The disk protection thing happened to me, I went to buy Pokemon let's go Eevee and the employee applied the protection without asking, I noticed cause the price was like $67-70, I asked him the same thing, he told me the same thing but atleast he removed it when I asked him too.
@@NintendoCollecting must be what the guy did to me, I found it so off because it was my local game stop so I knew a few of the employees and even the manager was cool with me so they would never try to pull something like that on me. also I had never seen him work there before and never saw him after.
Not only are you paying for it without wanting to, but you don’t even know you have it and therefore won’t take advantage of it if you need it. Because you don’t know you paid for it
Those theives. Yup that's why I keep all of my games. I only buy games I know I will never get rid of, hence my small collection. Quality over quantity.
I went in to buy a copy of Pokémon Pearl like 2 years ago. When I got home I compared it to my original cartridge to make sure it wasn’t fake which I was certain it wasn’t as GameStop was selling it. Turns out the copy they sold me was fake and I had to go all the way back. When I got there I told the employee that the cartridge was fake and I wanted a legit copy instead. They argued with me for like 15 min just to give me a legit copy of a game I already paid for. They eventually let me get a different copy, this time a legit one, but the whole experience was pretty bad.
@Yuneek Better to get the 20-in-1 off ebay. Comes with all the Mystery Dungeons, gen 4 and 5 titles. $20 bucks to relive my formative years and it was great.
I preordered Tokyo mirage sessions #fe’s special edition on Wii U, money down and everything so i ensured a copy. The day comes I pick it up, and they say they SOLD IT TO SOMEONE ELSE WHO DIDN’T PREORDER IT. It seemed to be a mistake from a “new employee” so the manager personally travelled to a far away gamestop who had one left. So yeah it was pretty bad and annoying I had to wait to get the game, but I at least still respect that manager for going way out of the way to travel to get the game from another store. She even gave me free disc warranty
@@NintendoCollecting I actually had a bad experience with Game Stop about a week or two ago...I had ordered "Super Princess Peach" for the DS from them and when I got it, there was nothing but the cartridge in a small, plastic case..Yes, I did order a used copy. but I assumed the original case was with it....not only that, but when I tried the game, I got as far as stage 1 of world 1 before it said "Game Cartridge is not in the console" or something like that....I did get it to work but not before I called the store to tell them of my issue...they sent me another USED copy of the game.
Same thing happened to me back in the day when my mom preordered a copy of animal crossing new leaf for me. The worker sold the copy to some else. I still ended up getting the game, but I was really upset about it.
@@angelina9345 See, this is why I'll get my games from somewhere else now, makes it easier..I did order a 3DS Game from Best Buy and I had no issue with it
my bad gamestop experience: my mom wanted me to get rid of a bunch of my old wii and ds games once i got a 3ds and wii u. ima be honest i was pretty spoiled bc i had two whole grocery bags filled w games. we went to gamestop and for at least 50 games i only got around $60. one of my biggest regrets
I'm sorry your mom is a moron that doesn't know what backwards compatibility, nostalgia and high market value for Nintendo games is, I would just blame her since she just went on an emotional power trip over little convenience. Tell her that their value has probably tripled by now unless you had shitty cheap games, in which case, she was partially correct.
It's not a bad place. Yeah it has its negatives but it doesnt affect anyone. They have 7 day money back guarantee for used games. You can bring them back wether broken or you beat it and they will take it back, which is great imo
Dakoda Mckinney it’s actually a lot better to buy your switch stuff at Walmart because they sell everything except for the actual console for $10 cheaper
Same. I can't wait until GameStop closes for good. I've got a Photoshop editthat is ready to be released at a moment's notice. it is a Photoshop edit of their logo and instead of reading GameStop, it will read "GameOver." I guarantee it will be one of the fastest circulating memes the world has ever seen LOL.
Just a tip for new games. Go to Walmart. At least near me on release day they are $49 rather then the other stores $59. I even got fifa 18 for $1 there
Whats worse is sometimes they charge a NEW price saying its "new" and doesn't come with the OG artwork its in a dummy case with a "new" price sticker on it.
They got me with the “new” game thing as well. I bought a bunch of games on Black Friday as part of a buy 3 get one free type of sale. The GameStop I normally shop at is on a military base and there’s not a lot of employees working there so I know them and they all pretty much know me. The person working the register that afternoon was from another store brought in to cover the expected surge in customers. When I brought the empty game boxes I wanted up to the register, I didn’t notice he unwrapped the games he got from the back during the transaction. I didn’t realize until I was looking over my receipt and realized I didn’t get the promotional pricing. When I went back to the store to ask what happened the first person I spoke with didn’t understand why either and asked me to come back when the manager got off from lunch. When we asked him, after scratching his head and going over the transaction a few times he realized that the promotion only applied to used games and they were all sold to me as new even though I grasped the boxes off the used switch games display. I asked if I could return them and of course I couldn’t because they were opened.
Same thing happened to me, it took an email to corporate for a local gm to contact me to issue a refund. So annoying, I haven’t shopped at GameStop much since that experience
That’s crazy. I don’t think GS employees on military bases can do those practices they normally do because they have a huge contract with AAFES and if they do scumy stuff they could lose that contract.
I agree, this happened to me last week I bought a brand new switch game the guy says it’s new but I have to put a seal on it I said but then it’s not new he said no one has played it therefore it’s new I said so if I buy a brand new game that is sealed walk outside open the game come back on you would give me full credit as if it’s new he said no because that would be used because it’s opened I said your doing the same thing he says but it hasn’t been played I said neither would of the copy I took outside and opened then I told him keep your game I will go to Walmart and get it 10 dollars cheaper anyways.
I can't count how many times I got a "new" game at GameStop and there was a sticker instead of plastic. Never even crossed my mind. Guess I was just one more sucker kid to them.
Its not open for employees to take home 99.9% of the time, its because they keep their games behind the counter for theft protection. A plastic wrap means nothing to me, I wouldn't say its a "sucker thing" at all. if you need 'sealed in plastic', there are 5 other places to buy games instead. Money talks. -- my only real issue i have had is if you buy used games online you cant see what they offer you - no one forces you to buy any game IN their store in person - dont like a copy they have? Then walk away. simple. But used online they send games with no case, etc... You never know what you'll get. You have no way to say no to that copy except go return it. That's something they should tell you before hand.
Sometimes when i go to gamestores they say stuff like "arent you a little young to care about these games" and when i went to get smash bros ultimate i couldn't get it cause i was 1 year to young at the time
I could be wrong, but I think they stopped doing that. It seems like they changed that sometime around when there was that Resident Evil Revelations misspelling on the spine. I'm probably wrong though.
Same. I opt to buy those types of games on eBay. I need the case. I want the case. And will RARELY buy a game that doesn’t have original case. Unless it’s a too good to be true deal, that’s actually true lol
Shady ass company. I was a store manager with them for almost 10 years. I left back in 2015 when they went even more down the toilet. Best decision of my life
I never really had a bad experience at my local Gamestop. The employees over there are always friendly and dont ever come off as obnoxious or constantly try selling me anything. I guess it's different for everyone, but I've always had consistently good experiences.
Why does going in to a GameStop feel like a soulless trip compared to a retro game store? Can even Reggie help? Ever had a bad experience in a game store?
My bad experience from Gamestop was when I preordered Halo CEA for Xbox 360 and I put all the money down on it, when I went to go and pick it up, the employee said I didn't put any of the money down or preordered, he charged me full price and I got pissed. I never went back there again after that shady practice.
I remember there used to be EB Games in America around the mid to late 90's they were mostly in shopping malls but their store was much better than GameStop that's for sure.
Where are you from that they have to put Recycled instead of Used? In the US they just put used. They do that bullcrap with new games here as well! How is opening the game and getting rid of the shrink wrap still make it new? I know nobody has played it yet but come on! GameStop might have some amazing deals sometimes, but their practices are just plain disgusting!
Ok just saying, I work for EB and let me clarify some of your points. At least for my store. 1. We always "gut" the last copy we have of a game in order to have the case out on the floor. No one ever brings these home to play them or anything like that. The games are kept in files behind the counter. We unfortunately just dont have enough display cases for every game we get in the stores for customers. (I do think you should get like a 10% discount though if you get the last copy.) 2. I believe they sell sealed copies as used in order to kinda reinforce trust in used games. Or gotten cheap in bulk. But 100% our ones we always get in are actually cheaper to buy used than brand new. It's honestly always a really good deal. Majority of the time we don't even break the plastic factory seals and you still get the game like 30% cheaper than what we sell brand new for the same game. Donno what you're really going on about for this point... 3. This is a EXTREMELY rare case. It's only when literally something wrong happened to the case of the game. You should only really do that for used games. I've only seen it done like twice for new copies of games and it was just because the actual cases on the floor were stolen. Either way, we do tell the customer before they buy it that the case is made by us. 4. ????? I have no idea about this one. That's a very store by store situation. No one does that in my store, it's very odd. We do recommend preordering for indie games though, because we legit only get like 1 copy of rarer games on release day. It sucks. 5. THIS IS ILLEGAL, WHAT. I legit heard this as a horror story about an employee doing this at another location and getting fired for that. No way should anyone be doing that, big yikes. But yea they really do force us to push selling the game protection, but nooo way can they just add extra charges like that without your consent first.
One time, I was at GameStop with my mom, and the lady working there asked us if we had a power up reward card. We said no, because we didn't want one, but she said okay, I'll get that set up for you. She started trying to sign us up for a paid rewards card, while not mentioning to us that it cost any money. I knew better though, and had to directly tell her that I did not want to sign up for a card. This is what I get for trying to buy a video game at GameStop
And employees feel forced into these situations and doing these things which feel terrible. If they just allowed their employees to be Gamers and talk about games the experience would be a lot better
This reminds me of a time when I was in the Pink Store as a teenager and a lady tricked me into applying for a credit card by making it sound like a regular reward card. While filling out the application, I asked why it needed my social security number and she said I could skip it if I wasn't comfortable. Obviously I got denied due to insufficient information (the denial letter is how I found out it was a credit card). Maybe management bullied her, but actually doing it is optional. She could have chosen to start looking for other jobs instead of preying on a teenage girl who didn't have a parent within earshot.
Nintendo Collecting assumptive close is normally strong as a sales method but that is not what they have done or ever do. If gamestop hadn’t developed the culture they have and they focused on training sales people versus clerks with achieve or guillotine targets they might have been able to develop rapport with people and actually show the value of services in a way that wouldn’t poison the well. instead they have a scam or get out method that lacks credibility. and they tend to do the heavy pitch right as something has hit a bump in the transaction aka the reason the customer is even there. The only reason i turn my contempt for that company from a 9 down to a 4 is i understand that it is just a job to these people, however you choose to work at a place take some pride and ownership to do your job or move on. i have sold 1000’s of warranties priducts and services at companies like staples and best buy, henrys camera shop. the american ones are the most tunnel visioned on services and warranties, henrys was a nice place to work the others there was pressure every day for measurables. the fact is they had training and systems to do that in a fair way if you put the effort in. Gamespot is and had only been concerned with the measurables. by hook or by crook more the latter there. Why would i want that? what exactly happens What do you personally gain by me doing / buying this? Everyone has the loyalty card now. I tell them are you going to give me %30 back in my purchases like shoppers does? or $50-60 preorder games no deposit fully cancellable like amazon.ca does? are you going to let me hold a sale item and pickup tomorrow with zero hassling like best buy does? are you going to price match without hassle like best buy and walmart does? are you going to sell me a plastic sealed factory fresh copy like everyone else does without hassle? no so why would i want any of your loyalty bullshit, for 10% off chachkis i didn’t want. gamestop are failing because they are bad, and digital has accelerated the situation for them. most people that have bad experiences just don’t go back, its part of why they are so obsessed with their surveys recently. but it is too late whether they bleed out before or after next gen or whether some stores remain in canada much like toys r us, which is a company that deserved to stay. i still expect ebgames to go in our market they have a bad culture a bad view to customer service and horrible business practices top to bottom. they have only worsened in the 23 years i have been spending my own cash on games and in the 7 my son has been around to love the hobby, which i will be honest involves him never going to their stores period, so he will have no misplaced nostalgia when they are gone.
