A retail experience I wont forget anytime soon : Othor Games

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:22 pm

Yeah I wish we could contact the 2 guys we had been talking with while we waited.

Cheers , i will tell him about this.

LOL

Should a turned around and brought this to the attention of the other customers "can you believe this?"

Can more than likely track em through preorders f u knew exactly when they got it wrt you. Etc etc

For the record, I would have held the line up. If you called the cops, as [censored] as it sounds, they could have doxumented it.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:44 am

Should a turned around and brought this to the attention of the other customers "can you believe this?"

Can more than likely track em through preorders f u knew exactly when they got it wrt you. Etc etc

For the record, I would have held the line up. If you called the cops, as [censored] as it sounds, they could have doxumented it.

In future I will turn round and say "OMG can you believe this guy ?" like you suggested , Maybe I should share this story with the local news paper so that commercial affairs will actually fine them.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:32 pm

--trimmed--
then he said it out loud for 100+ people to hear it and that he will keep embarassing us untill my brother paid for it, I gave in and paid for the sake of peace.( my brother was not impressed with me)

What was there to be embarrassed about? And you weren't holding up the line, the staff were. As long as you make that clear to the other people in the cue, they're going to side with you, if anything.

If I had been in that position... well, I can be heard over football crowds for a fair distance

. And there's a fair chance I would've skipped buying the game from them, too.

» Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:59 am

My brother and myself went to game stop for the mid night release of modern war fare 3 , we waited in line since 10pm as they promised the mid night buyers free pizza and drink's.
it was a slice each and very few were given a drink, still nice since its free food and we were waiting a while.
anyway my brother got the hardened edition of modern warfare 3 for the Xbox 360 which was 99 euros.

They asked us would we like game protection insurance on it for 3 euros and told us that they would also enter us in a draw for a modern warfare 3 goodie bag ( all it is , is a modern warfare 3 themed paper bag with a bunch of stickers, the people waiting since 8pm got them as they were first in line)
they told us they were selling the game for 99 euros so we could save a euro or two, so we could afford the game protection insurance.
(how thoughtful >.> still its 99 euros though , no thanks)

My brother said no thanks as we tend to take great care to keep our games in "like new condition".
the manager over heard him say no to the girl who was serving us, the girl said she will get in trouble unless we get the game protection insurance and the manager told us that everyone they had served got it, pointing to a clip board. my brother said no thanks again and was planing on been there all night untill the manager got it into his head that he doesn't want it. (my brother is a man with principles)
He said then that we are holding up the line and that the line wont move until we purchase game protection insurance and that no one has left without getting the game protection insurance , then he said it out loud for 100+ people to hear it and that he will keep embarassing us untill my brother paid for it, I gave in and paid for the sake of peace.( my brother was not impressed with me)

the next day (yesterday) my brother called consumer affairs who put him through to commercial affairs who said gamestop could be fined 6k after they look into this because it is illegal to sell something aggressively to a custamor here , they may call my brother again to take a statement regarding this.
then he called game stops head office
they were very angry and said they would send a district manager to talk with the Manager and the staff,they then offered him my 3 euros back.
my brother said no to that. (I told him he should of said yes as it was my money after all)
He did not tell game stop that he has been talking with commercial affairs though.

No midnight opening for skyrim T_T
The girl at the counter said this when I asked her about the skyrim mid night opening "i hope not, please god there wont be one"
I raised an eye brow then and looked at her like she was crazy.

Have any of you had simuler retail experiences ?

After reading this, I find myself thinking more than anything that this would be a perfect time to start a friendly talk with that girl and get her number :lol:

Edit: If you wanted it, of course.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:54 pm

What a [censored], he deserves a hefty fine.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:27 pm

Have to agree with Darrk Phoenix, i would have just said "Fine. If you don't want my money i'll spend it elsewhere!". Or that's what i'd like to think ^_^

I also have to agree. Retailers get away with as much as you allow them, and if people treat games like that next fix they can't wait for, it's no wonder we're seeing the kinds of crap we're seeing now. I've never put up with that kind of behavior, and have no problem dropping a purchase and heading straight out the door.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:31 am

Wow, I've never experienced that, at the game stop in my town they simply ask "do you want game protection it costs X" and I somply say no and thats it.
We won't have a midnight release for skyrim in my town either, as it doesn't seem to be very popular and reserved for WoW expansions and FPS-games like BF3 and MW3. But the guys that work there are great and usually happy and helpfull.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:39 pm

