Who hates Gamestop?

game_collector_83

game_collector_83

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Hey, all. Over my years on this Earth I have learned many a thing. One of those things is the fact that I, indeed, HATE Gamestop. Having worked there once as a plucky, young gamer, I thought I'd be fun. This was not the case. After my departure from the store, I rarely had a good word to say about the company. It became my backburner store for video games... until last night.

I had reserved a copy of MGS4:LE at Gamestop, seeing as it was the only place it would be available. I waited in line from 11:00pm last night until the glorious hour had arrived. I finally make my way to the register at about 12:20am (they were only letting five people in at a time) only to have the associate say,"You don't have Metal Gear Solid 4 reserved, you have Grand Theft Auto 4 reserved." The refused me service because they claimed to not have enough LE's to go around. Irritated as hell, I cancelled my reserve for "GTA4", took my money, and left. As I was leaving, the girl at the register gave me a sarcastic,"Bring your reciept next time." No apologies, just attitude.

I didn't have my reciept because I rode with a friend, and I had forgotten my slip in my car. Regardless, I have recieved games (and fufilled preorders when I worked there) without the reciept. The fact is that they messed up my reserve and cost me around two hours of my time total. It was not over.

I dug around and found my original reserve slip and, lo-and-behold, it stated I had a copy of MGS4 reserved. I had them now. I returned to the God-forsaken store this morning. I approached the associate (the assistant manager--a different person from the night before) and stated my case calmly. I knew that it wasn't directly his fault, so I had no reason to be pissed at him. He apologized and stated that all the LE's were for reserves. I had him count them and there was apparently one extra... the one the STORE MANAGER wouldn't sell to me the night before... the one I had preordered. He sold me MY copy of the game, and, before leaving, asked for the district manager's number and e-mail. It is not over, but my days at Gamestop are.

If you have seen my trade/collection list, you would know that I am a serious gamer and collector. They will be missing out on some serious business. I will probably be sending them a nice e-mail with pics of my massive collection. I sick of Gamestop. Who's with me? Anyone else have some bad experiences there? Please share and leave your comments and opinions of the "Evil Empire".

END RANT
 
They have good promos and allow me to get more for trade-ins than I would on eBay when they run 'em.

So no, I don't have any poor feelings towards Gamestop.
 
[quote name='Rocko']They have good promos and allow me to get more for trade-ins than I would on eBay when they run 'em.

So no, I don't have any poor feelings towards Gamestop.[/quote]

You're gonna get crappy service by incompetent employees pretty much anywhere you go. Gamestop is no different. I really don't hate them more than any other store.
 
I don't like Gamesopt because they never have good sales on new games and more importantly, I hate having the register monkey ask me 20 questions from the time I walk in the door to the time I leave.

"Did you bring us any games, dvd's to trade in today for incredibly low prices?"
"Would like to sign up for Edge card?"
"Would like a subscription to so and so magazine?"
"Can I get you to preorder something today?"
"Would you like to buy a game doctor?"
"If you aren't going to buy a game doctor, how about a warranty on your game?

and so on......

Buying a game shouldn't be more time consuming than a trip to the free clinic.;)
 
I understand where you're coming from. I dislike a lot of their policies (i.e. gutting new games, hawking pre orders and trade ins), but I think as one of the few videogame only b&m retailers, I should support them. I generally only buy used from them, along with their promos.

almost every time I am in there, witha 25% off coupon + edge the person behind the counter is like "wow, thats such a great deal!" I have considered working at gamestops as, i, like the OP, love games. But, working in retail sucks, and I have a job as an IT person at college so even with an employee discount at gs, it wouldnt be worth it.
 
I hate Gamestop because the closest one is about an hour round trip away. Why is it so far when other people have like 4 in a 15 minute radius!? :lol:
 
I dislike Gamestop.

Gutted games as new is complete BS. And I am always greeted with some elitist attitude when I go in there.

However...they seem to get all of the exclusive shit these days, so I tend to just use EBGames.com for my preorders/shopping from there. Because at least I never have to set foot in the store.
 
