Your Worst EB or Gamestop Experience in Detail.

I don't have a specific story . . . more of a philosophic view of why these stores suck sooooo bad.

I was a gamer back in the Atari, Mattel, Coleco era . . . after the crash I didn't play much. I started college, partied, discovered women . . . I only restarted gaming during the SNES period.

Being a cheapass . . . I went into used gamestores in New York City (lived there for 3 years in the early 90s). The little stores there at the time were really cool. They were run by Chinese guys who knew all the games but never gave you an attitude. The economics of it were great new games were about $50 but used copies were $35 (ONLY if they had box and instructions) and if you brought that same game back to the store a few weeks later you would get $20 in trade.

When we (my wife and I) moved back to the Midwest the only stores available were Funco, EB and Software Etc. . . . At the time, they didn't care whether games had books or boxes . . . they were all priced the same--needless to say, I didn't buy those games. This idiotic policy actually conditioned people not to care about their games.

I think that their economics are really messed up . . . you pay $50 for a new game, they give you $20 in credit, but charge $45 for the game used. So, very few people trade in games and the selection sucks overall. They make a lot of money on a few games--but piss off gamers. If they followed the example above from the small shops they could make a lot of money on a huge volume of games and MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY!

I tend to think that the workers are such dicks largely because they are paid so little . . . imagine being in a store filled with games and not being able to afford them . . .
 
[quote name='eldad9']...Once I was browsing the used PSX titles at an EB and found a Suikoden 2. The employee wanted it for himself, so he pulled a shotgun from behind the counter, shot me and killed me.[/quote]

I hate it when that happens
 
when they try to sell me stuff i just lie so they'll stop talking but sometimes it backfires. examples;

1) some guys trying to sell me a PS2 HD and i'm like yea i don't know anything about that and we talk a lil and he keeps telling me random things and i don't pay attention. then all of a sudden he's like if you don't buy it you won't be able to play any ps2 games ever again because they'll be installed to the HD like computers and that's the only way you can play them. so i was like damn that sucks guess i'm gonna just sell my ps2 then and since i won't have a ps2 guess i don't need to buy these games, and put the games i had back on the shelf and left. he was kinda like :O

2) some guy's telling me about the n gage and all the crazy stuff you can do with it, so i'm like well i don't have a cell phone and don't plan on getting one so it's not for me. so he starts to check me out and while he's checking me out my cell phone rings so i answer it and he looked pissed but oh well.
 
ok here my most disapointing gamestop experience,s

i walked into gamestop i unexpectedly found a gamecube controller
the kind with a fan in itwhich is also rare to find at a gamestop now this was really cool because my hands sweat up really bad when i play so i went to buy it at first i just thought the store was crowded but what it really was was an OUTRAGEOUS LINE!!!!!!!!!the line was going from the front to the back of the store well no big deal i thought the line go quickly i thought NO SUCH LUCK
not only were was the line long but the gamestop people wound not SHUT UP the gamestop employees were giving each and every one of the customers their life story and it didnt help that my ride was leaving in ten minutes
eventually but reluctantly i left very pissed for the unendingless mindless
whats your favorite color,that gamestation is good,i hate nintendo
and much more


too much one-sided conversation minus 3 points for gamestop


 
When EB Games cancelled my Wii pre-order and was lied to by two of there employees. Game over. I dont shop at EB Games AT ALL anymore. Won't even set foot inside one.
 
They have a nasty habit of "not getting" preorder bonuses. I was really pissed that I didn't get that Fatal Fury hat with my preorder of King of Fighters Maximum Impact. At least I got the Metal Gear Saga DVD with MGS3 Subsistence. There would've been hell to pay if I didn't get that.

My absolute worst experience was when I bought a used Virtua Fighter 3tb for the DC. The guy behind the counter decided to "clean" the disc by rubbing it on his shirt. I just gave him the blankest stare, but I didn't say anything because I really wanted the game and just hoped it would work. It didn't. I got my money back no problem, though.

At least I haven't had any of the really bad experiences like some of you guys have had. I even managed to get the limited edition version of MGS3 Subsistence.
 
I always run into the problem of calling them to ask if they have a game, they say yes, and when i get there to buy it they claim they either never heard of the game or they "just sold the last one" just recently i called about the thing for ps2 and they said they had new and used copies, i got to the store and big surprise they had no recolection of the call and no game.
 
oh yeah also i overheard one worker telling some random trailerpark mom that she can buy and return any new game within 7 days and bring it back and they still sell it as new even she was shocked that they can do that
 
[quote name='rsigley']when they try to sell me stuff i just lie so they'll stop talking but sometimes it backfires. examples;

2) some guy's telling me about the n gage and all the crazy stuff you can do with it, so i'm like well i don't have a cell phone and don't plan on getting one so it's not for me. so he starts to check me out and while he's checking me out my cell phone rings so i answer it and he looked pissed but oh well.[/QUOTE]

Ballsy, much respect.
 
Reading through this thread I am reminded of the ebgames in my local Kings Plaza mall. There is one clerk in particular who thinks he is very slick and always tacks on that...what is it 3 or 5 dollar protection fee to whatever game I purchase just incase you need it. I always purchase my games, look at the recipt and end up returning it to have that charge removed, it is truely a pointless extra fee.
 
