If you frequently play video games, then you are probably very familiar with GameStop. They seem to be just about everywhere, and often times they’re the only place you can find a lot of games. In a sense, they’re the Wal-Mart of video games and when you consider that they deal almost exclusively with video games, you’d think that they were pretty cool, right?
Wrong. Oh, so very wrong. In fact, GameStop’s particular brand of douchebaggery, which includes overpricing used games and craptacular customer service, makes them unbearable.
Dear GameStop,
God I [really, really, really dislike you - JW, since "hate" is apparently too strong a word for some of y'all] you.
The first thing I can’t stand about you is your absurd trade-in policies. Yes, it’s a common complaint about your monopoly, I know, but maybe it’s a common complaint for a fuckin’ reason. The fact that you’re only offering me $10 for a game you’re going to mark up to $55 in order to screw over some dimwit soccer mom kind of makes me sick. Another thing, when I’m trading in a game (for the sake of argument) please don’t tell me that I can get an extra 20% on my trade-in if I accept in-store credit. You’re not going to sway my decision by promising me an extra forty cents on my Prey trade-in. Besides, I can’t afford to take your generous store credit offer – I have to pay for gas. Which reminds me…
List your trade-in prices on your damn website! This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most annoying thing about you. I pick up the phone, call one of your stores to ask how much I could get for Resident Evil 4, and I’m told that I have to bring said game to the damn store in order to get it appraised – as though I’m going to try and trade a broken game. Now, maybe you haven’t noticed, but gasoline is over $4.00 a gallon. Are you going to cover the costs of driving to my local GameStop to get my damn game appraised, only to be told that I could get $3 in cash or $3.60 in store credit? I didn’t think so. So do us a favor and post the trade-in prices on your website.
But of course, you’re not going to do that, are you? Oh, no. You want us to get in our cars, drive out to the mall, flip a coin to decide which GameStop we’re actually going to patron, and then try to smooth talk us out of our copy of Grand Theft Auto IV for $6 so you can turn around and sell it for $50. No thanks. The GameStop at the other end of the mall will give me $7.50.
Come to think of it, why in the hell does a game cost $12.99 at the GameStop by FYE, and $14.99 at the GameStop across the hall from Hot Topic?! You’re both owned by the same conglomerate! Whether or not I want to get a snack at Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop or that new candied popcorn place should not determine my gaming purchase agenda!
Which brings me to yet another point: Why in the blue hell are there three of your stores within a fucking BLOCK of each other in the first place? Observe:
-Point #1 is the GameStop that used to be Funcoland
-Point #2 is the GameStop that used to be Babbages
-Point #3 is the GameStop that used to be EBGames
Three GameStops, all within ten minute’s walking distance! GameStop’s #2 and #3 are all right as far as the employee’s go. I’ve been banned from GameStop #1 for a couple of years now – ever since I was caught “correcting†a former employee (Knights of the Old Republic didn’t come out on the GameCube. Period.) in front of a customer. Hey, it’s not my fault that I was better at Dennis Dumbass’s job than he was. Allow me to ask you a question: Why am I doing their jobs?
Do you realize that if a doctor was as far off on a diagnosis as some of your employees are on basic gaming knowledge, that doctor would still be in prison? Case in point: This man’s story of how one GameStop employee insisted on saying that Space Invaders Extreme didn’t exist because they couldn’t find it on their computer — even though it’s listed on GameStop’s website.
While on the subject of GameStop clerks, can you stop asking me if I want to pre-order twenty different games?! It’s enough that you have three big ass posters on the windows of your store telling me I can pre-order Fallout 3 for $5, and another giant cardboard display telling me that I can pre-order Fallout 3 for $5. I don’t need you asking me if I would like to pre-order Fallout 3 for $5. You know what I like to do? When they ask if I want to pre-order a game, I’ll say yes and then tell them the name of a game that doesn’t exist: Barbie: Dinosaur Huntress is a personal favorite.
Oh, and stop asking if I want a Game Informer subscription while you’re at it.
Look, I realize that GameStop TV has bumped up sales, and that’s all well and good. But could you do those poor employees a favor and have more than one episode air on constant loop? Geoff Keighley is cool and all, but hearing him tell the same bad pun about the same damn game thirty times before lunch is enough to drive anybody to the bottle.
Something else I can’t stand is this new fad you’ve started with “exclusive extra content†you’ve started doing with certain games. One of the incidents of this that I remember very vividly is with The Incredible Hulk, and the “GameStop exclusive†Red Hulk on the Xbox 360 version – which may, in fact, be the only time one of these “GameStop exclusives†were actually exclusive to GameStop. Most in-game “exclusives†boil down to the cashier scribbling some code down on the paper, or just outright lies. When I hear these offers I often wonder whether or not GameStop realizes that once they give out the code to the first sucker who pre-ordered Barbie: Dinosaur Huntress, said sucker goes home and posts it on Gamespot. Really, to get around this “exclusive†content issue, all any particular gaming community needs to do is assign somebody as the designated pre-orderer.
One last gripe I have against you, GameStop. When I do pre-order a game from you, one phone call informing me that my game is waiting to be picked up is sufficient. I don’t like having to shut my cell phone off because some damn pre-recorded voice keeps calling my cell phone to inform me that my copy of Mario Party 93 is ready for pick-up.
Now, I don’t want to hate you. Really, I don’t. But you make it really hard not to hate you. Hell, you’re basically committing theft and fraud with your trade-in policies and you employ complete dickweeds who have absolutely no knowledge of what they’re doing. Sure, in and of itself being repeatedly asked if I want a subscription to an admittedly awesome magazine isn’t that big of a deal, but when you consider everything else it really just feels like salt on the wound.
Love always,
JW
Okay, now it’s your turn. Tell me your GameStop horror stories – or defend them. I like hearing both sides of the argument.
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You forgot Gamestop almost always smells like urine, and Demo machines are broken if even turned on.
I’ve never experienced the urine smell (no sense of smell FTW), but you’re right on the Kiosks. -1 to me for not remembering them.
Their employees are the biggest douchebags on the planet. A $6.50 an hour salary does not entitle workers to sit on their ass and belittle their consumers. I recently purchased a Playstation 3 from said company. The wonderful employee there told me he was out of PS3’s (even though I was looking right at one) and flat out refused to sell one to me. My friend who works there later said the person, who was a MANAGER, bragged about not selling me one. He sent me to another one where they proceeded to try and pull the same crap, even though the other guy called ahead. Long story short, I got my purchase and will never go back. By the way, they let employees rent brand new games and then later sell them as new (that’s why they’re open!) My friend and I recently rented Soul Caliber 4 and wrote previously played inside the manual.
“By the way, they let employees rent brand new games and then later sell them as new (that’s why they’re open!)”
NO F’N WAY! I just bought Resistance and it was in that paper sleeve behind the glass. I thought it was to keep people from stealing games, but if this is true there has to be something we can do cause that is total bull.
Secondly, I don’t mind the GameStop employees cause i read gaming news all day long so i don’t bother asking them questions. don’t bother it and it won’t bother me. i don’t mind telling them no i don’t want to pre-order a game. i mean at least they get the right console.
