Topic: Game Store Experiences

After seeing complaints all around the web about people's experiences at GameStop, I wanted to see what kind of experiences you guys have had at your local game store. I have never had any problems with GameStop. Their staff has always been helpful and freindly to me at least.

I've never had any problems, but I barely go there anymore. Mostly because I quit selling games there

Never had any problems. Although I'm probably the ONLY person who buys Nintendo games from said store, to the point I wouldn't be surprised if I was the sole reason they still bring in 3DS games.

Every GameStop I have been into was terrible.

It is massively overpriced for starters, and all of their new items are never sealed.

I'll tell a tale of my experience of GameStop.

Once upon a time, FishieFish was bored and decided to go to Gamestop to look for some game.
FishieFishie spotted a few games that looked eye-catching, "The Thing", "Shadow the Hedgehog","Fifa Street" and "Need for Speed: Underground", all for PS2.
The first three games cost €9.98 for the three of them, and the Need for Speed game cost €1.99, FishieFish bought the games.
FishieFish then went home to play the games on her PS2 system, all of the games had no manuals or cover art, FishieFish popped the games into the PS2 system and started playing.
Only two of the games worked, and even they where badly scratched.
FishieFish was pissed and un-pleased that GameStop could sell such games in that condition, so FishieFish went back to GameStop, they could only give FishieFish in store credit, even with the receipt.
FishieFish got Dead or Alive 2 for PS2, without cover art or manuals.
FishieFish then went home to play Dead or Alive on a PS2 system, the game kept freezing.
FishieFish couldn't be bothered to go back to GameStop, and now FishieFish all ways buys games online from Amazon, a store with much better service and better prices.

The end.

Not all endings are happy you know.

The only time I have legitimately got a good deal in GameStop was the time I found Metroid Prime Trilogy for €7.99 (and even that was scratched and had no outer sleeve or manual), and the time I got Theathrhytmn Final Fantasy for RRP (It's a rare game nowadays, and sometimes that game doesn't read and it was un-sealed).

Sorry if my grammar is bad. :/

@FishieFish .... your area sucks then. But then again, Gamestop is the only place to get any decent games in my area. The used market, in general, sucks now, gamers use to take pride in keeping the box-art and manuals in near mint condition, now it's all about the next big title. My one favorite game store, a Gamestop actually, which held the best selection of titles for all systems and did their best to keep the boxes and manuals, closed down a few years ago all because they wanted to put in another Nordstrom floor.

The problem is the area, your locale will impact everything from customer service, to product quality, for all businesses. Most Starbucks stores have really snotty employees, they always treat me well but I do see them treating certain less fashionable customers with a lot of disrespect. I seem to be one of those "dress up the place"" customers wherever I go, however, I am observant and judge a business based on how they handle everyone. In my local area, a district in downtown Seattle called Pioneer Square, the employees to Starbucks are some of the best employees I have met anywhere. Same with the Gamestop that use to sit in Westlake Center, the one that remains in downtown though has horrible management, they don't care about the games as much, and the employees are hit and miss. I have one favorite employee there, who has a very faint UK like accent, that actually owns a 3DS, and his girlfriend has one as well, so I can ask him opinions on games and get two different ones. That's it though, none of the other employees seem to know more than what's in the reviews. Gamestop is also suppose to not open the sale versions, once the game is opened it is considered "used," thus they have display boxes, one game they open and put only the box and manual on the shelf for shoppers. Luckily my local one actually does this.

Gamestop prices are one of those "decrease with age, increase with popularity" systems, it's highly inaccurate and often results in you getting a gem for almost nothing, or having to pay a fortune for a sub-par game. They keep the pricing the same everywhere, using a standard, which really imbalances the used game market, but it keeps things consistent and inarguable. I got the FF XII special edition, CDs only, for $15, the same price as the FF XII normal edition I got with box and manual, though used. Special edition is a collector's item, one that I do not play actually, but cost the same as the regular edition, and it was not the absence of the box and manual that made it the same price.

When you go into a Gamestop, don't go with a mission, go when you're bored and just want .... a game. You'll be more likely to find something you never thought you would. If you go there looking for a specific title, or a great game, you won't likely find it unless you pre-order it. Pre-ordering cartridges is the best reason to go to the store, especially if you have no other stores around.

@KittenKoder,

I'm in Ireland, and I have been into about 5 GameStops that give the same service.

When I lived in the UK however, GAME was the best place ever.
Their prices where fair, their stock was new and their used products where in mint condition, and they gave fair trade-in prices (even though I don't trade-in games).

