274: Confessions of a GameStop Employee - Part Two

[rockyoumonkeys]

Double post. Damn.

How do you think I feel? It said I had two new messages and I was all excited, and it's just two of the same one! I feel cheated!

 

[Robyrt]

If you get that angry at bad customers, retail is not the right job for you. I used to field stupid questions like this all the time and it is not that hard to be polite to everyone, even if you secretly want to slap them for being idiotic and/or unreasonable.

On a better note, trading in games at Gamestop makes perfect sense if you value your time highly. It takes a couple hours to list something on Ebay, package it and drop it in the mail, for maybe $20 more than Gamestop will give you for the same item. I am quite willing to spend that $20 to get two hours of my life back.

 

[Blammage]

First, I can't believe this person "lived for" moments where he got to make someone's day a little bit worse than it had been prior to encountering him. Unbelievable!! Yes, people should take better care of their stuff. But, when they don't, why on earth would you get your jollies from making them feel bad about the fact that they don't...or about anything for that matter?

And second, what this dirtbag is leaving out about the Gamestop used game transactions, is how they would tell you that your trade-in, which in my case, had been released just six weeks prior, was worth only $6, even though you had paid $60 for it just over 40 days ago. THEN! I came back into the store the next day, to see my exact game from the day before (as evidenced by my initials written in tiny print on the bottom of the box), out for sale for a whopping $48!!!

Now, either these mental giants who make up the Lamestop staff have no idea what a "fair profit margin" is, or else these scumlords had (to quote one of my fave movie lines) an ethical bypass at birth! Either way, they shouldn't be in the business of ass-raping their customers under the guise of making a living.

'nuff said.

 

[imaloony]

What the hell do people do with their manuals?

I mean, I can see losing a manual for a GBA game or something, simply misplacing it (although I kept a lot of mine together), but how do you lose the manual when the case has a place to put the manual? To quote the AVGN, what are people doing, wiping their asses with them? I keep my games in good shape. I've only once had a 360 game refuse to play for me (Guitar Hero 2) and a quick application of the Toothpaste Trick fixed that right up.

What confuses me to most is how do you lose a fucking game CASE? I mean, how often do you lose a DVD case? They're rather big, and not easy to misplace.

 

[Jenny Decimal]

One thing I'd like to point out that our man Ben has overlooked - and many posters here have illustrated nicely - is that, regardless of the fact that the staff in-store have absolutely no control over what is paid out for each game, people will still hold YOU personally responsible for every cent depreciated from the original value. They can offer you exactly what the till tells them to, which is set by head office.

For instance:

And second, what this dirtbag is leaving out about the Gamestop used game transactions, is how they would tell you that your trade-in, which in my case, had been released just six weeks prior, was worth only $6, even though you had paid $60 for it just over 40 days ago. THEN! I came back into the store the next day, to see my exact game from the day before (as evidenced by my initials written in tiny print on the bottom of the box), out for sale for a whopping $48!!!

Now, either these mental giants who make up the Lamestop staff have no idea what a "fair profit margin" is, or else these scumlords had (to quote one of my fave movie lines) an ethical bypass at birth! Either way, they shouldn't be in the business of ass-raping their customers under the guise of making a living.

'nuff said.

Your game was not a rental. You bought it, and Gamestop are under no obligation to buy it back. They don't have to be fair to you. They can offer you whatever they want, and if you want to take it, then everybody's happy. If not, well, no harm no foul.

There is no such thing as a "fair profit margin". What does it matter to you what they sell it for? It's not your game anymore.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

What the hell do people do with their manuals?

I mean, I can see losing a manual for a GBA game or something, simply misplacing it (although I kept a lot of mine together), but how do you lose the manual when the case has a place to put the manual? To quote the AVGN, what are people doing, wiping their asses with them? I keep my games in good shape. I've only once had a 360 game refuse to play for me (Guitar Hero 2) and a quick application of the Toothpaste Trick fixed that right up.

What confuses me to most is how do you lose a fucking game CASE? I mean, how often do you lose a DVD case? They're rather big, and not easy to misplace.

You assume that they're *trying* to keep track of it. For the manual, they probably take it out to glance at it, can't be bothered to put it back, and leave it on the floor until somebody spills Bud Light on it.

As for the cases- some people will just toss the disc in a drawer and throw away the case. My mom and sister leave naked DVDs sitting on top of the TV all the time, and my sister's dogs have destroyed more than one case.

