That was so sad

KongaKing

KongaKing

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I was at gamestop today and I counted 19, yes, 19, gutted copies of the new Pokemon DS game. They were all for sale, as new. Such a sad sight.
 
[quote name='KongaKing']I was at gamestop today and I counted 19, yes, 19, gutted copies of the new Pokemon DS game. They were all for sale, as new. Such a sad sight.[/quote]

Wow, yeah, that never made any sense to me. There's no reason to open so many copies and make a dumb display out of them. One is sufficient. I understand it's a bigger release, but come on. Everyone who wants one pretty much knows it already. They aren't gonna go in and say, "Wow, there are 20 cases of that on the rack. I want it, now!"
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Wow, yeah, that never made any sense to me. There's no reason to open so many copies and make a dumb display out of them. One is sufficient. I understand it's a bigger release, but come on. Everyone who wants one pretty much knows it already. They aren't gonna go in and say, "Wow, there are 20 cases of that on the rack. I want it, now!"[/QUOTE]

Exactly. I don't like gutting at all in the first place, but if they are going to do it, I can at least see their point of gutting one copy to put on the shelf. Someone takes it up to them, they give them a new, sealed copy, then returns the gutted copy back to the shelf. But 19? I was in total shock. There was a bunch on display by the normal DS games, but then a ton more on a cardboard display up front. There might have been even more on the other side of the display, I didn't even look there. Ug.
 
what i do is i go up to the counter and ask them for a copy of the game i want and they open there glass case and give me a new sealed one, try this don't even look at the gutted cases lol
 
[quote name='KongaKing']Exactly. I don't like gutting at all in the first place, but if they are going to do it, I can at least see their point of gutting one copy to put on the shelf. Someone takes it up to them, they give them a new, sealed copy, then returns the gutted copy back to the shelf. But 19? I was in total shock. There was a bunch on display by the normal DS games, but then a ton more on a cardboard display up front. There might have been even more on the other side of the display, I didn't even look there. Ug.[/quote]

Every time I have ever taken a gutted game to the counter, the employee has gone straight to the drawer. I always ask if they have a new copy and I get a blank stare like "what's wrong with this one?"

One of my most recent attempts at getting a sealed copy led to the employee telling me that it's the last one. He rings me up and on my way out the door one of the other employees asks him why he didn't just get a sealed one out of the case. The guy says "I didn't feel like it. I'll just open another one for the shelf later."

I turned around and returned it on the spot. Jerk.
 
once again I will say WTF happend to all the promo cases they had in the comming soon rack? every Gs around here throws them away as soon as the game hit's the shelves, surely they would be less work for the workers to just put them on the rack than gutting all the new games and resleveign them then putting them in alphabetical order.
 
[quote name='thelonepig']Every time I have ever taken a gutted game to the counter, the employee has gone straight to the drawer. I always ask if they have a new copy and I get a blank stare like "what's wrong with this one?"

One of my most recent attempts at getting a sealed copy led to the employee telling me that it's the last one. He rings me up and on my way out the door one of the other employees asks him why he didn't just get a sealed one out of the case. The guy says "I didn't feel like it. I'll just open another one for the shelf later."

I turned around and returned it on the spot. Jerk.[/QUOTE]

Wow man, that's just awful. When burnout paradise came out, I went to a gamestop I hadn't been to before, and asked if they had any new copies. They did. She walked over to the shelf to get the gutted case. I then asked, no, any new SEALED copies. She then offered to shrink wrap the game for me. Come on. It isn't like I'm collecting plastic wrap, that wasn't the point! Bah
 
Damn, that's a lot. I remember when Gran Turismo 4 came out and they had like 12 copies. We asked for a new copy and they only had gutted copies. We just left.

I always ask for a sealed copy whenever I buy new. If they ever give me shit, I do one of 3 things depending on how they react.
a) If the employee is cooperative but curious: I just say I prefer to open the item for myself as I'm paying for a new copy- make it an issue of principle.
b) If the employee offers to reseal it or put one of those stupid stickers on it: When I pay for something new, I expect it to be new. Toys R Us doesn't sell opened toys as new (they get display cases). Best Buy doesn't sell display TVs as new by sticking them back in the box (they sell them as open box).
c) Make an issue of being a dick if the employee acts like a bitch: I bring up the class action lawsuit against GameStop for resealed used games and selling them as new.

Luckily, I've never had an issue with it. There were two times I just accepted a gut copy though because I really didn't care.
 
I go straight up to the counter, ask for the game I want, and if they pull out the contents of the display box, I simply balk and walk out. I don't like it when they don't even ask you if the open copy is all right. Common courtesy goes a long way and doesn't take more than a second of your time. I understand that this is what they do (open games up for display purposes), but it's like their employees are drilled into thinking that there is nothing at all different from a factory-sealed game and open-box item. More than likely, the game has been sitting beyond the counter untouched (well, except for when they took it out of the case), but still. The case has been touched by a bunch of people, the instruction manual might have gotten bent, etc. It's not brand-new, anymore. Don't act like we're nuts for wanting a sealed game.
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']once again I will say WTF happend to all the promo cases they had in the comming soon rack? every Gs around here throws them away as soon as the game hit's the shelves, surely they would be less work for the workers to just put them on the rack than gutting all the new games and resleveign them then putting them in alphabetical order.[/quote]
This. I never understood what the hell happens to all of the promotional boxes and covers they had during reservation times.

