Gamernode: Columns - How a GameStop employee tried to screw over my girlfriend

Gotta love GameStop employees. If they're not trying to screw you over, they're jamming an issue of Game Informer down your throat/asking (pleading) for you to pre-order games/making things up to make themselves sound important.
Now, what you need to do is come up with an elaborate set of attacks to make on this guy. Write up a bunch of scripts for your friends, and send them into the store when this guy's working. Give me the store number and I'll call, and do my thing with the voices. You know how I roll.
Also, Mario 64 DS FTL. Controls are really blah; you can tell the game was designed around the concept of an analog stick.

Oh, Brendon, you're just so heroic and dreamy....

I"ve pretty much given up on GameStop. I've purchased 2 games from them over the last 12 months that have supposedly been new and not had the serial number included. In both cases, I had to get a refund because they didn't have any more copies.

That's why I never buy games at gaming stores. About the only real reason to go to a gaming store is to reserve a title that will be hard to get on launch day. Their used prices stink and the money they offer for your games is insulting. It's funny how they act like you're screwed if you don't buy from them and then I walk three minutes across their store to a Wal-Mart and get what I want with no problem.

i haven't had any issues as a customer... i work at circuit city... and i get that kind of crap from male customers all the time! i will ask how they're doing, and if they need any assistance... my favorite response being "yeah, can i speak to a salesMAN?"

The only time I was treated particularly badly at a GameStop was when I was visiting one on a vacation to Baltimore, and couldn't quite convince the counter guy that no, I am from out of town, I do not want to be upsold or make reservations I can't pickup. I expect it was more an issue of him being an asshole than me being a woman.
The local GameStop is quite good to me, but I'm friends with most of the guys who work there and they know I work in the industry, so there's no attempt to play the "lol girl" card. But I've also seen them treating teenybopper girl gamers with courtesy, so I suppose I just have a nice local GameStop.

Similar thing here, I was at EB, bought 6 games, GameCube, I think they were. Got in the car, No discs. Went back and the chick looked at me funny and said; "Yeah, um... We did. Go check you room, or something". If they had any brains they would of known I was in here before. Manager card didn't help though, had to get my family to threaten legal action. I was 13/14 so I didn't have much creds. Of coucre they folded as soon as my father turned up. They even threw in a free game, $15 though. It was Tony Hawk something. Anyway, I try my hardest to avoid EB these days.

just purchase games online its cheaper and less of a hastle
http://www.astawerks.nethttp://www.xtremedirectory.com

I know how you feel, i went into a GameStop to buy my DS, the lady at the counter had a horrible attitude and dropped my DS. When i asked if she could get a different one from the shelf she said something along the lines of, theres nothing wrong with that one and you can always bring it back if it doesn't work. Well it just so happened that drop did something to the screen. I went back into the store and the manager wasn't there and she refused to return it, one of my friends works there though and has been there way longer than this lady. So i call him up, she talks to him and gets me a different DS. Also, I went in the other day to reserve WarHawk Online, and this new guy at the counter asked me if i wanted the cheap version. I asked him what he meant and he told me " exactly what i said, do you want the cheap version?" and i KNOW theres not a cheap version so i just reserved it and went in a little while later to ask about what the guy meant to another guy i know. Supposedly there is only one version like I had thought and the guy was fired earlier that day for saying something extremely rude to a customer around the manager.

I know how you feel, i went into a GameStop to buy my DS, the lady at the counter had a horrible attitude and dropped my DS. When i asked if she could get a different one from the shelf she said something along the lines of, theres nothing wrong with that one and you can always bring it back if it doesn't work. Well it just so happened that drop did something to the screen. I went back into the store and the manager wasn't there and she refused to return it, one of my friends works there though and has been there way longer than this lady. So i call him up, she talks to him and gets me a different DS. Also, I went in the other day to reserve WarHawk Online, and this new guy at the counter asked me if i wanted the cheap version. I asked him what he meant and he told me " exactly what i said, do you want the cheap version?" and i KNOW theres not a cheap version so i just reserved it and went in a little while later to ask about what the guy meant to another guy i know. Supposedly there is only one version like I had thought and the guy was fired earlier that day for saying something extremely rude to a customer around the manager.

