@okenny :): Someone just punched me in the back of the head (I'm bleeding from the nose) to let me know how stupid I am for implying the SMG, being an Nintendo title, was capable of supporting online, I apologies... apparently some things aren't joking matters (JASON!!!)

okenny :)

GameStop is to games what KFC is to chicken.

eqhara

personally I find this to be in poor taste on gamestops part. It's one thing to say "hey if they don't pick it up within 48 hours sell at will" because that is the terms of preorder and while they generally don't need to be strict on it this is a high profile game. However, to tell employee's to sell on site early, and even offer them a bonus to encourage it? lamesauce...covered in gaysauce...covered in weaksauce. it's not like they're not already making money hand over fist on ripoff trade ins.....

demonknightinuyasha

Target - never been sold out, never been turned down due to lack of preorder. Picked up my copy today from the electronics cashier, who was an old, frail version of Niko.

idkmybffgreg

@badasscat:

Can I preorder a car at a dealership?

YES!!!!

Can I preorder a motorcycle?

YES!

Can I preorder a boat?

Yes!

CAn I preorder Book?

Yes!

Can I preorder a CD or a movie?

Yes.

Preorder doesn't happen in the establishments you mentioned, but preorder is common in MANY other retail spaces.

Eyerox

This is why I got mine at the Game Shack in the Atrium (Toronto) and not stinkin' EB.

EB is like the last store I ever go in. Within two minutes' walk, you have the Game Shack, which has a selection composed almost entirely of used games. Further up the street, there's the Game Zone, which is usually on par with the major stores, but has the advantage of perhaps being overlooked for major game purchases like GTA IV. Lastly, but WAY far from least, we have another Game Shack/Centre/Thing (I forget) up near Bloor in a Dollarama mall, which has games and systems dating back to the Mastersystem and NES, depending on their stock availability.

Next to them, EB and their stupid used copy of Family Guy for PSP and Pokemon for GBA and their fascist reservation policy can suck my ass.

PlayerX

if not mistaken part of the bit on pre-orders is a guarantee that they'll have your copy on time and waiting for at least 48 hours.
if they fail to uphold this contract than they are open for a lawsuit on the spot.

as soon as you sign that receipt that locks both you and them in a contract that they have to uphold their end of.

GrimCW

Him, that sucks... I always play full price for my pre-orders. The guys at my gamestop know me (I think D: ) as well... anyways, I picked up mine tonight even though they were rejecting people ahead of me and telling them it was sold out. I work for a living to I cant start till this weekend :(

okenny :)

Talk about blown out of proportion. Yes, Gamestop was pushing walk ins on GTA 4 but there is simple answer to this.

GTA4 is NOT in short supply.

There is little chance the combined total of walk ins and reservations is going to exceed the stores initial stock, and all stores were expecting new shipments nearly every day of the week.

Usually around 50-70% of reservations, if that, are even picked up on the first day.

So again, so not an issue. It would be if this were a smaller title that had limited quantities, but in this case it was simply the right business move.

branwheatkillah

"if it says guarantee on the box, for all you know it could be a guaranteed piece of shit"

globones

-.-

Keep in mind, this does not always happen. GameStop probably figured this launch would go like Madden or any other AAA release and that we'd have plenty extra stock, but we don't.

We received this order at my store as well, but once our 360 stock began running low (as we sold a bit more than our extras, as we have a bunch of preorders from early 2007 that are likely never to be picked up), we stopped selling to walk-ins. I hate having to tell people we sold out of a game they reserved, because it's bullcrap. The games are going to sell anyways, selling 10 games to walk-ins one day and having 10 angry reserve customers the next is not worth just waiting and selling to the 10 reserve customers.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem too, as we'd just get more shipments of the game, but we aren't scheduled to get more until Friday.

In any case, I don't have to work the rest of this week, so oh well >_> This also shouldn't really be a very noticeable problem, as most places probably won't sell out of the game, or all of their reserve customers will be taken care of before they do so (or until their 48 hours are up).

But sure, continue the hate, and be sure to take it all out on the manager of the store who is just doing his job.

Mit

this is why you shouldn't pre-order AAA blockbuster titles. They're literally bursting out the seams with with plenty of copies. Hell, you could probably pick up a launch-day copy at a fucking texaco. Pre-order hard to find games. Make ONE trip to get the game the day it comes out at a big box retailer and don't waste time pre ordering before hand.

globones

As a former Assistant Store Manager for GS I can honsetly say that the "screw them" attitude from upper managment is nothing new. The "let's make a contest to see how many people we can screw over" IS new but NOT surprising. GameStop's entire incentive program and projections center around pre-orders. People get FIRED if they don't push pre-orders and trade-ins with in 20 seconds of a customer walking through the door.

I got into it with my Store Manager during the 360 luanch shortage.
People who were FULLY PAID OFF MONTHS IN ADVANCE were told to wait for the next shipment because upper management was telling Store Managers to push them out to anyone who walks in. "The people who have been waiting on the list for their 360s can live another to weeks without it. If there are people who walk in looking for one and we can't sell it to them, will find it somewhere else."

They are just took the #1 spot for Teh Most Evilest Corporation Evah award beating out EA.

Mr.SithNinja

OK well I said it in another post (crazy comments section!), but...

Dick move Gamestop, dick move.

Working in one of their retail buddies (Barnes and Noble), I know that they (i.e. retailers) do stupid shit like this all the time, but this is too much.

$500 for the DMs that do this? Surely their salaries are high enough that they wouldn't care. I mean... $500 is next to nothing.

2NinjasTapedTogether

I would never stop doing business with a company over information gained via the Internet, however if this actually happened to me I would. In fact I would return later that night to throw a brick with shit taped to it through their window. Though thankfully I was able to pick-up my pre-order early this evening after work.

However I'm actually playing Team Fortress 2 right now. As a medic...

Replica23

I have experienced the "pre-order" scam before.I do not reserve at Gamestop unless there is no other choice. Stop reserving from them. They not know what a reservation is.

jackal888

This is why I welcome the digital distribution with a passion. More money to developers, less money to publishers, and no more god damn money trap retail outlets.

[www.penny-arcade.com]

Atheist Jew

This isn't new sadly.
When my buddy was a manager at game stop our district manager's wife called up looking for kingdom hearts at launch. My friend told her we only had copies for reserve customers and a few minutes later got a pleasant phone call instructing him to sell the reserved copies to anyone.

Croixtreize

@Deebo's Bike: @pine22:
BB and CC in my area were sold out of regular edition for 360 and only had a few copies for PS3.