Reserves are pointless these days. I've yet to walk into my local BestBuy on a game's launch day and not find a massive surplus of stock on both the shelves and the special "advertised game" rack, a total of about 30-50 copies open on the store floor for sale to anyone.

~HotShotX
 
My Gamestops are generally cool. I can't say they're perfect but they run some decent offers every now and then, and the employees in my area are pretty good for the most part.
 
Gamestop sucks for the most part. I preorder only Limited Editons of games from them so I can get my midnight release.
 
I've not set foot there in more than year. And don't plan on it any time soon. No reason too. Preorders are pointless (don't care about LE's, getting a game at midnight etc--seldom buy new releases period), they rarely have good deals, and Goozex is much better for getting rid of games IMO.
 
The whole selling gutted games as new is pretty shitty. Even worse, employees are able to take games home and play them (kind of like a rental) so that gutted "new" copy of the game you had your eye on is more than likely used in that respect. As far as midnight releases, Wal-mart or any other 24hr store with an electronics department should work just fine. There were 35+ people waiting at Gamestop last night compared to the 4 at Wal-mart. Gamestop is a disease.
 
Who hates Gamestop?

Ooh! Ooh!...Mista Kotta!...me, me, me!!

Gamestop: Underpaid, underappreciated (in the 'value of human life' sense), and usually undermotivated gaming 'enthusiasts' being dropped into a environment with a corporate-mandated mission to upsell/provoke highly-volatile, extremely immature and ignorant clientele, who in turn make said employees' lives even more miserable, which makes their attitude towards subsequent 'gamer' patrons that much more hostile...you see where this leads?

Sad truth: too many lazy gaming types and ignorant parents out there to ever do this scam of a corporation in for good.

P.S. I also loathe their anagram.
 
I hate them. I buy from them very rarely only for launch day games or midnight releases (like last night).

I haven't traded games in with them for years, and that's how they make their money so I'm glad I don't contribute in that aspect.
 
I have neutral feelings toward them.
Cons: Opened New games, usually mean and unhelpful staff, ripped me off a couple times with the TIV
Pros:Good promos, coupons and sales.
Don't hate them, don't love them, I still buy from them though.
 
i didnt like them when they first came out but since they bought ebgames i like em enough. hell ive bought stuff from them online and if it didnt work id send it back and id get a copy that worked. they have good deals too.
 
i absloutly hate them. i refuse to buy anything from them anymore. you cant walk into one of their stores without one of their employees jumping on you and telling you that "if you dont reserve the incredible hulk game it will be sold out everywhere for weeks!"
 
[quote name='Vinny']My Gamestops are generally cool. I can't say they're perfect but they run some decent offers every now and then, and the employees in my area are pretty good for the most part.[/quote]
I have one store in my area which is awesome, but the rest I have gone to suck.
 
Funny how some people would prefer to go to Wal*Mart over Gamestop because of shady dealings.

That's like boycotting one brand of shirts because they are made in a sweatshop full of African Americans, but buy a brand of shirts that are made in a sweatshop full of Mexicans.
 
[quote name='w00t_culafi']This thread already exists[/quote]

Sorry, I wasn't aware that there was already a thread (I guess I should have expected). No need to fret, I think there is enough hate for "Gestapo-stop" to go around! :bomb:

PS - For those of you who didn't know. Sometimes Gamestop employees will cancel your reserves and place them under different game preorders to beef up their reservation and subscription numbers. Shady indeed! I'm thinking that's what happened in my case, seeing as my original reciept state I reserved MGS4. Also, Gamestop employees are under order from corporate to not hold ANY games for ANYONE. That's right. If someone haggles the associate enough, they can walk away with your copy of the hotest new game. Reservations are a joke (unless for extremely rare LE's) and that is truest at your local Gamestop. Oh, also, I heard they sell stolen babies on the black market.
 
i go where the deal is. im at gamestop just about every b2g1 sale. two days ago i got ninja gaiden 2 used there, 50 bucks with the discount card and the game is flawless. cant beat that with a stick.
 
There are two things that keep me from going into most Gamestops (I'll still use them online, though). 1) When it comes to used stuff, there are a few other stores locally that have much better organization and games that are actually complete (or they're marked down a couple bucks). 2) When it comes to new stuff, there's many other places I can get in and out of faster.
 
