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Anyone else actually have a positive experience with Gamestop?

I'd feel bad if I didn't post this so: I bought a game and on my receipt got a free copy of Shogun 2 which activates on Steam. Normally you have to download the impulse client before you can even get the key, I circumvented this by emailing them and he kindly just gave me a key in the email itself. Kudos to that, thank you customer service helper #3491234.

Back in the early days of PS3 I knew a manager that would let me return opened games that I thought were shit under the "agreement" that the games weren't only just bad, but didn't "work" on my PS3. Yea that dude was cool as shit.

Of course in store gamestop's of today are nothing more than desperate money grabs. They do anything to get you to buy buy buy.
 
There's a GameStop in a town about an hour away that is killer. They always get tons of copies of weird niche games, so I can often find rad stuff there long after it's released.

Last Friday I was returning a game at that store. I got it on sale, but lost my receipt. The guy looked up the sale on my card and did the return... At the full MSRP and not the sale price. I corrected him and all, because he was being pretty cool to do the return I thought.
 
I went to one at the start of this year, bought myself a copy of 999 still in it's original wrapper (Didn't expect that; bonus). Only complaint I find is that the customers that are unsure or just plain idiots when it comes to games. I swear it takes 5 minuets for each person to buy their shit while I denied them of any offers or coverage they offer, handle them the cash and I'm off my merry way.
 
I used to go to a good Gamestop (Which used to be a great EBGames). They had the nicest and most helpful people in there who knew what they were talking about.

That changed when the store redesigned and the current people got replaced by the know-nothing new people who did nothing but ask "CAN I HELP YOU SIR? CAN I HELP YOU SIR? CAN I HELP YOU SIR?"

Then they closed that particular location down.

Also, how does a cashier go from seeing that you are buying a JRPG, to asking if you want to pre-order Call of Duty or Halo? The connection... there is none. /bitching

Edit: I did get a free slime plushie one day because I was playing with it at the register. It's so cute~! :3
 
I know a lot of people like to shit on Gamestop for being...well, awful, (and people seem to have no shortage of incidents to point to as examples) but I just wanted to highlight a good experience: My local GS store apparently received zero copies of the Xenoblade art-book even though it was advertised as a pre-order bonus. When they didn't have any for me despite my pre-order, calling their corporate location eventually resulted in a copy being sent to my home address. Yeah, it's nothing really news-worthy and it should have really been available in the store to begin with, but given Gamestop's reputation, I really didn't think they'd do anything about it despite calling in customer service. Guess they're really not all bad.

That is so awesome of GameStop to give you what they promised you when you pre-ordered! What a great company!
 
What's interesting to see and hear is how the employees speak with one another and to customers who are not in the know. The amount of nonsense and blatant systems wars drivel that comes out of some of these peoples mouths is enough to keep me out of their if I can help it. Sometimes if you're looking for the odd game they can serve their purpose though.
 
Never had a problem with my local gamestop... Always get the preorder bonuses if I end up buying a game within a week or so after launch.
 
2006.

Preordered Wii at my local Gamestop. Came 1 day later to get it, since I was doing my social service in another city at that time.
Came in, showed them my receipt (I paid up front) and then just heard:

"I am sorry. The demand was so high. Since you didnt come yesterday, we gave ur preordered Wii to someone else.
But you can wait another week. We will get new shipments at the beginning of next week.
I also see you bought Red Steel. Want the strategy guide?"


Never been so enraged in my whole life.


But for a positive experience. Got UT3 for PC for 15€. That was the last time I set foot in there.
 
I go there alot more often because they've cut out alot of the annoying crap that used to make hunting for older games there a PITA. I can go on the website, look up if a game is in stock, and arrange to have it held for me. Don't know why more people don't use this, eliminating case hunting (especially for last copy in stock stuff) has been a godsend for my visits there. Don't mind being asked about the card because I always have the card because the card is awesome. Combos with pretty much all their coupons.

