Topic: Bad Experiences at Gamestop/EB Games

Hey everybody. As this is a gaming based site, I'm going to assume that a lot of people go to Gamestop (or the Canadian equivalent, which is where I shop, EB Games) for assorted gaming purchases. In the past, friends have told me some bad things about the service and whatnot, but I never believed them, until recently when I experienced it myself.
I mean, I've had to deal with pushy clerks in the past, no doubt, but it was nothing too severe. One guy tried to push a used copy of Kirby Superstar Ultra on me because he claimed they didn't have any new copies (I don't buy used so I declined, and then about four seconds later I saw a few new Kirby Superstar Ultra cases on their back wall, to which the guy claimed ignorance and blamed a computer malfunction). Another time, my brother bought a LoZ OoT 3D case for his 3DS, but saw on the back of the box that he liked a different colour model better. So he returned it, to which the guy said "Well, we don't have that colour. Gamestop doesn't carry it." and then when my brother still insisted on buying it, "It can only be bought in the US. Actually, I can't even guarantee it there." We found it at another Gamestop in a mall that we went to the next day. Also, a friend told me that a Sony fan working there tried to get him to not purchase a 3DS XL, and buy a Vita instead. This one really pissed me off, because the guy told him that "Nintendo is dying", and that "They are releasing their games for Playstation 3 in a few months, including Zelda and Mario". His ignorance astounded me. Still, I never had any problems... until last week, when I picked up DK Country Returns 3D while at a school trip.
Here is the story...
So, I pre-ordered DK Country Returns at my local EB Games a while after it was announced. The day that it was released happened to coincide with a school trip to the cinema (we watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, I thought it was absolutely fantastic, however that is beside the point), and we were given a few hours of spare time after we watched the movie before returning to our school. The EB Games that I bought the game at was directly across from the cinema, so it made sense to drop buy and pick up my game during our free time instead of needlessly driving there and wasting gas money after school. So, I walk in with a couple friends. We're all in our school uniform, by the way. I go over to the counter and am greeted by a genuinely friendly clerk. He asks how he can help me, I tell him I have a pre-order, and he sells me the game. I'm in a good mood, and I decide to pre-order a few more games (specifically Batman: Arkham Origins and Game and Wario, if you're wondering). Some of my friends are looking at the merchandise, one is playing a demo of Bit Trip Runner 2, and another friend (and I) are watching the gaming videos that are displayed on the TV they have set up. There are five of us in total, two more walk in after, which makes seven. Now, I should note that there are balloons taped to the sides of the display cases, but my friends don't pay much attention to them. The store isn't one of the small EB Games, either, it's quite large, so we all fit in with no problem. Everything is going fine and dandy until a different clerk walks out of the back room. He's dressed like a hipster, and has a massive scowl on his face. He eyes us for a few minutes. One of my friends walks past a case and brushes one of the balloons. It falls to the floor. He looks at it and goes to pick it up. However, the guy scowling at us walks over and picks it up first. He delicately places it back on the standing, making sure it didn't fall again. Maybe it's hard to tape balloons to stands or something, but he got really angry after the balloon fell. He growls, "Unless you kids are buying something, leave. Now." My friends start to go. I turn to the guy and say, "I already bought something." He looks me in the eye, and says "Cool." in an angry voice that says, "I don't give a sh*t". He then walks back to the counter. The friendly clerk mutters something to him. I'm guessing he was telling him to cool down or to stop being rude, because the other guy says, "I don't care." and turns towards us. My friends are almost all gone. I tell them not to go. I go up to the desk, and politely say, "Excuse me, but I just bought a game here and pre-ordered two other games about ten minutes ago. I also have two other pre-orders on file. This is my primary store for gaming, I spend tons of money here every year. I really don't appreciate the way that a paying customer has just been treated." The guy stares at me, giving me the dirtiest look that I've frankly ever gotten. He says, "That's great. I don't care." I was seriously considering returning Donkey Kong Country right there and asking for a refund on my pre-orders (not that they would give one to me, but I would try), but I really wanted to play DK that night since I had nothing better to do. So I say, "Can I talk to a manager or something? I'm really disappointed with this customer service." The guy says, "Sorry, none are in. Please leave." I note his name (which I will not mention here) and say, "Well, I'm calling your customer service to report this." Then I turn to leave. As I'm walking out, I'm getting angrier and angrier. As I pass the shelf where the balloon fell, I rip of the balloon and hold it in my hands. I scream, "HEY!", and both clerks turn around. I pull the balloon to my face and bite it savagely (making sure my tongue covers my throat so no material from the balloon ends up choking me), popping it. I spit the piece of balloon from my mouth onto the floor, and toss the rest over the games. I know I shouldn't have done this, but sometimes you do stuff in the moment. It was like some sort of protest. I run out before the guy can do anything and my friends follow suit. Now that I think back on it, I really shouldn't have popped that balloon with my mouth (it's wholly unhygienic) or at all, but I doubt there can be consequences. It was a single balloon, worth all of five cents. Anyways, when I got home, before playing my game I called the number on their website for customer service and reported everything that the guy said and did (excluding the part where I popped the balloon, of course).
Since I do have pre-orders there, I'm going to have to go back and give them my business, even though they certainly don't deserve it. After I pick up all of my pre-orders there, I'm going to start going to another EB Games, despite it being slightly farther. Or maybe I'll find another company that deserves my business more than they do. I'm not sure yet.

So, does anybody else have some bad experiences at EB Games or Gamestop that they'd like to share? I for one was truly disappointed after this occurred, especially since, when I was younger, I loved going to EB Games and Gamestop, if only to browse.

Doesn't eb games give you store credit for a cancelled pre-order? If so you could cancel all your pre-orders and take the credit to another store.

I consider myself lucky, since the new gamestop opened near us, I've never had any problems like that and always receive wonderful customer service.

That stinks. My GameStop is pretty nice, well, from my experiences. Hopefully you can find a better store though. There's no reason why employees should treat you like dirt, especially when you're paying them your money.

No offense, but we all know Gamestop isn't always the greatest place to go for games. It's an 'at your own risk' sort of place, sometimes they're nice, other times they're rude. No matter what someone has done, two wrongs do not make a right. I hope you feel better for what you did that day, but we don't need any threads where users are encouraged to share their stories of horrible service and subsequent revenge, please and thank you.