And lastly, i didn’t mind this letter, yeah there trade in thing is completely broken, thats why even.. well at least Sony is tired of it and just offer the game for download. a game could be traded in like 5 times and Sony only gets to see 1 sale out of it while GameStop is seeing like 200 bucks in PURE profit. but if you don’t like it Rent the game. i don’t know why but it bothers me when i see like gtaIV used for 55 bucks a week after it came out, i think its cause i know the guy who traded it in only got like maybe 30 bucks. so if your just gonna trade in a game after about a week, or even a month, just rent it from gamefly or blockbuster, gamefly is only like 20 bucks a month and you can play as much as you want. and blockbuster is like 8 bucks for a rental. plus a 1.50 restocking fee if you keep the game for a month, f it, ill pay 9.50 to keep a game for a month, plus it doesnt mater what condtion you take it back… but thats another story.
Well there are people who only buy used games. They can find a bin 9.99 or less. When you beat a game what good is it doing you collecting dust in a stack in the corner of your room. If you think about you have only invested 30 bucks in a game not 60 if you do the trade. Can you walk into BestBuy and only pay 30.00 for Left for Dead (btw killer game) by trading in a game. So you like that Sony will charge you to download a game you pay full price for every game you buy. Oh no, your ps3 just over heated and Sony say your systems waranity is out. You don’t have a system or games.
What about the child that only has a XBOX they don’t make games anymore you can only get used. Poor Billy his mom cant afford the PS3 and his Mom doesn’t have high speed internet so if she could afford the PS3 how is he going to get his games.
Reserve your game it is not like Best Buy if you don’t pick up your game you loose your 5 bucks you can always get your money back at Game Stop. Believe it or not the reserve program is helpful to some,( unlike you that must work somewhere that they don’t make a profit but they pay you well) they can pay alittle at a time, they can get that 60.00 game and only pay 5 to 10 a week til it comes out.
As for Sony profit on a new game is like 5.00 bucks, Sony is making a killing on the game, that disc cost them pennys. The game makers get thiers then it is pure profit for them so don’t worry about them.
Where do you work and do you have customers come in to tell you Hi. Do you have customers that buy you Christmas presents. Do you work at or eat at Mcdonald’s ..would you like fries with that.. Oh no they are harashing me with that fries or apple pie.
You maybe shopping in the wrong store, or you are just not a friendly person. You are given a option of a buying a lesser priced game (used) you are getting the game 10% less and you could get it 20% less with the EDGE card. With the EDGE card you are getting 12 issues of a 6.oo magazine 72.oo value for 15.oo. All I see is deals for the everyday customer.
I guess their will always be haters out there, but not in my store. We have people come in and have purchased from Wal-mart and they they are told PS3 40 gig will play PS2 games then will not take back the PS2 games they bought.
Stepping off my soapbox.
to Cody….if they treated you that bad, then why did you give them $400+ for a PS3??? you are part of the reason why Gamestop still exists… you bitch and complain about their lack of service, crappy trade in policies and their employees being douche bags.. why dont you go somewhere else???? walmart, best buy, circuit city, hell even amazon.com sells PS3’s!!!!! get a clue and stop going there. an open letter to the company wont do anything.. STOP GIVING THEM YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats what will do it.. geesh
Birdman… everybody, for that matter… we have a ‘reply’ button.
I had a $100 GC. crappy service wasn’t going to stop me from wasting that
I fuckin loathe Gamestop with every once of my lame being
Shitty prices,practices,employees
Problem is…where else can you go? Best Buy, Circuit City don’t help much either !!!!
I go to Best Buy as often as I can for new games. The reason being that if a Gamestop employee begs you 100 times to preorder a game because said game will sell out, chances are you’ll find 100 copies of it at Best Buy no matter when you go.
I very rarely go to gamestop anymore. I did however go in and pick up ncaa 09′ a few weeks ago. I quickly remember why I usually go to target now instead.
After asking the clerk for ncaa 09 he started ringing my purchase up. Then came the pre-order question.
I politely say I do not wish to pre-order anything for any system at the moment. I do not pre-order games anymore, period.
The clerk gets annoyed and asks again…You sure you don’t want to pre-order anything? Not even madden?
No. I don’t want to pre-order anything, especially madden. I’m buying ncaa right now. I’m not going to be in any need to buy another football game in three weeks.
the employee looked as if he was going to cry. giving me a roll of the eyes and a ok man, whatever, as he pouted and completed my sale.
I hate that store
Okay first off I work at gamestop…the kiosks are never broken at least in my store. We just shut them down because parents like to drop their kids off and leave for hours on end while I get to babysit them. Secondly the stores I have been to including my own don’t smell like pee. Also yes employees can CHECK out games but it is for testing reasons only and the REAL REASON why the games are not sealed is because we HAVE to gut them in order to display a case on the wall so the average thief doesn’t come in and steal the case off the wall with a game in it….hmmmmm that sure makes sense. The guy is the article is right that we dont give trade in values over the phone. It is because the customer in front of us in our store is a little more of a priority. If you want service come into the store….otherwise wait on hold till I am able to get to you. it is like this if I have customers in line other customers have to go to the back of the line that are in the store. The people on the phone they can just cut in line anytime they want to. I am sorry but NO WAY!!!!
Another thing we as employees are pressured to sell preorders to you the customer because if we dont we will get written up or fired. The employees are not paid a commission on any of the sales that we get at all. GTAIV is worth 25 dollars trade right now……with the 20% add on it is 27.50 and with a discount card it is 30.25. NOT 6 dollars……another reason why customer service is down is because you have time and time again people trying to return their broken systems 1 year or 2 years after the fact. You have people bringing in stolen goods and trying sell them for cash. You have idiots bringing in knives and cutting the PS3 controllers straight from the KIOSK. It is NOT easy to be an employee there….but please get you facts straight if your going to attack them. I will concede that on a lot of games they give 2 dollars and charge 10. Like GTAIV it is 25 with out all of the bonuses….they will sell it for 54.99 with a discount card (the subscription which we are also pressured to sell and dont get commissions on) it is a 10 dollar difference over the new game. Before you talk get the facts straight. and if you have a bad expierience go to another store or shop at best buy or circuit city. I will tell you this the employees in the gaming department where I live at best buy are morons and I would much rather have someone who knows what they are talking about to tell me about games. One more thing we dont make up fake games for you to reserve…….That is illegal and will get us fired.
You HAVE to take them out of their case to display them? You know this crazy guy many many years ago invented this thing some refer to as a “printing press.” They can use one of those crazy doo-hickeys and print out the fucking sleeve. They do it on games soon to be released, the box art is quite easy to find online as well. If that fails, do like every other company on the face of the earth that sells video games does, and put it behind a little bit of glass. Stop defending the company that gives you your meager little paycheck and go get a real job. My friend quit because it’s a piece of shit job. You should quit because it’s a piece of shit job. If you want to get a job where your input on video games is actually going to be worth a grain of salt, then get a degree in programming or computer modeling. Asshole.
I work there and make 40,000 a year and I have no complaints. My customers love my store and I love my customers.
Yeah, you make 40,000 bucks a year working retail. Sure you do.
You’re full of shit. You know how I know that? Because I work at Gamestop as a manager in a state with one of the highest minimum-wages in America, and I still don’t make but a fraction of that.
