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

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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I think this is it. They're trying to cancel as many people's subscriptions as possible before they have to compensate people. It makes a lot of sense and just screams "Lord Business" told us to do this. That said, people broke the rules so they don't have much recourse with the possible exception of warranties and other non-game items that were deleted - I don't see how Best Buy can possibly remove warranties. Someone mentioned a Best Buy credit card which was "deleted" (or just doesn't work now?). As far as I know, banking laws are not governed by terms and conditions of programs like GCU...the government, courts, and regulatory agencies take things like credit cards very seriously.

My account was not cancelled because I've never bought more than 2 copies of the same game (usually for one for each of my kid's 3DS and such). I just noticed that Vampyr (a game by Dontnod - maker of Life is Strange and Remember Me - both of which I enjoyed) is coming out this week with a $10 gift card with pre-order so I'm going to pre-order that now using my $10 in rewards before the whole GCU system is cancelled and they send us all $30 gift cards in compensation.

 
You know I wonder if they cancelled accounts for ppl who bought stuff on price mistakes like the 100 dollar s8s or the one time we all got new games for like 10 dollars each .. I did the game discount and they shipped it .. maybe that’s it? I definitely didn’t go over any limits and didn’t get an email I did but my account was reset and they sent me an email that they made me a new account
 
Exactly, they are probably doing this over time.
I bet BB hired someone a few months ago to handle revenue loss in a certain department or something, and they started looking more in depth into GCU and are seeing all the misuse that went by without being dealt with.

Maybe the people in charge of GCU was let go due to them just using the program to flip credit and play games all day.. the new guy is actually doing his job and enforcing rules..
 
Checking to see if more than three copies of a game were purchased is probably an automated process. Cancelling accounts for other reasons is probably a manual process.
 
They're just looking for excuses at this point to kick as many people out of the program as possible.

Also strong thread backfire lol.

 
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Right, don't they still give out receipts with warranty info on it and/or the warranty brochure?  As long as you have that you should still be good. 

 
All I have to say about this is HA fuck ing HA to all the asswipes who were buying multiple copies to flip or ‘move credit’ between bb and gs. Glad you can’t do it anymore, even better that they deleted you.
 
Oh no I hope that's not a sign of them closing stores. Where else am I going to try a product before ordering it cheaper on amazon..
 
Just a thought. As with most warranties, the store (best buy) doesnt actually control the warranty.
Its a 3rd party that covers the repair etc, but bestbuy handles the “work”
I doubt bestbuy is doing the warranty in house and not contracted by someone else.

Look at the paperwork you got with the extended warranty, the fine print will say some other name as being the actual company handling the warranty for BB.

People are getting upset over the warranty stuff, but i dont think there will be a problem in the end.
Again, the warranty issue is the only thing BB may have a problem with. Loss of customers though... they have totally screwed themselves.

As for the ToS for 3 game limit... Ignorantia juris non excusat. You'll still lose that argument.
 
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erikjo said:
For people who weren't flipping games, are you going to spend your rewards? Considering going on a shopping spree lol..
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I went ahead and used my $10 in rewards on Vampyr. That game has a $10 gift card which is a completely different animal when it comes to “cancelling”.
 
Staind204 said:
Thanks, I had no idea this was a rule. I’m sure it was in the fine print but I don’t recall ever reading it. I certainly understand why they would put a rule like this in place but as someone mentioned they should code for this scenario and not allow someone to violate it. Although rare, There are legit scenarios where someone could be buying 3 copies to give out as a gift so for BB to automatically ban and remove someone’s rewards without a warning seems harsh. That email does make it sound like the person did it more than once bough, if B.B. sent an initial warning I don’t feel too bad for the person because they were warned. If this just came out of the blue without warning, it seems like a great way for them to lose customers.
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Coding for it may not be as simple as it sounds. For example some people have multiple Best Buys near them. They would need to set up some sort of central systemThat is is instantly updated and checked. They would need to train employees on how to deal with angry customers trying to buy a fourth copy. There's a lot of work and hassle involved to Simply stop the very small percentage of people that would abuse a limit of three.
 
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Might as well jump into this bar fight. Regardless of breaking the 3 game rule, please internet lawyers, explain how can Best Buy completely remove warranties, previous purchases, points, reward certificates, et al?
Since the prevalent thought is, "well YOU broke their rules", is this "retaliation" in the policy too? I mean you CAN'T have shit one way but not the other.
 
srocky26 said:
Bunch of dumb shits.
You knowingly broke their ToS. You got what you deserved.
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A GCU ban, fine. But the rest? Cripes, so life in jail if you steal a pack of gum? BB's punishment, er... retaliation doesn't fit the offense.
Funny, because these same people POUNCE on KNOWN pricing errors, glitches, mis-shipments, errors, et al.
CAG is so full of hypocrisy.
 
