Gamestop pulling a fast one?

Myrddin

Zillah wrote: »

It makes me kind of angry when I see people failing to realise the difference between a store's discretionary returns policy ("if you don't like it you can bring it back") and their statutory obligations ("this product does not work, you are legally obliged to refund me"). Doubly so when you see people not only falling for it but actually then passing this false information on to others.

How do you mean?

PseudoFamous

Has anyone actually brought it up with gamestop yet, or are we just sitting around trying to allocate the blame?

noodler

Who gives a ****?

Banjo

Banjo wrote: »

My wife tried to buy me one for Christmas but was told by staff that the codes don't work yet and won't till new year. Any one use one successfully?

Feels weird quoting myself

Bought one to test, worked. Bought from the same store that told my wife they weren't live yet, this time no warning and the guy on the till had no idea how to ring it up

They give you a receipt with a code on it and instructions for redeeming it. I found logging in to the site and then typing in the direct link worked better than the instructions.

In case you're wondering, a 20 euro code costs 20 euro, and you can pay for them with gamestop tokens

Sierra Oscar

If I came across this situation I would mention it to the staff, assuming that it is a case of them not being aware of the situation they will probably be thankful towards you for telling them.

TomCo

I bought a copy of chromehounds a few years ago, same problem

Varik

EnterNow wrote: »

How do you mean?

Hear it all the time, people get it in their heads that as shop A has a certain return policy then it must be law and they demand it of shop B.

The one I hate is when people think that if a shop has miss-priced something then they have to sell it at that price usually because some other shop operates that policy in it's stores.

Myrddin

Varik wrote: »

Hear it all the time, people get it in their heads that as shop A has a certain return policy then it must be law and they demand it of shop B

But if a shop sells a product that has no way of actually being used anymore, surely thats exempt from any policy the store may have & the consumer is protected no?

VinLieger

EnterNow wrote: »

But if a shop sells a product that has no way of actually being used anymore, surely thats exempt from any policy the store may have & the consumer is protected no?

Exactly the product is no longer fit for the use in which it is being sold, it is in essence out of date

Varik

EnterNow wrote: »

But if a shop sells a product that has no way of actually being used anymore, surely thats exempt from any policy the store may have & the consumer is protected no?

Yes

My point was that people make the assumption that return policies are also laws , they think that advantageous policy are laws and try to force them on shops who don't have them and at other times ignorantly do as the shops policy says when they really do have some recourse that actual laws allow them.

Awhile back I picked up a copy of a game game that was similarly no longer playsble as I wanted to write a piece on how GameStop continued to sell titles such as this which given that the servers are gone are pretty much shiny coasters. Bought the game and got the usual, "will this run on your machine" crap. I told them it would be fine but what happened if the game wouldn't work for some reason, if the disc was faulty or the severs weren't online anymore. Was told by a manager that it was all good as "the servers can't go down, they're stored online". I spent a few more minutes asking stupid questions as he fed me a line of crap and it was clear he hasn't a clue what he was talking about.

Anyways, I left and headed back in a few hours later to explain to the bimbo of the week the issue. Told her that the company who released the game took down the servers and as such the game was useless. She told me how "you can still play it without going online as all those type if games don't need Internet". I tried to explain to her how it was an MMO but it was like talking to a half broken concrete slab. One if the other staff came over and offered their assistance and he pretty much told me the same crap. I asked for my money back as the game was missold and not fit for purpose. They argued with me for a bit before telling me to come back the next day to speak to the manager.

When I went back in the next day I had to deal with the manager who is one of the biggest tossers I've ever met. He's just a useless, lying fit who told me a number if times that I obviously had no idea what I was doing as he played the game all the time. I was civil and polite at all times even when he got aggressive and quite nasty. I mentioned how he'd told me that servers can't go offline. He denied saying any such thing and in front of customers called me a four letter word. I took from my pocket a voice recorder and played him back the conversation from when I bought the game and he still continued to deny saying anything. In the end I was barred from the shop for causing a scene. Ended up emailing GameStop to ask them their policy on selling such games and was told its up to stores to remove titles no longer playable. Which was the very opposite to an email a store manager I know showed me, it pretty much told managers to leave stock on shelf and if bought and a return is sought do everything in you're power not to refund the customer.