Just say no next time. I would have just *cancels preorder* on his face

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:47 am

I remember a chekout worker in ASDA (british wal-mart) Put my 13 yr old sister under "arrest"

she had gone to buy milk for my mother and could not carry the milk and the numerous sweets she had picked so she put them in her pocket, she then went to the checkout, let the woman scan the milk and then put the sweets on the coveyor, the woman actually held my sister to the side where all the other customers looked at her like she was a criminal

i told the woman to answer this question, if she was shoplifiting, why would she put the sweets on the conveyor belt?

anyway, the manager apologised, the woman got fired and my sister got a ￡50 gift voucher

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:17 pm

That is why I use online services as much as possible,just avoid our local business whenever I can, with a few exceptions they don′t seem to appreciate my business regardless if I buy hardware or games,which we don′t have that many shops to choose from to begin with,and the few who does sell it retail reminds me of OP′s example,even if that sounds far worse than I have experienced.
We had a few good ones but they are gone, thankfully they are nice at the postal office where I have to go to get my online purchases, to sum it up it is unthinkable for me to put up with rude salespersons

So online orders it is,which then are shipped to our local postal office where they are very nice,no hassle,I pay and get my stuff =everyone is happy (besides local businesses who never see my cash)

» Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:02 am

My girlfriend is actually working the Skyrim midnight release at Gamestop. Glad that her boss isn't an [censored], and her gamestop isn't an awful work environment, as it sounds like the one you went to would be.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:46 pm

No midnight opening for skyrim T_T
The girl at the counter said this when I asked her about the skyrim mid night opening "i hope not, please god there wont be one"
I raised an eye brow then and looked at her like she was crazy.

If the manager was that "nice" to you guys (strong-arming you into taking the insurance), I can only imagine that he's even more unpleasant for the workers. Perhaps the sales girl doesn't like midnight openings because she's forced to work hours that she'd rather be sleeping. (Probably with timecard manipulation so that she can't get overtime....... are there overtime laws there? Or anything similar?)

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:52 pm

Nobody else here was selling the hardened edition unfortunately and my brother had his heart set on getting it.

That's where priorities come in, and deciding what is more important to you. I'll also say that you can often avoid getting to this point by how you initially reject their attempt to upsell. A clear mistake you made was giving the cashier a reason why you didn't want to buy the game insurance- doing this signals that you feel guilty or impolite about declining the offer, so is often taken as a signal that the salesperson just needs to push a little harder and you'll give in. A much more terse rejection (a simple "No" or "Not interested") signals that there's much less chance that you'll change your mind, and if you're asked a second time repeating the "No" or "Not interested" in an unfriendly tone accompanied by a scowl will almost always shut down any further attempts, as this indicates to the salesperson that their attempts are just annoying you, and that they're likely to end up having to deal with an angry [censored] if they persist.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:16 pm

Nobody else here was selling the hardened edition unfortunately and my brother had his heart set on getting it.

So you couldn't buy the game without the protection? I don't think they can refuse to sell you something just because you didn't pay extra for something else.

What I do when they're pushing these offers on me is just make it clear I don't want it, showing them no interest at all.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:10 pm

Dear god thats terrible. I can`t believe they behaved like that..
I think if that had happened to me, i would have told the Manager if he didn`t shut it, his tongue would be torn out by the roots.
Kudos to your brother for taking it further, that Manager needs a serious ass kicking from his boss for a start. Can`t help but feel sorry for the counter girl though, having to work under that kind of pressure

I`m glad i never preordered Skyrim from Gamestop. I thought about it briefly, but then after seeing their reviews on Ciao... i changed to Amazon.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:41 pm

I had only one bad experience with gamestop with my heavy rain pre-order. There is bad gamestops and good ones I guess :shrug: I would of not of caved in though, then again I think I am a little more aggressive in nature I think that you. Not saying that is a bad thing just a guess from what you posted. I would of told the guy to [censored] off.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:56 pm

Other than their practice of selling used games as new :shrug:

My nephew sounds like he got ripped off on Fallout 3 for PS3 for 59.99 in 2010...

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:56 pm

Stopped reading the thread half-way through.

Just think of the heroes you would have been if'n you'd stuck to your guns and made a scene. Save everyone behind you $3 as well!

