Zero Originality - A GameStop Employee's take on things.

[Kyo]

Hayden, i agree with everything you've said, I managed a GameStop here for 3 years. People no matter how hard u try will figure shit out and to this day I still shop there. Why do I pre-order games religously? I enjoy free shit personally, like promotional codes, beta keys, in game content etc. Putting 5 dollars towards a game to pre-order isnt a hard concept to grasp yet people still dont unerstand why its benefical to them. One good example is the extra suit you get for reserving dead space ONLY AT GAMESTOP and its the best defensiv e suit and inventory armor in the game, for fucking free, yet people wanna bitch about it.

Peple dont have to buy a GI card or buy used shit, thats their decison, so why bitch abou tit, neve really understood why people cant grasp these concepts, but when ur customer has the average IQ of a 5 year old I can understan I guess...

[Hayden]

I can go into a lengthy post about trying to find middle ground on this subject but its as simple as this. If you have a store that has piss poor management that doesn't care about customer service, then ya, your going to hate gamestop. If you have a Gamestop with management that actually cares about customer service, then ya, you will like gamestop. If you think every Gamestop is cookie cutter and they all act the same and have the same mindset when it comes to quality control, product handling, and customer service, well thats like saying "Insert corporate anything here" is the same across the nation.

As for the pricing, ya it sucks, ill agree. And I've been a member of management for over 5 years. The only time I have ever traded in my crap was in bulk during a massive trade+% (trade more for higher %) and I turned around and bought a bunch of stuff used with my discounts. Past that, I have used the internet to not only sell, but buy my games.

But the bottom line is, trying to get everyone to go against GameStop to stop their campaign of "ripping" off the people and seek other ways to game is like trying to get everyone to find alternative ways of buying groceries then going to WalMart. In both cases there are dozens of alternatives to the norm in buying and selling your goods, but at the end of the day the average American doesn't care and yes... will pay too much for convience.

A quick run down of my very successful district (3rd in company atm) comes to one conclusion. Customer Service. We KNOW our prices are harsh, we KNOW there are alternatives out there (Hell one of my stores sat right next to a walmart in the same complex), we KNOW there is a reason to doubt the quality of a used product and its with this knowledge we know we can't simply grind away like a cookie cutter gamestop. All of our gamestops in this district have customer service at the top of their mind.

We treat customers coming into our store and actually spending money in our store rather then walmart next door as a privilege and try to keep it that way. If a game comes in looking like we wouldn't buy it, we send it off. So yes, a lot of our stuff gets sent off. We even send off our own refurb systems and games when they come back, if we know they wont play. Instead of mindlessly spouting off prices and trade in numbers every day, we go to great lengths to find out how each of our customers is going to capitalize the most with the product they have in hand, and what they want. I cant tell you how many times I have told customers to wait for certain promotions, or go back and get something else to get the best of a promotion.

I can go on and on, but the bottom line is this. I know, and my fellow managers know, customer service goes further on sales numbers then trying to push sales numbers then customer service. But not every district or even region in this company knows that..... Thats why we have such polarity in our success district to district. Thats why there is such polarity in "GameStop stories" It comes down to management at the store front level. And the day someone finds a way to fix that problem, GameStop won't be perfect, but they will be a pretty damn good choice to buy games. But in the meantime, since not every human gamestop manager is made the same as e.g. my districts, we will continue to have this polarity of opinions on gamestops.

Word.

While the company's main goal is mostly always profit, its up to the managers to make it about customer service. I tell people about our promotions and price drops all the time. I probably told about 15 people last week to just wait a few days and come back for the XB360 price drop, because I want them to get a deal, and I know that it will set our stores apart from other retailers that could not give a damn.

[Kyo]

Also I wanted to add when I was at my store I would never sell any copies that werent reserved till the next day I felt that reserve cusomers should be treated special and always got tons of reserves and such due to that. It was and always will be about training your customers to enjoy the reserve program and reap its benefits.

[Deejay]

Hayden, i agree with everything you've said, I managed a GameStop here for 3 years. People no matter how hard u try will figure shit out and to this day I still shop there. Why do I pre-order games religously? I enjoy free shit personally, like promotional codes, beta keys, in game content etc. ***

DISCLAIMER: As long as you're one of the first 5 people to walk into the store after we get our shipment. Because the other 6 are going to employees/friends.