When I first got a fat model PS2, I decided to buy it used at EB. Long story short, I had to return a ton of them. like 6 or 7, in a row, over the course of 2 days. All had DRE and wouldn't read blue discs. Finally I got one that worked and purchased a warranty on it. I had a stack of receipts for all the returns, so if this one broke, I could show them the crap I've been through with their store.

I moved to Arizona a few months later and sure enough it broke. I brought it to an EB games there and showed them what was up--the guy couldn't believe it. He called that store and found out the manager who had sold me all those was fired. The new manager recommended for the guy to give me a new, sealed system, which he did.

so it was a pain in the ass, but they resolved it well a few months later :)
 
ok...i have 2 stories involving 2 seperate stores(1 eb and 1 GS) but the same employee (go figure) sorry if they seem long:)

story 1

I starting racking up trade-in credit at my local Gamestop. Each time that I went to use the credit I noticed that somehow they kept charging me tax (meanwhile at all the other stores I would never get charged tax, the system would take care of it). After several times of this occurring I called district to get an explanation. They stated that if you use trade-in credit you should not be charge sales tax in NY. They then called the store to confirm that this was true and that I should get back any tax charged in the past. The assistant manager then refunded any tax charged. The next time I went in there the same Assistant Manager charged me tax on my purchase when I used trade-in credit, after trying to explain this again, he began asking if I was tax exempt. He didn't seem to understand that since I was using trade-in credit that I shouldn't be charged tax again.

I had to call district again to confirm this and speak with this guy to get it into his head that he was wrong in charging me sales tax when using trade-in credit. Even the Head Manager tried to explain this to him and he still was insisiting that I had to pay tax. Unbelievable to have not only the Head Manager, but district call and tell him this and he still believed he was right. Now for the second story (with the same Assistant Manager at my local EB Games store!)

Story 2

I had received an email for Gamestop/EB Games with a coupon for a percentage off my purchase. Upon reading it it said nothing to the effect of not being combined with the EB Edge card. So thinking that I could combine the discount given through the EB Edge card and the coupon I went to my local EB Games store to purchase two used games. When checking out (with the Assistant Manager from my previous story) he made a point of reading the fine print out loud and stating that i could not combine the more card with the offer. I stated that it didn't say anything on the coupon saying it couldn't be combined. He then began going into a whole thing of how I am a scammer trying to get over on EB Games and how he knew as soon as I walked in that there was going to be a problem and kept repeating how much of a scammer I am because I'm trying to get the best deal on used games.

During his rant it came out that he remembered me from months ago with the tax issue. I don't even go to these stores that often, maybe about 10 times within 4-5 months time, and he still remembers what a supposedly big problem I was! He was comparing me to someone who goes on disability and scams to get money out of the state. At that point he was being ridiculous in front of a ton of people in the store, so I came out and called him and idiot. He then decided to kick me out the store after calling me a scammer a few more times. I told him one way or another I would end up with purchasing those games and proving he was wrong.

So I went back to the other Gamestop store to speak with the Head Manager as to clarify the fine print. He looked at his email and it specifically stated that this coupon could be combined with the card. He then called the EB Games store and spoke with the idiot and told him to check his email that it stated it right there saying they could be combined. So I went back and purchased my games just to make a point. Now this makes him 0 for 2! Unbelievable!!!!
 
I once spent 45 minutes in line while almost every customer had some sort problem, stupid returns (not understanding the policy), asking dumb questions, it was ridicoulous.
 
Bought Skies of Arcadia for DC from Gamestop in 2001. It's one of their cases, but that was seriously the best I could do at the time (NO other place had the game for a span of two months before or after) I get home and find that the second disc is being held into the crappy case by two of their price stickers and, even after peeling them off as carefully as possible, there's still residue on the disc. Second disc proceeds to play crappily, skipping and causing crashes in several places. I slog through anyway and manage to beat the game, no major problems (as long as I saved every ten seconds)

Fast forward to trade-in time a year later. The guy processing the trades (the same guy who sold me the game originally) looks at the second disc and goes "Man, this is a mess...what'd you do to this game? I'm gonna have to dock credit on this one"

So yeah, excuse me if I'm a bit reluctant to trade games to them. I still don't know what I could have done differently since the stickers were affixed to the freakin disc. I imagine chemicals are out in that situation.
 
[quote name='Rodimus Donut']I personally have had several, but one pisses me off the most.

I was suffling through the PS1 games at a local EB and found a Dragon Ball GT. It didn't have instructions or a back insert, it was just the game. But as many of you know, it's very rare and in damand, or at least at the time it was. And it was only $19.99. So I decided to invest in it then I'd plan to put it on eBay and make a quick buck. I brought it to the counter, and the EB employees at the counter recognized this game and started saying, "This game is awsome," and,"Wow Dragon Ball games are the best fighting games." I stood silently trying not to roll my eyes, and purchased my game, and left swiftly to get away from the two goobers.

