need an EB/GS employee's advice

aniousjoe

aniousjoe

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i couldn't find the thread to ask an EB employee for questions about their practices, but i had seen it. anyways, my questions, if you can answer them, please, are:

1. do i get put on a list, or is there some warning to my name, when i have returned X amount of games (360 or xbox in particular) for a cash refund? (be it for scratched disks, incomplete games, etc., etc.)

2. is there anything else that will happen me if i decide to return more merchandise to my name for cash?

3. what is at the manager's discretion at that point?

4. can i get banned from the store/chains for anything i've done?

honestly, i don't ask to bitch. i just want to know what's goin' on. i've never had problems before with EB/GS, but i've heard so many ppl have. if you can answer anything about this, it would be appreciated
 
[quote name='aniousjoe']i couldn't find the thread to ask an EB employee for questions about their practices, but i had seen it. anyways, my questions, if you can answer them, please, are:

1. do i get put on a list, or is there some warning to my name, when i have returned X amount of games (360 or xbox in particular) for a cash refund? (be it for scratched disks, incomplete games, etc., etc.)

2. is there anything else that will happen me if i decide to return more merchandise to my name for cash?

3. what is at the manager's discretion at that point?

4. can i get banned from the store/chains for anything i've done?

honestly, i don't ask to bitch. i just want to know what's goin' on. i've never had problems before with EB/GS, but i've heard so many ppl have. if you can answer anything about this, it would be appreciated[/quote]

you have nothing to worry about. yes they can track it, but they wont waste their time. in 3 years with em there was only 1 person banned from trading in our district and she traded in stolen dvds for thousands of dollars across a dozen stores. so, dont worry about it.
 
[quote name='aniousjoe']i couldn't find the thread to ask an EB employee for questions about their practices, but i had seen it. anyways, my questions, if you can answer them, please, are:

1. do i get put on a list, or is there some warning to my name, when i have returned X amount of games (360 or xbox in particular) for a cash refund? (be it for scratched disks, incomplete games, etc., etc.)
There are no warnings to names, but if people frequently trade NEW RELEASE items the day it comes out or a couple days after (the same person of course), most stores will probably stop taking trades from them because there is a very high probability that it was stolen.

2. is there anything else that will happen me if i decide to return more merchandise to my name for cash?
Nothing will happen unless the stuff is stolen. If it was bought at the store and then returned later for cash... unopened that is, there should be no problems. Now if it is used and you keep returning stuff for cash on a frequent basis, you could get banned for abusing the return policy. The 7 days was implemented to help you find a game you want, not be a free rental service.

3. what is at the manager's discretion at that point?
Manager's discretion is just as it says. The manager gets to decide if he wants to take the trades if he wants. Its the right of any business, they don't have to sell to you if they don't want to.

4. can i get banned from the store/chains for anything i've done?
Can't say YOU'd get banned, because I'm unsure of just what you did. But people can get banned from the store like one guy that was in my store recently (He abused the return policy and started using foul language in the store because I wouldn't exchange his 360 that was cracked from him dropping it. Yes he bought the warranty, but physical damage isn't covered under that just like almost any other warranty)

honestly, i don't ask to bitch. i just want to know what's goin' on. i've never had problems before with EB/GS, but i've heard so many ppl have. if you can answer anything about this, it would be appreciated[/quote]

And many of the problems that people have here is because of the items that will get repeated in this thread many times...

Gamestop/EB guts their new games and sell me the case opened.
Gamestop/EB sold me a game that didn't work.
Gamestop/EB didn't have the boxart/manual for game X.
Gamestop/EB charge too much for their games.
Gamestop/EB asked me to preorder/buy a subscription.
Gamestop/EB __________________________. (fill in the blank)

But I hope that answered the questions. Its not a bad place to shop, you just have to deal with employees that are doing their job.
 
[quote name='allout1986']And many of the problems that people have here is because of the items that will get repeated in this thread many times...