I’ve been working for this company for six years now too, and my store’s numbers are always good. My customers like me, and while I’m fairly ambivalent towards them, I can put on the clown face like anyone else. They’d never know how much I dispise them by the way I pretend to give a shit about ‘em. I’m just that good.
So yeah, you’re full of shit. Maybe you make that much as a whore, but that you suck dick behind the store doesn’t make you a Gamestop employee any more than starring in a porno qualifies you as an actress. You’re just a whore who sucks dick behind the Gamestop.
Good for you!
I Actually believe that Will is being Honest on everything but the taking the games out of there cases for display and so nobody steals them is so easy to fix like Cody has pointed out about them either putting them behind glass or printing out Game Sleeves. It really isn’t that hard to do and that is my # 1 Reason why I won’t shop at Gamestop Anymore.
Ugh, whine, whine, whine. I’m so tired of people bitching about Gamestop. It’s far and away the most convenient place to buy videogames. Let me get this straight: you’re a gamer, and you’re complaining about there being TOO many Gamestops in your hometown? What if you decide to go shopping for that hard-to-find retro game? Doesn’t having more than one Gamestop increase your chances of actually finding it?
The other thing gamers need to stop complaining about is the trade-in policy. Firstly, I seriously doubt you received $10 for a game that Gamestop then marked up to $55. If that was the case, then you’re an idiot for trading it in in the first place. Is it a rip off? Probably. But no one put a gun to your head and forced you to trade it in! Sell it on Ebay if you want, or keep it, or get a job and actually contribute to society so you can afford to pay full price for new games. The rest of us really don’t care. Gamestop is a BUSINESS. They exist to make money. The best way to do that is to sell goods and services at the highest possible profit. Should they cut you a break cause they feel bad for you? Grow up.
The fact is that for a company of its size, Gamestop does a hell of a job providing a consistent, efficient shopping experience. If you don’t believe me, check the stock price. It’s tripled in 3 years. They must be doing something right. Their employees are generally well trained, knowledgable and curteous. 9 times out of 10, they’re gamers, too, so leave ‘em alone! If you think you can get better service from the kunckleheads at Wal-Mart or Toys R’ Us, then go for it.
wow thank you
Stocks are that high because thye are ripping off misinformed customers.
20 bucks each for games they will sell at 55 bucks…
I am talking bout GTA4 and CoD4.
The fact that you’re an obvious Gamestop shill aside, there’s the whole thing where you’re “so tired of people bitching about Gamestopâ€, but like a fucking moron, you clicked through to this blog post just the same. And the thing is, the intent of the article was pretty damned self-evident before you ever clicked on that link in Google to open the page. Yet you still chose to subject yourself to something you claim to hate so much. So really, fuck what you’re tired of. I’m tired of silly cunts bitching about shit they willfully and knowingly subject themselves to. That’s where the real problem lies. Idiot.
That aside, being a gamer doesn’t mean shit when it comes to the overabundance of Gamestops in any given location. Hell, I love coffee, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not blind to the fact that there are too many Starbucks in my neck of the woods. When there’s a Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks, that’s when you’ve truly seen the end of the world. Same goes for Gamestop. There’s too many of them in any given location, and you’d have to be a particularly sloth-like type of nerd to take solace in the possibility that if one Gamestop is out of Halo 3, you only have to walk twelve paces to find out if the Gamestop next door to that Gamestop has it.
Now that doesn’t address your asinine assertion that Gamestop has fuck-all to offer retro enthusiasts. Fact is, they don’t, and haven’t for some time. Unless by “retroâ€, you’re referring to last generation’s games, which they do stock. Not that it matters even if you chose to narrow your definition to such a stupidly self-serving degree, because their stock of older games are dwindling to nothing with the exception of their PS2 stock, which only continues to exist by virtue of the fact that developers are still shoveling shit onto the console. The moment that it stops being viable, you can be sure that Gamestop will ditch games for that console too. It’s the way they roll, yo.
As for their trade-in policy, you’re either drinking too much of the company Kool-Aid to see the shit for the toilet-bowl, or you’re just lying to yourself. The scenario you’re getting pissy about happens, and happens all the time. Being aware of how much they suck doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve been a victim of their rip-off routines. See, for all their faults, they do allow you the favor of appraising your games with no commitment required on your part to actually sell them to them. So then when they offer you 10 bucks for that game they’ve got two used copies of that are marked at $54.99, you can pick your shit up off the counter and take it somewhere that doesn’t clearly think you’re an idiot simply for choosing to do business there.
As for your assertion that we get a job goes, I find it particularly amusing that someone who apparently spends so much time reading anti-Gamestop blog-posts that he’s developing an ulcer because of it has the testicular fortitude to suggest that anyone get a job and contribute to society. Even if that ill-made point was relevant to the discussion at all, as opposed to just being a stupidly ironic insult that you pulled out of your asshole because you thought it sounded edgy enough, it would still be completely retarded. Trading games has little to say one way or the other about someone’s income, as they had to spend the fucking cash at some point or another to get the games in the first place. I mean that’s fucking obvious. You’re clearly not going to build a collection on nothing but trade-ins, given how little that Gamestop offers you in credit for your games. It doesn’t have anything to say one way or the other about whether or not folks can afford full-priced games either, as the act of trading is wholly independent of that concern. You might be the sort of over-obsessed, kneck-bearded, mouth-breathing videogame nerd that holds on to every game he’s ever bought like it’s some sort of prized possession, but that’d be your approach. Maybe the rest of us just don’t like shit piling up that we’re not going to play anymore, and so we try to parlay that into some trade-in value towards new games. I know it may sound like blasphemy, but it’s a possibility, you colossal fucking moron.
I have to thank you for the amateur lesson in business, dink. Well no, not really. See, we all know that businesses will actively fuck their customers if it means that the bottom-line is better off for it. We don’t need some unwashed Gamestop groupie telling us what we already know. The issue at hand is that regardless of why they do these things, they’re still incredibly stupid business practices, and we as consumers are free to voice our distaste for them without some fucked up nerd throwing a shit-fit because his favorite store is being portrayed in a negative light. We don’t care that you probably spend all your free time there chatting up the disinterested clerks about every bit of useless videogame trivia that you’ve obsessively committed to memory. That has little bearing on the fact that your obsessions aside, the store fucking sucks and always will as long as they continue to hold to these actionable policies. If you can’t hang with that, then stop fucking reading blogs similarly themed to this one, you fucking idiot. Oh, and find some real friends. That way you can obsess over an industry that only values you as a customer, without driving those soulless employees at Gamestop into a suicidal rage with your incessant jawing about shit that no sane human-being gives a fuck about.
Oh, by the way, dingus, Gamestop’s stock price has nothing to do with the quality of its service. It means that they’re making money hand over fist. Now that doesn’t suggest that they’re good at what they do. Their business is driven primarily by used game sales, and not every consumer is as savvy as the one that wrote this open-letter. They’ve just figured out how to game the system, and that’s what keeps the stock-holders happy. As for the employees, I’d love to find one that isn’t a complete fuck-wit. Maybe I ought to shop at the store that exists in your dreams, because the stores here in reality fucking suck, and are staffed with douche-bags fresh out of high-school, who only took the job because they idealized it as representing a foothold into the industry. Then when the reality of the job as being just another fucking retail position sets in, and they realize that they’re no more a part of the industry than the customers they serve, they become embittered, crustly little cunts who take their disappointment out on their customers. The most hilarious thing about all that is that even in spite of this soul-crushing reality, they’ll go online and act like they’re hot shit for working at Gamestop, as if the fact that they sell games makes them any more important than the dude selling shoes at the Foot Locker down at the other end of the mall, located next to the other Gamestop. It doesn’t, and I don’t care how important their mommies tell them that they are while they bring their milk and cookies to them down in the basement, for them to munch on while they call people faggots over XBox Live.