Another shady practice they do with the NEW games is they’ll claim it’s a new copy you’re ordering from the website, yet you don’t know if it’s factory sealed until you get it at your doorstep. This literally happened to me several times. Even twice, they sent me a “new” game in a USED GameStop printed case! I hope they die for their own good soon.
Pfff, that ain't nothing. I drove over an hour in a thunderstorm to a Best Buy to get River City Girls just for them not to have it lol. The website said they had 2 copies! I was piiiiiiissed
I stopped shopping at GameStop years ago, no regrets. Never had any of these experiences mentioned in the video, but many other unpleasant experiences overall and hearing about these and similar stories made me not want to spend my money there. If I need physical copies of games it's eBay, social marketplaces like Facebook/Craigslist, thrift stores or a local Game store which I'm fortunate to have two different ones in my area independently own and not connected to Gamestop or it's parent company.
If you can or your device has the storage space, buy digital. The developers make more money that way. On average, a physical copy will net a dev about 50%. While most online sales will be closer to 70%, depending on their deal with their online publisher after the storefront takes their cut for hosting. Source: Aspiring Indie Unreal Dev.
Not defending gamestop but I went to buy Uncharted 3 for like $2 in a dummy case with a 4 game promo so I just thought what the heck. So at the check out counter when they get u your discs the cashier pulpulled out a mint condition game of the year edition of Uncharted 3. So sometimes there may be a diamond in the rough.
I ordered a used copy of Red Dead Redemption: GoTY Edition, ended up getting a copy that still had the Microsoft seal on it, was pretty happy with that.
Something similar happened to me, I went to buy dark souls 2 on PS3 and it was only like 15 bucks and the dude asked me if I wanted a steelbook for it. But yeah they are still shady as hell.
I stopped going into GameStop after I bought Shadow of War “new” on Black Friday and it was already opened like you’re describing. I think people who dislike that is much higher than 5%... GameStop is terrible. How they are still open and running is beyond me. They are the most anti consumer company I can think of which is crazy because their business model requires the exchange of old games for new. Power to the players my ass.
Well there’s Walmart, Microsoft, and Amazon. GameStop is global but not that big enough to survive long term. Amazon, Microsoft, and Walmart are much bigger and just done as much shitty business practices if not more than GS, the only difference is is that they get away with much more.
I have got a very nice Photoshop edit surprise waiting for when gamestop closes for good. It will be a Photoshop edit of their logo and instead of saying GameStop, it will read "GameOver." the CEO George Sherman will have to pay me to take this Photoshop edit down once it is released.
I dont shop at gamestop any more after what they did to their employees during covid i dont shop there. Theyre pretty shady all around and I dont need to shop at gamestop for video games there are tons of other places suppor local retro gaming stores.
The whole "used game as new" thing was what got me. I've shopped at Gamestop a few times since and seems like every time I want a new sealed game they never have them. "It is new," they say. It's not new if it's opened and unsealed. Even purchasing on eBay you have to be careful as some sellers "reseal" their games and try to pass them off as new.
Someone probably already said it but it should also be illegal to put the price sticker on the game cover itself and not on the plastic protector. I bought Super Mario Sunshine a while back and they put the sticker on the actual cover and when I removed it, it took some of the art off the cover!! So infuriating for a game collector
The whole game being open but it's brand-new is the reason why I stopped buying at GameStop my video games, I'd rather go to Target and pay full price.
Exactly, vote with your wallet. If its a big enough deal where it effects their bottom line, then that gives them the most incentive to change. But if you are going to complain but keep going back they have no reason to change because they still are getting your money at the end of the day.
What areas have only a gamestop but not a walmart, best buy, target, etc? Gamestop does not have a monopoly here, not by a long shot. Even so, you can order things in the mail. Best buy even has free shipping. Amazon prime offers free shipping and fast delivery as well. There's of course eBay and Amazon aftermarket where they have money back guarantees as well. For Lithium in particular, he also absolutely has alternative storefronts he can use, he's talked about them in the past. I can go on and on but I think you get the point.
From what I saw a few years ago. Some of the stores actually had the plastic shrink wrap packaging and would re package as "factory new" until people started realizing that they were resealing games with the plastic shrink wrap.
My experience/story with GameStop is a bit different. See, I went in knowing I was buying a used game with a generic box. I got a copy of Metroid Prime 3 for around $12, and I was quite happy with that. But... I got home to discover that the inside of the generic case was covered in dry vomit, and it smelled horrible. I had to spend around half an hour carefully cleaning it and the disc, and even to this day I've missed a spot in a corner. I keep it in a generic CD case. Imagine a game box sitting on a shelf with that inside of it, for months. Nobody ever checked. Nobody ever cleaned. Nobody picked up a bottle of Lysol and took the time to sanitize their cases. It's a good thing I'm never buying another Wii game again, since my Wii U is hacked and my Switch is running Linux for Dolphin.
Actually, GameStop is doing business in Germany. From my experiences with my local store they're not as bad as described in the video, but still one of the worst places to shop for games. Not factory-sealed "new" games are a thing here too, prices in general are at the upper end of the scale, used copies of current games are ridiculously overpriced (like, often times they're still more expensive than a new, sealed copy at other places which are literally 2 minutes down the road). The only reason I still see to go there from time to time are used copies of older games where obscurity and low demand cancel out rarity, so they're actually sold for a reasonable price (though it's saddening to imagine how ridiculously low the trade-in price must have been). It feels like they're surviving on merch and ruining the second hand market, with ripping off both, buyers and sellers...
Fun Fact: Back when Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon came out, I had gone to a GameStop ((back when I had GameStop as my main source for games, now I go to either Target or Walmart, whichever is cheaper)) to buy a copy of Dark Moon, and when I got back in the car... there was no cartridge in the case. I can't even begin to lie about this, there was literally no cartridge in the case. Thankfully, the one I used to go to was pretty chill, so I went back in, told the employee what had happened, and brought back a copy with the cartridge inside. I wasn't charged for the replacement, thankfully, but even still, that's just something I've ONLY had happen at a GameStop. The last time I purchased anything from GameStop was a pre-owned copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was about... a month or so ago? I only ever use GameStop as a "last resort" type of deal these days.
I used to say I'd never had a problem gamestop, but my last few trips made me change my mind about them. I've ordered new games on line from them before and never had any trouble, if I ordered used sometimes I'd get the bad case but I usually didn't mind so much if I ordered actually used. Last time they had a sale I ordered some games new and 2 out of 3 of them were opened. It honestly wasn't too big of a deal for me and the games were cheap, but you'd better believe I contacted their customer service and had them correct it. The used games were cheaper, I either wanted a refund of the difference or a new copy. They actually went through the trouble of getting me new, sealed copies - though now I wonder if they just sealed them up theirselves and sent them back. Still more work and money coming from them in the long run I guess. In regards to upselling me things, they usually didn't try to hard with me which I appreciated. They'd ask the stuff they had to ask and I'd say no and that'd be it. I do remember buying a game once (can't remember which, sorry) and they asked if I wanted some DLC. I asked "what's in that?" and they looked it up and they were like "Oh, it's just a bunch of costumes. You don't want that" and it was already off the table. So I guess definitely do not order online in any circumstances and always go into a store if you have to. Though, the one closest to me went out of business and while I did like the employees there, I don't really shed a tear for the business itself.
I certainly care if i am buying a new game at full price that has been previously opened. They have done that at my local GS too. I go to buy something and they give me this unwrapped copy. I then refuse and buy it at Target or Amazon. That is very shady.
As an ex-employee of gamestop I have seen several instances where the fake cover art was needed as either the game was traded in without a case or the case was so heavily damaged (water, burnt, corroded, or mystery substance that couldn't be cleaned off) an we was forced to print a new cover art for the games. Plus trying to sell used over new is a tactic to lower the amount of used copies that are in stock, as it may have 5 new vs 70 used copies and the store gets better numbers if the used is sold until the point where only the new is left. Which I have seen many getting fired for selling the new version instead of the used version, it was actually threatened that if more used was not sold over new, then cutbacks would be in the very near future for all of us employees.
I spent 60 bucks on legend of Zelda Collection edition for gamecube and it was just the disc that made me kind of mad because I didn’t even get a case that I find bogus
Samething happened to me last week. I ordered Mario party 6 and Pokemon XD and it was just the discs in some cd sleeves packaged inside ziplock bags. Only bought them from GameStop because they are way cheaper than market place but at the cost of no case and that nasty white residue left in the middle of the games.
Used to work at The Source for 4 years... Worked at 3 stores.... Ipt was a big part of the job, protection plans, credit card and the worst, Cellphones and Bell services.... I dont want to work in sells anymore because it made me uncomfortable a lot... These practices should stop.... Shoving unwanted items or services down customers throat is the worst..... Thanks for your video!
7:13 it’s illegal to trade in sealed games to Gamestop because there’s a chance they could be stolen. So GameStop will not accept any sealed games as trade ins in their store. Even if you walk out of the store and come back in with it opened, if they saw it sealed they won’t take it that day. I worked at a GameStop in NY and we had to turn away people with sealed games all the time because a lot of drug dealers lived in the area. But yea, their business practices are really shady. I once got a “new” 3ds game that had a sale file on it. They sell they “gut” games so there’s a copy on the wall so people know what they have in stock. Like you said they can just print covers so I don’t know why they don’t just put the printed ones on the wall. I once preordered a niche Japanese game (Faye Extella Link) and it was so obscure they only got the one copy I ordered, but the person working didn’t know it was for a preorder so they gutted it. I refused to buy it.
Can confirm. I once mistakenly bought a second copy of Project Diva F 2nd off Amazon and sat on it for too long, missing the return window. It was still sealed, so I thought I could probably get a decent trade-in value at GameStop but was told the same thing (plus they were totally suspicious of my story; I guess I don't blame them, but it was just carelessness). Had to unwrap it and bring it back the next day. At least they had the game I had intended to buy in the first place (the original Project Diva F).
Sarah Mitchell whenever it happened to me I just kept it sealed and sold it new on eBay since new games are worth way more than GameStop’s shitty trade in prices
@@TheDreadedZero That's what I would have done these days. I learned to sell on ebay recently, and I definitely should have started sooner, as I've made way more in two months than I've made on trade-ins my entire life. I'll still take collectibles I don't want to bother with to Half Price Books just to get something rather than nothing (I like their business practices, so I support them when I can), but I just sold a Funko Pop set for $124 yesterday after a store offered me $5. Selling on ebay and craigslist is a WAY better option IMO. Since Craislist lets you skip the fees, so I always list stuff there as well just in case!
This is why even as a kid I never bought “new” games from GameStop unless I preordered a game. If the game was open I’d just get a used copy, make sure I liked the game, then return it and buy new somewhere else. Great video man, completely agree! Also saw a comment below which I agree with, I buy all new games at Walmart for $10 cheaper than other stores.