Will up the audio when I get a chance to look for the recorder. It's In a box somewhere at home so ill take a look this week while in there.

jill_valentine

So there you have it. Great post Darko.

Jelle1880

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Who still buys PC games in a store??

Exactly.

Online sales like Steam, GOG (Often cheaper than Steam these days), Amazon,... are the way to go.

I only walk into Gamestop for second hand console games, and even then I rarely buy one due to their ridiculous pricing policy.

wes

That is pretty bad form from Gamestop. Stopped buying new stuff from them ages ago. Always more expensive than HMV, and only really good for trading in unwanted DVDs etc nowadays.

CiDeRmAn

Name and shame the branch, hit the FB page with posts on the subject, contact consumer groups, heck rung Joe Duffy and the various tech slots on the papers and on the radio, also email irish tech blogs.
Be proactive people!

RobertFoster

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Be proactive people!

Purchase the stock of dead MMOs and then pick a specific time for everyone to return them at once? Or just avoid Gamestop, they're usually the most expensive anyway.

delta36

It's threads like this that make me miss Game. You couldn't go wrong with two games for €25. Also if anyone has seen my posts in the Guild Wars 2 thread about pre-ordering from Gamestop, the hassle I went through trying to do that would more than make me happy to never go into one again, if there was actually a good alternative that wasn't online.

BlitzKrieg

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

If I came across this situation I would mention it to the staff, assuming that it is a case of them not being aware of the situation they will probably be thankful towards you for telling them.

Thats what I did a few months ago when I found a few copies of star wars galaxies on a store shelf. They thought I wanted to buy them all and were thrilled seeing me walking with them.

But I handed them over and explained that the games will not work anymore and they need to take them off the shelf.

They actually argued with me a bit over it, until I got them to look it up on the internet.

Potential-Monke

Should some of the blame not fall on the consumer too though? I mean, on the back of the box it usually says online only, or something like that (unless they don't do that anymore). So, should the consumer not have researched the game a bit before spending money on it?

I agree, GameStop should also be proactive on this, and it's more than likely down to pure greed for profit, but i still think some of the blame lies with the consumer.

As for the fit for it's purpose debate, i think selling the game when the servers are gone is still selling the game fit for it's purpose. It's not the shops fault that the servers are gone. The game is still fit to be played, but can't due to the developers pulling the servers. There's no fault with the game, the activation code would still work had the servers stayed up, it's not directly GameStops fault.

I'm not defending them, nor do i work for them but they are my No. 1 choice, partly due to the fact that the majority of the staff in Waterford are gamers themselves, manager included, and partly due to the fact that i like walking into a brick and mortar shop and bringing home a copy there and then.

Also, @Darko, in case you were thinking of using that recording for any legal proceedings, you can't. It's illegally obtained recordings which won't stand. As for educational or documentary intentions, i'm pretty sure it's ok to be used.

hooradiation

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyways, I left and headed back in a few hours later to explain to the bimbo of the week the issue.

You're a class act.

super_furry

I mentioned it twice to staff in St Stephen's Green - specifically that they should not be selling Tabula Rasa. Indifferent shrugs from staff both times.

jill_valentine

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Should some of the blame not fall on the consumer too though? I mean, on the back of the box it usually says online only, or something like that (unless they don't do that anymore). So, should the consumer not have researched the game a bit before spending money on it?

I agree, GameStop should also be proactive on this, and it's more than likely down to pure greed for profit, but i still think some of the blame lies with the consumer.

