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[Dr. Black Jack]

Still feel bad about anyone who thinks they're safe with a Nintendo Switch pre-order from them and I'm talking about you even putting "money down" to lock it in.

The meltdowns will be epic when March 3 gets here and we see people burned by Gamestop that pre-ordered. Mark my words.

The only time I've ever had a preorder fucked up by GS the guy who took it couldn't stop talking about how he was on Valium and the people at launch fixed it instantly. Every piece of hardware that I've ever preordered from them was held aside, numbered and ready to go on day one. What the fuck are you talking about?

 

[ironmang]

Every dollar of profit GameStop makes is a dollar that could have gone to a game maker or platform holder with direct digital downloads. The industry does better when people stop buying from brick and mortar.

With data caps and telecom monopolies a purely digital marketplace isn't ideal either, and still not realistic on a worldwide scale. But, on the other hand, there is never going to be a public backlash against data caps and for net neutrality unless people actually have something they want that won't fit in their data caps.

The industry got this far mostly without digital and with rentals/used sales being an option. There's absolutely no way all those physical sales would turn into digital if physical wasn't an option. I know I'd buy a hell of a lot less games near release considering they're never discounted quick on PSN and have no resale value. Best Buy w/ GCU and even GameStop w/ PUR are just so much better.

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

I used to work at GameStop. Life was good at first. Worked with friends did what we wanted, then, we got a new district manager and it all went to shit. I think depending on who's getting chewed out for better numbers is what delegates if you get a good or bad GameStop experience. Corporate manager suck ups cause big problems for the employees and in turn the customers. It's a shit situation when the employees are threatened that they'll lose their jobs if they don't get their numbers up.

One of the shady things I did as an employee was fake preorder numbers. I always met the bare minimum not to ever get in trouble. I was always better than the worst employee to avoid getting yelled out. How did I do this? I'd look up customers that no chance in hell were going to pick up their old preorders. We're talking customers that had "money" in the system for years. $10 on halo 3 that they never picked up? I'd cancel it and put two $5 preorders on something else. There were tons and tons of these in the computer system. Some customers didn't even pick up games they had fully paid off. Either they long forgot them , moved, who knows. On a bad week of not getting good numbers I'd break up a $60 preorder into as many as I needed. Or I'd even use that money to make a subscription. I did this until I just quit one day. I never told anybody my secret till now. I have no idea if it's still possible to get away with something like this in their computer system. Yeah it was fucked up but there was a ton of pressure put on the employees for those numbers.

I just wanted to add that (imo) I was both the best and worst Gstop employee ever. Customers loved me because I'd always help them with anything they wanted. I'd discount gutted games as shop worn even though we weren't supposed to. I'd offer good feed back as to what not to waste money on. I was never ever a pushy sales person. Great for the customer, but I know corporate would've hated me had they known what I was doing. The circle of life stuff was so ridiculously shoved in our faces. I remember it being written on the back of our name tags.

 

[Gamer79]

I honestly do not understand how they have enough staff to work there. Their corporate office are a bunch of nazi's. Wow.

 

[Aztechnology]

How is Gamestop still alive? They aren't competitive at all from what I can see. Is it just location?

 

[John Cowheel]

How is Gamestop still alive? They aren't competitive at all from what I can see. Is it just location?

The vast majority of people just don't know any better. You can't go into a Gamestop without seeing some kid and their dad paying full price for the AAA game of the month and putting a protection plan on it. They have to be making an absolute killing on just the warranties. Obviously the used business is still booming too. People trade in stacks of recent games for pretty much nothing all of the time and of course Gamestop makes tons reselling those.

 

[jadedm17]

Need that job? What exactly does Gamestop pay? I cant imagine it being better than any random job Walmart offers except you get to talk games. This isnt some career space like working on actually making games, I feel like these employees can jump ship pretty easily.

The practices arent ideal but i dont hate them; Selling opened games as new has been the only thing ive truely hated. Gamestop treats employees poorly because they have people lined up to talk games for money, just as Hot Topic treats employees poorly because they have people lined up who want to wear boots and purple hair to work. If you want better treatment than you may need to extend your job parimeters and what you want and are willing to deal with from a job.

How is Gamestop still alive? They aren't competitive at all from what I can see. Is it just location?

I half agree with the post above me.