I disagree with the gutting policy, when we could just as easily have display boxes with cover art rather than gutted game boxes on the shelves, however gamestops model is to reduce costs by guitting games for display. Policy does state we can borrow games, however it's very rare that people do. I have done so maybe twice since I started working for gamestop, and I've only borrowed Used Games that we have at least 3 copies of. I do not know if our borrowing policy allows for borrowing of new software, but I would agree that would no longer be a new title if It was actually lent out like that. Sticker Sealed games like that however are a negative side effect of the gutting policy, and more often than not it is our display copy of the game. We make sure that people know that before proceeding with the sale at our location. Usually people are still fine with it, but there is the occasional customer, usually a collector, who plans to keep a potentially rare game sealed. SKU conversions from new to used happen. That's a thing. usually it's a situation where a game is out of production, and not selling well, also usually happens when they are NOT going to be getting anymore copies. Cutting their losses on the sale of the new sku, it's changed to used, so that on paper it looks like profit. 9/10 times it is just to inflate numbers for shareholders. There's no actual profit gains here. The only game I heard of anything like that happening with outside of the regular sku conversion, was a few stores that still had new copies of Super Mario Galaxy 2 moved them to used on their own, but that was a while back and as far as I knew a fairly isolated incident. If we have a sku conversion though, we usually gut whats needed for the shelf and leave the rest sealed, because customers actually like the surprise new but used price games. Game cases, yea, we print our own box art for games that come in with destroyed or missing box art. Here in the states, it's a really generic box art. Because we aren't sent nice fancy images for box art for every game on the planet. So it gets a generic box. We sell the legit boxes first if we have a mix of either. But we also don't even have the fancy fake box art like that, if we did, I'm sure we would probably just end up handing out whatever we grab first. Because unless you decide to actually look, it passes as just fine on a cursory glance to someone who has been spending all day grabbing game boxes for people. No one is intentionally switching them out on you. On top of that, as a consumer, pay attention. If you want a specific game case, just ask for it. More often than not the individual behind the counter is going to oblige, because worse case scenario, we need to print a new price sticker for the other box. In the case of New Super Mario Bros U + Luigi nonsense, that is literally someone making a mistake, not realizing they grabbed the wrong game out of the drawer. This is just pointing out human error and calling it trickery. This is another case of pay attention, people are fallible, and you need to make sure your getting what you intended to get. I've made this mistake before, and have caught myself, and my co workers making this exact mistake. We're doing this all day, and mistakes happen. Claiming to be sold out of new, and only having used, when you are not in fact sold out is a fireable offense. If someone is doing that, their a scumbag, and it's against policy. You catch someone doing that, you inform the store manager, or if it's him, get the district leads name and number, or corporates number and report it. We're encouraged to offer the pre owned version if we have it on hand. But we should not be lying a bout it. Same with adding the protection without your consent, that can and will get people fired. We are pressured to sell as many as possible, but we are also told POINT BLANK, never do do that. These both are signs of really shitty people doing shitty things. These are not examples of gamestop as a whole. But, for someone with so many negative things to say about the company you seem to be giving them more than your fair share of patronage. I don't agree with all of gamestops policies, and I down right HATE some of them. But your shitting on the company and it's employees as a whole for things that are out of their control, are genuin mistakes, or only done by shitty people who should be fired. We have a lot of repeat business with a large group of people at our store, because we go out of the way to do our best for the people that come through our location.
When stores were closed during quarantine I ordered botw when they had a sale. I ordered a new copy and paid online and they gave me a used copy when I picked it up and told me that it was new but that it was a display copy. Told me it was the last one and resfused to give me a new copy. I paid full price for a used copy. That's a filthy practice they like to do. Also I knew the copy was in fact actually used because the cartridge had scratches on it.
I’m an inspector for the Consumer Protection Bureau in my city. My advice to anyone that’s been jipped by this would be to contact your local CPB (it could also be called “Consumer Affairs” or something similar, depending on the city/county you’re in.) Most bureaus have a law or code called “Deceptive Trade” that these occurrences would fall under. You can file a complaint with your bureau and they can straighten the situation out for you and/or hit the store with fines and violations. Just be sure to have a bit of patience with whoever you’re dealing with. Most inspectors are going to be older than I am, and probably aren’t lifelong gamers like me either, so you may have to walk through what’s happening to explain it to them. Take pictures, keep receipts, hold onto any proof you have that there’s a violation happening. If you’re submitting an online complaint, make sure you put in EVERY detail, even the names of who you spoke with. (ALWAYS get a name.) As a gamer, husband to a gamer/collector, and someone who’s always felt suspicious of what Gamestop does, I’d love nothing better than to run up in those stores and set’em straight, but I’d need a reason to do it. A good complaint gives me a green light. So if you think something’s going on, let us take a look, it’s what we’re here for. Hope this helps.
For me it was about 20 bucks off for a pre owned one in my area for the 300 dollar one. My bad i thought it was consoles. But yes, game wise is a bit dumb yes. Wal-Mart offers physicals for about 10 bucks off
@@Williamscottboes U said it's for pre owned nintendo switch games . So I was assuming u meant Nintendo games themselves . Not just switch games in general . But any thing Nintendo holds value so it's Nintendo brand it's rarely cheap . But I also buy a ton of used games . But u have to buy them on sales buy 2 to get 2 free, but 3 get 2 free....etc..that is when the value is there for a used game .
I remember getting Sonic Colors as a gift, but when I opened it up, it was the Wii version of Sonic Unleaahed. It was sold as used, but intending to buy a specific game and ending up with a completely different one is another problem that GameStop has.
I guess my local GameStops here in Oklahoma are insulated from most of the BS. Everywhere but here seems to have these problems. But we are their test market for the 2.0 stores so I suppose that makes sense.
Your story about Torna is very similar to my experience. I ordered a NEW copy of it online and was shipped a loose copy in a used box without the original cover. I had to spend 2 hours on hold to force them to ship me an unopened one.
I was charged new game price for a Wii U game that was already opened. The only reason why I paid was because I couldn’t find a copy of it anywhere at any of the other game stores.
I've experienced this myself when buying a new game at GameStop... They tried to sell me the case from the display put the game in and tried to sell it to me as new all the while they actually had a sealed copy there.. I've experienced this multiple times at GameStop and that's why I don't buy my new games there
I'm insanely happy my GameStop seems pretty cool. Every time they try to force it into a printed off case I ask if I can get it in the main game case and they always do it. I feel like if the employees were able to do what they want, rather than listen to the higher ups, they would be more than willing to help you out with anything.
My mother bought me Luigi’s mansion, ssbm, and super Mario sunshine. All were unreadable. Instead of giving her working copies, they tried to upsell her some “disc cleaning solution” that didn’t even work. This was over a decade ago. Last month, I walked into a GameStop and asked for a DS3. Associate told me he hadn’t seen one in his store yet until the day I walked in. Seemed really happy to be selling it to me. Got home and both sticks were broken, had mad drift.
I remember them selling me a used copy of xenblade chronicles 2 without a case for full price ( which i soon regretted to the point of buying a custom case for the game on etsy)
The first one happened to me. I went to GameStop to buy a brand new copy of Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes. I grabbed the box, labeled new, off the shelf, and I went up to the counter to check out, thinking he would exchange this box for a brand-new, factory-sealed copy. The employee went into one drawer, pulled out the game card, put in my box and proceeded the check out process. When I asked if it was truly a brand-new game, he told me that they kept the actual game behind the counter because if somebody attempted to shoplift a game, that person would only get away with the box and not the actual game. He also told me that the copy he just gave me was the last "new" copy, so it was that or a used a copy. Fortunately, GameStop's algorithm must have messed up, for the new copy was going for less than the used copy, so I figured even if it was used, I was still getting a good deal. Now that I think about it, that's the last game I bought from GameStop. Besides, Best Buy has a better rewards program.
Funny story: I bought a standard version of a game, but what they did is putting the more expensive Deluxe version in it (With all the online codes). So I payed the normal price for the deluxe edition :D
I worked at a Software Ect. and Babbages under the Gamestop umbrella. Letting employees check out games for 3 days was a normal practice, there is a section in the daily log book where we recorded daily sales for employee check outs and discount tracking. Because Gamestop doesn't have display boxes, and the displays are just opened/sleeved new games there wasn't an issue coming from corporate's stand point. Consider it a perk of the job. That's a Gamestop thing, EB Games was bought by Gamestop after I left the company, which would explain as to why this was something you "heard" other managers or stores were allowing employees to do.
They pulled that one on me once. I bought the Hitman reboot. It was the Steelbook edition if I recall correctly. I took the one on the shelf and brought it to the counter. The employee searched his Xbox One drawers and couldn't find a sealed copy. Instead, he took a sealed enveloppe, took out a game and a bunch of codes and put them in the case I first brought. I knew the guy so I let it go but it was the last time they did this to me. That moment happened when I was with my mom. They tried that again later when I was with my father. I noticed it and told them that I didn't want the game if they didn't have it factory sealed. They gave me some bs but my father had none of it. He told them that trying this kind of things on 15 year old customers is illegal and morally wrong. The owner of the store (or something like that, I don't know how Gamestop works and it happened almost 3 years ago) sold me another game and put a discount on it if I remember.
I just go to Lukie Games to be honest. Ive given up on Gamestop. All they want is your money and they dont give you good value on trade ins which is suppose to be their thing. Just go to Amazon Ebay, or Facebook buy or wherever. Why would I go to Gamestop to buy RE3 for the Xbox one for 50 dollars or whatever when I can get it for 30 on Ebay.
i worked at gamestop within the past 2 years and never seen a recycled sticker; I have seen them take clearance games that are sealed and just convert the 6 digit SKU to the pre-owned version. Then they'll open it up and move it to the pre-owned/used drawers.....they cannot print authentic looking cover art - they are sent a bunch to advertise in fake boxes and then will sometimes use them to sell used copies that are traded in with no case at all (if they go through the trouble of holding onto them). The ONLY cover art they can print is generic as hell with no artistic appeal. The company policy states "employees can borrow games for 4 days to study them" in a sense...so yes, the process goes that ONE new copy must be "gutted" to display it on the floor after it's release. Some General Managers are honorable enough to not let anybody borrow that brand new copy but it's definitely usually enforced NOT to steal the digital codes inside. Nobody is trained to discount the price but YOU have the option to treat it as if they don't have a new copy and then wait for them to get on in for you. It's true thats why they sell pre-owned for only 5 dollors less - they don't make much off of new product. gamestop is just a vessel for a lot of things and it hasn't evolved with everything else and will PROBABLY go out of business very soon. Take advantage of how to shop there correctly (pro day sales for example) while you thank the employees after you decline doing a GPG, PRP or Reservation.....and it'll crumble on its own.
I worked at Gamestop for 8 years. The circle seal thing did suck, but most people don't care. And honestly only die hard collectors usually cared. When I was asm i would knock 10 percent off if someone complained. And just so you know, some store did allow play of new games for research, some didn't. But it was fully sanctioned by the company for testing purposes as well as keeping people from stealing. Now the Xenoblade/Metroid prime thing you are off on. The initial run on those games sold out completely. No stores had new copies converted over to used. Trust me I searched inventories. What did happen, Nintendo apparently did reprint the games. Its why Xenoblades box is different interior molding and why Prime came in a plastic box. Those copies were all opened at the factory and when shipments did come, they were opened. Last Story also had a second printing that did ship normal and was new without the collector version. I personally did think it was fucked up, but I already had my copies before the reprint. If you bought a used game, art is never guaranteed. The Mario Galaxy is used. If you wanted the other copy, you should have asked. Also, we were never allowed to take sealed games on trade without a receipt. And even then that copy was opened up. Now its been a few years since I worked there, but in all the time I worked there sealed games weren't allowed as trade. With the double games and you only get one? That might be a mistake or the other game didn't get traded. That happened a lot with those two games. Check the price label. It will tell you. Also preorders. 75 percent of the time, you don't need to preorder. Niche games, you have too. Most times we will really only get one copy of a game if there were no preorders and when we sold out, they were gone. Never understood the hate on this. You want a game, preorder it. It goes toward the price and these days you get extras. Btw beyond the xeno/Metroid this which is shady, nothing is illegal. Like seriously, be your own advocate. Every store is different, as is every district and region. I was in one of the busiest regions which included NYC?NJ.
