Gamestop has always been a bit questionable to gamers in their retail tactics. First, they give you crummy trade-in value for your games at a fraction of what you originally paid. Then, they have exclusive deals that say "buy with us, or miss out on something great that will make your game sub-par." Now, they've crossed the line by lying to a gamer that just wanted to play as Sgt. Johnson and be a part of the Halo Reach Beta.
Here's the situation. First, I have been covering Halo 3: ODST's release on a website called
Co-optimus.com. We focus on co-op gaming, so the Sgt. Johnson release for the Firefight mode was a big deal to us. However, as a bit of a book-nerd, I was more looking forward to playing the Halo: Reach beta, which requires the ODST game disc to play.
When I went to Gamestop inquiring about Halo 3:ODST's in-game exclusives, the guy behind the counter told me something that I knew wasn't true - but I took his word for it, since he worked at the company and I didn't. He told me that Halo 3: ODST was going to have Reach beta codes with it, but only with a very limited supply. This was absolutely not true - all you need is the
Halo 3: ODST disc in approximately a
year when the Halo: Reach beta goes live.
This blatant lie was a violation of my personal being for a number of reasons.
1. He made me question myself ...and I fell for it.
2. He made me feel taken advantage of when I double checked what I already knew, and found out he flat-out lied.
I actually feel can blame the corporation on this one, not just the skeeze that got a (canceled) pre-order out of me. While that guy was still at fault for lying in the first place, Gamestop puts so much pressure on their staff to make pre-order quotas that they'll do almost anything to keep their jobs. Apparently that means lying, though hopefully when I speak with the manager of that store, it's less condoned (and I get a Sgt. Johnson code anyway.) Gamestop is one of my biggest pet peeves in the gaming industry right now.
I used to shop with them for their relatively cheap used-game selection simply because I am poor - Now, I won't even be doing that any longer. Their exclusive pre-order incentives that are rarely (if ever) made available to gamers that don't pre-order with them was the first straw, but when they lie about those incentives I'm not going to make another attempt to pre-order again.
Toys R Us FTW!
ShadokatRegn's blog
Follow
RSS
Contact
The sad truth is while you're an amazing employee, tomorrow morning Corporate could tell your District Mananger to tell your Store Manager (if that's not you) to tell you to use tactics like the above scenario, or you'll lose your job. It won't always happen, but it's not unheard of in low margin stores.
What? If gamestop employee's start fucking with me I will just stop shopping there all together, I can understand if were buddy buddy or something and I know the person but your not supposed to be a smart ass to customers you've never even met before, it's just bad business.
For what it's worth, I agree with Chrono. If your manager knows you fuck with people, Video, odds are he'll get fired real quickly if District has any sort of accountability.
@Pariah
I don't hate all the employees of Gamestop. In fact, I have several friends that are former employees - but that also gives me some of the behind-the-scenes BS that corporate pulls on you guys. Probably reason enough for that guy to lie to "just some girl." Which is why I made sure to throw in there that I blame the corporation just as much if not more.
it's gamestop. what the hell should you expect? whenever I happen to be there, I just get my crap and ignore their talk unless they really know what they're talking about. Otherwise, I don't talk to employees there.
And to Shadokat: Really? You strike me as feeling you've been stabbed in the back. Has your store ever lied to you before? Do they give you shitty service or treat you poorly in general? If they don't, I would imagine they were merely mis-informed. It's a very easy stretch to say the Beta access is a pre-order bonus. Beta access is ALWAYS a pre-order bonus. This is such an easy thing to confuse that even I fucked up on it before specifically finding out on my own.
I'm sincerely hoping you were polite as you were canceling if you store usually gives you good service. This sounds downright innocent from my perspective.
Also @ Magnalon: Shady tactics like that don't work if the employees call out their managers and report them to corporate. If you start filing complaints against the management the heat will come down should there be proper founding. A semi-buddy from an old job who then worked for the local GameCrazy got his manager fired for using underhanded tactics.
