BestBuy Enforcing Removal of GCU If You Go Past 3 Game Limit

Why defend Best Buy? They only recently started to enforce their own TOS about the 3 game limit. What they should've done in the first place (and I know this sounds super duper complicated) is have a system in place that automatically removes your GCU discount after you go past the 3 game per title limit. I buy 3 Overwatch for Xbox One? I get the GCU discount on the first three and then it reverts back to pre-GCU price.

BB's system is shit. They completely and totally shutter your account. They reset your entire account for violating the GCU terms. Your order history disappears, your warranties disappear, and your rewards disappear. It's beyond stupid.

 
I m a elite plus member, I bought just cause 3 , 2 copies few days ago after the price drop. I think i must have bought few discs earlier in black Friday also.

I just checked after reading the post. My account is now wiped out. Elite plus Stats gone. i cant even see my past purchases, My points are gone. GCU is gone for sure. Everything is gone. its like i just created a new Account.

Edit : I knew about the 3 purchases rule. im not blaming them. all these years they never bothered with it. But now they going with the ban Hammer

 
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intent said:
LOL, it's probably in the terms and conditions that if you cheat them once they can assume you're a cheater elsewhere. Best you'll get with a class action is some store credit or a miniscule check not because Best Buy is wrong, but because they'd rather pay a few million to tell the lawyers to go away than to risk a trial.
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Yea, I violated the 3 game limit so I have no issue with GCU being deleted, but stealing my $15 is wrong.

I would contact Best Buy's customer service, but navigating through that mess is not on my to do list on a Saturday morning.

 
heroes159 said:
I m a elite plus member, I bought just cause 3 , 2 copies few days ago after the price drop. I think i must have bought few discs earlier in black Friday also.

I just checked after reading the post. My account is now wiped out. Elite plus Stats gone. i cant even see my past purchases, My points are gone. GCU is gone for sure. Everything is gone. its like i just created a new Account
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It's a cluttered mess. I had some active preorders for Smash Bros(Switch), Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Kingdom Hearts..... All deleted.

Not to mention the $15 in rewards points they stole.

I'm pretty salty, I just don't feel like dealing with it right now.

 
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Thebacklash said:
The 3 limit is in the FAQ here, as well as BB’s welcome email packet, and the ToS on their website. And mentioned all the time here as well.

If you are a cag, and a GCU member and you had no clue about the 3 game limit... thats your fault for not reading.

Im mad at BB for canceling GCU... but i cant find any problem with this. They are simply cracking down in people who broke the rules.
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I know. This three limit isn't exactly secret information, it is actually pretty generous they let you use it for three so you can help out a friend or get someone a gift. The limit could have been one. I've always thought their system should just disable the discount after three, but it hits so few people the extra coding isn't worth it, that's probably why they went with the three buffer.

People should realize in general by now retailers do not like having their sales/discounts being used as a wholesale mechanism (with free returns for unsold product) for flippers.

 
Damn, I bought 405 copies of Overwatch for my neighborhood so we could play together, and now I get banned out of the blue.  WTF?!  And they took away all the points I earned from those 405 copies!

 
I have a hunch that nowhere in the tos did it say that going over the limit of purchases with GCU would cause you to lose the warranties on any product you ever purchased.

People could be losing thousands of dollars worth of warranties on appliances and home installations , hell people could have paid two days ago $250 for TV calibration or home installation, that money is gone and no one will show up for the appointment and any record of it is erased. People are gonna have to file fraud charges and hope they used a real CC not a debit to pay all these years.

The fact that Best Buy wouldn’t do the bare minimum and simply turn off the automatic 20% off when a customer attempts to buy their third (fourth?) copy means this is entirely their fault.
 
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Xellos2099 said:
I throiugh it is common knowledge it is 3 copy per console per year
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It is. It always has been and they've always put down the banhammer before. It's just come in massive sporadic waves, unlike GS where it is triggered instantly. The bans have been reported on CAG before this is nothing new. It's just been a long time since the last wave so newbs were caught unaware.

Also best buy prob thought this was a good time to swing away since they killed GCU and this is an easy way to weed some out so they don't have to send gift cards to those guys
 
I didn't know this was a rule either.  It makes sense.  I just bought 7 copies of Runner3 to give to friends/support the developer.  It's the only time I've done it (not more than once in 12 months), and I didn't buy them all at the same time.  Nice that they were putting the brakes on scalpers though.

 
Returns should not count towards the limit. Buying and trading in, sure, but returning is supposed to basically void the initial order, so it shouldn't count against you. Unless you're abusing returns, that is, but that's a whole other situation.

That being said...

GoldenGod1 said:
I miss old Bestbuy. No order limits. In December of 2016 I probably bought $60k+ worth of games that year. That was also the year you could abuse Visa Checkout for $20 off of 100.

Damn that was great.
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Sounds like you had this coming, OP.

 
Does seem pretty unfair that BB is closing accounts and taking back reward points completely. GCU should be entirely separate, regardless of breaking the 3 game limit. Definitely recommend contacting the FTC and CFPB for those affected.

