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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
- Status
That was for the first 100 buyers in the Virgin Megastore's if I recall, not sure if game did the same as well.
So, my visit to GameStation at the weekend. Apologies for the length of the post, but I thought I'd detail it. I went to spend the £20 I had on a giftcard, and to have a play of a Vita.
I must have been in the shop about a minute before one of the guys asked if I needed any help.
"No thanks."
I was going to use the money on a PSN card but thought I'd have a look to see by some off-chance if there was an older title that I could use the money on. So I looked for the PSP section. Ah, there's the PSP section near the counter. I get there only to see it was filled with PS3 titles instead.
There were no PSP titles at all. What?
So then I decided to see their PS2 section, only they didn't have one. Not even used.
No PS2 games in sight. What the.
There's also no sign of a demo Vita unit. So, I pick up a £25 PSN card and take it to the counter. First question - off the same guy who spoke before - "Have you got a loyalty card?"
"No I haven't"
"Well, I'll just get you one then" and he reaches out to start filling out a card with my details.
"Err no, I don't want one thanks"
"Oh, ok."
As he's putting the PSN card through the till...
"Are there any preorders you're after?"
"No."
As he continues I say, "How come you haven't got a Vita demo unit?"
"Oh we have, it's here."
And he brings it over from behind the counter. Now this could well be Sony not doing their job properly, but why have the unit behind the counter? Surely a stand will get a LOT more attention and will be in people's face? Anyway...
He starts giving me the sales patter, it's the last day to pre-order blah blah. And fair enough he passes it over and lets me have a play with it.
"Do you know much about it?" he asks.
"Yeh".
Despite this, he then goes on to tell me about the games and how MGS Vita is coming out for it. He told me this about 3 times over the course of our conversation. He also bangs on about putting £10 down as a pre-order and I'll get a pack with headphones, but that I can still use the tenner on anything else in the store if I decide in the end I don't want a Vita, effectively giving me a free set of headphones. He actually said this to me. Strange way to be 'selling' me stuff.
Also, whilst I'm playing on the Vita at the counter a guy comes up and asks if Tekken 6 is out on the PS3. Now maybe this guy was getting mixed up with SF x Tekken, I don't know, but either way, the young girl behind the counter answers.
"No, it's not."
Then there's some confusion with the staff about whether it really is out, and around a minute or two later the girl checks a list from somewhere and says,"It's on here, so it must be out, right?". /facepalm
By this time, I've seen what I wanted to see of the Vita (awesome bit of kit btw
) and ask the guy behind the counter how much the docking cradle is. "I don't know, we have to actually have one in stock before I could tell you."
Whaaaa.
So, in the space of around 20 minutes I've been near forced to take a loyalty card I didn't want, hassled about putting £10 down on a Vita pre-order, found out they don't have older titles (specialist store you say?), heard the staff haven't a clue about what games are out, and found out that they still don't know the prices of accessories for the Vita, four days before launch.
The hassling part, can you imagine that anywhere else, in say, a cake shop? "A sandwich? Sure. Do you have a loyalty card?", "Do you want to pre-order a Birthday cake?"
What a ridiculous way to run a store. Now that I've spent the giftcard I know for a fact I won't be going back to buy anything from there.
I must have been in the shop about a minute before one of the guys asked if I needed any help.
"No thanks."
I was going to use the money on a PSN card but thought I'd have a look to see by some off-chance if there was an older title that I could use the money on. So I looked for the PSP section. Ah, there's the PSP section near the counter. I get there only to see it was filled with PS3 titles instead.
There were no PSP titles at all. What?
So then I decided to see their PS2 section, only they didn't have one. Not even used.
No PS2 games in sight. What the.
There's also no sign of a demo Vita unit. So, I pick up a £25 PSN card and take it to the counter. First question - off the same guy who spoke before - "Have you got a loyalty card?"
"No I haven't"
"Well, I'll just get you one then" and he reaches out to start filling out a card with my details.
"Err no, I don't want one thanks"
"Oh, ok."
As he's putting the PSN card through the till...
"Are there any preorders you're after?"
"No."
As he continues I say, "How come you haven't got a Vita demo unit?"
"Oh we have, it's here."
And he brings it over from behind the counter. Now this could well be Sony not doing their job properly, but why have the unit behind the counter? Surely a stand will get a LOT more attention and will be in people's face? Anyway...
