PSA: Don't buy "new" games from Gamestop's website

Mailman487 · 3時間前

As a former Gamestop employee, I know exactly what happened here. As a ploy to save money, corporate thought it would be best to start having the stores package and ship product for a lot of online orders. In this specific case, (no pun intended) this was the last copy of the game at the store that was told to sell ship this game. Sometimes cases can get lost or stolen and since this was all done electronically, the store could not say "well we can't sell this game because we don't have the case". All the website sees is that they have it in stock and they will be the ones to ship it. It's a fucked up system and one of the many reasons I quit.

VolatileCrocodile · 1時間前

I try to avoid Gamestop at all costs anymore. On more occasions than I can count have they or their employees done something to piss me off.

The most recent was back in 2013 with the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS bundle, the one with the special edition gold and black 3DS XL. My fiancee is a huge LoZ fan and when she seen it she could barely contain herself. I wanted to get it for her really bad but couldn't swing it at the moment. The employee told me I could reserve one as long as I picked it up within 30 days, this was about two weeks before Black Friday. Fast forward to the weekend after Black Friday and I go in, go up to the counter, and ask for the 3DS I reserved. It was a different person working that day and they just gave me this look like I was an idiot. "Uh, okay.. let me go check. I'm pretty sure we sold out." As soon as I heard those last words I was already planning for the worst because this was supposed to be my fiancee's Christmas gift. They came out and said they must have sold out of them, at which point I make it clear again that this is one I reserved, had already paid money on, and should not have been sold. They gave me another weird look and then went on about how they don't do that and the other person was wrong for letting me reserve it and they'd have to go talk to their manager. There was another person working and they decided to go look for themselves. They come back out not even two minutes later with the bundle in hand. Turns out it was sitting in plain sight with a note. I got the bundle and my fiancee was ecstatic when she received it. About a week after picked it up I ran into the employee that helped me and I thanked them. They then informed me that other employee wanted it for themselves and was lying about it not being there so they could get it. I haven't been back to Gamestop since the day it all happened.

TL;DR: I reserved a special edition 3DS XL for my fiancee and when I went to pick it up the employee I talked to first lied because they wanted it themselves. Another employee went behind their back and saved the day.

Edit:
As I have said in some replies the employee that lied to me kept their job despite being reported by me and multiple other people, for years at that. This was also an example of the wrongdoings by their employees and I'm well aware this could have happened at any business but it happens to me there.

Here's some examples of what I have dealt with from Gamestop as a company: I've had orders and reservations / pre-orders canceled with no reasons given on multiple occasions at multiple stores and no acknowledgement of it until I went to pick them up. I've received the wrong products on at least two occasions. I've had trade-in credit suddenly vanish.

notaunion · 4時間前

Lol don't buy anything from GameStop period.

ShlubbyWhyYouDan · 49分前

Recently fired, Super Salty Gamestop Ex-Employee here.

This happens, all the time. We usually offer 10-15% off when we don't have the original casing for a NEW game, and we aren't obligated to have the case on a used purchase...

The reason you got that case is because Gamestop now ships directly from stores with their Ship From Store process. The warehouses and the people that work in them now are slowly being phased out. So when a master criminal goes into a store, they steal the case thinking they got away with the score of a lifetime. In turn, management notices the missing case during the TOH's makes us grab a "Shell Casing" and print up cover-art. (All Printable Cover-art is explicitly only for pre owned, no case = discount)

Gamestop is one of the worst organizations to work for, period. Their CEO Paul Raines has been caught saying "I don't know why people work for Gamestop". I genuinely love video games, and they're a passion of mine, but he saw me as a sap, someone he could exploit for a few months by giving a garbage paycheck. And when it's time for someone to go? Surveys. If you write the most foul, douchiest stuff on there it will get someone fired regardless of write ups, coachings, anything, they actually tell us to be "PC Bro". They will fire you without uncorroborated evidence from the complaint filer and say they have audio of you saying the insult like they know your store better than you do, and when you confront them they tell you, you can have your job back but on a probationary period. That's when you give them the middle finger and walk out.