Surely they can save at least one and reuse the others for other games.

I *guess* it makes sense for games that have very little copies in stock, but not big name releases.
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']once again I will say WTF happend to all the promo cases they had in the comming soon rack? every Gs around here throws them away as soon as the game hit's the shelves, surely they would be less work for the workers to just put them on the rack than gutting all the new games and resleveign them then putting them in alphabetical order.[/QUOTE]

This bothers me the most. If Gamestop has promo displays for titles, they should use them on the shelf, rather than gut new copies of the actual game. A lot of these prerelease promo cases also have back art as well, so all the info is on the case. Now, I have seen a select few Gamestops put a price sticker on the display prerelease case and use that for display, but more often then not they get rid of them when the game comes out.
 
I actually have one GS that puts price stickers on the promo cases instead of gutting copies of game such as RPGs that most people will be OCD about.
What's even worse is when they throw away all the GBA and DS cases.
 
[quote name='thelonepig']Every time I have ever taken a gutted game to the counter, the employee has gone straight to the drawer. I always ask if they have a new copy and I get a blank stare like "what's wrong with this one?"

One of my most recent attempts at getting a sealed copy led to the employee telling me that it's the last one. He rings me up and on my way out the door one of the other employees asks him why he didn't just get a sealed one out of the case. The guy says "I didn't feel like it. I'll just open another one for the shelf later."

I turned around and returned it on the spot. Jerk.[/quote]

What an ass. I never got why some GS employees feel offended when you ask them to do some work. It is their job.
 
[quote name='Shady3011']What an ass. I never got why some GS employees feel offended when you ask them to do some work. It is their job.[/quote]


Some people hate their jobs and the customer suffers.

People will only do what you will let them. If you (the customer) lets me act in a way that is irresponsible and don't check me on it or tell a manager, then how is the behavior going to change?
 
[quote name='jonathanp']Some people hate their jobs and the customer suffers.

People will only do what you will let them. If you (the customer) lets me act in a way that is irresponsible and don't check me on it or tell a manager, then how is the behavior going to change?[/quote]

Believe me, if they don't like their job I'll make sure they start looking for a new one the next day.
 
"If the product is opened by a gamestop official then its still new." that is what i was recently told by a "Official" , a dumb 17 year old who makes $5.50 an hour.
 
[quote name='jonathanp']Some people hate their jobs and the customer suffers.

People will only do what you will let them. If you (the customer) lets me act in a way that is irresponsible and don't check me on it or tell a manager, then how is the behavior going to change?[/quote]

This is part of it, but you also have the employees who think they hold some sort of "great" power because they're providing you games at the EXCLUSIVE gaming store (because um... Wal-Mart/Target/Best Buy/K-Mart/fye don't count). I've seen these types of people in all sorts of service jobs (and even outside of it)... but a lot of specialty stores.

Just because it's a specialty store... doesn't mean they're special.

I swear the same thing would happen at say, Blockbuster, if the employees had the "power" and I use that term loosely.

On a side note, most of the employees at my local Gamestop are good. Usually I end up there when the manager's in and he's cool as hell.

Also, I wonder why GS can't just contact game makers and ask for a few extra blank cases with orders. They amount to jack in cost and they could reuse them for the eventual disc only trade-ins. I know I refuse to buy a game at GS that doesn't have the original case... for the sole fact the price doesn't differ. (For instance, if I pick up a flick at West Coast used, and it has their purple and yellow store case... it comes out to like $4.99 all the time. I got the Hulk Hogan Unleashed set of like 3-discs for that price because of it.)
 
One of you big ballers should just go into the shop and collect the 30 or 40 games that you actually do want to buy. Just calmly wait for them to sort everything out and find the discs and all that. Then, 20 or 30 minutes later, when they finally have everything together, you can take a look through and sort out the gutted copies, push them to the side and say you only want to purchase the new ones while pushing the tiny pile toward them.
I'd like to see this recorded and Youtube'd as well.
Thank you. ;)
 
I preordered and prepaid for a game from Gamestop, and when I picked up the game the morning it was released, the clerk pulled the case off the wall and dug the game out of the drawer.

So I said "No, I've preordered" and the clerk said "Yeah, I know. We didn't get enough copies to sell so I had to open yours for display".

I asked him why he was gutting a copy of a game I already bought, to advertise a game they had none to sell, and he just shrugged and said "company rules".

I stopped shopping at Gamestop about 2 years ago.
 
[quote name='pyoobez']This is part of it, but you also have the employees who think they hold some sort of "great" power because they're providing you games at the EXCLUSIVE gaming store (because um... Wal-Mart/Target/Best Buy/K-Mart/fye don't count). I've seen these types of people in all sorts of service jobs (and even outside of it)... but a lot of specialty stores.

