Ever have Problems Buying Games?

noodler · 04-12-2008 12:55pm

EB IDed me for Tomb Raider 3 once. Based on the Elspa age thing ad wouldn't gimme it so I went to Game.

Also asked what age I was when I bought the San Andreas guide. No ID needed after my very rude "20...why?"

Cuddlesworth · 04-12-2008 1:18pm

evad_lhorg wrote: »

well youre just the ****in big person arent you thowing your game at the counter and buying it elsewhere. The problem is these "mistakes" that they could let them make could end up with big fines and court cases which have happened. you get parents in irate that their little darling of 16 or whatever was allowed buy an 18s game. the ratings are there for a reason and the rules must be applied. if youre too cool to show ID then you need a smack round the head. "its only a game". so what!

Well, as I said before. There will be no big court cases and no big fines. It's a myth. If I was asked my age, I would not be offended. Over 21 if I was id'd I would be greatly offended. And if a irate parent came in giving out that their darling bought a game rated 18+ I would point out that they lied about their age and their was no legal requirement to ask for ID.

I'm not too cool to show ID, I'm too old to be carrying around documents that if lost or stolen can easily lead to identity fraud to buy something where it is not a legal requirement to do so.

Absolam · 04-12-2008 3:37pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Well, as I said before. There will be no big court cases and no big fines. It's a myth. If I was asked my age, I would not be offended. Over 21 if I was id'd I would be greatly offended. And if a irate parent came in giving out that their darling bought a game rated 18+ I would point out that they lied about their age and their was no legal requirement to ask for ID.

I'm not too cool to show ID, I'm too old to be carrying around documents that if lost or stolen can easily lead to identity fraud to buy something where it is not a legal requirement to do so.

It is a legal requirement in the UK. It's not a legal requirement in Ireland. It is 'best practice' and corporately responsible to ensure that what you sell is appropriate for the person you sell it to; be it GAME with mature games in Ireland, or Nestlé with powdered milk in Africa. More companies should consider the ethical aspect of their sales; the world would be a better place.

jill_valentine · 04-12-2008 4:46pm

So it's kind of a macho thing? You just don't like being challenged by somebody younger?

Here's a window into the mind of a game's store till-monkey.

Staff: Hi, can I help you?

Customer: Just this, cheers.

Staff: Grand, gimme one second.

[Till demands ID]

D'you have ID there?

(Customer flings game onto counter, storms out in hilarious Shirley Bassey style, possibly yells something stupid.)

Staff: Huh. That was weird.

...

Next?

And that's it. That's all the thought it costs them. They don't think "Gosh, I really must report that customer's dissatisfaction with our age policy. I'll just hop on a plane to Head Office and make them see reason, by forcing them to retract it in every one of their branches worldwide. Why, I won't even wait until my shift is over! The word must be heard!"

No.

They just think "Man, that guy was a nut.

I could do without serving him ever again. But whatever."

Doing the whole stomp out achieves absolutely nothing. If you have an issue with the policy, complain about it to the company, by all means. There are facilities in place for that reason. But being a big touchy weirdo about it to the minimum wage Christmas-Shifter isn't striking the mighty blow you seem to think it is. At worst it's a mild irritation, because of the time they've wasted trying to serve you.

Cuddlesworth · 04-12-2008 4:51pm

Absolam wrote: »

It is a legal requirement in the UK. It's not a legal requirement in Ireland. It is 'best practice' and corporately responsible to ensure that what you sell is appropriate for the person you sell it to; be it GAME with mature games in Ireland, or Nestlé with powdered milk in Africa. More companies should consider the ethical aspect of their sales; the world would be a better place.

"At the moment video games only get a mandatory review by classifiers if they have "human sexual activity" or "gross violence"

And what they don't say in the article is that even then they can't classify them with a rating, they can only ban them from general sale.

Games are rated via the PEGI system, a voluntary system promoted by the games company's themselves. There are currently no laws relating to the sale of PEGI rated games to underage kids in either Ireland or England, there is nothing on the net about it besides recommendations, reports and promises that law's will be brought in.

I don't care about corporate responsibility when it comes to something as stupid as asking people for ID for a game when they look to be above the age limit. I will vote with my feet and go elsewhere.

noodler · 04-12-2008 4:53pm

jill_valentine wrote: »

So it's kind of a macho thing? You just don't like being challenged by somebody younger?

