Player0
11-08-2007, 11:28 PM
http://consumerist.com/consumer/retail/28-confessions-of-a-gamestop-shift-supervisor-319436.php
When I go buy a DVD, it's a wonderful experience. I walk in to the store and the new ones are always right up front in massive quantities. I don't have to deal with any high pressure sales situations. I don't get asked to pre-order SpiderMan 4. I almost never get asked to protect my DVD with a replacement plan. My DVDs come sealed without any scratches. And once I unwrap them and place them on my shelf, I don't have annoying stickers all over the front.
Video game retail outlets are CRAP. I'm practically forced to buy my games online or at a larger electronics store. I am a heavy user of video games and spend hundreds a month on them, I'm ashamed to say. I could walk in to the same GameStop store 20 times, refuse a warranty or pre-order and STILL get asked the next time I go in.
And it's not passive asking. It's downright car salesmanship. You get made fun of by a couple 18 year olds if you don't pre-order the next great mass-produced rushed to market 3d platformer.
Never pre-order a game. I've never, EVER had trouble getting ANY game the day it's released and I never pre-order. When you pre-order a game, you just encourage these people to annoy you even more the next time you walk in to the store. Just say no.
The last time I pre-ordered a game was for Final Fantasy XII. I went to the store, brought my year old receipt. First they couldn't read the numbers off of it cause it had been in my wallet. Then it turns out my $5 was placed at a different store and I would have to go there to collect my $5. I plunked down over $90 on that one game with the guide and they REFUSED to give me the $5 for it. Why should I make my life more difficult just because they can't predict how popular a game will be? Very few businesses require pre-orders to function properly.
Get the salesman out of the game stores and you'll get my business back. If you work for one of these stores and think you're providing a valuable service to your customers, you're not. I'll go buy online at Estarland.com where I get a discount on most games, get a great used selection, and don't have to deal with the used car salesmen.
Don't open my video games. Stop putting stickers on my video games. Stop throwing away manuals and cases to 'make room'. If you're not selling used video games it's because you charge to f*ing much for them and don't keep them in collectible condition. If the DS has taught us anything, it's that people are willing to pay a lot of money for old video games. But no, I don't expect any store to make much of a profit on used games. It's just that if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. If all you game stores pooled you're stock together online somewhere, you'd have a lot of rares available and could really get rid of a bunch more. Just make sure I get a case and manual.
Gutting is stupid. Just put the games on the shelf and let me grab them. If kids are walking out with shit, put in a security system. If you really want to store all this shit behind the counter than print out a label and glue it to a piece of cardboard. Or just write what you have on a post it. Whatever.
When I go buy a DVD, it's a wonderful experience. I walk in to the store and the new ones are always right up front in massive quantities. I don't have to deal with any high pressure sales situations. I don't get asked to pre-order SpiderMan 4. I almost never get asked to protect my DVD with a replacement plan. My DVDs come sealed without any scratches. And once I unwrap them and place them on my shelf, I don't have annoying stickers all over the front.
Video game retail outlets are CRAP. I'm practically forced to buy my games online or at a larger electronics store. I am a heavy user of video games and spend hundreds a month on them, I'm ashamed to say. I could walk in to the same GameStop store 20 times, refuse a warranty or pre-order and STILL get asked the next time I go in.
And it's not passive asking. It's downright car salesmanship. You get made fun of by a couple 18 year olds if you don't pre-order the next great mass-produced rushed to market 3d platformer.
Never pre-order a game. I've never, EVER had trouble getting ANY game the day it's released and I never pre-order. When you pre-order a game, you just encourage these people to annoy you even more the next time you walk in to the store. Just say no.
The last time I pre-ordered a game was for Final Fantasy XII. I went to the store, brought my year old receipt. First they couldn't read the numbers off of it cause it had been in my wallet. Then it turns out my $5 was placed at a different store and I would have to go there to collect my $5. I plunked down over $90 on that one game with the guide and they REFUSED to give me the $5 for it. Why should I make my life more difficult just because they can't predict how popular a game will be? Very few businesses require pre-orders to function properly.
Get the salesman out of the game stores and you'll get my business back. If you work for one of these stores and think you're providing a valuable service to your customers, you're not. I'll go buy online at Estarland.com where I get a discount on most games, get a great used selection, and don't have to deal with the used car salesmen.
Don't open my video games. Stop putting stickers on my video games. Stop throwing away manuals and cases to 'make room'. If you're not selling used video games it's because you charge to f*ing much for them and don't keep them in collectible condition. If the DS has taught us anything, it's that people are willing to pay a lot of money for old video games. But no, I don't expect any store to make much of a profit on used games. It's just that if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. If all you game stores pooled you're stock together online somewhere, you'd have a lot of rares available and could really get rid of a bunch more. Just make sure I get a case and manual.
Gutting is stupid. Just put the games on the shelf and let me grab them. If kids are walking out with shit, put in a security system. If you really want to store all this shit behind the counter than print out a label and glue it to a piece of cardboard. Or just write what you have on a post it. Whatever.