Hori

The dialog that accompanies the picture:

Agent: I'm sorry, we have no mid-size available at the moment.
Jerry: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation?
Agent: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the
reservation.
Agent: I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to
take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and
that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody
can just take them.

M

@badasscat: I agree. Contracts are bullshit anyways. Only a complete chump would believe that a company, who accepted money in advance in exchange for holding an item for the individual so they could secure the sale in the future, would believe they'd actually follow through with it. Consumers are so ridiculous!

Asper

OH F THAT! GOT MINE THROUGH GAMESTOP! CAN'T GET IT TIL NEXT MONDAY! WTF!

MalariaMan21077

I'm more than a little surprised at this, seeing as how they usually lie through their teeth on launch days, telling me they only have copies of game X for customers who have pre-ordered when that's obviously not the case (I've worked at game stores too). That they'd pull a complete 180 on their "only sell to people with pre-orders, regardless of how many copies we have" policy is really odd.

DangerFlakes

Next time I'm in Gamestop and the sales clerk asks me if I'd like to preorder a game, I will unjustly vent my anger toward the management of the corporation at him by stating: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

cpmui99

This is nothing new. This has always been a Gamestop policy, even back when I was working there. Just do yourself a favor and don't buy it at Gamestop.

Graham

I'm not what you would call a fan of EBstop, but those marching orders seem very suspect and do not sound very "corporate" in tone. Based on Marooner's and snakepliskin's comments, it certainly doesn't appear any such policy has been put in place.

lordMario

I worked at Game Crazy for the better part of a year and I have to say that it's not easy to get non-gamers (read: Wii players, gaming kids' moms, etc.) to reserve titles but when the game comes out and they are S.O.L., you can say you offered them a chance to reserve it. So much for that.

The people who reserve games are the people that care about games, they are the people that come back in because they enjoy buying from you. They could go anywhere but they come to your place because they trust you. And over the time I worked at GC, a couple of employees seriously wronged a couple of customers and those guys never came back...and it was for much less than selling a reserve to a walk-in...

TheHeartless

Uh, is this a surprise to someone?

I stopped "pre-ordering" from Gamestop a couple of years ago when they sold my copy of Gears after I called and verified that I could swing by and pick it up. Douche-nozzle bastards.

Conveniently, Target had plenty of copies of GTAIV for me to pick from on my lunch today.

Brendar

There's something that most people don't realize about pre-orders. Only about 50% of the people who do it pick up the game within the 24 hour period that they are required to hold it, so there probably aren't a whole lot of people who are getting screwed here. I know that the Game Crazy I work at had over 80 copies left after last night's launch, and when I checked again at 4 we still had around 30. Thats after selling to anyone who wanted one.

If airlines can overbook then why can't game stores? Its the same thing. Every once in a while someone gets screwed.

Woden501

the story is kind of scary. makes me not want to pre-order anymore. but when i went to pick up my gta (which i pre-ordered) an employee started to say "if you did not pre-order the game, there are no more copies"

but there are other places to find gta besides gamestop anyways

resetbutton

@Dorphat the Insomniac: I hope we don't have to worry about this with MGS4. I know for a fact that I won't be able to make the midnight launch and won't be able to make it to the store 'til at least 3:00 in the afternoon to pick it up. If it's sold out, there will be hell to pay.

Cathaoir

I walked into GameStop after work today to pick up GTA IV for the PS3 and a new Dualshock3. Employee said "Did you pre-order?" I told him "No" and he said "We don't have any." Apparently these marching orders have yet to reach Colorado. No worries though, I picked it up at Target and got a free skin for my PS3.

Valrik

Honestly, I hate to say it but this is the policy they should have.

I mean, look. Some dumbass put $10 on the game and he hasn't shown up yet and may or may not at some point during the day (or ever). I, meanwhile, am standing there with $60 in my hand ready to hand it over. What do *you* think is the sound business decision here?

Pre-orders are bullshit and always have been, both for the retailer and for the consumer. The retail-consumer relationship is that stores stock items that people can buy, and in turn people can walk in and buy those things. That's the extent of it, and that's how it works in every other industry. There's no "pre-ordering" at a retail store. Can I go to Williams-Sonoma and "pre-order" a set of steak knives? Can I go to Nordstrom's and "pre-order" a set of golf shoes? I mean, it's just not the way retail works.

If somebody's got the money and the game is there in the store, that person should walk out of the store with the game in their hands. That's all there is to it.

badasscat

dude, go anywhere besides gamestop and they will have it. i went shopping today at target, meijer (grocery store), and circuit city. they all had copies in stock. i picked up the ps3 one at CC, but i havent had a chance to play it yet.

i dont get why a specialty gaming store only gets 15 (maybe 30 total). shouldnt they have the most copies out of any store? this doesnt make any sense to me, why would a niche video game store have the least amount of copies of one of the biggest releases of the year? who is fuck running gamestop?

pine22

@Dorphat the Insomniac: I see what you did there. :)

UltimatePancakeSensation

Sometimes it's not the big titles I would worry about something like this. There is going to be a ton of GTA, everywhere. That's not the story when I go to find an Atlus title however. Out of the nine GameStops in my local area, a total of nine copies of Rondo of Swords were received on release day. It was the same with Odin Sphere, where GameStop actually called me at 2pm on release day asking me to pick up my game or it would be sold. Titles that Best Buy or Target may just not have. Taking my pre-orders online...

aveneyer

Gamestop Reserve Policy is that the "reservation" is only good for 48 hrs. after that the reservist that did not pick up his/her game is SOL. So says the Gamestop mgt. @ 85st and Broadway in NYC.

dadeisvenm

I pre-ordered through Future Shop, only to be told when I went to pick it up that they were "Out of Stock". Interestingly enough, I thought of that exact Seinfeld scene!

Anyway I called the nearby Best Buy and they had a whole bunch of copies in stock, so I just grabbed one there.

I usually pre-order at EBGames, I can't remember why I didn't this time...It was a few months ago.

