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What have your experiences been like at Gamestop?

hlhbk

Member
Start the flaming...

I'm a store manager at a store in Illinois. I completely understand the reputation that the company has because I have been in multiple stores with terrible service and pushy associates. I'd like to think that most people that come in to our store have a good experience. As far as reservations and such, these things should never come off as pushy, they should come naturally.

From the managers and associates that actually enjoy giving good service, we are sorry.

They should never happen at all.
 

Into

Member
The only bad experience is their employees asking me questions at the counter when i want to purchase something, trying to sign me up for their deals, even when you say no, they keep going on and on about how it has enormous benefits. I understand this is company line and they pushing their GI magazine and what not, but it makes the transaction awkward.

I rather go into any other store and just purchase a game, because the most they will ask is "do you want a bag with that?"
 

Storm360

Member
Gamestop has been awful to me 2/3 times I've been there.

First time I bought a new copy of MGS 4 for $5, which was perfect at the time, since my copy was moving away with my brother at the time, person didn't try to sell me on anything (which is partly due to my accent I suppose) and even let me know that the PS3 was region free.


Two other times were awful, first time, the store employees were unhelpful, and didn't even attempt to help, second time, I just kept getting hounded (despite telling him I'll no longer be in the country) and eventually just left and waited for a localised release in my country.


GAME (Our UK equivalent I guess) are also very hit and miss though, I've had people be extremely helpful, for example, they didn't have any copies of New Super Mario Bros U when I bought my Wii U, so phoned and got another store to bring a copy, Members of staff there are also ver hit and miss however, I've literally talked to some for two hours at times, and others don't even acknowledge you if you aren't waiting to pay.
 

Opt1kon_

Member
I shop at my local Gamestop very frequently, the manager and the employees are actual gamers that i play with on PSN from time to time, & not only that but i started to shop on amazon and buy digitally for the PS4 so far amazon is great but i've never actually ran into any problems with Gamestop
 

jacobeid

Banned
I remembered how pushy they were when I went to go trade in some games recently. The clerk asked me if I had preordered MK8 and I said "yes, on Amazon." The clerk told me I should pre-order there so I could get it on release date (not believing that I had free release date shipping). Eventually she got me to budge when she told me I'd get 30% more for my trades if I put in the pre-order so I said ok.

I get why they do it, but I don't really need Gamestop clerks telling me what games are coming out.
 

maxcriden

Member
I remembered how pushy they were when I went to go trade in some games recently. The clerk asked me if I had preordered MK8 and I said "yes, on Amazon." The clerk told me I should pre-order there so I could get it on release date (not believing that I had free release date shipping). Eventually she got me to budge when she told me I'd get 30% more for my trades if I put in the pre-order so I said ok.

I get why they do it, but I don't really need Gamestop clerks telling me what games are coming out.

FWIW, I love Amazon but they have been really inconsistent with release day shipping from what I understand (and no, I have no affiliation with Gamestop or any other store). I would keep an eye on the order and make sure it's planned to come that day, you should be able to contact them to have them change it to release day if they mess it up.
 

jacobeid

Banned
FWIW, I love Amazon but they have been really inconsistent with release day shipping from what I understand (and no, I have no affiliation with Gamestop or any other store). I would keep an eye on the order and make sure it's planned to come that day, you should be able to contact them to have them change it to release day if they mess it up.

I've been a prime member for over four years and haven't had a single game come a day late FWIW.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Neutral or bad.

Neutral being times I've gone the store was mostly empty, and they weren't pushy about preorders, warranties or the other crap they're forced to push on customers.

Bad being it was crowded and there were annoying little kids everywhere, nerdy guys hanging around trying to chat up game shit with everyone that came in, and/or they were super pushy about preorders, warranties etc.

A lot of that isn't Gamestop exclusive. I just hate shopping in general. I do most of it online, though I've started getting a few more games etc. locally since moving as we get packages stolen constantly in our new neighborhood. So we have to hassle with trying to order for things to arrive on days we can be home, or ship it to the PO box (if an option) and hassle with waiting to pick up from the counter (ghetto post office doesn't have the bigger boxes for packages where they just put a key to one in your PO box when you have a package).

So I grab a few more games/movies from Best Buy or Target these days, but really have no reason to go to Gamestop since I started selling games on Amazon instead of trading in. I was never a big preorder guy and don't care that much about getting games day 1. Especially since they release mostly on Tuesdays and I don't get a ton of gaming in most weeknights anyway.
 
I've been a prime member for over four years and haven't had a single game come a day late FWIW.

same here, always arrived in the morning or early afternoon, based prime :)

I've never had a bad experience at GameStop, just ask buy and be on my way or trade in, get bonus and leave.
 

Rizzi

Member
EB in Australia, Some really good people who work there but the turnover seems high, But I guess most retail is that way. If I see some familiar faces in there I will go in knowing they won't hound me with Pre Orders or Scratch protection nonsense. Prices are my main gripe starting to become out of the question though, new releases at least $10 to $20 more is just too much. Always a good time killer to browse the shelves though.

