Now the reason why your argument fails is because you used an example where the actual product. The Soda itself. Had not been tampered with in any way. Now if let's say Burger King Diluted their soda with 1/2 pint of water without informing the customer then they come into the same territory as GameStop.Beautiful End said:Some games are opened at GameStop and the boxes are put up for display (Why we don't use a dud box and cover art for this purpose is beyond me. Although that would mean we would have t do that for every single game in the store..) So if you snatch the last copy at that store, yes, your game will be open BUT BRAND NEW ANYWAY. It sucks, I know.
And yeah, I see this as a dick move. But let's analyze this: Imagine McDonalds gives a coupon for a free hamburger when you buy one of the same value. Now imagine if they printed this coupon on...I don't know, all the BK water cups. Just bear with me, please; I know it sounds redunkulous.
What would BK do? They would probably stop giving away drinks with their meals. Or they would change their cups. Some customer might say "Hey! Where's this coupon I heard of?" to what some employee might reply "Sorry, we had to remove them because they promote McDonalds. :/"
Very few people are gonna stop and analyze this like that. They just hear the word Freebies and they demand stuff. No, I am not defending GameStop simply because I work there. GameStop has its dick moves (Like trade-ins) and that's the management's fault, not the employees. What I think GameStop should have done was add some sort of incentive to kinda say "Hey, you're not getting that one coupon but we're giving away something else instead". But again, that's not up to them, it's up to the developer that decides to give something away via GameStop.
I don't know. I see my beloved Square Enix pulling the biggest dick move here for not telling GameStop.
"WHOOPS! We forgot to mention that the games come with a coupon from your rival. So...too late! if you wanna sell any copies at all, you gotta sell the copies we gave you!*TROLL FACE*"
Not to mention that GameStop doesn't actually Own this game like Burger King owns the gallons of soda it had purchased or cups. Burger King is not a retailer, Burger King is a seller of fast food. What GameStop does is form a bridge between the publisher and average customer. Which means it sells items, pre-made by other companies, not their own stock. The publishers decide what is inside of these game boxes and legally GameStop has no right to remove or add anything to these game boxes without informing the customer.
Which they didn't. Had they put up a Giant Sign or had the store clerk mention "This game usually comes with an Coupon for a free copy of this game from OnLive. However we removed it because we feel it is harmful to our store image so you won't be getting one. Do you still want to buy it?" then responsibility lies solely with the customer.
He was informed of the changes made to the product and decided to buy it anyway. That is not what happened. They didn't say anything. They just opened each and every box and removed the coupon that was supposed to be inside the box. They tampered with their products without informing the customer.
It isn't the removal of the coupon that is illegal. It is not informing the customer. This effectively devalues the product as burning a coupon for a 50$ game is a pretty significant middle finger to your customer, not to mention their insult to your intelligence.
