the retailer called Game thread

steviec

I don't normally shop in the evil empire but an unknowing relative bought me Game gift vouchers for Christmas and I wanted to get the ordeal out of the way.

So I arrived in Game on Henry St. to get Need for Speed on Xbox 360, having loved the demo. I did my homework and was going to ask them about price matching since they were charging 79.99 for it and Gamestop and Smyths were charging 69.99. Argos are charging less I believe but they weren't open and like I said I was using vouchers so 69.99 would do.

So, I queue up, arrive at the counter box in hand and am being served by the obnoxious manager there, the same guy who once told me I was living on cloud cuckoo land when I quoted Sony tech support to him, and who physically restrained a staff member from selling a 360 on launch day without forcing a bundle on the customer, the horror! So he's about to serve me when the phone rings. I worked in retail for 4 years and one thing I was always told was when on till the customer facing you always takes precedence over the phone, but that's a small matter anyway.

This is where it got fun, I was left waiting while he talked on the phone ages, but it was an interesting conversation:
'yes I know'
'like I told your son, there's no way that could have happened here'
'it's not our responsibility if your disc is damaged'
'those boxes are sealed we couldn't have tampered with it here'
'I'm sure if you call Microsoft they'll change it for you'
'like I said, it's not our problem'
'so do you have proof that it was damaged on our premises?'
'yes I am telling you that we will not exchange damaged goods'
'yes and I'm aware of my rights too. Goodbye.'

I was so tempted to tell him I'd go buy my psp gigapack in a shop that respected statutory rights when he hung up the phone, but like I said I'd vouchers to get rid of.

So, the price matching, like blood from a stone. He informed me first of all that they won't match argos(nice deal, we'll match any price except the cheapest one), then he told me he wouldn't match any kind of special offer or sale price, then he informed me he would only match the price of a shop that had the game in stock. So having gone through all that, and me having explained to him that he's charging a tenner more than every other shop, he actually rang Gamestop to make sure I wasn't lying, like he wasn't aware his prices are a rip off. Then, when he gets off the phone(after asking for a price, asking them if that was a special offer, and making sure it was in stock) he finally agrees to price match, before checking and finding they didn't have it in stock! AGH!

Anyway thought I'd share that story, there's so very many reasons to avoid Game, unfortunately I'll have to try and get rid of those vouchers at some point!

KTRIC

I used to be a loyal Game frequenter, but after seeing the rip-off prices they are charging now and this really p!sses me off. If I'm going to buy a game in a bricks and mortor store it will be in Smyths. If they don't have it I'm getting it online.

The only thing that annoys me about Smyths is that their staff know nothing about new products or the ones they currently stock. At least they don't lie like Game do.

cormie

Why don't you float around the shop and wait until you see somebody go up to the counter with what looks to be an expensive purchase and ask will they take your voucher for €5 cheaper? Just explain you don't actually want anything that you got it for Christmas:) They save a fiver you get cash to spend somewhere else.

Gummy Panda

Game on Henry st are terrible. I will never shop there again after they tried to flob off a faulty DS to me, even though i brought it back one day after i got it. Even had a security guard telling me there was nothing wrong with it.

Stick to dawson st. Manager is much nicer.

cormie

I remember I had a dodgy N64 controller, rang up Game and they said yeah no prob, bring it in and we'll replace it no problem. I brought it in to the Grafton Street one and the manager said that nobody said that to me and he wasn't going to replace it. I stood at the till for a while saying he should, trying to make him look bad in front of other customers, when I was actually about to break out crying (I was only a wee lad:D). Anyway, I eventually left and got onto the game website and sent them an email, got a nice email back which I printed off, went in and got a brand new controller.

qz

cormie wrote:

I remember I had a dodgy N64 controller, rang up Game and they said yeah no prob, bring it in and we'll replace it no problem. I brought it in to the Grafton Street one and the manager said that nobody said that to me and he wasn't going to replace it. I stood at the till for a while saying he should, trying to make him look bad in front of other customers, when I was actually about to break out crying (I was only a wee lad:D). Anyway, I eventually left and got onto the game website and sent them an email, got a nice email back which I printed off, went in and got a brand new controller.

Fair play!

sprinkles

You should have gone around the store and told everyone there in a mildly loud voice that EVERYTHING is cheaper across the road in GS or in Argos/Smiths.


My loathing of Game is growing by the day. As regards the phone call, he clearly doesn't know his rights or manners. I used to work in retail during my college days and if I was caught talking to a customer like that I'd be sacked in a heartbeat. What a toss3r.

KTRIC

Are the in any way connected to Maplins ?? Their customer focus seems to be the same. Both lie to the customers and treat the like sh!t.