The turnover is really high because most of the managers for the most part are awful.
 

Mozendo

Member
The closest GameStop near me has been getting worse and worse. (Brookline, Massachusetts branch)
I have no problem saying no a few times to their questions, but the service in this specific store is just terrible.

I'm going to name an example.
So one day, I believe it was the first day of the Steam Summer Sale last year, I decided to go to GameStop to buy a $20 Steam Wallet card. Immediately as I walk in I already see 7 people just walking around with games in hand and playing demos. I then see that none of the employees are at the cashiers, well not for customers at least.

All three employees are stationed at one cashier, one of them seemed to be returning her own PS3, but soon after I thought that she said something along the lines of "Okay, now press here so I can get more money". I don't think they had a trade-in promotion at the time which I found odd.

Anywho I went to look for the Steam Wallet Cards but they weren't were they used to be. The employees were still talking so I looked at the games for about 7-10 mintues but they were still talking and I just want to get the card and go.

I went up to the cashier were all three of them were now talking about what game two of them were playing last night. I said something along the lines of "Excuse, I can't seem to find the steam wallet cards, do you know where they are?", and I thought they didn't hear me so I then started to repeat what I said and they said "Yeah, we'll help you out in a minute"

Waited 5 minutes and just left, walked to a 7-Eleven and went home. I now go to a local video game store called Replay'd and to Best Buy. I was going to write a complaint to gamestop, but I needed a receipt.

Rather than that my other GameStop store experiences have been normal, but I don't want to do business with them again.
 
The last time I did business with GameStop was the day I went in to pickup my preorder for The Last of Us. I was berated by the SM and ASM about how I'd chosen the X1 over the PS4 for almost 10 minutes. Their chastising of me actually caused a simple preorder pickup transaction to take 10 minutes!!! They literally told me that I was an idiot, and started making up bold faced lies about the X1 to try to sway my opinion over to getting a PS4.

I walked out and haven't stepped foot in a GameStop since. I refuse to ever do business with the company again. At no time is it ok to belittle your customer and call them an idiot for their product of choice. For all I care, the company can burn in flames and the CEO/President/COO can go suck all the dicks in the world.
 
some guy copped an attitude when i asked for some extra PS3 gameboxes. he went off on some rant about how the publishers pay for shelf space which seemed totally unrelated. it was odd because last time I was there i asked another employee and she gave me an extra box when i asked. i ended up buying two copies of NHL10 at .37¢, keeping the boxes and asking the teller to throw the games in the garbage bin.
 

maxcriden

Member
I've been a prime member for over four years and haven't had a single game come a day late FWIW.

glad to hear it. i'm a prime member too and have had some mixed experiences and have heard others have had similar issues so i just thought i'd let you know. i'm glad to hear you haven't had any issues, though. amazon is great in general.
 

daevv

Member
The back of the line policy at midnight releases unless you have a super duper $15 edge card was shocking. Not only will I not buy the card but I will not pre-order anymore.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
My experiences have always been good. At least the 2 locations I went to anyway. I always get my preorders on release day of the games I order. And if I forgot a preorder bonus they give it to me if I ask for it. Maybe being a Pro member has something to do with it.
 
I've never had a bad experience there. I've never had the whole open game sold as new mainly because the only games I buy from there new are games that I have either preordered or they come out that very day. I mainly buy used, because they tend to have the niche titles I'm looking for and they're the only place I can find them. And the Power Up Rewards come in handy when buying a lot of used.

I had a rather good and unexpected experience last week though. I forgot I had preordered Tales of Symphonia Chronicles back when it first came out and I never picked it up, I bought it somewhere else. I received a phone call last weeek from an employee saying he saw I never picked up my reservation, and that I could either still pick up the game now, switch the deposit to another preorder, or simply use the deposit as in store credit on a regular purchase. I could have swore I had heard back in the day that deposits were non refundable, especially if you forgot about the game completely so this took me by surprise.
 
1st time) I was sold a broken original xbox (I'm talking broken to the point where it as soon as you turn it on it flashes red and the video feed is like this is broken)

2nd time) I returned that xbox and purchased another one. It was broken as well, in the same way. The clerk had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to get yet another one from them. I didn't

3rd time) I purchased KOTOR. This worked fine.

4th time) I purchased some 360 games. One of them wouldn't even boot up.

In between this time me and classmate became friends and he worked at one. He always had tons of new games and I said, "you buy a ton of games." He responded, "no I work at Gamestop. As long as I don't rip the seal, I can borrow a game and we'll still sell it as new."

5th time) I purchased a Gamecube... the video cord was broken right out of the box

6th time) I purchased a gamestop controller. It was broken out of the box

7th time) I went to buy Marvel vs Capcom 3. The guy tried to get me to buy a used copy 4 times and I had to say, "look man if you're not going to sell me the game I'll just buy it somewhere else" before he would accept that I wanted to buy a new copy. When he did, he slammed the game on the counter and looked super pissed like I ruined his day because I wanted a new copy.