We all know that anything worth keeping only comes in bunches of 10. Sure you get stacks of codes for free in game stuff, but is anyone going to die if they don't have that sweet unlockable pony?

And good job Hayden for ignoring the meat of my post to add in a irrelevant comment.

Also, anyone notice that the only people backing gamestop's assbackwards policies are their employees?

[Churchill]

I didn't watch the video.

At any point, did someone say that working at GameStop was hard? lol.

[Kyo]

DISCLAIMER: As long as you're one of the first 5 people to walk into the store after we get our shipment. Because the other 6 are going to employees/friends.

We all know that anything worth keeping only comes in bunches of 10. Sure you get stacks of codes for free in game stuff, but is anyone going to die if they don't have that sweet unlockable pony?

And good job Hayden for ignoring the meat of my post to add in a irrelevant comment.

Also, anyone notice that the only people backing gamestop's assbackwards policies are their employees?

I never said I prefered working there, which is why im a former emplyee, they treat their employee's like ass, well management pretty poorly from my expierence, I just enjoy free stuff and I always preorder early and ushualy get my promo items first, Im friends with the entire gamestop staff here, 1/2 of them worked for me and the other half Ive been friends with for years, but I understand your point Deejay.

[netz]

>>> http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Prod...oduct_id=39277

http://www.zten.org/img/lostodyssey.jpg

Two weeks ago. I'd look at my receipt to see if that was the actual price I was charged, but, err... I seem to have misplaced it.

[Kyo]

The price just this week to 39.99 new.

[Metah]

Also, anyone notice that the only people backing gamestop's assbackwards policies are their employees?

Quite frankly sir, I did not notice because I am blind.

[Fahren]

Halo for a while was 54.99 used at Gamestop and at target it was like 39.99. Idk if the price has changed. I hate working at GameStop the pay is crap the work is tedious and my managers are stupid, I could run the store better than they can. They keep insisting promoting morons and hiring them. I'm rather irked by this.

I was promised a promotion a while ago and have yet to see it and I have good numbers on reserves and subscriptions at my store but seriously I agree with 85% of this video...Another thing don't mean to be prejudice or racist or w/e you would like to call it but in my district there are a lot of dikes working there. One of my managers was one and mai god is she stupid. Then the District manager is one too. I mean I don't care or nothing just find it weird lol...My district manager is nice but can be a bitch sometimes

My current manager is a moron, all he does is get drunk come to work hung over, doesn't show up for inventory, opens the store late and yet he's still with the company. I show up on time (75% of the time) Get good numbers on and reserves subs, good with customers yet I'm still stuck as a lowly GA anyone see anything wrong with this picture?

Sometimes I our store gets shipments from another store and my god the games look like someone cut them with a razor blade. How could they trade in games like that? I mean were they all on crack at the time and said "shit lets send it to another store so we don't get blamed" or something? They expect you to put away games in the cabinets and on the walls all while juggling 3-4 customers and then want you to get a subscription and reserves and watch out for people who may be stealing and if you phail @ one of those they get mad, it's bs sometimes it's not even humanly possible. Oh how about when the managers just stand around and watch you do the work.

One of my managers didn't let me go to the washroom once. He told me "Process defectives and put them in a box and ship" So I agreed even though it's not my job to do this. This is to be done by a manager or assistant-manager. So I agreed and asked if he would open the back room because I had a major piss (drank 3-4 bottles of water and I couldn't hold it) He then got mad and said no to process defectives first. So I said well fine I'll just take the 10min i still have on break and go to the jewel right there in the mall and use their washroom if he wasn't going to open up the back. So he clocked me out and told me to leave and not come back. I mean seriously wtf kind of bs is that? Is that even legal to deny me going to the washroom?