The other half says you need to know how to use them; In the past years ive traded in games during a bonus offer for more than i paid, bought an iPhone off craigslist for $180 and in minutes traded it for $250 GS credit to buy a PS4, and bought GS giftcards on eBay to save $50 on XB1S at launch last August.

Gamestop is a great tool if you pay attention.

Now RentACenter and check cashing places i dont understand.

 

[//ARCANUM]

I half agree with the post above me.

The other half says you need to know how to use them; In the past years ive traded in games during a bonus offer for more than i paid, bought an iPhone off craigslist for $180 and in minutes traded it for $250 GS credit to buy a PS4, and bought GS giftcards on eBay to save $50 on XB1S at launch last August.

Gamestop is a great tool if you pay attention.

Now RentACenter and check cashing places i dont understand.

 

[Mozendo]

I applied to GameStop last week, guess I won't follow up for an interview

 

[Megawarrior]

Few reasons I actually buy from GameStop even though I can do Amazon prime discount

Got a new mail person who sometimes quite often forgets to give us the key to the parcel locker and has messed up before with putting other people's mail into ours and who knows if our mail went to another (still haven't gotten a refund for something in like 4-5 months I sent for....)

Also I can just stop in while at work and pick my stuff up and toss it in when I get home

As for best buy... An extra trip I would have to take and pay another fee for the discount. I dunno.

Also the people who complain about GameStop pushing stuff best buy does it too.
Whenever I go in I get in the span of 5 minutes like 5 different people asking if I need help with anything and then when at checkout they also push their own rewards cards, credit cards, this that and the other.

Guess I have little issue with anything. I just pay that little bit more I guess

Also the people who go with amazon and best buy discount yet also say they buy new for the devs.... Something doesn't add up on that account.

You must live near a great best buy....must be nice. 2 of the best buy in my area on the other hand....you'd be hard pressed to find any help or someone trying to force a credit card. It's best you know what you're looking for and where it is before even walking into the store cause good luck finding someone to help you lol

 

[Ritzboof]

im an introvert working at a staples, and i can hardly bring myself to ask people if they wanna sign up for rewards. i cant even begin to imagine how horrible this must be for any employee with a level of dignity or insecurity

i have a $15 gamestop giftcard lying around and i almost dont even wanna bother using it. this kinda stuff makes me sick to my stomach

 

[ironmang]

im an introvert working at a staples, and i can hardly bring myself to ask people if they wanna sign up for rewards. i cant even begin to imagine how horrible this must be for any employee with a level of dignity or insecurity

i have a $15 gamestop giftcard lying around and i almost dont even wanna bother using it. this kinda stuff makes me sick to my stomach

Can always turn that into PSN/XBL/Steam credit off their website.

 

[ultrazilla]

The only time I've ever had a preorder fucked up by GS the guy who took it couldn't stop talking about how he was on Valium and the people at launch fixed it instantly. Every piece of hardware that I've ever preordered from them was held aside, numbered and ready to go on day one. What the fuck are you talking about?

Here"s "what the fuck" I'm talking about.

Management lying to their customers at my local store regarding pre-ordering. Never having new items in stock but plenty of "used" being pushed down my throat. Getting sent used, broken, wrong version games when I ordered them "new" online. Having to wait a WEEK for an "instant digital download game" when they took my money out of my bank account within hours of my purchase and processed it. Calling the local store and management saying they'd hold me a copy of a game as I'm only five minutes away and getting there within the five minutes and finding out the copy under my name was "sold" to someone else even though I was promised it would be held for me for *hours*.

So just because *YOU* have had o.k. experiences with Gamestop sans one incident doesn't mean I or any number of others here have not. They have an absolute shit history of poor customer service, their online ordering is a joke and it's o.k for their employees to lie to you because you know, no accountability apparently.

Also, did you *NOT* hear about Gamestop cancelling people's pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch once they had *thought* they were locked in and had pre-ordered properly?

So yeah....that's "what the fuck" I'm talking about.

 

[Widge]

I mean I twigged this a good few years ago and got into arguments on many a comment thread about it when people couldn't reconcile used game sales with the increasing strategy of Day One DLC, including multiplayer, drip DLC, subscriptions, season passes, games as a service.

All of it is geared towards keeping games as a "new" product and out of the aggressive pre-owned ecosystem.