You should only shop at a Gamestop if you connect with the workers, which honestly these days is so hard to do, because everyone wants to be a Store Leader, they just want you to buy shit, buy their insurance, the pro card, your immortal soul ect...(Side Note: New Titles at Gamestop because they thought the word Manager, gave too much power.)

I had some of the most eye opening, and compelling conversations at that job, and work flew by because I helped people find their niché when it came to gaming. I still love my co-workers I talk to them everyday, I think being let go was one of the best things that every happened to me. Ask someone that works at a Gamestop and see if they will give you their sincere opinion. I bet most would say "It feels like I die a bit every time I clock in."

TL;DR: Some Gamestop Employees care about you more than you think, and Gamestop Corporate hopes you leave your debit card, pin number, and first born behind.

EDIT: TOH means Title on Hand

oldmanpotter · 4時間前

Bit of info on this.

I called a Gamestop within driving distance of my house to hold a new copy of this game. When I showed up, they had a similarly "new" copy without a case. So I ordered it online. I suspect Gamestop ships from their stores, which means you're getting a lot of "new" copies that have been opened and bruised up on shelf, and some of which apparently don't have their original cases. Bad for collectors, and bad for gifts. (What other store sells open box items as fucking new, btw?)

I sent them an email. I'll post what I hear back.

edit: I'd bet they'll give me shit if I try to return it because it's already open.

mike7straub · 3時間前

I used to work for GameStop. One of our employee benefits was being allowed to check out games to play at home. I originally thought they meant we could only check out used games until a manager told me we could check out new games as long as we had more than one copy in stock. I never checked out new games personally because it didn't seem right to take a game out of the package, use it and then sell it as new.

Dess98 · 3時間前

So new they didn't even package it

_Goose_ · 2時間前

Why buy from Gamestop online when you have Amazon and Ebay? So much better services as they don't base their business practices solely on literally fucking their customers.

Sparte19 · 2時間前

I remember buying an xbox 360 game new, only to see them pull the case off the shelf and put the game disc in it and tape it up.

CakeMagic · 2時間前

On a side note, I love Plutia. <3

firemage22 · 2時間前

Nep RB3 V is cheaper on PC last i checked (well got it on sale when it released)

_Kzero_ · 1時間前

I hate Gamestop and their stupid practices. I walked into one a year ago or so to see if they had Guilty Gear Xrd for PS4. Saw they had it and brought it up to the counter. Sticker said "New" and everything. The guy takes the case off my hands, grabs a disc from the drawer and puts it in the case. I was like "What the hell? Why are you giving me a disc from a drawer, instead of a brand new copy of the game?" . He proceeds to tell me that when they get brand new copies of a game, they open them all and put the discs in a drawer and the cases on the shelves. Then I looked behind the counter and was shocked to see he was in the process of opening up a ton of copies of Evolve and placing them in sleeves to put in the drawer.

I seriously thought the cases on the wall were just placeholders for you to bring up and they'll sell you a sealed copy of the game. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

3DGrunge · 2時間前

This is hilarious. On a sort of related note, I recently bought/kept a game that I was renting from gamefly and they sent me the collectors edition box with an unopened art book and all the preorder codes. Was pretty nice surprise for 20 bucks.

a_posh_trophy · 1時間前

ITP: one-off means 'all the time'.

Miv333 · 1時間前

They even bundle it with an advertisement/coupon!

But seriously, every few weeks to months a post like this comes up. Why do people still buy from gamestop? I personally do anything I can from Amazon, and if I can't get it there, I usually go without or local.

WheelerWalker · 1時間前

So I kinda got 'stuck' playing Battlefield 3. My friends thought I was nuts for not upgrading my system/upgrading to BF4, etc. I just preferred the game to anything else except I still find myself even playing the first Portal every now and again.

Now, I am buying fantastic games for ~$7-12. The newest isn't always the greatest.

