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Would Gamestop be in a better state if they respected customers?
- Thread starter fireflame
- Start date
Honestly, a lot of the problems people have with gamestop scream "I have never worked retail in a major chain business."
It's not the employees fault that they ask you these things when you come in the store, or that they try to upsell you... They usually don't care about what your response is, they just have to ask you those things.
It's not the employees fault that they ask you these things when you come in the store, or that they try to upsell you... They usually don't care about what your response is, they just have to ask you those things.
Never had a customer service experience problem at Gamestop.
Yes, I was miffed that they wanted to charge me the cost of a new controller because I forgot the USB charging cable when trading in my OG PS4 during last Black Friday but that was a corporate policy/requirement.
Yes, I was miffed that they wanted to charge me the cost of a new controller because I forgot the USB charging cable when trading in my OG PS4 during last Black Friday but that was a corporate policy/requirement.
I sincerely doubt it.
No one minds being hawked at in a retail store to the degree that it would materially affect a company. You don't hear about people avoiding certain hardware stores or whatever because some guy tried to upsell you on hammers; you hear that said hardware store does well because that's the one of only places to buy hammers in person and really it's like a 10 second interaction so who cares. No ones like "ugh never again this fairly unique product isn't worth going to *that* market leader and suffering *those indignities* for!"
Like maybe a few people like that, but the rest of the world are adults.
No one minds being hawked at in a retail store to the degree that it would materially affect a company. You don't hear about people avoiding certain hardware stores or whatever because some guy tried to upsell you on hammers; you hear that said hardware store does well because that's the one of only places to buy hammers in person and really it's like a 10 second interaction so who cares. No ones like "ugh never again this fairly unique product isn't worth going to *that* market leader and suffering *those indignities* for!"
Like maybe a few people like that, but the rest of the world are adults.
OP
OP
well in my eyes since they focus pon games, they would target people likely to buy games, with maybe a bigger focus on people who spend a lot on video games, more than on "family" customers.As for how they became the biggest store, I don't know. Was it just because they were among the first to get into that market? Stores focused n video games exist here but I think it cannot be compared to USA.
I don' tlike the word whales, but I would guess a game whale would be someone willing to spend money on collector editions, and buying many games.
I stopped buying new games there (usually go to Best Buy or Amazon for physical now) after multiple instances of buying a "new" game with an open box covered in their stickers. You never feel like you're getting the premium experience shopping there, and I wouldn't doubt if that's lead to a mass exodus of potential customers.
I think that gamers complain about GameStop because they like to prove to everyone that they know more about video games than the cashier does.
What a horrible ordeal!
GameStop here in Ireland sell new games at €75 the last time I checked. That's €5 more expensive than buying digitally and €10/€15 more than other shops.
The only people I ever see shopping there are kids buying minecraft or fortnite toys and parents that don't know better.
The only people I ever see shopping there are kids buying minecraft or fortnite toys and parents that don't know better.
No thanks, I'll just buy from Amazon. And seriously - stop pretending like they ask only once. They are aggressively persistent. The fact that corporate mandates it is not my problem.
What does it matter if you are the biggest videogame store in the world if you go bankrupt 5 years later?
I've no doubt that there are some stores that have employees who persist, but I've never been to one where the cashier didn't stop once I told them I wasn't interested, and I've shopped at various GameStops for over fifteen years.
Honestly I don't think it would. They're kind of in a tight spot. Game margins are thin which is why they don't stock themselves the way a Best Buy can (that's the reason I stopped buying new games there YEARS ago). Online shopping (Amazon specifically but being able to easily compare prices in a number of other online stores doesn't help either) and digital downloads eat away at those sales even more. People were always going to drift away due to these factors. If they weren't the only used games store in most towns, they'd already be under. The best they can do is lean in to that aspect and find out how they can ride the digital distribution train in a co-habitative manner before it's too late. None of that really has to do with how they treat their customers except in creating goodwill and brand loyalty for whatever transition they try make in to a new market.
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Only gamers would freak out by a cashier briefly asking them if they want to buy a protection plan.
It's the retail equivalent of "would you like fries with that" and yet gamers treat it like they're having bamboo shoots jammed under their fingernails.