Man, the more and more I go to gamestop/EB, the more I realize I HATE THEM. It's almost like I'm going to wal-mart, except that it's smaller, and all there is is video games. I have a couple of friends that work at them, so I understand the reason the push the stuff is because if they don't get subscriptions and pre-orders, they don't get the hours to work. However, It's really annoying, when you pre-order a game, and you get there, and they mutter around and give you this whole line, of omgz...we dont' have it. I really hate when they treat me like I'm stupid and I don't know any better either.
Half the time, I've noticed I've known more about the games, then the stupid employees working there. and Used games is a joke.. I never bring my used games back...because it's not worth it, I get better prices off of amazon or ebay.
The other day though, I went in to the one that I have the most problems with, because I was in the area, I figured I'd check if they had a copy of Boogie, and I get..this attitude because I didn't preorder it.. and tehy said ohhh man you should of done it. I was like ehh, I'm patient, big deal. I went to walmart .. and found at lthe very least 5 copies of it.. no problem.. This is just sad.. why do I need to go to a gaming specalty store.. when my needs can be met elsewhere?

Man, the more and more I go to gamestop/EB, the more I realize I HATE THEM. It's almost like I'm going to wal-mart, except that it's smaller, and all there is is video games. I have a couple of friends that work at them, so I understand the reason the push the stuff is because if they don't get subscriptions and pre-orders, they don't get the hours to work. However, It's really annoying, when you pre-order a game, and you get there, and they mutter around and give you this whole line, of omgz...we dont' have it. I really hate when they treat me like I'm stupid and I don't know any better either.
Half the time, I've noticed I've known more about the games, then the stupid employees working there. and Used games is a joke.. I never bring my used games back...because it's not worth it, I get better prices off of amazon or ebay.
The other day though, I went in to the one that I have the most problems with, because I was in the area, I figured I'd check if they had a copy of Boogie, and I get..this attitude because I didn't preorder it.. and tehy said ohhh man you should of done it. I was like ehh, I'm patient, big deal. I went to walmart .. and found at lthe very least 5 copies of it.. no problem.. This is just sad.. why do I need to go to a gaming specalty store.. when my needs can be met elsewhere?

After returning a magazine to game stop one of them called me a fag, lol.... and When I stood in line for WoW:BC my friend was denied the game b/c he wasn't over 17, even though it was a t rated game. I wasn't even 17 but they gave it to me.
Funny, I just don't like the geeks that work there.

After returning a magazine to game stop one of them called me a fag, lol.... and When I stood in line for WoW:BC my friend was denied the game b/c he wasn't over 17, even though it was a t rated game. I wasn't even 17 but they gave it to me.
Funny, I just don't like the geeks that work there.

I used to date a Gamestop employee / higher-up, so I wasn't mistreated nearly as much as I would've been had I been a single female gamer. I hung out with them, so they know that they couldn't second guess me on my knowledge of games I liked & have played for years.
Gaming related customer service situation: When the Nintendo DS came out, my boyfriend and I were really pumped. We stopped by the local Trade-A-Game and asked the slacker behind the counter if they had any used DS games yet. His response? Very classy - "No, we're not going to carry that crap. That system is going to be a complete failure. We have PSP games." with a cute little smirk on his face. Needless to say, that was the last time we have visited that business. Morons.

Actually, every time I go to EB Gamestop (as I like to call them) I'm usually treated nicely. Of course, I know everyone guy and girl who works at the local one, and they are a nice bunch of geeks. They get a lot of crap from corporate because they refuse used games if they're not in good condition. Apparently, the EB Gamestop corporation would rather have costumers buy used games in crappy condition and bring it back instead of just making sure the games are playable in the first place. My boyfriend's had to return many games because they just don't play, at all. It's a waste of time to have to drive all the way back because some idiot is too lazy to check to see if the disks are scratched badly.
Used anything there is a joke. I bought a used DS at another EB Gamestop a while ago, and almost right away the touch screen broke completely. I returned it at the same shop, and the guy got one that was in a bag. However, he refused to give me that one because it said "new" on the tag... even thought it was in one of their used item bags. So I got another crappy one. I had to go to the local one and ended up just trading it in for a new DS lite. Still cost me a lot.
Trade-ins are also a joke. My boyfriend's little brother got about $60 for a bunch of Yu-Gi-Oh games, but my boyfriend got $20 for a bunch of actually good games. And when I traded in my old DS for a new lite, I only got $60 (which is higher than normal because they were giving $30 extra for system trade-ins), but the DS cost me around $100. Used.