He starts giving me the sales patter, it's the last day to pre-order blah blah. And fair enough he passes it over and lets me have a play with it.
"Do you know much about it?" he asks.
"Yeh".
Despite this, he then goes on to tell me about the games and how MGS Vita is coming out for it. He told me this about 3 times over the course of our conversation. He also bangs on about putting £10 down as a pre-order and I'll get a pack with headphones, but that I can still use the tenner on anything else in the store if I decide in the end I don't want a Vita, effectively giving me a free set of headphones. He actually said this to me. Strange way to be 'selling' me stuff.
Also, whilst I'm playing on the Vita at the counter a guy comes up and asks if Tekken 6 is out on the PS3. Now maybe this guy was getting mixed up with SF x Tekken, I don't know, but either way, the young girl behind the counter answers.
"No, it's not."
Then there's some confusion with the staff about whether it really is out, and around a minute or two later the girl checks a list from somewhere and says,"It's on here, so it must be out, right?". /facepalm
By this time, I've seen what I wanted to see of the Vita (awesome bit of kit btw
) and ask the guy behind the counter how much the docking cradle is. "I don't know, we have to actually have one in stock before I could tell you."Whaaaa.
So, in the space of around 20 minutes I've been near forced to take a loyalty card I didn't want, hassled about putting £10 down on a Vita pre-order, found out they don't have older titles (specialist store you say?), heard the staff haven't a clue about what games are out, and found out that they still don't know the prices of accessories for the Vita, four days before launch.
The hassling part, can you imagine that anywhere else, in say, a cake shop? "A sandwich? Sure. Do you have a loyalty card?", "Do you want to pre-order a Birthday cake?"
What a ridiculous way to run a store. Now that I've spent the giftcard I know for a fact I won't be going back to buy anything from there.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Absolutely correct, sadly. This is what happens nearly all the damn time.
Shotgun Kiss
Member
So, my visit to GameStation at the weekend. Apologies for the length of the post, but I thought I'd detail it. I went to spend the £20 I had on a giftcard, and to have a play of a Vita.
I must have been in the shop about a minute before one of the guys asked if I needed any help.
"No thanks."
I was going to use the money on a PSN card but thought I'd have a look to see by some off-chance if there was an older title that I could use the money on. So I looked for the PSP section. Ah, there's the PSP section near the counter. I get there only to see it was filled with PS3 titles instead.
There were no PSP titles at all. What?
So then I decided to see their PS2 section, only they didn't have one. Not even used.
No PS2 games in sight. What the.
There's also no sign of a demo Vita unit. So, I pick up a £25 PSN card and take it to the counter. First question - off the same guy who spoke before - "Have you got a loyalty card?"
"No I haven't"
"Well, I'll just get you one then" and he reaches out to start filling out a card with my details.
"Err no, I don't want one thanks"
"Oh, ok."
As he's putting the PSN card through the till...
"Are there any preorders you're after?"
"No."
As he continues I say, "How come you haven't got a Vita demo unit?"
"Oh we have, it's here."
And he brings it over from behind the counter. Now this could well be Sony not doing their job properly, but why have the unit behind the counter? Surely a stand will get a LOT more attention and will be in people's face? Anyway...
He starts giving me the sales patter, it's the last day to pre-order blah blah. And fair enough he passes it over and lets me have a play with it.
"Do you know much about it?" he asks.
"Yeh".
Despite this, he then goes on to tell me about the games and how MGS Vita is coming out for it. He told me this about 3 times over the course of our conversation. He also bangs on about putting £10 down as a pre-order and I'll get a pack with headphones, but that I can still use the tenner on anything else in the store if I decide in the end I don't want a Vita, effectively giving me a free set of headphones. He actually said this to me. Strange way to be 'selling' me stuff.
Also, whilst I'm playing on the Vita at the counter a guy comes up and asks if Tekken 6 is out on the PS3. Now maybe this guy was getting mixed up with SF x Tekken, I don't know, but either way, the young girl behind the counter answers.
"No, it's not."
Then there's some confusion with the staff about whether it really is out, and around a minute or two later the girl checks a list from somewhere and says,"It's on here, so it must be out, right?". /facepalm
By this time, I've seen what I wanted to see of the Vita (awesome bit of kit btw
Whaaaa.
