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[Dr. Black Jack]

I've been buying new releases from Best Buy almost exclusively for the past 3-4 years thanks to the various incarnations of Gamers Club/Best Buy Rewards, but lately they've made it a giant pain in the ass to preorder or plain out order games:

GCU no longer stacks with Black Friday prices, which isn't super unreasonable but kinda bullshit considering that many people bought multi-year GCU memberships with Black Friday in mind.

Games with limited supply/niche games can "sell out" of preorders instantly and not become available again before release, meaning that you basically have to sit around your computer on CAG or whatever waiting for the listing to go live to have a snowball's chance in hell of getting a preorder in. This happens far more frequently with Best Buy versus other retailers, thanks GCU!

Instore preorder kiosks are gone, so you now have to go to the Instore Pickup counter to make an instore preorder, which involves whatever high school kid is running the counter to basically just search the website for you aka pulling teeth.

What items can be preordered instore versus online only are no longer clearly defined instore, which means it's a total crapshoot on whether or not you can actually place a goddamn preorder until they try at the register, wasting everyone's time and making you look like an idiot.

Online preorders, even for instore pickup, are technically charged upon shipment but constantly reauthorize the payment card until release. This makes debit cards practically unusable and can fuck up your credit limit until the authorizations drop off. No other retailer does this for that exact reason and it's why I preferred to preorder instore.

Instead of making Elite Plus better/more attractive they just nuked reward point earnings for regular and Elite members.

My online orders have been randomly canceling for "incorrect information" even though it's the exact same goddamn information that I use every time I successfully order. When I contacted customer support about it, they said that there was no good reason for my orders to be canceled but whatever, they are so just shop in store for whatever I need, completely ignoring the fact that the items I was trying to order were online only.

I'm pretty much done with them outside of a random sale/clearance deal down the road. Amazon Prime gives me the same 20% off preorders without any of the other bullshit. GCU was so damn good but it basically killed their gaming department, especially for preorders.

 

[Mononoaware]

I don't quite have the problems you do, but I am getting pretty frustrated with the stores just simply not having the games I'm looking for. Yeah, I like some niche japanese games, but at least stock it for the initial launch period. Every game deserves a chance, and it just sucks that retailers pick and choose what they'll sell. "These games don't sell"...well no shit, you don't stock them!

As far as online orders, and their credit charging...i just buy a gift card for the amount of the item i want, and pay for it that way. Less headache.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

I've had none of the problems you're describing. Not shocked by limited stuff selling out. What do you want them to do, ask the publishers to make more of a limited edition?

 

[spookyfish]

As far as online orders, and their credit charging...i just buy a gift card for the amount of the item i want, and pay for it that way. Less headache.

This is a great idea.

I use the Best Buy card for preorder, but this works too.

 

[Neverfade]

My BB has a giant rack of preorder cards. I grab one. I check out. Done. Out in 5.

 

[kobu]

Done with best buy after my gcu membership is up. A game I ordered never showed up and it took me forever to speak to a real person who pretty much told me I'm fucked and they can't do anything. If it was amazon I could just send them a message and have a new copy shipped in 10 minutes.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

I've had none of the problems you're describing. Not shocked by limited stuff selling out. What do you want them to do, ask the publishers to make more of a limited edition?

No, but GCU has definitely affected how quickly they sell out and how many they stock. A few years ago I could walk in to a BB and place an instore preorder on a limited edition a day or two after announcement; now even instore preorders are based on the website stock so you're SOL unless you get an online preorder in the second it goes live. They also don't stock LEs instore anymore unless it was a canceled preorder, in my area at least.

 

[LifEndz]

It's been pretty bad. The reward certificates are all that's keeping me with them, otherwise I would just go so let with Amazon prime. In less than 2 years with GCU Best Buy has:
1)Inexplicably delayed shipment of Fallout 4 by a week despite me preordering a month prior
2) Managed to mysteriously charge me 5 dollars more on SFV, which still perplexes me because I paid 5 dollars in store to preorder, but I think I was charged 5 dollars because I preordered. I dunno. Had to go back to the store to get my money back.
3) Most recently I preordered Rise of Iron, but they failed to send me one of my preorder bonus code until yesterday.
4) they charge full price for preordering online. Amazon doesn't charge until the item ships.

Love the 10 dollar reward cert, but it's pretty frustrating.

 

[FantasticMrSnake]

Then why don't you move to amazon or another services?