QualityJeverage

This boils my blood

AqueousBeef

@Deebo's Bike: This would be true if it weren't for the fact that GameStop does not order the same way that stores like Wal-Mart orders. Rather than ordering an excessive amount of the game and hoping that the game sells, GameStops only order a few copies beyond the amount they pre-order. From my understanding of the email, the execs at GameStop want stores to try to predict how many copies will not be picked up and sell all of those copies. Because of this, if for this particular release, more people than usual pick up the game the day it comes out, someone is going to get shafted. The fact of the matter is that they are selling a copy of a game that they have already sold.

male roof blower (CFB)

This happened to me with Oblivion, and I nearly killed the ass hole behind the counter who gloated that I would not find the Collectors Edition any where. It was early after noon on the day of release and I had a receipt paid in full. I had to fight tooth and nail (cause a scene) to get my money back. I walked across the lot to Best Buy and found one. I had to go back to the store to rub it in his face..... I no longer will shop at Game Stop. Amazon all the way I have GTA right here special edition and all complete with "N1KO" liberty City license plate. Free shipping and no sales tax.

llllDrGONZOllll

I worked there when Gears of War came out, and we were ordered by our district manager to sell pre-order copies to walk-in customers. The idea was that since not all people who pre-ordered would pick it up on day one, they would just get a copy from the second shipment when they eventually came to get it.

However, GameStop severely underestimated the number of people who'd pick up their pre-order on the first day of release and, as a result, we on the front lines had to lie to customers about why their copy wasn't there (I believe we were told to say that there was a missing shipment).

Absolutely disgusting. If I didn't have friends who still worked there, I'd never shop there again.

kylenalepa

@xrobx: Except that kind of backfires when people want their copy now, or your other stores sell out because it's GTA f***ing IV.

Theoutlet

@mva5580: Because they're shitting all over the customer which is, eventually, you. It's not about getting a game, ultimately; it's about holding companies to their promises.

Doomstalk

The only reason to preorder is to get a bonus, usually.

Furysetzer

It's problems like this regarding pre-orders that have resulted in my never going to GameStop unless I can't find my game ANYWHERE else.

If you reserve a game by paying in full then there is absolutely no reason that that store should not keep your copy until you get there. They are not sacrificing anything, except for the space it takes to keep, what, 100 games tops in their back room?

If you want to have games on hand to sell to walk-ins, then don't all your copies in advance! It's that simple.

UltimatePancakeSensation

This isn't anything new. The GameStops I live near have always done this. I got screwed years ago reserving MGS: Twin Snakes on Game Cube and going to GameStop after school around 3 in the afternoon the day it came out. When I got there they informed me that they had already sold out and had only held reserve copies until noon before selling them to walk in customers. They could care less that they have a copy for you as long as the game is selling. I hardly ever shop with them anymore aside from when they have really good deals (I just picked up Sega Superstar Tennis to play with my cousins).

Now, I get most of my games through Amazon. I may not always get games on the exact day of release (tracking shows my GTA IV copy coming early tomorrow morning) but at least I'm sure to get a copy (not to mention I don't have to pay tax which in my area is like adding another $6 to each game you buy).

silentbobfan

LOL and some of you figured this out just now? This is how pre-orders have always worked; it only guarantees you a copy of a game IF it is in STOCK. Thats why I never bother to pre-order to begin with.....kinda pointless......

LeLoi

I experienced this as I walked in today to get an unreserved copy of the game. I didn't think that I would have had a chance to buy it today from a gamestop because of the games being reserved, but I had a lot of games to trade in (with them giving you an extra 20% trade in for GTA IV). So, I called them up to see if they had any and they said they had plenty of copies and were receiving a "shipment" in an hour. I thought myself fortunate and headed down there.

I arrive to find many people in line and waiting for their copy. The cashier then informs the whole store that they don't have any extra copies for people who haven't reserved and none for the the people there who had reserved it either. See, the "shipment" the employee told me about was actually his coworker going to a different gamestop and picking up some of their "extra copies". He was pleading with the reserved customers to just wait about fifteen minutes for his cowerker to arrive so they can get their reserved copies. Of course most of them stormed out saying "Well this ruined my day". The employee then informed us of how he told the district manager and general manager how stupid this idea (selling a copy to any walk-in) was and how much they were going to piss of customers, and the managers just responded with "we'll get more copies soon."

Theoutlet

I've worked there for nearly 9 years. They have done this before, but every time that we did it was based on the amount of traffic flow and reserve pick up rate that we had. It was also put into place at night when we knew we had a big shipment coming in the next day. How on Earth did they only get 15 copies for 50 people??? For a game like GTA I have never seen a store that didn't have a pretty big surplus of non reserved game. Smells a little fishy to me. I've just never seen that happen in 9 years. At least not for a monster title.

The only thing I can think of is the store told them to sell the regular copies of GTA (Which they should have an abundance of) and they had 15 reserves of the collectors edition.

And if the story is true then who the heck is their DM and why is he not calling the stores in the area that has a surplus.

I just don't really believe most of the story on this. I'm not saying that all are policies are good, but seriously this is GTA. They should have a bunch.

sbrumm1983

....RAGE!

More reason for me to continue using ebay, online trading sites and amazon for my game fixes.

sparksterz (Xfire)

I do not envy the guys actually working at the GameStops right now (or most of the time actually...) They weren't even told explicitly to drop them so they can't fall back on that. Just heavily incentivized *wink wink nudge nudge*

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

fuchikoma

Fewer than 15 copies? That just doesn't make any sense.

Doomstalk

That is wonderful
Do I have to be concerned
about Metal Gear?

Dorphat the Insomniac

It happened to me today sadly. I went to the store to pick up my copy and they said "sorry, all of our copies have been sold". I sat there and bitched saying, "what good is a pre-order then?" Then I received a bunch of lip service after that. "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah", sums it up. I then got my money back, and I drove out to Best Buy (another company I can't stand) and bought myself a copy, knowing that they would have shitloads of them available.

Normally I wouldn't say such things ... but FUCK GameStop. It's fucking ridiculous that my pre-ordered copy was sold. What really sucks is that it was the first game that I ever pre-ordered. I will never ever give them my business again.

dead_red_eyes

@MrBionic: That's stupid. You reserve the game to avoid that hassle. What's the point of reserving if you're going to pick it up first thing that morning?

The only reason why I'd ever reserve a game or a console is if there's a legitimate chance it will sell out at all major retailers. It's not worth it to put five dollars down for a "chance" to get one of the initial shipments at GameStop when I can go to Best Buy and pick up a copy there any time after the game is released.

Regardless, if I were to reserve a game, I'd like to be able to pick it up at my leisure within a reasonable amount of time, and "midnight launch" is not a reasonable amount of time. One day isn't a reasonable amount of time. Maybe two, but to me, that's pushing it, even.

thatguyjr

I wish i could say "x" store was better but thats not the case. Granted Gamecrazy is down to just reserve copies only in my city, people are rabid for this thing.