Josef said:
To me, it almost seems like they are gearing up to discontinue the program entirely later this year. First, stop customers from buying or renewing GCU. Next, use a "loophole" to get rid of a bunch of still active GCU accounts to lower the total number of users. After the dust has settled from that announce they will be ending the program and issuing prorated credits/refunds to those that remain. By getting rid of a bunch of accounts that had violated the GCU TOS they will pay out less money/credits when they ultimately discontinue the program.

To me the writing is on the wall with this and it may happen sooner than you think.
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This seems like the biggest take away to me. They are going to try everything to get rid of existing memberships ASAP. Anyone know if preorders made with GCU now would be honored in a future where it is canceled before the game is released?

Guess its worth a shot anyway.

 
I dont even see my discount anymore when looking at games, im pissed, I have a little over a year left on my membership.

 
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You knowingly broke the rules, no use bitching and moaning about it. And they didn't take away anyone's "money" or warranties, those were incentives offered as part of a program that you broke the rules of. Good luck suing them after agreeing to terms and conditions that you knowingly broke.

 
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VintageSTX said:
Does seem pretty unfair that BB is closing accounts and taking back reward points completely. GCU should be entirely separate, regardless of breaking the 3 game limit. Definitely recommend contacting the FTC and CFPB for those affected.

This seems like the biggest take away to me. They are going to try everything to get rid of existing memberships ASAP. Anyone know if preorders made with GCU now would be honored in a future where it is canceled before the game is released?

Guess its worth a shot anyway.
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Yeah get ready for GCU to be wiped out before the holiday season, if not sooner. Don't think they'll cancel preorders made with the discount, but at this point wouldn't be surprised if they do.

 
at least now people can start to get a glimpse of what socialist-style rationing will bring you. Now imagine that with food, water, electricity, housing, et al.

Beat Best Buy to the punchline. Inundate them with calls, emails, social posts and don't only throw their shitty membership back in their face but let them know you won't do business with them ever again
 
It kind of sucks that I can't buy games for my all of my friends and family with a nice discount, but how did people even go about breaking this rule??

 
f tankk said:
at least now people can start to get a glimpse of what socialist-style rationing will bring you. Now imagine that with food, water, electricity, housing, et al.Beat Best Buy to the punchline. Inundate them with calls, emails, social posts and don't only throw their shitty membership back in their face but let them know you won't do business with them ever again
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Lol wtf?
 
Did anyone try to use their emailed certificates in-store? Obviously, they don’t work on the site anymore.
 
1) Yeah ToS we’re broke so good luck in that class action. The better chance of that is if they just cancel everyone even those who didn’t violate the ToS and ar best we would walk away with a few bucks and maybe one 20% coupon.

2) I love that someone tried to turn this is a “what socialism is” while BB is basically using the rules of capitalism to increase revenue and up shareholder value, but yeah socialism.
 
I bought Breath of the Wild 4 four times. 2 SE's, 1 regular edition plus that price mistake. They should count as different skus but not taking any risks. Used up all my banked points. Rather take loss on EBay selling the crap I bought off over losing all my points.

I will be pissed if they wipe my order history as I ordered a lot more than just games. Going to screen shot everything for the past two years. Is there an easy way to just download it?

 
f tankk said:
at least now people can start to get a glimpse of what socialist-style rationing will bring you. Now imagine that with food, water, electricity, housing, et al. Beat Best Buy to the punchline. Inundate them with calls, emails, social posts and don't only throw their shitty membership back in their face but let them know you won't do business with them ever again
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This is how stupid you sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkbj_S3etY

 
What's amazing to me about this whole thread is how many people have been making it clear they don't read and don't know what they're paying for. 

 
I wonder if I should be worried about losing my $10 rewards I got just this morning. I've never bought any game more then once but still concerning reading this.
 
Someone said earlier in the thread that returning and repurchasing causes you to go over the 3 game limit. 

Not quite sure if it's the same thing but earlier in the year I bought 4 switch games (including 2 Mario Odyssey, Street Fighter and Pokemon), then I wanted to exchange Pokemon and Street Fighter for 2 different games.  What they did at the register was exchange the entire original purchase, so it shows that I exchanged Mario Odyssey 4 times.  Don't know why they did this.  I just wanted to swap the 2 non-Mario games out for 2 other games. 

They kept saying at the register that it was a bundle.  A four game bundle.  I said no it's not a bundle.  I just bought 4 separate games.  Still, the way they processed the exchange was weird because they insisted on exchanging the entire receipt.  Now Mario shows up as purchased 2 times and exchanged 4 times, even though I only bought it twice. 

Best Buy man...ever since they got rid of the GCU registers it's been all down hill.  The cashiers act like they hate games (whether you're buying or trading) 90% of the time. 