 

[Muzicfreq]

The vast majority of people just don't know any better. You can't go into a Gamestop without seeing some kid and their dad paying full price for the AAA game of the month and putting a protection plan on it. They have to be making an absolute killing on just the warranties. Obviously the used business is still booming too. People trade in stacks of recent games for pretty much nothing all of the time and of course Gamestop makes tons reselling those.

They are and aren't.
Depends on the store.
Store I go to had a disk someone brought in chewed by their dog and said the protection can be for that kind of damage.
For some people it is worth it

Now the funny bit is the protection on 3ds and DS games....

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

They are and aren't.
Depends on the store.
Store I go to had a disk someone brought in chewed by their dog and said the protection can be for that kind of damage.
For some people it is worth it

Now the funny bit is the protection on 3ds and DS games....

You can fuck up a 3DS/DS cartridge. It's hard but it's possible.

 

[PtM]

You can fuck up a 3DS/DS cartridge. It's hard but it's possible.

I had bought a used DS cartridge via eBay and it wouldn't read. Pulled it out to see the contacts smeared with god knows what.

 

[MoxManiac]

You must live near a great best buy....must be nice. 2 of the best buy in my area on the other hand....you'd be hard pressed to find any help or someone trying to force a credit card. It's best you know what you're looking for and where it is before even walking into the store cause good luck finding someone to help you lol

GCU is so good that Best Buy could literally be staffed by ogres that fart in your face every five minutes and it'd still be the best brick and mortar place to buy games.

I really hate gamestop. Trued to find that witcher 3 blood and wine physical card edition and of course it was gutted. When i declined to buy it the guy behind the counter made snide remarks.

 

[Aroll]

Every dollar of profit GameStop makes is a dollar that could have gone to a game maker or platform holder with direct digital downloads. The industry does better when people stop buying from brick and mortar.

With data caps and telecom monopolies a purely digital marketplace isn't ideal either, and still not realistic on a worldwide scale. But, on the other hand, there is never going to be a public backlash against data caps and for net neutrality unless people actually have something they want that won't fit in their data caps.

Beyond convenience of not leaving the home and the other benefits of a digital library, it is also anti consumer for some who want that trade value. Many folks have to game on budgets and trade values are quintessential to maintaining the ability to buy and play the games they want to play when they want to play them. As much as it's nice to say the biggest margins go to publishers via digital, reality is for many, that method hurts consumer value, and these companies have survived for decades with retail... and the thing is, the margins on new products are absolutely abysmal for retail chains. A majority of the money already goes back to the publishers as is.

I don't mind if someone else makes a few dollars if it gives me something with tangible value to use towards a future purchase.

 

[MattXIII]

Just another big corporate that fails to see their employees as actual human beings.

Stopped using gamestop ages ago, their prices in Ireland are nuts.

Digital all the way

Spoiler

mostly

 

[ZombieNapoleon]

That's a shame to hear. I've always enjoyed the staff at my local gamestop and its a reason I keep going there. That and window shopping. There is no BB or Target within 20+ miles so as far as brick and mortar there is only Walmart and f' that chain IMO.
I'll always go there because I enjoy the subscription and the less hassle of trade ins and buying used games (though that is just my experience). I rarely trade in and if then, always wait for the "get x% more when reserving".

On the last visit I had to chuckle when talking to a worker there about how he also preorders from Amazon since they typically have $5-15 off new game preorders with prime. Just no incentive to use GS for that service now.

 

[dex3108]

Kotaku story

http://kotaku.com/new-gamestop-program-leads-employees-to-lie-to-customer-1791874332

 

[JayWood2010]

Good thing ive went digital. Pathetic on Gamestop's part. Unfortunately i had to preorder Switch at Gamestop considering Amazon was sold out.

 

[mreddie]

Fuck, this is cruel.

I can't sell you that PS4 or my job is over.

 

[Vuze]

GameStop is and always has been scum. Feel sorry for the employees who have to suffer through this shit.

 

[jdmonmou]

That's a really bad policy. Whoever implemented it at Gamestop should probably be fired. It seems that Gamestop is doing more damage to their business than digital.

 

[Abelard]

Meh, this is why I shop at Best Buy almost exclusively.

 

[GODREALMS]

I never liked shopping at the Gamestop near me. I went there a few times, and every time they bahaved like I was their only hope for staying open. I don't need that type of stress in my life. I prefer a relaxed environment, not the in my face telling me what I want environment. They ended up closing that store.

No wonder people I talk to love Amazon. Amazon is a stress free environment for video games in my experience, except when the pre-orders for Nintendo products only last for 15 minutes, lol. Luckily, I got my pre-orders secured for Nintendo Switch through Amazon.

 

[WEGGLES]

I haven't been to GameStop in ages. Stuff like this is why. Their prices aren't great, gutted copies at sealed prices are a turnoff and they seem to love ordering not enough product to push preorders... I'll just go to Walmart and get one of the dozens of copies they have.

 

[blame space]

shouts out to jschreier.

 

[DownWithTheShip]

I go to my local GS on a regular basis. I know most of the employees and they're pretty cool. I have to admit I'm now hesitant to keep going. I don't think they would lie to me, but there's now always going to be a little voice in the back of my head wondering what their motivations are.

Going to GS takes time out of my day, and I would prefer spending that time going to a place where the service and products are consistent and not determined by sales of used merchandise. GS employee sales numbers should not factor in to where I make my purchases, but now they will. Fortunately there's a BestBuy in town.

 

[The_Endgamer]

No wonder they like marking up their normal prices on new games.

Rather just hit JB HiFi now...

 

[Dante]

I haven't shopped here in years, not sure why anybody would, there's much easier options without all the bs u have to deal with here.

 

[Alavard]

I can't fathom how dumb the corporate management is that they'd do this. Retail is in such a rocky place right now, and they want to lose even more customers? Some of this also sounds like it may be illegal.

Lying to a customer that you don't have a product in stock, only to push another version of that product with a higher margin (a used copy) sounds like it might fall under 'bait and switch'.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Can always turn that into PSN/XBL/Steam credit off their website.

Yep. I didn't realize you could do this on their website either. Just cashed in all the credit I had for PSN credit ($175).

I'd traded in my PS4 after upgrading to Pro when they had the extra $50 promo as that was about what they were selling for on Craigslist and that saved me having to deal with that hassle.

I was going to put it toward a Switch preorder, but ended up preordering on Best Buy the night of the presentation instead of going to GS in the morning. Happy with have the credit spent in a way that doesn't give GS any more money.

 

[anothertech]

That sucks.

They really are just advertising for Amazon with this practice.

 

[kubev]

Lying to a customer that you don't have a product in stock, only to push another version of that product with a higher margin (a used copy) sounds like it might fall under 'bait and switch'.

I don't condone this, but you'd be surprised just how often store associates have to lie to customers about product stock in order to bulk up on stock for that same product for a big sale or something. Of course, this is something entirely different, and I do wish that GameStop would learn how to prepare for the future instead of resorting to shady practices like this. There are a lot of really cool people working for GameStop, and I feel like a lot of them are wasted on things like this.

 

[PMS341]

I can't fathom how dumb the corporate management is that they'd do this. Retail is in such a rocky place right now, and they want to lose even more customers? Some of this also sounds like it may be illegal.

Lying to a customer that you don't have a product in stock, only to push another version of that product with a higher margin (a used copy) sounds like it might fall under 'bait and switch'.

This happened quite a bit during the Xbox One/PS4 launch. We were specifically instructed to tell customers that the consoles were "identical" and could essentially play all the same games, and at the same resolution/framerate/etc. Guess who paid for more marketing at the time?

 

[Kintaro]

Now that we're in the new FY, I've pretty much accepted COL is probably going to get me fired. The new minimum expectations are sky high. Not that I'm not doing my job or attempting to do what I'm told, but ultimately above all, I'm helping people out best I can and I won't let the stress kill me. I live in a tiny town and I somehow manage to squeeze out close to 2m a year in our poor village.

It wouldn't be the first time. I was fired after complications with my liver transplant 4 years ago. Was an ASM at the time too. Got an infection that caused me to return to the hospital. Was told everything would be okay. Came back and fired.

"Protect the Family" is the mantra touted about internally. To be fair, GS has a great program that does help employees in need. I donate and support it. But that phrase, the recent actions and my history...I grind my teeth. We know who the family is...

Glad to see Kotaku pick this up. I wish more customers would speak directly to the company to help it wake up.