So, in the space of around 20 minutes I've been near forced to take a loyalty card I didn't want, hassled about putting £10 down on a Vita pre-order, gounf out they don't have older titles (specialist store you say?), heard the staff haven't a clue about what games are out, and found out that they still don't know the prices of accessories for the Vita, four days before launch.
The hassling part, can you imagine that anywhere else, in say, a cake shop? "A sandwich? Sure. Do you have a loyalty card?", "Do you want to pre-order a Birthday cake?"
What a ridiculous way to run a store. Now that I've spent the giftcard I know for a fact I won't be going back to buy anything from there.
Yeah, they really give you the Spanish Inquisition.
Diablohead
Member
Gamestation in my local town is rather good since my old school friend is a manager there, we just chill out and talk if the shop is quiet to the side of the tills, he knows what he is on about thankfully
Otherwise I really don't go into those stores anymore, every time I went in on a route around town to see what I could spend my latest pay on, everything in them was too expensive compared to elsewhere.
Otherwise I really don't go into those stores anymore, every time I went in on a route around town to see what I could spend my latest pay on, everything in them was too expensive compared to elsewhere.
iNvid02
Member
yeah that was it, now that is something worth camping out for.
i dont even know if im gonna buy the new consoles day one,
unless there is a ton of exclusives day one my pc is fine
21th
It ain't out in the UK till the 22nd, so either tomorrow (if you're lucky) or the 21st I'd think.
To be fair to them, they've not let me down in over 30 preorders.. I just hope that the current situation doesn't affect things regarding punctuality
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Other places that do loyalty cards do them for free, because it both encourages repeat custom, as well as provides cheap market research on consumers buying habits.
In my wallet I have 'loyalty cards' for all kinds of businesses, none of which I paid for. Well, except my Game reward card. That cost me money.
Starwolf_UK
Member
The biggest 150 stores get a demo unit (my guess is GAME wanted Sony to pay and Sony decided to be awkward). The rest got a system handed to the manager which is kept behind the counter for obvious reasons of thievery. I think in some stores the manager trusts his employees so much that he keeps it safe (i.e. if the manager is not in you don't get to play Vita).
GAME did nothing for the PS£ launch. They acted on police advice not to open since you-know carrying around a large bag containing a £450 console past midnight is kind of asking to be robbed...
I think Virgin Megastores was the only one to bother (now theres a relic of the past...) and Sony ended up footing the bill for Taxis to take people home.
Ha, that would be funny, thanks for the link, I may just try that
if you have to survive in retail selling just one product line (games), you have little choice but to try and make some margin on them. Supermarkets have a very diverse range of products so they can choose to sell games at a lower markup to get you in the store (or just rely on volume generally)
It seems fairly fashionable to shit on GAME. While their scripted questions etc are annoying, their prices haven't changed much over the years - they've always been RRP or thereabouts.
You want cheaper from the supermarket? Fine. You want cheaper by buying online? Fine. But then you'll lose the convenience of being able to pop into a shop on the high street to pick something up, you'll have to wait until you go to the supermarket/hope online delivers on time.
But then I guess that doesn't matter as the entire high street is dying anyway.
It seems fairly fashionable to shit on GAME. While their scripted questions etc are annoying, their prices haven't changed much over the years - they've always been RRP or thereabouts.
You want cheaper from the supermarket? Fine. You want cheaper by buying online? Fine. But then you'll lose the convenience of being able to pop into a shop on the high street to pick something up, you'll have to wait until you go to the supermarket/hope online delivers on time.
But then I guess that doesn't matter as the entire high street is dying anyway.
JosephManderley
Member
Shelves full of dummy boxes for games that aren't out yet are a pet hate of mine. I wish they would use the space to stock a wider selection of older games instead.
JonathanEx
Member
I was buying something small and got asked if I wanted to preorder OOT3D. I asked how much it'd cost (I'm not a mug). Sorry, we can't tell you until it turns up.
Obviously it was full price and so I looked elsewhere. Normally Amazon Prime.
Obviously it was full price and so I looked elsewhere. Normally Amazon Prime.
GameStation did a launch thing for PS3. I was there.
A new twist in this tale.
GAME Is Switching The Last Story Collectors Edition To The Standard Edition Without Notification
GAME Is Switching The Last Story Collectors Edition To The Standard Edition Without Notification
The problem is that Game (and Gamestation) offer nothing over those supermarkets. They don't stock the niche titles like they used to, their 'specialist' advice is often frankly terrible, their prices are more expensive AND you get hassled for pre-orders, loyalty cards, accessories etc. You don't get any of those things when you go to a supermarket. You pick up the game, go to the checkout, buy it, walk off. That's it. When you have a choice, which approach do you think people would prefer?
