273: Confessions of a GameStop Employee - Part One

[HellBrendy]

People don't understand why there are empty covers in the shelf? Really?

I can't really understand why one would complain about "gutting duty" either, it's really self explanatory that one would have to actually take the games out of the boxes.

 

[Vivace-Vivian]

Being someone who works in an EBgame (Australia's evuivelant. Funnily enough owned by gamestop) i cant wait till te subject of game guarentee's comes up. im always at odd's with my area manager because i feel if someone spends an extra 3-5 bucks on a game to basicly insure it with us, we should not give them a "USED" game as a replacement.

its ridiculous. I personally dont mind gutting but then im in one of few stores with a very small staff contingent in a rural area with a suprisingly large back room and its nice to relieve the tedium of dealing with hicks whom i have to explain why thier ps3 game is not working on thier computer.

You give them used ones?

I work at a Canada EB Games and if you buy new, you get a new replacement.

Hey, um, I live in Canada, and I noticed some of my beloved EB's have turned into Gamestops. Are you getting bought out?
[sub]Say it ain't so joe..[/sub]

We're already bought out. They just haven't changed us all yet.

 

[Dragoon226]

whether the box has been opened or not isn't necessarily the issue, its how the game was treated after it was "gutted". Normally it doesn't do any damage. People get pissed when the brand new game they get is so bad it wont even load.

Great article though, can't wait for the rest.

 

[Jenny Decimal]

I've worked in a couple of different game chains - I'm a high flyer, me - and they all gut to some extent. I wouldn't be too worried about the state of the boxes, but how the disc itself is treated afterwards varies to a huge degree. One chain I worked for put them in little cd sleeves, another simply elastic-banded the disc into the manual, and another shrink wrapped the disc into it. Of those, the latter option was the worst, it gives the disc itself enough room to float around in the manual and get scuffed. Banding is fine on the disc, but can make the manual look weird, and the CD sleeves are alright but absolutely guarantee you will never find the game your looking for when you need to.

It's worth asking for a mint copy if you're picky about that stuff, but by and large the gutted copies are the last resort anyway, so if they're giving you one of those, there probably aren't any wrapped copies left. 99% don't give a crap, the other 1% can be incredibly unreasonable about it.

Gamestop was pretty much the only chain I never worked for, but my experience of them as a customer would suggest that there is a huge inconsistency in quality of service from store to store. But as with anywhere else, it's all dependent on how much of a douchebag the managers are, and for whatever reason, Gamestop seems to hire an unusual proportion of douchebag managers. I don't know what kind of adult feels the need to chew the head off their employees in the middle of a busy store, but speaking a customer, I cannot believe how often I've seen it happen in Gamestop stores. That's my single biggest complaint with this store - their employees aren't always well informed, but so long as they get the job done, I don't mind. I sympathise with them, in fact. But nothing will send me running out of a store faster than seeing that kind of management bullying. It's just unnecessary, and it's a disgusting way to treat people just because you can.

I'm interested to see what "Ben" might have to say re: insurance. I'm not overly familiar with the Gamestop system, but I don't enjoy that part of any sale. I love games, I know what I'm talking about, and I don't mind saying I am a great salesperson, but that bit makes me feel like a con artist.

 

[Starke]

People don't understand why there are empty covers in the shelf? Really?

I can't really understand why one would complain about "gutting duty" either, it's really self explanatory that one would have to actually take the games out of the boxes.

It's more when the various stores fuck around and fuck the customers over using this. Such as selling damaged disks as new or selling disks without all the original content.

 

[Stevo_s]

I just bought a "gutted" new game the other day I didnt care. At all. I dont see why people would get pissed off about it. Its not like the GameStop employee or someone else around there is using the disc. It was just, there. So I'm part of that 99%.

 

[Senaro]

However, what I will say is that Gamestop has an awesome return policy on used games. Seven days, no questions asked. If you can't find a way to turn that into week long free rentals then you are doing something wrong.

there are limitations on that. had to deal with someone trying to get away with the same thing and our store manager denyed him a refund.