Gamestop/EB guts their new games and sell me the case opened.
Gamestop/EB sold me a game that didn't work.
Gamestop/EB didn't have the boxart/manual for game X.
Gamestop/EB charge too much for their games.
Gamestop/EB asked me to preorder/buy a subscription.
Gamestop/EB __________________________. (fill in the blank)

But I hope that answered the questions. Its not a bad place to shop, you just have to deal with employees that are doing their job.[/quote]

that actually did help. it's just that i didn't want the games for said reasons, but they seemed to give me a "hard time" for them. i didn't yell, curse, or anything else besides raise my voice, but that's 'cause they were takin' other customers before i was done... i dunno. i doubt i acted rudely, but i don't wanna have these problems again. it's one of the only places in town to get used games, but if that shit happens frequently, i might as well go to a different store. thanks for the help
 
btw, did not mention this, but the employee that took back my games asked another employee in front of me if i was a bootlegger, so i decided to file a complaint to the district manager online. tell me, does that make a difference?
 
yes it does make a difference. Calling a customer a thief is not cool. A store is only allowed a certain number of complaints before they are in trouble. When I used to manage we had a lady who would steal games from blockbuster and then trade them in at my store. Once we spotted the pattern I told my District manager and I just told her that we didn't need any of the games she was bringing in. Everytime. Eventually she caught on and stopped trying to sell me stolen games. I even called blockbuster, they knew about her but weren't interested in getting thier stuff back or calling the police.

But I never said her stuff was stolen and I never called her a thief.

There is another side to this, In florida if you even suspect something is stolen and you still take it in you could be prosecuted. We had to fill out pawn shop forms on all cash back trades with no reciept. These things were in triplicate and you had to record everything serial #, Model #, descriptions, publisher, titles the whole magilla. One mistake you had to go to court and pay a fine. It sucked. Someone under 18, no Id, Can't read your handwriting
gotta go to court. Had to mail them everyday. They show up late at the Sheriff's office. Gotta go to court. YMMV.:lol:

Still no excuse to treat you like crap or make you feel unwelcome. Just doesn't sound like the guy is trained or is ignoring his training either way the problem needs to be addressed. The job can get stressful enough without the employees making things worse.
 
[quote name='davidjinfla']yes it does make a difference. Calling a customer a thief is not cool. A store is only allowed a certain number of complaints before they are in trouble. When I used to manage we had a lady who would steal games from blockbuster and then trade them in at my store. Once we spotted the pattern I told my District manager and I just told her that we didn't need any of the games she was bringing in. Everytime. Eventually she caught on and stopped trying to sell me stolen games. I even called blockbuster, they knew about her but weren't interested in getting thier stuff back or calling the police.

But I never said her stuff was stolen and I never called her a thief.

There is another side to this, In florida if you even suspect something is stolen and you still take it in you could be prosecuted. We had to fill out pawn shop forms on all cash back trades with no reciept. These things were in triplicate and you had to record everything serial #, Model #, descriptions, publisher, titles the whole magilla. One mistake you had to go to court and pay a fine. It sucked. Someone under 18, no Id, Can't read your handwriting
gotta go to court. Had to mail them everyday. They show up late at the Sheriff's office. Gotta go to court. YMMV.:lol:

Still no excuse to treat you like crap or make you feel unwelcome. Just doesn't sound like the guy is trained or is ignoring his training either way the problem needs to be addressed. The job can get stressful enough without the employees making things worse.[/quote]

yeah, well, the employee wasn't being very discrete about it (whispering in front of me w/o turning his head to the guy next to him)... i hope the complaint does something, now. i understand i have had a tendency to return games, but no more than a 1/2 dozen times in the last 4 years... we'll see how things go the next time i show up at that store
 
The District Manager will try to contact you first to get more information. He then will call the store manager to let him know there is a problem and to investigate and call him back. (unless he handles it directly, which I doubt given how many stores and size of the district he runs). He will either then delegate to the store manager to resolve the situation and report back. OR he will tell the store manager what he wants him to do (write up, warning in the employee file and send him the copy) and then have the store manager contact you to apologize. The Dm will also have been contacted by the zone vice president or what ever position they call it now because all customer service issues are sent to thier email. The zone VP will want to know the resolution and make sure your complaint has been dealt with. If this is this guys last strike the Human Resources will be contacted to see if he should be terminated or issued a final warning.
 
