[quote name='gameboykid14']I just came back from Kmart on West Florissant in St. Louis, MO and they didn't have it, so I'm ordering off of newegg.[/quote]
Well you should of checked the KMart in Bridgeton, MO on St. Charles Rock Rd. (another suburb of St. Louis, second of 3 KMarts in the St. Louis area.) They had 3 copies, I paid for 3 copies, but walked out with zero copies after being ****blocked; long story ...
No one could go by this store for me today and since I needed to visit a nearby friend for some money he had for me from a monitor of mine he had sold to a co-worker, I decide to give it the old college try. Mind you this is the first time I'd ever walked into this store, and I already had the LE ordered off of Gamestop.com. I decided before I left if they had it, I was cancelling my pre-order as 10 days early is better for me than the stuff in the LE.
I find electronics in the back of the store and I proceed to look for the gamecase (after I tell a customer I don't work there as apparently they wear red there and I had a red Cardinals jacket on.) I scan the gamecase and it's not visible. I then see that under each section of the game case there is a rubbermaid like container with games in each of them.
I decide to get on my knees and look at these and as I bend my neck sideways to see the spine of 3 games on top of one of these Rubbermaid containers underneath the 360 games, I see the glorious Bioware Corp. logo.
I almost leap for joy right there on the spot as I spend two minutes trying to find the call button to get someone in electronics. When the kid comes out there was a couple ahead of me and I let them go first but they just had a quick question and then the guy comes to me. I advise him I would like to purchase a 360 game.
This is where my fate was probably sealed. I show him where Mass Effect is. He goes "no way; we've been looking for this as people have been calling about it." I stop him and ask if I can have more than 1. He asks how many, I ask if I could have all 3 and he's like sure.
We proceed to the register as he scans the games. Apparently no prompt comes up about not to sell them yet as I heard beeps and got a little worried, but apparently those were the beeps because of the Mature rating prompt. He gives me my total, I scan my credit card in the machine, then the register spits out the receipts and he hands me my copy to sign.
I am signing the credit card slip, he has rung the sale through the register and is putting my games are receipt in my bag and is about to hand me my bag when his co-worker, Jonathan, comes up and asks him what he's doing.
The first guy is telling him I'm buying Mass Effect as I found it under the shelf. Jonathan tells the guy you can't sell it to me, first guy asks why not, Jonathan says it's too early. First guy no says it's ok, Jonathan points to the top sticker and says it's not 11-20 yet and then tells me, "I'm sorry sir we can't sell this to you," and yanks the games and receipt from the first guy before he can hand it to me.
Mind you I have signed the credit card receipt and the transaction is already run through the register, I just don't have physical possession of the product. I ask why not, even though I know why not, and Jonathan says, "All 3 of us will be thrown in jail if you leave the store with those games because it's against the law." I advise him there is no such law and he reitterates that this is illegal and all three of us will go to jail if I get these games.
I advise again that there is no local, state, or federal law about selling items before a street date. I advise him there may be an agreement between KMart and the distributor (in this case Microsoft) but really that wasn't my problem as I had paid legal tender for the games and the transaction had completed and it was too late to take it back. Jonathan backs off now saying well we'll be in big trouble for this and I can't let you have the games. I advise that's not acceptable as it's too late to be worried about street dates and I demand to speak with a manager.
An asst. manager by the name of Steve comes up, who I find out later is the only manager apparently on duty at the time (around 5 p.m. central.) Steve reitterates the stuff about street dates I already know. I advise him that's not really my problem as I have paid for the games and that tens of other KMarts across the country have no problem breaking the street date for this game and if I had internet access I could give him the cities of each KMart that's done it so far.
He then says that it's not their problem what other stores do and they face repercussions from the distributor. I advise again the transaction is already complete and I want my property I paid legal tender for. Steve then asks, "Where did you find out about this street date," and Jonathan shows him the top sticker. Steve then says, "I don't care what you tell me sir, this sticker says you can't have this game. These gentlemen will walk you to customer service and give you a refund." I demand to have the district manager's name, phone number, and email address as I've have my property unjustly confiscated and been threatened with jailtime by one of his associates. He tells me that info will be at the customer service desk.
Steve retreats to the back room with the 3 copies of Mass Effect and I am escorted to customer service. When we get there Jonathan tells the girl up front, "Don't ask any questions just give this guy a full refund," and hands her my original receipt." I then advise I need the district manager's name, phone number, and email address. She just points up to the generic sign above her that lists the toll free number. I say that's not good enough and I want something else. She then calls for the MoD to come up.
In comes Steve again and the customer service desk rep tells him the info I want and he says that's all I can give you. He wants to know why I want the district manager's phone number as they're giving me a full refund. I advise because I had my property I legally paid for unjustly taken from me and that (pointing at Jonathan) told me I could be arrested for buying a game too soon and that is nowhere near the truth. Jonathan starts to make a slight protest and Steve puts up a hand for Jonathan to be quiet and tells him to go back now, and Jonathan complies after slamming the pen that was in shirt pocket on the desk.
Steve apologizes and says the toll free number is the best they can do. I advise that's pretty pathetic that you can't give my anything other than a generic phone number as where I work if you want someone higher than the store manager, I ask do you want the district manager or the corporate number (I currently work for the Oreck stores in St. Louis.) I ask for a pen and he gives me one so I can write down Steve and Jonathan's names and the toll free KMart number. I then advise him that's why no one shops at this chain, thanks for nothing as I storm out after laying his pen gently on the desk. He wishes me a good day as I storm out.
Now mind you 1 copy of the game was for myself, one of the other copies was going to be offered first come, first serve to my STL XBox Live friends or a member of CAG, and the other was going to be for profit on EBay. Now if the original guy had realized that it wasn't 11-20 yet and told me he couldn't sell me the game before the transaction completed, I would of hemed and hawed and did my best puppy eyes and asked everybody else is doing it, couldn't you do it too and been shot down, I would be agitated but cool about it.
But for the transaction to complete and for someone else to walk over and take away product I legally paid for, then threaten me by saying I could go to jail for buying it if I left the store with it, then I have a MAJOR problem. I'm calling KMart tomorrow, or Monday (if they're open,) or Tuesday and seeing what I can get as compensation for what I feel is illegal seizure of my property and terroristic threatening.
If I can get 1-3 copies of the game for free, or a gift card equal to the amount of my original purchase, I think that would be fair compensation for illegal seizure of my property and terroristic threatening by an employee of the store. FYI I have my original purchase receipt, the two bonus receipts it printed out ($15 off a $25 purchase from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 and $50 off a Sears Outlet Appliance purchase of $200 or more) and my receipt from the return on my credit card.
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ed up. Thats what it is. There was not much of anything you could do once that idiot clerk snatched them and stormed off. Had you called the cops, they would've not been able to get you your games back most likely, because the manager would've pulled the street day garbage. The fact that you didnt have the games in hand, they gave you a refund immediately, would all have been positives to their side. I'd still suggest calling Kmart corporate and at least try to get that Jonathan kid canned :lol:
