GameStop Telling Lies to Sell Warranty?

[njalterio]

This is interesting. I've had nothing but a satisfactory experience purchasing from GameStop. Up until recently I have only purchased PC games there without issue.

However recently I was shipped the wrong game I ordered online (using credit card reward points), and the reward points people wouldn't replace the game despite still being in sealed, original packaging, and brand new. I probably could have fought with them and won, but I didn't have time to waste. So off to GameStop I go, and they gave me full value of the game as store credit!

Granted this is just my anecdote and probably not worth much, but it seems to me the majority of comments against GameStop are made by teenagers who weren't paying attention and ended up making impossible demands to cover themselves.

If you want to gripe about an electronics retailer...gripe about Best Buy! Now that is a bad company!

 

[cbrei10213]

@ tayb. In defense of gamestop. You know the prices before you trade it in, dont do it if its not worth it, but dont expect any decent money for old sports titles (the ones that you usually get 30 cents for). And as for the new game coming out of a sleeve. Complain all you want, or get ppl to stop robbing the titles off shelves. All new cases on the sales floor are empty for that reason.

 

[TemjinGold]

How come no one is asking the sales guy, "If Microsoft is purposely frying motherboards, why are you so eager to sell me a warranty then?" They'd be putting themselves under if that were true!

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]milktea[/nom]I agree it's more about the person than the company. The smarter sales person think they can our smart you. So they sometimes go overboard. I think I just pick a shop with the dumber sales.[/citation]

It's not really so. Back over 20 years ago, I tried my hand at sales at a local Radio Shack. They were selling computers, mostly PC compatibles, and I would irritate the Hell out of my manager, at first, when I'd basically tell people not to buy our machines if they weren't best suited for their needs. I'd even recommend other brands if that's what they really wanted but didn't know it, and recommend upgrades from other places if I though our prices were out of line. At first my manager wanted to kill me, until he saw I was selling machines left and right and broke all sorts of store records. Why? The people trusted me, and even if they needed an Apple (not the Mac, the IIe), they would tell their friends or neighbors who needed advice to talk to me. We had good machines for a lot of people, so I could sell them proper machines for what they needed. It worked out well for both the customer and myself, and my manager's short sighted idea of how to sell fell by the wayside as he saw better sales.

So, it's not smart to try to sell people something they don't need. You won't feel good about it, and neither will your customer. You'll lose sales in the long run, and you'll just be making people's lives worse by your existence. Who wants that. If you sell good products you believe in, you don't have to be dishonest. You also don't have to sell to everyone who walks in, whether they need it or not. You can still make money, and your company can, if you sell to people who really are well suited for the product. It's a win/win, and that's what transactions should always be. Nothing else endures.

 

[michaelahess]

"But as a consumer who was burned by GameStop on several occasions"

Um, stop going to GameStop? What's that saying....oh yeah, Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Though I have gotten a few deals on used games...and had to set the sales idiots straight on many things. I almost enjoy that more than playing the games!

 

[Userremoved]

Well the EB games (Gamestop branch store) at my old city forgot to put the manual in a used game but they game me a new one exchange.T hey also forgot to put the disc in the game box! But again i was well served giving me out a disc of the game without questions (i showed the box). When i bough my Xbox 360 they where helpful ( i was gonna buy refurbished Xbox 360 but they said it was just cheaper buying the arcade because of the warranty from M$ and it came with more crap then the other one). So really in the end it all depends on the clerks and the bosses ruining the place. But still these story's make me happy I'm buying from Steam now.

 

[buddylee15]

I always had a great experience at Gamestop, I'm sure there are some sketchy employees here and there but, they have always been helpful. I purchased a refurb 360 with warranty, 2 months later I recieved the rrod, I took it back, no questions asked, only thing I wish they were more up front with the fact that you have to purchase a new warranty for the replacement, which later I found out was written down. So my fault for not reading the fine lines of a warranty.

 

[Userremoved]

Just to add a side note i was gonna trade my GBA and the clerk said it was not worth it.

 

[megamanx00]

Well, if they are still shopping at Gamestop...............

 

[hellwig]

I have an even worse experience shopping at Gamestop. I purchased a used copy of Viewtiful Joe for my Gamecube for $3 (my game disk dissapeared after a move). To my complete horror and disgust, the clerk saw the price tag, and said "Yeah, that's about right for this game." Can you believe I was subjected to such content and outright harrasment? Needless to say, I have not purchased from their establishment since.