 
Am I the only one that has GCU for discount on games? The concept of flipping is ridiculous- the time it takes to buy a game for 20 to sell for 25...just get another job or work extra shifts
 
FlyingMonkey9 said:
Am I the only one that has GCU for discount on games? The concept of flipping is ridiculous- the time it takes to buy a game for 20 to sell for 25...just get another job or work extra shifts
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It wasn't too hard for people to drop ship. When an order comes in you just make an order on Best Buy and ship it from there. Easy profit and if there's an issue you return it to BB. It's not a huge profit by any means and I'm surprised people will buy games from online strangers for a little less than MSRP.
 
Why not just cancel the GCU on the account? Wiping a My Best Buy account of its Elite status and reward points seems overboard to me.

Cannot wait until Best Buy cancels the GCU for everyone because "Gamers Club program may be modified or terminated by Best Buy at any time."
That is going to be epic.
 
Surprised to see so many here siding with BBY on this one. Just wait till it happens to you. I haven't seen my one and only GCU cancelled/banned yet but the complete wiping of things not even related to GCU goes well beyond terms of service. I don't know what criteria they are using but I am not willing to risk a significant reward point balance being stolen from me because I may go over a purchase qty limit on a game within a one year period. From what multiple people are reporting here, there seems to be too much risk of BBY doing what they want and I am not going to rely on the possibility of a lawsuit as a remedy. I will be discontinuing all business with BBY ASAP.  I have also spent thousands on things other than games (including purchased warranties on appliances) and have the BBY VISA card that gives rewards in points but I will not continue doing business with BBY if these things are at risk.

 
Canceling the warranties may be the only thing BB has done wrong.
Im betting thats a weekend “whoops” and will be back on your account in a few days.

The points/rewards... ToS guys.[attachment=30297:1E9ADE84-E13E-4D73-BA16-1B52FB65A260.png]
 
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My GCU purchases were such a small part of my elite plus status. If I never bought a game I'd have spent enough to be elite plus, so while they have the right to modify or erase my GCU, they should not erase my entire history of business with them. They took away the one reason why I don't get the same stuff I get on Amazon. Oh, they sure showed me, and shame on me, but now my money goes elsewhere. If they think that helps their cause then they are foolish.
 
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z24buddy said:
Surprised to see so many here siding with BBY on this one. Just wait till it happens to you. I haven't seen my one and only GCU cancelled/banned yet but the complete wiping of things not even related to GCU goes well beyond terms of service. I don't know what criteria they are using but I am not willing to risk a significant reward point balance being stolen from me because I may go over a purchase qty limit on a game within a one year period. From what multiple people are reporting here, there seems to be too much risk of BBY doing what they want and I am not going to rely on the possibility of a lawsuit as a remedy. I will be discontinuing all business with BBY ASAP. I have also spent thousands on things other than games (including purchased warranties on appliances) and have the BBY VISA card that gives rewards in points but I will not continue doing business with BBY if these things are at risk.
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Really? The logic's not that hard to follow:

Broke GCU game limit > Received RZ points for those games > In breach of GCU ToS > Got points for the transactions that caused breach > Points should not exist > Points are illegal > Terminated account

 
They've been doing this for a long time. I heard of a lot of cases of this happening two years ago on forums. I think they should put a mechanism in place that blocks you from going over the limit like Amazon does. Still, their policy as it is now is not as severe as Target. Target will permanently ban you without warning even if you don't go over quantity limits for a game (and not making multiple orders of the same title) during B2G1 free sales.

 
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Well I’d go use your points if you have any saved up now who knows if today is just the first day of cancelling stuff
 
That is my fear. I have hundreds of dollars in points and just bought three appliances from them. I only ever buy one copy of a game, but I do request price matches pretty consistently if items go on sale later. Does anyone know if the statements about buying and then getting a price adjustment count as multiple copies?

I dont want to lose close to 500 dollars in rewards nor go just start buying out of unnecessary fear.

Any thoughts?
 
IronChariot said:
They've been doing this for a long time. I heard of a lot of cases of this happening two years ago on forums. I think they should put a mechanism in place that blocks you from going over the limit like Amazon does. Still, their policy as it is now is not as severe as Target. Target will permanently ban you without warning even if you don't go over quantity limits for a game (and not making multiple orders) during B2G1 free sales.
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Can verify this.

I have done super simple searches (some here cant do that) and have been rewarded ... LOL. with forum posts dating back to 2013...... *right here on CAG*

I posted the screenshot of the ToS about membership cancelation above. Honestly took me 2 minutes to find...
 
No one knows anything mine got cancelled and I didn’t go over any limits in fact they didn’t send me an email that I did they just sent an email that they made me a new account but everything was gone ... I’d rather use the points instead of regret later



erikjo said:
That is my fear. I have hundreds of dollars in points and just bought three appliances from them. I only ever buy one copy of a game, but I do request price matches pretty consistently if items go on sale later. Does anyone know if the statements about buying and then getting a price adjustment count as multiple copies?

I dont want to lose close to 500 dollars in rewards nor go just start buying out of unnecessary fear.

Any thoughts?
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