I want another company to step up and give GS a run for it's money. The industry deserves more choices, and it's sad that we dont enough.
 
I totally agree with you. I too hate gamestop. Only go there for the exclusives. (MGS4LE)
Nobody loves metal gear as much as i. thus i was first in line. I thought is was really stupid at my GS they set up a large Tv and let pepole play the main story!! I dont know about anyone else but i dident want to see the opening cutscene outside a gamestop with 50 people.
 
I don't like the return policy, with no price match and only 7 days to return anything. They do have some funny policies about opening products and reselling them as new, which I really don't like.
Other wise it's a good store if you only buy used
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']i go where the deal is. im at gamestop just about every b2g1 sale.[/quote]

This

Plus the GS's around me are actually ok, I seldom get hassled for pre-orders and the staff are quite friendly and non-annoying. I very rarely (maybe once a year) pre-order anything but have had no problems with things I have pre-ordered.
 
I only go to gamestop when I'm making some money off them. I just more than doubled my cash to credit ratio with K-Mart clearance games and the $10 bonus for every 2 new gen games.

Do I hate them? YES!

There is only one store by my house with cool employees. It seems as almost all of the other ones have annoying as fuck employees. I realize its there job to ask about pre-orders but if I just said put the credit on my edge card don't ask me again about pre-ordering or offer to show me a list of games coming out. I do somewhat think its harder for a gamer to go into that store because for the most part we all know what games are coming and what we are there for. It's the agenda of Gamestop that truely pisses me off.

I find it highly annoying too that if I have over $100 dollars in credit on my edge that every single employee ever single time says Wow you have xxx amount of credit. I realize again that its probably there job to get me to spend that credit but then again at the same time if I want to "save up" $300-$400 dollars for a PS3 or something its none of your damn business. I KNOW how much is on the card you don't have to tell me. Again Gamestop agenda.

I don't ever buy used games from Gamestop because even if I buy a game that is a few days old it never fails that it looks like a dog ate it and spit it out. I honestly don't understand when people say they got a mint complete copy of anything from Gamestop. The worst part is if I brought them the same damn game I bought from them as a trade-in they would probably charge me with a refurbishing fee.

I don't like the opened "NEW" games thing either but when I do buy a new game from them if it isn't sealed I just tell them I don't want it. If they get snarky and ask why I'll just say I'm giving it someone as a gift.

Gamestop sucks but it has its uses from time to time. I like how I can actually use my credit online now. Oh and for those of you that hate being hassled for an edge card signup...either get the $2 version which is mentioned here on CAG or just get it in store with the magazine sub because believe it or not the thing usually pays for itself with only a few trade-ins. I was always negative towards it but then when I was flipping more regularly I saw how much I was actually making with the card.
 
If there is another thread on this, mods should merge the two.
As for gamestop, I consider them 3 entities, corporate, local and online
As for local, the shops in manhattan are hit and miss. Some are great, with solid service, nice people, well run and the games are in good condition.
As for corporate, I've never dealt with them, but I feel they should try to standardize their stores a bit more, the badly run stores give the entire operation pause. Also, some of their coupons/deals are fantastic, and others seemed designed to screw the consumer. An odd pendulum.

With online, I wish they got their act together on telling the consumer what used games will have box/instructions- this is the main reason I don't shop online with them.
 
I have one local GS. The employees there have always been nothing but helpful, they've honored any coupons/deals I've found on CAG, and a simple "No thanks" has always dispelled their pre-order nonsense, which only pops up when I'm checking out.

I never get the hate.
 
It's funny, I've NEVER been asked about EDGE/Reserves/etc whenever I buy something there. And it's not like I buy stuff all the time or even have the appearance of some hardcore gamer, I only come in when there is some sale that benefits me. Hell, nobody even takes the time to ask if I need help finding anything.

The last two times I was there, I was looking at the GBC/GB/GBA games behind the glass for a good 10 minutes and not ONE employee asked if I wanted to see anything.
 
It really does vary greatly by employees and stores. It also probably depends on how much an employee needs to make their quota of magazine subscriptions, trade in's and preorders as well, since employees can get fired, written up, or in trouble for not meeting their goals.