Here's a window into the mind of a game's store till-monkey.

And that's it. That's all the thought it costs them. They don't think "Gosh, I really must report that customer's dissatisfaction with our age policy. I'll just hop on a plane to Head Office and make them see reason, by forcing them to retract it in every one of their branches worldwide. Why, I won't even wait until my shift is over! The word must be heard!"

No.

They just think "Man, that guy was a nut.

I could do without serving him ever again. But whatever."

Doing the whole stomp out achieves absolutely nothing. If you have an issue with the policy, complain about it to the company, by all means. There are facilities in place for that reason. But being a big touchy weirdo about it to the minimum wage Christmas-Shifter isn't striking the mighty blow you seem to think it is. At worst it's a mild irritation, because they've wasted time on you.

I could not agree more.

Cuddlesworth · 04-12-2008 5:30pm

jill_valentine wrote: »

So it's kind of a macho thing? You just don't like being challenged by somebody younger?

Here's a window into the mind of a game's store till-monkey.

And that's it. That's all the thought it costs them. They don't think "Gosh, I really must report that customer's dissatisfaction with our age policy. I'll just hop on a plane to Head Office and make them see reason, by forcing them to retract it in every one of their branches worldwide. Why, I won't even wait until my shift is over! The word must be heard!"

No.

They just think "Man, that guy was a nut.

I could do without serving him ever again. But whatever."

Doing the whole stomp out achieves absolutely nothing. If you have an issue with the policy, complain about it to the company, by all means. There are facilities in place for that reason. But being a big touchy weirdo about it to the minimum wage Christmas-Shifter isn't striking the mighty blow you seem to think it is. At worst it's a mild irritation, because of the time they've wasted trying to serve you.

Your completely right, instead of showing my disgust at store policy I should have gone home and got my ID and came right back in to buy the game. Sure what's the point in going to the store 2 minutes away, with competent staff who can take a small amount of personal responsibility and attempt to judge my age, effectively bringing my custom elsewhere for the rest of my life. Sure that never effects a business.

t-mobile1892 · 04-12-2008 7:49pm

Im 16 and am frequently asked for ID even when purchasing a 12s game...its embarrassing

Cunny-Funt · 05-12-2008 12:29am

Yeah but your 16, picture it at 26.

jill_valentine wrote: »

Staff: Hi, can I help you?

Customer: Just this, cheers.

Staff: Grand, gimme one second.

[Till demands ID]

.....you look up to see a 30 year old man in front of you. Do you still ask for ID? Would you refuse to sell the game if he provided no ID despite OBVIOUSLY being over the age of 17?

jill_valentine · 05-12-2008 1:29am

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

Yeah but your 16, picture it at 26.

.....you look up to see a 30 year old man in front of you. Do you still ask for ID? Would you refuse to sell the game if he provided no ID despite OBVIOUSLY being over the age of 17?

I am required to.

If the game is over 18's, then I've got to get ID so I can fill in the onscreen form that comes up.

I'd prefer not to, 'cause it does slow down the whole process, and at Christmas obviously everybody would prefer to get the job done faster, but yeah, I need to be able to account for every single over 18's transaction I make. Not only whether the customer was the right age - but whether I asked for ID.

I can actually sympathise with the 16 year old sooner than you guys. You guys... I mean, you can start complaining when this happens:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3542209/Women-barred-from-pub-for-being-too-old.html

05-12-2008 12:58pm

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

I'm just explaining how the customer feels since you did not seem to understand why people find it really rude.

& no they don't ask everybody. If this was the case and it was 'standard procedure' to supply identification when purchasing video games etc then maybe we would not feel singled out.

See this is the thing. How do you think it makes the staff feel having to do this?

Now, put it like this. We ask you for ID. You're mad for, what? A minute. But then you leave. We don't ask you for ID, there's a slim chance of you being underage, and we get a bollocking from a manager.

I'd rather ask you for ID than face a manager's bollocking TBH.

Absolam · 05-12-2008 3:20pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

"At the moment video games only get a mandatory review by classifiers if they have "human sexual activity" or "gross violence"

And what they don't say in the article is that even then they can't classify them with a rating, they can only ban them from general sale.

