A ‘Stranglehold’ on ‘Halo’

Store: GameStop
Location: Coors Blvd., Albuquerque, NM
Employee Description: Spiked Hair with Dark Glasses, Name tag says “Store Manager”
Submitted By: Ryan

So I walked into the store the other day for the first time in a long time. I had refused to go back after becoming fed up with all the pre-order pushing that had been going around, but thought I’d give it one last go. Big mistake.

The manager, we’ll call him “Spikey Specs,” immediately asks me if I have reserved Halo 3. That’s right, no “Hello,” no “Welcome to GameStop,” just right to the schtick. I politely tell him that I’m not here for that, just that I want to pick up a copy of Stranglehold for 360. Naturally, he asks me if I reserved it. I say that I haven’t, just that I wanna buy one today. Now, keep in mind, that glass case behind him has a row of this exact game, maybe 50 copies.

He gives me a line about how he “can’t believe I didn’t reserve such a big game” and pretends to check the computer to see if he “has any extra copies available.” While “checking” he asks me again if I want to reserve Halo, because “nobody’s going to have it in stock on the big day.” I say no, a little more impatient this time and let him know that I’m just here for Stranglehold. He then tells me that they have no copies of the game available, that they’re all reserved. I point to the row behind him and tell him that at least one of those has to be available, there’s no way they only ordered enough to fill the reserves. He looks me in the eye, without even turning to see how many he’s got, and says that they are all indeed reserved.

I then say, “Fine, I’ll reserve Halo 3. Any copies of Stranglehold available now?” Without doing anything, he looks me dead in the face and says “Yep, a reserve just cancelled.”

Enraged, I tell this jerk that I’ll never shop in his store again and exit in anger, kicking over the Halo 3 standee near the front door.

This story is completely true and I beg all people in the Albuquerque area (and anywhere that poor customer service like this is encouraged) to pick a different store for all their future purchases. Hastings opens at midnight for Halo 3 and Wal-Mart never closes. Don’t fall for their crap and certainly don’t think that they care about you as a customer.

Incidentally, I ran into that same jerk at the Radio Shack inside the mall the next evening and when I walked in and spotted him, he ran from the store, embarrassingly leaving his girlfriend in the dust behind him. Hopefully she dumped that loser.

Stranglehold Vs. Halo 3 Vs. Shipping Issues

Store: GameStop
Location: St. Louis, MO
Employee Description: Surfer Dude and Older Woman
Submitted By: Ed Button

I walked into my local GameStop today to snag Stranglehold on release day (what can I say, I wanted the faceplate), and asked Surfer Dude at the counter if I could get a copy.

“Oh, we haven’t got that yet. Our computer says it’s been delayed until the 17th.”

“…the 17th,” I asked. I keep up with gaming news all the time and had heard nothing of this delay.

Older Woman chimed with: “Yeah, we’re horribly sorry. It turns out Midway wanted something to compete with Halo 3.”

I was stunned. No way could something like Stranglehold compete with the Halo 3, possibly the most anticipated game of the year. “Sooooooooooooo do you wanna pre-order a copy of Halo 3,” Surfer Dude asked. I said no, and that I’d be back. Then I left. I’ve never had an issue with EBuncolandStop. All the people that have worked at them have been nice and polite, and dare I say it, knowledgeable, so I was quite shocked by this statement.

I called the EB about a mile down the road and asked if they had it.

“No,” the guy says, “our computers say its been delayed until the 17th. From what I heard from corporate, it’s been pushed back because Midway had some issues with the shipping.”

A 13-day delay because of shipping?

“Well, your website says its out now, and so does everywhere else,” I said.

“Well, I checked Best Buy before I came in today, and they don’t have it,” he said.

After getting off of the phone with him, I call Best Buy.

“Yeah do you guys have Stranglehold for the 360?”

“Yes sir, we have it.”

Halo 3 not available until March?

Store: GameStop
Location: Victorville, California
Employee Description: Lying D-bag
Submitted By: Joshua Searls

I went to my local GameStop and I was waiting behind this sweet old lady and her grandson. The customer in front of them left and she took up a copy of Shawdowrun for the kid. During the sale Lying D-bag says that she needs to pre-order Halo 3 or else she wouldn’t be able to find it until next March. Now I can deal with a little bit of under-handedness but that was excessive. I spoke up, “Ma’am, Halo 3 is going to be a very popular game and you will have no trouble finding it during the week it comes out.” She looks at him and says, “No, thank you,” as I get the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen. So she left and I went up to the counter and said, “I’d like my pre-ordered copy of Bioshock.”