So hey, feel free to fuck yourself. You suck horribly and you should feel bad about yourself.
The Gamestop(s) around my area, make 7-11s cry based on just how many stores there are. Aside from that, a couple weeks ago an employee at my “fave” Gamestop swore up and down, i’d bet he would’ve sold his soul to the devil, that Burnout: Paradise has absolutely no multiplayer. And the person he told it to proceeded to put it down and look around some more…I walked up beside the customer with the case, and pointed to the area where it states the multiplayer component. Let’s not get started on the Battlefield Bad Company “exclusive” weapon codes either…The manager at this Gamestop reached in his pocket and pulled out mine, and was reluctant to offer it as well….Odd even for my observant ass.
Idiotic letter by an idiotic human who wrote it.
Sure wish Gamestop taught its employees to elaborate their arguments.
I was purchasing some Pre-owned games and trading in a game. I had a 25% off coupon plus an edge card witch takes an extra 10% off used games. So I trade the game towards the reservation of SC4 to get an extra 20%. I get basically 35% off of the used games. I leave happy. When I go to pick up SC4 last tuesday they tell me I only have 5 dollars towards my game reservation which i put down like 4 months before. I show the guy my receipt with my trade in on it and everything they said they dont know wat happened there. So I basically got robbed like 20 bucks. So i flipped out on them and they basically gave menothing. I cancelled all my reservations and left. Im never returning to those damn crooks.
Gamestop bought out Rhino Video Games, where I used to work. I was one of the people that fixed broken games or items. Essentially, I sat on my ass all day playing games, and getting paid for it. I will never forgive the corporate greed that destroyed the best job I have ever had.
First of all I don’t work there but I do agree that they try to push pre-orders a little too much. But if your employer makes you, there isn’t much you can do about it.
I had a few unpleasant experiences there but it’s like every other damn store (there’s assholes employed everywhere!). I don’t trade any games so I don’t have a problem with that (if you do trade there, you’re stupid to begin with).
Overall you can get a few games that are hard to find in there bargain bin & movies. I don’t argue about games with any of them I do talk about them once in a while. Anyways it all boils down on how you as a gamer and smart shopper handle yourself when you go shopping ANYWHERE!
Yeah, there’s definitely something you can do about it. Get a new fucking job and stop bitching about working at a retailer that fucking hates its employees. That’s a start.
Not you specifically, just Gamestop employees at large. I get that you don’t work there, I just hate reading defensive bullshit by Gamestop employees, wherein they piss and moan about being forced to do things they don’t like, but they continue to do it anyway. If you don’t like your job, get one that pisses you off less. It’s as easy as that.
Seriously, it really is. I mean fuck, a trained monkey could work at Gamestop. It’s not like you have to be well qualified to work there. McDonalds might not be a great career move, but it’s a world apart from the nightmare that working for Gamestop has to be.
well i work at gamestop and i like it i can see alot of people dont like it and ive know that for a long time but it doesnt matter ur entitled to that i just need to say that were ever u people live you got sum really fucking stupied people working at thoese stores and assholes cuz around here we dont give shit what u buy its ur money do what u want and if u want to know how much u can get for you game over the phone we can tell u all we do is press f7 type in are intials and password and type the name of the game and code of what system its for and it tells us so yeah they are sum really dumbass holes u guys gotta deal with and about the rented new games yes we can but their has to be enough to still sell to people and if theirs one scratch we buy it im not here to argue cuz u guys got every right to and its pretty fucking stupied to argue about shit over the internet like little kids but seriously ive told sum people off at gamestop be4 and shit i dont hate the store i just hate sum people that work at the store i guess gamestop likes to hire pricks around were u guys live but one more thing like this for example everyone at the store i work at likes the ps3 the most but me and one other guy were with all 3 systems and we own all 3 but all the other just dont like the 360 cuz they had them be4 and they all broke and poor them so sad o well but i bet the pricks at the stores u go to bitch to you about it and shit how much better consoles are and games and shit we might say hey ive played that and u may want to reconsider like a guy the other day was gonna buy quake wars and i saied hey that game is mainly just online play do u got xbox live he saied no so i prevented him from wasteing his $60 on a game that is pretty much for xbox live some people are nice some are dicks im just trying to get a point like i saied be4 we all got are own likes and dislikes but its ur money u do what u want with it if we say hey may wanan think about it and u decide to say no ill buy it fine then do that dont care ur money ur game have fun but yeah thats my story so have a nice day
btw this may piss some people off but its like the console war bullshit if u dont like the store dont come back thats fine but remember its not the store u really hate its the people that work their commen sence people thanks
Dude your text is Fn unreadable. Get your 5th grade education already.
Dang man. Not a single punctuation mark in that reply. You don’t even need a 5th grade education, aren’t periods part of what you learn in kindergarten?
Obviously a high quality gamestop employee.
^
I can’t believe you even made it through the Gamestop job application. I don’t even want to imagine what your 1040 ez form looks like.
Agreed.
Wow…my poor brain almost exploded reading that.
one more thing sorry people but we gotta ask about preorder once and awhile and the mags cuz if we dont we get that shopper bullshit and if we dont ask one of thoese people like the 2 time we get fired so sry its part of the job just gotta live with it.
o and people if u dont like a game say u paied 54 dollars for if u bring it bakc i think with in 7 days u can litterly say i dont like it and we will give u a different game or ur money back im fucking serious to. we got a little thing we select for defective games and shit and one of them are “did not like”
o i got one issue for james walker i cant help myself to say ok if u hate gamestop so much and u never worked their so u dont know everything u think you do and becuz the employees treat you bad cuz ur the 400 pound big mac pounder virgin then y do u go back their go to wal-mart or better yet TOY`s R US!!! that sounds fun ok thank you now thats out of me i feel better have a nice day sir
and thank you for shopping at gamestop
Slight correction: I’m a svelte 170lb former US Army MP and war veteran.
Oh, and I buy my games off the internet.
If you’re going to start mouthing off to make your store look good, at least learn some grammar.
GameStop is a business! It’s called making profit.When you turn in a game and they mark it up it’s cause they get money from that game as well! That’s why they push the used games. They don’t make money off the new games…that all goes back to the game developers. If they sold the game for what they payed you for it they would be out of business. They push pre-orders because that $5 dollars that’s put into the bank from your reserve grows interests…so now imagine getting thousands of people to reserve nationwide…that is some nice interest the company gets to keep….AGAIN, IT’S A f***ING BUSINESS. If GameStop as a whole didn’t push this kind of stuff you would see no profit and then some people would bitch and complain about the only place to go to get their game is BB or CC. As for the employees….blame the Store manager for that. If the store manager doesn’t lead by example then his crew will plain suck. You also gotta realize these people deal with hundreds of annoying kids and familys and just dump people a day. You know how hard it is to work at retail and customer service? F***ing hard. You get a complaint for every little thing. Now i’m not saying this article is wrong…everyone is entitled to their opinion.
