I'm sure some if not many of you know about this policy at GameStop, but I'm also sure I'm not the only one that didn't know about it. Bought a new copy of Left 4 Dead from GameStop today, paid full price for it. The worker put it in a bag and I left without looking at the game. After leaving, I pulled the game out of the bag while driving to run another errand and found the game obviously wasn't in the original packaging and didn't have all of the original stickers. Turned around and went back, and the worker that sold it to me told me "Yeah, we opened it and used the case as a display case but removed the game. The game has never been played though, it's new." They didn't have another copy and wouldn't adjust my purchase to the used price, so I returned it. If you pay full price for a game there, I'd recommend making sure it's in it's original packaging with the XBox sticker on the right side of the game. No one else and no other store I know of considers an open game to be new, whether it's been played before or not. No store will let a customer open a game and return it as new. Don't let them have it both ways.
Yeah, they've been doing that for years. I also haven't bought a game from them in years. They're not any cheaper than getting them from Best Buy/Walmart/Fry's/etc. They try to push a bunch of crap on you (strategy guide...for Madden? really?) Subscriptions, and accessories. Employees are generally uneducated or deliberately mislead other customers that are not in the know. (PS2 plays Xbox games...vice versa...etc) That is all.
I told the little sh$% behind the counter 4 times that did I not want the Gamestop extended warranty for my Wii... politely at first, but the last time I said it, I said it like I was talking to a two year old. Anyway before I finished checking out I went back and picked up metroid prime and left and that sumbitch put the warranty on my bill anyway and I was 5 miles down the road before I saw it. That's as close as I've come to trashing a store.
I remember once leaving a different store with a game years ago. It was completely sealed, everything looked fine. I opened the case to read the instructions and there was no disc in there! The thing I hate these days is they hound you to join their "loyalty" program. I put it off for ages and then finally gave in to shut them up. Since then when I have bought games, not once have the games I bought come under the loyalty program and so I get no discount on them. And I'm talking about NBA2K9, Fable 2.....games you would think would come under their loyalty program.
False. All you have to do is get on their weekly mailing list, and every Friday you get e-mailed a coupon. Half the time they're really good... say, 25% off on used 360 games, good for a week. Then you add in the 10% discount for an edge card, and you get some pretty sick deals. Just today I got Left 4 Dead in like-new shape for $38.50 and Star Wars: Force Unleashed for $35. Try getting those prices at Best Buy... they don't have coupons on games regularly like GameStop does. Never experienced any pushing of anything other than the discount card in exchange for signing up for a $15 magazine subscription (Card gives 10% off used games, +10% on trade-ins). Which is a no-brainer for me, given how many games I buy. Having lived in several different states over the past 6 or 7 years, there have been 5 separate GameStops I've frequented. I've generally found a good two thirds of the employees are die-hard game nuts and also nice guys... probably because it's a minimum-wage job, and only die-hard game nuts would take that kind of pay to work there. Like any other retail chain, you sometimes get some clueless employees who are there for a paycheck and nothing more. That's not unique to them.
I'm not gonna get dragged into this argument again, last time I did it was like 5 years ago... You're talking about used games. Of course used games are going to be cheaper. Since the original post was about a "new" game, or one that should have been, that's what I'm refering to. Fry's generally has the best prices for new blockbuster games as well. Sometimes 10-15 bucks cheaper than retail. Plus, can you pick up a popcorn maker at Gamestop? And I'm done.
I normally only go there when I have a game that I don't like and want to sell back (in this case, Fallout 3). Otherwise, I normally go just about anywhere else.
Depends on how new/popular the game is, but yeah about 1/2 retail or less. I sold back Fallout 3 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. They gave me $27 for Fallout 3 and $10 for Vegas 2.
It's happened to me before, didn't accept the game, and bought it at Best Buy a few stores down instead.
Very true about Fry's. Now, I'm not crazy about the place, but I've found they almost always have the cheapest price for new games just out, certainly less than Best Buy and GameStop (and without jumping through hoops to get a coupon and the like).
I never see the point of going to Gamestop and buying new games unless you pre-ordered it there. I do pre-order stuff there since I go there for used games and if I see something coming out that I'd like to pick up, I pay for the pre-order. If I want new games, Frys is good.
This is what I have always found. In any neighborhood I have lived in, I would go into Gamestop just to look frequently. The guys there knew me by sight. Anytime I was interested in a game that was not good, they would always tell me. Recently, I was interested in Turning Point, the guy at my local Gamestop said "I'll sell you the game if you want it, but you will be disappointed."
Yes, of course used games are going to be cheaper... and you can't get those at Best Buy! I'm not trying to argue here. I'd really like to hear stories of when employees "push a bunch of crap on you" or "deliberately mislead you." I've never seen that happen, so I'm curious as to what the circumstances were. Seriously. Maybe I've just been lucky.
Me too. I've always had good experiences at Gamestop, and I've gone to probably over 10 throughout Texas. Hell, I even worked at one near Willowbrook mall a few years ago over Christmas vacation.
not deliberately mislead me specifically. But others that were in store when I was there. I had to convince a woman not to buy a PS2, because her son wanted Halo, and the guy at the counter says that she can play Halo on the PS2, even if it was an Xbox game. Similar stories to that, basically trying to push a specific console/game over something else, with false information. (and not "ps2 is better/xbox is better" type of information, but, more along the lines of "blockbuster games/accessories/etc work on both console A and B", when they don't.) And I've never been to a Gamestop where I haven't been asked to subscribe (I'm guessing it's a required thing, i'm ok with being asked once and saying no). Many times it's multiple times, not always. Strategy guides, accessories, pre-order for games that will be available in large quantities, and refusing to accept "I won't be buying that game", overcharging on games I've already preordered (Final Fantasy X, I ended up paying 60 bucks for, because I had already put down 40 bucks on the game in credit). The game retailed for 49.99 everywhere else. I shopped there for a good 6 years before I finally decided I had enough and I've stopped going. This is Gamestop mostly. I know there are Gamecrazy/EB Games, and that EB Games is now the same. I lump them in the same catergory in terms of new games. No reason to go buy a new game at any of these stores, all the rewards programs are for used games. If you want a used game, yeah, of course these are going to be the best places, as they're they only places you can find them in stores.
For new games, gamestop is no cheaper than anywhere else, in most cases . . . if you're buying used, just hit amazon marketplace -- usually it's notably cheaper than gamestop's used price. I rarely go into them because I don't like the atmosphere. I always feel so self-conscious in the store . . . it's so small, and there are so few people there usually.
somethign similar happend to me at Walmart eyars ago. I bought a PS2 game and opened it, and it was a CD-R with a really good cd label over it. it looked original. you can only tell it was a CD-R cuz the back of it was silver. ive never bought a game from walmart since. i tried to take it back, and they said i did it, so i bought the same game again, opened it in the store and it was the same thing....