I really don’t understand why any store would ever gut a video game. Let’s be real, the research thing is crap. No one would research a game they don’t like if they didn’t have to so realistically GameStop is just giving their employees a free rental service. I don’t buy new games from GameStop for that very reason.
@@daruckus85 @Nando Rivera if the game is completely sealed it's new. The research thing aside, it's also a form of theft control. If you can play ant game you want, why steal it. But bare in mind many stores don't allow new game take outs. And honestly, I haven't worked there for a few years, and if I get the opened copy, I really don't care if I wasn't thre game. It's a disc and if there the codes that might have come with work, I don't see the problem.
I feel the same way about preordering. If you want that plastic around the game, preorder. If you think you wanna play that game, preorder. You don't even have to buy it in the end you can always cancel and get your money back.
I used to work at game (UK equivalent to GameStop) and the reason they have unsealed games as new is so they can display the box on the shelf. They can't put a sealed game on a shelf as it can easily be stolen and real boxes are put out or "gutted" for display only. It doesn't mean the game isn't new and it's only 2 cases per game
Luckily at my GameStop (closed years ago) didn’t take the games out and “test” them they were good I think that’s why they closed they were the only good one
I had any issues the other day at my local GameStop. I noticed with the GameStop app, it started to automatically spend the first 5000 points for a $5 off any item on store. As I got to buy and item and use the coupon that is clearly in my inbox that I have access to barcode and code and all.... the manger proceeds to tell me since my pro membership was expired, I couldn’t use it. So when I asked, if I can’t use the coupon, why would I have access to it? Especially if your app automatically does it? He legit shuddered and had no excuse, just discounted my item (still didn’t use my coupon).
They also offer "free shipping on orders over 35 dollars". Yet every time I went to check out a fee was included. I had agents try to place an order, it got "cancelled" but in my order history it said "in progress" and was billed regardless. I was also told "shipping and handling fees are 2 different things". I've been told to pay the fee (something advertised as free) and it would be refunded. Then told it would be done so at a later date after the games were delivered. I've been told they don't charge until the game is delivered but was still charged. It is a violation of FTC guidelines to charge for something you advertise as free. Don't expect the BBB to do anything.
I must be lucky these crazy things never happen at my GameStop. I most of the time only use them to put down five bucks for preorders. Too many times I tried to get a game else where Wal-Mart Best Buy etc sold out.
This doesn’t have anything to with a game or console, but one time a year ago me, my brother and dad went to a local GameStop. Of course my bro was excited because he’s a kid and games make him happy. We were about to check out and he backed up into a Pokémon card display, the cashier got pissed and put his hands on him. Nothing serious but he did push him. When my brother tried to help, that made the cashier more mad apparently. So my old man started getting at the cashier about his attitude, impatience and yelling at his child. Long story short, we stopped going there, and emailed a strongly cuss worded email to staff over at the GameStop.
So I just recently left my gamestop as an employee, yes they only care for numbers. I was up for promotion multiple times, but because my numbers on transaction and warranty were so low I always got told no.
That's the major issue with GameStop. If they removed the sales quotas and numbers for employees the staff would be much more genuine and welcoming to customers more like any other retro game store
@@NintendoCollecting i fully agree, it became more and more of hell. The job was fun and I really enjoyed working with the store owner and store manager, but small good versus the headache of numbers made me leave.
I live in Germany and what I noticed is that they don't update their prices. They sell their switch games for the initial launch price. Some games already dropped 10-20€ but they still keep the old price. Sometimes the prices of the used games that they sell are higher than the actual market price. There is no reason for me to buy from them then, when I could get the games from amazon or my local electronic store for much less instead. And if I want to go for a pre-owned copy, I'd just buy from ebay. Because I don't want to buy a used copy from gamestop that costs the same as a brand new one or even more.
When people return pokemon products they reseal them in the back room at gamestop, then sell it as a Factory sealed product online which should be illegal it's definitely a scam and someone should sue them.
I had one incident but it wasn’t too bad. They were selling USED Nintendo switch games above MSRP retail prices for NEW games. I asked him why the prices were so high, and they had no idea what I was talking about. I asked if they did price match, but they said no. I asked how many people brought this up. They said I’ve been the only one. Shocker. I then asked to speak to the manager about this “price gouging” business practice. They said that all of their prices were fair and that many people bought them used, higher than retail. Whatever. Left the store. No wonder they aren’t making any money
My story is when I pre-ordered Brave Story, paid in full, for the PSP from GameStop. I had pre-ordered it because it was a smaller JRPG coming out and most other stores would not be carrying it. At first they couldn't find it when I went in to pick it up. Come to find out, they had opened it up and put it on the shelf to be sold. They already had my money and I was forced to accept the open copy as new.
When I worked for GameStop, we were able to borrow pre-owned games. With new titles we were told you “shuck” one of each new title. We would be the empty case out on the shelf, and keep a copy in a drawer in a white sleeve. If it was the last copy, we would sell the copy from the drawer and case it with the display on the wall.
I have had these things happen too. I have actually gone and bought the game I was looking for for a few more dollars somewhere else just so I didn't have to deal with them. Not a financially responsible thing to do, but piece of mind sometimes costs a few bucks. 😕
I think it's more financially irresponsible to give your money to a company with bad business practices just because they are cheaper. Spending a little more to support a company on principle still falls under financially responsible if you ask me. If you're thinking about where your money is going instead of just how much it costs, you're already miles ahead of other people when it comes to responsibility.
My local Gamestop is great, I bought FF7 remake 2 weeks after the release and they gave me the Pre order bonus because they happened to still have some...also my kids are always getting free stuff from employees,Mario odyssey hat, ds stylists and stickers. I went in to get a used copy of zelda Breath of the Wild as a gift for my nephew, they gave me a sealed copy that came with the map for the same price as used $55ish if I remember right still sealed so I gave my nephew my copy and upgraded. I have never paid for Pro membership but somehow I have had it for 3 years now
I was looking for the SSB4 gamecube controller about a year after release. I checked the gamestop website and the controller didn't have the option to be labeled as used. So I go to a gamestop that had it and they gave me a clearly opened box that was resealed with several of those circle stickers. It was their last one. I took it home and the controller was bugged. I go to another gamestop that said it had one in stock to swap out for my current one. The lady behind the counter said "we actually have it used so you'll get some money back". She goes and gets it from the pre owned accessories rack. She looks at the bag confused for a sec as the price said it's new. She then "well I guess this controller is actually new then". The controller is in a bright red plastic bag with big white letters saying PRE-OWNED with the price sticker saying it's new. The only good thing that came from it is that the controller did work and works to this day.
I had an employee who kept trying to convince me to drop $5 to preorder Spider-man for PS4, even after i told him i wasn't interested, and that i don't like preorders because they encourage companies to release broken games, etc. I thought i had made myself perfectly clear about it, but when i looked at my receipt later, i noticed that i was charged $5 for a Spider-man preorder that i clearly did not want. I guess he was trying to boost his preorder numbers, but that can't be legal.
Last month I wanted to up my streaming game and purchase a PS4 camera but they were sold out everywhere. After searching for a few days I finally found one at a GameStop about a half hour away. When purchasing the employee took my information (including my phone number) for their rewards program. After that I went from 0 calls a day to at least 2 calls a day from random numbers I knew were scam calls. Thanks for selling my info, GameStop!
This doesn't really happen in the UK If you wanna buy new games you go to a store called "GAME" and if ur looking for used games you go to "CeX" . I've noticed some non-authentic covers too where the cover doesn't fully fit the case and looks like you could print at home but those are on display so they don't trick you buy swapping out the case in the back. What they're doing at gamestop is truly disgusting especially when trying to trick young kids or elderly people and essentially stealing their money.
The disk protection thing happened to me, I went to buy Pokemon let's go Eevee and the employee applied the protection without asking, I noticed cause the price was like $67-70, I asked him the same thing, he told me the same thing but atleast he removed it when I asked him too.
I remember one of the managers just saying to add it and then remove it if they ask you to which is so ridiculous
@@NintendoCollecting must be what the guy did to me, I found it so off because it was my local game stop so I knew a few of the employees and even the manager was cool with me so they would never try to pull something like that on me. also I had never seen him work there before and never saw him after.
I'm glad that they don't do this to me. In my experience, I'm always asked about it first. I guess it's just the stores in my area.
Not only are you paying for it without wanting to, but you don’t even know you have it and therefore won’t take advantage of it if you need it. Because you don’t know you paid for it
Emma Wagner That's so true and so scummy
Sealed brand new game: $60
Pre-owned game with no case: $55
Trade in value for the same game CIB: $5
Wow, Ripoff!
Those theives. Yup that's why I keep all of my games. I only buy games I know I will never get rid of, hence my small collection. Quality over quantity.
Angelo zicarelli well you should know by now you’re better off selling them online than at game stop
*Pre-owned game in GameStop 55$*
Me: dude that is the same price like a new game in Walmart
Waaaaah this big business didn't give me enough money for this used product
I went in to buy a copy of Pokémon Pearl like 2 years ago. When I got home I compared it to my original cartridge to make sure it wasn’t fake which I was certain it wasn’t as GameStop was selling it. Turns out the copy they sold me was fake and I had to go all the way back. When I got there I told the employee that the cartridge was fake and I wanted a legit copy instead. They argued with me for like 15 min just to give me a legit copy of a game I already paid for. They eventually let me get a different copy, this time a legit one, but the whole experience was pretty bad.
Bruh wtf. The employees at my GameStop are rude af too
Buy pokemon plantium lmao
@Yuneek wow
And the price is only gonna go up
@Yuneek Better to get the 20-in-1 off ebay. Comes with all the Mystery Dungeons, gen 4 and 5 titles. $20 bucks to relive my formative years and it was great.
Why did you buy Pearl?
I preordered Tokyo mirage sessions #fe’s special edition on Wii U, money down and everything so i ensured a copy. The day comes I pick it up, and they say they SOLD IT TO SOMEONE ELSE WHO DIDN’T PREORDER IT. It seemed to be a mistake from a “new employee” so the manager personally travelled to a far away gamestop who had one left. So yeah it was pretty bad and annoying I had to wait to get the game, but I at least still respect that manager for going way out of the way to travel to get the game from another store. She even gave me free disc warranty
That was nice of the manager and also the right thing to do
@@NintendoCollecting I actually had a bad experience with Game Stop about a week or two ago...I had ordered "Super Princess Peach" for the DS from them and when I got it, there was nothing but the cartridge in a small, plastic case..Yes, I did order a used copy. but I assumed the original case was with it....not only that, but when I tried the game, I got as far as stage 1 of world 1 before it said "Game Cartridge is not in the console" or something like that....I did get it to work but not before I called the store to tell them of my issue...they sent me another USED copy of the game.
Same thing happened to me back in the day when my mom preordered a copy of animal crossing new leaf for me. The worker sold the copy to some else. I still ended up getting the game, but I was really upset about it.
@@angelina9345 See, this is why I'll get my games from somewhere else now, makes it easier..I did order a 3DS Game from Best Buy and I had no issue with it
Woopty do a fucking waranty you’ll never USE NERD
I just can’t stand the stinkin sticker that when you peel it off it leaves all that residue and the copy is ruined
Use goo gone to get rid of the residue
If the sticker still has some adhesive on it, you could use the same sticker to remove the leftover residue. Or use some tape.
Try using a hair dryer, works 99% of the time.
The best is when they used to go out of their way and put it underneath the plastic on the paper insert.
@@beastxxx24 still have ps2 and xbox titles with the stick on the insert
my bad gamestop experience:
my mom wanted me to get rid of a bunch of my old wii and ds games once i got a 3ds and wii u. ima be honest i was pretty spoiled bc i had two whole grocery bags filled w games. we went to gamestop and for at least 50 games i only got around $60. one of my biggest regrets
What sucks is that DS would have played in your 3DS, and Wii would have played on your Wii U
I'm sorry your mom is a moron that doesn't know what backwards compatibility, nostalgia and high market value for Nintendo games is, I would just blame her since she just went on an emotional power trip over little convenience. Tell her that their value has probably tripled by now unless you had shitty cheap games, in which case, she was partially correct.