I was at the store buying pikmin, they ran out. so the clerk said that if we pre-ordered another game we can have his pikmin game..and we said no and for 10 min he keeped asking so me and my mom said FINE....omg i hate gamestop

So they didn't run out of stock at all?
But instead they lied to you so they could try and get more money?

Go with the stores you like, ignore the business it's connected to. That's the best advice my father gave on shopping, ignore the brand, basically. A lot of the "hate" online for various things is blown way out of proportion, the adage I use is: You don't judge the employee by the business they work for, but you do judge the business by the employees that work for them. However when there is one or two bad stories of a local store online, often a rival business will take those stories and copy paste them everywhere, even convince their own employees that these stories are the rule. Best Buy is known to do that a lot, spread rumors and one time bad stories as if they are facts, even including them in employee training. While there are some decent Best Buys, this training method has rendered most of their employees stupid, technologically stupid. Gamestop is very regional, in such matters, you can go into a store and find employees of all skill and knowledge levels. Both part of it's charm, and part of it's flaws.

@KittenKodler,

That's why I shop with Amazon!
They seems trustworthy and their service is amazing.

I've never had a problem with Gamestop, personally. The clerks at our locations are always courteous, if not even talkative.

Also, if they don't have a particular game, they'll even call the other location in town to see if the other store has it.

Sure, they'll always try to sell you on their rewards program & whatnot, but that's kind of their job. I've worked sells before (not at GS, though), and upselling is considered part of the job. In fact, not trying to upsell counts against you, and can cost you your job if you don't push as much as they want you to. Just remember that next time you visit your local GS.

Thank you game stop is so annoying..but other then best buy, i have no where to go(maryland sucks)

Hmmm problems with Gamestop let me see if can keep this reply family friendly.

First off they sell used games as new. Yeah I know some of you will defend them and say oh I have got all the booklets and stuff with it so what does it matter if its opened. Well for one thing once the factory seal is broken its considered used no if ands or buts about it. Also why is it than if I were to take a new game open up the plastic wrap right there in the store and than ask for a full refund they will only give me used credit? I have actually done that by the way to prove a point but in the end I ended up walking out cause the idiot behind the counter didn't get it.

Speaking of the idiot behind the counter that's what their employees are idiots. In all the ones I have been in in my area the employee know nothing about game except what the most popular are so they can make sales. I ask the guy about CoD or Halo and oh they know everything in and out about Halo but than I ask them about a title on the Wii for example and they will just tell you anything just to make a sale.

I had an incident years ago where I asked about a game, Battlestar Galactica on the Xbox that I wanted to get for a friend for his birthday. Well when I asked about the game the employee told me that it was a FPS like Starwars Battlefront but set in the Battlestar Galactica setting. I thought great he will love it, he liked Starwars Battlefront and he is a Battlestar Galactica fan so I bought it. However when I got to his house and gave him the game and he put it in his Xbox it was some sort of bad space flying game kinda like Star Fox it wasn't a FPS at all. Well when my friend and I went back with the game to get the money back cause the employee lied to us he offered us used credit since it was opened. I argued with him on how he told me that it was a FPS which he denied saying that he never told him that. He then began to get very rude with us so I asked for the manager which he got. Well I explained nicely to the manager how the employee mislead me about the game and that it was wrong of him to say it was a FPS when it wasn't instead of telling me that he didn't know anything about the game but than again they wouldn't have made a sale and in the end that's what they wanted. The manager then said that he was sorry but since it was opened all he could give me was used value which once again I said well thats wrong because I was misled by the employee. To make a long story short it took me finally threatening to call the police on them to have it all sorted out but the manager finally gave me a full refund but also banned me from the store which was fine by me since I never was going back.

Then there is the fact that Gamestop will receive stolen property. I had my GBA stolen from me years ago which had my name on it with marker. Well one day I went into at the time the only Gamestop in my area and saw my GBA there. When I saw it there and explained it to the manager even going to the point of showing him my idea he refused to give me my GBA back. After a long battle I did get it back which I can't go into here.

But yeah for me Gamestop is nothing but a bunch of crooks and liars.

I went into a Gamestop to get a free Pokémon (Meloetta), and I also went in because I wanted to take a look at Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (which was going to come out the next day). So I played a bit with the demo, and the guy asks me if I was planning in getting it. I said yes, and then he starts setting up a preorder for me... a bit presumptuous, no? I told him no thanks. I then bought Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon from Toys ' я' Us the next day.

Irony, I don't trust Amazon.

The new eShop is how I am now getting most of my games, which sucks because I love boxes and manuals. Either that or I pre-order, then use game stores as a "wish and browse" method to get games I may have missed in the reviews and eShop list. The one local Gamestop here focuses on the seXBox, which has zero games I want to play, and the PS4 which has zero games I want to play. The Nintendo 3Ds section is this tiny part of the store, like they just had some extra room to fill. As I said, the management here sucks at that Gamestop. I have to travel an hour by bus to find a decent one. Target just moved into downtown, finally, and it's selection matches the Gamestop, but they're not a game store so I don't blame them too much.