It's the retail equivalent of "would you like fries with that" and yet gamers treat it like they're having bamboo shoots jammed under their fingernails.
I asked on the facebook page about the policy for selling used copies as new and if there were plans to pack shipped LEs and such better. I was polite and it was the best way to reach someone at the time. They were incredibly childish and rude and basically justified the policy by comparing it to buying a new car. "New cars aren't sealed and yet they are new". I tried reasoning with them that the games were unsealed, used by staff in many cases, labels applied- and yet they were asking full price. Rather than attempt any kind of polite discussion- they went to insulting my profile picture and all kinds of crap. This is the official Gamestop page.
That along was a fun time. In store, I can't recall having issues other than the new/used crap.
That along was a fun time. In store, I can't recall having issues other than the new/used crap.
I worked at gamestop for awhile a long time ago. I shop there all the time, at various stores in my city, and have never had the horror experiences people relate on here.
No thanks has always been sufficient to get out of the things they ask. Never been a big deal to me.
I also make sure to wait for their deals like 50% on trade ins when trading in more than a certain number of games, or toward the preorder of a game, so I've never felt ripped off when trading in the shit I don't want, either.
My experience with gamestop is so far removed from what people say here that it's weird.
To answer the OP: No, they expanded too much, have way too many stores, and people are buying more digital shit than ever. Brick and mortar stores across the board are experiencing something similar to gamestop.
GameStop would have done better if they changed with the times. Gamers motivations and habits have change profusely over the last decade or so, and GameStop has not changed with them.
Um, what? In all of my experiences they've indeed only asked once. And so what if you have to say it twice? The horror!
I too have had nothing but decent experiences with the customer service there. What sours me is the gutting of brand new games, and selling them as new (and their pricing model).
Wtf is this attitude? It's not a fun experience for a lot of people, and those experiences have led people to other stores that don't use aggressive upsale tactics. That's what this thread is about - bad experiences have led people to shop elsewhere. Are you seriously going to argue that GameStop can't do better by their customers?
Retailers that sell one type of product tend to be in trouble in the age of Amazon. Look at Toys R' Us for example, or many types of clothing stores. Places like Target and Walmart survive because they sell everything under the sun. Best Buy should probably be dead, but they sell appliances and other things, and have been diversifying. I remember going in there and being surprised that they were selling toys and Legos. You have to adapt or die. Selling used games for nearly the price of new games isn't going to cut it, nor is selling some novelty toys (and expensive ones) as a so called means of diversifying.
This can't be said enough. All of you guys who say your experience is always good, either you have a super low threshold for bullshit or the employees weren't doing what they are told to do.
They are trained to badger and harass the customer endlessly until they purchase every fucking thing.
You weren't badgered? You had a good experience? Please inform the regional manager so they can take care of it immediately.
Every Gamestop I've ever been to is just like "do you wanna get the protection plan for that?", I go "no thanks", and that's the end of it.
I think so, yes. GS has a terrible reputation and they spent years "earning" it. They sold used games as "new." They ripped people off on trades. Their stores were consistently poorly maintained with ratty, worn out carpet and a largely indifferent staff. I know at least one GS manager who used to steal customers' pre-order bonus items. He didn't even bother to hide he was doing it. In fact, he openly bragged about doing it on a popular forum.
There are a million stories like these. If GS had put in effort to actually be "the hub" for all things video games rather than a smelly video game pawn shop that rips people off they'd have a lot more good will these days.
There are a million stories like these. If GS had put in effort to actually be "the hub" for all things video games rather than a smelly video game pawn shop that rips people off they'd have a lot more good will these days.
Customer service is only a small part of it. The worst thing they did there was try to force people into preordering and not having more games on launch day. That's an idea stuck in the 90s where few stores carried games. Now their lunch is being eaten by bigger companies. Finding used games can be done by searching online rather than walking into a store. You can sell online easier than ever too.
They could've been the place to go for gamers but the competition is going to be able to do more than what they can and they've earned a terrible reputation from likely a handful of terrible workers and managers.
They could've been the place to go for gamers but the competition is going to be able to do more than what they can and they've earned a terrible reputation from likely a handful of terrible workers and managers.