They are pretty much the only option for me for finding older titles at a B&M, and they're great for what they are. It might be nice to have a hobbyist-friendly place to go, but I'm not much for browsing and it seems like those places go even further in attracting annoying jackoffs who can't help but giving you their opinions.
 
The amount of nonsense and blatant systems wars drivel that comes out of some of these peoples mouths is enough to keep me out of their if I can help it. Sometimes if you're looking for the odd game they can serve their purpose though.

So they're basically hiring the type of people I see on gaming message boards.
 
All I hear is terrible things about gamestop, whether its ordering online or actually going to the store I have never had a problem throughout the years.

My only grievances with the store was that they didn't have mass effect in stock last week and they once closed an hour early not allowing me to pick up my game. Other then that i love going there.
 
I cannot recall ever having a bad Gamestop experience and most have been quite pleasant. They have hooked me up more often than not as recently as the Xenoblade release when I dropped the ball and ordered two days prior to release and the pre-order artbook was still waiting for me without having to ask. The odds may be in my favor, having never sold or traded back to them. Gaming axes are so grind-friendly, though I definitely do not make light of some of the problems folks have had with them.
 
this is how my GS experience usually go.

me: halo 3 please
GS: did you pre order it
me: no
gs: if u pre order it, we will have it for you guaranteed.
me: ok
gs: luckily for you we still have some in stock
me: ok
gs: would you like to pre order cod
m: no thanks
gs: buy a mag or sign up for gs points
me: no thanks
pay for halo and leave


i don’t care if they keep asking me about preorder and other crap. they are just doing their job.
 
i don’t care if they keep asking me about preorder and other crap. they are just doing their job.

This is what i believe alot of people misconstrue when they come to our stores. Im a really nice guy and i hate to ask 21 questions even in my own life but yeah its what we are paid to do for a living.
 
Like anything else in life, it depends on the person. You could get the "cabal of ill-informed evil corporate a-holes pushing their own annoying agenda on you" guys or the "cool people who are passionate about games and only want to be helpful" folk. Just depends. My experience has been pretty much the cool people every time.
 
Sheesh. I actually ran into the employee I mentioned in Post #130 today and it was the same damn problem!

Me: Hi, I'd like to buy Fishing Resort for Wii.
Guy: Okay, it's $29.99.
Me: It's in your weekly ad for $19.99.
Guy: Oh no, that sale ended last week on the 7th. (*note* today is April 16th)
Me: ......I checked the ad this morning and it's on sale through tomorrow.
Guy: Well I don't think so....*scans it*....oh, I guess you got lucky!

*sigh*
 
I've gotten some free swag from their employees before, just because I was consistent on picking up my pre-orders. So yeah, I've had some positive experiences with GameStop before. I guess it depends on the particular storefront you visit.

That said, I haven't actually walked into a gamestop b&m in 3 years. :|
 
I can never relate to the horror stories posted here.

If I happen to want a game or console and am near a Gamestop I go in, buy it and leave
 
I walk in, buy what I want, then leave.

Getting asked about pre-orders doesn't cause me to freak out or anything so I'd say it's always been positive.
 
I had a good experience a few weeks ago when I reserved and picked up Xenoblade. Was in and out, and all I was pitched was a "would you like to reserve The Last Story also?" When I declined, there was no push for anything else. I think that is the right amount of pitching.
 
I walked into GS a few weeks after Reach came out, and I asked, "Do you have any promo stuff you're giving away?"

Dude at the counter handed me a huge Halo poster for free and I walked out a happy person.

I used to work there and you wouldn't believe the amount of promo crap that they throw out. We were happy to give old posters to people.
 
I have one that I go to that I went to since high school in Greenville, SC. Somehow, someway, it still has good people working there the whole time even though turnover's been high as you might expect for grunt retail.
 
I almost always have a good experience when I go to my local GS, but that's probably because two of my friends work there. I try to avoid the new manager because he's a jerk and only cares about numbers (not even sure if he plays games).
 