Games are rated via the PEGI system, a voluntary system promoted by the games company's themselves. There are currently no laws relating to the sale of PEGI rated games to underage kids in either Ireland or England, there is nothing on the net about it besides recommendations, reports and promises that law's will be brought in.

I don't care about corporate responsibility when it comes to something as stupid as asking people for ID for a game when they look to be above the age limit. I will vote with my feet and go elsewhere.

Games are rated by the BBFC in the UK, and when they apply a rating, the rating is legally binding. Try googling the Byron report if you want to be up to date with your information. However, from your posts I'd suggest most sales staff would prefer you continue to vote with your feet anyway, so I wouldn't fret overmuch.

noodler · 05-12-2008 4:25pm

I bought Fallout 3 today in England (Gamestation £19.56-get in!) and I was asked for ID.

Im 23 so I took it well, I had shaved and was wearing a pissy nike wollie hat.....who am I kidding-it wouldn't have mattered, I just plain look young.

R0ot · 05-12-2008 4:53pm

Never ever in all my life been got asked for id when buying a game and i've bought plenty that I really should have been allowed at a young age. :pac:

Cuddlesworth · 05-12-2008 6:50pm

Absolam wrote: »

Games are rated by the BBFC in the UK, and when they apply a rating, the rating is legally binding. Try googling the Byron report if you want to be up to date with your information. However, from your posts I'd suggest most sales staff would prefer you continue to vote with your feet anyway, so I wouldn't fret overmuch.

Here's my problem, since March 23(when it was released) I can find plenty about the Byron report. And many promises that the measures suggested in the Byron report will be implemented. But I cant find a single law or guideline from the British government stating that they actually implemented anything afterwards. It was a report, paid for by Britain. It implied that the BBFC should rate all games and that rating should hold the same penalty as other BBFC ratings. It holds no legal binding and changed nothing. If you can find anything relating to implementations from recommendation's in the report I would love to hear it.

And for your suggestion that staff would prefer I buy elsewhere, fine. I'm a consumer and its my choice where and how I want to be treated when purchasing something. If I can find better treatment, policy's and staff elsewhere then I will go there. Accepting something I don't agree with when there is a effective solution would be stupid on my part.

In any job I worked in, if I found a harsh policy that alienated customers I would inform management and try to find a reasonable compromise. Anybody working in a job who can't be arsed doing this is not a good employee.

Cuddlesworth · 05-12-2008 6:58pm

Ohh, for anybody who is interested.

The action plan for the Byron report.

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/pdfs/byron_action_plan.pdf

The only thing that even possibly seemed relevant to what we were actually discussing.

DCMS will launch a four month public consultation on reforming the video games classification system in July 2008;
ll DCMS will publish its proposals for reforming the classification system by early 2009; and ll DCMS will work with the games regulators to agree a way forward for classifying online gaming.
This will be included in the overall classification consultation to enable the results to feed into the UKCCIS sub-group which will be set up in autumn 2008

Does anybody want to continue arguing with me that the current PEGI system is legally binding in either England or Ireland at this current time?

jill_valentine · 05-12-2008 7:12pm

Uh... nobody's really argued that it was.

Cuddlesworth · 05-12-2008 7:20pm

jill_valentine wrote: »

Uh... nobody's really argued that it was.

You reading the same thread as me? I know you have not said it.

Attol wrote: »

If they're stung selling games to someone underage they could lose their job, get fined and potentially end up with a criminal record. The company gets off scott free, it's the individual employee who has to face the consequences. I know for a fact that this is UK law but I've been struggling to find a source for Ireland but apparently it's the same here too.

Q_Ball wrote: »

Also IIRC, some games used to be classified by the film board. Certain games get a film (BBFC?) 18's cert as well as / as opposed to the ERSB or whatever they're called these days. I wonder if you are liable for prosecution if you sell one of those to a minor (or whether you still see them around).

evad_lhorg wrote: »

well youre just the ****in big person arent you thowing your game at the counter and buying it elsewhere. The problem is these "mistakes" that they could let them make could end up with big fines and court cases which have happened.

Absolam wrote: »

It is a legal requirement in the UK. It's not a legal requirement in Ireland. It is 'best practice' and corporately responsible to ensure that what you sell is appropriate for the person you sell it to; be it GAME with mature games in Ireland, or Nestlé with powdered milk in Africa. More companies should consider the ethical aspect of their sales; the world would be a better place.