Truth right here. As much as people shit on Gamestop for TIVs, Gamestop will take games independent game stores won't accept.
their trade in values have been fine for the most part, a lot of that is just people not knowing how it works at a store and not realizing how much money is lost particularly nowadays when games drop $30 3 mo this after release. I do agree if they tried catering to their customers more and trying to make the store more inviting and fun with events they would be doing better. they should be doing weekly tournaments or something that's how card shops stay in business. I've also never had an issue with them asking me for preorders and what not and just saying no. on here is the only time I've heard people freakout about this, so I doubt that's a major problem for them, as thats definitely the minority.
4 different upsales the last time I shopped there, including asking if I was sure I didn't want their pro card or if I was sure I didn't want to pre-order some game. The horror? Nah, you're the one being hyperbolic. I'll just shop elsewhere.
That's fine. Don't be smartass and say that people are pretending when they say they've been only asked when you had your bad experience.
And its called sarcasm, not hyperbole.
The reason I don't shop at Gamestop has very little to do with the actual experience within the store. The staff at all of the Gamestops I have been at have all been pleasant and not pushy. Of course, I live in Texas so everyone is a bit more laid-back here. Anyways, the issue with Gamestop is that they charge too much for used games. I would gladly go in there today and buy my son some 3DS games, but even used copies are way too expensive.
In order to have a discussion as to why GameStop is failing miserably today one needs to understand how they rose to the top of the food chain and whether their business model is viable moving forward but let's complain about upselling and selling open games as new because clearly that is what is killing their business.
How about you don't assume your experience is representative of everyone else's when making broad, dumb generalized statements?
On top of their constant badgering trying to sell shit to me I don't want throughout the entire damn interaction, the two Gamestops near me have been far shittier experiences as a brown dude versus even something like Walmart.
Fucking Walmart, where they sell guns.
It always goes:
-"hey can I just get a copy of x game"
-"do you want a protection plan?"
-"no I'm good"
-"do you want to renew your powerup membership?"
-" not today"
-"you sure?"
-"yes"
-"any games you're looking forward to"
-"not right now"
-"you sure?"
-"yes"
Walmart is so much quicker.
-"hey can I just get a copy of x game"
-"do you want a protection plan?"
-"no I'm good"
-"do you want to renew your powerup membership?"
-" not today"
-"you sure?"
-"yes"
-"any games you're looking forward to"
-"not right now"
-"you sure?"
-"yes"
Walmart is so much quicker.
Last time I went to Gamestop, it took me 10 minutes to even get an answer from the employee. They are overworked and understaffed at most locations.
That's hysterical. You come at me with a condescending attitude and I'm the smartass? Go look in a mirror. I have only relayed my own experience. You're the one trying to tell me my experience was a lie.
Both are honestly. Gamestop is known for horrid customer service - I haven't been to GS in years because of that. I can actually say that they are one reason I am all digital, as I got tired of their pitches during checkout. They can sell us opened games as new, but we cannot return new games once they have been opened.
I loathe that company.
It's a hive mentality of hate when it comes to GS. I just don't get it. It's like GS is the only business that have issues lol
Also I just think a lot gamers are fuckin weird and anti social. So anything more than have a good day is chalk board scratching to their ears
Also I just think a lot gamers are fuckin weird and anti social. So anything more than have a good day is chalk board scratching to their ears
That's probably my thing too now. I've always had good experiences with the GameStop's around me. Maybe a few instances where it was shitty, but that was only a handful of times. I just don't game as much and I don't feel like paying for a new game at the moment, but a used game would only be about $5 or so cheaper than a new one. So it'd make no sense to me to get it used.
So did you not say this?
"And seriously - stop pretending like they ask only once"
That's what you took issue with? Jesus, man - I'm so sorry! You really showed me.
Oh for sure. They treat their customers poorly, they treat their products like disposable garbage, and they put undue amounts of stress on their employees to sell services. People shouldn't feel pressure in your shop, they also shouldn't walk away with an open game that someone has used but were charged full price for. And the people who don't care about game cases, booklets or artwork are the first ones to embrace digital. So throwing that stuff away when who people buy physical for those things is probably a bad idea.