Which kind of hurts console sales as well. Think about it, you don't own a console (360/ps3) and you want to buy GTAIV and the console, well obviously you won't pre-order the game on a console you don't own, so you want to walk in, get the console and game

no bueno. (hence why pre-made bundles are good by the by)

Zaos

@Proto_Man:

I honestly don't get why anyone would go to a GameStop instead of a big box retailer like Wal Mart or Best Buy. They're all heartless corporations, so there isn't any moral imperative to shop at any specific store. Also, I have never seen the big stores sell out of a major release video game. I say it serves people right for continuing to shop at GameStop.

Darth Navster

Funny, my wife works at Gamestop and they were told the exact opposite today.

Captain Impulse

@Marooner: i walked into one this morning without a reservation and got one just fine, dont know why they didnt give one to you

smuckersisgood

@Marooner: Well I just did a walk in and got the regular version after trading in 3 PSP Games.

I love EB GAMES PROMOTIONS sometimes!! :D...

and yes EB Games is a subsidiary of Gamestop

kingme

AH well, I'm not buying it anyway.

Eville1

@MrBionic: Some of us gamers have real lives, jobs, kids... you know, responsibility. We Pre-order games so when life doesn't allow us 15 extra minutes to run past Gamestop the second it opens, we have 48 hours to go pick it up. I didn't pick up my pre-order copy (paid in full on Feb 2nd) until about two hours ago. Had they been out you better believe there would be some hell to be paid.

aveneyer

@jayntampa: Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came.

Asper

While the in company promotion is kind of in bad taste, the fact remains that there is no shortage of this game. This isn't a Wii or any other rare item. Every store has tons of copies of the regular edition of GTA4. There are no customers doing without their copy of GTA. They collectors edition on the other hand has been adhered to pre-orders.

Deebo's Bike

@MrBionic: Well, I think give them a week, after that, then you can sell the thing. Some people don't have reliable travel, or may be using the pre-order to make sure that they don't need to be there at launch so they could, say, go on a date with their significant other, or visit a sick grand parent.

ggodo

Yeah luckily i was there at 12 with my preorder, they had a seperate line for people who didnt and they had to wait for all of us to get our copies before they could even get in line.

snakepliskin

sucks, here in toronto, our EB Games had a lot of GTA IV for both PS3 and 360. Wal*Mart literally had DOZENS of Special Editions for 360 but got sold out of the PS3 Version.

Although I got mine at EB Games because I traded in 3 and got the game Free!!!

kingme

@MrBionic: I would agree with that, except they took your money and issued you a 48-hour guarantee. If they pulled something like that on me, I'd be gone.

Companies could care less where the money is coming from as long as it's coming in. The best way to insure you get the games is to build a relationship with the employees - treat them with a little respect, reward them with some pre-orders, and they will generally take care of you.

jayntampa

We have a Gamestop Manager who after the release takes your money from your reserve and reserves something else for you. Talk about against company policy!

RetroGamer79

I was on the fence about pre-ordering, but I'm glad I didn't now. I bought it on Best Buy's website today, chose in-store pickup, and picked it up on the way home from work. No fuss, no muss, just a "PS3 or Xbox?" from the girl behind the counter and one happy gamer.

Proto_Man

Sorry, we're having some issues, with these two posts. Everything should be cleared up in a sec!

Michael McWhertor

what they fail to mention is the fact that if a store runs out, you call another store to send more copies to your store. Way to be a one-side story teller.

xrobx

I would like to point out that I attempted to walk-in and purchase one of these copies without a reservation and it didn't work.

Marooner

Who freaking cares. It's a video game reservation.

If you don't like it go to one of the other bazillion stores that carry it and buy it there. It's not like this is a console where there are actually production limitations in the beginning.

mva5580

I dunno.. I think that if you've reserved a copy and aren't at the store the morning of release, you kind of deserve to lose your game. (Or, because of work commitments and etc, at least that *evening*.)

MrBionic

Well, this certainly reinforces my paranoia and justifies my staying up and standing outside of a Best Buy until midnight with about ~50 other Dallas schmucks last night.

Asper

...i'm glad i preordered through Amazon. they had that sucker at the Post Office before it even launched.

TinyLightning

Someday I can see Gamestop and EA joining forces to become the most evil corporation in video entertainment.

bostano

Hi McWhertor the original link on the main page with this story takes you to the Team Fortress 2 GoldRush map story?

I had to click on the "More" link from within your profile on this story to get to the jump.

Witzbold

I got mine in the mail....yipee for me!

latinogamer

This is exactly the reason why I do not intend to ever give Gamestop any more of my money.

I'd sooner shop at Walmart or Toys'R'Us than give these jackals more of my money. At least at those stores I KNOW I'm going to get screwed with.

JChaos

Do you honestly believe every store only gets enough for pre-orders on initial shipment?

If you read the quoted text. It says nothing about disregarding pre-orders, only a set goal, then it is up to each manager to choose to push for said goal.

While there are some stores that are ran by retards, there are a few good stores where the manager and staff would realize when we run through our extras.

All day today. All day. I turn every walk-in at my store for GTA IV because we had sold all the extras we had. And we need to make make sure we have enough for all the pre-orders till Thursday, when the 48 hour we guaranty is over. Which is fine, because we get more Friday. If you've waited three days, then you already know how useful your pre-order is.

For Mario Kart Wii, we started with 80 extra copies, and we still have plenty to go around. Not every one came to pick up the game.

In fact, we still have people who have fully paid off Halo 3s in our system. Have they picked it up?

The oldest game I can recall that was still in our system that I saw recently was Pokemon Battle Revolutions.

Loser

i gave a call to my local gamestop and fye after work, had them both tell me they were sold out unless i had pre-ordered for all their stores in a 25 mile radious, so i hopped over to wal-mart and grabbed one of the 30 or 40 they had sitting in their case. no snarky clerks, no pushes to pre-order something else, just the game i was looking for.

say what you want about wal-mart, they've never let me down on a launch day.

kapp

Only time I shop at gamestop is when I need an ATLUS game because it's usually hard to find them anywhere else.

goldwings

I dont know anything about this, i turned down 20 people today for not preorder... and as far as i know none of the stores sold preorders to walk ins.

rinerdar

they should seriously be sued for this kind of bullshit. it's happened to me twice.

sc00t420

I can understand the whole money issue, really I can. But seriously man, the people who pre-ordered and got this crap said to them...
It's like your heart and balls being twisted at the same time, not slowly, but in a fast motion repeated over and over again to cause increased suffering over and over again...