I have so many stories about GameStop, EB Games, and other video game stores that it would take me hours to write them all down. Nearly every time you go into one of those stores, they instantly treat you like a noob/scum. It makes me laugh because I know that I have more knowledge about video games than they do. Some employees are nice, but I'd say the majority are complete assholes.
My latest incident occurred at EB Games when I was purchasing the GTA bundle for the PS2. As he was ringing me up, he asked me a question about reserving GTA IV. I wasn't really paying attention because I was watching my bro play a Smackdown vs. Raw demo. When I told him that I didn't hear him, he starting telling his "boyfriend" employee that I was "out of it" and "stupid". Then I got crap for using an old gift card that I had received years ago. I ended up walking out of the store extremely pissed, telling him to "go f*** his boyfriend over there". There may have been more profanity thrown in there as well.
Long story short, don't buy games from GameStop, EB Games, GameCrazy, or any other gaming stores. Stick with a local Best Buy, Circuit City, or Wal-Mart. You get the same thing, but don't get treated like a dick for not knowing something about a game. I'd also highly recommend Ebay when it comes to buying used games.

I am a female gamer. I don't often find myself in EB games or Gamestop (never been to a game stop actually..). But, as for EB games or even the local gaming store up here, I get one of two things a) sales clerk staring at breasts and not paying attention to what i want or anything i ask and b) get asked if my boyfriend enjoyed the last game. A) I am a girl, but i'm also a gamer. Treat me first as a gamer, then as a female. If it's a game I'm interested in, don't stare at my breasts and make me feel dirty, tell me how to play the god damn thing and why it's appealing to me!
B) I actually stopped going shopping because of all the "did your boyfriend..." or "hope your boyfriend..." comments. I have two younger BOY cousins who play similar games to me and when they go shopping, I give them a list. That's how I shop thanks to the stupidity of male clerks.
Female clerks ... The local gaming store had a female clerk ten years ago. Never seen one since.

I recently bought a DS for a trip overseas. I was looking at GameStop for some sports games. I asked the kid who was working there if MLB 2K7 was any good. The d-bag replied, to my amazement, "I don't play those games, I play REAL sports with my friends on the weekend." It was one of those moments where you don't know what to say. Totally unexpected. What a bag.

I recently bought a DS for a trip overseas. I was looking at GameStop for some sports games. I asked the kid who was working there if MLB 2K7 was any good. The d-bag replied, to my amazement, "I don't play those games, I play REAL sports with my friends on the weekend." It was one of those moments where you don't know what to say. Totally unexpected. What a bag.

I recently bought a DS for a trip overseas. I was looking at GameStop for some sports games. I asked the kid who was working there if MLB 2K7 was any good. The d-bag replied, to my amazement, "I don't play those games, I play REAL sports with my friends on the weekend." It was one of those moments where you don't know what to say. Totally unexpected. What a bag.

I recently bought a DS for a trip overseas. I was looking at GameStop for some sports games. I asked the kid who was working there if MLB 2K7 was any good. The d-bag replied, to my amazement, "I don't play those games, I play REAL sports with my friends on the weekend." It was one of those moments where you don't know what to say. Totally unexpected. What a bag.

I recently bought a DS for a trip overseas. I was looking at GameStop for some sports games. I asked the kid who was working there if MLB 2K7 was any good. The d-bag replied, to my amazement, "I don't play those games, I play REAL sports with my friends on the weekend." It was one of those moments where you don't know what to say. Totally unexpected. What a bag.

