The Reason I Stopped Shopping At GameStop

Power to the players, right? That slogan couldn’t be farther from the truth. This tale is more of a warning. A “buyer beware,” if you will. Also, for the integrity and livelihood of the employees and the location of this GameStop, they shall remain nameless.

It all started when all I wanted was to buy a DS title. It was a copy of Digimon World DS, for those of you wondering. I was rather eager to play it, so right there in the store, I put the game in my DS. That was when the trouble started.

Before I go any further, I need to explain a few things about GameStop’s policies, and how they handle things, for those of you who don’t know. There are a couple things they do that, quite frankly are not consumer friendly.

Firstly, they open games, and label them as “new” when they place them on display. Wouldn’t most of you agree that a new product is sealed in the cellophane and related product packaging it comes with?

Secondly GameStop employees are allowed to check out games, new or used. Sort of like an internal rental service. There is already something wrong with this practice, as demonstrated with what happened with me.

And now, on with the show! So, when I put the game in my DS, while still in the store, there was already a save file on the cart! A @#%$#^ save file! I was quite pissed! They had sold me a game marked as “new” when it was clearly played.

I went back to the counter and asked for a refund. Of course they refused, saying that game, once played or opened they can’t give a full refund. They offered for me to trade in the game. I shook my head, and gave them some lip. The employee who had sold me the game, no less happened to have the same name like the one on the DS save file.

Demanding to speak the manager yielded no results. So I made a point to say that I knew about their employee checkout system. They were probably a little startled, asking where I had come across such knowledge. Kotaku did a story a few years back detailing how their rental system works. At any rate, when they still refused, I demanded to speak to their regional, of which they didn’t want to give me the number. Instead they offered to refund, and save what little face they had left.

Needless to say to say, this probably won’t stop the worlds largest game retailer, but buyers beware. If you are going to buy a "new” product from GameStop, make sure that you buy a sealed copy of the game. As for me, I am not giving them the time of day anymore. I am opting for Amazon, Target, Best Buy, etc. Any place but that @#%RW$ bag of a company.