Bad experience with EBGames.com used game.

daphatty

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So over a month ago I used the AFF25 code to purchase Mario Party 4 for ~$22. I received the game about 1 week later and to my disappoinment, the damned thing wouldn't load. My GC couldn't read the disc. So I called EB.com customer service and asked them to initiate an exchange. I'm too cheap to fork out dough for return shipping (why should I pay for their screw up?) so I asked them to send me an SAE. TWO WEEKS LATER I got the envelope. I dropped the bad copy in the envelope and sent it back to them.

Fast forward another week and a half to this evening. I get home and find an envelope from EB.com. I had almost completely forgotten about it by this time so naturally I got excited. That excitement was shortlived. This time, the GC can identify the disc from the BIOS but refuses to boot it. WTF! :evil:

I called them back and informed them of the situation. The rep tried to get me to shell out another $12 for a new copy of the game but I'm a cheapass so no thanks. Instead, he offered to send me another copy via overnight mail. The suckass part is that my CC is being charged an additional $22 until I return the defective one I have in my possesion. And the second SAE they are sending me is going to take just as long as the first one! :evil:

Anyone else have a bad experience with used games from EB.com? What about good experiences?
 
I haven't had any problems with games not working but the games I have ordered have not been in great shape. I ordered a few Gameboy games with the code and some had worn labels and some had yellow upc stickers on the cartridge. I also ordered a PS1 game and the case was generic, no insturctions and the actual disc had 2 stickers on it.

Unless they had an amazing deal on a used game, I will probably only order new games from them.

They should offer to send you a new copy of Mario Party 4 for all the trouble. If they sent me a game twice and it didn't work and gave me a hard time on the phone about fixing the problem, it would almost make me want to drive to their main headquarters and complain in person (only a 25 minute drive for me)
 
I got a Genma Onimusha that was literally covered in scratches from them a little while back, I sent it back out today, and paid myself, since it was part of a 1.98 order from that Reservation Rewards dealie. I figured an extra 1.50 wasnt bad for it, but my foot will have a conversation with EB's ass if it doesn't work right this time.
 
yea i ordered midtown madness and it aint work,,,,worse iw as too lazy to send it back so i lost $13 there...now i dont think ill buy used again...dunno
 
Hm yes EBGames.com is pretty sketchy for used games. I've only bought used SNES games from their website. The usual problem I've noticed with most of them is that they don't work right away. I have to stick it in, use a air can or blow into it in order for them to work. Once I do that though, the games seem to work fairly well and don't give me anymore problems.

There is one case though that really irked me. I had been wanting to get Chrono Trigger back for months since I had just gotten a SNES again after so many years from selling my other one. Well the day I saw one on EB's site I ordered it. It came a week later. I was really excited until I opened it, and found they had stuck their stupid yellow bar code sticker RIGHT ON CT'S LABEL! I couldn't beleive it! It was like the employee who scanned it into the system wanted to purposely deface that great game. To top it off, the game has tears on the label both on the top edge and the right edge. It was quite possibly the worst SNES game I had ever seen. Now maybe the tears weren't their fault, but that sticker sure was. I don't know why I kept it, but I did. I eventually ended up getting lucky and found a good mint looking copy at my local Gamestop and picked that one up. To this day though I still have the defaced copy as well. Thank you for bearing with my rant/horror story.
 
I often have to fight my impulses to buy a game at the great CAG prices that some of EB's coupons allow....just because of the reasons above. Sometimes a deal just isn't a deal....and then to blow this all out of the water, I did receive on two ocassions brand new games that were sold as preowned. I called the first time at my wife's insistence, and they told me that a very small amount of games are sold as preowned and sealed b/c EB bought them that way from people who traded the game in.
 
I bought a pre-owned console stand from for my PS2 from Ebgames.com and they sent me a damn pre-owned memory card. A sucky third party one too because my PS2 couldn't recognize it. Before I opened to test it, I had called customer service to resolve the problem of course.

My purchase was a $7.99 game and the console stand $4.99 totalling $12.98 with a $10 off coupon code, so it came to $2.98. But on the receipt they had allocated $1.83 to the game ant $1.15 to the stand. I called to get an exchange and apparently they were out of stock and that's why I got a memory card. I asked for a refund and since they had the console stand as $1.15 on the receipt, they wouldn't give me a full $4.99 refund, just the $1.15.

To make it up, they said that they would send me a $5 coupon code to ebgames.com. I still haven't got it yet... ugh.
 