MalariaMan21077

Well, if this is true, my store isn't doing it. I turned away a good 50 or 60 people this evening for not preordering.

Maybe that's only for stores with douchebag managers.

Archaotic

@jayntampa: You say reward them like they are dogs. I take offense to that. I work at gamestop and i have not one little opinion in what Corporate does to fuck over the consumer. I am really sick and tired of people saying it's the store worker's fault... /rant

Anyways my store oversold a few preorders. My manager did not receive a email like this, We held them for reserved customers. I am not sure what experiences you have had at other GS's but at my store you GET what you reserve.

Ryanraven

OH HELL NO. I don't have enough today though... FUUUUUUUKKKK!!!!!!! I think I better call the Gamestop.

SNAAAAAKE!!!

artofwar420

It says on the receipt that they will hold your copy for 2 days after the release of whatever game you pre-ordered. I think they should stick by what they say.

Kado

@ eqhara: I like KFC!

Awoken

im working at some ebgames.....
and i must say that we always take our reservation seriously.

but after a week we take the games back to the shelves.

but client still dont loose their deposit...

difancer

Yay for not pre-ordering! (This is the last time time, I swear).

AUAnonymous

@ mva5580: the point is you put money down and they aren't keeping their commitment to you... and worse - they are bribing the clerks to do what they wouldn't want done to them. business ethics are out the window .... that's why I won't do business with them. I can't support that.

Awoken

Why I shop at Best Buy. I don't need a pre order there, they always have it.

jambe

This just proves that the preorder scam is the best scam ever. I was a victim of Gamestop not having a preorder saved for me back in the early PSX days and I may have only preordered one game since then. The crazy thing is I had to jump through hoops to get my money back instead of "putting" it towards another preorder. How big of a sucker do they think I am?

iamspoo

This remindes me of a long while ago with a game I reserved. I think it may have been Vice City. Anyway I called to check on it and they said that I was in another shipment and I had to wait a week to get it. Now I have never heard of anything like that everbefore or since. But I have gone back to that store after a while and haven't had a problem since.

MjrShake

@GrimCW:

Except you sign your soul and your $5 away. Gamestop would never put itself in such a predicament. Gamestop knows their evil and will protect themselves anyway how.

globones

this is just another in a long line of consumer-unfriendly policies at gamestop.

someone i know who they recently tried to sell an open game as new tried again. second new game purchase in a row for him they tried to sell him an open item.
both times they had the last copy excuse, and used the display case for it.
neither time did they tell anything him before the transaction took place.

before i get on a rant, let me just say i took my last trip to gamestop sunday.
mario kart preorder they tricked me into by saying i'd get a free wii wheel.
they didn't have anything to say when i asked for the extra one they'd promised.

here, it's play n trade ftw.

snowlock

@Dorphat the Insomniac:
I am concerned for
a different reason. Three words:
diaper-clad monkey.

umcloud

@lordMario:

BB had shit like that all the time.

globones

Happened at my local gamestop. They couldn't even hold the fucking game for THREE HOURS. I preordered it weeks ago, paid in full, and I called ahead 3 hours before I left to make sure they had one. Then I show up, and the fucker sold it, and six other copies that were on reserve. If they don't have a copy held for me tomorrow, I'm getting a FULL refund, taking all the money off my card, and sticking with AMAZON and EBAY for purchases and sales.

Ghede

Pre-ordered it on Amazon, and got it earlier today no problems. :]

Vidril

@okenny :): I'm so screwed up I posted in the wrong story... I think I may need a doctor... don't get friends who think it's funny to punch you in the head "as a joke".

okenny :)

See, BS like this is why I don't pre-order from anywhere because you're giving away some money early for a guarantee of nothing. Even when there's a good bonus, there's nothing saying they won't give those away to random customers too. And it's pointless since you can easily find something like GTA IV without a pre-order. Is it really the end of the world anyway to risk not having it on release day? More will undoubtedly be in stock within a week.

@jambe: As do many, many other places. And Best Buy has their own set of ethical issues... they haven't been above doing this same exact thing in the past. I avoid them just as much as GameStop.

Mezodon

Hey, look at that, ANOTHER GameStop post from McWhertor. He should just quit and start a new gawker site around bashing GameStop. Dude seriously posts one of these everyday. Must be trying to fill a quota or something.

SgtElias

I guess my gamestop didn't get the memo because i went there to trade in 2 games today and asked if they had GTA IV. They said the only had reserved copies.

adbmice

i learned my lesson when Gamestop wouldn't sell DMC4 until 5pm on release day. They said it was "Orders from Capcom" even though the Capcom website said "Available Now" which normally means, "go pick up a copy NOW. Like RIGHT NOW." Not to mention I know a couple luckys who pre-ordered from the Capcome website to recieve the game via mail day of (before 5pm of course)

Okay, sorry, a very late rant of my DMC4 problems. Anywho, I preorded at best buy this time around for GTAIV and couldn't have been happier.

Seriously I think Gamestop really isn't there to help us. They just think they're the only "Game Store" around so they can pull any sh17 they want. You know what I say? F#@K Gamestop and time to hit up 'R'Zone. Or Fries. Or Best Buy.

ok, i'm done.

IcerDragoon

I hope this pisses off a lot of people, and they stop pre-ordering games. You realize that Gamestop is making a mint off everybody who puts down $10 for a game that comes out 6 months later? That money doesn't just sit in a coffee can somewhere. They're making an additional profit off you, and when it comes to the bottom line they will sell you out.

robotrousers

I just pre-order games online. I'm fine with not getting a new game ASAP.

Arteen

My manager absolutely refused to do this, and I totally agree with him. Once we sold out of all our extra copies we didn't sell through any reserves to walk-ins (and we never do.) Guaranteeing a reservation to someone and then encouraging to sell it out from under them is incredibly stupid.

sanyo

@kylenalepa: That... Gamestop told me that they were stuck in Kansas on a UPS Truck! Those lying Bastards!

LowNemesis

My favorite employees are the ones who keep pre-ordered copies of games/freebies for themselves and lie to the customers that they've run out.

Another reason not to bother with Gamestop, outside of the occasional coupon, is that they never have any good deals. See GTA4 thread:

[www.cheapassgamer.com]

henhowc

You're all misunderstanding the meaning of this.

Gamestop gets enough stock for all their preorders and then some. If all their preorder customers aren't there at midnight, then they can justify selling the game because they have extras anyway . If you come in later the same day and have a preorder, you get a copy no matter what, even if they have to call another store and send someone to get it.