I have found that most EB/Gamestop managers and/or employees are often complete dicks or jerks. Not all of them, mind you, I have dealt with some courteous, friendly ones, but overall I get treated with suspicion and disdain almost every time I walk into a store and don't have any trade-ins, don't want to pre-order anything, don't want a $13 protection plan for a $7 game, etc. For example, the other day I went in to pre-order Crackdown and asked, "If I pre-order Crackdown, I'll be guaranteed a copy on launch day, right?" because I've pre-ordered one other game in my life - Zelda: OoT - and was sort of unfamiliar with the whole thing, AND I've heard some bad things about that one particular store, so I just wanted to make sure.... anyway, he kind of looked sideways at me, paused for a minute to assess my stupidity, and said, "Um, yeeaaah, that's why it's called PRE-order." What a jerk. I think he had a bad taste in his mouth for me because back in December I tried to return a scratched-up copy of Oblivion they sold me and he wouldn't take it because he thought I had scratched it up... right. I bought it the day before, played it for 25 minutes, it had a disc read error (I tried 3 or 4 times, and each at about 20-25 minutes it would do that), and so I wanted my money back (also, I didn't enjoy it much anyway), but he wouldn't take it back because he said store policy is to not accept returns on used items.

Whew, sorry about the rant, but I get so worked up about certain things sometimes...

Anyway, OP, seems like if you want to return something you'll be treated with spite any time you go in there.
 
[quote name='deathweasel']I have found that most EB/Gamestop managers and/or employees are often complete dicks or jerks. Not all of them, mind you, I have dealt with some courteous, friendly ones, but overall I get treated with suspicion and disdain almost every time I walk into a store and don't have any trade-ins, don't want to pre-order anything, don't want a $13 protection plan for a $7 game, etc. =[/quote]

I think GS/EB game store employees vary just like any other people. The GS near my college was freaking awesome. Got along great with the guys, sometimes I would hang out there for hours to kill time between classes, and not buy anything. And I got a lot of free promotional stuff. And strategy guides when they pennied out. At some point, they hired me for extremely part-time work so I got to have the employee discount.

Like so many things in life, I think a lot of it depends on the relationships you develop with the people. If you get along with them, don't act like an ass, and treat them like people, things tend to go better.

Of course, the problem with GS/EBgames is that they often have to deal with the DUMBEST customers. It's retail, and working in it for a long time can really wear you down. It's no excuse, but even in retail, there are varying levels of idiocy. "Can the PS1 play PS2 games?"

The employee was lying though, if you bought a used copy of the game and tried to return it within the 7 day period. You're allowed to return those for any reason, no questions asked.
 
[quote name='Rasen']Of course, the problem with GS/EBgames is that they often have to deal with the DUMBEST customers. It's retail, and working in it for a long time can really wear you down. It's no excuse, but even in retail, there are varying levels of idiocy. "Can the PS1 play PS2 games?" [/quote]

Off-topic I know, but I have to say QFT!!

We had a customer come up to us with a controller in his hand. Well, he then proceded to ask if he could plug his xbox into the TV with it. I reply back saying, "no, thats a controller" but he than points to the breakaway cable asking if he can use that. :roll: Then he asks what the 360 is six months after it has come out.
 
[quote name='allout1986']Off-topic I know, but I have to say QFT!!

We had a customer come up to us with a controller in his hand. Well, he then proceded to ask if he could plug his xbox into the TV with it. I reply back saying, "no, thats a controller" but he than points to the breakaway cable asking if he can use that. :roll: Then he asks what the 360 is six months after it has come out.[/quote]
ignorance is one thing. anyone in retail, including myself, can you tell you that. however, i've been to the store before, knew what i wanted, refused their advances on subs and whatnot, and asked a couple of questions on trade in prices. so yeah, doin' what a customer is supposed to do doesn't warrant it for me. if a customer asked for change for a dollar, how much something rang up, or to see if something was in stock, it sucked doin' the extra effort for bein' in retail for so long, but i did it w/o a hassle or some dumbass look on my face.

sometimes, we all need to vent
 
[quote name='aniousjoe']ignorance is one thing. anyone in retail, including myself, can you tell you that. [/quote]
Ignorance is cute. It's when they're ignorant and belligerant that you start to lose your patience.