Clarification (General Rebuttal)

Submitted By: Anonymous

Hello. I am an employee of said “evil corporation” and I just wanted to send a rebuttal on the hopes that maybe you would post it so the people that hate us can see.

I’ll start off by saying, yes, this company is extremely monopolizing, and yes, many of their practices suck. Having said that, I have worked for the company for nearly four years, since I was a little sopohomore in high school and now I am assistant manager at my store. I have mostly been treated fairly and never really have I had any times when I thought the company was really hammering nails up my *ss (there have been days where it felt so, but overall, no).

I have read many of the posts on the site, and sadly, I know many of them to be true, and have witnessed it myself in many other stores. But guess what, I have barely seen any posts talking about GOOD stores, or nice people. It’s always “mean nickname” did this, or “nerdy teen with pimples” said that. You know what, my store hasnt done half the sh*t that we as a whole get slammed for on here. Yep, I ask if you wanna pre-order a game – if you say no, I may ask you once more if you’re sure and then move on to something else. I’m not mean about it, I try to keep it as friendly as possible and I get on with my day. AND, when the games come in, I find out how many are reserved and set THAT EXACT amount (sealed, mind you) in the back counter until you can come to get it. Now obviously I cant hold it forever back there – I can only hold it for 48 hours. But for most games (especially lesser known games) I’ll keep it back there for nearly a week. That’s a pretty good chunk of time to hold it, especially since my DM would probably have my *ss for not selling it right away. Hmmm. Isn’t that just nice of me.

And the subscription we offer is a good deal. You’re getting a very good magazine for a year for fifteen bucks, and if you happen to buy a used game, you save a few dollars. If you dont want it, just say no. I’ll leave you alone. I’m sorry if I ask you again the next time you come into the store and you say no. I ask everybody, it’s my job. It isn’t my job to remember EVERY person who comes to the store. I remember a lot of people, especially if they come in often. But I’m only a human being, I dont have a photographic memory and I apologize to you all for that.

I’m not asking anyone on this site to stop posting their stories about some of the idiots and racists who work for the company in some places (hell, I would most definitely want to hear about it if one of my employees is being a douche, so i could straighten it out) all that I am asking is for you to at least acknowledge the fact that there are a lot of great stores out there too, and that they will help you. And be nicer to some of our employees. Incessant name bashing and making fun of their appearance just isn’t right. Bash on their salesmanship all you want but these are people who dont know you personally. What makes you any better to trash people so unabashedly?

So in closing, yes, the company is a monopoly. Yes, there are many sh*tty stores out there. But there are a lot of good stores with good people too, and it sucks that they have to follow the crazy things GameStop tends to do, but they will help you as best as they possibly can. I know I would (unless you call me a lying motherf*cker to my face for sayin I would give you five dollars for a game three weeks ago, and now it has went down in price – prices fluctuate, look at gas – please don’t yell at me like that in my store or I will kick you out, I do have a limit). I would just like to see people posting something about the good service at a store for once, even if the company is killing competition. Thanks for taking the time to read this, hopefully anyway.

Leave me anonymous – you know why – even if I am a nice guy and great manager, they can still fire me for no reason, because that’s how the CORPORATE side works. But for the consumer all that matters (most of the time) is the sales floor and the people on it (unless GameStop pulls some bonehead pricing fiasco, in which case I’m sorry, but it’s out of my hands – please don’t yell at me).

Thanks.

GameStop pushing pre-orders in forums now

Submitted By: Silence 7

I thought this was a little funny, but pathetic. Supposedly, this person works at GameStop and wants to help make sure we all get copies of Two Worlds for the Xbox 360, by pushing pre-orders in the GameFAQs forums.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=932336&topic=36429807

GS manager here. If you haven’t yet, please reserve it.

I had to check alot of stores to find people copies of 3 games this week because so many people wanted Overlord, Darkness, and PokeBatRev. but didn’t put down a reserve for em (because they werent the super hyped popular games that every person reserves). Please guys, it’s all the more reason to tell us that you’re interested in a copy if it’s unpopular. It means we don’t fifty gajillion copies if it’s not hyped. I hate sending people to all over the map (like a bad RPG quest) for shweet games that you can simply just walk in and ask for. We hand you a sealed copy from a drawer behind the counter and send you on your merry way with no worries.

