Problems with GameStop

[TheNesta]

Hey all, Sorry I haven't been around lately. Been busy with some stuff. However I just wrote up a little rant on my blog about a serious problem I'm having with GameStop right now. So I'll just c&p that in here to let people know what's up.

Alright, so, it’s full on rant time here. This was something I’d been thinking about writing up over the past couple days, but kept changing my mind about it. That was until today when GameStop really fucked me over.

The Backstory

I’ve actually been a big supporter, customer, and even employee of GameStop in the past. I worked there for about a year at some point in the early-mid 00’s, and gave them a lot of business during those times too. And as the vocal majority of people started to turn against GameStop for it’s shady business practices and what not, I still stayed loyal. Believing that used game sales actually helped the industry, and GameStop wasn’t doing anything wrong.

While my opinion of used games hasn’t changed, I just found better companies that deal with it. Not to mention the fact that I don’t really buy or sell that many used games anymore. Still, I didn’t think GameStop was so bad, and continued to use them on the occasion that they had a special pre-order bonus, or I had a gift card.

But then I started getting screwed over by them. The first few incidents weren’t anything major. A few late packages, one getting sent to the wrong address (which probably wasn’t there fault, but still odd that the only time that has happened was with a GameStop order). I’d be lying if I said these things didn’t further encourage me away from the company, but it still didn’t turn me off to them completely.

And then there was the Xenoblade order.

So, for starters. I had already imported a copy of the European copy of Xenoblade last year. Which came with it’s own similar set of problems, but that obviously wasn’t from GameStop. So, with Xenoblade finally coming out here, I wanted to get a copy again because: a) I gave my import copy to my friend, and b) I wanted to support the effort people put into getting it over here. Now, as you may recall, you could only get Xenoblade in North America from two different places. Nintendo’s store, or GameStop. I wasn’t sure about Nintendo’s store, so I went with GameStop.

So here I was, put in my pre-order for Xenoblade, think it came out on the 6th of April or something like that, which is after I get paid so everything was cool. And then… GameStop charges me for the game a week early. A week when I didn’t have funds in the account to cover it, because logically I wouldn’t be charged for something until it was out. But, no, GameStop charged me a week early. Overdrawing my bank account.

So, I contact them and the guy tells me something along the lines of “Oh, well, that’s just a pre-charge. It won’t actually charge your account until the game comes out.” So, I’m like “Okay.” Wait a few days for the charge to disappear, or for my account to not be overdrawn, and it’s still there. So, at this point I’m thinking that I’m going to have to cancel this order and get the game again later so it doesn’t create any more problems by getting me hit with overdraft fees.

I try to cancel the order with them via email, and GameStop emails me back saying “We’re sorry, we can’t cancel the order right now. But you can return the item once you get it to be refunded.” Something along those lines at least. So, I’m like “Great.” What could I do really except just take the hit, and try to pull some strings with my bank account. Luckily I was able to do just that, and I was cool until I was able to get some money in the bank.

Finally the game gets here, and I suppose I could send it back at that point, but why bother? I went through all that bullshit just to get it, and now they want me to arrange for some way to get it sent back to them? And then wait for a refund? Fuck all that noise. However, that’s not the worst of it. Checking my bank account I noticed that they had charged me AGAIN for the game.

To clarify, when they “pre-charged” me, it drained what was left in my bank account, as well as putting me in the hole $20. And then, once the game had shipped, and I had my money in the bank, they charged me another $60 or whatever it was for the game. Now, I can’t honestly say why I didn’t try to fight this, but I guess I couldn’t muster up the energy to deal with or, or maybe I didn’t think about it enough. But in retrospect, they really fucked me over there.

After that I was sure I was done with GameStop for good, but…

The 3DS situation

Now, for starters. I don’t have a lot of money. So aside from my monthly bills, and responsibilities, I pretty much spend any disposable income I have on games. That’s my hobby, it’s what I love, and if that’s the only other thing I can afford to do, then so be it. Still, I have to watch what I purchase. At this point, it’s usually one full retail price game a month. Sometimes two if I can swing it. Other than that, I do a lot of renting, buy stuff on sale, or get cheaper digital games. So, when I say I wanted to finally buy a 3DS, I want you to know the significance of that. $170 isn’t just a drop in the bucket. But I really wanted to get one, as it’s been over a year now, and there are games that are both out, or coming out for the system that I want.