Luckily I haven't had any problems. I've only ordered new games from them though. I'm kinda afraid to order pre-owned games online because I can't check the quality before I buy it.
 
[quote name='Drizzt']Hm yes EBGames.com is pretty sketchy for used games. I've only bought used SNES games from their website. The usual problem I've noticed with most of them is that they don't work right away. I have to stick it in, use a air can or blow into it in order for them to work. Once I do that though, the games seem to work fairly well and don't give me anymore problems. [/quote]

All cartridge based games have to be cleaned on a regular basis, best way is to use a q-tip and rubbing alcohol. Otherwise they won't work properly.
 
aight, i never had a problem with ebgames.com until i ordered mario kart: dd. here's my story:

i ordered it using the 25% off code and a few of my credits from the 5 for 52 dollar trade in. the one i received wouldn't play past the opening scene. so i sent it back to them and i never heard from them again! so i called them up to tell them that my delivery confirmation shows that they received it on march 12 (i called them on 3/29), and i asked them wtf is going on! the customer service guy said that they didn't have it in stock so they just refunded your credit card 4.99 (the price i paid after the credit and coupon code). i'm like, "wtf happens to my credit then? and how come you didn't contact me? plus, i'm supposed to be reimbursed shipping for shipping back a defective game!" oh man, i was kinda pissed b/c i used like 20 bucks in credit and they didn't even give that back to me, and then they didn't even give me any money to make up for the shipping! i was so mad... but the guy went ahead and placed another order for me for 4.99 and when it comes in, he placed it as 2 day air shipping. he also said that i would have the credit for shipping it back on this cc statement. it better be... or doreamonkerpal goes ballistic! :evil:
 
my results form them, all games were used.

Ninja Assault, 18$, came sealed in box new.
Swing Away Golf, 1.99, near mint condition complete
Tekken Tag, 12, complete avg condition
MDK, 1.64, disc only
Ridge Racer 4, 2.24 Disc only (no bonus disc)
 
Update

I finally got my coupon :D. On the phone the CSR said that it was going to be for $5. On the subject of the email they sent me it was for $10. In the content of the email it said that the coupon was for $30. Lol. Hopefully it will be the $30 one.

I'll try it out in a day or two after I decide what I might wanna to purchase if the coupon were either $5, $10 or $30. :D :D :D

quick question. do EB coupons like these disappear when you input them whether or not you check out? I've heard instances of that happening. Thanks.
 
I've ordered probably a few dozen used games from them (mostly ps2, ps, and xbox) and only had a problem with one game when the PS2 wouldn't recognize it. I called support and told them about it and they sent me a SASE so I could send back the game. About a week or so later I had a replacement that works fine.

All of the used games I've ordered from them have been scratched to some degree or another, but I only had problems with one of them. As long as they keep offering decent prices for their used games along with free shipping and guarantees that their games will work, I'll keep buying from them.

What baffles me is they say that they don't accept scratched discs for trade-in. If that's the case, then how come all of the used discs I've bought have been scratched up? :?
 
[quote name='imacheapasstoo']I've ordered probably a few dozen used games from them (mostly ps2, ps, and xbox) and only had a problem with one game when the PS2 wouldn't recognize it. I called support and told them about it and they sent me a SASE so I could send back the game. About a week or so later I had a replacement that works fine.

All of the used games I've ordered from them have been scratched to some degree or another, but I only had problems with one of them. As long as they keep offering decent prices for their used games along with free shipping and guarantees that their games will work, I'll keep buying from them.

What baffles me is they say that they don't accept scratched discs for trade-in. If that's the case, then how come all of the used discs I've bought have been scratched up? :?[/quote]

Because online they can get away with it. In the store you'd get 5 ft away and realize it and be right back in. Online most of the time someone will be like oh well I got screwed because of all the run around.

Its a lose-lose situation like when you trade in a game without instructions and they give less store credit but when you buy a used game that doesn't have instructions they don't reduce the price at all.
 
I never knew they gave less trade in credit for a game without discs and instructions (the only time I ever traded in games was during the Ninja Gaiden deal so I guess I never really thought about it). That's messed up that they won't give you full trade in value but online they can say "original packaging and instructions may not be included" and still sell it for the full preowned price. Disc only games should be sold for less then.
 
I don't know about online but there's been a few times at B&M stores where I haven't had the instructions and they've knocked a couple bucks off they trade in value.
 
I've bought a half dozen or so used games from ebgames.com and so far have had good results. Three of the games were in perfect condition (disc, case, instructions) For two the disc was in good condition (sticker on one of the discs) and the case was kind of beat up. And on the final one the disc had some crud on the top, but the shiny part was in good shape and it plays fine.