Walking out to my car I decided to check the back of the CD for scratchs. So I rip through all the damn tape they wrap around it. (You know the "Bring it Back within 14 days if seal isn't broken" crap. Open it and to my surprise it was the worthless Japanesse version. So I bring it back to the two goobers and they ask me how I know it's the Japanesse version. I told them, "I used to work at a game store and we delt alot in these crappy Dragon Ball games," Then I ponted to some tiny text on the CD that said "For use in Japanese PSX only." In conclusion I got my money back, but it was a major let down cause I could've made a quick $70.[/QUOTE]

Sads bad but I really wouldnt have gotten pissed about it. Simple mistake and happens every now and then. If lets say they refused to refund you the money then I would be fuming mad.

But here is my bad experience and see if everyone else feels the same.

I got my Sony psp and also fell for that line about investing on the warranty they offer, which I asked again and again that if any problems I am covered. I get home excite to start playing about 2 days later I notice a dead pixel on the screen. Just one tiny pixel glowing red no matter what I play. May not be a problem for some people but after dropping close to 200 and change on everything I decided to go back and ask for a new one since I would assume it falls under this problem as being defective. I get to the store and the guy on hand tells me that cant exchange my unit that I need to contact sony and send my unit back for a new one. I asked then why did you guys sell me on the warranty if you dont cover everything. They started in like "Oh that not me thats the company policy theres nothing I can do about it" I was like man you guys are liers. Whats messed up part about it was there was a cop in the store at the same time looking for games when he heard yelling and arguing with the store people he walked on by and butted in.
What made it worse is that the clerks all were like "oh dead pixels happens to everyone" "if its just one on the screen you can still play it" The cop even said " yeah my psp has a couple dead pixels but I still play it"
This is BS man im arguing i told the store clerk you guys sold me on the warranty telling me that everything is covered. I asked the guy show me on the warranty paper where it says that you do not cover dead pixels on the screen or even something close to that fact. He couldnt. he just kept saying "its not me its the company they make the rules not me"
Just pissed me off more was when they were trying to convice me that its ok if there are dead pixels on the screen. Im like do you think I am retarded? I asked the guy point blank are you a gamer? do you play games? do you buy games? hes like yeah i do. So i said well if you were in my shoes and you went out and dropped this large amount on money only to find out that there is a defect with it and then you tell me that you can not return not for a refund but for an exchange for the same product you wouldnt get pissed and on top of that you dropped the extra for your so call warranty coverage. I asked him "how would you feel? would you accept the answer you are giving me right now?" he didnt say not one thing even the cop and the other employees just where standing there lookin stupid. they knew I was right. I turn to the cop and told him that if he went to any store and bought a tv and it had a dead pixel would he live with it or return it and get it replaced?
They just stood there stupid looks on there faces. In the end all the guy could offer me is refund me my money I spend on the warranty but there was nothing they could do about the system.
I was fuming mad that day.
But you know what they same Karma is a bi* couple months later they closed that EB store. I am so glad cause they had nothing but dumb monkeys working there. One of the worst EBs in queens, ny.

Well sorry for it being so long but thats my worse experience in EB.

Oh and remember people if you get the warranty ask questions before you invest in it. On a happy note there is now a Gamestop block away from it with more knowledgable crew that know what they are doing. I bought a DS lite month later the right shoulder button didnt work so took it back had dropped the money on the warranty and they took it back no problem.
 
Not really a specific experience, but a series of them. I kept getting their damn "display copies" whenever I bought anything new from EB/GS. After the first couple I received, I was like "okay this is a weird coincidence". But after the 5th time in a row after receiving a fucking unsealed game that I had to pay new price for, I stopped shopping there.

Now I just go a mile down the street to Best Buy or one of the million other stores in the area that sell games. Why give EB/GS my business if they keep pulling this shit?
 
Ever had employee tell you a game you're trading in is 2 discs instead of 1, even when the packaging or game disc doesn't say anything about 2 discs?

Had this happen back 2 years ago. Picked up G-Police 2: Weapons of Justice for PS1 up on EB's site back when they had them and could get 25% off w/ free shipping. Eventually cleared out some games that year, including that game since I didn't like it. I go to Gamestop to trade them in, everything goes fine up until they get to that one. They tell me they can't take it since it's only 1 disc of a 2 disc game. Now I know they wrong, cause I finished the game and there was no "please insert disc 2" message when playing.

I tell them that and that the packaging or disc doesn't say anything about 2 discs. Which they then tell me that the computer says it's a 2 disc game. Now I know exactly what they did, they just typed in G-Police and the first game came up, which is a 2 disc game. But apparently, the second game wouldn't scan and they couldn't find it in their system. So they couldn't take it, then give me the credit for the rest of the stuff. Which I used on some used PS2 game(honestly don't remember what it was), take it up there and give them my discount. The employee then procedes to try to sell me another 10 months for the discount card, which I would be fine with, if I wouldn't have had another 6 months on that card. Which I tried to explain why should I buy another 10 months, when I haven't used up the remaining months? Only to get a dumb look on the employees face. After that, she just rings it up, puts the game in a bag and hands it to me.

So anyway, since I know Gamestop wouldn't take the game, since their computers suck. I took it to EB and they had no problem scanning it and giving me credit for it. That was the last time I went to that Gamestop to. For those wondering, it was the one in Kettering, Ohio on Wilmington Pike and I found out later that it was the store manager running the register that day(apparently that store had a very high quitting rate cause of that manager).