Edit: I would also like to note that since Amazon Prime started their preorder deal, my purchases at my store dropped off a cliff. That discount is higher than my employee discount! I used to spend thousands a year in my own store? Last year I think I spent $100. I know WHY the company says they can't match this, but when our competitor (and make no mistake, BB and Amazon as major competitors) offers a better discount than the one I get working there? Well, the choice is obvious. =/

 

[appaws]

Seriously though, how much time do they have left as a company? Are they going to go the way of Blockbuster Video...?

What percentage of games are sold as digital downloads? 10 years ago? 10 years from now?

 

[TwoDurans]

Is there an actual former/current Gamestop employee in this thread that can verify any of this? I hate articles with annonymous sources like this, and the thought that Gamestop would turn a customer away and to Best Buy to buy a game in the hopes that that person would pre-order next time is insane.

 

[krae_man]

Is there an actual former/current Gamestop employee in this thread that can verify any of this? I hate articles with annonymous sources like this, and the thought that Gamestop would turn a customer away and to Best Buy to buy a game in the hopes that that person would pre-order next time is insane.

You want an anonymous source to confirm another anonymous source?

 

[TwoDurans]

You want an anonymous source to confirm another anonymous source?

I know it's silly, but the stuff in this article is so nonsensical that if there was someone who said "yeah, it's like this." Then that would be enough for me. The fact that we're at 500+ posts and nothing like that makes me skeptical.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I know it's silly, but the stuff in this article is so nonsensical that if there was someone who said "yeah, it's like this." Then that would be enough for me. The fact that we're at 500+ posts and nothing like that makes me skeptical.

The post from Kintaro a few posts up? That he's worried about losing his job as the CoL pressure is so great for the new fiscal year?

Employees do crazy things if they're being docked for new sales and evaluated on used sales, warranties and preorders.

 

[ShiftaDeband]

I know it's silly, but the stuff in this article is so nonsensical that if there was someone who said "yeah, it's like this." Then that would be enough for me. The fact that we're at 500+ posts and nothing like that makes me skeptical.

There's some chatter on the Gamestop subreddit,. It has a lot more talk about strategies to keep the scores high, like giving a sale to another associate that needs it.

 

[krae_man]

I know it's silly, but the stuff in this article is so nonsensical that if there was someone who said "yeah, it's like this." Then that would be enough for me. The fact that we're at 500+ posts and nothing like that makes me skeptical.

There are already people in the thread saying "yeah this exists, dumb rules from above cause employees to do questionable things".

 

[TwoDurans]

The post from Kintaro a few posts up? That he's worried about losing his job as the CoL pressure is so great for the new fiscal year?

Employees do crazy things if they're being docked for new sales and evaluated on used sales, warranties and preorders.

Confirms that CoL is a thing, but not the more outlandish claims from the article. I'm still having a hard time believing that they'd turn money away like that.

Tell a customer there's not a new one in stock to sell the more expensive used one? Sure. Tell a customer you don't have a product you do have in hopes that they'll pre-order is idiodic. They'll run over to another store and buy it there. This doesn't change behaviour it costs GS money.

 

[krae_man]

Confirms that CoL is a thing, but not the more outlandish claims from the article. I'm still having a hard time believing that they'd turn money away like that.

Tell a customer there's not a new one in stock to sell the more expensive used one? Sure. Tell a customer you don't have a product you do have in hopes that they'll pre-order is idiodic. They'll run over to another store and buy it there. This doesn't change behaviour it costs GS money.

It's not Gamestop per say.

Look at it this way: If Gamestop had a rule "you need to sell 100 game guarantees a day or you're fired" and employees start sneaking it onto bills without the customers permission to meet their quota. Gamestop would say "we never instructed our staff to defraud customers", however that insane quota would absolutely cause such behavior.

That's the kind of thing that's happening. Individual employees are making decisions based on how it impacts their individual numbers with total disregard to the overall impact or the quality of service they are providing to the customer.

 

[Madame M]

Gamestop having a horrible policy on something? Well I never

 

[tmarg]

Confirms that CoL is a thing, but not the more outlandish claims from the article. I'm still having a hard time believing that they'd turn money away like that.

Tell a customer there's not a new one in stock to sell the more expensive used one? Sure. Tell a customer you don't have a product you do have in hopes that they'll pre-order is idiodic. They'll run over to another store and buy it there. This doesn't change behaviour it costs GS money.

They would never tell anyone to do those things. But if you tell people that they need a certain % used games or else, you are forcing them to do it anyway.