That’s what happened to me I wish I never did it I gave them 6 Wii U games and 3 ds games and only got like 25 dollars
60 is good for a Gamestop lmao
I sell so many ds games I don't even remember how many they were, and I got... 10 euros.
Should told your mom that you can play ds games on 3ds and wii games on wiiU
Maybe not having gamestop in my country is a good thing...
😲
It's not a bad place. Yeah it has its negatives but it doesnt affect anyone. They have 7 day money back guarantee for used games. You can bring them back wether broken or you beat it and they will take it back, which is great imo
EB Games is lit
Buy your games from Amazon or Ebay
I have always found good stuff at gamestop. They are not that bad. I am from Canada eb games is horribale
Pre owned joycons are the same price as new ones
Oh yeah.
And they break WAY easier then new joycons.
When it comes to Nintendo controllers, gamestop often did that.
Dakoda Mckinney Walmart has had SEVERAL people complaining of their “new “ gaming system only having ROCKS in the box and Walmart sucks ass
Yup
Dakoda Mckinney it’s actually a lot better to buy your switch stuff at Walmart because they sell everything except for the actual console for $10 cheaper
It's why I now buy my games from Best Buy instead. Screw GameStop, I can't wait for those crooks to go out of business.
I would do the same, but the closet Best Buy is an hour away from where I live
Same. I can't wait until GameStop closes for good.
I've got a Photoshop editthat is ready to be released at a moment's notice.
it is a Photoshop edit of their logo and instead of reading GameStop, it will read "GameOver."
I guarantee it will be one of the fastest circulating memes the world has ever seen LOL.
I live in a small town, thank God I don't have a Game Stop. My equivalent is far superior.
Just a tip for new games. Go to Walmart. At least near me on release day they are $49 rather then the other stores $59. I even got fifa 18 for $1 there
Walmart is the best place for new games, I know it’s only $10 off but still
At walmart there selling cory in the house on the DS for $9 and it is still there on stock next to bomberman R.
How did you get fifa for a dollar?!
I wouldn't waste the dollar.
XxHxCRaverxX you could just buy it then resell it
Whats worse is sometimes they charge a NEW price saying its "new" and doesn't come with the OG artwork its in a dummy case with a "new" price sticker on it.
Yes
And scratch on disc
That happened to me when I bought Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 for PS4 especially since the physical copy was exclusive to Gamestop
wait my ganestop doesnt do that
They got me with the “new” game thing as well. I bought a bunch of games on Black Friday as part of a buy 3 get one free type of sale. The GameStop I normally shop at is on a military base and there’s not a lot of employees working there so I know them and they all pretty much know me. The person working the register that afternoon was from another store brought in to cover the expected surge in customers. When I brought the empty game boxes I wanted up to the register, I didn’t notice he unwrapped the games he got from the back during the transaction. I didn’t realize until I was looking over my receipt and realized I didn’t get the promotional pricing. When I went back to the store to ask what happened the first person I spoke with didn’t understand why either and asked me to come back when the manager got off from lunch. When we asked him, after scratching his head and going over the transaction a few times he realized that the promotion only applied to used games and they were all sold to me as new even though I grasped the boxes off the used switch games display. I asked if I could return them and of course I couldn’t because they were opened.
Same thing happened to me, it took an email to corporate for a local gm to contact me to issue a refund. So annoying, I haven’t shopped at GameStop much since that experience
happened to me, and i fucked them up Right there and got refund and kept the game!
That’s crazy. I don’t think GS employees on military bases can do those practices they normally do because they have a huge contract with AAFES and if they do scumy stuff they could lose that contract.
I agree, this happened to me last week I bought a brand new switch game the guy says it’s new but I have to put a seal on it I said but then it’s not new he said no one has played it therefore it’s new I said so if I buy a brand new game that is sealed walk outside open the game come back on you would give me full credit as if it’s new he said no because that would be used because it’s opened I said your doing the same thing he says but it hasn’t been played I said neither would of the copy I took outside and opened then I told him keep your game I will go to Walmart and get it 10 dollars cheaper anyways.
Man these guys are caught red handed and still.
@@ImpalaSSRulz21 they dont care bro.
I can't count how many times I got a "new" game at GameStop and there was a sticker instead of plastic. Never even crossed my mind. Guess I was just one more sucker kid to them.
Its not open for employees to take home 99.9% of the time, its because they keep their games behind the counter for theft protection. A plastic wrap means nothing to me, I wouldn't say its a "sucker thing" at all. if you need 'sealed in plastic', there are 5 other places to buy games instead. Money talks.
-- my only real issue i have had is if you buy used games online you cant see what they offer you - no one forces you to buy any game IN their store in person - dont like a copy they have? Then walk away. simple. But used online they send games with no case, etc... You never know what you'll get. You have no way to say no to that copy except go return it. That's something they should tell you before hand.
Sometimes when i go to gamestores they say stuff like "arent you a little young to care about these games" and when i went to get smash bros ultimate i couldn't get it cause i was 1 year to young at the time
I hate that game stop throws all of the cases away for ds and 3ds games. "Due to lack of store space"
Bruh, guess I know why my OOT case is a shitty black case with a reprint of the original cover art
But hey, we have room for all those dummy cases for the latest games on the floor!
I could be wrong, but I think they stopped doing that. It seems like they changed that sometime around when there was that Resident Evil Revelations misspelling on the spine. I'm probably wrong though.
Oh I hate that too, what’s worse is that some of the employees give you a bad attitude customers.
Same. I opt to buy those types of games on eBay. I need the case. I want the case. And will RARELY buy a game that doesn’t have original case. Unless it’s a too good to be true deal, that’s actually true lol
Shady ass company. I was a store manager with them for almost 10 years. I left back in 2015 when they went even more down the toilet. Best decision of my life
I never really had a bad experience at my local Gamestop. The employees over there are always friendly and dont ever come off as obnoxious or constantly try selling me anything. I guess it's different for everyone, but I've always had consistently good experiences.
Same
same
At mine the employees are nice and we Live in a small town and I personally know the employees the only problem i have is the factory sealed games smh
Same they won’t rush too try and sell it to me
Same, for pkm stuff they always gave me extra stuff like extra codes for legendaries I could use. The employees were generally cool
Im legit angry about that factory seal story. Don't sell me something as new, and it's not even factory seal.
Why does going in to a GameStop feel like a soulless trip compared to a retro game store? Can even Reggie help? Ever had a bad experience in a game store?
Bro just stop buying from them, I gave up on them years ago, ebgames is a joke!
My bad experience from Gamestop was when I preordered Halo CEA for Xbox 360 and I put all the money down on it, when I went to go and pick it up, the employee said I didn't put any of the money down or preordered, he charged me full price and I got pissed. I never went back there again after that shady practice.
I remember there used to be EB Games in America around the mid to late 90's they were mostly in shopping malls but their store was much better than GameStop that's for sure.
@@josecarlos11 😂
Where are you from that they have to put Recycled instead of Used? In the US they just put used. They do that bullcrap with new games here as well! How is opening the game and getting rid of the shrink wrap still make it new? I know nobody has played it yet but come on! GameStop might have some amazing deals sometimes, but their practices are just plain disgusting!
Ok just saying, I work for EB and let me clarify some of your points. At least for my store.
1. We always "gut" the last copy we have of a game in order to have the case out on the floor. No one ever brings these home to play them or anything like that. The games are kept in files behind the counter. We unfortunately just dont have enough display cases for every game we get in the stores for customers. (I do think you should get like a 10% discount though if you get the last copy.)
2. I believe they sell sealed copies as used in order to kinda reinforce trust in used games. Or gotten cheap in bulk. But 100% our ones we always get in are actually cheaper to buy used than brand new. It's honestly always a really good deal. Majority of the time we don't even break the plastic factory seals and you still get the game like 30% cheaper than what we sell brand new for the same game. Donno what you're really going on about for this point...
3. This is a EXTREMELY rare case. It's only when literally something wrong happened to the case of the game. You should only really do that for used games. I've only seen it done like twice for new copies of games and it was just because the actual cases on the floor were stolen. Either way, we do tell the customer before they buy it that the case is made by us.
4. ????? I have no idea about this one. That's a very store by store situation. No one does that in my store, it's very odd. We do recommend preordering for indie games though, because we legit only get like 1 copy of rarer games on release day. It sucks.
5. THIS IS ILLEGAL, WHAT. I legit heard this as a horror story about an employee doing this at another location and getting fired for that. No way should anyone be doing that, big yikes. But yea they really do force us to push selling the game protection, but nooo way can they just add extra charges like that without your consent first.
Thanks for commenting about your experiences. I think some of this is bad employees but others are company decisions which are baffling
One time, I was at GameStop with my mom, and the lady working there asked us if we had a power up reward card. We said no, because we didn't want one, but she said okay, I'll get that set up for you. She started trying to sign us up for a paid rewards card, while not mentioning to us that it cost any money. I knew better though, and had to directly tell her that I did not want to sign up for a card. This is what I get for trying to buy a video game at GameStop
And employees feel forced into these situations and doing these things which feel terrible. If they just allowed their employees to be Gamers and talk about games the experience would be a lot better
This reminds me of a time when I was in the Pink Store as a teenager and a lady tricked me into applying for a credit card by making it sound like a regular reward card. While filling out the application, I asked why it needed my social security number and she said I could skip it if I wasn't comfortable. Obviously I got denied due to insufficient information (the denial letter is how I found out it was a credit card).
Maybe management bullied her, but actually doing it is optional. She could have chosen to start looking for other jobs instead of preying on a teenage girl who didn't have a parent within earshot.
Nintendo Collecting assumptive close is normally strong as a sales method but that is not what they have done or ever do. If gamestop hadn’t developed the culture they have and they focused on training sales people versus clerks with achieve or guillotine targets they might have been able to develop rapport with people and actually show the value of services in a way that wouldn’t poison the well. instead they have a scam or get out method that lacks credibility.
and they tend to do the heavy pitch right as something has hit a bump in the transaction aka the reason the customer is even there. The only reason i turn my contempt for that company from a 9 down to a 4 is i understand that it is just a job to these people, however you choose to work at a place take some pride and ownership to do your job or move on.
i have sold 1000’s of warranties priducts and services at companies like staples and best buy, henrys camera shop. the american ones are the most tunnel visioned on services and warranties, henrys was a nice place to work the others there was pressure every day for measurables. the fact is they had training and systems to do that in a fair way if you put the effort in. Gamespot is and had only been concerned with the measurables. by hook or by crook more the latter there.
Why would i want that? what exactly happens What do you personally gain by me doing / buying this? Everyone has the loyalty card now. I tell them are you going to give me %30 back in my purchases like shoppers does? or $50-60 preorder games no deposit fully cancellable like amazon.ca does? are you going to let me hold a sale item and pickup tomorrow with zero hassling like best buy does? are you going to price match without hassle like best buy and walmart does?
are you going to sell me a plastic sealed factory fresh copy like everyone else does without hassle?
no so why would i want any of your loyalty bullshit, for 10% off chachkis i didn’t want.
gamestop are failing because they are bad, and digital has accelerated the situation for them. most people that have bad experiences just don’t go back, its part of why they are so obsessed with their surveys recently. but it is too late whether they bleed out before or after next gen or whether some stores remain in canada much like toys r us, which is a company that deserved to stay. i still expect ebgames to go in our market they have a bad culture a bad view to customer service and horrible business practices top to bottom. they have only worsened in the 23 years i have been spending my own cash on games and in the 7 my son has been around to love the hobby, which i will be honest involves him never going to their stores period, so he will have no misplaced nostalgia when they are gone.