Even the ones in perfect condition have at least one sticker on the case.

Oh and I got the wrong instructions with one of the games. Segat GT/JSRF combo game had the instructions for Sega GT included. Actually didn't realize the mistake until a month+ after I got the game and I don't think I would have bothered doing anything about it anyway.

Generally if I can save 1/3 or more on the cost of a new game I will buy it used. For example Beyond Good & Evil would have been $20 new (my BB has been out for a while now) but I got it for $13.50 used. That one was in particularly great shape. Looked like the instructions had never been taken out of the case.

If the difference was just $18 used vs. $20 new, I'd pay the extra two bills.
 
A friend of mine bought Ghost Recon for the PS2 from an EB B&M. I had been trying to convince him to get the Xbox version instead, as it was cheaper. I later found out he wanted the PS2 version because he had a PS2 multitap and four PS2 controllers (didn't matter, Ghost Recon only supports 2 players offline).

Anyhoo, get home and he's at my house to try it out. We put the disc in and pay no attention to the Xbox boot-up screen that shows up. Then the Xbox boot sound that plays 'crashed' and we both thought 'oh crap'. It wasn't a bad game, we just had the Xbox version of the game in the PS2 box. Also had Xbox instructions. Good news was he had an Xbox as well. Bad news was the Xbox version was cheaper at this particular EB, so he wound up paying an extra $5-$7 for it. EB was over an hour's drive away, so he just kept it. Which means some poor sap bought the Xbox version and got a PS2 disc.
 
[quote name='Theenternal']At least its not as bad as that guy on here who bought a game and got a cdr and some paper inside it. At target[/quote]

LOL! that was sad!
 
Actually, the one "new" game I've ordered from EB was in worse shape than the 4 used games I got. I've recieved Timesplitters 2, Guilty Gear X2, Breath of fire 4, and Parappa the rappa all used and in great condition. A few stickers, but nothing the GooGone can't fix in a few minutes. BOF4 and PaRap even said "may not include orginal packaging", so I was pleasantly surprised there. However, the NEW copy of Primal I orderd came with stickers under the shrink wrapping(?) and several gouges in the case plastic. Guess it's just a crap shoot ordering from EB...
 
[quote name='guyver2077']yea i ordered midtown madness and it aint work,,,,worse iw as too lazy to send it back so i lost $13 there...now i dont think ill buy used again...dunno[/quote]

So you got one defective game, that could have been replaced with a simple 10 minutes of time, and because of that you won't buy a used game ever again.

:?

Anyways, as for EBgames used games....I think they take just about ANYTHING in for trade because I've got some pretty shitty games in before. Some that were obviously disk doctored, and some that had HUGE scratches on them. Even got one cracked and one with a peeling label. I think even Blockbuster games look better than theres do. Luckily they dont give you much flack about returning them.
 
Just thought I would update this topic in case any of you were wondering how things turned out.

After speaking with an EBGames.com CSR, they felt it was in their best interests to overnight FedEx a third copy of Mario Party 4 to me. And since this transaction was still unresolved and it had been over a month since I ordered it, it certainly was in their best interests. I received my latest copy two days later. Fortunately, the game worked although it had one of those lame yellow stickers on the case. :evil: Another bad thing was that they charged me for the additional copy. I won't get that money back until I return the defective one. I still have to wait a couple weeks before I get their stupid SASE. Oh well. That's the price I have to pay to use the AFF25 code I guess.
 
Electronics Boutique sucks. It took them 6 months to send me a gift voucher. It was for the wrong amount too. Those bastards owe me $15.
 
[quote name='JibbaJabba'][quote name='Drizzt']Hm yes EBGames.com is pretty sketchy for used games. I've only bought used SNES games from their website. The usual problem I've noticed with most of them is that they don't work right away. I have to stick it in, use a air can or blow into it in order for them to work. Once I do that though, the games seem to work fairly well and don't give me anymore problems. [/quote]

All cartridge based games have to be cleaned on a regular basis, best way is to use a q-tip and rubbing alcohol. Otherwise they won't work properly.[/quote]

I think that is BS. I have a ton of SNES games and they all work fine and have never been cleaned. Hell even my Atari 2600 games work perfectly without being cleaned. The only system that does not work well without cleaning is the NES and that is because the put cheap connectors in the system.
 
I will not buy used games from a website. I cannot verify them in person and it is too hard to return them. It's not worth saving $5-10 for the risk of having to return it.
 