Just because it's a specialty store... doesn't mean they're special.

I swear the same thing would happen at say, Blockbuster, if the employees had the "power" and I use that term loosely.

On a side note, most of the employees at my local Gamestop are good. Usually I end up there when the manager's in and he's cool as hell.[/quote]

This is pretty much what I have been saying for a long time. Service at GS stinks, but service at most retail stores stink.

Fortunately, like you, most of the employees at the two stores in my city (there are actually three, now, in a city that is about three miles long!) are pretty decent. Plus, they know me by now, so they pass on the sales shtick with me. They also know to ask if I will be ok with the display copy before they try and push it on me.
 
Really glad I got my sealed copy from Amazon. This just reinforces what I have been seeing at gamestop stores in my area, they just gut everything now. Walmart had a ton of copies of the Pokemon game here, and they still had about 6+ collectors editions left as of last Saturday. Its the end of the month here and I am in a city with a 14.4% unemployment rate so they won't sell until the first of the month, or when all the kids are begging for video games for easter gifts.
 
I'm surprised someone hasn't chimed in with 'another thread whining about GS'. Personally, I love all of these bitching threads about GS, but since we as CAG's aren't the majority of their customer base, NOTHING WILL EVER fuckIN' CHANGE!!

Their customer base is the soccer moms and their whiny brats who don't give a shit what condition stuff is in, the knuckleheads who line up at midnight for the latest bullshit Madden game and act like it's the greatest fuckin thing and the idiots who are too stupid/lazy to look on the friggin' internet for a better deal on shit that might actually come SEALED and not in shittastic condition.
 
I don't think anyone has complained, because this is a thread about a legitimate GS issue just about everyone hates. I give GS a lot of business, because it's 2 minutes from my house, but the gutting of 10+ copies of a game makes absolutely zero sense on any level, no matter how you try to wrap your head around it.
 
It's one of the bigger problems though and one that is not going to be resolved until GS corporate stops being so fuckin' cheap and either pays for empty cases and asks for copies of the coverart to promote each game from the publishers of said games.

If TRU can do it and they're a national chain, then why the hell can't GS? It's because actually paying the fraction of a cent per case would cut out that much of their bottom line and we can't have Gamestop making less than they did last year even by a tiny fraction, right?
 
As far as GS is concerned, they already make a pretty thin profit on new games, anyway, so any method by which they can cut corners, they are going to do it. And unfortunately, this is never going to change, because, as you said, folks like us are not their targets. Most of their customers simply buy the opened copy without even thinking about it.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']As far as GS is concerned, they already make a pretty thin profit on new games, anyway, so any method by which they can cut corners, they are going to do it.[/quote]
Which is unfortunate, because it's not like they aren't raking in a shit load of cash each year.
 
The one thing that bothers me with the gutting copies of games is Gamestop could get promo cases for free. Game publishers lick Gamestops balls so much by providing Gamestop special DLC and whatnot only availible to Gamestop customers preordering the game. I'm sure publishers would not mind throwing in a couple promo cases (which cost practically nothing) into the shipment of games. All Gamestop has to do is ask.
 
[quote name='pyoobez']
Also, I wonder why GS can't just contact game makers and ask for a few extra blank cases with orders. They amount to jack in cost and they could reuse them for the eventual disc only trade-ins. I know I refuse to buy a game at GS that doesn't have the original case... for the sole fact the price doesn't differ. (For instance, if I pick up a flick at West Coast used, and it has their purple and yellow store case... it comes out to like $4.99 all the time. I got the Hulk Hogan Unleashed set of like 3-discs for that price because of it.)[/quote]

I wonder why GS doesn't print the covers themselves. Blockbuster does it and blockbuster is a failing company. Why can't a company who makes $2 billion+ in revenue year after year shell out a bit of money for cover art?
 
This is a legitimate issue as there is no other store I can think of that guts games, at least in my area. Even circuit city didn't gut games.

They are obviously selling used games as new under certain circumstances (if an employee checks out a new game) so technically what they are doing is illegal.

I have never used any foul language with this issue I have simply stated the facts.

My blockbuster keeps all the original cases and manuals and hands you the manual from a cabinet behind the counters when you buy a used game. They seem to be extremely organized unlike Gamestop where the employees cannot find anything. Their new games are kept in the TRU style plastic boxes. They have lower used prices on games than Gamestop, and their stuff is in better condition. YMMV on this however, as another blockbuster I went to had all their used Wii games in generic cases for the same prices as the above blockbuster. If you find a good blockbuster store just stick with that one if at all possible.
 
Sorry, but that's a big YMMV, in my opinion. Every Blockbuster I have ever stepped into has been a complete and utter mess when it comes to used games. The games are completely unorganized, many of them are missing cases or manuals, and the few times I actually bought from them (never again), the discs were absolutely beaten to hell. GameStop also has a way better selection of used games. I mostly see old junk at Blockbuster.
 
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