When Previously-Played Games Are Sold as New |
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In the replies to an article over at NeoGAF, one of the commenters said that employees of a particular chain of stores can try the video games and then the store will still turn around and sell those games as brand new. The commenter said that GameStop/EB employees can "check out" new games whenever they want and then shrink wrap them when they're done, and EB sells them as new. We're not saying this claim is true or false, and this article won't even try to guess.But it's a horrifying possibility to imagine. Gamers buy new games and expect them to be new. Wouldn't it make you feel cheated when the game you just bought from a store already has somebody's save file in it? After all, if somebody else has already tried it, then it really isn't new, is it? This is what prompted the writer of the NeoGAF article to fill out a complaint form at the GameStop Feedback website.
But just to be the devil's advocate about it, how about when you buy new clothes off the rack. You want your clothes to be new, too, but there's no telling who else has tried on those clothes before you came along. And not all of us mind buying clothes off the rack (I don't, but then again, I used to do all my shopping at Walmart).
Of course, there's a difference between video games and clothes, between electronics and shoes. But consider this: in most good clothing stores, when you buy something, they don't give you the thing hanging from the rack; they get a fresh one from the stock room. That's honesty. Does your video game seller do that for you? When a good clothing store is out of stock, they will sell you the thing from the rack at a clearance or discounted price. Does your video game seller give you the display product for less?
Via NeoGAF
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Comments [refresh]
Heh, do games still have save files in them anymore these days? I thought that only happened with cartridges, not discs.
Honestly I don't care if employees have played it, as long as there's NO scratches on the disc at all, then it's fine.
Food for thought, made me consider and think about where to buy my games next time. If i pay 40-50$ for a brand new game, i'd better get a never-before-touched-fingerprint-less UMD disk.
Well, just think of this then
here in the UK is a Game store that sells Pre-Owned games at just £5 pound from rrp (recommended retail price) for a new one
half the time these games are not in good condition, and they seem to think that saying "a psp game is in a protective case so it doesn't get scratched" as a viable excuse
the name of the company? GAME in the UK Boycott at all costs, there over priced as well
dunno bout you, but locally all the eb's only sell you games sans-shrinkwrap. Something to do regarding theft... dunno
Removing that plastic is part of the pleasure in buying a new game. But that's just me.
That's normal for game stores to do that. I've heard stories about that happening in my area. Sell a game back to the store, get money, shrink-wrap, store then sell back the game for more
Stores like EB and Gamestop always open one copy of the game up so that people can look at the case and fumble through the manual. They keep the disc behind the counter to prevent theft. Now when you bring the case to the counter they give you a fresh copy of the game, but when this is the last copy of the game you pay a new price for a case and manual that over 100 people have had their hands on (and never looks new). Why won't they sell this last copy as a store display and at a discount? Most people do not like buying new games with trashed manuals and cases. Maybe Gamestop and EB should put their games in anti theft cases ala Best Buy so that when the last copy is sold, it doesn't feel used.
It is definitely true, especially with launch titles or hardware which certain stores only receive a limited number of copies and get them in some days ahead of time.
In case you didnt know, most EB's also have a disc cleaner and a disc resurfacer along with a shrink wrapper in the back.
Because of the disc cleaner, you arent ever going to see fingerprints on those "new" played before disks that have been re-wrapped, and you can even get around the security seal tape by snagging the disk out the bottom without fully opening the case.
PS: how do you think many of these "groups" get the games to "leak" onto the internet some days before you can buy it in the store... simple: the manager let an employee take home a copy to "try"
As a former gamestop employee, I can confirm that you are indeed allowed to 'check-out' a game for a period of time. That was one of the perks of the job. I felt that it was good because it actually allowed us (the employees) to give our actual opinions on a game rather than rely on a review or word of mouth. But at the same time, when we checked out the games, we'd take used copies. If there were only new ones left, we'd only taqke them if there were at least 3 copies available, and about 5 for a new release. Most gamestop employees are game enthusiasts and take really good care of their property (I know I did), plus, if the game came back in less than stellar shape, we bought the game. Just part of the deal.
But yea, we'd put them back together nice and neat like, and then we'd shrinkwrap them.
gamestop won't let you return new games, yet when they open up a game and think that it sucks, they just shrink wrap it back up and sell it for full price.
I noticed at my gamestop the secuirty seal that has the game's name never comes in anymore. those bastards are selling used games as new.