It hasn't cost me any additional money. Some hassle maybe, but no additional money. I simply waited for them to send me a self-addressed stamped envelope.
 
crap. i just bought my first used game from EBgames.com: star wars KOTOR. i hope its okay, i would have bought new but i couldn't resist the coupon codes. but i've never had problems with used store bought games other that broken boxes or missing instructions or dirty discs/cartridges.
 
Add me to the growing list of people who are dissatisfied with used games from EB. My copy of Elder Scrolls Morrowind was so scratched I was surprised it worked at all.
 
My stomach turned when I read Drizzt's story. Poor Crono. Reminds me of the days when I was in middle school, trading games with my friends and ended up with a copy of BoF2 that would rattle like a baby toy. If you stepped too heavily around the SNES that bitch would at best reset, at worst erase 50 hours of gameplay.

Yeah, I gave that one to EB. Kidding.
 
I bought a GC from them not too long ago and when I got it I was all excited and wanted to play some Mario Sunshine. I hook it up and it turns on...and then shuts off...Nothing I do will fix it...I send it back...They have no record of it getting to them...It got "lost" so I wait and I wait...They finally "find" it after around 2 or 3 weeks...I get the other gamecube that works perfectly after a month and a week after I sent the first one back...Im never buying a system online agian!
 
I've ordered probably thirty or so used games from ebgames.com, mostly snes games, and have only had two real problems.

The first one, I ordered a used Skies of Arcadia for Dreamcast. The copy they sent me wouldn't boot for some reason (it didn't seem to be scratched that much, just wouldn't work). That time, they asked me to send it back, and I got a new one.

The other time, I ordered a used copy of Shadowrun (kind of cyberpunk pseudo-rpg for snes). The copy they sent me was just the cartridge casing, without the connectors or game inside. I had a hell of a time explaining that to Customer Service, but eventually they sent me a return envelope and I got another copy in return.

Overall, I haven't had much problem with their used games. You kind of have to not care what condition you get it in, because it is almost never going to be in mint condition. If you are trying to collect games and want them to be in mint condition, then steer clear of them entirely. If you just want to play them, most of their used games are fine, and it's easier than trying to track something down on eBay. I pretty much stick to cartridge games, since they are a bit less fragile, and any damage to an optical disk can ruin it. These are still not all that great, though, because they usually do have some marking or sticker on the label, or just look like they've been beat to hell.

However, I don't think that they actively check all of their games to see that they work (like they claim). The fact that I got a copy of Shadowrun without any game in it pretty much proves that. That said, both problems I had were corrected fairly quickly, and the CSR always seemed eager to help in their emails.
 
I don't think they check their games either. I still can't explain how the first two copies of Mario Party 4 they sent me didn't work.
 
I've probably ordered around 10 or so used games through ebgames.com. All of them were PS2/Xbox/GC so they had case and manual, and were all in decent condition. Some of the cases were more scuffed up/stickered up than others, but in all cases the games worked.

The only bad thing was I ordered Agressive Inline for GC, opened the case, and it BLATANTLY wasn't a GC case (it was a case for a normal size DVD, and had no memory card holder). So obviously, whoever traded it in took out the outer packaging and slipped it into a standard DVD case (god knows why). My only complaint.
 
[quote name='daphatty']I don't think they check their games either. I still can't explain how the first two copies of Mario Party 4 they sent me didn't work.[/quote]

I wouldnt be surprised if EB's "unofficial" Busines strategy was not to test. Im sure it saves them time and money. There are probably lots of people that accecpt the broken game and dont stand up for themselves to get another one. It sucks.
 
I just bought MVP Baseball from them for PS2, last Thursday. My system could not find the disc. They sent me another and charged may again, which arrived on Saturday. That one loaded up to the menu, but when I wanted to play agame it wouldn't load. I even it tried it on my brother's system, no luck. I got my SASE yesterday and sending them both back. $77 in the hole right now and they wanted to recharge to send the third one out. Also they told me they will only refund my money for one of them. They might refund the other money if they don't have it in stock. MIGHT! Will I get a new disc, refund or store credit? Only time will tell!
 
I just bought MVP Baseball from them for PS2, last Thursday. My system could not find the disc. They sent me another and charged may again, which arrived on Saturday. That one loaded up to the menu, but when I wanted to play agame it wouldn't load. I even it tried it on my brother's system, no luck. I got my SASE yesterday and sending them both back. $77 in the hole right now and they wanted to recharge to send the third one out. Also they told me they will only refund my money for one of them. They might refund the other money if they don't have it in stock. MIGHT! Will I get a new disc, refund or store credit? Only time will tell!
 