I actually have a story from the other side of the counter. I work as an electronics associate at a TRU (Toys R Us). Our department is primarily made up of girls, all of us are true gamers, but on more occasions then I can count I've gotten attitude from men just for standing in the department. One of the worst was though was the 2005 Christmas season. I was going about my work as usual, and a gentleman walked into the electronics department. I stopped what I was working on, and asked him if there was anything I could help him find. He eyed me for a moment, before saying, "No honey, I'm sure I can find my way around here without your help." I laughed, because I honestly thought he was joking at first. He then walked away from me.
Several minutes later he came up to the registers, where I was busying myself casing games, and asked if there was anyone else working in there. I didn't really know what to say at first, but shook my head, and told him no, that I was it. He sneered at me a little as held up a copy of of Animal Crossing for the Game Cube. "Does this really come with a free memory card?" I confirmed that it did indeed come with a memory card, and went on to explain the reasoning behind it (the game data took up nearly and entire card on its own). He cut me off before I could even finish my sentence though, "I don't need your theories. Thanks."
I few moments later I heard the very same question over my walkie. The man had actually left the department, found a male associate, and asked him the same thing. Just to prove a point, and then apparently proceeded to tell my fellow associate that "He need to school his girl".

Story seems fake. There are no playable Wii Demo units in stores.

Wow, I've been hearing that EB/Gamestop are bad stores and evil and all, but I had no idea they were this bad... There's a Planet X (Gamestop) in the mall by my house and I never have any problems with the employess. The guys and girls that work there are all polite and friendly and they never bug me about Game Informer or preordering and the're all pretty knowledgeable. I actually did have one forget to give me the game, but he actually chased me down in the mall to give it to me along with his apologies (he hadn't worked there very long). Now granted i'm in there all the time and on pretty good terms with all of them, but as far as I can tell they're like that all the time. Is this really an oddity?

This is why Steam is the future.

The best gaming dedicated stores to go to are the ones that only have one man running the entire store and he/she is their own boss, they are usally knowedgeable and give you a nice chat.

I'm a girl, and I bought a used game at GameStop and didn't like it, so I tried returning it the next day and they wouldn't take it. It was only worth $5 but, the guy at the counter was not willing to take it back, even for exchange.
I left, and went to EBgames, the guy there took it and gave me my money. He was pretty nice.
Every GameStop I have been to hasn't helped me, taken my returns, or been friendly.

I personally am a GameStop employee myself, preferred when we were EB Games, but anyway... That guy does appear to be a real ass. That is not how things are supposed to be handled at all. If someone came back immediately saying that I forgot to put the game in the case, I'd assume that they are right. If a bit of time passed, I'd double-check inventory just in case. As far as our other practices, Game Informer and reserves go, yeah we are told to basically shove out as many as possible. Since I became a keyholder, I stopped doing it as much and only mention it when I actually think it might do the person some good. If they buy used 360 games, then yeah the discount card can be pretty useful. If the game is going to be real popular or real unpopular (few copies sent to us) I'd suggest a reserve. On the run of the mill game, it doesn't matter too much. I sure hope that not too many of our employees are as big of tools as some of the ones I have been reading about.

Haha, that was gold.

Wow, I must be the exception. My GameStop is awesome--the guys there never bother me, and I go in there just to BS. They don't try to upsell me or anything, the only thing I avoid is the one guy who, in an effort to give great service, word vomits EVERYTHING you never wanted to know about an assortment of questions. Overall though, the guys there are great, helpful, intelligent...like Brendon, I know the manager and most of the associates know me as well, so I always get treated well. Its not like a drop a g-note everytime I'm there or anything, just generally I'm a social guy. So, I feel privileged to have one of the few non-shady GameStops ...

Brendon, I've got a pretty horrible story with these guys and even results in me calling the district manager. I wrote it up but it's a longer story than yours up there so I'll email it to you if you wish, just didn't want to post it on there and take up so much space in the comments. Drop me a PM or whatever to get a hold of me for it. I just found this site via Digg or somesuch and I like it a good bit.

Hey I have worked there, and yes when it was EB it was way better, I have a few OK many stories. But the one of my exit I think is the best. Please feel free to PM me. I will give you the story, plus let you know the offical statment a judge said on the whole messs of my exit.
But as for games I have found Game Crazy to be better, they give better trade values, yeah the employees are still an issue. But come on you have to understand they are getting paid min wage, to work maybe a full 20 hour a week if lucky (please do not get me started on scheduling at gamestop). So really you are asking not to have loyality and or great service. In a way I pity the new hires as they have no idea what they are getting in to.
But I will stop now just PM if you wish to know more. Brandon feel free to get ahold of me as well. I can give you lots of stories.