So I was at my local Gamestop a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to buy two games they were Megaman something and Onimusha. So I grabbed the cases off the shelve and checked them out and they both had their booklets inside. So I did a 15 minute line and then it was my turn. As soon as I got to the cash register I got the usual are you interested in buying reserving crap that you don't want. So anyway she grabs the cases and looks for the discs. After I pay her she hands me a bag with the discs only inside and I kindly told her that she had forgotten to give me the cases with the booklets inside that I brought to the cash register. She tells me that she can't give me the cases. And I ask her why not and she goes like sorry but I can't give you the cases. Again I ask her why not, same answer. So I told her something she wasn't expecting I said give me my money back. And she gave me my money back and I left the store and I also filled out a complaint at the Gamestop Feedback site.
I think she is a retard or something because she lost a 30 dollar sale over something as insignificant as a couple of cases. Im going to be honest if she had told me that she couldn't give me the cases before she took my money there wouldn't have been a problem.
At the EBGames I have nearby pretty much all the games have been opened, no shrink wrapping, just the case you take off the shelf, and when you buy a game it's gots scratches and everyones greasy fingerprints all over the case. And you can't really tell whether they take a new or old disc from under the desk, and what it says on the case is what says whether it's new or old. So yea I try to go to other places for my games. o_o
Although, they did give me KH2 when I was buying KH1...
this is pointless.
I currently work at an EBGames and I do this all the time. All i do is take home w/e game(s) I want and bring them back the next time I work. I go in the the back and WALLA brand new shrink wrapped game and it looks like its never been opened. If your mad apply at an EBGames and do the same thing! Oh yeah btw, I love selling people the game that I'v already played lol i always laugh my ass off when im ringing it up. i get such a kick out of people who waste there money on used crappy games. AHAHHAH daym i love my job. Oh yeah and the sickest part about working there is that theres this draw behind the counter and its filled with tons of used headphones and controllers and all this ***** so if i ever need a replacement for anything its all free. godaym i must be the luckiest person cuz its always me and this one black chick and after we lock up and ***** we go in the backroom and hotbox it then we come out and hella ***** on the counter and all the used dvds then the next day we sell the used dvds with my jizz and sweat all over it. so heres the moral of the story...wash your hands when you purchase used DVDs cuz most likely one of my kids is smeared all of the front of the case.
yep, its true. i worked for gamestop a few years back and this was going on then. its not that hard to spot the difference between factory shrink wrap and theirs.
The only game I have ever bought at EB was Half-Life and they sold me one with a non-working CD key when it was supposed to be new. (Employees probably stole it since all game are removed from their packaging.) I asked them about their return policy and they said any game could be returned but when I said Half-Life, the guy instantly refused. I had to mail the CD to Vivendi/Sierra to get a new CD key just because of their lack of service. I know never to shop at EB again no matter how good their prices are. No point in going if you risk getting defective products that you can't return/exchange. Why they can get away with opening games and still selling them as if they are new, I don't understand...I now tell everyone I know to stop shopping there because it's a rip-off. Horrible store and no customer service.
When I got my DS Lite I opened it in the store to check it out while waiting for my friends to get theres and there was a finger print on the top. Then I checked the settings and someone had named the thing AAAAAA. I demanded an exchange and got it. I can understand games, But playing the systems before they sell is too much.
Yes we check out games and just return it and shrink wrap it cause we usually can't keep it that long but most eb games don't have a resurfacer like someone claim we just sell it is that right no but i neva seen anyone return a copy of the game that we use b4
Is this something people didn't know, then? I kinda assumed everyone realised this -- I know my closest friends are all aware of it. It's been going on for at least 10 years here in the UK... my sister used to work in a game store (was EB back then, now Game) and was able to "try" the games. Of course, back then, that meant she could copy most of them without too much hastle (she stuck to "trying" the PC games, back when there was little or no copy protection on floppies and only slightly more on CDs). It was pretty sweet for me, 'cos she'd occasionally send me copies of good games. I doubt it was so good for her customers, 'cos she wasn't (isn't) exactly the neatest person, and probably smudged and scratched up CDs like she still does to this day.
I've also had problems buying a sticky CD in a completly different shop. Yeah, I said "sticky", as in covered in something like a soft drink and left to dry. This was a supposedly new game, but in fairness to the staff, they were quick and happy to exchange it when I went back and pointed this out.