So it’s a business and these people have to push magazines, pre-orders and used games…it’s part of their job…if they don’t they are fired. Just say “i know you have you have to do this or you are fired, but no thanks” Some employees are good and depend on that job to make a living so be easy on them, they don’t have a choice.
hell yeah you sure u never worked their u know alot as it is lmao
I agree Blahblah is on the right track.
this is how bored im gonna frame this shit
Here’s the skinny with company policies, what’s written in stone, and what a friendly employee may/may not actually be able to help you with. I’d going to be as frank as possible, because, honestly, the constant Gamestop-bashing on most newsblogs really hurts sometimes.
GUTTED GAMES
1 ) First off, the biggest thing, the ‘opened new games’ issue. While I admit the practice is messy, I can’t stress this enough; to remain a browsable, accessible small shop, ‘gutting’ a single copy is essentially unavoidable. As many UK commentors on such articles tend to point out, all small game shops over there have done this for years and they don’t expect otherwise.
Store policy is to gut one copy for display, occasionally two or more for new releases. We’re encouraged to keep as many unopened as possible, and at all stores I’ve worked at this is a is strongly maintained; we only gut multiples of a game if we have MANY copies to go around. The harsh side is the ‘checkout’ policy. Gamestop policy is, for better or worse, that employees may check out new games that are more than two weeks past their original release so long as they are returned in mint condition. I don’t agree with this, personally, as many part-timers and less-dedicated employees simply can’t be trusted to take decent care of products. Typically most good stores encourage employees to check out used, even though company policy gives used more weight than new.
The fact is, though, that checking out titles isn’t at the top of most employee’s to-do lists, and 98% of ‘gutted’ games have literally never been touched, only slid into a paper or plastic sleeve and put away. If you cannot tolerate an opened case, then insist on a copy in original wrap. This really is overzealous and impractical if you plan to open it yourself; the PRACTICAL thing to do is, if you see you are getting a ‘gut’, ask outright to see the disc first. Any decent employee will comply, and they have no valid excuse not to show you.
2) If there is anything justifiably wrong with the condition of the disc, ask about a shopworn discount; this used to be a regular (but not advertised) option that was recently taken out of our systems, giving 10% off a product that is in poorer shape than it ought be. This can technically be done manually but is not encouraged, but a seasoned or understanding employee (especially managers) generally shouldn’t mind if they see that the product is not in new condition.
3) The biggest misconception regarding gutted games is that we do not allow them returned as new. This is not accurate. A store following CORRECT policy puts a clear adhesive seal on all gutted game cases that are sold, allowing it to be returned as if it were entirely unopened for a full refund so long as the seal is undisturbed. This is sometimes substituted with other stickers or forms of seals, but ALL new games with open cases are meant to be sealed in some way to allow the customer their right to return it as unopened. If you buy a gutted game and they do not put any kind of seal on it, insist on one. They shouldn’t be sending you out the door with an unsealed game if it was rung up as new.
With only a few exceptions, the stores I’ve worked at are staffed by very careful people who know better than to take poor care of any new products. I have been a customer at stores that weren’t so gracious or careful, admittedly. There are better stores and some poorer ones; make a point of patronizing the good ones to send a message to the bad. It’s simple consumerism.
4) The return policy for games is straightforward. New, UNOPENED products are returnable within 30 days for full refund. An ‘opened’ new game with an untampered gamestop seal is counted as unopened (emphasis on untampered; its easy to tell if its been peeled back and reapplied.) Opened new merchandise can be replaced for an identical item within 7 days if defective. Used games and game systems can be replaced within 30 days if defective. Used games, though we don’t advertise this, can also be exchanged within 7 days for another title if it’s simply not what you wanted; it’s essentially a 7-day trial period. This is very useful for parents with small children who get picky with games or have trouble with varying difficulty levels. Doing it three or more times without making real new purchases tends to get that privilege taken away (and marked as such on the receipt,) so don’t abuse it.
5) Don’t lose your receipt and expect us to find records for you, it is quite difficult. If you lose your receipt but need to make a return or exchange, the ONLY way we are likely to pick it out of records is if you know the date you bought it on, which register rang it in, and you can confirm your means of payment and/or other details. This is NOT policy and not all employees have clearance to access register journals, so you can’t count on this.
6) Gift receipts are always available at the end of your transaction. Now that all EBs and Gamestops are corporate-managed, your returns can be taken at any Gamestop as long as you have the original receipt and it is within the permitted dates.
RESERVES
There are two sides to the reserve issue, one more valid than the other, but both important.
7) Everybody decries the nature of the Gamestop employee to push reserves on the uninterested consumer. Please understand, no matter how dedicated an employee may be, on the district level and higher, he is of no value beyond his reserves and Game Informer subscriptions. Nearly any employee is the sum of their reserves, and unfortunately good people who treat customers well will see their job fade away because of poor numbers. A Gamestop worker pushing a reserve on you is trying to keep their job, literally.
The other half is much more important to you, the customer, however. Gamestop is a massive company, yes, but every individual store is a very small niche. A store’s allotments are based on its net sales figures and, among other things, reserves. A particular title that isn’t guaranteed to fly off shelves may not be sent to a store at ALL if no interest is shown in it. A simple example is Odin Sphere, a fantastic title that slipped under the radar but got rave reviews. My own store at the time got about a half-dozen copies of the game, as I had preordered it myself along with one friend and one regular customer. Other stores adjacent to us got a single copy or, at most, two. This is not some faceless abusive policy, this is fair business; video games are expensive, and no company wants to order excess stock for a store that seems disinterested in it.
Preorders are only taken when their allotment can be guaranteed. I cannot stress this enough. There are burps in the system here and there, but for every one or two preorder gaffes you read about online there are literally thousands of beneficial ones. Preorders do not cost any additional fee (only a base 5 dollar deposit) and are fully (though reluctantly) refundable for cash at any time. Yes, cancelled preorders count against the employee ringing it in and they will be reluctant, but it is your right to cancel for cash refund if you choose to and they can’t decline it.
On another hand, preorders really do save stress. Guitar Hero bundles in particular cause trouble because people assume that, as a hot title, they will be in mass supply. It’s true that Halo 3 was easy to find and perhaps not really worth preordering, but when Guitar Hero II came out for Xbox360, at most stores it was a nightmare. In my home area in particular, the common attitude is ‘I’ll just come in the day it comes out,’ but the large GH bundles were not in huge supply, and those that we DID have were all reserved out by people who had paid deposits on them. We accepted preorders on the game for months and plenty of people passed on it and got angry with us afterwards.
It’s as simple as this. If you know you plan to buy Game X, then place a deposit on it. It will
A) ingratiate that employee to you, whether or not they show it immediately
B) guarantee that store gets sent at least a few copies as opposed to one or none
C) keep one copy held with your name on it when it arrives.
9) Preorder gaffes are a big deal to us. It does help to keep your receipt from your deposit, although all information is stored on the store computers and should be safe from issue. If you have multiple reserves you can have a list reprinted with your current deposits at any time. If the company loses your preorder or accidentally (or stupidly) sells it, raise issue with it immediately. Talk to the store manager or, if they are unwilling to assist, get contact information for the district manager. We take preorders seriously and stores that do NOT need to be called to our attention.