Absolam wrote: »

Games are rated by the BBFC in the UK, and when they apply a rating, the rating is legally binding. Try googling the Byron report if you want to be up to date with your information. However, from your posts I'd suggest most sales staff would prefer you continue to vote with your feet anyway, so I wouldn't fret overmuch.

I've been reading up on the Byron report and the BBFC ratings on games. I stand by what I say.

Atavan-Halen · 05-12-2008 8:22pm

See, if i shave, i get ID'ed, whereas if i dont shave i dont get ID'ed

im 16 atm, but when i was 15 i went to get a 16's game and i got asked for ID, which was fair enough, but then i didnt shave for 2-3 weeks and went back to the same shop, same guy and he sold me the same game

(btw i'm quite un-naturally hairy so that why i had a beard at 15

)

xbox36016 · 05-12-2008 10:04pm

i have naver had probs baying games which are 18 i am 16 and must off the games i have are 18

witnessmenow · 05-12-2008 10:16pm

atavan-halen wrote: »

See, if i shave, i get ID'ed, whereas if i dont shave i dont get ID'ed

im 16 atm, but when i was 15 i went to get a 16's game and i got asked for ID, which was fair enough, but then i didnt shave for 2-3 weeks and went back to the same shop, same guy and he sold me the same game

(btw i'm quite un-naturally hairy so that why i had a beard at 15 )

I never understand this, bar carrying around your passport (which I wouldn't) what sort of Id is a 16 year old ment to have?

Atavan-Halen · 05-12-2008 11:13pm

Exactly! noone carrys around their passport (for obvious reasons) and thats the only form of photo ID you can get at 16, well apart from a provisional driving licence, but not many places accept them anyways

Atavan-Halen · 05-12-2008 11:15pm

xbox36016 wrote: »

i have naver had probs baying games which are 18 i am 16 and must off the games i have are 18

well, see i've never tried to buy 18's games, for the basic reason that theres none that i want at the moment (well maybe Gears 2)

xbox36016 · 05-12-2008 11:47pm

ya but must games are 18 now on the xbox

rainbow kirby · 06-12-2008 1:16am

I know for a fact that if I went into certain branches of Game the guys who work there would ID me just to take the piss... given that I spent 4 years working for them!

I've never actually been ID'd for an age-rated game though - I'm 24 now, but look younger. Though the flyers in Game about their new rules on ID'ing do say that it is the law and not just a recommendation, which I believe is incorrect.

Cunny-Funt · 06-12-2008 4:35am

jill_valentine wrote: »

I am required to.

If the game is over 18's, then I've got to get ID so I can fill in the onscreen form that comes up.

I'd prefer not to, 'cause it does slow down the whole process, and at Christmas obviously everybody would prefer to get the job done faster, but yeah, I need to be able to account for every single over 18's transaction I make. Not only whether the customer was the right age - but whether I asked for ID.

Deleted User wrote: »

See this is the thing. How do you think it makes the staff feel having to do this?

Now, put it like this. We ask you for ID. You're mad for, what? A minute. But then you leave. We don't ask you for ID, there's a slim chance of you being underage, and we get a bollocking from a manager.

I'd rather ask you for ID than face a manager's bollocking TBH.

I call bull on this, "we ask every single person cause we have to"

So THIS GUY walks up:

with a copy of Left 4 Dead. (18's)

Do you seriously ask him for ID?

Lets pretend that you do.

He gives you the "wtf" look, and says "I don't have ID I'm 42".

Do you refuse to sell him the game???????

Bull****

Attol · 06-12-2008 8:43am

The policy is ask everyone who looks under 21 for ID for 18s games basically. So no, he is clearly over 21. I would not ask for ID.

witnessmenow · 06-12-2008 1:29pm

atavan-halen wrote: »

Exactly! noone carrys around their passport (for obvious reasons) and thats the only form of photo ID you can get at 16, well apart from a provisional driving licence, but not many places accept them anyways

I thought you needed to be 17 to get a provisional?

Atavan-Halen · 06-12-2008 1:32pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

I thought you needed to be 17 to get a provisional?

Well, i dont know if its a provisional, but you need some sort of licence to get a moped

PogMoThoin · 06-12-2008 1:35pm

I'm the opposite end of the scale, I probably look way 2 old...............33 and full bearded

Ever have Problems Buying Games?

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