Longest comment evar.
A friend of mine explained this whole thing to me and here's the break down guys....
First off I want to start by saying, all of you OCD's out there that have to have it still in the wrapper don't have to shop at EB/GameStop. You all can go to Best Buy like all the other yuppies out in the world.
Second off, I want to inform you that my friend told me that Gamestop/EB have 2nd hand licenses and that is what they are registered as for taxes - a 2nd hand specialty retail store.
Now here's the main point my friend had, EBGames used to pay their part time employees very well, this way the part time employee would be able to afford the games they wanted to try out. EB never had a check out policy because of the reasons stated on this collector's rant.
Immediately after EB was acquired by GameStop the EB employees were given the opportunity to check out games at a 4 day grace period like their GameStop counterparts in exchange for this privelege, they had to hire new employees at minimum wage (in some areas as low as $5.15).
---The privelege of game rental was a contract that the game is to be returned in PERFECT condition. If a single scratch, smudge, and/or imperfection was on the disc/case/book the employee would have their check garnished for the product that was rented.----
My friend informs me that GameStop managers are also underpaid so the enforcement of the above policy is RARELY occuring because they just don't care about their job that much and all they want to do is play games and get paid to talk to other people about them.
Now I don't know about you guys but isn't how you feel about a company all about your experience? I've shopped at both EB and GameStop stores as well as Best Buy and Walmart. All the companies stated have given me defective merchandise one time or another and it's all about how they respond to it.
My overall opinoin, it sounds like to me that if your local EB or Gamestop had a management staff with half a brain, they wouldn't put the games damaged back for sale. If these people did their job it would look almost as if no one did anything at all!!!!
If you feel Best Buy is really the "BEST BUY" because they have wrapped games and all of their stores are over 6000 square footage than shop there but for stores with at average 700 square footage and triple the inventory on games than Best Buy (remember, games get discontinued and can only be found new), it's no wonder that they would be where you collector cry babies shop at.
First off to ikicksnails they only put up to box when its a used game and put away the cd in back of the counter. On to the next one it would take an expert to shrink wrap a box perfectly like the machines do when they come from the company, the dumbasses they got working there would make the box look like *****. Lets just say some pricks can shrink theyre own boxes when you buy a game open it there and look at it specially because some pricks that sell you a opened box used game forget to put the game in there. For the rest of you ignoramuses that say you had a job at one of these stores, tell me how do they give you an estimate for trading in your used games.
a friend of mine worked at radio rentals here in australia
she tried everything from games (every ps2,xbox game in the store) to actual consoles,laptop s,desktops,proj ectors anything smaller than a fridge basically.. its pretty common practice.
same at car yards.. they drive a different car home every night and wind back the clock if they need to
try buying a mmorpg where the gamestop guy already used up your free month because he registered the game and played it and then rewrapped the game and put it back,Square's costumers service response was they couldn't do anything about it and my game was useless,i mean the guy even registered the 2 expansion packs along with the game...
anyways i got another copy a few days later after returning it,to a "ha ha,that must of been Mike,that guy" like it was some prank.
This is totally true. My best friend in high school worked at a Software Etc and we 'checked out' new games all the time to play them. Then he just shrink-wrapped them again and put them back on the shelves.
It's true, working at both Gamestop when it was still Babbage's & then at EB before and after they were purchased by Gamestop. It should be reurned perfect, but I can tell you that it wasn't. Some of the cases were opened for display purposes(1 to 2 in most cases, sometimes more if they were needed for a particular display), as well as some that were returned games or ones that cutomer's claimed were defective.
I bought Shadow of the Colossus at Gamestop the other day. The person handed me an open case and said it was the display case, but the game is new. The case had quite a few markings on it, but since the game was supposed to be great, I just dealt with it. Now would I of left Walmart, Toysrus, or Target with an open case? Nope.
I agree this isn't right but did that guy say there is nothing more horrifying than getting a game hime and finding somebodies elses save file already there? That aint right, as it would save to their memory card not the disk, so really you would never know anyway lol.
:S
I had a friend that worked at Business Depot (now Staples), and told me that if I ever needed anything shrink wrapped, just bring it on in. This was like 10 years ago!
Since that day, I now never trust anything from E-bay, or anywhere else that sells used items that claims to be "factory sealed".