Rarely have I had any issues. A couple of days ago I went in to buy Xenoblade. The guy working got to talking with me about the game and other RPGs, and then he asked if I wanted the artbook that came with the preorder. Having not preordered it this really made my day (book was much more awesome that I would have imagined it would be). He said he doubted the guy was ever going to show to pickup his preordered copy and book as it had been quite a few days.

So overall I have had positive experiences from most of the Gamestops in town.
 
Never really had a problem with my individual store. Of course, all I do is pre-order and pick up games, so I'm not sure what problem I could have.
 
The Gamestop closest to my house isn't too bad, one of the guys who works there even made a joke to me the other day about how you never save money at GS. I lol'd.

But then a few miles down the road, the store in the mall downtown is absolutely, completely terrible. Went there once around christmas time I think, never again. They were like fucking fighting me to get me to preorder other shit. I had to say no like 4 times. Totally ridiculous.
 
The staff at my local store are always very friendly and refrain from bugging me a bout a bunch of crap I don't want to hear about. I buy most of my games there and usually take advantage of trade in deals that make sense.
 
the british dude at my local gamestop gave me one of his reserved copies of the Xenoblade art book as they had run out before I made my reservation. Anyone in the seattle area probably knows the guy i'm talking about, he's always super helpful and knowledgeable and seems to work at all of the gamestops around town.
 
I have no beef with them. I trade in my game, pick up something I know I want, and walk out. Never any hassle with pre-ordering stuff.
 
They were advertising a used OG Game Boy Advance for $30, I got it for $20. This was because I wanted to play Rebelstar and didn't have anything for it.

Probably the only good thing I could ever say about them.
 
Recently, not at all. I rarely shop there but when they occasionally get exclusive pre-order bonuses, like bonus in TOfG, I go there. The recent employees they got there are pretty nice and a pleasant to talk to. They also don't force me to pre-order anything. I even went there once to talk with a guy for a good 30 minutes after class.
 
Pretty much every time I go my local one I've had good experiences. I think only once was I ever asked if I wanted a used copy instead of a new one, and it sticks out in my mind because it's only happened once. I rarely shop there anymore though, but thats mostly due to Best Buy being closer and doing a lot of online shopping.
 
I've never had a problem with my local Gamestop, they've got some good employees working there. Also on more than one occasion the manager has helped a friend and I get pre-order bonuses on things we didn't pre-order and so on.
 
I dont think Ive ever had a negative experience at Gamestop.

Its always been a get in and get out situation with decent guys behind the counter.

I mean, unless you count that one time there were a lot of people in the store and I had to wait like 10 minutes in line, but I mean, thats not something that should drive a normal person to declare a store shit.

Plus, people acting like they're inconvenienced because some clerk is asking them about preorders, totally irrational. Just say no and move on.
 
Usually decent selection of DS games compared to other stores. At Best Buy it seems your DS choices are Mario, Pokemon, Ubisoft shovelware, or non-game educational software. I'm generalizing, of course, but EB does have better selection.
 
Everytime I go to GameStop I just buy my selection of games and they tell me to "Have a nice day!".

Fucking jerks the lot of 'em.
 
I buy all my games at EB Games (Canadian Gamestop) and I've never had a problem and the reps at my local one are really nice. They tell me about stuff I might be interested in, and if I should wait for price drops/sales etc.

Best Buy however, those guys are shit. I bought a Wii in April 2011 and he kept trying to persuade me not to get it because a new system "Nintendo Cafe" was coming out in September 2011. And I rolled my eyes and bought the Wii anyways.
 
I have no idea where these horrific Gamestops you guys go to are. My local/regular store has people that know me by name and like to chat (unless I'm in a hurry or they're swamped) and is generally a great place to buy my gaming crap. As a result, I preorder stuff that I know I'm buying from them to help them out.

The service I've received at any Gamestop has never been any worse than indifferent, though.
 
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