So, here’s the thing. I wanted the new Midnight Purple 3DS, and a copy of Kid Icarus. So, I had saved up, and set aside the $210 I thought I needed for this, and waited until after E3 to order it. Problem was, that Amazon, the place I usually order from didn’t have the purple 3DS, and for some reason their 3DS’ are about $10. So, against my better judgement I went with GameStop again, because they had the purple 3DS, and it was $170. Things pretty much snowball from here, so buckle in.

For starters, they didn’t have any new copies of Kid Icarus: Uprising available. So, I saw that they had used copies for $5 less, and I wanted everything shipped at once, so I picked up that. The next day I realized that new copies of Kid Icarus come with a special stand that holds the 3DS while you play. So I had screwed myself out of that by hastily ordering used. In addition to that the order total was more than I had expected. I somehow forgot about Shipping cost, and I also forgot that places that aren’t Amazon charge tax. So I was looking at a $235 order now. Alright, I can still handle that.

Before I continue, let me point out a fun fact. If I still had an Amazon Prime account, and assuming Amazon did have a purple 3DS, I could have got the game and 3DS for $220. $15 less because of free shipping, and no tax. Keep that in mind.

It doesn’t stop there though.On top of the additional charges, bringing the order to $235, GameStop thought it would be cute to add something called a “3DS Power Pak” to my order for an additional $15. Bringing the order to a grand total of $250. That’s $40 more than I was originally planning on spending. I… I was still able to hang with that, sure, but I wasn’t going to let that go, so I emailed GameStop asking them why they added this to my order, and if they could please remove it. Their response?

”Thank you for contacting GameStop.com.
We apologize, however, we are unable to cancel the item from order XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX because it has shipped. If you receive this merchandise and wish to return it, please view our return policies at:”

Are you fucking serious? Again? Really? UHG. So, with that I figured I’d just end up with some piece of shit I didn’t ask for, and wasn’t going to bother to return it either, and just take the extra $15 hit. Things were gonna be tight this month, but I’d manage.

But, that’s not all…

So, in addition to the oh-so-helpful email from GameStop, I got two emails from my bank informing me that I’m overdrawn.

What?

I got to my bank’s website and check my account balance, and sure enough it’s overdrawn. Why?

GameStop has charged me an additional $60 for no fucking reason!

I tried to find out what this was about, but so far have come up short. First, I called GameStop customer support, but they were closed. So I shot them a nasty email asking them to kindly explain what the fuck is going on. Then I called my bank to see if they could do anything about it, but unfortunately they can’t do anything about the charge because it’s a pending transaction. So, I have to either get a hold of GameStop over the weekend, either by calling them if they’re open tomorrow, or getting a timely email response. Or I have to take the hit, and then dispute the charge on Monday. Then wait for a refund. All the while my account being overdrawn, and not being able to pay for monthly bills.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Let me interject again, by bringing up the $220 Amazon order again. That’s a lot less than the $310 GameStop is charging me now.

In Closing

Well, that’s about all I can say for now. Hopefully I can get a hold of GameStop tomorrow, and get this resolved somehow. I’ll try to keep people updated on the situation. But, needless to say, GameStop is a terrible fucking company, and don’t buy anything from them, ever.

[Kerreth]

Are there no physical stores (any company) close enough to you?

[TheNesta]

There are, but I just order stuff online when I can. I usually do everything through Amazon, and it's fine. But I haven't had Prime in a couple months, and they didn't have the color I wanted. Still, not gonna deal with GameStop anymore.

[Kerreth]

Lucky Prime members.

But man, that is some serious wtf going on up there. I've ordered from Gamestop online before and I've never had a problem. If there's any advice I can give you, it's to use a credit card for online purchases instead of a bank card. There's no danger of overdrawing (unless you buy ALL the things and go over limit) and, depending on the circumstances, you can declare charges as mistakes and the CC company legally cannot collect that amount while they investigate. I would think this applies to double-charges and wtfisthisextra60gamestop charges, though I would ask a professional about that. The only problem is that you'll have to keep on top of the math so you don't overspend. >.>

[Bear]

I've had my fair shares of problems with GameStop. I don't trust them, they are a shady company and have shady business practices and that alone is enough for me to boycott them as much as possible.