I never took my friend up on the offer, because that's not the type of person that I am, but it makes you think!
Having two good friends that work at my local EB games, I am well aware of this "check out" procedure.
employees dont try every single game on the shelf (meaning multiple mopies of a single game). when i go to EB, i grab the cover off the shelf, go up to the front, and (usually only with newer games) i tell them to give me one from the glass cabinet. the majority of those ones are always originally sealed with the security devices all in tact, as well as the label running along the top of the case.
It's pretty common knowledge here in Australia about EB's shrink-wrapping of used games then selling them as new. I knew two guys who ran a games store so I just bought through them, they'd get them direct for a supplier still in the original shrink wrap.
gamestop did this to me before
I AM NOT LYING
I bought wild arms 4 new and when i got in my car and looked at it, the game was scratched to hell
and so i went right back into the store and gave it back
the guy at the counter said i didn't play it yet and then the other guy working there WHO WAS THE ONE PLAYING IT
said that they won't take it, so they called the store manager and he told them to take the game back and that he wanted to talk to sam (THE GUY WHO WAS PLAYING IT) when he got to the store the next day
I work at EB, and yes, this does happen, especially in the days before a game comes out, since we're able to check one game out for five days usually two-three days before it's released in stores.
But take a chill pill, seriously. We're not talking about crazy children handling and scratching up your games, or bending the instructional manuals. Employees of EB/Gamestop are gamers just like you, and they treat the games very well. Again, we're only talking about five days of use, maximum.
And the Manager inspects the returned game every single time to make sure everything is sharp and pristine. A guy who worked here about a year ago lost the instructional manual once, and the Manager put a "Used" sticker on it and made the guy pay the difference out of his paycheck.
(Some of their policies are a bit more shady. When I bought my first PSP, it had 8 dead pixels on the screen. After trying to get used to them for about a month, I brought it back to EB and asked if I could trade it for a new one, since it was defective. They said sure, opened up a brand-new PSP box, put that PSP in MY box, and put my PSP in that new box, and taped it up and put it back on the shelf. So some other guy unfortunately got stuck with my used PSP [sold as "New," even after a month of use, because there were no scratches on it, I guess] and the dead pixels. Fortunately, the new PSP I got was 1.5 AND had not one dead pixel, and doesn't to this day.)
Buyer beware.
Probably right, they probably do it with the "display" disc. They are alwasy scrached to hell...Normally I don't take the display one, but then again I buy a lot more used now. Only game I returned the used one was Smash Brothers cuz it was scrached to hell...
lol, this weekend I was at EB with my girlfriend and she wanted to know how much a used Katamari for PSP is, it was $35, i said "dang! well, what do you expect? the new ones are used too, and they sell for $40!
I saw that they had .hack//QUARANTINE at CompUSA "new" for $20.00. I said, "YES! its cheaper here than it frys". So I brought it up to the counter, and when he scaned the game it said $5.99. I said to myself, "wow its a even better deal now". I took the game out of the bag it was sealed tight, and it even had the PS2 security sticker on top. I opened it, and the game was scratched bad on both sides, and it was missing the bonus DVD. I was so mad I never bought anything from CompUSA again.
July/August of last year I was madly looking for Riviera: the Promised land for GBA since it was sold out everywhere, until I found it at an EB games store, they sold it to me for $35 or $30 can't really remember, but it was new supposedly, as soon as I got home i switched on the GBA and i noticed that the game had a savefile, since it wasn't broken or anything let it be...
I have been buying my games recently at Best Buy, with the 10% off cupon. I useto work for GS, in Fremont, CA at the Fremont Mall. the people who I worked with were awsome, but the system, and how we ripped people off sucked!
But yea its true, we do rent games out, but it was only on used games we were allowed to rent out.
Apparently every EB Games/Gamestop is different. At the one I work at, we are only allowed to check out used games. I don't have a problem with that either. If a new game comes out I'll usually see a used one in a week or so.
Take Enchanted Arms for instance. Two days after it was released, we had a used copy. Some guy said he beat it overnight
In reply to comment 3, yeah Game are a rip-off, and the staff are really unhelpful. too. Not only that, they don't seem to know what their talking about half the time.
Only the other week, I heard a member of staff telling this guy that the Xbox 360 was going to be dated this time next year and that it wasn't getting support anymore from EA and other companies, that the Wii was only for kids, and that she should wait for the PS3 and leave a deposit!