Yeah, their re-sale value and the price of their used games is pretty much why I stopped watching there. I've never been accosted by employees, and they've always been extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
I used to work for Gamestop - that company is the worst. They treat employees like absolute crap so I don't wonder why they are doing horrid. The trash treatment of employees in the customer service space, translates to employees treating customers like trash. The employees that really want to be for the gamers will quickly find out that they are not what GS is looking for.
GS is in the customer service business, not videogame business. Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft and other studios are in the game business. I think GS lost track of that fact.
Yes.
I don't shop there because of bad shopping experiences from ~10 years ago. Since 2009 I've entered a GameStop twice, one was a horrible experience, and one was a simply bad experience (Sold me a used game as new; Didn't know it was a used game until I got home and it had someone else's save file on it). After the bad experience in 2009, I've only been to GameStop once and it was to buy the Nintendo 3DS... ~5 years ago or whenevr that came out because for whatever dumb reason Nintendo only sold at retail and it wasn't available anywhere but GameStop.
The "horrible" customer experience I had in ~2009 is what made me finally swear off the store, along with the rise of same-day on Amazon and Xbox/Sony's digital game stores. I had bad buying experiences from GameStop from about ~2005-2008, and so I rarely shopped their anymore (I used to go to CircuitCity to buy my games because they had a good buy back program, before digital really took off). But... Once I actually needed to go to GameStop because I had some friends coming over for an impromtu game night, and I went to buy the latest edition of "Buzz" The quizshow game for PS3, which had it's own controllers (this is before Jackbox was a thing). It was too late to get it from Amazon and nobody else carried the game, but GameStop did... so I went to the local GameStop and it was a trip. First off, the guy behind the counter was wearing just a white A-frame tshirt (what I would have called a Wife Beater back then), no name tag, just that. You could see his nipples. So, anyway, I ask the guy to buy 'Buzz' the game show game, and the boxes were behind the counter or in the back because it's a game that has a big box because it came with 4 custom controllers. He told me that he had it used or new, and I Said I wanted the new one. He insisted I buy the used one. I was like, nah, I want the new one (I wanted the new one because the game came with custom controllers and I didn't want to buy someone else's used controllers). He insisted I buy the used one, telling me the new one was in the back and he'd have to go find it, but the used one is right here and it's ~$10 cheaper or whatever. I said, no, I want the new one. He then said the line to me "Man, I wish I had your money..." And I was like ".. wtf..?" And he just stood there, not moving. THis is when I should have said fuck it and walked out of the store, but ... fuck I wanted to buy that game, I had driven across town to get there, and I had friends coming over later and we were going to play it, and I'm a non-confrontational pussy. I was kind of in disbelief and I was like "Are you.. not going to get it from the back?" And he, trying to be my friend, "I'm just trying to save you $10, this is unopened, in mint condition and $10 cheaper..." And finally, which was stupid of me, I relented and said fine, and bought the stupid Buzz game for $10 cheaper. Well, I got home, put the box aside, setup for my friends coming over... later, open the box, and low and behold, it's the latest edition of the "Buzz" box, but it's the previous year's version of the game, the old version of it inside.
I don't think this was intentional, I think it was just a mistake... the two versions of the game, the 2008 and 2009 one (or whatever years) had almost identical jewel case art on them, but they were two different games and it's one of those things that a store specializing in videogames should know, even if it's not a popular game. I was so fucking mad that I refused to go back to GameStop, and I did for ~5 years until buying the new 3DS, and that's when a different gamestop sold me whatever the MArio game was for 3DS, for new $40 or whatever, and it had a save file on it when I loaded it up. So that's the last time I stepped foot in a GameStop. So in the last decade I've had two shopping experiences at GameStop, and in both of those shopping experiences, they sold me something telling me it was one thing when it was actually something else.
Fuck that store, fuck how they treat their employees, fuck how they treat their customers, fuck their entire shitty dinosaur business model, fuck their future planning. I'm glad they're going out of business. I'm sorry for the unfortunate saps that feel like they have to work there for shitty pay, but if there's any retail store in America that I can think of that *should* go out of business, it's GameStop.