Another shady practice they do with the NEW games is they’ll claim it’s a new copy you’re ordering from the website, yet you don’t know if it’s factory sealed until you get it at your doorstep. This literally happened to me several times. Even twice, they sent me a “new” game in a USED GameStop printed case! I hope they die for their own good soon.
"I drove HALF AN HOUR to this Game Stop!" Best part of the video, hands down
That was his first mistake 😂
He could have called or went on the app to have the game held. They will tell him if the game is sealed.
I laugh because that's normal for me. There isn't a closer GameStop than 30 minutes away.
Remember they started doing this 3 -4 years ago
Pfff, that ain't nothing. I drove over an hour in a thunderstorm to a Best Buy to get River City Girls just for them not to have it lol. The website said they had 2 copies! I was piiiiiiissed
I stopped shopping at GameStop years ago, no regrets. Never had any of these experiences mentioned in the video, but many other unpleasant experiences overall and hearing about these and similar stories made me not want to spend my money there. If I need physical copies of games it's eBay, social marketplaces like Facebook/Craigslist, thrift stores or a local Game store which I'm fortunate to have two different ones in my area independently own and not connected to Gamestop or it's parent company.
Last time I bough a game at GameStop was 2017. Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and online retailers are my go to now.
If you can or your device has the storage space, buy digital. The developers make more money that way. On average, a physical copy will net a dev about 50%. While most online sales will be closer to 70%, depending on their deal with their online publisher after the storefront takes their cut for hosting.
Source: Aspiring Indie Unreal Dev.
Agreed. My local Walmart sells games for 10 dollars less.
Not defending gamestop but I went to buy Uncharted 3 for like $2 in a dummy case with a 4 game promo so I just thought what the heck. So at the check out counter when they get u your discs the cashier pulpulled out a mint condition game of the year edition of Uncharted 3. So sometimes there may be a diamond in the rough.
Sadly that situation is rare. I got steelcase of MW2 when I bought used awhile back.
I ordered a used copy of Red Dead Redemption: GoTY Edition, ended up getting a copy that still had the Microsoft seal on it, was pretty happy with that.
Something similar happened to me, I went to buy dark souls 2 on PS3 and it was only like 15 bucks and the dude asked me if I wanted a steelbook for it. But yeah they are still shady as hell.
I stopped going into GameStop after I bought Shadow of War “new” on Black Friday and it was already opened like you’re describing. I think people who dislike that is much higher than 5%... GameStop is terrible. How they are still open and running is beyond me. They are the most anti consumer company I can think of which is crazy because their business model requires the exchange of old games for new. Power to the players my ass.
Well there’s Walmart, Microsoft, and Amazon. GameStop is global but not that big enough to survive long term. Amazon, Microsoft, and Walmart are much bigger and just done as much shitty business practices if not more than GS, the only difference is is that they get away with much more.
Walmart charges 10 dollars less on brand new release games to. Pretty cool. Other than that though I prefer to shop elsewhere.
if the box is already open is not new .That’s why I stop buying games at game stop.
Haven't been to that store in forever. Great video!
@@tasherxx_ they have 11 mil lol
I remember when a gamestop employee renewed my power up pro card with some of my store credit without even asking me.
This is why I just buy my switch games at Walmart
Nick Micallef no brainer. 10 bucks cheaper.
I do the same. Plus Walmart sells new games for $50. 🙂
Chrono Speed and they are actually new haha
I usually get my games at bestbuy.
And it’s always cheaper... and I hate Walmart...
I have this gut feeling that these practices will stop soon, as gamestop might be gone soon.
I have got a very nice Photoshop edit surprise waiting for when gamestop closes for good.
It will be a Photoshop edit of their logo and instead of saying GameStop, it will read "GameOver."
the CEO George Sherman will have to pay me to take this Photoshop edit down once it is released.
@@mathewmclean9128 Can't wait to see it
i really hope not, here in italy it's basically the only place to buy games
@@achii808 that's a shame
Nope. Coming from an investor, things are looking up.
I dont shop at gamestop any more after what they did to their employees during covid i dont shop there. Theyre pretty shady all around and I dont need to shop at gamestop for video games there are tons of other places suppor local retro gaming stores.
The whole "used game as new" thing was what got me. I've shopped at Gamestop a few times since and seems like every time I want a new sealed game they never have them. "It is new," they say. It's not new if it's opened and unsealed. Even purchasing on eBay you have to be careful as some sellers "reseal" their games and try to pass them off as new.
I was figuratively laughed out of a GameStop for asking if they had PS2 games in the middle of the PS3 generation.
That would’ve been around 2009, my Gamestops would still have PS2/GCN/Xbox games. Weird.
Someone probably already said it but it should also be illegal to put the price sticker on the game cover itself and not on the plastic protector. I bought Super Mario Sunshine a while back and they put the sticker on the actual cover and when I removed it, it took some of the art off the cover!! So infuriating for a game collector
The whole game being open but it's brand-new is the reason why I stopped buying at GameStop my video games, I'd rather go to Target and pay full price.
Moral of the story, stop shopping at GameStop.
I started buying my games at Walmart or best buy nowadays.
I honestly only get games at GameStop anymore if there’s like a poster or something with it
Start going to game force
I get my games from the playstation store or bestbuy it depends
Dude, stop going there! Those practices are insane but you keep funding it by returning
Exactly, vote with your wallet. If its a big enough deal where it effects their bottom line, then that gives them the most incentive to change. But if you are going to complain but keep going back they have no reason to change because they still are getting your money at the end of the day.
In many areas GameStop is the only Game Store available for many people :/
What areas have only a gamestop but not a walmart, best buy, target, etc? Gamestop does not have a monopoly here, not by a long shot. Even so, you can order things in the mail. Best buy even has free shipping. Amazon prime offers free shipping and fast delivery as well. There's of course eBay and Amazon aftermarket where they have money back guarantees as well. For Lithium in particular, he also absolutely has alternative storefronts he can use, he's talked about them in the past.
I can go on and on but I think you get the point.
😂
I was thinking the same thing 😂😂
From what I saw a few years ago. Some of the stores actually had the plastic shrink wrap packaging and would re package as "factory new" until people started realizing that they were resealing games with the plastic shrink wrap.
My experience/story with GameStop is a bit different. See, I went in knowing I was buying a used game with a generic box. I got a copy of Metroid Prime 3 for around $12, and I was quite happy with that. But...
I got home to discover that the inside of the generic case was covered in dry vomit, and it smelled horrible. I had to spend around half an hour carefully cleaning it and the disc, and even to this day I've missed a spot in a corner. I keep it in a generic CD case.
Imagine a game box sitting on a shelf with that inside of it, for months. Nobody ever checked. Nobody ever cleaned. Nobody picked up a bottle of Lysol and took the time to sanitize their cases.
It's a good thing I'm never buying another Wii game again, since my Wii U is hacked and my Switch is running Linux for Dolphin.
No wonder they only have stores in North America. This stuff wouldn't fly in a country like Germany where I'm from or the UK where I live.
Actually, GameStop is doing business in Germany. From my experiences with my local store they're not as bad as described in the video, but still one of the worst places to shop for games.
Not factory-sealed "new" games are a thing here too, prices in general are at the upper end of the scale, used copies of current games are ridiculously overpriced (like, often times they're still more expensive than a new, sealed copy at other places which are literally 2 minutes down the road).
The only reason I still see to go there from time to time are used copies of older games where obscurity and low demand cancel out rarity, so they're actually sold for a reasonable price (though it's saddening to imagine how ridiculously low the trade-in price must have been).
It feels like they're surviving on merch and ruining the second hand market, with ripping off both, buyers and sellers...
I bought Pikmin 3 from Gamestop back in April for $15 and they SCAMMED me, because the disc was permanently broken.
You should go back and complain and get a real copy.
@@douglasmelendez1796 I don't need to because the game will be coming to the Switch.
Lol
Fun Fact: Back when Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon came out, I had gone to a GameStop ((back when I had GameStop as my main source for games, now I go to either Target or Walmart, whichever is cheaper)) to buy a copy of Dark Moon, and when I got back in the car... there was no cartridge in the case. I can't even begin to lie about this, there was literally no cartridge in the case. Thankfully, the one I used to go to was pretty chill, so I went back in, told the employee what had happened, and brought back a copy with the cartridge inside. I wasn't charged for the replacement, thankfully, but even still, that's just something I've ONLY had happen at a GameStop. The last time I purchased anything from GameStop was a pre-owned copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was about... a month or so ago? I only ever use GameStop as a "last resort" type of deal these days.
I used to say I'd never had a problem gamestop, but my last few trips made me change my mind about them.
I've ordered new games on line from them before and never had any trouble, if I ordered used sometimes I'd get the bad case but I usually didn't mind so much if I ordered actually used. Last time they had a sale I ordered some games new and 2 out of 3 of them were opened. It honestly wasn't too big of a deal for me and the games were cheap, but you'd better believe I contacted their customer service and had them correct it. The used games were cheaper, I either wanted a refund of the difference or a new copy. They actually went through the trouble of getting me new, sealed copies - though now I wonder if they just sealed them up theirselves and sent them back. Still more work and money coming from them in the long run I guess.
In regards to upselling me things, they usually didn't try to hard with me which I appreciated. They'd ask the stuff they had to ask and I'd say no and that'd be it. I do remember buying a game once (can't remember which, sorry) and they asked if I wanted some DLC. I asked "what's in that?" and they looked it up and they were like "Oh, it's just a bunch of costumes. You don't want that" and it was already off the table.
So I guess definitely do not order online in any circumstances and always go into a store if you have to. Though, the one closest to me went out of business and while I did like the employees there, I don't really shed a tear for the business itself.
I certainly care if i am buying a new game at full price that has been previously opened. They have done that at my local GS too. I go to buy something and they give me this unwrapped copy. I then refuse and buy it at Target or Amazon. That is very shady.
No worries. GameStop will go the way of Blockbuster before long. Can’t wait
TheGanjaFarmer except I actually liked blockbuster
blockbuster was great tho
As an ex-employee of gamestop I have seen several instances where the fake cover art was needed as either the game was traded in without a case or the case was so heavily damaged (water, burnt, corroded, or mystery substance that couldn't be cleaned off) an we was forced to print a new cover art for the games. Plus trying to sell used over new is a tactic to lower the amount of used copies that are in stock, as it may have 5 new vs 70 used copies and the store gets better numbers if the used is sold until the point where only the new is left. Which I have seen many getting fired for selling the new version instead of the used version, it was actually threatened that if more used was not sold over new, then cutbacks would be in the very near future for all of us employees.
I spent 60 bucks on legend of Zelda Collection edition for gamecube and it was just the disc that made me kind of mad because I didn’t even get a case that I find bogus
I could see this happening if it was online by then you're just taking a risk. But I would be pretty mad to not even get a replacement case
Samething happened to me last week. I ordered Mario party 6 and Pokemon XD and it was just the discs in some cd sleeves packaged inside ziplock bags. Only bought them from GameStop because they are way cheaper than market place but at the cost of no case and that nasty white residue left in the middle of the games.
isaac gutierrez I hate when that happens
Used to work at The Source for 4 years... Worked at 3 stores.... Ipt was a big part of the job, protection plans, credit card and the worst, Cellphones and Bell services.... I dont want to work in sells anymore because it made me uncomfortable a lot... These practices should stop.... Shoving unwanted items or services down customers throat is the worst..... Thanks for your video!
7:13 it’s illegal to trade in sealed games to Gamestop because there’s a chance they could be stolen. So GameStop will not accept any sealed games as trade ins in their store. Even if you walk out of the store and come back in with it opened, if they saw it sealed they won’t take it that day. I worked at a GameStop in NY and we had to turn away people with sealed games all the time because a lot of drug dealers lived in the area.
