[quote name='iggywiggum']They tested my GC when I brought it in. I'm pretty sure they do it every time.[/quote]
I worked at a Gamestop here in Indiana as a manager over the summer. Sounds absurd, but I quit a $35,000 a year job to go back to school and work at GS.
ANYWAY - We did not test systems UNLESS the person trading it in looked shady. By this I mean reeked of smoke, looked suspicious (and in a hurry), etc. If the system looked beat up, I would always want to test it (not to give the trader a hard time, but to ensure someone wouldn't buy a busted Cube, resulting in another trip and more work). I would tell the manager I wanted to test and he was like "Don't worry about it."This is because our regions had detailed reports every week complete with rankings in all sorts of categories (preorders and subscriptions being the main factors). Basically, the more used crap we bought, the better the ranking. We took them with 3rd party controllers, RF switches instead of RCAs, all sorts of crap.
2.) You can get cash instead of credit, but its 20% less and you have to be 18. Not a lot of people know about this.
3.) The reason the employees seem so clueless is because we were never told about these deals. And the systems used don't automatically do anything, so the employee has to not only know about the deal, but know how to manipulate the system to get it to work, which was hard on deals that weren't very popular (like the 3 for $10 DVDs, which required going over each item purchased and discounting the right amount of $ to make it even out).
4.) The way GS is set up is not so that every store makes a profit, but so the company controls more of the flow of used crap. So if a store takes in 100 Cubes, its guaranteed they won't be sold there. Some of them will be shipped to corporate for web sales, some will go to other region stores. They do daily counts that are loaded into a central database so the region managers have a constant tally of what's on hand - this is called the "Title on Hand" report.
5.) You are always bullied for reserves and subscriptions because we HAD to. I mean, its a big deal. People got canned all the time for having bad weeks.The goal for reg. employees (Game Advisors - who were limited to one day a week, two max, also bad for knowing about special offers) was two preorders and 2 subscriptions PER DAY. Managers had higher goals. Salesmanship is valued above all else. Now, the point of preorders is not to make money - GS/EB does not make shit on new stuff ($1 or $2 per unit sold), but to make sure you get in the store to buy used crap. None of which is tested. Our store (and all the ones in our region - I worked at several) had one crappy TV. People think they have a testing station in the back and stuff. All that was in the back rooms was pennied out strategy guides and piles of junk and used games that won't fit on the walls (We had like 300 copies of True Crime - Streets of LA, for instance). We couldn't test all the stuff that came in if we wanted to, which no one did. So beware,they have return policies, but they know that most people won't go through all that for a $10 controller.
So, really testing is not YMMV as much as it depends on the district, not the location.
Oh and refurb fees are normally $2 on games (and they have to be really, really bad) an $8-10 on systems (they'll take them non-working even if you say this, but minus the fee. Chances are the busted system won't be in the inventory of the store you sell it to. They ship the broken stuff off once per week to "corporate" - that's why the stores don't care, they get credit for the used stuff without getting stuck with it, hurting used sales.
Hope this helps. I think I'll post it on all the other threads here. If you have any other questionsm let me know. I'll answer everything because that company is a giant scam (in some ways, in others not so much - because you have to be stupid to be ripped off). There are a lot of misconceptions I can clear up
Oh, and the manager told us to tell people we tested them. I remember once a guy came and traded in his XBox for $40. I bagged the cords and controller, printed a sticker and sold it for $119 WHILE HE WAS STILL IN THE STORE. It worked I guess, but doesnt say much about the testing policies.
traders on. i traded in my gc and xbox ( ihave a 360) for the purpose of eventually getting a wii. after i sell all my accessories for both systems, i should have about enough for a wii, and i couldn't be happier