I really only go in there when there is a sale, a good coupon or there is a game that I want that has priced dropped to the price I am willing to pay (or possibly below). The employees here are for the most part very nice and helpful. They don't seem to ask me for trade in's or preorders at all which is good because I don't do either of those things unless it benefits me to do so.

Frankly I go where the sales are and where the best price is, if that is at gamestop then so be it, if that is at circuit city, amazon or ebay then I go there, simple as that.

The only things that make me angry is putting all the games on the bottom shelf, so that I have to bend down to look at them and thus take up the whole aisle since their aisles are so tiny, and putting the GBA games in glass cases where again, its very awkward to look through them for the best stuff, thank god for the store locator. Their product placement really needs to be better, at eye level and not so far down that all the games get knocked to the floor.

As for the online site it needs help, its so SLOW its not even funny, half the time it barely works here and I have no problem visiting any other website. I also wish they would update the store locator with more detailed information such as condition of the game, and have more games in the store locator, there is no excuse for not having used entries on the website for pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of time and explorers of darkness.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']Funny how some people would prefer to go to Wal*Mart over Gamestop because of shady dealings.

That's like boycotting one brand of shirts because they are made in a sweatshop full of African Americans, but buy a brand of shirts that are made in a sweatshop full of Mexicans.[/QUOTE]


The difference is Walmart treats their employees like crap but GameStop treats their customers that way. I'd never work at Walmart but I'd rather shop there.
 
[quote name='HotShotX']Reserves are pointless these days. I've yet to walk into my local BestBuy on a game's launch day and not find a massive surplus of stock on both the shelves and the special "advertised game" rack, a total of about 30-50 copies open on the store floor for sale to anyone.

~HotShotX[/quote]

I know right. I hope I could just walk inside a bestbuy and pick up a copy of games like Summon Night, Etrian Odyssey, or other niche games.
 
I don't have a GS locally, so I can't really judge, but whenever there's a B1G2 sale or some other deal, I make the hour drive, and its usually worth it.

Like others said, I go where the deals are. I rarely buy new from GS (last thing I bought was the PS3 SingStar bundle so I could get the $20 GC) and I mostly go to GS to get harder to find PS2 games (like the whole DDS/Nocturne thing).

I've not had any problems, the last one I went to was pretty nice actually, both the 25% off PS2 and Singstar coupons didn't show up in the system, and the dude working was really nice about it and went ahead and did it manually, we even had a nice little conversation about NIS, so it was good.
 
I hate them for games, because there's a million places online that do new and used much better.

I used to love them for DVDs, but since they're getting rid of them, fuck Gamestop up its ass.
 
I love Gamestop!!

EB was practically the EXACT same thing three years and there was zero bitching about it. Its amazing what a few good years do and the haters come out. Jealous.

And to be honest people who frequent this site only try to rip off companies and its sickening. Getting a deal is one thing, abusing it is another.
 
[quote name='game_collector_83']
If you have seen my trade/collection list, you would know that I am a serious gamer and collector. They will be missing out on some serious business. I will probably be sending them a nice e-mail with pics of my massive collection. [/QUOTE]


Oh, for God's sake, please DON'T.

Look, you wanna be upset at them for screwing up your pre-order, that's fine. You wanna contact the DM with your experience, that's fine too. But don't pull the incredibly stupid "You just lost an important customer" crap. THEY DON'T CARE. If you honestly bought enough stuff from that store to effect their bottom line, this would've never happened becuase the manager would recognize you. If you spread your purchases out over multiple stores, they'll never notice you're gone- some soccer mom somewhere buying overpriced liscensed Wii and DS games for her kid will make up for whatever drop in the bucket your dollars made.

I fully support anyone who chooses not to shop somewhere they got crappy service- you certainly have every right to find somwhere that makes your shopping pleasant. Just don't foolishly assume corporate or even the local management give a rat's ass about your specific needs. Enjoy your new place of business and leave the jerks to their own devices, alright?
 
[quote name='jollydwarf']Who hates Gamestop?

Ooh! Ooh!...Mista Kotta!...me, me, me!!