Hey I have worked there, and yes when it was EB it was way better, I have a few OK many stories. But the one of my exit I think is the best. Please feel free to PM me. I will give you the story, plus let you know the offical statment a judge said on the whole messs of my exit.
But as for games I have found Game Crazy to be better, they give better trade values, yeah the employees are still an issue. But come on you have to understand they are getting paid min wage, to work maybe a full 20 hour a week if lucky (please do not get me started on scheduling at gamestop). So really you are asking not to have loyality and or great service. In a way I pity the new hires as they have no idea what they are getting in to.
But I will stop now just PM if you wish to know more. Brandon feel free to get ahold of me as well. I can give you lots of stories.

I work and gamestop and i get crap from customers all the time, they say stuff like "why do you work here chicks don't play games", oh and the whole game informer and reserves thing we have to sell a certain percentage or we get written up(that will be over soon cuz everyone complains about it)

I work and gamestop and i get crap from customers all the time, they say stuff like "why do you work here chicks don't play games", oh and the whole game informer and reserves thing we have to sell a certain percentage or we get written up(that will be over soon cuz everyone complains about it)

I work and gamestop and i get crap from customers all the time, they say stuff like "why do you work here chicks don't play games", oh and the whole game informer and reserves thing we have to sell a certain percentage or we get written up(that will be over soon cuz everyone complains about it)

My story doesn't have to do with gamestop, but more of the general attitude this guy had.
I've been doing serious camping since i was about 12 (i'm 18 now) and although i wouldn't call myself an expert, i know my way around a tent and know what i'm looking for. My boyfriend who's the exact opposite asked me if i could go with him to find some camping gear for a trip we were planning.
We get to REI (or maybe cabellas) and as soon as we get into the sleepign bag department a salesman approaches us and starts talkign to my boyfriend (essentially ignorning me) and says someting along the lines of "this sleeping bag is perfect for a beginner like her"Politely he tries to corret this man "actually, i'm the beginner, she's been doing this for about 6 years""Yeah, ok, sure. Anyways, this'll get her through most summer weather..."Is it really THAT unbelieveable that a girl would have camping expertice??? Sorry for the slight irrelevance; it's just SO annoying.

Pretty much everyone I know (including myself) have been screwed by gamestop. When I went to buy Soulcaliber 2 a long time ago, they kept trying to convince me to buy the scratched up used copy that didn't even have the instruction book, when it only saved me one dollar over a brand new one.

I'm a woman and I've luckily only ever had one bad experience with Gamestop/EB. Where I live we have a Gamestop and an EB in the mall and another Gamestop on the other side of town. It's this other Gamestop that's got the problems. We stopped there the day Tenchu Z came out because that store was on our way. We went in and looked in the 360 section and they didn't have any copies on the shelves and they still had those Pre-Order Non-sales cases on the shelves so I thought it might be possible we had the release date wrong. Well I walked up to the counter and asked the guy if Tenchu Z was out and he said "No it'll be out on Wednesday." I said ok and told my husband and he was a little suspicious so when we were at Wal-Mart we checked and there it was. They've treated us bad at other times too. Badmouthing games we were buying and just generally questioning why we'd buy them, putting the wrong disc in a game case and then being a jerk and talking badly in front of kids. Needless to say they've passed their three strike limit.

I'm a woman and I've luckily only ever had one bad experience with Gamestop/EB. Where I live we have a Gamestop and an EB in the mall and another Gamestop on the other side of town. It's this other Gamestop that's got the problems. We stopped there the day Tenchu Z came out because that store was on our way. We went in and looked in the 360 section and they didn't have any copies on the shelves and they still had those Pre-Order Non-sales cases on the shelves so I thought it might be possible we had the release date wrong. Well I walked up to the counter and asked the guy if Tenchu Z was out and he said "No it'll be out on Wednesday." I said ok and told my husband and he was a little suspicious so when we were at Wal-Mart we checked and there it was. They've treated us bad at other times too. Badmouthing games we were buying and just generally questioning why we'd buy them, putting the wrong disc in a game case and then being a jerk and talking badly in front of kids. Needless to say they've passed their three strike limit.