But yea, their business practices are really shady. I once got a “new” 3ds game that had a sale file on it.
They sell they “gut” games so there’s a copy on the wall so people know what they have in stock. Like you said they can just print covers so I don’t know why they don’t just put the printed ones on the wall. I once preordered a niche Japanese game (Faye Extella Link) and it was so obscure they only got the one copy I ordered, but the person working didn’t know it was for a preorder so they gutted it. I refused to buy it.
But did you buy a new 3ds or a new new 3ds?
Erin Roberts I didn’t buy a system I bought a game
Can confirm. I once mistakenly bought a second copy of Project Diva F 2nd off Amazon and sat on it for too long, missing the return window. It was still sealed, so I thought I could probably get a decent trade-in value at GameStop but was told the same thing (plus they were totally suspicious of my story; I guess I don't blame them, but it was just carelessness). Had to unwrap it and bring it back the next day. At least they had the game I had intended to buy in the first place (the original Project Diva F).
Sarah Mitchell whenever it happened to me I just kept it sealed and sold it new on eBay since new games are worth way more than GameStop’s shitty trade in prices
@@TheDreadedZero That's what I would have done these days. I learned to sell on ebay recently, and I definitely should have started sooner, as I've made way more in two months than I've made on trade-ins my entire life. I'll still take collectibles I don't want to bother with to Half Price Books just to get something rather than nothing (I like their business practices, so I support them when I can), but I just sold a Funko Pop set for $124 yesterday after a store offered me $5.
Selling on ebay and craigslist is a WAY better option IMO. Since Craislist lets you skip the fees, so I always list stuff there as well just in case!
This is why even as a kid I never bought “new” games from GameStop unless I preordered a game. If the game was open I’d just get a used copy, make sure I liked the game, then return it and buy new somewhere else. Great video man, completely agree! Also saw a comment below which I agree with, I buy all new games at Walmart for $10 cheaper than other stores.
"Alright, the first thing they are doing that is definitely illegal in my opinion." lol
I disagree with the gutting policy, when we could just as easily have display boxes with cover art rather than gutted game boxes on the shelves, however gamestops model is to reduce costs by guitting games for display. Policy does state we can borrow games, however it's very rare that people do. I have done so maybe twice since I started working for gamestop, and I've only borrowed Used Games that we have at least 3 copies of. I do not know if our borrowing policy allows for borrowing of new software, but I would agree that would no longer be a new title if It was actually lent out like that. Sticker Sealed games like that however are a negative side effect of the gutting policy, and more often than not it is our display copy of the game. We make sure that people know that before proceeding with the sale at our location. Usually people are still fine with it, but there is the occasional customer, usually a collector, who plans to keep a potentially rare game sealed.
SKU conversions from new to used happen. That's a thing. usually it's a situation where a game is out of production, and not selling well, also usually happens when they are NOT going to be getting anymore copies. Cutting their losses on the sale of the new sku, it's changed to used, so that on paper it looks like profit. 9/10 times it is just to inflate numbers for shareholders. There's no actual profit gains here. The only game I heard of anything like that happening with outside of the regular sku conversion, was a few stores that still had new copies of Super Mario Galaxy 2 moved them to used on their own, but that was a while back and as far as I knew a fairly isolated incident. If we have a sku conversion though, we usually gut whats needed for the shelf and leave the rest sealed, because customers actually like the surprise new but used price games.
Game cases, yea, we print our own box art for games that come in with destroyed or missing box art. Here in the states, it's a really generic box art. Because we aren't sent nice fancy images for box art for every game on the planet. So it gets a generic box. We sell the legit boxes first if we have a mix of either. But we also don't even have the fancy fake box art like that, if we did, I'm sure we would probably just end up handing out whatever we grab first. Because unless you decide to actually look, it passes as just fine on a cursory glance to someone who has been spending all day grabbing game boxes for people. No one is intentionally switching them out on you. On top of that, as a consumer, pay attention. If you want a specific game case, just ask for it. More often than not the individual behind the counter is going to oblige, because worse case scenario, we need to print a new price sticker for the other box. In the case of New Super Mario Bros U + Luigi nonsense, that is literally someone making a mistake, not realizing they grabbed the wrong game out of the drawer. This is just pointing out human error and calling it trickery. This is another case of pay attention, people are fallible, and you need to make sure your getting what you intended to get. I've made this mistake before, and have caught myself, and my co workers making this exact mistake. We're doing this all day, and mistakes happen.
Claiming to be sold out of new, and only having used, when you are not in fact sold out is a fireable offense. If someone is doing that, their a scumbag, and it's against policy. You catch someone doing that, you inform the store manager, or if it's him, get the district leads name and number, or corporates number and report it. We're encouraged to offer the pre owned version if we have it on hand. But we should not be lying a bout it. Same with adding the protection without your consent, that can and will get people fired. We are pressured to sell as many as possible, but we are also told POINT BLANK, never do do that. These both are signs of really shitty people doing shitty things. These are not examples of gamestop as a whole.
But, for someone with so many negative things to say about the company you seem to be giving them more than your fair share of patronage.
I don't agree with all of gamestops policies, and I down right HATE some of them. But your shitting on the company and it's employees as a whole for things that are out of their control, are genuin mistakes, or only done by shitty people who should be fired. We have a lot of repeat business with a large group of people at our store, because we go out of the way to do our best for the people that come through our location.
Funny how he complains but yet he still buys
When stores were closed during quarantine I ordered botw when they had a sale. I ordered a new copy and paid online and they gave me a used copy when I picked it up and told me that it was new but that it was a display copy. Told me it was the last one and resfused to give me a new copy. I paid full price for a used copy. That's a filthy practice they like to do. Also I knew the copy was in fact actually used because the cartridge had scratches on it.
I’m an inspector for the Consumer Protection Bureau in my city. My advice to anyone that’s been jipped by this would be to contact your local CPB (it could also be called “Consumer Affairs” or something similar, depending on the city/county you’re in.) Most bureaus have a law or code called “Deceptive Trade” that these occurrences would fall under. You can file a complaint with your bureau and they can straighten the situation out for you and/or hit the store with fines and violations.
Just be sure to have a bit of patience with whoever you’re dealing with. Most inspectors are going to be older than I am, and probably aren’t lifelong gamers like me either, so you may have to walk through what’s happening to explain it to them. Take pictures, keep receipts, hold onto any proof you have that there’s a violation happening. If you’re submitting an online complaint, make sure you put in EVERY detail, even the names of who you spoke with. (ALWAYS get a name.)
As a gamer, husband to a gamer/collector, and someone who’s always felt suspicious of what Gamestop does, I’d love nothing better than to run up in those stores and set’em straight, but I’d need a reason to do it. A good complaint gives me a green light. So if you think something’s going on, let us take a look, it’s what we’re here for.
Hope this helps.
Good to know.
Plus GameStop preowned Nintendo switch games are only 5 dollars off... that’s a rip off it should be 10 or 15 dollars off
For me it was about 20 bucks off for a pre owned one in my area for the 300 dollar one. My bad i thought it was consoles. But yes, game wise is a bit dumb yes. Wal-Mart offers physicals for about 10 bucks off
Nintendo games keep their value lol...that is not gamestops fault .
@@Williamscottboes U said it's for pre owned nintendo switch games . So I was assuming u meant Nintendo games themselves . Not just switch games in general . But any thing Nintendo holds value so it's Nintendo brand it's rarely cheap . But I also buy a ton of used games . But u have to buy them on sales buy 2 to get 2 free, but 3 get 2 free....etc..that is when the value is there for a used game .
Or 20 dollars off
I remember getting Sonic Colors as a gift, but when I opened it up, it was the Wii version of Sonic Unleaahed. It was sold as used, but intending to buy a specific game and ending up with a completely different one is another problem that GameStop has.
I guess my local GameStops here in Oklahoma are insulated from most of the BS. Everywhere but here seems to have these problems. But we are their test market for the 2.0 stores so I suppose that makes sense.
Your story about Torna is very similar to my experience. I ordered a NEW copy of it online and was shipped a loose copy in a used box without the original cover. I had to spend 2 hours on hold to force them to ship me an unopened one.
That's just a losing strategy and that they're losing buyers
I was charged new game price for a Wii U game that was already opened. The only reason why I paid was because I couldn’t find a copy of it anywhere at any of the other game stores.
I've experienced this myself when buying a new game at GameStop... They tried to sell me the case from the display put the game in and tried to sell it to me as new all the while they actually had a sealed copy there.. I've experienced this multiple times at GameStop and that's why I don't buy my new games there
I'm insanely happy my GameStop seems pretty cool. Every time they try to force it into a printed off case I ask if I can get it in the main game case and they always do it. I feel like if the employees were able to do what they want, rather than listen to the higher ups, they would be more than willing to help you out with anything.
My mother bought me Luigi’s mansion, ssbm, and super Mario sunshine. All were unreadable. Instead of giving her working copies, they tried to upsell her some “disc cleaning solution” that didn’t even work. This was over a decade ago.
Last month, I walked into a GameStop and asked for a DS3. Associate told me he hadn’t seen one in his store yet until the day I walked in. Seemed really happy to be selling it to me. Got home and both sticks were broken, had mad drift.
I remember them selling me a used copy of xenblade chronicles 2 without a case for full price ( which i soon regretted to the point of buying a custom case for the game on etsy)
I didn't even get into that issue
The first one happened to me. I went to GameStop to buy a brand new copy of Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes. I grabbed the box, labeled new, off the shelf, and I went up to the counter to check out, thinking he would exchange this box for a brand-new, factory-sealed copy. The employee went into one drawer, pulled out the game card, put in my box and proceeded the check out process. When I asked if it was truly a brand-new game, he told me that they kept the actual game behind the counter because if somebody attempted to shoplift a game, that person would only get away with the box and not the actual game. He also told me that the copy he just gave me was the last "new" copy, so it was that or a used a copy. Fortunately, GameStop's algorithm must have messed up, for the new copy was going for less than the used copy, so I figured even if it was used, I was still getting a good deal. Now that I think about it, that's the last game I bought from GameStop. Besides, Best Buy has a better rewards program.
Funny story: I bought a standard version of a game, but what they did is putting the more expensive Deluxe version in it (With all the online codes). So I payed the normal price for the deluxe edition :D
Sometimes things go your way and you happily accept
This happened to me also I bought Zelda twighlight princes for the Wii and in the box was the game for the Wii U
I worked at a Software Ect. and Babbages under the Gamestop umbrella. Letting employees check out games for 3 days was a normal practice, there is a section in the daily log book where we recorded daily sales for employee check outs and discount tracking. Because Gamestop doesn't have display boxes, and the displays are just opened/sleeved new games there wasn't an issue coming from corporate's stand point. Consider it a perk of the job. That's a Gamestop thing, EB Games was bought by Gamestop after I left the company, which would explain as to why this was something you "heard" other managers or stores were allowing employees to do.
I thought I was the only one who bitched about the “new” opened game thing. Thank God I’m not crazy. I stopped shopping at GameStop because of this.
They pulled that one on me once. I bought the Hitman reboot. It was the Steelbook edition if I recall correctly. I took the one on the shelf and brought it to the counter. The employee searched his Xbox One drawers and couldn't find a sealed copy. Instead, he took a sealed enveloppe, took out a game and a bunch of codes and put them in the case I first brought. I knew the guy so I let it go but it was the last time they did this to me. That moment happened when I was with my mom. They tried that again later when I was with my father. I noticed it and told them that I didn't want the game if they didn't have it factory sealed. They gave me some bs but my father had none of it. He told them that trying this kind of things on 15 year old customers is illegal and morally wrong. The owner of the store (or something like that, I don't know how Gamestop works and it happened almost 3 years ago) sold me another game and put a discount on it if I remember.