We ask you all the time. We don’t get paid extra for this stuff. It keeps you happy and our shelves stocked. You’re never locked in, ask for your money back,.Or if you get some dungheap who won’t, you demand their district manager’s number. (we got their cell phone numbers in our red book). All you need is an interest in a game and it justifies having your $5 down, even if your not sure, we’ll still get it and have it for you, and if you dont want? Fine, we put it on the shelf for someone else to enjoy.

Please enjoy Two Worlds. I’ll see ya online.

Pre-order Stalker

Store: GameStop, Software, Etc.
Location: Bay Shore, NY
Employee Description: Some punk teen with bad acne who thought he was big because he was a manager/man with a glass eye in his left socket
Submitted By: Andrew

I went to my local GameStop located near the South Shore Mall in Bay Shore, NY. I wanted to pick up Guitar Hero II and an adapter to play it on the PS3. I asked this fragile looking kid who was probably around 15 years old yet acted like some pro wrestler on steroids, if they had the adapter. He said that he had just sold out that morning and then proceeded to ask me if I wanted to pre-order Guitar Hero III for PS3. I said “No, Thank you” and left the store.

I then walked across the parking lot to the mall and went into Software, Etc. I was able to find the adapter and a copy of Guitar Hero II. As I was about to make my purchase, the man with the glass eye behind the counter pulled out a huge binder and asked if I would like to pre-order Guitar Hero III. I again said no thanks.

This was when things got weird for me. The kid from the other store walked into the same store I was at and went behind the counter and was talking with some of the guys. He then proceeded to push me to pre-order other games I had no interest in. I asked him if he had followed me and he said exactly “I like you and I didn’t want you to miss out on the hottest game of the year when it comes out.” I told him “No worries, but Best Buy will have GHIII when it comes out” and left the store.

What weirdos.

“On the house…”

Store: GameStop
Location: Fullerton, CA
Employee Description: Wise-ass Teenager
Submitted By: Rafael Hernandez

I went after work to GameStop to purchase the Final Fantasy IX strategy guide. The 2 teenagers behind the counter were constantly making stupid remarks to each other. I was browsing around the PS1 and N64 Games. I ask the teen, if he had any more copies of FF9 guide. He said “No”, then checked on his computer and said “no” again.

So I tell my sister lets check around. While browsing through I hear my sister find the guide. I tell the guy “I found what your computer couldn’t track…” He was acting shocked and he eyed his co-worker. I believe they were hiding it from the public so they could purchase it at the end of their shift. Or just being pricks, probably both.

So I go up and pull out my money. He starts looking around. He felt like a dumbass, so he says “I will give you the guide.” I tell him that’s funny, and to ring me up I have the money. He said “No, really it’s on the house… I am sorry for telling you it was not here.” I argued with him on money. I even showed the money to the camera and said “LET THE RECORD SHOW THIS EMPLOYEE IS GIVING ME THE BOOK, WHEN I OFFERED TO PAY!” Took the book and left. I further think it was the dude’s last day too.

Reservation Tango

Store: GameStop
Location: San Bernardino, CA – Campus Crossroads
Employee Description: Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee
Submitted By: Silence7

I went in to to the GameStop at 2pm in the afternoon on a Sunday and the place was empty except for the two employees behind the counter and me. One employee greets me with a “how ya’ doin’ ” when I walk in and then leaves me alone to browse without interruption, which is a rare treat in this store.

Being as there are only three people in the store, and I don’t have anyone to talk to, the store is extremely quiet, which makes it very easy to hear the employees talking back and forth approximately 15 feet from me. There was some chatter about various games and that’s when my anger began.

Employee #1: Dude, you should have been here yesterday..
Employee #2: Why?
Employee #1: This guy came in and wanted to cancel 2 pre-orders and put a pre-order on another game.
Employee #2: Yeah…..
Employee #1: I asked him if he had a receipt, and he said no. So I told him he had to have a receipt to cancel a pre-order.
Employee #1 & 2: Hahah ahahaaaaaaa
Employee #2: Man, I’m gonna’ have to start using that one!
Employee #1 & 2: Hahaha hahaaaaaaa

I had pre-ordered 2 games at another EB a week earlier (voluntarily) and was told I could keep the receipt if I wanted but I didn’t need to because they had me in the computer and all I would need to pick up my games was my I.D.