BlazingDarkness
Member
Stay classy, GAME
twisteddeeds
Member
Nothing like screwing customers over yet again....
Oh my.
GAME, you do know that happy customers are returning customers, right?
The levels of incompetence that this retailer has is ridiculous.
Just been trying to find anyone on the internet this has happened to - I couldn't find any other users that have this problem. One guy doesn't mean its happening to everyone who has ordered.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Don't really understand your point here regarding supermarkets.
Supermarkets are generally a lot more convenient than town centre-only stores. I guess your location is everything here, but I would think that most people live nearer a supermarket, which probably has a decent bus route and free parking as well.
radioheadrule83
Banned
I'm kind of in agreement with mrklaw... a healthy UK industry needs the dedicated retailer and the supermarkets to be at its best.
I do not want to brave my local ASDA to buy games -- it is somehow ALWAYS rammed with people, even at stupid hours of the morning like 1am and 2am... I almost queued for my Wii for 12 hours in an ASDA. Thankfully, after a while they let me take a ticket with a number on it and go away to come back later... they're convenient if you're already going there for your shopping, or if you live really close to a supermarket, but for young working professionals working in a city -- which I imagine a lot of us probably are, high street shops are great for a quick purchase.
I don't think these retailers need to die (just yet), I just think they need to recraft their relationships with suppliers and augment their approach a little to bring more people in. I like to think that if GAME / Gamestation disappeared, that another retailer like Granger or maybe someone new would step into the breach and take over.
I do not want to brave my local ASDA to buy games -- it is somehow ALWAYS rammed with people, even at stupid hours of the morning like 1am and 2am... I almost queued for my Wii for 12 hours in an ASDA. Thankfully, after a while they let me take a ticket with a number on it and go away to come back later... they're convenient if you're already going there for your shopping, or if you live really close to a supermarket, but for young working professionals working in a city -- which I imagine a lot of us probably are, high street shops are great for a quick purchase.
I don't think these retailers need to die (just yet), I just think they need to recraft their relationships with suppliers and augment their approach a little to bring more people in. I like to think that if GAME / Gamestation disappeared, that another retailer like Granger or maybe someone new would step into the breach and take over.
Starwolf_UK
Member
Well, when GAME themselves say no...
Thats how you keep customers confident you can actually stock games. Decide you won't 4 days before release. At least with Tekken 3D they didn't bother having an order page to begin with but I think having the order page should commit them to bothering but its done a pretty good blow at killing anyone confidence regarding anything they pre-order as GAME might decide the margins are too thin/too few orders to covering ordering the bulk they need for okay margins.GAME's twitter account said:
I'll certainly be thinking twice about ever putting a pre-order through with them again (normally when they are cheapest I go with them since their free delivery is as fast as Amazon's first class delivery for me...then again I hear GAME dropped the free delivery down to second class).
I don't think anyone really wants to see no dedicated game retailers, they just don't want to see the incompetent management at GAME in charge of it.
They hit their allocation of Ninja Gaiden Plus last week. Unless you ordered it before then you won't be able to get it from GAME/Gamestation.
JonathanEx
Member
Oh that's a good way of summing it up
dreamcastmaster
Banned
Ebay scalper kicks up a stink.
MarshMellow96
Member
How are well will GAME be stocked for the Vita launch tomorrow? Am I going to be able to walk out with a memory card or will I have had to put down a deposit and sacrifice my first born?
One to open, one for the vault.
dreamcastmaster said:
One to open, one for the vault.
Slackbladder
Member
I am suspicious that Gamestation will not have the Collectors Edition of the PC version of Mass Effect 3. When I try to look at my order I see it's there but when I click on the game to view it I get an error, as if there is nothing there to see. I'm just hoping it's because they've all been sold so it's no longer on their site. Probably too late to find it elsewhere.
Forgot this thread was still going so I made my own thread. Anyway, vent post below.
* * *
I pre-ordered the Crystal Edition Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) from game.co.uk a long-ass time ago. It was immediately apparent that the quantities of this very special, very limited edition were restrictively tiny. I had not experienced anything bad with that webstore and I have ordered a lot of games from them, for a number of years now.