That wasn't my worst experience, but it was the one that pissed me off the most.
 
Let's see... I got a game from the .com a while back that was cracked (disc game) another time got a GB game with a non-functional save and another time ordered a 1st party DC controller and got a 3rd party controller. Returned to the nearest B&M store for a full refund in all cases.

Really haven't had all that many bad experiences. However I rarely shop there for new games as you can pretty much count on them having the highest price unless there is a clearance or rare sale going on, and now that they don't guarantee case and manual for .com orders I stopped buying used online from them. So I guess they really don't have a ton of opportunities to piss me off either.
 
I've never really had a bad experience shopping at all. I got ditched by an employee when I was buying my Xbox 360 though, and the store was practically empty, and they didn't give me exactly what I had asked for to begin with, but I wasn't upset by it and I wound up getting a better deal anyway, and the sale wound up going to a different employee. :D
 
My worst was going into an EB at the mall nearby to trade in a lot of stuff and get a PS3. I went in, and asked if they had any in stock. The person said yes, so I told him I wanted one, and had some stuff to trade in as well. He rudely told me he had an hour before closing, and 3 hours worth of work to do, so he was not gonna take my trade ins. He also went on to tell me that the only games out for the PS3 at the time were crap, and the system itself was garbage. I asked him, "Don't you want to sell a PS3?". he replied he'd love to- so I told him to stfu and take my stuff, and I'll buy one. He said no, so I went to the software ect on the other side of the mall, got the district manager's number and called to complain, and went to a gamestop by my house and got one the next morning. took them maybe 30 minutes to put everything i was trading into the system, get me my 60gig ps3, and pay the rest and go home. Was very pissed off that night.
 
I pre-ordered a PS2 in June 2000 and they said I was guarnteed a launch system.

Due to shortages, that changed and they said I would get a system in the 2nd shipment. I called every week for 2 1/2 months and they kept telling me they didn't get up to my name yet and I would get a system on the "next" shipment.

It was January at this point and I call again and am told they called me a few weeks ago and I never came up to pick the system (remeber, I was calling every week) so they gave the system to someone else. I was furious because we gave them 2 phone numbers and knew it must be a lie because every week including past the time when they said they called, they kept saying they weren't up to my name yet.

Corporate was called and the next day the same EB calls and says they have my system waiting for me. I would have bought a game with it but due to them not getting the system until mid January, I had a chance to pick up some games for $27 - $36 from EToys.com going out of business sale so I didn't buy a games from EB which the manager wasn't too happy about but I wasn't going to spend another $50 there (though I did buy a memory card).

Since then I decided I would never shop at EB again unless it benefitted me to do so (like $2.99 clearance games, or trading in games for more than I paid for them). I have not made a full price or close to a full price purchase since then at EB.

Edit - I didn't realize the thread was sold old and just saw I posted this same story on page 2 almost 2 years ago
 
Well, one day I go to some EB's that are in the city 40 miles from mine. I do this occasionally as the used stock is different at every store obviously. Well they were doing a B2G1 free sale at the time and I found a few games I wanted while my girlfriend found about 21 DVD movies. So we go up to the counter and I use my Edge card in addition to the sale. Well, we get in the car and drive about 5 mintues before my girlfriend opens up her movies and notices a good HALF of them dont have the discs in them! Now if I would have driven home 40 miles before noticing this, I would have been furious. We saw the employee get the discs but since she had 20+ movies and I had my games we didnt notice him not putting half the movie discs in their case. Obviously we went back and got them. The employee didnt seem too concerned that he forgot the discs, but whatever.

On another note, I bought a used game at the same store at another time and when I got home, the disc was a later sequel to the game I had purchased. Again this store is 40 miles away, so I call the store and they send the right disc to my local store, but this took them over 2 WEEKS to do! WTF!

This was a about a year ago, so now I check each and every disc of movies or games I buy at EB/GS with no exceptions. Not just for condition, but also for "correctness". Saves me a lot of headache now as I have turned down quite a few games that the discs looked like they were used as frisbees. Lesson learned.

*edit* Almost forgot, I did have one great experience at this exact store. This was a couple weeks after the limited edition Metal Gear Subsistence game came out. I was browsing the store and I saw one of these sitting in the case behind the counter. I asked if I could buy it and the employee said sure. I was in shock because these were going on ebay at the time for $150+ and NO store had any of these because they were sold out through preorders. I dont really know why it was there, but I am so lucky to get it for retail price in mint sealed condition. Yeah!
 
[quote name='eldad9']It's not preOWNED, since the employees never owned it. But it's preplayed.

That's nothing. Once I was browsing the used PSX titles at an EB and found a Suikoden 2. The employee wanted it for himself, so he pulled a shotgun from behind the counter, shot me and killed me.[/quote]

RIP
 
Here is my only bad experience...well that i can remember.