 

[Orekoya]

Okay okay okay, back up. Let's recap: Ben said at the end that games in low demand, even in excellent quality, won't sell to anybody better than what Gamestop would give you, I replied that you should try the internet for selling your mint quality games instead of going to Gamestop in a sarcastic manner, you replied if the games are as poor quality as Ben described they won't sell even on the internet. I asked if you were getting examples confused, and you reply in a manner than implies that you are getting examples confused.

I guess it made sense to me?

OK, shorter answer:
Confused? No. Combined.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury:
Poor condition games will not sell.
Excellent condition, but outdated games will not sell.
A=C & B=C, therefore A*B=C[sup]2[/sup].
Outdated games in poor condition will sell less than either.
The internet is a great tool for worldwide sales, but is not all-powerful.

Spoiler: This is Chewbacca.

Thank you.

And yet you still vastly missed my point and continue onwards ignoring it.

Spoiler: More Chewbacca.

 

[Chronarch]

I've actually taken rather good care of my games. A Gamestop employee actually told me that I took good care of them. After reading this article that fills me with a bit of pride.

 

[imaloony]

What the hell do people do with their manuals?

I mean, I can see losing a manual for a GBA game or something, simply misplacing it (although I kept a lot of mine together), but how do you lose the manual when the case has a place to put the manual? To quote the AVGN, what are people doing, wiping their asses with them? I keep my games in good shape. I've only once had a 360 game refuse to play for me (Guitar Hero 2) and a quick application of the Toothpaste Trick fixed that right up.

What confuses me to most is how do you lose a fucking game CASE? I mean, how often do you lose a DVD case? They're rather big, and not easy to misplace.

You assume that they're *trying* to keep track of it. For the manual, they probably take it out to glance at it, can't be bothered to put it back, and leave it on the floor until somebody spills Bud Light on it.

As for the cases- some people will just toss the disc in a drawer and throw away the case. My mom and sister leave naked DVDs sitting on top of the TV all the time, and my sister's dogs have destroyed more than one case.

Damn shame. Especially because it isn't hard to keep the cases, discs, and manuals in good shape. Just remember to put the manual back into the case (which takes all of 3 seconds), put the game back in the case (which takes all of 8 or so, counting waiting for the system to open), snapping the case shut (2 seconds), and not using them as coasters or something.

My sister doesn't take good care of CDs, but other than that, my family takes good care of our movies, games, and CDs, so it's sort of hard to see myself tossing the cases and discs around haphazardly (although, for the record, I've lost almost every pokemon game I've ever owned).

 

[Captain Booyah]

Like the author, I literally am astounded as to how anybody can treat their possessions so badly. I mean, why? Why?? Just because it's your crap, doesn't mean you have to treat it like crap. I practically take my game discs out of their shiny, shiny boxes with a pair of tweezers.

What's worse is when people you lend this stuff to -- who you are meant to, you know, trust -- give it abuse; if you have something of somebody else's, i.e. NOT BELONGING TO YOU, it's not even a matter of class to take care of said borrowed object -- it's just basic freaking respect.

For me, the same applies for other things too, like books (which I also might as well lock up in a safe). I have a very literary group of friends, and we regularly swap books around; very usually this is fine, but the first (and last) time I lent a book to one particular friend, the thing came back with all the corners curled, dog-eared pages, food stains, and generally looking as though it had been gnawed on by a wild animal. I was disgusted and never let her near anything of mine ever again.

 

[Turing]

One thing I'd like to point out that our man Ben has overlooked - and many posters here have illustrated nicely - is that, regardless of the fact that the staff in-store have absolutely no control over what is paid out for each game, people will still hold YOU personally responsible for every cent depreciated from the original value. They can offer you exactly what the till tells them to, which is set by head office.

For instance:

And second, what this dirtbag is leaving out about the Gamestop used game transactions, is how they would tell you that your trade-in, which in my case, had been released just six weeks prior, was worth only $6, even though you had paid $60 for it just over 40 days ago. THEN! I came back into the store the next day, to see my exact game from the day before (as evidenced by my initials written in tiny print on the bottom of the box), out for sale for a whopping $48!!!

Now, either these mental giants who make up the Lamestop staff have no idea what a "fair profit margin" is, or else these scumlords had (to quote one of my fave movie lines) an ethical bypass at birth! Either way, they shouldn't be in the business of ass-raping their customers under the guise of making a living.

'nuff said.

Your game was not a rental. You bought it, and Gamestop are under no obligation to buy it back. They don't have to be fair to you. They can offer you whatever they want, and if you want to take it, then everybody's happy. If not, well, no harm no foul.

There is no such thing as a "fair profit margin". What does it matter to you what they sell it for? It's not your game anymore.