Not-An-Underling · 1時間前

Had to do a double take and make sure I wasn't on /r/gamindustri

MouthJob · 3時間前

Maybe they just meant it's newly pre-owned.

joedaddy713 · 3時間前

I learned the hard way not buy anything from GameStop. I ordered a headset and received a mouse. Took about 3 weeks to get all of my money back. They kept trying to give me GameStop credit & PowerUp points. I told them I wanted my money back since I wasn't shopping with them anymore. A week later I received some of my money but still missing some. Called them back and again they tried giving me credit claimed they couldn't give me a full refund.

http://imgur.com/NJpc31n

juru1876 · 1時間前

Only thing I ever bought off gamestops website was a 3DS XL with the digital version of Link between Worlds on it.

I paid extra for shipping, said it guaranteed delivery on release date.

I got it about 5 days after release. I had already bought one on amazon and gotten it after I realized how long it would take, so I returned the one I got from Gamestop.

Gamestop employee chastised me and called me impatient. They lost my business.

Aendoril · 3時間前

Don't buy ~~"new"~~ games from Gamestop~~'s website~~

Fixed that for you.

SilverbackRekt · 1時間前

Asked for a new copy of The Last Of Us a month ago and the guy did exactly this. I pointed it out and he was like "oh, ok I guess it's used".

I don't mind buying used but don't try to pull a fast one on me and sell a used game for full retail value.

Fuckin scumbag

Lystic · 37分前

I bought a used game from a random dealer on Amazon once and got a fresh unopened brand new copy.

LAGreggM · 4時間前

My nephew has ordered a few NEW games from GameStop and they all showed signs of having been opened before. A couple had packaging so ruined that resale would be impossible to collectors.

zmbfdtrtl · 3時間前

New or not aside, that's a damn fun game.

racist_sunflower · 28分前

Holy shit, I can't stand Gamestop. The last straw for me was when GTA V came out. I don't normally buy games from Gamestop (actually, I just don't buy games often in general) but when GTA V came out I really wanted to play it. So I stopped by a Gamestop on the way home and asked if they had it in stock.

Guy at the register says yeah we got hundreds and asks if I preordered it, which I didn't. He gives me a really puzzled look, and says "let me go talk to my manager." I waited for a couple of minutes and he comes back saying, "sorry, I can't sell you any because you didn't preorder." I said wow, that's weird. Do I really have to preorder? "Yeah, sorry man." So I told him that's fine, I'll just go to the Target down the street and pick it up there.

He starts acting really snarky and says "Well, why didn't you preorder it?" I explain that I'm a casual gamer and don't preorder anything. I just go to stores and buy them when I want to. He gives me an attitude and explains that's a really lazy way to buy games because it doesn't guarantee I'll get it, and if I don't preorder games I lose priority to buying games when they're released and miss out on exclusive bundles. Like I give a fuck? I just want the game, and I don't have to buy it here. I tell him I'm just going to Target to buy it instead. Manager (I presume) hears this, comes out from the back and says no need to do that, we can sell you a copy. I politely tell him to piss off.

So I dropped by Target to get it. Quick transaction, no issues whatsoever. Fuck Gamestop. They literally excluded me because I don't preorder games.

We're for the gamers

lol yeah right.

zedbra · 1時間前

"Preowned" and "New" both listed...well what is it?

ThumbsUpAsses · 1時間前

Gamestop just has bad policies all around. Recently was sent two copies of elder scrolls online from amazon (they sent me an additional copy as compensation for an error on their end). So I go into Gamestop to trade in the never been opened game and they refused to trade it in. Their reasoning was that the game could of been stolen. She suggested that I go to another store about 20 minutes away and just open the game before I walked in. So I open the game in front of her and say problem solved. Which obviously was not acceptable. The point is, Gamestop is a losing a lot of business to digital games. Not sure they can really afford to be pushing business elsewhere. Especially for something so small as not having the game unwrapped. They game would of given me a couple dollar return so it wasn't worth it for me to drive 20 minutes. It was just the last straw that caused me to go digital from that point forward.

BloodyIron · 1時間前

I stopped being interested in EBGames/Gamestop when they rolled out the "Platinum" benefit of skipping the line for midnight releases. I mean like, pay to skip the line? Fuck you if you're a dedicated fan, you didn't pay.