They can also write you up for the stupidest things coming in late clocking out a min late or min early, not bringing back a game that you've checked out on the fourth day. I almost got written up because I canceled on a day I was suppose to work because of an emergency ( which btw I called hours before my shift so they had enough to get someone to replace me)

*edit* wall of text looks horrid D:

[izembo]

no it's not legal to deny you from using the restroom, call the BBB or something on that.

you had an ass of a manager if they wrote you up for those things, and as long as you give few hours warning they can't hold you calling off against you either.

also for the record, the edge card is not $15. it is free. you pay $15 for the subscription to the magazine, which is pretty much on average price wise with other magazine subs.

[Deejay]

also for the record, the edge card is not $15. it is free. you pay $15 for the subscription to the magazine, which is pretty much on average price wise with other magazine subs.

Oh shut up it's $15 for the edge card. Game Informer is just a shitty magazine owned by Gamestop to get people to buy the card. They only tell you to sell it as a subscription because the discount card was only worth $5 to begin with.

Edit: How many people actually walk into a store prepared to spend $15 on a magazine subscription? The company makes money off the card, yet act like it's the magazine they want you to buy.

[Stiker]

Yeah you folks must have really, really shitty people either running and/or working at your Gamestops. That just happens with any company.

As far as the Edge Card, I have one and wasn't pressured into it at all. I went in to trade a bunch of old games for college and I got the card pitched to me. Now I originally traded the games in for like a trade in 5 and get 20% bonus or something, and the clerk took the time to run both discount packages (deal and card) to see if they stacked for me. He made sure I knew if I got the better deal.

In the end it was like, a $5 difference, and he said "yeah it comes with the magazine, but honestly if you don't buy used games at all it isn't worth it." Knowing that I was going to be buying used games in the near future, I got the card and it has easily paid for itself.

Now you are always going to get the prick that will try to shove the damn thing down your throat. That is because they suck at sales and customer relations. Back in college, the Gamestops were shit and they tried to push the promo deals on me when I didn't want to. Sometimes I had to say no a few times, but that was about it.

As far as the reserving thing...it isn't a scare tactic, that made me LOL. If I have money I am putting aside for a game anyways, I have no issues reserving and most often pay the full price in advance if I really want it on the release date. If I know another store is somehow getting another discount on said game, I won't do it. If I don't care to have the game on release day, I won't do it. Otherwise, I'll reserve the game, stroll into Gamestop and head on home.

More often than not the price on the most popular games will follow two trends:

1) They release everwhere with the same price

2) Once things die down, price starts dropping (this varies of course depending on the stores).

[Maxxthepenguin]

To all you who are defending Gamestop against this "vicious attack": Stop it.

This is informing consumers of some of the problems with Gamestop's policies. You say "don't whine about it, just buy/sell online" but if people don't whine about it, people won't be informed about how bad Gamestop can be. Informing consumers is the biggest edge (lol edge) that consumers get in this world.

[Not Kuno]

Video was removed due to terms of something crap. Youtube is gay.

[Jotaru]

When an employee is trained to push something on every transaction it's a pressure tactic.

Eh, while I don't agree with nonethical business practices... this is business. If any of my employees were to tell me, no, I don't think I'll mention X, Y, or Z in my transactions, I'd fire them. Its business.

[Valkrish]

Video was removed due to terms of something crap. Youtube is gay.

i just got this too ._. was lookin forward to seeing it.

would it be hosted anywhere else by chance?


Found another place: However. Most of the stuff was still taken down.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=196431

[Not Kuno]

i just got this too ._. was lookin forward to seeing it.

would it be hosted anywhere else by chance?

The rest of the videos work, just not the one after the intro. Man I'm never shopping there again.

[Metah]

Eh, while I don't agree with nonethical business practices... this is business. If any of my employees were to tell me, no, I don't think I'll mention X, Y, or Z in my transactions, I'd fire them. Its business.

Where I work I'm always told to upsell when I see customers buying promotional things, but I still don't do it (except if its a buy 1 get 1 free thing, cause they're entitled to another). What's stopping others from just saying "Yeah I'll upsell" then don't, like I do, lol

[Valkrish]

i liked this entire article, coming from an ex gamestop employee, this is incredibly, and highly accurate.

All of it, especially the whole 'oh hey, i misplaced that game, idk where it is lol" :\

This video made my day, and i think i'll do my part and spread it a bit ^^