Gamestop: Underpaid, underappreciated (in the 'value of human life' sense), and usually undermotivated gaming 'enthusiasts' being dropped into a environment with a corporate-mandated mission to upsell/provoke highly-volatile, extremely immature and ignorant clientele, who in turn make said employees' lives even more miserable, which makes their attitude towards subsequent 'gamer' patrons that much more hostile...you see where this leads?

Sad truth: too many lazy gaming types and ignorant parents out there to ever do this scam of a corporation in for good.

P.S. I also loathe their anagram.[/quote]
THIS!

It's a terrible cycle. If you work at GameStop, you're basically held by the balls. If you want to keep your job, you're valued by how many pre-orders and Game Informer subscriptions (yeah, you're paying for the magazine subscription; the Edge Card is merely a bonus...you can easily pay for one for $2 by sending in a little card that comes inside each GI) you can shove down the customers' throats. Regardless of how nice you are or how organized you keep the store or how many normal sales you make. You're valued ONLY for how many subscriptions and pre-orders you get people to buy. Why? Because GameStop profits in pre-orders, magazine subscriptions and used games.

And because the employees are worth shit to corporate, the employees are prone to taking it out on customers.

In the same process, there's also the customers who're just plain fucking stupid and would make you want to rip their head off, regardless of where you worked.

However, it isn't very professional at all to take a simple "no" for an answer. We know it sucks for working for GameStop. But when we tell you "no, I don't want to reserve any games" it means "NO, I DON'T fuckING CARE IF I CAN THROW DOWN $10 FOR THE NEXT MADDEN! I DON'T WANT IT!" Being rude to customers just because your job is too stressful is also not acceptable, even if the customer's being a dick hole.

[quote name='game_collector_83']If you have seen my trade/collection list, you would know that I am a serious gamer and collector. They will be missing out on some serious business. I will probably be sending them a nice e-mail with pics of my massive collection.[/quote]
To GameStop, they'll only miss out on one customer. Why? Because one gamer is nothing compared to the thousands or millions of soccer moms and casual gamers that know nothing about games but will buy anything that either their kids want or what looks "cool."

You may be after some great games, but the soccer moms that want to go in, buy a cheap game (regardless if it's garbage) and get out as quickly as possible is the actual targeted customer. Even if it means they have to lie to customers and raise prices.

Examples? Big name games can be found ANYWHERE. Halo 3, Smash Bros. Brawl and Metal Gear Solid 4 are the biggest titles of the three current consoles and could easily be found in non-gaming retailers like Best Buy or Circuit City. GameStop, however, only gets in enough copies for those who pre-ordered and at least two or three extras for those who didn't. GameStop tries to frighten you into thinking you will NEVER find the game if you don't pre-order, which is BS. While Brawl and Halo 3 were out of stock on day 1 at GameStops everywhere, I was able to pull up a copy from Best Buy and Target respectively.

And price raises? Look at the GameCube. Before Brawl came out, used copies of Melee jumped to $40 (now back down to $35). Mario Kart Wii was on the way, Double Dash jumped to $40. Word of a possible Pikmin sequel sprang up, and Pikmin 2 lept beyond its $20 price tag. Metal Gear Solid 4 was on the way, The Twin Snakes somehow sprang to $35 (what the fuck?) Why? Because when the Wii games sell out, GameStop wants to offer the "next best thing" to the unknowing parents. Thus money in GameStop's pockets.

While they may miss out on one customer, they still have millions of suckers to draw in. The only times GameStop is useful are during B2G1F sales, Gamer Days sales and the occasional awesome weekly coupon (like last week's 25% off used PS2 games).
 
To me, EB Games was the better chain out of Funcoland, Gamestop and them. Why? Because I knew all of the workers there, I could exploit their return policy like crazy and they actually didn't use Ebay as a barometer to tell them how much they could sell games for.

I'd actually LIKE Gamestop if they would give more on trades, take only excellent condition/complete/mint stuff in and if they'd sell some other stuff used(like guides, like EB did for the longest time).

Otherwise, they're only good for taking advantage of their trade deals, but only when you can find good flips which have them coming out in the red on each set of trade-ins.
 
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