was Silent Hill 2 they gave you a bargain (the game has more content then the regular version) but even still I tried to buy that version one time and when the guy came back I specifically asked him if it was that version right before he was going to ring me up and he was like, uhh I dunno, what's the difference, opened the case and viola, black label, I'm like "no thank you" , turns out they had sold the GH version to someone else without even giving it a second thought.

Gotta love'em, that's why I haven't bought or even stepped foot into one of their stores in over 2 years now.
 
[quote name='addicted2games']I had a small inconvenience too lately at GS. They had multiple copies of a game I was buying and I specifically picked out the black label version. Guess which disc they put in the case and I didnt find out til I got home? I know I should have looked to make sure I didnt get one of the red label greatest hits versions, but it was the after Christmas rush and I was buying 5 other games with it during the B2G1 sale. I normally look at my games, but this one time, the damn idiots got me. I went back the next day and got my black label disc and it was in better shape than the GH one.[/QUOTE]

Gamestop did this same crap with pretty much every copy of Morrowind: Game of the Year on Xbox. 9 out of 10 times if you find a copy of the Morrowind GOTY in the wild that has a GS sticker on it, the disc you will get in the case will be the non-GOTY disc.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Gamestop did this same crap with pretty much every copy of Morrowind: Game of the Year on Xbox. 9 out of 10 times if you find a copy of the Morrowind GOTY in the wild that has a GS sticker on it, the disc you will get in the case will be the non-GOTY disc.[/QUOTE]

This happened to me last week, they had 5 cases for the GOTY edition, but NONE in the drawer. Had to go to another gamestop :cry:
 
Interestingly enough, I bought two games there last night and they were once again behind the counter. I watched the guy like a hawk, but he pulled no shenanigans. Maybe the guy from before is just a dick.
 
[quote name='Guerrilla']Buy a used copy with the instructions, then return it without instructions to original store. If you feel like it, bitch the employee or manager out because they deserve it.

And they've done similar things to me, such as disc-swapping (showing me a pristine disc and then giving me a scratched up one). I gave them hell for that shit.[/QUOTE]

yeah just return it and keep the map. thats your best bet(i think). you can keep the case if you really want, then you dont have to wortty about trying to find one with the case.
 
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