Removing elite status is a real dick move through?  I check my account and it appear to be fine but I always take great care on not goign 3 limit per console

 
e3man01 said:
Might as well jump into this bar fight. Regardless of breaking the 3 game rule, please internet lawyers, explain how can Best Buy completely remove warranties, previous purchases, points, reward certificates, et al?
Since the prevalent thought is, "well YOU broke their rules", is this "retaliation" in the policy too? I mean you CAN'T have shit one way but not the other.
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Amazon has been doing the same thing for years. I'm not aware of anyone that has has their Amazon account closed and successfully challenged their terms of service in court.

 
The extended warranty offered as part of the GCU program was removed because you violated the terms of service of said program that you agreed to adhere to when you became a member. Your default warranties and manufacturer warranties are still there, as well as your ability to hire Geek Squad to fix your products. Your purchases also weren't removed or revoked. All your account did was keep an automated record of your purchases, and you no longer have access to that because you violated the rules and your account was terminated. You should also have the receipts for those purchases in your email, as well as physical copies of the receipts. You simply forfeited the rights to those benefits when you knowingly broke the rules.

You will lose all of these arguments in court. Not that I want you all to stop, I'm having fun reading all of the paranoid conspiracy theories and anti-socialist rants from entitled flippers. All of my accounts are fine, by the way.

 
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The moral superiority in this thread is pathetic lmao. Best Buy isn't going to duck your sick for white knighting for them. But by all means, continue to bash 'flippers', whose only crime is making more money than you.
 
Jhingles said:
The moral superiority in this thread is pathetic lmao. Best Buy isn't going to duck your sick for white knighting for them. But by all means, continue to bash 'flippers', whose only crime is making more money than you.
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You don't think I'm justified in blaming flippers for ruining an otherwise good discount program? I can't take some pleasure in reading those who were so greedy and entitled get some measure of comeuppance yet still complain?

Thanks for confirming that those who got banned didn't get banned for minor infractions if they were making more money than me.
 
Corporations are not your friend. They depend on this horde mentality of consumers to justify the belittlement of other consumers, but what will you say when they come for you through some new loophole of updated ToS that you agreed to without reading? Unless you are on the Best Buy executive team, you literally have no reason to defend them, right or wrong. Just saying, whatever decision they make, it is not to your benefit, but rather a method to eek out more dollars from your pocket.

 
Blade said:
The extended warranty offered as part of the GCU program was removed because you violated the terms of service of said program that you agreed to adhere to when you became a member. Your default warranties and manufacturer warranties are still there, as well as your ability to hire Geek Squad to fix your products. Your purchases also weren't removed or revoked. All your account did was keep an automated record of your purchases, and you no longer have access to that because you violated the rules and your account was terminated. You should also have the receipts for those purchases in your email, as well as physical copies of the receipts. You simply forfeited the rights to those benefits when you knowingly broke the rules.

You will lose all of these arguments in court. Not that I want you all to stop, I'm having fun reading all of the paranoid conspiracy theories and anti-socialist rants from entitled flippers. All of my accounts are fine, by the way.
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Wow did Best Buy tell you this? You seem to be saying it with authority...
 
Jhingles said:
The moral superiority in this thread is pathetic lmao. Best Buy isn't going to duck your sick for white knighting for them. But by all means, continue to bash 'flippers', whose only crime is making more money than you.
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I highly doubt that, considering I make enough to buy stuff I want without having to flip video games for an extra $50 a week.

Blaster man said:
Wow did Best Buy tell you this? You seem to be saying it with authority...
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I say it with reasoning skills and knowledge of how contracts work, but your confusion is understandable.

 
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Anyways regardless why does anyone care what anyone does with the games sell or swim in them break them play them eat them.. as long as they only bought 3 per console per year Best Buy shouldn’t cancel the account but doesn’t seem to be the case
 
I think the general consent is that if you break the rule, you should be kick out of gcu only.  However, they completely erease your best buy account.  

 
Troblin said:
Not to mention the $15 in rewards points they stole.
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If one of the employees ripped your wallet out of your hands and took $15 out of it, then yes it would have been stolen.

However, they took back a $15 reward they had been kind enough to award you while you willingly violating their TOS.

I feel like it's like speeding on the same road every day and then getting pissed at an officer for giving you a ticket when you finally get pulled over. Yes the rules are there, and you can choose to violate them at your own risk. Just don't whine when you get punished
 
Blade said:
I highly doubt that, considering I make enough to buy stuff I want without having to travel around flipping video games for an extra $50 a week.
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I mean same. I just don't care what people do with the stuff they buy for the most part, though it is annoying when someone, say, buys 15 tvs from Wal-Mart to flip on Facebook marketplace. It is irritating but I don't think not doing that makes me a better person than anyone else.

I think the moral of the story is don't expect good things to happen if you knowingly violate terms of service. Do whatever you want within the rules they put in place but it's your fault if you get burned for abusing it.
 