The thing that really set me off about them is how they try to sell used games as new. Almost every time I would go into a store, they would almost always try to push the "display" copy off on me. Yeah. That's not going to fly with me. The game isn't new if I don't tear off the seal myself. And every time I would ask for it, they always "only had the floor copy left". And of course, there is no telling if the game is truly new or not since a good used copy could always masquerade as a "new floor copy". Utter bullshit.

I've had an altercation with one of the store managers reaching over the counter and forcefully ripping a receipt from my hands when I refused to give up a return receipt (it had to do with me not getting my Okami pre-order bonus, I pre-ordered LONG before release and went in to the store on opening day).

I will never buy from Gamestop unless it is new AND exclusive to them AND can be bought online AND I can't stand to just have a used copy of it from E-bay. Thankfully, this is very, VERY few games. If I am ever in a position to sell a game, I will never sell through them, even if it meant less sales. Shady businesses need to die in a ditch.

[TheNesta]

Here's the update I wrote earlier when I got up.

Short update on my GameStop situation. Woke up today to see that my bank account was no longer overdrawn, and that they had adjusted the two charges. Seems like they charged separately for the 3DS, and for the game and Power Pak. Before the entire order was lumped into one large sum of $250, with another charge for $60 in addition. Now changes have been made so that the 3DS is charged for $180, and the game and Power Pak is $60. So basically getting back to the “original” total of $250. Long story short, crisis averted. But I still won’t be ordering from GameStop again anytime soon.

In addendum to that, I got an email saying they were going to refund me the $15 for the Power Pak, so I guess getting a little uppity with them helped.

Honestly, I just want to get my Prime membership back, because it was such an amazing service, and I saved so much money on stuff. Not to mention Amazon's instant streaming service now makes it even more appealing. I just don't know when I'll have a spare $70 to spend on the membership.

Finally, in regards to Kerreth, credit cards not really an option for me unfortunately, so I always have to take a risk with my debit card. It sucks, and I've had to go through fraud reports and shit before because of some bullshit. But it's the only option I've got sadly.

[Tehwilburforce]

That's a shame, Nesta. I haven't had any major problems with Gamestop (except for them not having the games I wanted to buy, even though they were displayed upon the shelf, but that's another story). I have heard many people complain about them, and, quite frankly, I might just ditch them for other stores soon if they continue this BS. I wouldn't want to get tied up with them like you did. There's plenty of nice smaller stores around me that carry a much better variety (including old classicky games). The funny thing is that Gamestop's main HQ is in my town. Even if it means not supporting the local economy, I won't buy from them.

[ThePaul]

Only reason I don't buy from GameStop anymore is because it is in the BX, and there's a place there that sells games sans Tax. And that's not the same no Tax as Amazon's "Nobody looks cares about this, so don't declare your Tax like you're technically supposed to" (not that I don't totally do that all the time or look down on those that do).

Plus, the guy with the neck tats freaks me out

[Pie]

wow, what a story and what a headache.... -_-
Gamestop certainly sounds a lot more evil now.

[Farore]

I second creepy neck tat guy at the BX Game Stop. I think he's a creeper.

I've had a few bad experiences at Game Stop, and tend to only buy stuff from them that I need to pre-order and pickup at midnight launch, usually CE's of my favorite games and whatnot.

The worst by far though was when I went to pre-order Cataclysm. I got an email from Game Stop that said you could now pre-order the CE. I raced down there when they opened and said I wanted to pre-order it. The chick working snidely said that I couldn't do that until tomorrow. When I said that I got an email, from Game Stop she pretty much told me I was wrong and that I couldn't pre-order it. She then very flashily moved this paper to the counter that "proved" I read the email wrong and that it wasn't until the next day. And she didn't say anything, just pointed at it.

As I read it it said that they were accepting pre-orders online but that it would take until the next day to have it added into the store's systems. And that's fine, had she politely explained that I would have been fine and came back the next day. But no, she has to tell me I'm wrong and be super bitchy the entire time. I actually called their hotline thing and complained about it. The next day when I went in to pre-order it the District Manager happened to actually be at the store and apologized. Still, no need to act that way.

It also bothers me when the people working have no knowledge of games. Like, really? You work at a video game store but you know nothing about them... blah.