I'd have to agree with this guy. We're under no obligation to pay you a fair price, or not. You get an offered trade-in value, you take it or leave it. Either way its no skin off our back.
This does sound somewhat fishy though, but again, I work for GameStop Nordic. I've heard some horror stories about GameStop US that us at Nordic would (hopefully) never stoop to.

 

[UnclGhost]

To be honest, my only problem with the way GameStop packages their games is the sticker on it. I'm not OCD or anything, but I like my game cases not to have a giant white or yellow sticker on the front. Trying to peel it off leaves a ton of residue. I realize they probably don't want the stickers to be so incredibly easy to remove that people do in the store (and gain... what, exactly?) but it annoys me every time I get anything from GameStop.

Also, the fairly dumb-looking characters on the used cases. What's the deal with them?

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Waw....I am speechless. Do people really treat their games like this? That is beyond pathetic. -_- I wouldn't exactly call myself the most caring person in the world, but I even I at least make sure that the discs are placed in the plastic cases and safely stored.

And what is it with people constantly losing manuals? Considering how many people complain it's unnecessary, it's funny how so many keep losing them. That annoys me to all ends, beacuse I personally love manuals.

Also, this is a fitting video given the subject:

 

[Susan Arendt]

While I do understand his contempt for the condition of the games people trade in, I must admit that I am confused by the fact that he does not seem to understand why. Is he assuming that the average game is some single male in their 20's living alone? Games get scratched for various reasons not the least of which is children and room mates. You can be as meticulous as you like but more often than not someone will take the disc out of a machine and set it somewhere other than its case. From there its a downhill slide.

The same thing goes for the instructions. They get taken out and thumbed through or torn. Unless are a very fastidious obsessive person or you live in situation where you are the only person with access to the media, then life will happen. I understand the feeling of, "How can people pay $60.00 for something and let it get torn up?" Just understand most people aren't using the discs as Frisbees and the manuals as toilet paper... most of them anyway.

He's not talking about the random bends and tears that you're describing. Sure, that happens to most folks. The kind of stuff that gets traded in at GameStop, however, you genuinely have to wonder if someone took steel wool to the game disc. Or held the instructions over a burner on the stove. It's flabbergasting not only that someone would be ok with letting their property get into such a state, but that they genuinely believe they'll get a fair amount of cash in exchange for it.

 

[El Gostro]

"Ben" turns out to be a textbook example of <url=http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1809494>this!

 

[CrystalShadow]

Yeah... Used games can be in pretty bad shape, though I've rarely seen what you're describing.

Then again, I figure the people that are careful with their games are probably the ones that don't sell them anyway.

(or put them on E-bay or something.)

 

[Synonymous]

It's interesting to learn a bit about how GameStop works, but the guy's immature and needs an editor. There're a couple good lines ("dryer socks"), but Ben overall writes like the average GameFAQs message-board poster. I kinda wish JeanLuc761 from the top of page 2 were penning the article instead.

As for his customer-service attitude, I have to agree with supermarket guy above; it's wearying to deal with the ignorant and oblivious, but you have to have some perspective and own up to some degree of control over and accountability for your own reactions. If the best part of your day is making someone else feel badly, you need to step back and reevaluate yourself. (And yes, I have worked in retail.)

 

[MrJohnson]

Wow.. Is it just me or does 'Ben' kinda come of like a dick in this article?

Trust me, its justified. You'd be amazed at how many people rent a game/movie in brand new condition, and when they return it it looks like it just aged 5 years.

I'd have long conversations with co-workers speculating at what people do with these games. Is it so fucking hard to just keep them on a shelf with the manual inside the case?

Working in retail does this to you. It chips away at your psyche, gradually turning you more into a bitter husk of what you once were.

Is it just me or do all gamestop employees seem like dicks?

Dealing with the average customer will turn you into a dick. Every single thing he described is what he has to put up with every day.

If customers want people in retail to stop being dicks, then perhaps they should stop acting like self-absorbed, know it all assholes.

Maybe, just maybe, misanthropic antisocial pricks should stop thinking retail is a good career move for them. As I've worked retail and in restaurants, I feel fairly justified in saying that your just as big of a dick if you can't deal with people.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Wow.. Is it just me or does 'Ben' kinda come of like a dick in this article?

Yeah, he seems to imply we're all jackasses who don't take care of our games.

OT: I'd just like to say that I still have over 100 Playstation games in near-mint condition, so don't you dare take that tone with me Ben!

 

[Nerdfury]

This is sad, because when I asked about trading my copy of Bayonetta, they offered me $25 at my local EB Games.