I'm a new worker at an EB in Canada and I gotta say, I'm just shocked at the lack of customer service some of you guys are getting. I'll admit to forgetting to put in the disk a couple of times but if (when, rather) the customer comes back, I'll accept the fact I made a mistake and pull out the disk. And even if there is a question on whether we did or not, theres an easy way to check, we keep stock so if we have more stock then in the system... chances are we forgot. No biggie, here ya go. Usually it doesnt even come to that. The trade ins can be a tad tedious I'll admit. Especially for older systems. GC is something like 10$ Canadian trade in value right now... just nuts... I know I'd hold on to mine for that little. We're under a lot of pressure too. Don't yell at us if you forgot your game you wanted to exchange at home... we didn't make you... (this has actually happened to me btw, guy wanted to get a new copy and didn't bring in his game for exchange *sigh*)

My husband and I went into a GameStop earlier this week - someone had actually sold their Wii, and we happened to call the right place at the right time and managed to get it.
Long story short, despite me grinning and bouncing about the Wii, the guy would only ask my husband questions/talk to him. He asked if we wanted Wii sports (it was used, so Wii Sports didn't come with it), my husband looked at me, I said yes. He asked if we wanted any other games, my husband looked at me, I said no. He explained that he was going to let my husband carry the sensor by hand so nothing happened to it and he handed it to my husband.And THEN, this jerk gets the nerve to say "So, would you like the warranty? It's $40 and covers everything, you know, incase the girl gets mad and breaks it or something.". Now, this is AFTER showing off our triforce wedding rings. This jerk still thinks that I'm both irrational enough to break a $250 console over some little spat, and that I don't want this thing just as bad as my husband.He also looked at my husband for payment and handed the Wii to him.
So, yeah, there's my little story about jerks who think girls don't play games and say insensitive and mean things based on their ignorance.

I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I used to work at Gamestop...hell I used to manage one of them AND Electronics Boutique (before the name changed to EB Games - think it just cost less when making the signs). And I have to say Electronics Boutique was a cool place to work. There was no pressure to pre-sell anything and we did not have those discount cards to push either. My store was run by gamers and we had a sales associate for every genre...so it was pretty nice.
Then there was Gamestop, and there was a huge change. now we had to sell these damn subscriptions, try to flip pre-sales (meaning if you pre-ordered a game, the day it came out, we had to try to get you to take that $5 you put on it to another game - it made our numbers look better). Since I was management, I did not have to worry about hours, but I did have to wrry about the other employees and making sure they got their numbers...so yeah there was a lot of lying going on as well as just bad information. It got to the point that I could not take it any longer (the old crew I had had gone and even a lot of the managers in the area had left or got fired) so I left on my own terms.
I have always said it makes no sense to sell back your games to EB/Gamestop, becasue they offer you $5 and then they sell it for $30. I know it's a business, but damn $5? The reason they push the used is becasue they make more money off it. That's why they can do a "Buy 2 used games get 1 free" promo. more and more they are not looking to hire gamers, but sales people. And as a result you get the rudeness and lack of intelligence you might expect from a gaming specialty store. not to mention the managers that will hire their buddies just so they have someone they can steal stuff with...yeah I know about that stuff too.
Now if/when I walk into an EB/Gamestop, I get the same crap about "Pre-order this now, or you will not be able to get it for 3 months" stuff, and I tell them, I know they are lying and I know how the ordering is done...and then I just say I used to work here so I kow what you are doing...so no thanks. Then I go to Wal-Mart or Target and get the game I wanted.
It's a nice racket they got going on there. If the people and policies were a little more friendly, then I don't think people would mind the prices as much.

Wow, that's horrible. I never buy games at GameStop, only EB and GAME, and lucky to say, I've only once been "forced" on me a game when I bought another, that was when I bought FEAR. The original game and the expansion costed aroound the equivalent of 15 bucks each, but I missed whatever label that said I could buy both for a total 20. When I handed in the copy of FEAR I was supposed to buy, the clerk SUGGESTED I could buy the expansion together with it for 20 bucks in total, and I was all like "Hey, that's a great deal" and I bought it. I've never been treated anywhere as badly you! All the clerks at game stores I can remember talking to have been really nice fellas and I haven't seen them discriminating girls like that, forcing on you used copies or giving you the case without the game inside!What an asshole.

wow what a creep! who would look down the shirt of any of the girl who shops at gamestop ......eww

wow what a creep! who would look down the shirt of any of the girl who shops at gamestop ......eww

...and that's why I don't deal with GameStop for anything, ANYTHING save a preorder. Nothing but bad business, all aorund.