I go to EB Games looking for the classic Smackdown 2 game for PSX. I go up to the guy and ask if they have Smackdown 2 for psx. He tells me they dont go by numbers. Smackdown 2 cover art So then he tells me they probably dont have it. I go to the used PSX games and within 3 minutes i find it. So i bought it and took it home. Poped in the game, just kept loading forever. So i took it back and told them it didnt work. I wanted to exchange it. So now within a day they went from not having it, to being able to replace my game that didnt work. Well i got home and finally saw that they gave me smackdown 1, the wrong game. So i went back and got my money back and never went to that store again.
 
It was a few years back and I was at my local Gamestop after shopping at Circuit City for a DVD and a gamecube-gba connection cable. So I'm browsing the game selection and decide to ask for help and I'm being completely ignored. So I ask again for help and the workers turn their back on me. Then I say, what's the problem why is nobody helping me??? So I go to leave and say fuck THIS PLACE!!!
One of the workers decides to chime in... "Next time don't shop at Circuit City and then maybe we'll help you."
So I go back in and I say yeah, yeah is that right, don't shop at Circuit City, WHY?!?!? Are you some kind of small market chain that loses money because of big business peering in on your territory, NO, you're as much as a corporation as they are, so what the hell is the difference...
Then I pulled out what I had in my bag showed them the DVD said, DO YOU EVEN CARRY THIS, NO YOU DON'T, and this cable, how much do you charge 24.99, I got it for 17.99 on sale, do you even HAVE sales in your store, NO, rarely if ever...
I try to avoid Gamestop whenever possible, especially since their workers are condescending assholes who think they're better than you for whatever reason, and I understand its policy to hype pre-sales, but do you really have to be a douche and laugh at the people who don't want to pre-order an item and mock them saying how they'll never get it...
I like to buy games on release day at another establishment and ask them if they have it and when they laugh and say you won't get that for weeks unless you pre-ordered and pull it out on them, like fuck you and your pre-orders...

Another story a friend of mine wanted to sell some GBA games and they said they wouldn't accept any games that didn't have box and instructions, so he asked why they wouldn't buy cartridge only games, but they gladly will sell anyone a cartridge or disc only game??
And the guy gave some bullshit remark so he kind of gave the worker an attitude back and then we left and he also said fuck THIS PLACE!!!
Some fuckin' gorilla-esque goon of a human comes out of the back, like a caged animal and gets right in my friends face and tells him... "YOU'RE GONNA fuck MY FRIEND UP HUH? HOW ABOUT I fuck YOU UP!?!?!"
So my friend's like, no I said fuck THIS PLACE, not anything about fuckin' anyone up, you goon...
So the guy was like about to punch my friend in the face but I flagged down a mall security guard by then and I'm sure he saw the guy coming over so he stopped and just said, "DON'T EVER COME BACK TO MY STORE!!!"
My hatred for gamestop employees for the most part is strong as you'd imagine haha...
-Goatman
 
I hate how the tape the used price sticker on the INSERT instead of outside of the case. A pain to get it out.
 
[quote name='62t']I hate how the tape the used price sticker on the INSERT instead of outside of the case. A pain to get it out.[/QUOTE]

They should only do that on the side, it's to prevent it from peeling, which it will do. I know it is annoying to get it off, but it's something we have to deal with.
 
remember when they had the donkey kong jungle beat with 2 bongos for $10?
Well the guy tried to sell me one with out the game, only 1 bongo, and for $20. Long story short, I got him fired.
 
A couple months ago during a B2G1 sale I got 3 cheap games. The total was about $9. I used my gift card that had $63.xx on it from a trade in a few weeks prior. The guy swaps the card and says that will be $6.xx. I knew that was wrong because I knew how much the card had and didn't use it yet. He said it only had $3.xx on it. I told him that was impossible and he let me call the number on the card to get the balance. I called and it said $63.xx. I tell the guy and tries again. Again it comes up wrong. He calls and gets the same thing. I ended up spending like 15 minutes trying to get it figure out. I don't know why I waited around so long. I hate mall EBs.
 
Ok I realize that this sounds uneliveable but this is really a true story.

I went to gamestop just to look around and I saw that they had Burnout 3 for the Xbox for 9.99 and I also had a 10% off coupon and it was going to expire the next day. So I'm like "Cool I'll get this." and so I head over to counter and hand them the case and some other games and so they ring it up and then they put the green xbox case down and pull out this old Blockbuster case with the burnout insert in it and then put the game in it.
So immeditly I am like, "Why do I get a crappy blockbuster case when there is an actual xbox case sitting right there." And they respond about that that is a display case or something. I felt like argueing but I really wanted game so I just let it go.
I brought the games and left and so as we were driving home I was looking at one of my other games and my little bro was looking at burnout when I suddenly started smelling something nasty. I look around and ask my bro if he smells it and after he does. Well we couldn't tell where it was coming from until my bro put the manual for burnout down and THERE WAS FECES ON THE MANUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am serious about this, so we immeditly turned around and when back to the store furious about what happened and started argueing with guy about it and so he finally gave us a new manual and case for us. I really wanted to demand the game for free but I gave up on it cause me and my bro really wanted it.

Nevertheless I never saw that worker in GS again.
 
Im always getting the display copy too. I refuse to accept that with a disc game, but for Nintendo DS games I dont care as much since its hard to really screw up a cartridge. But after the third or fourth time it happened to me, I vowed to never just take a store copy again. However, I was so happy to get a copy of Phoenix Wright last time that I just accepted it without much of an argument.

