That's it, Gamestop.

[Hero in a half shell]

Couple of days ago,I got an email from them saying that they can no longer process my order and dropped it. No, I didn't get a refund either and they are not responding to me when trying to contact them.

Yeah, that's completely illegal.

Every country has very strict consumer rights, America's no different:

Here's a federal website on pretty much your exact problem
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre28.shtm

But probably you should first try just going down to the game store in person, bring a parent if you're under 18, and a copy of whatever documentation you have that shows proof of purchase.

Just tell them simply I paid for this product and I have the right to either receive it or gain a full refund. And they will try and repay you in Store credit, Just refuse and demand money, because it's your consumer rights and they cannot cannot deny you repayment if they refuse to give you a product you have already agreed sale on.

A face to face confrontation is much more effective than emails or phonecalls. Just refuse to leave until they sort out your pre-order.

 

[dancinginfernal]

My local Gamestop is pretty nice. The girl that works there is pretty nice, and we've had conversations before once she figured out I'm not one of the idiots when I pre-ordered the MGS HD Collection. We somehow got into a debate about something I can't remember until another customer came in.

I've had good experiences with Gamestop for the most part. So yeah.

 

[scar_47]

I quit goin there a while ago I just got sick of the pushy sales people yes I understand their trying to get more sales but I shouldn't have to say no thank you more than twice especially after their sales shpeal, now I ten to go to Bestbuy decent service when you ask for help but they otherwise leave you alone.

 

[Trixsy]

Every time I stepped foot in a Gamestop the twit behind the counter was patronizing me for being older than 16. Yes, I'm shopping for me you pimply-faced retail twerp. The average age of gamers now is 37. We've were gaming while you were still swimming around in your father's sack. I will wreck your high score in Ms. Pac-Man!

The last-time I stepped foot in a Gamestop (well, I guess second-to-last, since I had to come back to do the return) the jackasses sold me a used 360 as new. After telling me they had no more used ones available I walked out with one at full-price only to get home and find it had been carefully repackaged.

When I came back to show it to them they admitted that it was opened, and told me a story about how they'd loan out equipment to some local churches for the kids to play, but that it was still technically 'new' since it was never sold. I countered that, no, it doesn't work that way realistically or legally, and they actually kept working the "but we're helping the kids! Do you hate the kids?" story. (Answer: Yes. Yes I do.)

I gave them the option to just credit me the difference for a used system, but they refused, so I returned it, went to Game Crazy (Hollywood Video's game center.. oh how I miss thee) picked up a refurb for even less that came with a dozen free rentals and went home happy.

When I followed up with my complaint the local Gamestop manager didn't give two shits about selling used merch as new, and Corporate didn't reply to either their email or snailmail complaint... so f'ck em. Permanently.

I'm glad the average age of the employees at the gamestop I work at is 20.
I dunno wtf was with your local place though... I can understand loaning out USED systems to churches and stuff, I suppose, though that seems a bit weird too, but a brand new one? The fuck? I'm wondering if maybe that was just a story rather than admitting they allowed a customer to return the system or something.

Personally, if someone opens a new system box and even if it's obvious they didn't take anything out or play it, I still won't return it for them, mainly because it can be hard to judge if it's really been used without turning it on and checking. I've seen people trade in systems where they had all the packaging and put it back in the box so it looked just as good as a brand new system - not to try and screw us over - but thinking they're doing us a favor by repackaging everything so nicely...

I hated game crazy though... I worked for that company for a brief period of time and it was AWFUL. The people working there were absolute assholes with a holier than thou complex and always treated me like an idiot when I shopped there because there's no way a female knows what they're doing there unless they're buying harvest moon or cooking mama. I went there to ask about new releases once and rather than ask what type of games I like they immediately directed me to the most childish games they could find and continued to steer me that way when I was showing interest in something more substantial.

Got a job at gamestop because I always loved the atmosphere and the fact that the folks there would talk to me and get to know me before trying to assume what games I would like to play.