@KitterKodler, Why don't you trust Amazon?
They are amazingly cheap, and all of their stock is well packaged and is all ways sealed.

Oh man, have I got a tale for you people. I hope I remember it all correctly with exact dialogue, happened last May. I made a topic like this, got locked, but specifically because I wrote "Bad experiences" in the title, so yours might be okay. Mine has been deleted by now (or at least I assume so, since I can't find it anywhere) so I'll have to recreate the story by memory.

Let's set the scene, yes?

It's May 24th in southern Ontario, and while it's a bit breezy, the weather is not bad at all. The sun shines brightly over a soft blue sky mottled by wisps of clouds. And Captain Balko is on a school trip to the movie theater.

I know for a fact we were either watching the Great Gatsby or Star Trek: Into Darkness because I had two cinema trips that semester, and I know that one of them was Gatsby and one was Star Trek. If it was Gatsby I was disappointed, if it was Star Trek I was psyched out of my mind. After a pleasant and memorable lunch with about eight of my good friends at a burger joint, we walked back towards the theater. I asked them if they wanted to come into EB Games with me while I picked up a pre-order. They said, "sure, why not", and we headed inside.

The pre-order in particular, as some particular sharp witted individuals might have guessed, was Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. I walk in and pick up my pre-order. The guy at the desk looks familiar, and seems very friendly. I get my game, and decide out of the blue to pre-order two more games. So, by now my friends and some other people from my school are browsing the store, playing demos, watching trailers on their TV they have set up. Note that there's some sale on and there are a few balloons taped to the ends of display cases - this tidbit will be important later.

I notice another clerk comes out from the back. He looks genuinely angry when he sees us, as if to say, "What! Teenagers in here on a Thursday afternoon! How DARE they sully my 'do nothing and get paid for it' time at work?" He stares menacingly for a few minutes. One of my friends is walking by and accidentally bumps on one of the small red balloons haphazardly taped to a display case. It falls to the floor. You'd think that we just dropped this guy's newborn baby (or more likely his X-Box) because he had quite the reaction.

He said "Oh my God!" as if he was shocked that when balloons aren't filled with helium they can fall on the floor. The friendly clerk tells him something and he says, "I don't care, I just don't care." He strolls over with some tape and a look that contained more rage than when I get hit by a blue shell at the very end of the third lap in Mario Kart. He looks at us and says, "If you're not buying anything, you need to get out, NOW." (keep in mind, I don't remember exactly, but he said something very close to this)

I stare at him for a moment and say, "Um, I actually just bought a game," and show him my bag. He looks at me and says, "Cool," in an angry matter, as if he couldn't care less if I bought something or not, and that he just wanted me to leave. The friendly clerk looks embarrassed the whole time. I look at him again, and say, "I also pre-ordered two games just now, and I don't understand why you would treat a customer this way." He frowns at me and says, "That's cool. I don't care. Now leave." He says this in a particularly venomous manner, and as we start to walk away, he says clearly, "Loving kids, love them."

I'm strongly considering taking back my game and asking for the pre-orders back, if they'll give them to me, since I have the receipt and didn't leave the store yet. Instead, I decide to begin walking away... But I'm angry. My friends are leaving, but just before I go, I look at the desk and yell, "Hey!"

He looks over at me. I rip the same balloon that the whole fuss was over off the shelf and bite it violently, popping it. He looks dumbfounded. The other clerk starts audibly laughing. I say, "THAT'S RIGHT, Person! Love YOU AND YOUR BALLOON!", and I run out of the store. My friends saw what I did and practically give me a standing ovation. It was rude, it was instinctive (who knows what that balloon touched... yuck), but it felt OH SO GOOD.

Anyways, that's my experience. I still go to that EB Games often but haven't run into that guy again. Never had any more negative experiences there.

tl;dr - Angry clerk at EB Games tells my friends to leave after knocking down a balloon after I've bought a game and pre-ordered two more, is very rude about it. I get my revenge by popping the balloon with my mouth and calling him names.

yeah other than having a broken PS2 sold to me without being in working condition, I find the local is fine. The corporate however is terrible. I don't see why they don't bother to train the employees in the basics of a new console. I've heard a Wii described as an HD Wii without a mention of the gamepad or any other components. on the launch section, there were no midnight events, advertisements or signage. Probably because Nintendo didn't succumb to that blackmail about exclusives that I 've heard about. (reliable source, I know)