The best place for games in the UK is Gamestation, I always get my new and retro stuff from there and the staff are always really helpful. But back to the topic....
I would be annoyed if I found out that my brand new game had been used already. If I wanted second hand games, I'll get them from the second hand section in the shop, or from Ebay.
At least GameCrazy doesn't follow this policy; though they do allows people to test any game.
The fact is the game stays in-store...
Quit *****ing people, gamestop and eb is the closest thing we have to a chainless store, its a huge chain but its not like buying from best buy, and you can still get your ***** brand new sometimes things come to us in the store pre-wrapped and have been used once or twice, we cant help what got on that game before hand. We might have played it when we got the chance but we do it for you, understand were told to check out games for a better understanding to speak with the customer you people dropping eb/game stop are sad. My job *****ing rocks. Stop complaining about everything, then again you do buy clothes from wallmart, that puts clothes that were returns back out on the shelves I don't hear *****ing about that.
I see many people on here seem to forget that GBA and DS games can be saved to the cartridge and not a memory card. I can vouche for this happening.
I went to my local Babbages about a year ago to pick up a new copy of Feel the Magic, I pay $17 for it and get home to try it out. When I start up the game it starts me out on like mission five. I never played the game so I didn't know it wasn't the beginning.
After realizing the plot didn't make sense to be the beginning of the game, I reset the data and what do you know, it WAS pre-played and saved then sold as new.
All my friends that ever worked there tell me the same thing about how they screw customers over all the time. And their sell/trade-in prices SUCK! I bought a brand new Guitar Hero game from them. Paid $85 for it. Called like a month later to sell it and asked the price, the guy said "Eight bucks."
I was like "No, Guitar Hero." And he was all "Yeah, I know." I told him I wanted store credit and not cash and he said that WAS the store credit price. Said they don't buy the guitar controller, just the game. That's just gay when you can't even get one tenth of the price you paid for a game a month later.
I wanted to learn a new language JUST so I could use more curse words that day.
i had a friend who worked at EB, and he let me borrow the games he checked out. though the practice does surpirse some people, i would say that most people who work in those stores wouldn't miss-treat the games they borrow, and that while they are sold "as new" they basically are, if it hasn't been purchased, it really can't be classified as used.
Gamestop used to have the policy that a customer could buy a game, and if they didn't want it for whatever reason (didn't like it, etc) they could bring it back and get credit or cash back as long as it was within 10 days of purchase. They WOULD try to prevent people from abusing the policy, but it was great when I would pay $49.99 for a game and either it was a really crappy game, or I sailed through it in a matter of 3 days or less (Windwaker, anyone?), to be able to come back to the store and say, "Look, I didn't really get my value out of this game, I'd like to get my money back or get a different game that doesn't suck."
Now, they would only accept the game back if it was in new-like condition (unless it was used) so that they could sell it as new.
I had no problem with this policy because it benefited me as a gamer, and I could care less if I bought a game that was "new" even though it had been used by someone else, as long as the game was at least pretty close to new or I couldn't tell it had been used. I mean come on, as long as I have the shrink wrap and can open it up and feel like it's new, then I really could care less. The policy benefited me more as a gamer to allow me to purchase a game that might be crap without having wasted $50.
Some tard with a stick up his rear decided that he didn't like the policy so they took Gamestop to court and the court favored that Gamestop can't resell the games as new if they have been used at all.
Therefore, if Gamestop lost the lawsuit, then their employees DEFINITELY shouldn't be trying out games and selling them as new. If I can't do it as a customer, they shouldn't be able to do it as an employee. More than that, they shouldn't do it because the lawsuit clearly stated that they couldn't be using a new game and then turning around selling it as used.
Well i just stopped working at a gamestop about 2 weeks ago and unless they have changed the policy, I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BORROW ****NEW***** GAMES. i was, however, allowed to borrow used games. If employees are borrowing new games then they are clearly not following the employee manual. So stop all this hating on Gamestop.
as long as your first thought is "hey somebody re shrinkwrapped this" when you first get it, i dont see a problem
Seriously. It's not like the disc gets used up or somehow changed by being played. It's a CD. As long as it's not scratched what is there to complain about?
i happen to work at an eb games and its very true but some of us think its still screwed up and we try to check out pre owned copies if possible
It makes no difference the used game industry has dramatically changed ion resent years. When it first started it was far more money/credit per game and consoleand they would resell used games for used game prices. when you can only get 1.80$ for a ds game there is something wrong. Even more so when you see the same game for 15.99 on the shelf used.