We only have insurance for major things like health home auto. Insurance is really just like walking into a casino; the company is just running the percentages. If 49% of the items fail, they will still make a 1% proffit. They wouldn't offer it to you unless chances are that you wouldn't use it.

A good while back, we needed to take out a loan to clear some bills. The lender, with her supervisor there offered us "insurance" in case we couldn't make a payment. I politely declined. She asked again; I declined. She restated her case and how it'd be such a catastrophe if we couldn't make the payment. Three strikes and she was out. I laid into her with the lines that 1) if things are that bad, that's what family is for 2 ) I already said no, twice! and 3) we came to the already low on funds, and they had the audacity to try and bilk us out of more money. Shoot, I even used the words "galling" and "hackles up" :swear: They relented and we got the loan.

Choose your battles :nod:

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:47 pm

Stopped reading the thread half-way through.

Just think of the heroes you would have been if'n you'd stuck to your guns and made a scene. Save everyone behind you $3 as well!

We only have insurance for major things like health home auto. Insurance is really just like walking into a casino; the company is just running the percentages. If 49% of the items fail, they will still make a 1% proffit. They wouldn't offer it to you unless chances are that you wouldn't use it.

A good while back, we needed to take out a loan to clear some bills. The lender, with her supervisor there offered us "insurance" in case we couldn't make a payment. I politely declined. She asked again; I declined. She restated her case and how it'd be such a catastrophe if we couldn't make the payment. Three strikes and she was out. I laid into her with the lines that 1) if things are that bad, that's what family is for 2 ) I already said no, twice! and 3) we came to the already low on funds, and they had the audacity to try and bilk us out of more money. Shoot, I even used the words "galling" and "hackles up" :swear: They relented and we got the loan.

Choose your battles :nod:

Heh. You were too kind. Next time mention the words "extortion" and "attorney".

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:52 pm

You should tell your story http://consumerist.com/ That site gets a lot of attention from businesses and consumers alike. If your country has a Better Business Bureau equivalent I would also report them there. That's nothing but a shakedown.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:12 pm

Gamestop svcks - I switched to preordering from Amazon a while ago.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:50 am

Heh. You were too kind. Next time mention the words "extortion" and "attorney".

THIS! or "refund".

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:03 pm

Have to agree with Darrk Phoenix, i would have just said "Fine. If you don't want my money i'll spend it elsewhere!". Or that's what i'd like to think ^_^

Only aggressive selling i've gotten is from phone sellers, but those are easy to deal with :hehe:

Working for a mobile phone company myself, I'm not surprised. The pressure myself and colleagues are put under sometimes to sell contracts customers neither need or can likely afford, overpriced accesories or pointless extras such as "phone insurance" is pretty high, and I can see how some people will prefer to sell aggressively than to risk attracting the attention of the management. I personally don't make too many attempts to up/cross-sell, especially where I know full well the products/services I am offering are below-par, and although this will probably cause problems for me later on at least I know I've served the customer in a respectful and not-dishonest way.

Wow... HMV costs a packet here in England, I guess I know where to go now if I want to make use of that unecessary loyalty card I got from them years ago. :thumbsup:

I know...sometimes I wonder how they're even still in business over here!

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:11 pm

From my experience, Best Buy staff just hound people they suspect is going to steal. But other than that, they tend to leave people alone and there's hardly any hassling at the checkout.

Gamestop however, they have a quota with those membership cards, and since selling used games requires the use of said cards, they must pressure people into using them as well. This apparently is how they keep their job.

A few years ago though, a guy called me stupid because I bought a guide from Gamestop instead of EB(back when they weren't merged). I had actually liked gamestop better than EB back then because they had nicer staff, so I shopped there almost exclusively, until one day they didn't have the game for the guide I was buying(I think it was Xenosaga III), so I went to EB to get the game, and dude was all but hurt about it, and wanted to me to take it back and buy the guide from EB -.-. I didn't shop at EB because of that for 3 years.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:28 pm

Know what you mean people can be jerks be it in person or over the phone over anything. Staying at my relative's house for now and take care of her affairs to help her out. Group kept calling the house saying they wanted her to take a survey and kept harassing her until she told them no. After that had a person call again with me getting on the phone telling em point blank you call here again I will consider it harassment then hung up on them.

Personally OP I would have just stood there and told the manager to shove it up his butt walking out the store without the item. Hopefully the rude little [censored] will get what's coming to him and he'll be out on the street in the cold to rot for it.