B-Tizo

i just got back from my local walmart and they must have had 40 copies in their case. I learned my lesson a long time ago about preorders...don't do them.

Narcosynthesis1

Until just recently, I worked for Gamestop, and let me tell you... we largely ignored that sort of notice. We might sell a few reserve copies, but only if (1) we knew they simply wouldn't be bought before the next restock, or (2) the next restock was in the computer for the following day or two. Basically, we realistically calculated and sold modestly (if at all).

Does Not Equal

I went to go pick my copy up after school with my gf and the clerk asks me "would you like to reserve upcoming 360 games?" and I was like "nah, I'm shipping out for bootcamp anyways and won't be able to play games for a long time" and she gave me a dumb look lol...

but I really am a FutureSoldier

BigJames

As a former GS employee, I too can confirm this.

Lixie

@badasscat: The biggest problems with your logic that I see...

1. If I do not preorder a game that no one else in my area showed interest in or very few people, they will NEVER GET A COPY IN. (Odin Sphere, Persona 3 + FES, hell..any obscure jrpg is just not happening here honestly)

2. I pay all the money in on a preorder, not just $10 but the entire $50, and I come in the next day cause that's my day off only to find out they sold the game. So they said they'd get more in on friday. Friday came and I called them around shipping time. They said they had one in I said I'll be right there to get my preorder DON'T SELL MY GAME THIS TIME PLEASE. Well when I got there it was sold. (Twilight Princess for Gamecube.)

As for preordering not happening in retail..it happens for movies, games, and books at the very least. Or did all those people that preordered harry potter imagine that?

Ajh

Fuck Gamestop, man. I'm tired of them. I have little to no need for them now that I have discovered Goozex.

BeetMkr10

I was able to walk into my local gamestop and pick up an unreserved special edition GTA IV with no problems at all.

dalejrfanfreak

Both the Gamestop near work and near my house employs a group of people that has the "better than thou" mentality of the average Xbox Live member. I stopped buying games from there. I spend in excess of $2000 on video games a year; I like to feel appreciated whenever I step into an establishment where I'm spending a large chunk of money annually. I shop at Gamecrazy because they actually talk to me on that level.
Gamecrazy management was actually coming out around every time 10 people walked through the door to tell them that they can't guarantee that non-preorders will be filled. He was also having conversations with customers, as he did with Halo 3 and SSBB midnight openings, which is a nice change from when I was being talked down to at Gamestop.

bluesquareapple

one: love the picture. the Seinfeld reference is spot on.

two: While i might not hate this company with the fury of some people, this has always been my problem with reserving a game with them. The guarantee only means something if they can back it up. If a game you reserve is sold out by the time you get there in the first 48 hours, there is no compensation. Just oops, oh well.

Zensation

For anyone who still reading, I called Gamestop and they said the following:

"I only have one CE left, come as soon as possible, but we might get more tomorrow, no guarantee though"

So it is true, they're selling them to walk-ins. He seemed nice enough, which prevented me from cursing like a sailor to him.

How can I get 50 bucks by tomorrow morning?

artofwar420

This wouldn't happen on Steam.

I'm not saying Gamestop aren't evil. They are. But inventory management is a bitch at the best of times. Trying to guess how successful a product is going to be, to end up with either too many (in which case you're selling off $100 games in the $10 bargain bin six months later), or too few (as in this case). It's just not cool.

Hence digital distribution. Go digital, and it's not an issue. I mean no wonder retailers charge such a premium for the service they provide (buying games off distributors and selling them to you). They're effectively gambling on every new release on every platform- might as well just take up the pokies.

DuctTape

@idkmybffgreg:

Actually, Target is another store that has tried to screw me over on a pre-order. I paid fully for FFVIII (yes, ten years ago) and went to pick it up in the early afternoon and was told they didn't have any left. I called a store manager over and raised a fit and "suddenly" someone found a case in the pack.

Gamestop doing this is not surprising to me at all, and I can see it from their perspective: Someone comes in, cash in hand - if you turn them away, they'll go to the Best Buy or whathaveyou down the road, so you might as well get the cash from them. But what about the people who preordered? They have your money already; they have you in the palm of their hand, so you have to come back.

I can see why Gamestop would do it...but it is still a dick move.

And it is the main reason I don't pre-order anymore - I have never had a problem finding ANY new release game elsewhere.

plumenoir

@MrBionic: I can understand your confusion, so allow me to break it down for you.

Very.

Slowly.

You see, if you have no money... (you with me?)... and then you get paid... you now have money.
So... a person who couldn't afford something yesterday... but got paid today... (still with me?)... can now afford that certain something (and many other things if they've got a well-paying job) because they got... paid.

So, to recap: I haven't been living on the street, going without food and other luxuries so that I can afford my precious copy of GTA IV. No, I skipped lunch yesterday to avoid any funky business with the bank, and when I get paid tomorrow my checking and accounts will be chock-full of gas tank-filling, video game-purchasing, bill-paying money.

If and when you no longer live with your parents, you'll know what I'm talking about li'l buddy. Now go play your video games, but don't turn it up too lound. Dad's got work in the morning.

Big World

Eithier this person is lieing or my store is not following corporate. I walked in today and they said if I didn't reserve one i'd have to wait.

Tomahawk214

This is why I never preorder crap from Gamestop and avoid shopping there whenever possible.

If you walk-in at a game launch you can't buy the game because you didn't preorder. But some people who preordered get screwed because the store sold their copy because they oversold their preorders.

More reason to just preorder games from someone else who actually honors their preorders or just buy it from some other store who has plenty of stock.

NullsRevenge

@Orionsaint: word

MrBionic

I never understood why people preorder games, but most of you here do. I've been gaming for 30 years and in the last maybe 15 years. This whole you must preorder games phenomenon started. I never bought into it and never has not preordering a game prevented me from getting a launch title. It's all a scam and almost all of you fall for it. You always get those people that are proud to announce. "I PREORDERED MY COPY!" Well good for you! It means nothing.

Orionsaint

This is why I dont pre order from them anymore. If they dont have it, then they dont have it, and I dont sweat it. But more often than not, I can just drive to to Best Buy, Circuit City, Frys, or even Fred Meyer to pick up a copy of whatever game Im trying to get. Gamestop is shit.

Altima NEO

@Big World: wow, you're bitching about maybe not getting your reserved copy of a $90 collectors edition game when you can't even afford lunch? Priorities. Check.

