Why do you hate Gamestop?

[Allthingsspectacular]

This thread is addressing the people who dislike Gamestop as a whole.

If you hate Gamestop, why? Is there a reason?

Personally I hate gamestop because of their advertising, employee policies and pre-order B.S. But what about youguys?

 

[Savo]

-Games are overpriced. I can get better deals at Amazon, plus a better selection.

-Used games tend to be in mediocre condition, such as having no case. This is a big no-no for someone who has a small interest in collecting like me.

-Employees act like douchebags. I have several Gamestops in my area that I have been to over the years, and I can't think of a Gamestop employee who didn't act like a pushy pre-order whoring jerk. I am told that this isn't completely their fault, as the company makes them do it, but it still makes me hate them.

 

[FalloutJack]

-Games are overpriced. I can get better deals at Amazon, plus a better selection.

-Used games tend to be in mediocre condition, such as having no case. This is a big no-no for someone who has a small interest in collecting like me.

-Employees act like douchebags. I have several Gamestops in my area that I have been to over the years, and I can't think of a Gamestop employee who didn't act like a pushy pre-order whoring jerk. I am told that this isn't completely their fault, as the company makes them do it, but it still makes me hate them.

Must be a regional setting. I don't get this in Pittsburgh.

 

[Ldude893]

They sold me a broken copy of Arkham Asylum. I don't live in the States, but apparently they took no trouble at making a tourist hate their guts.

 

[Hawkolf]

I've never had any problems in Gamestop I go to. Used games are usually as good as new. I don't think they even accept broken cases there. Only problem I ever had was that copy of used Assassins Creed didn't work but they gave me a new one in a flash.

 

[Gun Animal]

Hey guys, I've been lurking here awhile but this topic made me want to post something. I've been working there for a little over a year: Gamestop uses statistic from used sales, pre-orders, Pro cards, store warranties and iDevice/Tablet sales to measure employee performance. Nobody ever gets fired for poor sales, but it makes it impossible for them to move up in rank/salary and they even go as far as to give people with poor sales very few hours. (for example, my sales were once so incredibly low that I was only being given 3 hours every other week for months.)They also give employees perks for having high sales, Like game merchandise. (I just got a cool Assassin's Creed necklace for having high pre-owned sales.) I agree that this is a really shitty way to do business but I also understand it because of the vast number of teenagers and young adults that want to work at Gamestop. Since y'all seem upset about their prices and such, let me give you some advice to get the most out of your money there:

----Don't bother trading unless you're using whatever trade promotion they're running that month. They were doing 50% extra credit when trading towards used merch last month, for example.
----Don't bother getting the Pro card unless you know you're gonna be spending over 200 dollars on used games a year there. If they pester you about it, give them something they can't argue with. (my religion doesn't permit me to buy your dumb card. I have PTSD and membership cards trigger traumatic memories for me. I'm from the UK.)
----Oh but actually do get the regular (free) PUR card because a) they won't pester you about the PRO card anymore and b) the PUR points you get by purchasing things can actually save you a ton of money if you take the time to use them.
----Also, they do the Buy 2 Get 1 Free thing on used games about once every three months so wait for those to buy used games if you can.

I think they're planning on making Game Informer entirely digital within the next few years, and after that they'll probably either make the PRO card free or a lot less than it is now.

All your complaints are totally legitimate and if it's enough to make you want to shop somewhere else then more power to ya. Personally, I got into gaming really late (around 2007) so I love gamestop just for their huge stock of out-of-print games.

 

[w9496]

I don't really have a problem with Gamestop. Even if I did, there's a Walmart right next to the one I go to.

 

[Ando85]

Like mentioned before I hate the pushing pre-orders. I know they are required to do this, so if the employee asks I just say no thanks and that is that. But, some are a bit too pushy about it which is irritating.

 

[Moktor]

I won't pay full price for a game that has been opened. I did once from them and the manual had been stolen. They literally said "That sucks." Never again.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I dunno..I pop in now and again when I'm about city centre. Look how much cheaper I can buy online for and promptly leave.

I don't hate Gamestop/GAME/etc I just don't buy from there as I like value for money.

 

[King of Asgaard]

-Games are overpriced. I can get better deals at Amazon, plus a better selection.

Pretty much this.
Amazon is far more convenient and fairly priced, and delivers via post really quickly.
Gamestop also offers the majority of game changing pre-order bonuses, which I feel is deplorable.

 

[SlamDunc]

I have never once had an issue with EB Games (Canada's version of Gamestop.). They have better prices and selection than any other store I have been to. I also have never had a problem being pushed into pre-ordering something or getting a used copy. Last time I was in one I actually pre-ordered Halo 4 Limited Edition and talked with the guy working there about other upcoming games.

 

[Yopaz]

-Games are overpriced. I can get better deals at Amazon, plus a better selection.

-Used games tend to be in mediocre condition, such as having no case. This is a big no-no for someone who has a small interest in collecting like me.

These two points are reasons why I don't shop at GameStop. I can usually get better deals anywhere else. I can get a new copy that is in a factory sealed box for less in an electronics store than what a used copy with a box that has seen its better days on GameStop. However this is just a reason why I don't shop there, but no reason to dislike them as far as I see it.

I have bought several faulty games from GameStop over the years (some of them brand new) and they had disc errors from day one. Now if I had bought that from anywhere but GameStop then that wouldn't be a problem, but this has happened at 4 different GameStops and they have all refused to give me a refund or a working copy. This is not supposed to happen and it should not happen, but it did. They advertise that there's 100% guarantee that their games will work or you'll get a refund. Doesn't seem like the case for me.

 

[babinro]

I shopped at Gamestop for well over a decade and never had a problem. I have nothing against that company or their practices since the games I bought always worked, new or used.

I stopped buying at Gamestop several years ago because of price. I eventually got with the times and used Amazon/Steam/Origin and quickly found I could save a lot of money compared to any brick and mortar store.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

1- Pushing buying used, go fuck yourself, no I dont want you to go get me a used copy off the shelf, I want to support the people who makes the games you stupid fucktard

2- Preopened games, supposedly new with scratches on them.

You aren't helping the developers by buying new games, your helping the publisher.

 

[CCountZero]

Meh. As a Dane, my experience with Gamestop is perfectly fine.

Their physical copies cost maybe 10% more than the digital download option, and I'm always treated well by the staff.

Hell, my best friend is a Gamestop staffer.

It's true that they sometimes get asked to push useless stuff on you, such as "disc-scratch insurance", but taking my friend as an example, he simply makes a judgement call per customer on whether or not said person has any use out of that at all.

Now, I normally go Digital anyway, but I have no idea why people would dislike them.