So, I guess that just shows you how different experiences can be in different places. Please don't judge all gamestops the same, some of us are really nice

 

[Creator002]

I think the equivalent of GameStop in Australia is EB Games and I agree.

I pre-ordered Assassin's Creed 2 Black Edition from one EB in my area and at midnight, when I went with friends to pick it up, it seems they had moved it to another EB (that doesn't do midnight releases) without contacting me. My friends got their copy and I had to wait until morning.

Put Portal 2 on lay-by (sort of a reservation which you pay off and once fully payed you get it) while they had no copies. They said they'd call me when they had more copies. Four weeks later, I go in to ask if they had any, saw someone buying a copy in front of me. Cancelled my lay-by right there.

They wouldn't let me price match for ODST either because the other store wasn't a games only store. Fine by me. I'll just leave and go there.

Never going back.

 

[ipitydaf00l]

The people working there were absolute assholes with a holier than thou complex and always treated me like an idiot when I shopped there because there's no way a female knows what they're doing there unless they're buying harvest moon or cooking mama.

That's the way I get treated at EVERY Gamestop I've been to (we have 4 in town and I would frequent two out of town). It got to a point where I told them that I was perfectly capable of looking on my own. I tend to have them talk to me as though I haven't been gaming longer than they've been alive in most cases. (Considering I played Atari when I was little and moved on from there.)

I've also had experiences where they try to tell me that a game that has obviously been opened and missing a manual is "NEW" and that I need to pay the cost of a new game. No, I'm sorry, my definition of new is 'unopened'. Meaning that everything that came with the game will still be there because it's never been opened. Those two reasons right there are why I stopped shopping at Gamestop and started ordering everything online. Even if I'm looking for a used game, Amazon.com marketplace has great deals and most sellers will tell you if the game comes with it's original case and manual or not.

To the original poster:

How did you pay for this game? Was it on a credit/debit card? If so you can contest the charge if Gamestop is refusing to refund your money. Even online orders (for the other user that said they paid online) can challenge the purchase. While I can't promise I know the exact method to go about this with a credit card, I know for my debit card I have to go to my bank, explain what happened, fill out a form explaining the situation and they will research it for me. (Meaning: They will contact Gamestop with the claim and get the problem solved.) I can't speak for all banks, but mine will refund my money immediately if I give them an exact amount.

I've had to two this twice because some company didn't want to refund my money as they should have and yet when my bank was involved they immediately admitted their folly. It's worth a try, but seriously...if this if your fifth bad experience...it's time to go elsewhere.

 

[Bat Vader]

I have never had any problems at the GameStop I shop at. The manager and the employees there are all nice and so far the games I have pre-ordered have all come in on time. I am even thinking about putting an application in there.

 

[Snotnarok]

How did you NOT call them up after that? They have to give you the preorder cash back I've been through this with them before.

And if you don't like amazon you could always try www.estarland.com I mean come on everything from PS3 to atari 2600? I foam at the mouth just thinking about some old retro titles.

 

[captaincabbage]

The equivelant to Gamestop in the UK is GAME.

After they got my copy of Deus Ex: HR to me 4 days late, I decided to take my business somewhere else.

Well played GAME, well played, driving away customers, just as planned.

OT: The equivilent of Gamestop in Aus is EB Games. They can be a bit crap occasionally, but generally I find that they're really on time and really good value.

Maybe it's just my store tho, who knows. ;P

 

[hopewolf]

My only gamestop problem was really recent, just before I moved actually. Ordered Way of the Samurai 3 online, it came, put it in...didn't work, didn't load, didn't anything, just offered to open the tray. "Well crud this sucks", took it back in after a lot of hemming and hawing, got it exchanged...pretty sure the guy put the same faulty copy back into my case, took it home and it did the same thing x.x. Going to return it for a full refund, got a new copy on Amazon for cheaper, works fine and I love the game to death. Totally not playing it now :3.