"A semi-buddy from an old job who then worked for the local GameCrazy got his manager fired for using underhanded tactics."
I had a manager that literally verbally abused women when I worked at Target. I stood up to him multiple times and nearly lost my job. After persuading a bunch of people to write letters and call corporate, the most we got for him was "probation".
Sadly, from my experience in retail, it's really hard to fight tenure.
They need to hire me for crying out loud. But instead they get some ignorant kids because they're cheap. OK, I'm done whining.
Shadowkat, just stick to what you know and only trust yourself.
:)
It's situations like those where you politely ask, "is there someone else I can talk to?" Don't roll over for some clown behind the counter man, especially if you're smart enough to know your being duped.
@Dimly - Gamestop experiences are usually not good unless I go to the store that has the manager I know - most of my friends have either quit, or been wrongly fired (a few were rightfully fired for BEING dumbasses) so I had little connection with Gamestop. Most of the employees are hired because they're good at BS'ing.
Do you have any proof that this guy was going out of his way to lie to you to make his pre-order? Honestly, a lot of people make such a big deal about Gamestop's EVIL, CRIMINAL policies but don't actually understand any of them or bother to think from the other end of the counter before shooting their mouths off. It's getting really tiring.
Ah yeah I see. But that means...
THE BASTARD!
I still remember the EB Games clerk who kept trying to talk me into pre-ordering the 360 version of UT3. First of all, I just wanted to pre-order the PS3 version, secondly, at that time the 360 version hadn't been confirmed, Thirdly, the 360 version was months and months away from release time (well after the PS3 version), and fourthly as I repeatedly told him... I don't have a 360!!! I was so pissed off at him, I finally left and pre-ordered it at Future Shop.
I think that some of their employees are actually just stupid. Not all of them, but a lot of them.
I've given gamestop the benefit of the doubt for years - The in-game exclusives started to become a real problem, but I know that guy just started naming shit that COMES WITH THE GAME as gamestop exclusives to get me to pre-order through him to get his quota.
I'm Miffed at Gamestops Pre-order or be fired mentality, hence blaming the corporation at least as much, if not more, than that kid.
As a side note, Bend Oregon is fully of yuppies and crazy people who happen to be rich, but it also has a unique history in the gaming community. The Sony Bend studio made the Syphon Filiter games, Resistance: Retribution, and also made Bubsy 3D.
So how do you know he was just being a lying shit? Are you normally harassed and lied to, or could this possibly have just been a misunderstanding? I'm not a fan of corporate policy and dickweed managers, but I'm also not a fan of customers who jump to conclusions. I've dealt with a slew of customers whom will immediately talk shit behind my back for not sucking their dick, because of how convenient it is to act like a victim.
I'm not saying you do this, but it's my duty to defend. I give a damn about doing a job I take on right, and I likewise give a damn about making sure anyone who did the same has a chance at fair treatment. I hope you understand my position here. I'm not asking you to defend yourself to me. I'm a guy you don't know on the internet and it'd be ridiculous for me to demand you invest yourself in this conversation. I'm just playing Devil's Advocate.
I went to the store today to get my pre-order deposit back and inquired about that guy - apparently he had a habit of feeding people BS to get pre-orders and was fired for it. I'm pretty good at taking a step-back most of the time, and like I said - I've given Gamestop the benefit of the doubt MANY times.
The way the conversation went was:
Me: "What pre-order incentives are there in store that are different than online"
Him: "Well, you get a Sgt Johnson code."
Me: "That's it?"
Him: "We also have a limited number of the Halo Reach beta codes with our pre-order."
Me: "Oh yea? I care about that more than Sgt. Johnson - though I'd like both."
Him: "Yep, so you should order it now to ensure you get in the beta!"
Me: "Sure, helps me pay it off in increments anyway."
Probably not word-for-word but that was the gist of it.