I just go to Lukie Games to be honest. Ive given up on Gamestop. All they want is your money and they dont give you good value on trade ins which is suppose to be their thing. Just go to Amazon Ebay, or Facebook buy or wherever. Why would I go to Gamestop to buy RE3 for the Xbox one for 50 dollars or whatever when I can get it for 30 on Ebay.
In the UK we have a company called game and that do most of this i can't stand shopping for games in game
Cex tends to be better tbh
i worked at gamestop within the past 2 years and never seen a recycled sticker; I have seen them take clearance games that are sealed and just convert the 6 digit SKU to the pre-owned version. Then they'll open it up and move it to the pre-owned/used drawers.....they cannot print authentic looking cover art - they are sent a bunch to advertise in fake boxes and then will sometimes use them to sell used copies that are traded in with no case at all (if they go through the trouble of holding onto them). The ONLY cover art they can print is generic as hell with no artistic appeal. The company policy states "employees can borrow games for 4 days to study them" in a sense...so yes, the process goes that ONE new copy must be "gutted" to display it on the floor after it's release. Some General Managers are honorable enough to not let anybody borrow that brand new copy but it's definitely usually enforced NOT to steal the digital codes inside. Nobody is trained to discount the price but YOU have the option to treat it as if they don't have a new copy and then wait for them to get on in for you. It's true thats why they sell pre-owned for only 5 dollors less - they don't make much off of new product. gamestop is just a vessel for a lot of things and it hasn't evolved with everything else and will PROBABLY go out of business very soon. Take advantage of how to shop there correctly (pro day sales for example) while you thank the employees after you decline doing a GPG, PRP or Reservation.....and it'll crumble on its own.
I worked at Gamestop for 8 years. The circle seal thing did suck, but most people don't care. And honestly only die hard collectors usually cared. When I was asm i would knock 10 percent off if someone complained. And just so you know, some store did allow play of new games for research, some didn't. But it was fully sanctioned by the company for testing purposes as well as keeping people from stealing.
Now the Xenoblade/Metroid prime thing you are off on. The initial run on those games sold out completely. No stores had new copies converted over to used. Trust me I searched inventories. What did happen, Nintendo apparently did reprint the games. Its why Xenoblades box is different interior molding and why Prime came in a plastic box. Those copies were all opened at the factory and when shipments did come, they were opened. Last Story also had a second printing that did ship normal and was new without the collector version. I personally did think it was fucked up, but I already had my copies before the reprint.
If you bought a used game, art is never guaranteed. The Mario Galaxy is used. If you wanted the other copy, you should have asked. Also, we were never allowed to take sealed games on trade without a receipt. And even then that copy was opened up. Now its been a few years since I worked there, but in all the time I worked there sealed games weren't allowed as trade.
With the double games and you only get one? That might be a mistake or the other game didn't get traded. That happened a lot with those two games. Check the price label. It will tell you. Also preorders. 75 percent of the time, you don't need to preorder. Niche games, you have too. Most times we will really only get one copy of a game if there were no preorders and when we sold out, they were gone. Never understood the hate on this. You want a game, preorder it. It goes toward the price and these days you get extras.
Btw beyond the xeno/Metroid this which is shady, nothing is illegal. Like seriously, be your own advocate. Every store is different, as is every district and region. I was in one of the busiest regions which included NYC?NJ.
I really don’t understand why any store would ever gut a video game. Let’s be real, the research thing is crap. No one would research a game they don’t like if they didn’t have to so realistically GameStop is just giving their employees a free rental service. I don’t buy new games from GameStop for that very reason.
@@daruckus85 @Nando Rivera if the game is completely sealed it's new. The research thing aside, it's also a form of theft control. If you can play ant game you want, why steal it. But bare in mind many stores don't allow new game take outs. And honestly, I haven't worked there for a few years, and if I get the opened copy, I really don't care if I wasn't thre game. It's a disc and if there the codes that might have come with work, I don't see the problem.
I feel the same way about preordering. If you want that plastic around the game, preorder. If you think you wanna play that game, preorder. You don't even have to buy it in the end you can always cancel and get your money back.
I used to work at game (UK equivalent to GameStop) and the reason they have unsealed games as new is so they can display the box on the shelf. They can't put a sealed game on a shelf as it can easily be stolen and real boxes are put out or "gutted" for display only. It doesn't mean the game isn't new and it's only 2 cases per game
Luckily at my GameStop (closed years ago) didn’t take the games out and “test” them they were good I think that’s why they closed they were the only good one
I am gonna be honest none of these never happen at my local game stop
I live in California
Old video, but still
They sent me a broken copy of Twilight Princess on gamecube and refused to refund it
I had any issues the other day at my local GameStop. I noticed with the GameStop app, it started to automatically spend the first 5000 points for a $5 off any item on store. As I got to buy and item and use the coupon that is clearly in my inbox that I have access to barcode and code and all.... the manger proceeds to tell me since my pro membership was expired, I couldn’t use it. So when I asked, if I can’t use the coupon, why would I have access to it? Especially if your app automatically does it? He legit shuddered and had no excuse, just discounted my item (still didn’t use my coupon).
Sometimes the computer likes to be stupid and not let us use the coupons but you can totally use it!
“Leave a comment if you’ve had a bad experience with GameStop”. Hoo boy, this comments section about to look like an email to H.R.
They also offer "free shipping on orders over 35 dollars". Yet every time I went to check out a fee was included. I had agents try to place an order, it got "cancelled" but in my order history it said "in progress" and was billed regardless. I was also told "shipping and handling fees are 2 different things". I've been told to pay the fee (something advertised as free) and it would be refunded. Then told it would be done so at a later date after the games were delivered. I've been told they don't charge until the game is delivered but was still charged. It is a violation of FTC guidelines to charge for something you advertise as free. Don't expect the BBB to do anything.
I must be lucky these crazy things never happen at my GameStop. I most of the time only use them to put down five bucks for preorders. Too many times I tried to get a game else where Wal-Mart Best Buy etc sold out.
This doesn’t have anything to with a game or console, but one time a year ago me, my brother and dad went to a local GameStop. Of course my bro was excited because he’s a kid and games make him happy. We were about to check out and he backed up into a Pokémon card display, the cashier got pissed and put his hands on him. Nothing serious but he did push him. When my brother tried to help, that made the cashier more mad apparently. So my old man started getting at the cashier about his attitude, impatience and yelling at his child. Long story short, we stopped going there, and emailed a strongly cuss worded email to staff over at the GameStop.
So I just recently left my gamestop as an employee, yes they only care for numbers. I was up for promotion multiple times, but because my numbers on transaction and warranty were so low I always got told no.
That's the major issue with GameStop. If they removed the sales quotas and numbers for employees the staff would be much more genuine and welcoming to customers more like any other retro game store
@@NintendoCollecting i fully agree, it became more and more of hell. The job was fun and I really enjoyed working with the store owner and store manager, but small good versus the headache of numbers made me leave.
I live in Germany and what I noticed is that they don't update their prices. They sell their switch games for the initial launch price. Some games already dropped 10-20€ but they still keep the old price. Sometimes the prices of the used games that they sell are higher than the actual market price. There is no reason for me to buy from them then, when I could get the games from amazon or my local electronic store for much less instead. And if I want to go for a pre-owned copy, I'd just buy from ebay. Because I don't want to buy a used copy from gamestop that costs the same as a brand new one or even more.
When people return pokemon products they reseal them in the back room at gamestop, then sell it as a Factory sealed product online which should be illegal it's definitely a scam and someone should sue them.
I had one incident but it wasn’t too bad. They were selling USED Nintendo switch games above MSRP retail prices for NEW games. I asked him why the prices were so high, and they had no idea what I was talking about. I asked if they did price match, but they said no. I asked how many people brought this up. They said I’ve been the only one. Shocker. I then asked to speak to the manager about this “price gouging” business practice. They said that all of their prices were fair and that many people bought them used, higher than retail. Whatever. Left the store. No wonder they aren’t making any money
The “gutted” copies kills me as a switch collector.
My story is when I pre-ordered Brave Story, paid in full, for the PSP from GameStop. I had pre-ordered it because it was a smaller JRPG coming out and most other stores would not be carrying it. At first they couldn't find it when I went in to pick it up. Come to find out, they had opened it up and put it on the shelf to be sold. They already had my money and I was forced to accept the open copy as new.
I bought Mario hoops 3 on 3 At GameStop card only I wish that gamestop would not throw out the ds cases
When I worked for GameStop, we were able to borrow pre-owned games. With new titles we were told you “shuck” one of each new title. We would be the empty case out on the shelf, and keep a copy in a drawer in a white sleeve. If it was the last copy, we would sell the copy from the drawer and case it with the display on the wall.
Though, I’m not defending GameStop, they’re horrible. I just wanted to give my input.
I have had these things happen too. I have actually gone and bought the game I was looking for for a few more dollars somewhere else just so I didn't have to deal with them. Not a financially responsible thing to do, but piece of mind sometimes costs a few bucks. 😕
I think it's more financially irresponsible to give your money to a company with bad business practices just because they are cheaper. Spending a little more to support a company on principle still falls under financially responsible if you ask me.
If you're thinking about where your money is going instead of just how much it costs, you're already miles ahead of other people when it comes to responsibility.
My local Gamestop is great, I bought FF7 remake 2 weeks after the release and they gave me the Pre order bonus because they happened to still have some...also my kids are always getting free stuff from employees,Mario odyssey hat, ds stylists and stickers. I went in to get a used copy of zelda Breath of the Wild as a gift for my nephew, they gave me a sealed copy that came with the map for the same price as used $55ish if I remember right still sealed so I gave my nephew my copy and upgraded. I have never paid for Pro membership but somehow I have had it for 3 years now
“Power to the players” more like “power to us, the scammers”
I was looking for the SSB4 gamecube controller about a year after release. I checked the gamestop website and the controller didn't have the option to be labeled as used. So I go to a gamestop that had it and they gave me a clearly opened box that was resealed with several of those circle stickers. It was their last one. I took it home and the controller was bugged. I go to another gamestop that said it had one in stock to swap out for my current one. The lady behind the counter said "we actually have it used so you'll get some money back". She goes and gets it from the pre owned accessories rack. She looks at the bag confused for a sec as the price said it's new. She then "well I guess this controller is actually new then". The controller is in a bright red plastic bag with big white letters saying PRE-OWNED with the price sticker saying it's new. The only good thing that came from it is that the controller did work and works to this day.
New videos Wednesdays and Sundays 10:00 am EST! Silver Play Button is apparently on its way
I had an employee who kept trying to convince me to drop $5 to preorder Spider-man for PS4, even after i told him i wasn't interested, and that i don't like preorders because they encourage companies to release broken games, etc. I thought i had made myself perfectly clear about it, but when i looked at my receipt later, i noticed that i was charged $5 for a Spider-man preorder that i clearly did not want. I guess he was trying to boost his preorder numbers, but that can't be legal.
I never support gamestop/EBgames everything they do is terrible all their practices are awful the company should be shut down TBH.
I purely do digital now days
Last month I wanted to up my streaming game and purchase a PS4 camera but they were sold out everywhere. After searching for a few days I finally found one at a GameStop about a half hour away. When purchasing the employee took my information (including my phone number) for their rewards program. After that I went from 0 calls a day to at least 2 calls a day from random numbers I knew were scam calls. Thanks for selling my info, GameStop!
When I was a kid I used to steal games and accessories from gamestop and sell it back to them 🤣😂
Kids like you are the reason gamestop started doing this
This doesn't really happen in the UK
If you wanna buy new games you go to a store called "GAME" and if ur looking for used games you go to "CeX" . I've noticed some non-authentic covers too where the cover doesn't fully fit the case and looks like you could print at home but those are on display so they don't trick you buy swapping out the case in the back. What they're doing at gamestop is truly disgusting especially when trying to trick young kids or elderly people and essentially stealing their money.