10) As shameful as it may sound, regular customers that preorder often earn employee gratitude quickly. We can’t help but appreciate them! Customers that order and pick up titles regularly are very likely to get extra help or attention from employees and managers when they have a problem or need help finding difficult items.
SUBSCRIPTION / DISCOUNT CARD
11) The card is really a matter of personal utility, but, like reserves, are part of what determines an employee’s worth to the company.
The discount card is, in full, a hand-in-hand offer with one year of Game Informer magazine. If gives you a 10 percent bonus on trade-ins of games, accessories, and (at some stores) DVDs, and 10 percent off the purchase of used games, accessories, and DVDs. Customers buying a strategy guide at time of the game’s purchase get 20% off the guide with the card as well. The card is only good if you have it with you! It is not locked to your name or phone number and we do not yet have a means of retrieving it. Most directly, it’s actually a service of the GI magazine and can be replaced by them. It is 14.99 for one year of the card and magazine. Officially, you are buying the magazine and the card is a bonus.
The card is useful if you buy used games or trade them in often. It’s that simple. Admittedly, used game prices are geared towards cardholders; a typical recent release is 60 new and 55 used, but 10 percent off means 49.50, which is a palpable difference (and recoups a third of the original price of the card.)
12) If you don’t own a next-gen system, don’t trade in often, or simply never buy used, the card isn’t for you and you can tell an employee so. Game Informer is still a fairly good magazine and offers occasional bonus coupons that stack with the card, so don’t write it off entirely.
TRADE-INS
13) This is a really harsh point to people. This is the source of more shouting and anger (and even threats) than any hot-title shortage ever. All of our trade-in values boil down to two factors; sellability and demand for that title.
The Gamestop trade-in business is based on on key tenet; we hardly turn down ANYTHING. For all the rage and screaming we take from people getting one dollar for years-old Madden games, you need to remember one key fact; we are taking in games that are often unlikely to EVER resell.
Most trade-ins we ever receive are not recent or desirable games. We take games in awful shape, without original cases, and that are years-old and so saturated that they will never, ever sell. Every gamestop is drowning in used Madden NFL 2001-2007’s as we speak. Old sports titles have no resale value, and we offer a small amount for them with the understand that we will probably never make that back on its sale. The point here is, simply, that there is no sense in decrying Gamestop’s trade-in values for games that you are unlikely to sell anywhere else.
Not all trade-ins are like this, however. Games in high demand are, appropriately, worth much more. This doesn’t just mean RECENT games like Bioshock and Halo 3. Super Smash Bros for the Gamecube is still trading in for fifteen dollars at the time of this writing; much more than any other Gamecube game. Games or items we are likely to resell are worth far more than ones that are incomplete, in poor shape, unpopular, or overly plentiful. Always bear this in mind. Some tips for trading in;
14) Many Gamestops don’t take DVDs any more, and the company as a whole is phasing them out. DVDs are worth very little and you shouldn’t bother.
15) Used accessories are split into two values; one for the official first-party versions (Sony, Nintendo, etc official controllers and parts) and one for off-brand models. First-party accessories and parts are always worth much more; they are generally higher quality, always more compatible and faster to sell. Some name-brand controllers are worth up to twice as much trade-in value as their off-brand counterparts.
16) Sports games come out annually and decline in value instantly. Never count on a good value from them.
17) Outdated consoles are traded in every day. Almost every gamestop literally has fifty or more used Xboxes and Gamecubes in stock at any time. They do not sell and we get one at least every day, so they are worth very little. The new slim PSP is in much higher demand than the original, and so the trade-in value on the old model has since dropped. If you want the hot new version of anything, trade in as far before its release as you can stand so you can get the peak value.
18) We can’t simply ‘trade’ one game for another in stock. I know it sounds silly, but its a very very common misconception from children to adults that we simply swap one for another of your choosing. It simply can’t work that way.
19) Don’t be afraid to sell things on your own! The going resell rates for any current games or accessories online is usually close to what we resell for. If its a much newer title and you don’t mind listing and shipping it, you could make a small handful more selling it online yourself. Ebay and Amazon.com are obvious choices, but you may find other outlets that work for you.
20) Most importantly, take good care of your games! We simply can’t take mangled games, and games with some damage or no cases generally aren’t worth as much because they either need repairs or will be unlikely to sell without case/manual. I’m always grateful to anyone who brings in a trade of good products in good condition, because it always nets them more value and is better for the store all around.
OTHER TIPS
Here’s a few tips to get the most out of your local Gamestop;
21) When buying used accessories, always go first-party. Official accessories are consistently more durable and longer-lasting, even when pre-owned. Off-brand PS2 memory cards, even if licensed by Sony, are notoriously unstable. Pay the extra money for Sony or Microsoft brand, it’s worth it in the long run.
22) When buying NEW accessories, off-brand or Gamestop-branded accessories can be reliable and much cheaper alternatives. While I’d still recommend official first-party controllers, some products, like Gamestop universal AV cables / AC adapters are very convenient and incredibly cheap by comparison. When buying ANYTHING wireless, go for first-party or Logitech brand; all other brand wireless controllers are simply inferior in response and durability.
23) Many Gamestop employees are good at what they do and are knowledgeable enough to help you out of the occasional technical snafu, but we simply are not tech support and can’t be counted on as such. This sounds condescending, but you really need to read the instructions for new merchandise in full before calling for assistance or declaring it defective. We lose plenty of good product every week from people buying wireless Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 controllers, not bothering to sync them to their systems at home, and returning them as ‘defective.’ It seems silly but it’s a constant, almost daily problem. If you bought a used item that does not have instructions, inquire at the time of purchase if there is any information or documentation that you may need.
24) Courtesy-wise, please, bring in your trades before 8pm if at all possible! A game or two here and there isn’t hard to organize, but all too often a person will carry a duffel bag of every game they ever owned into the store ten minutes before closing. Sorting out sellable/defective games, relabeling them, making new cases, alphabetizing them into displays and all other work requires time and effort that we don’t muster well when we’re trying to close our store without going over our allotted payroll! If you have a lot to trade in, save it for a day that you can go in earlier. You’ll get better, less rushed service and your cashier will be more likely to help you find the best offers or promotions to bring up your trade values.
25) We ID for M-rated games. Typically we ID anyone who appears to be under 30, but I have seen managers who ID any and all customers for M and R rated products. You need to accept when doing business with Gamestop that we have to enforce the ratings for safety of our own jobs and the industry as a whole. An employee will likely refuse sale if you can’t provide picture ID with date of birth for an age 17+ title. We are all warned regularly by corporate and the punishment for slip-ups is generally immediate termination.
26) If we don’t have an item you’re looking for, we can pretty easily check in with nearby stores so long as they are within our district. Some Gamestops even have an “On-hand Lookup” function that will allow them to search a larger area of stores for hard-to-find items. Ask if your store has this and take advantage of ones that do when trying to find specific games. The Gamestop website’s locater is also useful, but limited to items in the online catalog.