I've bought so many games, new and used from ebgames.com, and never have had a single problem. I ordered about 20 Genesis games the first time, was about 60 dollars, all were flawless except for a sticker on one of them. Since then I've ordered new and used PS2, Gamecube, and GameBoy Color games with no problems except for those damn stickers.
 
The only used games I order online, from EB or anyone else, are cartridge-based games. I would never order a used disk-based game online. I'm way too picky about the condition of those - hell, most store employees look at me like I'm crazy when I ask to see a disk they call "mint" and give it back to them saying it's in bad shape. :p

Cartridge games are a lot tougher. Most everything I've ordered has had the label in good condition and worked fine, that's about all that can go wrong w/ a cartridge. Recently ordered a batch from them when they ran the buy 2 get 1 free special, and got Actraiser in the bunch. That game looks mint, and is still just as fun as it ever was. :)

BTW, while we're talking about used games, I have a used Chrono Trigger that I picked up from Blockbuster several years back (for $8, one of my all-time best finds :)). It's in excellent condition, except it has the remainder of those silver "void" stickers that were wrapped around the base of the cart. Nothing on the label, just on the plastic. Anyone know of a good way to get that crap off?
 
I've had problems with games and DVD movies I've ordered from EB Online. The copy of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust they sent me had been thru a resurfacing machine so many times, you could almost see thru it. I sent that back at my expense and demanded that my shipping charges be reimbursed as well. They covered it.

Until EB started the new policy where we can returne or exchange merchandise at B&M stores, I had no intentions of buying used games or movies from them again. Since the change, I ordered 3 used PS2 games. All of which arrived with damaged cases, booklets or severly scratched disks. I took the games and my shipping receipt to one of my local EB's. They promptly exchanged 2 of the games for mint copies (case, booklet and disk all mint). They did not have the 3rd game in stock, so I returned it. I like the folks who work at this EB, and I felt guilty having them fix the wrongdoings of EB Online, so I bought a new game from them as well. :) Hey, $19.99 for Metal Arms for the XBox. Minus the $6 for the defective game. It turned out good in the end, but I still don't trust EB Online to send out quality used merchandise.
 
This isn't an EBgames story, but it definitely was the worst experience I ever had buying a used game.

At a used CD store (deals in Music CDs but they have a small games section) I saw Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth for $25. At the time it was retailing for $50, so I picked it up without a thought.

Unfortunately, the disc wouldn't load, so I returned it for a cash refund. No big deal, no harm done. My birthday was coming up, so I figured I may as well put that game on my birthday list.

So on my birthday, I wound up getting the game from my parents. I try it and it doesn't work... I look carefully at the disc and packaging and I realize that it's the SAME EXACT COPY of the game that I had returned a couple of weeks earlier. I asked my parents and they confirmed that they did in fact buy the game from the same store I had gone to.

So I return the SAME EXACT copy of the SAME EXACT GAME for the second time and get another refund. I subtly tell the store clerk that it's probably not a good idea to put a very obviously defective game back on the shelves.

Undaunted, I see the game on Half.com for $30 and buy it again. I get the disc, play the game, it seems ok, but at a certain point in the career mode it would always freeze on a loading screen. I try a friend's copy of the game, and it loads fine. I sigh deeply.

Thankfully the Half.com seller was cooperative, but getting all the labels and stuff together to mail it back was a pain. After a couple of weeks I get another copy of the game mailed to me (shipping reimbursed, thankfully). That one worked perfectly.

So it took a whopping FOUR tries, but I finally got a good copy of the game. Heh, long story, I know, but perhaps it will resonate with some of you.
 
I got Kessen for ps2 back when it first came out used at eb for $29.99. I got it and it had a huge scratch on it and the ps2 wouldn't load it. I sent it back to them and dident get a new one back. I called them back a month later and they denied ever recieving it they told me it must've been lost in the mail, well, i had a tracking number on it and it said they had recieved it. They told me if i kept calling them they were going to do something with the police for trying to hassle them into a free game. So I warn all of you to beware of eb games used games.
 
It has taken me over a month to get another copy of Zelda DX for the GBC from them. They have been cooperative though so everything is cool with me
 
Always buy used stuff from B&M unless you don't mind throwing money away.

I bought a used Warhawk for PSOne this weekend. Got it home and it looked like hell. I thought it was a lost cause, but a good cleaning fixed it. Still, it taught me (once again) to check used stuff before I leave the store.
 
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