Around the official release date for the game I checked my credit card transactions and I saw that game.co.uk had submitted a charge for the game. But their customer order tracking page stubbornly claimed that my copy had not been shipped. It was not shipped two days before the release (which is the norm for pre-order items). It was not shipped on the release day. It was not shipped even after that. When I saw that they did not update the shipping information, I submitted a customer query, requesting information about the state of my order. As a great surprise to me, my order was cancelled that day, but that was not the whole story. At the same time and even before that they removed the FFXIII-2 game from their store altogether.
Shortly after that I received a reply from one of their apologetic customer support staff, saying that my order was shipped. She claimed that my order was shipped already on the 2nd of February (that means one day before the official release date) and that it should be with me very soon. I kept waiting. Around this time, the Crystal Edition's price had already climbed over ~£150 on eBay.
Weeks passed, but there was no sign of my delivery. One day I happened to check my credit card statement and to my great surprise there was no sign left of the transaction for the game. Feeling kind of stupid, I submitted another customer query. I received a reply pretty quickly:
Well congratulations game.co.uk, you just lost a customer. From now on, I will most likely turn elsewhere for my gaming purchases, probably amazon.
TLDR: Ordered FFXIII-2 Crystal Edition from game.co.uk, they took my money, then lied to me, cancelled my order, refunded my money, then said they're sorry like BP.
* * *
I pre-ordered the Crystal Edition Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) from game.co.uk a long-ass time ago. It was immediately apparent that the quantities of this very special, very limited edition were restrictively tiny. I had not experienced anything bad with that webstore and I have ordered a lot of games from them, for a number of years now.
Around the official release date for the game I checked my credit card transactions and I saw that game.co.uk had submitted a charge for the game. But their customer order tracking page stubbornly claimed that my copy had not been shipped. It was not shipped two days before the release (which is the norm for pre-order items). It was not shipped on the release day. It was not shipped even after that. When I saw that they did not update the shipping information, I submitted a customer query, requesting information about the state of my order. As a great surprise to me, my order was cancelled that day, but that was not the whole story. At the same time and even before that they removed the FFXIII-2 game from their store altogether.
Shortly after that I received a reply from one of their apologetic customer support staff, saying that my order was shipped. She claimed that my order was shipped already on the 2nd of February (that means one day before the official release date) and that it should be with me very soon. I kept waiting. Around this time, the Crystal Edition's price had already climbed over ~£150 on eBay.
Weeks passed, but there was no sign of my delivery. One day I happened to check my credit card statement and to my great surprise there was no sign left of the transaction for the game. Feeling kind of stupid, I submitted another customer query. I received a reply pretty quickly:
So this is how game.co.uk conned me out of a collectible I really wanted to get. The customer support person who claimed that my order was shipped on the 2nd of February was either lying or simply had no idea what was going on. I have no desire to go fishing for the Crystal Edition at a shady auction site for triple the price.
Well congratulations game.co.uk, you just lost a customer. From now on, I will most likely turn elsewhere for my gaming purchases, probably amazon.
TLDR: Ordered FFXIII-2 Crystal Edition from game.co.uk, they took my money, then lied to me, cancelled my order, refunded my money, then said they're sorry like BP.
I know they have fulfilled their preorder for 360 limited edition so maybe they also reached it for the PC edition.
True. But I won't receive my complete credit card statement until the end of the month, so it could still be true. My bank displays some transactions rather funny on their web service.
I bought a copy of Burnout Paradise online from GAME and when it arrived it was obviously a pre-owned copy. Trying to get a refund on that was nothing but hurdles.
I then purchased a second xbox for my son that Christmas and was sold the extended warranty after being told that the console would be swapped in-store if it developed a fault after 1 year, that never happened 14 months later.
Never used that rat-shit company ever again, I use Amazon only now.
I then purchased a second xbox for my son that Christmas and was sold the extended warranty after being told that the console would be swapped in-store if it developed a fault after 1 year, that never happened 14 months later.
Never used that rat-shit company ever again, I use Amazon only now.
Ah, gotcha. I'm sure this issue gets a lot more serious if they're seen to have taken your money for something they were never going to sell you.
Sephiroth503
Member
God damn if they F**K up my N7 Collector's Edition........
MarshMellow96
Member
Likewise. I just walk past there and scowl in from time to time now.