Worst experience was for the Wii preorders. When I got to the store they told me there would be just enough for me to get one but anyone afterwards would be out of luck. So I was the rear of the line. After waiting 30min or more there were two people in front of me left and one of the guys taking preorders let some douche reserve two. I overheard this and said something to the effect of "What about me? I was promised a system, do I still get one?" They said "no" and I went on a little tirade about how it was bullshiat, etc and stormed out. Havent been back to that EB (now ghetto Gamestop...the one down the street is MUCH nicer) since.
 
[quote name='darthbudge']THERE WAS FECES ON THE MANUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am serious about this[/QUOTE]

I can believe it. A guy I used to work with would bring his games into work and take the manuals into the bathroom for reading material on the throne. I could see how feces could get on that. Gross but true.
 
Obviously with this being such an old thread and CAG's still having instances to complain about EB/GS goes to show that those stores never changed. They still suck ass except for the occassional B2G1 free sales. Too bad the stupid corporation keeps buying other chains and gets bigger as time goes on.
 
Back in Feb of 2002 I found a brand new copy of Skies of Arcadia for the DC (new tag) and I asked the clerk for the game. He then turns around pulls the game out of it's sleeve in the back drawer and inserts the game into the case and sells it to me. I asked him what's the return policy and he was like 30 days if defective once it's open and I said "But it's already opened", then he grabs the game out of my hands and puts one of those eb 30 day stickers on the opening and hands it back to me in a pissed way. That same eb (at the fair oaks mall) had some shitty people working there and every time I walked in to see what's new, one of them who was just standing around talking to his other co-workers was like "uh oh, it's the dreamcast guy.." I was like WTF!??! So what if I was trying to buy up some of the last few games for a great system that SEGA gave up on.

I tried to stay out of GB/EB unless there is a good price drop (19.99 or less). There is this one guy, Tom over at the Fox Mill, VA Gamestop that's cool and doesn't shove shit down your throat when you first step into the place. Anyways when i browse around, I listen to his conversations with other people and he acts like he is the gaming god of the area. People come in just to talk to him about video games. I feel sorry for that guy sometimes as it seems his whole life revolves around GS.
 
I went into EB to look for some stuff a month or so ago and while I was there, I saw a sign on their ps3 kiosk for $5 off Virtua Fighrer 5 with a preorder. I go up to the counter and ask about the deal. The 2 clerks behind the counter don't have any idea what I am talking about and tell me they never heard of it.

I ask them again and explain that I can see the sign on the PS3 kiosk not 5 feet away. The lady comes around the counter and looks at the sign and says... "Oh!!! That is if you put down a preorder of $5, then when you pick it up, the game will be $5 off from the money you put down on it so you would owe $55 + tax when you pick it up." Huh??? It specifically said $5 off on the sign.

So then, I ask the lady what happens if I pay it in full now, where is my $5 off? She said, well, since you paid the $5 up front with the rest of your payment, that is where the $5 off comes in. Either way, it's going to be $60 + tax.

Of course I say F' it and a week later, buy it from Best Buy around the corner with $10 coupon.
 
I've never had a serious issue with Gamestop/Ebgames. I make sure to get in good with the managers, but on certain occasions I have to venture off and go to other stores.

1st occasion- Take advantage of the Shenmue II 4.99 Xbox deal. Bring the disc up front they cannot find the disc and state they will call me when they find it. Call me two days later to say they have it in, I go down there the next day and they told me that since I didnt come in that night they might have sold it but they have to look. Look around for 40 minutes and finally find it.

2nd occasion- I am sold a "new" Halflife II on XBOX, which has no shrinkwrap and is a used disc. Someone buys me Halflife II for XBOX so I go to return it. I tell them it is a new disc and they tell me there is no shrink wrap on it and the disc looks dirty. I told them if they didnt sell used discs as new then there wouldnt be such a mishap. They give me a look of disbelief, but do honor the refund.

PS- I normally am a good writer, but for some reason detailing these experiences off the cuff makes me seem like a terrible writer.
 
I don't really shop too much at GS, the closest thing I have to an "experience" was when I came in to buy Mega Man Zero 4 near its release day and they tried giving me the display copy. "Oh, it's all here in this bag." Ummmm....fuck no. You opened it and put a goddamn sticker on the box. No thanks. (I am anti-used, for those who can't tell.)

So, I went to the other store in town and picked up a copy of MMZ4 since Best Buy was being gay at the time. To this day, I still wonder if the box was a little fishy, as it felt "damp" compared to my other GBA boxes. Hmm.....Yeah, that's about it. Sad huh?

Oh, and one more thing that has been recent. I finally got around to buying Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2, and the copies they had all had mis-aligned spines and the paper was peeping out through the plastic on the bottom of the case. It just goes to show why I visually rape every game I buy 99 out of 100 times, with this case being the one time I didn't. I still need to go back and return it, although now it's currently a question of whether I want the version with the retarded Red spot on the cover or not. -_-

OCD? You'd better believe it. Wait, this topic was about GS, o____o whoops.

Carry on.
 
My last experience with the local Gamestop was the breaking point.