I've even given them the benefit of the doubt, checking every now and then to see if they changed it, and telling the employees why I care, and why I won't do business with them until they change it.

Fuck you gamers, er I mean... Fuck you EBGames/Gamestop.

eternalexodus · 1時間前

PSA: don't buy from GameStop. They have a terrible business model and deserve to fail. Let them fall out of the industry; we'll all be better off.

KariRaiha · 1時間前

Still worth it for all the Nepgyaaaaaaaaaaaa

SunBroPatches · 1時間前

With Best Buy Gamers Unlocked I don't see why anyone would buy new games from GS uneless your local Best Buy sucked or didn't live near one.

rokrtv · 55分前

I stopped buying games from gamestop in general. I'll buy on like ebay or amazon or Xbox live before I go to those crooks again lol

ISuckAtJiuJitsu · 53分前

Boycott Gamestop.

KindaConfusedIGuess · 46分前

I once bought a "new" copy of Super Mario 64 DS that had save data on it.

ThatSmegmaGuy · 43分前

I realize not everyone has the option but since a guy in my neck of the woods opened a local game store I don't think I'll ever go to a chain again if I don't have too. The dude is constantly blowing them out of the water. Always has stuff in stock, always gives fair deals on trade-in and has a huge collection from Atari to ps4 and everything in between.

peasant_ascending · 32分前

don't buy anything from gamestop period. They're a fucking lousy company that gets rich from ripping you off. They have the worst return policy of all time and straight up robbed me of my money for a broken product. Their games are overpriced and the business is shit.

If you want consoles, console games, and gamer merch, go anywhere else, to amazon, or buy directly from the company. Gamestop/EBGames are the worst.

Houdini47 · 29分前

PSA: Don't buy games from GameStop

koteuop · 29分前

This doesn't just happen online. I bought a Ben 10 game for my son around 5 years ago from a Gamestop near my work. I paid NEW price for it, and I watched the guy take a game out of the counter and put it in the empty case I just gave him. I called him out on it on the spot, and he told me that it was the last copy and they put the case out so the game was in drawer. Told me not to worry and put a sticker on the side, that designated it as NEW.

After I gave the game to my son, I watched as he started the game. Sure enough, there was a save on the game (Nintendo DS cartridge). I went back in to complain, the employee called me a liar and I asked to speak to the manager. He went in the back and I got store credit for the difference between NEW and USED price, I think it was around $6. I never went back to that Gamestop.

Skaterk1ng · 8分前

LPT: don't support gamestop

lecheesesammich · 3分前

But it says NEW right on the box. I don't see what's wrong with it at all.

thatoneging20 · 3時間前

Employees are required to open at least one copy for a floor display, sometimes two depending on platform. It's not uncommon for cases to be taken because people want the actual case but buy it used from there or somewhere else.

Not many employees are fans of having to open it, but the amount of money and effort that would go into making printable case art for everything would be pretty substantial from a deal standpoint with each developer/company.

enderandrew42 · 1時間前

Gamestop is practically a pawn shop is fairly exploitative of kids.

No one should ever buy from them, period.

Big-Boss64 · 3時間前

Buy at Gamestop at the store not online, you will know how you will receive what you buy and get.

lycratard · 2時間前

Don't buy them in person either.

Last time I bought a "new game" from them in person I walked out empty handed.

Why?

Because they opened a drawer, pulled the disc out of the drawer, slipped the disc out of a paper sleeves, then put it in a box with sharpie marks on the inside.

Bitch, I don't care how pristine the disc looks, if its not in the original shrink wrap, I'm not giving you shit.

ravengenesis1 · 2時間前

at least an open box discount for that crap man...

ThePiePieper · 2時間前

Yet another reason to not give them money, period.

HanzoSteel · 1時間前

This is why I don't shop at GameStop anymore (other than always having to play 20 questions before I check out). I keep all my games and like displaying my cases on my shelves. Can't stand those generic art-less cases.

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