Game (thats a large game retailer in the UK) employee's are often bad. Not that bad but still irritating. Around the time the addon for BF2142 was released me and some friends went into town to purchase some copies. In the UK, Battlefield games bear the 16+ rating meaning that that is the recommended age for that game. Usually the people who work in the game shops aren't really fussed who they're selling stuff to but on this particular day the guy at the counter must have been annoyed at something or other. Anyway, one of my friends takes 3 copies of Northern Strike to the counter and starts to pay and then the guy on the till goes "Excuse me, have you got ID?" and he was like "Well, I'm quite clearly 16 and I think you'll find that is a recommended age anyway." And so the guy at the counter basically tells him to go away. (For the record, my friend is 16). Me being the sneaky guy I am always carry as much ID as you have in Britain at the age of 16, a E11 card which has your name and age. I went to the till and presented this and asked to purchase and he says "Sorry thats not considered as ID, you cant prove thats you." So I show him all the documentation stored inside my wallet. Bus Pass; has my photo, name and address. Library card; has my name. And then of course my national insurance card, which you get given at the age of 16. "Is that proof enough?" I ask. and then the inevitable no occurs. Is it just that the companies don't want to make money or are 90% of they're employee's proffessional assholes? (That haven't heard of Guild Wars)

I don't know but I personally have never had any issues with purchasing games at Gamestop or EB Games locations, of course I'm male and just keep saying no. Of course the guy your talking about in this column sounds like he is just a condecnding jerk. I'm sure that if we wanted too we could find many posts from him about how 1337 he is at Halo and his multiple lvl 70's on WoW that could "totally pwn you n00bs".

I have had a problem with gamestop and EB employees.....back way long time ago when the Playstaion first came out I had purchased one there. Time went on while I played my favorite games and one day all of a sudden my playstation wouldn't turn on. Everything was in place on it so I took it to EB and they said that it died. They also said that I should purchase another system. I bought one at walmart, later one afternoon I tried it to see if my dead playstation would somehow be alive again. The dead system was now alive!!
So I don't know what was wrong with it but I was mad that I had bought another playstation.

Why does anyone still shop there? This isn't a rhetorical question for shock value. I really want to know, because I don't understand it. I am an older gamer. I remember when these boutique software shops first came about. I liked supporting them, because they were small and catered knowledgeably to gamers. How times have changed. Now they're huge chains (or is it a single chain by now?). Their employees are seldom good at customer service. And worst of all, Gamestop has inflated the price of used games to the point that it simply doesn't make sense to buy them unless the new ones are out of production. Yet they'll push them on you like their lives depend on it. (Maybe their jobs do.) Their policy of selling you open games as new is unacceptable as well. It's not that I love Best Buy or Circuit City, but at least you know you'll be getting new, factory-sealed merchandise with a minimum of hassle.

Ok this gets on my nerves. I am sure that it is not without reason when you say that the Game Stop employees you have dealt with suck. But not all of us are bad. I have heard before that the store I work at (I work at a GameStop in baltimore) and I never try to screw anyone out of anything. Nor do any of my co workers. Just last week I talked someone out of buying a new Def Jam Icon because it sucked bad. I told them if they really want to try it out then buy it used. "If you dont like it, bring it back with in 7 days with the receipt and you will get a full refund" is what I told them. In fact I always suggest to buy used becaus if you don't like it you can bring it back (within 7 days. And if it doesn't work you have 30 days (also with receipt) I always tell them what I and other customers I have spoke to think of the game before they buy it. as a fellow gamer I want them to make the best choice. Point is, not all the stores and there employees are like that. If you have a rude Game Stop worker, please tell the manager so we can get rid of these assholes. Please don't judge all of us.

Also, the guy who didn't put the game in probably wasn't trying to screw you...just forgot to grab the copy. Regardless the manager should be told. He probably won't get fired but he will get one of few warnings. That will get his ass staight.

I URGE ALL OF YOU TO TELL THE MANAGERS ABOUT THE ASSHOLE EMPOLYEES!!!