I had a bunch of DVDs, GBA games and other stuff I snagged for cheap at junk shops. I took it in to GS to see how much credit I could get for all of it. The guy scans and then types something, over and over until he has everything in. He tells me $10 store credit. Forget it.

I go over to EB games down the road, where people are a lot nicer, and take in the same items. Items are all scanned and the total? $33!! Apparently, the guy at GS was either overriding prices or putting in lower value items in place of what I had.

So, the guy at GS tried to screw me out of 2/3 of the real trade value of my stuff. After that, I swore I would never step foot in that store, and I have so far managed.
 
Yeah, I don't have any real bad experiences at GS/EB, but I guess that's because I go in expecting most of the stuff that gets complained about. I know that new games are pregutted. I know used games are scratched to hell and sometimes can't be found. I know manuals aren't always included. I know being sold subs and GPG are a pain in the ass. But as someone who works in retail, I know better than to blame most of this on the employee. Just realize they are simply following their stupid orders and you'll get along fine.

I don't buy new games from them cause I don't like them pregutted. When buying used, I know to check the disc to make sure it's the right game, not too scratched, and is the right number of discs. I also make sure everything has manual and case. I turn down any upsells (unless I need one), and I'm good to go. Haven't had any problems and I shop there at least a couple times a month.
 
There was this one time several years back, I bought Soul Calibur for the DC and it was tagged in one of those gamestop slim cd cases for $20 new.

This was when Dreamcast was being phased out and shipped to other stores. I was yay, I finally found a new copy and then when after I paid the clerk hands me the game disc-only in that same case. I was: "it was supposed to be new!" The clerk responds: "Oh, that's a mistake on the tag!" :(

Dreamcast being harder to find and I wanted to have a copy so bad that I took the scratched "new" copy home. :(

The worst experience was going to a different Gamestop and waiting awhile for some soccer mom to buy one of the new Splinter Cell games, only to be passed off from being helped by some larger soccer mom who just walked in and was complaining about something. Needless to say I have given up buying new games there unless it is last resort and buying anything at Gamestop when there is only one employee working.

I guess I should have knocked over the magazine rack or in my case the GBA rack for waiting so long! :)
 
I purchased Super Mario Sunshine when the price dropped to 29.99. The lady hands me a copy and I leave. When I get into my car, I notice that the game is re-sealed. I open it and find a receipt behind the instruction manual. I go back and ask for another copy, seeing as how this copy was returned. Well, the lady who sold me the copy tried to convince me that it was "new." I show her the receipt. Then she reassures me that the game would work. After about five minutes, she finally gave me a new, factory sealed copy of the game. I stopped going to EB/GS because they constantly tried to sell me re-sealed games. I understand if it is the last copy they have of the game, but when there are ten new copies, why do they always try to hand me the copy that was clearly returned?
 
Having worked there a few years back, I rarely have a bad experience, as I know all the guys there. I did shop at one where an older guy talked quite condecendingly to me. I knew Chibi Robo was $9.99. It was in their advertisement. I called a few friends at another store to confirm it, and yes, today was the last day of the sale. Took it to the counter and it had a $19.99 tag. She quoted me the $20 price. I pointed out that it was $10, and she disagreed. A balding man clearly in a mid-life-crisis came up and agreed that it was $20, I disagreed, said it was $10, and showed them the flyer. He then kept referring to me in condecending terms, such as "big guy" and "little buddy". I'm 22. I'm not a big guy and i'm definately not your little buddy, asshole.

Minute as it is, that's my complaint. My worse experience actually came when I worked there.. a guy apparently shit on himself, the hold-something-and-pray type of shit, diarrhea just running down the guy's leg apparently.. and he walked all over the mall, dropping little piece by little piece along the whole trail. fucking disgusting.
 
Or worst Circuit City experience thread...

When the DS lite came out there was a promo at circuit city in the weekly flyer saying how you got a free case with purchase ($10 value). There was also a manufacturers coupon floating around for a free copy of brain age. I went there bought my Lite, picked up the case, and found the last copy of brain age. Nothing on the items says you can't combine, but I'm told by the manager that you can't combine the 2 free items.

That sounds pretty standard, so I didn't argue even though nothing explicitly prohibited it. I went back home with my DS and brain age. Shortly after I see on circuitycity.com, an entire page dedicated to the DS Lite and how you get both a free case and free copy of brain age (in store only). So I go back to the store with a printout. The manager refuses to give me the free case... Without even trying, she says the system will not let us do that, it's either one or the other.

I went outside called a corporate CSR and had them call the store, and the manager still flat out refused to honor their deal.
 
I often check on the GS price drops. One day I notice that some GBA Bomberman game price dropped from $5.99 to $3.99. So I go to the store and ask the guy to get me the game out the glass display case. The game had the $5.99 sticker on it, so I tell the guy that the price dropped recently. He checks it and it rings up to $3.99. He then asks me with some cocky attitude you wouldn't but it for $2 dollars more. I said no I wouldnt. He then tells his other co-worker some people are really cheap. I didnt care. I then asked the guy, you do check the games to see if they work right? He says no they get to many. I say what if someone opened the cart, and takes the chipwhat ever its called. HE says they wont. I then said so if i bought some games you wouldnt check them? He says I would check your. I am now planning on scamming that sob.
 