8th time) They opened one in this ghetto mall. The employees don't really try that hard so they don't bother me and if you say, "nah" they'll accept it. They've been good. I went to another one in a richer part of town recently. They sold me a broken Gamestop PS3 controller. Another one gave me a 360 DLC code for a PS3 game.

Gamestop is scummy. I've shopped on Ebay and Amazon Marketplace but Gamestop is the only place that's sold me so much broken product, whether it be used or new. They really shouldn't operate a used sales business if they do zero testing to see if the stuff works. They are a last resort for me. I feel like some moronic zombie consumer every time I walk into one just because they're open later than Wal-Mart's electronics department and there are like 5 of them near me all closer than the nearest Best Buy. I'm glad things are going more digital though. I haven't been to one in a while because I've been able to download the games I'm interested in buying.

Every time I see one closing or hear that they're laying off people a smile crosses my face. They and their employees are pretty much confirmed human garbage in my book.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
Start the flaming...

I'm a store manager at a store in Illinois. I completely understand the reputation that the company has because I have been in multiple stores with terrible service and pushy associates. I'd like to think that most people that come in to our store have a good experience. As far as reservations and such, these things should never come off as pushy, they should come naturally.

From the managers and associates that actually enjoy giving good service, we are sorry.



Every time I see one closing or hear that they're laying off people a smile crosses my face. They and their employees are pretty much confirmed human garbage in my book.


Because apparently EVERY worker there is 'garbage' and deserves to be laid off... This is why you don't generalize. Not every single worker in the bajillion stores are incompetent, pissy people that don't check stuff. Not sure why you went back so many times anyways...
 
Last time I set foot in there was to pick up a Pokemon X 3DS XL at a midnight launch without preordering. Also bought a used PS3 slim that ended up having a fair amount of permanent cosmetic damage a year prior. Other than that, hadn't really bought anything there since my Xbox 360 launch unit preorder.

I buy all my gaming stuff online now, mostly from Amazon. I love not having to deal with the hard selling bullshit from GameStop.

Their whole selling open games as new thing was what finally drove me away for good. They used to make display cases that they put up on shelves but apparently that costs too much and they'd much rather use your future game case as a display case while employees take your future $60 game home to play it.
 

aristotle

Member
I've never once had a bad experience at any Gamestop I've been to. FWIW I think many people just like to pile on them because it's the cool thing to do. Without Gamestop, there wouldn't be a chain of video game related stores anywhere. I applaud them for being able to stay in business when so many other chains have shut down entirely.

The Gamestop in Sulphur Springs, TX is a good one :)
 

Shadownet

Banned
Last time I set foot in there was to pick up a Pokemon X 3DS XL at a midnight launch without preordering. Also bought a used PS3 slim that ended up having a fair amount of permanent cosmetic damage a year prior. Other than that, hadn't really bought anything there since my Xbox 360 launch unit preorder.

I buy all my gaming stuff online now, mostly from Amazon. I love not having to deal with the hard selling bullshit from GameStop.

Their whole selling open games as new thing was what finally drove me away for good. They used to make display cases that they put up on shelves but apparently that costs too much and they'd much rather use your future game case as a display case while employees take your future $60 game home to play it.

It doesn't cost much to print out cover to put on the shelves. But its a generic cover that doesn't show anything beside the rating and the name of the game.

That's why they gut games.

And for the love of god. No one is making you buy the opened copy. If you don't want to just say no and walk out. No need to hate the people for it.

You say that but if there was no display case. Then people will be asking to borrow a game to look at the case. And an employee cannot keep track if 7 people walk up and decide to "borrow a case"
 

Shadownet

Banned
Games that arent cod/bf/asscreed, gs doesnt order a lot of extras. You cant ask for a sealed copy when they dont have.



I knew you work for gs even before you gave us your story. I was flat out lied to by the employee over the phone. Had he told me it was opened when i asked if it was sealed then i wouldnt have gone there wasting my time.

Congratulation, you can read between the lines. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time I posted on GAF that I used to work at GameStop.

Well that's on that particular employee. Not every single one is like that. You're free to complain to the manager.
 
the 2 canadian equivalents (eb games) by my house are awesome and i go there all the time. i get asked once at check out if i want disc protection,etc... and if i say no they dont keep pestering me

both have good stock and decent prices for the most part
 

LogN

Member
I'm still employed with the company. I never try to hound people, just not how I am. I'd rather people get what they want and be happy. Of course you can't please everyone, but, that's life.
 

Freshmaker

I am Korean.
I haven't had much of a problem with them lately. I did take a poll that asked me how I'd like a GS credit card however.

If they start trying to push a CC on me every time I shop, I'm done. Not going back.
 
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