27) Wiis sell out within hours of shipments arriving consistently. If you want a Wii from Gamestop, contact the nearest and most convenient shops to you and ask what time of day they receive their weekday shipments. Call them around that time every weekday, and when they have one, get there promptly, because we cannot hold them for anyone. We rarely get more than one shipment of Wiis in a week, but it never hurts to call every weekday. We’d rather get multiple phone calls than see you waste a trip out to the store or, even worse, miss a shipment because you didn’t call that day!
28) More important than anything else I’ve said, a Gamestop is its employees, not its company or policies. This is capitalism, so vote with your patronage! Some Gamestops are definitely better than others, and they deserve to be rewarded with your business. If any one Gamestop is consistently poor, avoid them. Word spreads fast, and bad stores learn to shape up if pressed.
this guy just riped u a new asshole.
Yes, I remember reading this in November. I’ll say now what I said then: While some of that is true, most of that is “inaccurate”, at best.
Ultimately, arguing whether person A is wrong or not boils down to opinion and personal experience. While I’ve been to a few GameStops that have been exceptional, I’ve been to many, many more that wouldn’t know a Blu-Ray disc from a manhole cover.
True that, not my opinon just had this in reference to Everyone hating on Gamestop… Me i will refuse to trade in a game i paid $60 for $4.00 Rather sell it to my friend for cheaper than GS. Sometimes we will each buy a game we want and just hand it around after were done
Very informative. I actually hate Gamestop a little bit less now. Bravo!
Two things still bother me that I feel
1) Displaying online trade-in values. I don’t think this is too much to ask. Surely, they can’t write up the value for EVERY single game in their database (especially the old obscure ones), but at least for the MOST RECENT or popular games, like MGS4 or Battlefield BC. Skip the appraisals and assume the game comes with case and manual, so the customer can see what’s the most they can expect for it.
2) Employee competence. I know, every company has its employees that aren’t quite up to par, but Gamestop is the only place where I consistently find them. I bet everyone has their own GS customer service horror story (like Andy and Freeloader up there). Me, I’ve had guys give me wrong prices for games, wrong facts for games, wrong release dates, deny the existence of preorder bonuses, and flat-out spew bullshit all over the counter. I’m not saying all GS employees are like that, I’ve met a lot of excellent ones, but surely something should be done to reduce the number of “others.”
yeah they keep the pre order bonues, like the shirts and hats and keychains for them selves…. LOL
Like when skate droped, it came with a shirt, i got to GS when the shipment came in and i was there when they opend the box pulled out my resvered copy and i saw they shirts in the box too and they tried to tell me it didnt come with any shirts, i said whats in the box and they told me that was for another game, till i literally had them pull it out to prove to me that it wasnt for the skate promo, he didnt like that, and he said i was luck i pre ordered other wise he would of told me they had no copies of skate and go somewhere else.
Haha got him fired though,cus i had just met the regional manager the day before at another store and i gave them a call.. Sorry Matt you must be workinng at Mcdonalds now…
wow you are proud you got someone fired. I hope you don’t have someone do that to you at your place of employement.
The difference is probably that he wouldn’t be a fucking tool, doing something that, you know, would actually call for his ass to be canned. Which is the point you seem to have missed.
By the way, I think it’s time for you to crawl behind the dumpster in back of the Gamestop. Your next blowjob appointment isn’t for another hour or so. Plus several months. Yeah…
Mista Mista Sounds like he knows the inner workings of Gamestop. Almost like he is a Manager or some form of corporate for Gamestop. No matter though the simple fact for me is I just won’t shop at Gamestop anymore.
well idk kinda find that hard to belive but if u say so cuz then ud have the respect for other people to not post this shit if u really are a (war veteran) but w/e pe@ce
P.S. what did you achive
Because I’m lazy, I link from MySpace.
That was from a post i read perviously
I just quit gamestop, the company is beyond stupid, having to pitch game informers to everyone because my district manager wanted good numbers (Which I didn’t do anyway cause she was a bitch) is annoying as can be. The prices of games take forever to go down for used games, they let employees take home “New” copies of games, and play them, and if then bring them back and still sell them as used game (Granted they’re never scratched or anything, but still, its a new game come on…) Getting asked to reserve stuff every time you go there is incredibly annoying, the only time I really did it would be when it would boost someones trade in value 20% just to screw the company over (Someone gets $50 in trade in, puts $5 down on a game and the $50 is boosted 20% aka $10) Also, they treat their employees like shit, they only get a 15% discount and that doesn’t even apply to systems…
I could keep going but I figure most of this has already been said.
…I love you guys. Just so you know.
I always thought it sucked too that they would sell you a game for $60 and then end up giving you like $25-$30 for it when you tried to sell it back to them and then they would sell it for like $55. Then I realized something…
Obviously the game stores like Gamestop are not buying these games at full retail price since they buy them in bulk so they end up buying these games at a price of probably $29.99 a piece. Now Obviously from a business standpoint it would make no sense to give you more then what they purchased a new game themselves. They then would be losing money. So if your lucky you get what they paid for the game new and they make the rest of the profit from that added $24.99 they jacked it up to. Ya that is one hell of a price hike & it would be nice if it was only a price hike of $14.99 so an average used price would be $44.99 but it is always an easy choice for me $59.99 New or 54.99 Used. Hmm $5.00 price difference I will go New Everytime.
After reading some of this about how Gamestop Employee’s are allowed to rent a new game then return it and sell it as New is Ridiculous to me. Ya it is a nice little bonus to the employee but probably not worth bothering to work there.Plus once those copies New copies are rented they should be sold as used not new as they have been used. I bet if they were going to have to sell them used after an employee rented a game that policy & bonus would go right out the door.
I used to shop there until they kept trying to sell me New copies that were opened up. I got sick of it and haven’t shopped there since. We all know that they have machines in the back that can re-wrap a game. I have even heard stories of Employee’s offering to re-wrap games when customers weren’t satisfied that it was unwrapped. That there really takes all credibility away from gamestop. I now only shop at Amazon,Bestbuy,Toy’s R US or Circuit City if they have a good deal.
picked up madden today and a fat bitch named laura who makes 18000 dollars a year as a manager immediatly starting giving me shit about not having a receipt….when i told her the guy that i pre ordered madden from specifically told me when i asked “should i bring my receipt in?” “NO…all you need is your gamer edge card”, Laura proceeded to tell me that he did not say that. I almost jumped over the counter because of the argument i got in with her that escalated to a ” yeah he did…no he didnt” kind of thing. thank you gamestop for ruining my first 2 minutes of madden and congrats on losing a customer
All right, I really really really hate Gamestop, even though they’re my employer.
Let me give a little bit of background first. I just graduated high school, I’ve been working for Gamestop for 2 years in December. I’ve been screwed out of more promotions than anyone ever should be, I’ve been sexually harassed by customers, had my life threatened by customers, and I make 7.70 an hour, before taxes. The worst part is that I can’t quit until I find another job (I have three jobs as it stands, in addition to attending a college where I’m in the honors program and trying to keep my boyfriend) because I’m broke as hell.