If it's annoying for you, you have plenty other places to order from =p

 

[SalvaPot]

I have GCU and Prime and they both complement each other very well, and if by any chance I miss a limited product in one of them I am in my toes to get the other one, I get 2 chances.

 

[MoeDabs]

Then why don't you move to amazon or another services?

If it's annoying for you, you have plenty other places to order from =p

If you bothered reading he is indeed doing that very thing.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

Then why don't you move to amazon or another services?

If it's annoying for you, you have plenty other places to order from =p

literally the last part of the OP

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I always felt like GCU discounts would not be sustainable for Best Buy. Especially when 2 year memberships started going for like $30. I also think it's shitty to change the policy for the people who already bought memberships.

 

[tearsintherain]

I 100% order all my games for home delivery on the web from best buy, no problems at all this year. It was great a few weeks ago when the $10/100 visa offer stacked with everything, so I was getting new pre order games for $33 ($48 GCU - $10 RZ bonus - $5 half split visa offer), I pre ordered copies of pretty much every game and have been cancelling games I ordered digitally (forza 3, gears of war 4) or don't want (titanfall 2).

I could see why going in store is a pain in the ass, but since my store is 25 miles away I just prefer home delivery. Sure, I could maybe pick up some stuff at 9pm the night before instead of getting it at 4pm the next day, but thats ok with me.

Best Buy GCU is still better than amazon imo just because the 20% applies to ALL games, not just new games for 2 weeks. I sometimes order stuff from amazon (sales) but with a best buy credit card giving back 6% on top of everything else, I find hitting elite+ super easy with just the credit card for groceries/etc.

 

[Matt]

I don't quite have the problems you do, but I am getting pretty frustrated with the stores just simply not having the games I'm looking for. Yeah, I like some niche japanese games, but at least stock it for the initial launch period. Every game deserves a chance, and it just sucks that retailers pick and choose what they'll sell. "These games don't sell"...well no shit, you don't stock them!

Every game does not deserve a chance to sell on Best Buy's dime. It's an unfortunate reality that it costs money and space to stock product, and it's not unreasonable for a retailer to pick and choose.

 

[xXCrazyCostaXX]

Same reason I canceled my psvr there and got one on Amazon when they went up again.
They kept charging and refunding over $500 and I was losing my shit with customer service. Also whenever I get collectors editions through them they are on the store shelf and not the pick up counter which is stressful as fuck (which has resulted in me having to drive to other stores multiple times because they sold my reserve). Getting everything through Amazon now except for huge games that I know they have a ton of stock on.

 

[Jamaro85]

Online pre-orders charged upon shipment? I've always been charged immediately upon placement of the order. I absolutely hate it, especially considering that if you pre-order in store you only have to put five dollars down. That's the one thing that I hate about their online pre-order system more than anything.

Best Buy GCU is still better than amazon imo just because the 20% applies to ALL games, not just new games for 2 weeks. I sometimes order stuff from amazon (sales) but with a best buy credit card giving back 6% on top of everything else, I find hitting elite+ super easy with just the credit card for groceries/etc.

Whoa, what? 20% off games that have been out for two weeks or less? Not just pre-orders? This is a game changer for me if true.

 

[rackham]

Get Amazon prime. So much more useful and it has a video streaming service along with free shipping for tons of other shit.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

I was thinking about making the jump to Prime too but since I primarily use Amazon for video game purchases GCU is just sooooo much cheaper. Plus Best Buy has the $10 preorder bonus on a lot of the bigger releases I grab at launch. I don't think Amazon does this.

 

[t26]

Get Amazon prime. So much more useful and it has a video streaming service along with free shipping for tons of other shit.

Amazon Prime cost $99 per year compare to $30 GCU. I am wasting money as I don't need another streaming service.

 

[NavyPharaoh]

Have none of these issues but that doesn't mean they don't exist. For me Best Buy is the greatest gaming deal of all time. Whenever I buy a game it's 20% AND I often get $10 back. I just order mine online not to deal with Best Buy, since it's the worst BB I've ever had to deal with.

For them not to stack the 20% with the Black Friday sales it's that major. It's only 1 day out the entire year and the sales are so good on Black Friday that you're going to win at some retailer. To each their on but I hope this program never ends

 

[gcubed]

Online pre-orders charged upon shipment? I've always been charged immediately upon placement of the order. I absolutely hate it, especially considering that if you pre-order in store you only have to put five dollars down. That's the one thing that I hate about their online pre-order system more than anything.