Call Me Jimmy

aye game is in a sad state. i buy nearly all my computer related stuff online. why pay more? if more irish people bought online then the stores would be forced to compete and lower prices.

Ri_Nollaig

the manager sounds like an as.shole alright but i wont b too hard at game in general over it
they do overprice alot of new releases and the 360 stuff really was a joke but u can get some good bargins for older stuff

Jammer

That price matching thing is standard accross the board, any shop who does it, does it in that fashion.

Don't go anywhere near GAME anymore. Its gone to overpriced (a la HMV) heaven.

Smurfpiss

That manager is an arsehole alright. but i got splinter cell: chaos theory (pc) for 15 euro today, nowhere advertised it was half price so that was a nice surprise! Their pricing system is dreadful. call of duty 2 was priced at 55 euro on dawson street, but the special edition was 30 (wtf??) still no worse than any hmv, virgin etc.

projectmayhem

yeah game is a disgrace at this stage. staff are nice enough but, as was said, management tends to be a complete joke...

if you HAVE to shop in game, dawson st ftw

columok

GAME are a funny bunch.

You get some cracking deals of the week and some great special offers sometimes. I picked up RE4 today for €39.99 new.

Then it comes to there pre-owned games where you've loadsa games more expensive pre-owned than new. I never trade in at GAME anymore as I always find that I get a better deal at Gamestop.

qz

columok wrote:

GAME are a funny bunch.

You get some cracking deals of the week and some great special offers sometimes. I picked up RE4 today for €39.99 new.

Then it comes to there pre-owned games where you've loadsa games more expensive pre-owned than new. I never trade in at GAME anymore as I always find that I get a better deal at Gamestop.

Play have (well, had) the limited edition for €29. It must have only sold out recently

rainbow kirby

Gummy Panda wrote:

Game on Henry st are terrible. I will never shop there again after they tried to flob off a faulty DS to me, even though i brought it back one day after i got it. Even had a security guard telling me there was nothing wrong with it.

Stick to dawson st. Manager is much nicer.

Ah Mick the security guard... thinks he's a manager, no matter where he works... what a 'tard.

To the OP: That's horrible how you were treated... and I'm so surprised that the manager actually bothered going through all of that on one of the busiest shopping days of the year... *sigh*

Laguna

rainbow kirby wrote:

Ah Mick the security guard... thinks he's a manager, no matter where he works... what a 'tard.

To the OP: That's horrible how you were treated... and I'm so surprised that the manager actually bothered going through all of that on one of the busiest shopping days of the year... *sigh*

Come on, I'm sure you've worked in retail at some stage (we all have). We all know what I like to regard as 'lifers' (people who aren't doing retail work part time as a means to an end) and 'managers' are like, they're angry and petty over anything and everything, managers in retail preach to staff to treat the customer well etc. In my many **** part time retail jobs through the years, I've seen managers speak to customers with absolute contempt as if they were absolute **** they just stood in. When he conceded and gave the guy the same price, I'd have rubbed it in for the laugh, like "HA!, I win GAME-BOY!"

sprinkles

Hehe, no offence to anyone that works full time in retail but I think your right. There is a certain lack of respect by some of the "lifers" as you call them for the part time staff and the customers. To rub their livelyhood in their face after they back down would be the proverabial icing on the cake. They'd have to be a right prick to deserve it though.

LegacyUser

All i know is if i was treated in that way by any staff employee in any chain. I would make a fool out of them easily.

flogen

The manager I think you're talking about is a bit of an asshole. Actually, he's an asshole, full stop.
He treats all customers like crap. Now that's what years of working on Henry St may do to some people, but I always made a point of not letting some customer affect the way you deal with others. If someone wanted to be an asshole to me, I'd throw it right back, but if someone was being nice, I'd help them as much as I could.
That manager acts like people owe him something, and if he has to do any more than ring an item up he makes it known that he's going out of his way (Even when he's not, general customer service is going out of his way).

There's also a big thing about consumer rights going on there too, I would say this, if you want to challenge him, know your rights 100%. I'm not sure what he actually knows but once you say "i know my rights" he will challenge you to go with him to the nearby consumer rights shop on O Connell st to see if you're right. It's a great tactic to get rid of people that don't know sh1t, mind you.

Jazzy

Gummy Panda wrote:

Stick to dawson st. Manager is much nicer.

true... very nice guy and quite understanding. he even told me to go to HMV to look for DoW:WA when he didnt have it, knowing i had their value card.

but yet the fact remains that game are incompetant AND ARENT A SPECIALIST GAMING SHOP

JacoStanley

Does the manager have red hair?