There are two parts to why I hate Gamestop so much. I’ll start with the company itself. YES! Our trade-in policies are rip offs, but where else do you expect to sell games? Go ahead and do it online yourself if you want to make more money from it. We typically give about a third of the retail value in store-credit. There’s no other game in town though, so they can get away with it. As for the reserves and subscriptions, if I don’t go through that whole shpeel every fucking time I sell a game, I get less hours, my chances for being promoted plummets, and if my numbers really suck I’ll get fired. Just because I didn’t hassle a customer. So PLEASE just smile and politely but firmly say no to us if you really don’t want to reserve anything or subscribe to GI, and most of us will get the idea. I apologize that I have to be so pushy, but this is how I make a living. And yes, they do allow us to sign out games for 4 days, but I don’t know about other districts, but in mine, if we sign out a new title, the manager moves it to used when it’s returned. Also, if you didn’t know, there’s a ridiculous dress code. I dyed my hair purple because I’m 18 and I can do that, and almost got fired. Some of my male coworkers have been written up for not tucking their shirts in, IN A VIDEO GAME STORE. There’s a whole slew of other things, like the fact that I am currently training my new assistant manager, even though she gets paid $4 more an hour than I do.
The other thing I have against my job is the customers. Don’t get me wrong. About 85% of you I love to death, and I’ll go to all ends of the earth to try and make you happy and find you the game you want. But it is the fuck ups that take out their misguided anger on me that piss me the hell off. For one, yes, I am female, and yes, I do have boobs. Thankfully, my bra does not inhibit the oxygen flow to the part of my brain where I keep my gaming knowledge. I have had customers refuse to speak to me, and turn instead to a male coworker of mine and ask I question that I knew the answer to immediately. That is disrespectful and rude in the worst way. By the way, my face is up here. Speaking of some employees being subpar on their gaming knowledge-GIVE US A DAMN BREAK. No, I cannot tell you what you should do in Madden, may I suggest going to a website with game walk-throughs? I can, however, tell you every scrap of information in the latest WoW patch notes. Employees have different tastes, as do our customers, we’re just trying to do the best we can. Yes, some of us know more than others, but don’t expect us to know everything, because you sure as hell don’t know every last bit of gaming trivia, and we don’t know everything that’s in our inventory off the top of our heads. And you know what? I don’t care if you had a bad day at work and now you’re angry that the game you wanted is sold out. That’s no reason to be mad at us. The best we can do is offer our phone number and an approximation of when we’ll be getting more in. One guy actually told me he was going to “fucking kill” me because we were out of stock of an item. There’s no reason to treat any human being like that, ever.
And I know that some of my fellow Gamestop employees probably should have been bashed in the head with a rock when they were infants, but believe me, they cause me just as much trouble as they cause you, so bear with us and don’t throw us all in the same category.
In short, I know the company I work for sucks and rips you off and drives its employees to annoy the living hell out of you, I know it so well I’m putting in my two weeks notice in three days, but all of you customers need to take a step back and pull the sticks out of your asses and give the poor girl trying to afford college tuition while making 7.70 an hour a break.
Well, I’d like to say that my town too has more Gamestops then 7/11s. I have been to most of them, and most of them suck. But there is one that’s not half bad. I go to the one that’s not half bad unless I find that the store that has the not new release item that I want isn’t that one.
I honestly never knew about the “employee rental” crap and think that its total bull. I wont ever get a game from them thats not sealed again. I always wondered why they had to gut 10 copies of R6V2 to put 1 on the shelf. Yes, I was there when they did it as I had apparently walked in just after the delivery I guess.
I find that lately in the US that any store that is NOT a mom & pops joint pretty much sucks. Everyone says “Their a company out there to make money what else do you expect.”. To that I only really have 2 opinions. First, I am a supporter of mom & pops and encourage you to do the same. You want to know the funny thing about it? Sure for the first 3 months I payed 5% more for stuff, but for the last 3 years I’ve only had to pay store cost. I know its a crazy concept but in my experience, if you’re a good customer the store owners (which in most cases are working the store/counter) are very happy and like to make your shopping experience an enjoyable one. Second, if you do patron a chain store be polite and curtious. I know its hard to believe but the folks (I say folks because there are a couple females that work there too… I know.. crazy concept right?) are generally happy to see me. (I say generally because sometimes theres a new person and they don’t know me yet)
I have had more then my fair share of worthless employees, and that goes for any store I’ve been to, not just Gamestop. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and when you pay minimum wage.. you generally get the bottom of the barrel.
Buy from Costco on line saves you money or from in store.
Madden was picked up for $53.99
I am a gamestop employee and the store I work at has the people who know about the games and actually want to help the customers and not rip them off, the Trade in policy though is complete GARBAGE I’d rather sell my game on ebay. But the whole thing about employees renting games and then selling it as new is not true, they’re called gut copies, what we do is we get a few cases take the stuff out of it put it in a sleeve and put the case on the shelf for display, the games we use we put in yellow (used) envelopes and sell it as used. I just returned / marked my fable II used today
but most gamestops have very lazy staff, yet I work for the evil corporation, I actually love my store, we’re cool. I just can’t believe people would trade in their games for such little money 
Gamestop Employee for a couple of years now here. I was one like you. I couldn’t understand why my copy of a game was going to trade in for $3 only to be sold for $10. I was part of the ignorant who wanted to get the $10 for my trade in. I mean come on. Then, I grew up, took business classes, worked in retail, and learned what it takes to keep a store running. The cost of building rent & utilities, advertisement, security, employees, benefits, insurance, purchase of new & used games, mail/shipping, and so much more. Know how much that of that $10 is really profit? yeah, not so much when you factor in all cost of running a business.
Now you also asked about how one game is one price at one store and another price at another store. Have you ever bought a used game from Gamestop and had layers of used price labels on the upper right hand corner? There are prices changes every morning. yes every single morning. Some games get priced lower, or increased in price, depending on supply and demand. Yes, another business term that may confuse the masses. Well if one person forgets to mark the game, then this will lead to the multiple prices. Rest assured, the correct price will ring into the register, no matter what the price label says. Now if you happen to find one still priced lower, and it has in fact, gone through a mark up, you will be lucky enough to get it for the lower price.
Some more insight into how Gamestop works as far as open packages.
1. Yes, we are allowed to check out games and return them 4 days later. No we cannot so this on new titles, only used and even then, we have to have at least 4 copies in stock to make sure the customers have a chance to get them as well.
2. Opened boxes are that way so we can “gut” the box and display it. See, we do not get display boxes so in order to let people know we have them, we have to open some of these boxes to put out on the walls. Now if we left it sealed and put it out there, how long do you think it will stay there? We would lose more product to theft than we already do.
3. There is no difference between the opened and sealed boxes. At least as far as our store goes, we do not play the new games. Only the used. And we do not take returns on new games that have been opened.
God I have so much to teach as far as Gamestop is concerned. Yeah I may not think it’s the best company to work for due to the lack of pay we employees get, but the store is far from a rip off. You can try and sell the games if you like privately, but remember, listing on ebay costs money, they take a percentage of your final sale, then the cost of shipping, you wont be getting much more.
If anyone has any questions you are more than welcome to email me. I will answer them honestly.
i just gotta say that opinions are opinions…. i make 9.50 an hour at gamestop…i get benefits, and i get to check out games for fre….i garuntee i’m NOT a douchebag…and hell, if you ever would like to play a game sometime over x-box live lemme know! AND I CAN GIVE YOU MY DISCOUNT IF YOU’D LIKE!!! ! that’s how much not a douche i am