As for the fit for it's purpose debate, i think selling the game when the servers are gone is still selling the game fit for it's purpose. It's not the shops fault that the servers are gone. The game is still fit to be played, but can't due to the developers pulling the servers. There's no fault with the game, the activation code would still work had the servers stayed up, it's not directly GameStops fault.

I'm not defending them, nor do i work for them but they are my No. 1 choice, partly due to the fact that the majority of the staff in Waterford are gamers themselves, manager included, and partly due to the fact that i like walking into a brick and mortar shop and bringing home a copy there and then.

All signs would point to the idea that this is an intentional lie of omission by Gamestop in order to pass as much of the cost of these games onto their unfortunate customers as possible; from what both Darko and I have been told informally, it's a deliberate practice to avoid having to write off anything. It happens in particular with MMOs where there have not been buyback programs put in place by the publisher, so the chain itself would have to eat the loss otherwise.

In a store like this, you get a nearly constant stream of emails from head office telling you to pull, transfer or reprice one title or another, right down to a "You have 3 copies of this on your shelf, so send the store in Limerick two of them". The process of stock management is constant, and they're quite aware of what is supposed to be on their shelves and what isn't, so it's not just a matter of an oversight.

I would be quite surprised if somebody above a store level had committed this policy to anything printable, but it's not an accident.

I have no idea if this practice is technically legal or not - but it is, inarguably, kinda douchey.

Media999

Similar stuff happens on Steam. Was about to pay over 20 for GTA IV when i seen a link in the "similar games" for the whole GTA Collection for 12 quid.

Id say it causes a lot of problems when games go "platinum" or all that other stuff.

Potential-Monke

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Should some of the blame not fall on the consumer too though? I mean, on the back of the box it usually says online only, or something like that (unless they don't do that anymore). So, should the consumer not have researched the game a bit before spending money on it?

I agree, GameStop should also be proactive on this, and it's more than likely down to pure greed for profit, but i still think some of the blame lies with the consumer.

As for the fit for it's purpose debate, i think selling the game when the servers are gone is still selling the game fit for it's purpose. It's not the shops fault that the servers are gone. The game is still fit to be played, but can't due to the developers pulling the servers. There's no fault with the game, the activation code would still work had the servers stayed up, it's not directly GameStops fault.

I'm not defending them, nor do i work for them but they are my No. 1 choice, partly due to the fact that the majority of the staff in Waterford are gamers themselves, manager included, and partly due to the fact that i like walking into a brick and mortar shop and bringing home a copy there and then.

Also, @Darko, in case you were thinking of using that recording for any legal proceedings, you can't. It's illegally obtained recordings which won't stand. As for educational or documentary intentions, i'm pretty sure it's ok to be used.

Well aware of the legalities of it, recorded solely so I could catch him in the lie as I had heard numerous stories of him and staff telling customers information that was completely wrong.


I know of one woman who at Christmas went in to get her son a Wii U as he wanted one for Christmas. The store was out of stock and the manager convinced her to get a 360 as in his words "all the games are on every console". She repeatedly told him that her son was interested in Mario above all else. I'm going in with her during the week to try and get her money back.

hooradiation wrote: »

You're a class act.

Well if they employed staff who were knowledgeable rather than vapid Braindead morons then the stores would be a whole lot better. I know one long term staff member who has never played a game on any console since the Commadore 64. He actually rang up head office to ask why Halo 3 didn't come in on PS3

Media999 wrote: »

Similar stuff happens on Steam. Was about to pay over 20 for GTA IV when i seen a link in the "similar games" for the whole GTA Collection for 12 quid.

Id say it causes a lot of problems when games go "platinum" or all that other stuff.

Steam is nothing like them. The GTA pricing is a case if customers should do a little research before buying and is very much a rare occurrence where as GameStop seem to have a lets see how badly we can screw customers on a daily basis.

TotallyEpic

Ennis GameStop is a shambles anyway...especially their laughable PC section :P