CiDeRmAn

I worked in gamesworld, as it was known, on abbey and liffey street and can honestly say we did our best to provide customers with the best deals possible, there was great competition with Game, Eb and Smyths, waiting for the release dates of Perfect Dark or Ocarina and seing if one of the other stores tries to jump the gun and stick it out early on the shelves.
Things were more personal then, 97-99, but now things are different, I still stand by Gamestop as a great shop but do acknowledge that the larger a chain gets the more impersonal the service, certainly in Game they just push whatever the Sony/Ea/Microsoft rep tells them to push.
The best store to capture the type of service we used to get is Gamestop in Santry, they are always ready to come out fron behind the counter and help someone choose the right game, especially if they are a parent buying for a child, a nice bunch of folks who overall know their stuff.

KTRIC

CiDeRmAn wrote:

I worked in gamesworld, as it was known, on abbey and liffey street and can honestly say we did our best to provide customers with the best deals possible, there was great competition with Game, Eb and Smyths, waiting for the release dates of Perfect Dark or Ocarina and seing if one of the other stores tries to jump the gun and stick it out early on the shelves.
Things were more personal then, 97-99, but now things are different, I still stand by Gamestop as a great shop but do acknowledge that the larger a chain gets the more impersonal the service, certainly in Game they just push whatever the Sony/Ea/Microsoft rep tells them to push.
The best store to capture the type of service we used to get is Gamestop in Santry, they are always ready to come out fron behind the counter and help someone choose the right game, especially if they are a parent buying for a child, a nice bunch of folks who overall know their stuff.

I found that myself with the guys in Santry, is it still like that ?? It reminded me of the game shops when I was growing up in the 80's and 90's.

srdb20

The best store to capture the type of service we used to get is Gamestop in Santry, they are always ready to come out fron behind the counter and help someone choose the right game, especially if they are a parent buying for a child, a nice bunch of folks who overall know their stuff.

Agree 100%!!!!!!!!!

yawnstretch

I've been abused by Gamestop a couple of times too.

The most recent was Gamestop on Liffey St. Id been in the day before (work close by) and had seen I-Robot on UMD for 24.99 so I came back the next day with the cash and picked it up from the shelf (which had about 6 other copies there with the same price).

I bring it up to the counter, the person at the till starts ringing it through when a manager comes over, tells me the price is wrong, tells me all the ones on the shelf are 5 euro too cheap also and tells me "I cant let you have it".

Smyths for the win - every time.

evad_lhorg

ive said it once ill say it again.... how does one dickheads actions mean that the rest of the company is the same???? the majority of people who say "thats against my statutory ights" havnt a notion of what their rights are they just think a refund is theres no matter what. he should have price matched, yea.... no neeed to argue there its something the company provides but it can only match if a game is in stock and they cant go price matching some random shop on the other side of the city.(ie town-blanchardstown or somthin). I have traded in in gamestop plenty of times and they do NOT give better prices at all. some games yea ill agree but are those games the only ones people trade? no!

people whine and whine about game but when one of the shops closes its all "oh why did they get rid of that shop?".

the only shop i can say is consistantly better than game , on new releases anyway, is Smyths because they have the discount card.


sure just go to dawson st anyway. henry st in general is a shíthole. very sexy members of staff too

Ri_Nollaig

y do u defend game so much ?
every place ive worked part-time i cudnt give a sh.it about
on topic... game will screw u over if they can but so will all the rest virgin, hmv etc
so fu.ck them all and buy online as much as u can

evad_lhorg

im not so much defending game but more calling the "game bashers" a bunch of hypocrites. i dont give a crap about the company once i get paid im ok.

Lifeguard

I suppose you can't brand a whole gaming franchise on the actions of 1 manager, but what about 2?

I haven't been in Game for years now, but I do remember the old manager of Henry St., Andy. He was just as bad as the new guy.

I don't think it's a case of the current manager being an asshole, I think it's all down to a policy game have with their customers.

steviec

CiDeRmAn wrote:

The best store to capture the type of service we used to get is Gamestop in Santry, they are always ready to come out fron behind the counter and help someone choose the right game, especially if they are a parent buying for a child, a nice bunch of folks who overall know their stuff.

I'll agree with that, was in the other day and the guy was asking me if I managed to get my 360(I'd inquired there about pre-ordering a couple of times.)

I know you can't judge a whole chain by one manager or staff member, but I've had consistently good experiences in Gamestop in Santry, town, Clare Hall and consistently bad experiences in Game, although Henry St. is the only one I really go to. I went to Dawson st. today and got the game price matched no problem, their base price was already a fiver cheaper than Henry St. too.

I could be completely wrong here, but I get the impression that Gamestop have a hiring policy that makes sure their staff know what their talking about when it comes to games while Game just hire sales people and knowing something about games is just a bonus.