Also, i hear people complain that employees of gamestop are jerks because they keep asking people if they wan to buy this or that. Understand that this is our job. We don't have a choice. Be mad at the District Manager not us. Also understand the the less that gets reserved, the less that comes into our store. So no copies of Madden 09 get reserved. Then when they ship we only get like two because the headquaters thinks the people in the area don't want it. If we get no copies to sell and people get made when we don't have it, understand its not our fault. We are mad we don't have any too. Because that brings down how much money we make that day. And Headquaters is not shy about closing stores that arn't making enough money. Or firing employees. If you don't think that there are any cool Gamestops left come to baltimore westside shopping center.

I always enjoy people who complain about Gamestop, or whatever retail store XX. It proves one of two things. Either they have never worked retail, or are just plain shady individuals. Those who complain about open (new) boxes off the shelf I tend to think that they just want to steal the product and not even pay for it. Those who complain about the store they visited obviously do not realize that each store is individually managed. Sure it is Gamestop but the managers make the store, not the company. Each store is like a different world because of the people chosen to work in it. Do NOT condemn a company, any company, because of an isolated incident with a certain individual. I personally have always had good relations with every retail game store I have visitied because I simply respect the position the people are in that work there. I did witness once, my friend walked into a Gamestop by his house and was checking Wii stock. The man in charge (I think manager) was the rudest person I have ever met. Suffice to say he never shops there anymore and visits the GameCrazy or new GameOver_ store. I have talked to other folks at locations by my house and college campus and each has said the same thing. The guy was an ass and they would never treat customers like that.

I find that Brendon made a few mistakes when visiting the Gamestop in the column. One, why are you or your girlfriend so stuck on new (only) games. Afraid you might get cooties? Why did you go into a Gamestop in the mall? Those are the stores with the highest pressure to make money.

But hey, this is the internet writing off something because it is the cool thing to do at the moment is what comment boards like this are all about, right? /rolleyes

So working as a GS Store Manager first off I have to apologize for how you and your Girl friend were treated. I do want to point out though it really is the store you go to. Our companies focus is customer Service but not everyone who works for us seems to grasp that concept. I have worked hard to make sure that everyone who walks into my store leaves happy (and I dont have to give unwarranted discounts to do it). Try not to judge the entire company based off of a few stores staff members. As for forgetting to put a game in a case, it happens, some places more than others, but it happens. We do have ways to check to see if that is the case or not with two screens and one simple scan of the bar code. Once again on behalf of our company I really am sorry, but don't hate us all lol.

Yeah, sometimes GS employees can be assholes- mostly because the typical 'gamer' prototype tends to be an elitist ass with low social skills and high hand/eye coordination.

But, being a GS employee myself, I have to speak to the way employees attempt to shove GameInformer subscriptions and game reservations down your throat is for two reasons:

1. Their jobs depend on it.- Employees at GS are graded and judged on how many subscriptions and reservations they can sell. When it's time to fire someone, the person with the lowest percentage of subscriptions and reservations is basis for such loss. Upon being hired, my boss told me that I should be able to get a subscription and/or reservation to 10 out of every 100 people.

2. How else will they get games?- In case you didn't notice, GameStop stores are small. Their main competitors- Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, etc.- have more space and, therefore, more entitlement to a larger amount of new games. Reservations are a way to get a set amount of games to a certain store and, therefore, guarantee you a copy. It's truly that simple.


But yes, I too apologize on behalf of GameStop. I'm just sick of these accusations thrown onto GS employees because they are the same kind of race of the gamers that shop (or, now refuse to shop.) there.
Especially when the ones throwing the accusations around have, more than naught, never been employed at a GameStop.

i work at gamestop and im a girl i've been in the company for a while and employes like that do not last long and im sorry. simply put if he really didnt think he gave it to you all he had to do was check the computer maybe take a minute, so im sorry for that. Our job is to get numbers though we are not like some people in the company to keep pushing you into it. We are to sell used games because we dont make anything from new games, but again we are not to push it down your throat. so im sorry but not alot of us are like that. So just beacuse of a few people who will probably be fired down the road acted in a very rude manner dont accuse us all of being like that. I've forgot from time to time to put the game in the case when were busy, it happens to the best of us once in a great while. And like triplesssboy said my store along with the other nes by me are about customer servies, but i guess it dependes on the distrct and who that manger is.