Honestly though, ever since I bought Mortal Combat Legends: Sub Zero for my PSX and the "new" game came conveniently pre-opened for me, I just haven't felt the need to give them my money for anything new. $3 for a used game ($1.99 if you want a copy of Madden 2004 for the PS2) is about the most anyone should spend. All the horror stories I hear just reaffirm my decision. And on that note, who sells a copy of Madden 2004 for the 50-cents Gamestop must be giving them for it? Seriously, it cost you more in gas just to drive to the store.

 

[thegreathuntingdolphin]

Gamestop is one of the most shady companies imaginable. I have had numerous friends work there. They would fill me in on how Gamestop employees scammed customers everyday, especially younger kids. Kids would come in to trade in games. The employee would check on the trade in value of the games. If they saw one high value game, they would take it for themselves (it is all done behind the counter) and tell the kid what all the games were worth (minus the valuable game of course). When the kid left, they would trade in the game for themselves. So illegal, so lame. If they were the kid brought up one of their games was missing, they would say "oh, sorry, I forgot about this one".

My understanding from my friends is it is very common across all Gamestops, at least in the metro-Atlanta area and in Tennessee.

 

[d-block]

I went into a gamestop once and asked if they had any of the xbox gaming headsets, that was a combination of headphones, and a mic, which is very common. The sales guy said, oh no, they don't make those. I was with a friend that wanted one, as I already have one. I just looked at him, and we both turned around and walked out. Those people that work in shops like that more often than not, don't get paid enough to be knowledgeable or care about what they do. For instance, look at your typical walmart electronics clerk.

 

[aleccj1]

How could you be so stupid as to believe this BS?

 

[Honis]

I stopped buying from them when:

I entered a Gamestop to buy a very specific game and asked a clerk for helping finding this game on their shelves. We found it and I mentioned to the store clerk that a used game they had was more expensive than the new price at Wal-Mart and Best Buy. It was only $10 and not really worth the time going to the other store but she immediately went on the offensive listing off their return policy and why the $10 more for the used game was worth it. I then re-mentioned that it was used, and she started her rant from the beginning. I left and have never purchased from a GameStop again. Sometimes, I enter them and redirect customers to places they can save some $. Like Best Buy and it's "rewards" programs. Doesn't quiet make up for it, but they seem to hire fewer jerks.

 

[IFLATLINEI]

I was a sales,en for a long time and I always succeeded because I listened to the customer and helped them get exactly what they wanted and needed. I was honest and because of that customers I didnt know but were friends or relatives of my other customers would always ask for me. I made a ton of cash and made alot of friends. The point is these salesmen who lie may get over the customer but rarely get to do it twice. They end up starving themselves or getting fired because they cant produce while I literally do nothing after some time and make a great living.

This salesmen was actually talking the customer out of the sale. If what he was saying was true and the customer believed him then that customer would not buy a product that was going to get intentionally destroyed. Who would?

 

[Computer_Lots]

I can't believe a story is written as if Game Stop is doing this as policy. It's just some idiot making $8.00 an hour behind the counter who doesn't know what he's talking about. If Game Stop was distributing memos to everyone telling them to lie, that would be different.

 

[Guest]

"A side effect is that many consoles developed problems with the hard drive."

Uh, you the author of this article need more research. Two things:

1) The banning of a console didn't have a side effect, it was intentional. They revoked the cpu keys for the machine. As a result, you were not able to decrypt the encrypted data from your hard drive. If you had ripped a game to your drive and try to play it, you can't. Your encryption keys are now gone.

2) When you say many had problems with a hard drive, that would be all of them. Again, it wasn't a side effect - it was intentional, and it didn't have to do with the drive. It was the fact that content on the drive was now unreadable without the cpu key.

 

[aethm]

Yep... never buy an extended warranty from anyone without doing some research. I worked at Best Buy (10 years ago) and management would 'invent' lies that we were forced to tell customers in order to get them to buy warranty's.

 

[drwho1]

I remember best buy, every time they try to selltheir "warranty" I simply stop them from continuing their speach.

stores make a huge profit from this "warranties" since products always fail AFTER that warranty has exired, and by then it is usually time for a new unit anyways.

 

[flaminggerbil]

I wonder if that gamestop has battletoads in stock...