 

[Ironwampa]

Did you check your credit card to see if they actually charged you? Switching to Amazon is a good choice. I personally have made an order from Amazon that they couldn't fulfill and they didn't screw me over.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I work for GameStop and there's not a goddamn thing we can do to stop people from getting their money back if they put money down for a preorder. Did you get it off the website? That's the place where it starts to get tricky. We've never just canceled anything, though, and not allowed people to get their money back.

Now when you go in they'll try to convince you not to cancel it, or to at least move it to another preorder. Don't get offended. It's just because if we do bad on reserve numbers, we are totally burned at the stake for it. The stupidest thing about it? We don't get a damn thing no good said numbers are.

 

[health-bar]

If there's one thing that I do like about gamestop is that they usually have the game you want in stock.

Best buy and wal mart seem to run out very quickly, I had this problem with dead island.
I called best buy to check if it was in stock and they said a new shipment should come in a few hours. I waited a few hours and called best buy back and they said next week was the next shipment.

I call gamestop and the call took all of 20 seconds to get them to hold a copy until i got there.

OP: yeah, I generally don't pre order games for this reason. Plus I usually don't buy day 1 anyway.

 

[Spud of Doom]

JB-Hifi for ever and ever. EB Games seem to have something against dropping the price on old games, and JB usually do 10% off new releases for a while.

Yesterday I was walking around my local mall and in JB they were selling Assassin's Creed 2 GOTY edition for $34NZD (shelf prices include tax here) and it came with a copy of that AC: Renaissance book. Strategic videogame backlog is paying off.

 

[BabyRaptor]

So far I have had great customer service. It beat's best buy where the store clerk's stalk you and you have to use the kiosks as cover to avoid a girl from asking you if you need help with videogames...

(I kid the ladies. It was a female clerk at fry's that told me to get Tales of Symphonia as a kid. Great co-op game BTW)

oh god dont get me started on the morons at best buy!
it makes me rage just thinking about the problems I have had with those idiots

I have had tons of issues dealing with the geek squad guys noob squad is more like it

a pc a bought there had a faulty oprating system

twice I went there to buy a certain item and none of the employees knew they had it (found it myself)

once on a visit (to one that was having a closing sale) this employee kept hounding me to buy their last copy of the basic client for WoW even after I told him no (was just there to buy cheap DS stuff)

HATE Best Buy. I have my own horror story with them, and after that experience I've not been there since. I can handle misinformed employees once in a blue moon, but...Trying to rip me off? Nope.

 

[Motiv_]

I despise Gamestop. Hate it with a burning passion. But that, my friend, is why I now shop online, on either Steam or Amazon. I'm somewhat amazed that you let them screw you over 5 times, I would've told them to fuck off the second time.

 

[natster43]

I am one of the twenty people who don't hate amestop and doesn't have problems there. The only problem I have had recently at my Gamestop is them accidentally pre ordering 2 copies of Super Mario Land 3D and them putting money on a the HD Metal Gear Solid Collection and not Metal Gear Rising, both of which they fixed right when I pointed it out. To be fair, I know the people there and I do work there during the holiday season, which reminds me I need to re-apply for a job there.

 

[PayneTrayne]

I pre-ordered SoulSilver and was told to pick it up at 2 p.m. When I got there I was told they had run out of statues at 12 p.m and that I should have come earlier. I nearly flew into a rage. Not because I was slighted out of my Lugia statue (though that pisses me off) but that I was blamed for something they told me.

 

[SwiggleDyl]

In Australia we have EB Games (owned by Gamestop) and the biggest problem I've had was pre-ordering the Collectors Edition of DE:HR and then 2 weeks they called saying that they couldn't get enough to cover the orders so to make up for it they sold me the Augmented edition for less than the regular one so I was disapointed but the customer service made up for it. To make it more annoying GAME (EB's big competitor) are still selling the Collector's online so they obviously got plenty -_-

I'm happy to buy games where they're cheapest and where the employees aren't stupid

 

[Twilight_guy]

If the store is being dickish then don't shop there. Good move. That seems like the logical option to the point where I don't even know why you're making this thread.