Next.

LOL.

MrBionic

Ouch. Good thing I don't order games lol.

redrabbit

Meh, not as horrible as them gutting a reserved copy, like when I preordered Rondo of Swords. I paid it in full in advanced and when I picked it up, they apparantly gutten every single freaking copy. F.U.C.K. Y.O.U. Gamestop

GranzonTotoro

AAA New Release: Anywhere...but Gamestop

Hard to find New Release (Atlus games, etc.): Amazon pre-order (free shipping + no tax)

Seriously…why would anyone pre-order a game of GTA/Halo/Madden caliber? As for harder to find games, just use Amazon to pre-order them, it is a lot less of a hassle and cheaper than Gamestop anyway.

KidU

@MrBionic: No offense, but your logic is completely fucked. COMPLETELY. Here's why:

I reserved my Collector's Edition copy of GTA IV a couple of weeks ago. I get paid on the 15th and 30th of every month, and this month has been particular hard on my finances, to the point where I didn't buy lunch yesterday. Knowing that my reservation was good for 48 hours, I reserved a copy of the game with the explicit intent of purchasing the game on the 30th, when I get paid. As you know, the game was released on the 29th.
After reading this post, I now know that there is a possibility that when I walk into GameStop later today, the copy of GTA IV that I paid to have reserved could have been sold to a person who didn't have the foresight to reserve a copy in advance and simply stumbled through the door with $90.
So, I don't deserve my copy? It's my fault that life dealt me a bad hand this month, and now I may have to wait longer for the game that I paid to have reserved specifically for me? A lot of people would call that reasoning selfish, narrow-minded and juvenile.

As far as GameStop goes: this is the most blatant disregard for the customer that I've ever been subject to, and it'll be the last time I reserve a game with them again, whether or not my game is there today.

Big World

@Does Not Equal:

I second this commenter. That's how the typical store works.

Deebo's Bike

The gamestop near my house likes to tell white lies. It's kinda sad because you know they're lying, but I don't think they really like the answers their giving either because they seem kinda hesitant about it.

Though sometimes when I go to gamestop (here or in town) some of the workers are condiscending. I can't even spell. I'm going to go cry now.

Channing

I walked into GameStop today around 12:30pm.

"Can I get a copy of GTA IV for the PS3?"

"Did you pre-order?"

"Nope."

"Sure, here you go."

Easy as pie.

kingclip

@kapp: SHHH! People will find out about Walmart midnight launches where you can walk in at 15 till midnight and get a copy of the big new launch title in about 20 minutes total. It's so much better than waiting in line at Gamestop. I went there for Halo 3 and it took my brother about an hour longer to get his copy from Gamestop. I went to Walmart last night for GTA IV, and once again it was very quick and easy. Although I guess I should add a word of caution. B/c of the experience w/Halo 3, my brother decided to try his local Walmart for GTA IV and apparently they had no idea what he was talking about. From what he said about their reactions to him asking for "Grand Theft Auto", it sounds like they thought he was threatening to steal their cars.

Spartan1308

I had a similar experience at a smaller but similar game store. I reserved weeks ago, come in around 1pm to pick it up, and lo and behold they'd sold out. However, a guy I knew who didn't pre-order picked up the game at the midnight release. What, I'm being punished for not sacrificing my sleep? So irritating, I'm definitely shopping online or at Best Buys from now on.

Darlan

It was said best in this thread already. Pre-order rare games, but AAA titltes like GTA, Halo, and MGS there is absolutely no need for that.

Adam_Locked

The funny thing is, there is nothing close to a GTA shortage here in DE. Best Buy had counter-fulls.

Sesstuna

@Mini-Boss: I didn't miss any points. I find it ridiculous that people pre-order games, for more than just because Gamespot is a dick of a company.

Also, I'm bored and Big World amuses me.. and my mom is asleep upstairs so she won't watch Matlock with me. That makes me so sad.

I guess I could always go play GTAIV, which I bought at Wal-Mart among the 300 other copies they had sitting there, and paid with out of the money I stole from my daddy's wallet. When he finds out, somebody gonna get-a hurt REAL bad.

MrBionic

@skullivan: Yeah, my buddy works at Best Buy and he told me that they had over 400 copies of the game this morning. Sure wish I knew that before I pre-ordered it...

Big World

Well, the idea is, that the chances are that EVERY pre-order is going to walk-in and purchase their copy is fairly slim. On top of that, they do base it on previous pick up percentage. So, if it looks like only 50% of your pre-orders will probably come in, then, it's a safe bet you'll be able to sell some of those pre-orders to walk-ins and still be safe. Plus, as days go by, they are really good about rushing us copies of big games as fast as they can for those people who did pre-order.
And, as stated, yes, it's guaranteed for 2 days. It'll be there.

Dexor

I reserved Zelda at EB/Gamestop once. The morning of launch, they were sold out. It would be at least two weeks before they got more in stock, and suggested I wait patiently. I walked over to another shop in the mall, and bought it off the shelf.

It sounds like someone at Gamestop realized that refusing to sell games to your first-time customers leaves a bad impression with them. Unfortunately, refusing to sell reserved games to your returning customers is bad policy too.

Isn't it time that all of Gamestop's management was sacked before they lose all of their market share to Walmart?

seishino

I think some of us are missing the point here... (looks at MrBionic)

When you go into a game store and pre-order a game, and they guarantee that the game will be available to you the first few days of release because you gave them a CASH ADVANCE, and then they turn around and sell your copy for more money, that's stupid, and very ethically wrong. It's a scam, simply put, and we should be up in arms about it, regardless of the necessity of pre-ordering in the first place.

I for one already don't go to Gamestop anymore cause of the damage they are ultimately doing to the games industry as well as their terrible customer policies. (I mean, did we all actually read that corporate letter? It's shocking how much they disregard their best customers for a quick buck.)

The Gamestop I live by currently has $10 of mine on permanent hiatus because I didn't pick up two games I pre-ordered and didn't want to get from them. They won't give me my money back without a receipt, which is MAYBE understandable, but then they won't even let me put use that money as store credit towards other purchases! Ridiculous!

Really, if we care about our games, we should just stop buying them from Gamestop. As you can see from the above, they don't care about you, the customer at all, but rather all of the green they can harvest from you however they can.

Mini-Boss

@MrBionic: You can stop replying. You're 100% right about everything. Find something to do kid.

Big World

As a former Gamestop manager I can confirm that this has been their policy for a long time, but it's really not as big a deal as it seems.