I'll be damned if Gamestation aren't pushy too. I only had to walk in there the other day and a guy was asking me question after question:
'Given that you're stood by the PS3 stock, I can see you're a PS3 owner. Also, Vita, Vita, Vita, Vita, Vita, Vita and there's a Vita by the Vita if you want to Vita the Vita.'
Jeez.
KungFuBill
Member
It's been interesting reading various comments on different Gamestation/GAME stores throughout this thread.
For what it's worth there's two GAME stores and at least one Gamestation in Cardiff City Center. I usually pop in to the GAME on Queen Street (what used to be the main street until the extension to St David's shopping center opened and the majority of stores moved there) on my way home from work and don't think I've ever had a bad experience with staff/service or the games on offer.
I did take out a loyalty card when offered (the staff weren't overly pushy), as if I pre-order anything I get it there out of convenience. It's not costing me anything and maybe one day WAY into the future I can use the points I've built up to purchase a novelty plushy!
They usually have pre-order available on the titles I've wanted - Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and ME:3 to name the recent ones. The stores do have a pre-owned section and just recently I picked up Borderlands for £8 when I popped in to put my deposit down for ME:3. 2 birds, one stone etc.
The staff are usually very helpful if I'm looking for something in particular. They don't pretend to know EVERYTHING, if they don't know on the spot then they check the 'system' which is fair enough. I don't run into many pushy staff at either GAME store to be fair, in fact quite the opposite. I remember prior to Skyrim's release the store in St David's had one of the lifesize figures near the doorway and after I'd snapped a pic noticed one of the staff nearby and just commented on how stoked I was for the game to come out. We ended up having a pretty decent conversation about how RPG vs FPS (I personally find RPG games a lot more value for money, not being a bit multiplayer unless it's co-op). The atmosphere is usually pretty laid back and staff are more than happy to chat about upcoming releases and games in general without being too 'pushy'. The majority seem to just be enthusiastic about games, or they are just pretty damn good at pretending to be...
Oh, and the Vita had a dedicated stand in both stores, near the till and viewable from the street. It certainly enticed me in to have a play... Shame I can't afford one or I'd have put my £10 down there and then
EDIT: People have bad experiences in pretty much any store, supermarket, online store... Yes, there's a huge amount of complaints here, and yesy management of these chains and their relations with suppliers need to be vastly improved but mistakes happen from time to time. Jeez, the Council emptied my bank account due to a human error a few months ago (calimed over £900 as tax I owed them). Yes I was pissed (like I would be with GAME if I don't get my ME:3 pre order), but they dumped it back into my account after a few hard days and I accpeted the apology I got. If I don't get my pre-order for any reason, I'll wait and pick it up elsewhere. It doesn't mean I won't shop at GAME anymore...
For what it's worth there's two GAME stores and at least one Gamestation in Cardiff City Center. I usually pop in to the GAME on Queen Street (what used to be the main street until the extension to St David's shopping center opened and the majority of stores moved there) on my way home from work and don't think I've ever had a bad experience with staff/service or the games on offer.
I did take out a loyalty card when offered (the staff weren't overly pushy), as if I pre-order anything I get it there out of convenience. It's not costing me anything and maybe one day WAY into the future I can use the points I've built up to purchase a novelty plushy!
They usually have pre-order available on the titles I've wanted - Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and ME:3 to name the recent ones. The stores do have a pre-owned section and just recently I picked up Borderlands for £8 when I popped in to put my deposit down for ME:3. 2 birds, one stone etc.
The staff are usually very helpful if I'm looking for something in particular. They don't pretend to know EVERYTHING, if they don't know on the spot then they check the 'system' which is fair enough. I don't run into many pushy staff at either GAME store to be fair, in fact quite the opposite. I remember prior to Skyrim's release the store in St David's had one of the lifesize figures near the doorway and after I'd snapped a pic noticed one of the staff nearby and just commented on how stoked I was for the game to come out. We ended up having a pretty decent conversation about how RPG vs FPS (I personally find RPG games a lot more value for money, not being a bit multiplayer unless it's co-op). The atmosphere is usually pretty laid back and staff are more than happy to chat about upcoming releases and games in general without being too 'pushy'. The majority seem to just be enthusiastic about games, or they are just pretty damn good at pretending to be...