Blade said:
I say it with reasoning skills and knowledge of how contracts work, but your confusion is understandable.
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I don’t understand this extended warranty thing you’re talking about. So if someone buys a TV and the extended warranty you say their extended warranty is cancelled because they broke TOS for GCU? Makes no sense to me. You act like you work for Best Buy.
 
I never really understood item limits. Retailers are there to sell items to whoever wants to purchase them. On top of all that you pay money to buy the items at a discount. But it is their terms of service.

 
nddave said:
I never really understood item limits. Retailers are there to sell items to whoever wants to purchase them. On top of all that you pay money to buy the items at a discount. But it is their terms of service.
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If people are really using Best Buy and GCU to drop ship games sold on eBay auctions to people then I can understand the limit...
 
srac84 said:
Anyways regardless why does anyone care what anyone does with the games sell or swim in them break them play them eat them.. as long as they only bought 3 per console per year Best Buy shouldn’t cancel the account but doesn’t seem to be the case
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What case? You don't get banned out of the blue for nothing.
 
I wouldn't have a problem with my ban if it weren't for the fact that I proactively fixed the issue and returned the product and provided all evidence to prove that fact. They went one step too far here and people here aren't stepping back to see the bigger problem this implies for future issues as it relates to GCU. The terms of GCU's TOS are clear, but even there they note other punishments in lieu of a full account ban. I had more than enough points that they could have taken if they felt I did them harm. Instead they went with a blanket account deletion. 

I will state for the record that a lot of threads on or about this subject have been toxic to the communities. I feel that this is due in part to people feeling that everyone of those banned was the reason for Best Buy getting rid of GCU. Some of your animosity towards your fellow forum members is misplaced and unnecessary. 
 

 
bzchanboy said:
I wouldn't have a problem with my ban if it weren't for the fact that I proactively fixed the issue and returned the product and provided all evidence to prove that fact. They went one step too far here and people here aren't stepping back to see the bigger problem this implies for future issues as it relates to GCU. The terms of GCU's TOS are clear, but even there they note other punishments in lieu of a full account ban. I had more than enough points that they could have taken if they felt I did them harm. Instead they went with a blanket account deletion.

I will state for the record that a lot of threads on or about this subject have been toxic to the communities. I feel that this is due in part to people feeling that everyone of those banned was the reason for Best Buy getting rid of GCU. Some of your animosity towards your fellow forum members is misplaced and unnecessary.
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If you actively fixed the problem and they still banned you then you may have a valid complaint here...
 
nddave said:
I never really understood item limits. Retailers are there to sell items to whoever wants to purchase them. On top of all that you pay money to buy the items at a discount. But it is their terms of service.
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I read elsewhere that games sold at 30% GCU discount don't make BB any money especially if they have to ship them. They're counting on you buying other things from them. So flippers aren't making BB money if they're not buying anything else, not to mention additional losses from MyBB reward points.
 
nddave said:
I never really understood item limits. Retailers are there to sell items to whoever wants to purchase them. On top of all that you pay money to buy the items at a discount. But it is their terms of service.
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Best Buy is not a wholesale outlet, for starters - They do not exist for the purpose of supplying other retail establishments. In another thread it was covered (extensively, with publicly available financial records to support) that games sold at a 20% discount are essentially a wash (and potentially a loss if shipped). So there's literally no sound business reason for them to sell unlimited copies of a game at cost to another person, so that individual can resell them at a profit. To prevent that abuse, they put in a (fairly reasonable) 3 item limit.

The same can probably be applied to item limits from other retailers when the item is sold at a discount. Other reasons are things like customer satisfaction - Like how Target stores limited individuals to buying 2 amiibos, and they had to be different figures. They did that because there was a significant negative customer feedback if they allowed one person to buy all of the Marth so they could be resold on ebay.

 
I rather highly doubt anyone's warranty was cancelled.  You may not be able to view it via your My Best Buy account, but it would still be in the system (or the system of whatever company actually handles the warranty) - They could just as easily validate it by the serial number or a barcode on the item if you needed service.  Tying it to an account was just a convenient shortcut.

Also laughing at the "But they dun stole mah rewards! I'mma sue!" - Reward points are a promotional item that has no true monetary value.  For instance, you wouldn't have been able to use a $20 RC for a $10 item and get cash back - Because the certificate does not have monetary value.  Additionally it's in the TOS that if you got those points via breaking the TOS or for other violations, they could revoke them.  That's all they've done.

As far as reasons to go over the 3 game limit - I can understand reasons why.  My (ex) stepson and I live in different states and play games on XBL to talk every week, so any game that I buy for him, I buy a copy for myself as well.  He also spends every other weekend with his dad, so on occasion I've bought a third copy for that house (rather than expect a 7 year old to remember to take it home after the weekend is over).  So if I ever wanted to buy another copy as a gift, it would have put me over.  But, hey, I've only toed the line on 3 or four games, and none of those were this year.

 
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 literally capitalism at work. dont be daft.

 
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