Whoa, what? 20% off games that have been out for two weeks or less? Not just pre-orders? This is a game changer for me if true.

It charges and releases, it doesn't actually charge

 

[MrNelson]

My BB has a giant rack of preorder cards. I grab one. I check out. Done. Out in 5.

Trouble is that not all games get a preorder card.

My issue is the bs about how some items can't be preordered for in store pickup. Like, I get maybe not wanting a pile of really big collector's editions just sitting around, but when I go in on release day to pick up something else and see a stack of what I supposedly couldn't order for store pickup sitting behind the counter, im going to be fucking pissed.

 

[Trail Guide]

This makes debit cards practically unusable and can fuck up your credit limit until the authorizations drop off.

Never use debit cards online. Use a prepaid credit card if you have to because getting refunds and disputing charges is much more of a hassle with debit cards since you're already out the money.

The only issue I've had with Best Buy in the past few months has been getting games with cracked cases. It's really annoying with both Sony and Microsoft using their unique cases because all I have are standard DVD cases to replace them with. I don't have problems getting games from Amazon but from Best Buy it's not uncommon for the case to be cracked or broken so I don't know what's going on.

 

[TriangularDuck]

Never use debit cards online. Use a prepaid credit card if you have to because getting refunds and disputing charges is much more of a hassle with debit cards since you're already out the money.

The only issue I've had with Best Buy in the past few months has been getting games with cracked cases. It's really annoying with both Sony and Microsoft using their unique cases because all I have are standard DVD cases to replace them with. I don't have problems getting games from Amazon but from Best Buy it's not uncommon for the case to be cracked or broken so I don't know what's going on.

More accurately, never use debit cards. My debit card is basically a glorified ATM card, since that's literally all I use it for. Credit cards have better consumer protection and rewards. Get a Discover Card, enjoy 5% off on Amazon for half the year, and a bunch of other awesome cash back rewards. If you're a Costco member, grab their Visa for places that don't accept Discover, and the 4% back on gas. It's free money.

And if your credit is shit, get the secured Discover card. Still waaaaay better than a Debit card in every imaginable sense.

 

[BajiBoxer]

It charges and releases, it doesn't actually charge

Last time anpreordered a game it did this multiple times before release. Doesn't this cost Best Buy a fortune in transaction fees?

 

[Biske]

Online preorders, even for instore pickup, are technically charged upon shipment but constantly reauthorize the payment card until release. This makes debit cards practically unusable and can fuck up your credit limit until the authorizations drop off. No other retailer does this for that exact reason and it's why I preferred to preorder instore.

This. This is why I never preorder (or buy shit from them if I can avoid it) I ordered a WII U from them and it basically meant I was held hostage for a month or two as they re-did the authorization every week. Every. God. Damn. Week. Making sure I had the money, balancing this ghost money against my real finances and bills. God for bid you don't have the money on the bullshit day they check, cause guess what? Order cancelled!


Amazon all the way, pay when it ships, everybody wins. Or I just don't pre-order. Cause thats a whole other set of bullshit.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

Online pre-orders charged upon shipment? I've always been charged immediately upon placement of the order. I absolutely hate it, especially considering that if you pre-order in store you only have to put five dollars down. That's the one thing that I hate about their online pre-order system more than anything.



Whoa, what? 20% off games that have been out for two weeks or less? Not just pre-orders? This is a game changer for me if true.

When i preordered MGS V, I saved 20% + got $10 BB credit towards a future purchase. They do that with certain games and it really is an amazing deal. That's why I'm not surprised they're getting more and more stingy. Just can't sustain those types of discounts

 

[ViciousDS]

Credit charging issues? Just use PayPal with your credit card there......it's all taken off st once


I don't have any of these issues with GCU and the website at all for my store at least


Also lol at switching to Amazon,

They have been delivering video products late quite a few times around here from what I've read. Some folks won't even get their forza ultimate edition till next Wednesday. They are also hit and miss it seems for reliability of you think they are 100% good

 

[jimmypop]

Not enough PC games in the mix for me, which is disappointing.

I bought in to stack the GCU discount when Lego Dimensions packs were on sale, which more than paid for itself. I was hoping to use GCU more often after that, though.

 

[erotic grandpa]

I've never had an issue with being billed, but that's probably because I use a Best Buy credit card for my purchases there.

Niche stuff though, yeah. It's kind of a roll of the dice. Some games will languish in clearance for ages, others (like Valkyria Chronicles Remastered or most of the Miku games) never see stock replenishment past that first shipment.