Copying from another topic because its really long:

At Gamestop I was just recently sold a "supposedly new" gba game that was MISSING both the registration code and the cardboard paper insert that holds the game. It was a copy of Nintendo's Dr. Mario/Puzzle league so I knew it was supposed to have these things with it. I did not realize that the game was like this until I got home, a complaint using the reciept code was filed on tellgamestop.com and the game was returned yesterday, thankfully I did not have any trouble with the return or I may have exploded.

This is not the sole reason for this though, I was also sold an intentionally broken used game in the same transaction. It was a used copy of pinball of the dead for gba, a game I have been hunting for for some time. I plotted the location of the game using the gamestop store locator, and even went out of my way about 45-60 min to a gamestop that was not in my area to buy it. This was of course only after confirming they had the game in stock by calling them, as the store locator has problems. When I get there I purchase my stuff, they throw it in a bag and send me on my way. The store was EXTREMELY crowded to the point where you cannot even move or breathe in it, so I just took the bag and got out of there. When I get home I find the mario game with pieces missing, and I find a used copy of pinball of the dead that looked like it had been shot through with a BB gun, of course the game did not work, so it was returned as well.

However I do not APPRECIATE gamestop, a company that flaunts themselves as the largest video game retailer in the usa, intentionally selling me broken merchandise. A used game store should at least make an attempt to test each game that comes in, and if a game is in deplorable condition, they SHOULD NOT ACCEPT IT as a trade in. I know they intentionally sell customers broken games as routine too because every time I see a game get traded in, it gets a price tag stuck on it and gets plunked right onto the shelf so it can be sold immediately. It has even been stated in gamestop's trade guide that they take games that do not work. Obviously they are taking these games that do not work and putting them right on the shelf for customers to unknowingly purchase in broken condition.

They do the same with used systems too, cept I think they test those, well they test them to see if they are working anyways, condition obviously does not matter. The employees could be much more useful if they tested and cleaned the games instead of standing around and playing games all the time. Yes I understand that its a very boring job, and I wouldn't care if they stood around and played games after the work was done, but they should at least use the time to do something constructive such as to test and clean used games so they actually work when you purchase one.

The "refurbishing" fee they charge is also a load of bull, they take those games and just shove them on the shelf right after they are traded in just like they do with everything else without cleaning or testing them. So getting a game with feces on it or... something else on it, wouldn't exactly be unheard of. I have even heard that people intentionally do things like this to their games before trading them in.

I could say loads and loads of terrible things about gamestop, another one is that when you preorder something, not only do they give you an automated phone call to tell you its in, even though it may not really be in but I hear they call you once again a couple weeks later asking you if you want to trade in that game that you just bought!!!!!!!! This in turn waste's a lot of people's cell phone minutes if you have a cell phone number registered with them they will leave you lots of automated messages. I do not want to leave my home phone as I cannot have the phone ringing at 4am because of an automated gamestop message with my grandparents sleeping and people who have to go to work in the morning in my house.

As soon as ebgames got bought by gamestop the whole chain has just been a downhill spiral of questionable business practices and extremely poor customer service with poorer and poorer quality of merchandise being sold at overpriced prices most of the time.

I am like the previous poster, I like to check the prices of used games and buy when it gets cheap, and if its in reasonable condition for the price only. Real business is people who buy a 60$ game and trade it in a few weeks later for 15$ or less. Gamestop only cares about the customers that buy games, play them, and trade them in for way less than what they paid, because this is how they make the most money, from people who buy and trade back to them, hence the phone calls begging you to trade back your preordered games. I wish I could be gamestop-free but its so hard to be gamestop free when these stores are everywhere and they sell some games at cheaper prices than other stores.
 
My store isnt that bad at all. But I did have one problem where I traded in Gran Turismo 4 for 5 bucks and when I came back in their a week later the guy said nothing was on the card.
 
A few years ago my PS2 broke, it was the older FAT version. I had just gotten San Andreas and was dying to play it again, but of course it was near Christmas and Sony had decided to stop making the fat ps2 in favor of the slim one. Causing a huge shortage.

So I go to EBgames and they tell me they're sold out, and that it's almost impossible to get ahold of the PS2 right now etc etc. So they recommend I put 20 dollars down and reserve the system (129.99 I think it was back then or maybe it was still 149.99), so I do. A grueling month and a half later they call me telling me they have my system in, but they are forcing a bundle on me! I didn't 'reserve' the bundle pack, they told me the price when I put my 20 dollars down but now they are upping the price by 50 bucks and throwing in some crap I don't want.

I tried to fight it and explain the situation, but of course it is corporate policy or whatever, and that if I don't buy the bundle they will sell my reserved system to the next guy. So I buy it, and got a copy of Jak II (which I already had) 2 controller extensions, a FAT Ps2 vertical stand (keep in mind I was buying the new slim version) and a free subscription to EGM.

I didn't even get the sub to EGM, they left that out and also didn't give me credit for the 20 bucks I already put down a couple months earlier, so I had to go back and fix all that.

That's actually when I discovered CAG, so good things have come from the experience.
 
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