I've done it a few times with games that just weren't keeping. They never had a problem getting me a full refund. It's not like I come in returning a used game every week, so don't make a habit out of it or anything. It's great for just trying that one game you think might be good. If it's great, you keep it, if it's actually crap, get a refund and try again.

 

[justnotcricket]

I understand the gutting thing. It makes sense to me. What I don't understand is why people complain that a game isn't new when only the shrink wrap is off. To me as, long as the disc is pristine, I get an instruction manual, and the box isn't dented, it's new.

Pretty much this. To me, the only reason to get something in shrink wrap is if it's a 'collectible' that you can auction off for thousands in a few decades as being in 'mint condition'. since I actually want to *play* the game I buy, and therefore have to take the shrink wrap off myself, technically all the 'gutter' has done is save me a few seconds and the occasional bent fingernail.

Games are expensive anyway., even used ones. EB was selling pre-owned copied of MW2 for like NZ$130, which is still heaps. So long as the disk is clean and runs well and the box and instruction manual are tidy, I'm not going to waste blood pressure on it.

 

[The Journey]

Being someone who works in an EBgame (Australia's evuivelant. Funnily enough owned by gamestop) i cant wait till te subject of game guarentee's comes up. im always at odd's with my area manager because i feel if someone spends an extra 3-5 bucks on a game to basicly insure it with us, we should not give them a "USED" game as a replacement.

its ridiculous. I personally dont mind gutting but then im in one of few stores with a very small staff contingent in a rural area with a suprisingly large back room and its nice to relieve the tedium of dealing with hicks whom i have to explain why thier ps3 game is not working on thier computer.

Just where in Australia do you work? The local EB in my hometown is pretty good. It has very pretty girls on the register and a relatively good stock of games. They are also all gamers and that's great. I've found EB to be fairly good and for me, gutting isn't an issue as long as I get my DLC codes and the disk doesn't look like it's been put through a tumble-drier.

 

[N3mis]

Almost every game I have bought at gamestop has not been gutted. That's because in Norway they don't usually gut the boxes on the "sparkling" new video game. (maybe if the game they order are about 1-2 months old or used)

Edit: I don't even care about getting a gutted game in a "shrink cover"

 

[TimeLord]

Great article, we don't have a Gamestop in the UK (to my knowledge) but I just imagined you were working in my local Gamestation store because they sound exactly the same!

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

As a retailer I HATE SANCTIMONIOUS LITTLE CRETINS lecturing me on my job

Then do your job better.

That was too easy, it's like you set it up on purpose.

 

[redisforever]

Very good article. I didn't know he worked at Gamestop.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

I totally understand why people don't want gutted copies and would say just one thing..... pre-order!

...or just walk into Bestbuy, Walmart, Target, etc. and pick up a brand new, shrinkwrapped copy.

EDIT: After seeing your above post, I'd like to know what store you work in so that I can show your manager how well you're representing the company.

 

[saintchristopher]

behaving like a twat towards some poor sod working behind a counter just makes you look stupid.

Yes, and insulting the people you're trying to reason with is the absolute best way to convince them you're right.

OT: Look, I'm a GS employee, and frankly the bile being spewed in this thread is getting ridiculous. If you've had a bad personal experience at your GS, then you indeed have a right to be mad at them and never visit that store again.

Just don't forget that some people are actually competent employees who do their best to put the customer first, even at the detriment to his own percentages. (true story: on my first performance evaluation I was told that I'm customer service-focused "to a fault." I help customers TOO MUCH.)

I wish you guys could all come to my store. Baby you know I'll treat you right.

 

[Starke]

As a retailer I HATE SANCTIMONIOUS LITTLE CRETINS lecturing me on my job

Then do your job better.

That was too easy, it's like you set it up on purpose.

That'd be like me posting:

but because with the flood of teenagers swarming around, I just end up feeling old and creepy. Yeah, they're fun to ogle, but really.

Then stop trying to proposition them.

That was too easy, it's like you set it up on purpose.

The guy's doing his job. Ignoring everything he said and extracting a single line of text kinda indicates you missed the point unilaterally. Some day, you may actually get a job, and then you'll understand you can't simply make up the rules as you go along, until that day, please attempt to be respectful.