With a game like GTAIV, a store might have 350+ reservations, some dating back a year or more. Easily 50 of those reservations will never be picked up. You wouldn't believe the number of people who reserve games and then forget about it or reserve it again at another store because they forgot they reserved it in the first place. I remember with Madden 2006, there were two people who had fully paid off the Collector's Edition and never picked it up. 9 months later and that credit was still there. The one guy had come in the day before the game was released. To this day I wonder what the hell happened to that guy.

Anyway, this is referred to as "breakage" and is part of the reason stores are encouraged to sell their reservations to walk-ins. The more reserves you have, the greater the breakage is gonna be. You can safely allocate like 10-15% of your reserved copies to sell to walk-ins because they are *never* going to get picked up period, let alone within 48 hours. It's called "playing the float".

And that's the other half of the equation. Reserves are only held for 48 hours but a lot of people who reserve games don't have a chance to come pick them up until the weekend. So again, you're sitting on a ton of copies you could be selling to walk-ins that aren't going to be picked up by reserve customers either.

So if you've still got 80 reserved copies laying around tomorrow evening, it's pretty safe to start selling into them because there's no way all 80 people are going to show up that night. If you're sitting on those 80 copies once the 48 hours is up, that's a lot of copies you could've sold to walk-ins and who now went to Best Buy or Target to buy the game.

Our district manager always told us to sell to everyone no matter how much we had to dip into our reserves, and that they would pull copies from another store if we needed to satisfy reservations.

The idea is to sell as much of your initial allocation as quickly as possible because you'll be sent even more product in your next shipment (which I'd figure most stores will get on Thursday or Friday). So by the weekend you've got even more copies in that you wouldn't have gotten if you hadn't sold all those "reserved" copies earlier in the week. And in the meantime, every single person who came in to pick up their reservation had one waiting for them.

Gamestop is in no way recommending to sell all copies to walk-ins and to hell with reservation customers, they just want stores to be aware that there is no reason to strictly set aside 350 copies if you have 350 reserves. There's just no way you'll need them all.

So yeah, your reservation IS meaningless, but not because you aren't guaranteed a copy, but because there's no need to actually reserve a copy in order to get a game, especially when it comes to mega-releases like this.

skullivan

GAME did the same thing to me here, on two of my pre-orders, needless to say, I do not shop with them anymore.

Enyeez

@Big World: Seriously though, I really just find it funny that you're so serious about this.

MrBionic

@Big World: *just shakes head*.

Maybe, just maybe, if you had your spending priorities budgeted properly, you wouldn't have to go without lunch the day before dropping $90 on a game.

Nice comment about mother's basement by the way.. lol.

I'm sorry that you're so absolutely stuck in the world that you think the only way to get a copy of the game you want is to be sucked into the pre-order world.

MrBionic

@MrBionic: Oh, I forgot.

Next.

LOL.

(Seriously, that's so badass)

Big World

Our store doesn't sell games that are preordered. It's that simple. Regardless of what corporate tells us we don't do that, because we know it's a shitty thing to do to customers, especially ones who have already shown interest by paying part of the game off.

If you don't want to preorder, fine. But do not fucking bitch if you can't get the game you wanted, or the CE you wanted, because you didn't bother ordering it because you "knew we'd have it." Oh, yes, there are people like that. Even ones who want the newest Atlus or NISA game.

With a big title, whatever, I understand not being too worried about Halo or AAA game. But then, if you know our business and the amount of games we order is based off of reservations (and it is, believe me), then just fucking order it. It doesn't cost extra, and usually there are incentives (like the extra 20% trade in in GTA's case).
The more people that order, the more copies we get, and therefore the more we can sell in general. But there are so many with the "I don't have to order it because there will be extra copies when it comes out" attitude that it ends up screwing everybody else over, especially if your store manager is a corporate bitch like some stores have.

And to those who mentioned MGS 4. If you're talking about the CE there's no fucking way it will be sold. At least, not if you shop at my store.

Fierfaerie

@Croixtreize: I don't think system mods are GameStop's biggest issue, or even a threat to the industry at all. Most people have no clue how to copy a DVD, and that's a much less involved process.

I think the biggest threat to them is other retailers. Stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Toys R Us sell a lot of games, and if someone has a bad experience with GameStop it's probably not too hard for them to head over to the nearest national chain store for their game the next time around.

@Darth_Pogo: This is the problem. Given GameStop's prominence in retailing video games, they can/have/will/do get away with this kind of thing without any repercussions.

spiderweb1986

@jayntampa: THANK YOU! i work for gamestop and i know how evil of a corporation it is. we really will take better care of you guys if you treat us with some kind of respect instead of thinking we're there to take your money and laugh at you. its shit like this that sends people in looking down on me at work. i do what im told to do or lose my job. dont hate the people at the store, hate the people at the top!

Kotaku's Silent Assassin

So far, I've reserved one game in my life (Super Smash Brothers Brawl), and that was only because I'd never been to the small independent store I got it from and wasn't sure how many copies they'd be getting.

The key difference? The pre-order meant something there. They weren't going to sell my copy to someone else because they'd permanently lose a customer by doing so...and they can't afford to do that. Unfortunately, GameStop can, which is why this policy exists.

Plain and simple, the only reasons to shop at GameStop now are used games, because they're one of the only retail options for that. I don't trust them for anything beyond that, and with some justification. Ever since my sister bought a "new" copy of Elite Beat Agents that came with a 100% complete save file, I've been leery of the company. Take their "rental" policy (employees take home games, play through them, then return them to sell as new): most people would never know or even be affected by it, but if you're the one who gets the scratched disc or the completed game, odds are you'd be unhappy about getting an obviously used "new" product. The same goes for selling display copies as new: while I understand the reasoning behind it (just think about how easy it'd be to steal a game if it was in its box on the shelf), I'd rather drive a bit further to a store like Circuit City if I know they'll have the same game at the same price, in its original packaging.

The thing is, these are rare occurrences, and that's why they can get away with shoddy customer service like that: most of their customers will never know.

GameStop's a necessary evil of sorts, I guess - off the top of my head, I can't think of any other nationwide chains that focus exclusively on games, and I don't think that allowing Target and Wal-Mart to exert full control on the industry because they're the only retail outlet for the product is a better alternative.

At this point, I don't know what the best way to handle GameStop is. I do know, though, that if I've got an option to give another retailer my money instead I will. A one-man boycott won't do much, but at least I won't be supporting practices like the one discussed here.

@