Maybe I'm biased here(and please correct me if I am), but I would venture a guess to say that videogame retail is one of the worst, because it subjects you to the stupidity of children, constant questions about new releases("Do you have any Wiis"), grown men who think they know better and are willing to yell about it, and people who call in to ask for trade-in-values five times, one game per call.

The employees you dealt with are/were probably very sick of their jobs, and took it out on you. Professionally inexcusable, but all things considered, you probably had a better day than they did.
 
[quote name='Rasen']
The employee was lying though, if you bought a used copy of the game and tried to return it within the 7 day period. You're allowed to return those for any reason, no questions asked.[/QUOTE]

The bad thing was though, it wasn't just an employee. It was the manager of the whole store. I got really angry but didn't express my anger until I left the store. Ah anyway, that's done with and actually worked out for the better because I traded Oblivion and a little cash to get a Gamecube so I could actually play Twilight Princess.
 
[quote name='Rasen']Ignorance is cute. It's when they're ignorant and belligerant that you start to lose your patience.

Maybe I'm biased here(and please correct me if I am), but I would venture a guess to say that videogame retail is one of the worst, because it subjects you to the stupidity of children, constant questions about new releases("Do you have any Wiis"), grown men who think they know better and are willing to yell about it, and people who call in to ask for trade-in-values five times, one game per call.

The employees you dealt with are/were probably very sick of their jobs, and took it out on you. Professionally inexcusable, but all things considered, you probably had a better day than they did.[/quote]

you think so? i just ended a 4 year relationship with my fiance the day before this happened, cold turkey... but that's neither here nor there. back on topic, maybe everyone in retail is biased as to what sucks. i worked at a grocery store, and although some days were great, you've got to compare your new releases to my holidays (4th of july, thanksgivin')... days like that suck no matter who you are... retail seems to suck in general. don't believe me, ask the kid workin' at mcdonald's... shit, i'm surprised that ppl in retail don't have the highest suicide rate among professions


(still dentists, i believe... fun fact for the day)
 
I thought helping people was one of the best parts of the job.

I started back before ebgames was games only and it was Electronics Boutique. We carried actual software like windows, printshop, education early learning, Language programs, dictation software, electronic chess sets, the first 3d accelerated video cards and even more i've forgotten about. The thing was back then we had to know a lot more than just games. You could have a conversation about Pc 3d gaming one second and then try to help someone find a map generating program, or national geographic, then back to talking about upcoming games like Quake 2 or Starcraft or Everquest. Then have to show customers what games we had on 3.5 disc, or Sega Saturn. Next you have to talk about this other operating system called Linux. By the time I left all that was gone.

But I always enjoyed learning about these things and then passing on what I knew. It wasn't about magazine subsriptions and pre-orders. We were just starting to ramp up on the used stuff. I never looked down on people because they didn't know that the tv they had might only have an rf jack and not av inputs. Or didn't know the difference between System Ram and Video Ram. It was really cool back then. Now every one hates eb I'm glad I'm out.
 
[quote name='davidjinfla']I thought helping people was one of the best parts of the job.

I started back before ebgames was games only and it was Electronics Boutique. We carried actual software like windows, printshop, education early learning, Language programs, dictation software, electronic chess sets, the first 3d accelerated video cards and even more i've forgotten about. The thing was back then we had to know a lot more than just games. You could have a conversation about Pc 3d gaming one second and then try to help someone find a map generating program, or national geographic, then back to talking about upcoming games like Quake 2 or Starcraft or Everquest. Then have to show customers what games we had on 3.5 disc, or Sega Saturn. Next you have to talk about this other operating system called Linux. By the time I left all that was gone.

But I always enjoyed learning about these things and then passing on what I knew. It wasn't about magazine subsriptions and pre-orders. We were just starting to ramp up on the used stuff. I never looked down on people because they didn't know that the tv they had might only have an rf jack and not av inputs. Or didn't know the difference between System Ram and Video Ram. It was really cool back then. Now every one hates eb I'm glad I'm out.[/quote]
"the times... they are a changin'..."
 
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