Oh, and the Vita had a dedicated stand in both stores, near the till and viewable from the street. It certainly enticed me in to have a play... Shame I can't afford one or I'd have put my £10 down there and then
EDIT: People have bad experiences in pretty much any store, supermarket, online store... Yes, there's a huge amount of complaints here, and yesy management of these chains and their relations with suppliers need to be vastly improved but mistakes happen from time to time. Jeez, the Council emptied my bank account due to a human error a few months ago (calimed over £900 as tax I owed them). Yes I was pissed (like I would be with GAME if I don't get my ME:3 pre order), but they dumped it back into my account after a few hard days and I accpeted the apology I got. If I don't get my pre-order for any reason, I'll wait and pick it up elsewhere. It doesn't mean I won't shop at GAME anymore...
1)Its dead easy to get a refund when that happens, happened twice from them - easy phone customer support, say on the invoice it states 'New', and that I would like a new one. You'll get a refund my sending it in, obviously you need to buy proof of posting but that's no big deal.
2)I may not be understanding but you bought an extended warranty for a console that comes with 3 year warranty surely you should of contacted Microsoft. Especially seen as it would be in the second year of Microsoft.
It's been interesting reading various comments on different Gamestation/GAME stores throughout this thread.
For what it's worth there's two GAME stores and at least one Gamestation in Cardiff City Center. I usually pop in to the GAME on Queen Street (what used to be the main street until the extension to St David's shopping center opened and the majority of stores moved there) on my way home from work and don't think I've ever had a bad experience with staff/service or the games on offer.
I did take out a loyalty card when offered (the staff weren't overly pushy), as if I pre-order anything I get it there out of convenience. It's not costing me anything and maybe one day WAY into the future I can use the points I've built up to purchase a novelty plushy!
They usually have pre-order available on the titles I've wanted - Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and ME:3 to name the recent ones. The stores do have a pre-owned section and just recently I picked up Borderlands for £8 when I popped in to put my deposit down for ME:3. 2 birds, one stone etc.
The staff are usually very helpful if I'm looking for something in particular. They don't pretend to know EVERYTHING, if they don't know on the spot then they check the 'system' which is fair enough. I don't run into many pushy staff at either GAME store to be fair, in fact quite the opposite. I remember prior to Skyrim's release the store in St David's had one of the lifesize figures near the doorway and after I'd snapped a pic noticed one of the staff nearby and just commented on how stoked I was for the game to come out. We ended up having a pretty decent conversation about how RPG vs FPS (I personally find RPG games a lot more value for money, not being a bit multiplayer unless it's co-op). The atmosphere is usually pretty laid back and staff are more than happy to chat about upcoming releases and games in general without being too 'pushy'. The majority seem to just be enthusiastic about games, or they are just pretty damn good at pretending to be...
Oh, and the Vita had a dedicated stand in both stores, near the till and viewable from the street. It certainly enticed me in to have a play... Shame I can't afford one or I'd have put my £10 down there and then
EDIT: People have bad experiences in pretty much any store, supermarket, online store... Yes, there's a huge amount of complaints here, and yesy management of these chains and their relations with suppliers need to be vastly improved but mistakes happen from time to time. Jeez, the Council emptied my bank account due to a human error a few months ago (calimed over £900 as tax I owed them). Yes I was pissed (like I would be with GAME if I don't get my ME:3 pre order), but they dumped it back into my account after a few hard days and I accpeted the apology I got. If I don't get my pre-order for any reason, I'll wait and pick it up elsewhere. It doesn't mean I won't shop at GAME anymore...
They got rid of that Gamestation here, after they tried moving it around I assume it just wasn't pulling in people, and as you mention they already have a couple GAMEs, one on Queen Street and one in St Davids 2.
Though I've never had a problem with the staff in either of the Games, might have a little chat on an off chance about something but I've never found them to be incompetent when it comes to games in general.
My Mum sadly also loves going into the Game and chatting with the people that work there about games when she has gone to get herself a new game and then tells me all about it when I see her.
And seeing as you mentioned it I really need to pre-order ME3, they better not screw it up, bad enough we are getting it 3 days after the US already, I don't want it arriving late, lol.
Is Stockport (now here's a place which has gone down hill) the only place where they have a Game and a Gamestation next door to each other.
Yes, next door.
I am surprised they are still standing. It was kinda justified when Gamestation sold collectible games on older platforms and older consoles etc.
Yes, next door.
I am surprised they are still standing. It was kinda justified when Gamestation sold collectible games on older platforms and older consoles etc.
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