Their evil laughs and *wink-wink* attitude leads me to believe that the policy of needing a receipt to cancel a pre-order is all a bunch of BS to keep people from canceling a pre-order.

If they talk this openly about their lying and cheating right in front a customer, it makes me wonder if they either don’t care, they think I’m too stupid to know WTF their talking about, or they didn’t think I could hear. Honestly I think it’s a combination of the three.

This EB is close to home and very convenient, but I have vowed to drive the extra distance to another that always treats me right if I need an immediate fix, and order games online if I can wait for delivery. At least stores online can’t lie to you right in your face.

I’ve been actively gaming since my parents bought us kids a home Pong machine before the Atari 2600 came out, and have owned almost every system since then (PS3 and NeoGeo excluded) and have seen a lot of crap, but in the last few years it just seems to be getting worse and worse as all the small game stores are being put out of business by the big chain stores.

You guys are doing a great service by exposing the BS that goes on in these places.

Online vs Store

Store: GameStop / EB (Both Stores)
Location: La Habra/Fullerton California
Employee Description: GothicGuy (Fullerton) / Nerd (La Habra)
Submitted By: Rafael Hernandez

I ordered a game on GameStop’s website. It came to my home. This was during the transition of EB and GameStop merger. Well the game I ordered came scratched and not playable on my PS2.  So I called the 1 800 GameStop number. They tell me I can return it to any EB or GameStop store in person. Also on their official website it stated the same thing too.

So I call my local La Habra EB Games. Which I hardly go to. The nerdy manager over the phone tells me, I can not return it to his store. Mailing it back was the only option. I explain to the manager that his headquarters has the policy on their website in plain english. Which I quoted to him. He got angry and and said to check with Corporate since he NEVER got the memo, or knew anything of this matter.

I call my Fullerton shop which is in the next town. I frequent this place a lot. I call them before driving anywhere. Again, we can not do that. Also I do the quoting of their corporate web page. This time I tell him to check the website while I wait on the phone, He brushed me off and said he had other customers that needed to be attended to. I yell at him “Who do you think I am! I am your customer I bought the game from your company’s online shop. It clearly states you can exchange or return my money back GUARANTEED!” Again their reply is, “I never got that memo.”

So I called Corporate and threw in both managers to the fire. Then corporate told me to hang on. Corporate called the managers at both stores and straightened them out. I checked by calling both places 20 minutes after my conversation with corporate. Both were very happy to do this transaction. The guy at the Fullerton store remembered me and said to come on down. I went down to the Fullerton store and he gave me my money and APOLOGIZED! I left the store and now I order most of my games online. I hardly use GameStop unless they have a game that is very cheap and used.

Rated A for *ss

Store: GameStop
Location: Randall Square in Geneva, IL
Employee Description: Short and greasy, we’ll call him “Oil Slick” Apparently he was/is the store manager
Submitted By: Scott Kaufmann

To set the tone, I’ll describe why I went to this store in the first place. I had been going to a very cool, roomy EB Games for 3 years and knew everyone that worked there. However, once the GameStop/EB Games merger occurred, it was clear the nice staff was soon to be history. I had to find a local store to switch to, and I couldn’t have picked a worse one.

I walk in with a couple of friends (I was 16 at the time) and check out a few things. While poking around, I hear Oil Slick try to get a young kid, who couldn’t have been over 9, to reserve Madden ‘06. I thought that was odd but I continued to look. Finally I chose to get Counter-Strike for the Xbox. I bring it up to the counter and as Oil Slick is ringing it up he mumbles “…ggrum…18….”. I wasn’t sure what he said, but I heard 18 and I knew the game was recently dropped to $9.99 so I spoke up and said “I thought the game was 10 dollars, not 18″. Then out of nowhere he blurts out “I said are you EIGHTEEN? This game is rated M for Mature” Taken aback not only by his tone but also by him thinking I didn’t know what letter “Mature” started with. I hadn’t seen that it was M so I apologized and put it back. When I got back to the counter he asked if I wanted anything else and I said no. He then replied “THEN GET OUT OF MY F*CKING STORE!”. Stunned that he would say this with the same 9-year-old still in the store, I walked back to the car in utter shock.

It has been 2 years and I haven’t stepped foot in that store since, even though it is extremely close to my house. I instead do all of my video game business at a GameStop 60 miles away, near my old house before I moved. It really says something when you would rather travel 60 miles than go back to some place.