I cannot stand GameStop. Their customer service, horrible trade-in service, reselling of used games, the prices – everything about them just sets me off. They are a plague to me and I plan to continue avoiding them. I have not gone there in quite some time but recently ran into two seperate encounters with them and it further fueled my hatred towards them.
I mainly purchase my games and accessories at Best Buy but recently I was given a $100 GameStop gift card to get some new games (no offense towards the person who gave it!!). While I was there, I had to put up with 4 GameStop douche employees who liked nothing more than to ignore my existence. I don’t expect each employee to greet me but a “hey, what’s up” would have been ok. So I’m standing there with my girlfriend, who was probably the first female these employees saw aside from soccer moms, deciding which games to get for my new Xbox360 console. I had it pinned down to Halo 3, Fable 2, and Gears of War 2 when my girlfriend notices the prices. An absurd $54.99 for Fable 2 and Gears 2 USED and $34.99 for Halo 3 USED. A new copy is $59.99 and $39.99 respectively. The two of us just stood there, amazed that there’s not much of a savings for purchasing used games. I decide on Halo 3 and Fable 2, new copies for each game and high-tail it out of there.
You’d think it would end there but it doesn’t. I go up to the counter and ask for the two games. One of the four stooges asks me if I want the used copies and I tell them, no thanks. They begin to explain how I should get used copies of games instead of new. Seriously, is this a new selling tactic? I always thought you’d try to get the customer to spend more, not less. Trying to maintain my stoic attitude, I tell them once more, I’ll take the new copies. As reluctant as they were, they reached over and grabbed new copies of the game. I gave the employee the gift card and while he was processing it, I was looking at the two games when I realized that Fable 2 was opened. I stated that the game was opened and they gave me the “this is the last copy” routine. Hmm, makes you wonder, the last “new” copy is opened but I still have to pay full price for it? Then it’s not new but the douches hear nothing about that because it’s considered “new” to them. So I’m being charged to pay full price for a clearly used game. God I hate them.
Skip ahead about 2 weeks later and GameStop has an awesome sale for Valkyria Chronicles on the PS3. As much as I didn’t want to deal with them again, I couldn’t let the offer slip by. The local store didn’t have a copy (thank God) of the game so I checked online, which did have it. So I ordered the game at $30 and would let it come whenever because my backlog is full enough. The game becomes backordered but I don’t even worry about it because I have enough games to play and beat right now. I periodically checked on the status to see if it shipped and the last status was the best. The order was randomly closed with no reason, had a nice big cancelled written across my order. Not sure when this happened but I sure as hell did NOT receive any information when and why. If GameStop could not meet the demand, they shouldn’t have offered the price. But allowing me to order the game, have the game go in a backorder status, THEN cancel it is complete BS. I should be entitled to the game at that price, backordered or not. Even a courtesy email would have been nice, explaining that orders may be cancelled but I got nothing. I’m currently awaiting an email response from them explaining why my order was cancelled without reason and how I feel I am entitled to getting the game at the $30 price tag whether it’s online or in their crap stores. I really hope they respond to my email because I’m curious to know what their lack of customer service BS answer will be.
I really cannot stand GameStop as a company. They rip off gamers with horrible trade-in prices only to resell the game at $5 less than a new copy. Their employees are reincarnated German Nazi’s hellbent on making anyone and everyone’s day miserable once they enter the store. I cannot wait for the day when the last GameStop store closes its doors forever. I will celebrate, walk over to its retail tombstone, piss on it, then set it on fire. Your comments will not change my mind how I feel about their stores, but feel free to leave your experiences, agreements, disagreements, etc below.
(Originally posted at www.kezins.info)