(edit, the story above was 10 years ago, some of the details could be shaky, but I specifically remember him wearing a white a-frame tshirt with no name tag; using the phrase "Man I wish I had your money," and refusing to go to the back to get the new version of the game, and the box having the wrong game in it ... There's also another aspect to the story but it being 10 years ago and being a salacious aspect, it's not worth repeating because it's conjecture)
I don't shop there because of bad shopping experiences from ~10 years ago. Since 2009 I've entered a GameStop twice, one was a horrible experience, and one was a simply bad experience (Sold me a used game as new; Didn't know it was a used game until I got home and it had someone else's save file on it). After the bad experience in 2009, I've only been to GameStop once and it was to buy the Nintendo 3DS... ~5 years ago or whenevr that came out because for whatever dumb reason Nintendo only sold at retail and it wasn't available anywhere but GameStop.
The "horrible" customer experience I had in ~2009 is what made me finally swear off the store, along with the rise of same-day on Amazon and Xbox/Sony's digital game stores. I had bad buying experiences from GameStop from about ~2005-2008, and so I rarely shopped their anymore (I used to go to CircuitCity to buy my games because they had a good buy back program, before digital really took off). But... Once I actually needed to go to GameStop because I had some friends coming over for an impromtu game night, and I went to buy the latest edition of "Buzz" The quizshow game for PS3, which had it's own controllers (this is before Jackbox was a thing). It was too late to get it from Amazon and nobody else carried the game, but GameStop did... so I went to the local GameStop and it was a trip. First off, the guy behind the counter was wearing just a white A-frame tshirt (what I would have called a Wife Beater back then), no name tag, just that. You could see his nipples. So, anyway, I ask the guy to buy 'Buzz' the game show game, and the boxes were behind the counter or in the back because it's a game that has a big box because it came with 4 custom controllers. He told me that he had it used or new, and I Said I wanted the new one. He insisted I buy the used one. I was like, nah, I want the new one (I wanted the new one because the game came with custom controllers and I didn't want to buy someone else's used controllers). He insisted I buy the used one, telling me the new one was in the back and he'd have to go find it, but the used one is right here and it's ~$10 cheaper or whatever. I said, no, I want the new one. He then said the line to me "Man, I wish I had your money..." And I was like ".. wtf..?" And he just stood there, not moving. THis is when I should have said fuck it and walked out of the store, but ... fuck I wanted to buy that game, I had driven across town to get there, and I had friends coming over later and we were going to play it, and I'm a non-confrontational pussy. I was kind of in disbelief and I was like "Are you.. not going to get it from the back?" And he, trying to be my friend, "I'm just trying to save you $10, this is unopened, in mint condition and $10 cheaper..." And finally, which was stupid of me, I relented and said fine, and bought the stupid Buzz game for $10 cheaper. Well, I got home, put the box aside, setup for my friends coming over... later, open the box, and low and behold, it's the latest edition of the "Buzz" box, but it's the previous year's version of the game, the old version of it inside.
I don't think this was intentional, I think it was just a mistake... the two versions of the game, the 2008 and 2009 one (or whatever years) had almost identical jewel case art on them, but they were two different games and it's one of those things that a store specializing in videogames should know, even if it's not a popular game. I was so fucking mad that I refused to go back to GameStop, and I did for ~5 years until buying the new 3DS, and that's when a different gamestop sold me whatever the MArio game was for 3DS, for new $40 or whatever, and it had a save file on it when I loaded it up. So that's the last time I stepped foot in a GameStop. So in the last decade I've had two shopping experiences at GameStop, and in both of those shopping experiences, they sold me something telling me it was one thing when it was actually something else.
Fuck that store, fuck how they treat their employees, fuck how they treat their customers, fuck their entire shitty dinosaur business model, fuck their future planning. I'm glad they're going out of business. I'm sorry for the unfortunate saps that feel like they have to work there for shitty pay, but if there's any retail store in America that I can think of that *should* go out of business, it's GameStop.
(edit, the story above was 10 years ago, some of the details could be shaky, but I specifically remember him wearing a white a-frame tshirt with no name tag; using the phrase "Man I wish I had your money," and refusing to go to the back to get the new version of the game, and the box having the wrong game in it ... There's also another aspect to the story but it being 10 years ago and being a salacious aspect, it's not worth repeating because it's conjecture)
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