More or less the used/retail prices are usually 5-10$ differnce which honestly i would wrather see the industry fail that take gamers like they have been. Perhaps this new ronored DRM system on ps3 will do just that... even though i hate DRM of anykind.
Well, simply put, YES! When I buy a game "new" it better be "new" and untouched. The last time the disc or cart. better have touched fresh air is the day it was first sealed in it's case. That being said however, it's rare that I buy a game from EB brand new, unless I preorder something (which really isn't too often). When I visit an EB Games, I usually go there with the intent to purchase something used. If I want to pay full price I'll go to Best Buy or something like that. It has always bothered me that EB's new games were already opened. It just seems a little fishy to me.
the game is NEW only when is siled, packed by factory!!!
the NEW game has to be closed!!!
I never buy open games!!!
THIS IS A *****ING CRIME TO SELL USED GAMES AS NEW ONES!!!
I work over at Gamestop and you people are full of **** we don't open Brand new games from their shrink wrap and then playe them. We only borrow games that are opened already. The other day i borrowed Band of Brothers DVD and no it is not brand new, it was the used version just like everything else, we only borrow used stuff. If the game has shrink Wrap on it then we don't borrow it, we are gamres like you and we how it feels to buy a new game.
"Why won't they sell this last copy as a store display and at a discount?"
Because they'd just have to open another and sell it at a discount at the next shipment.
If you don't want the open game, DON'T BUY IT. Nobody is forcing you to buy it, and they don't sell it before all the other copies are gone. Simply buy it somewhere else if you -need- it that day, or if it is THAT rare, just pay the price.
Anyhow, you you people REALLY cared that the game was 'used' when you paid new price for it, you'd take it back and get your money back. If this happened every single time, they'd eventually get the hint that people don't want to pay full price for used games.
If they won't take it back, call corporate and tell them that they sold you a used game for full price. That will get their attention.
I work at EB Games and i can tell you this is false. Im no manager or anything since im only 17 but its against the rules to do that. We open only 1 copy to put out on the floor usually so people can look at the manual or check the game pics on the back. we can only take out used games or bring new back in used. its store policy.
Just as #8 said I worked at a GameStop and the employees can check out games but only for 3 days at a time and with any damage you have to buy the game and the whole shrink wrap thing is false because the gut-copy(thats what they call the store copy) never have plastic in them
uh, you guys know about the "shopworn" discount... right? If you don't, ask about it.
It's 10% off any display copy of a game in the store. If they employee or manager tell you otherwise, go to a different EB/Gamestop. I remember when it was instituted, then pulled, then reinstituted due to a class action suit awhile back for "sale of used games as new."
The shopworn discount DOES exist, not only have I used it for customers, albeit having to keep it secret (so sayeth the DM), and for myself through other employees.
So, you see, there is a balance to buying an opened new game.
If you do know of anyone reshrinkwrappin g any new game... and make sure it's new, as during the christmas season, they'll be bins of the crappy cheapo used games that are shrinkwrapped out on the floor.... report them to EB/Gamestop's website... and try and get their names.
Gamestop takes those complaints VERY seriously... in fact, if you complain on there, the complaint is emaled to the DM the next day. I got a complaint once, it was from some soccer mom with an EB reciept... before the merger... and she kept screaming at me about me selling her a defunct game. I tried to calm her down, I tried to be nice... I tried to explain that she bought the game at EB, not Gamestop... and that I was sure that they would get her another copy of the game... still she screamed and cursed and called me a liar... with her EB reciept whipping about my face as she called me a con artist.
I told her that at the time, she was no longer a customer and now she was a trespasser, I would give her the count to five, then I would call the police and have her physically removed from the premises.
She left, complained, and I had witnesses to the incident, so we all laughed about it the next day... but well... I WAS in the right in that incident... employees reshrinkwrappin g "new" games would be taken VERY VERY seriously by Gamestop... oh my, where did my conversation go? Ah well...
I have worked at Babbage's for 8+ years. They let you (the employee) bring the games home to get familar so you can help assist the customer (you) in your purchase.
The game should not have any scratches, fingerprints and jewel cases do not have the seal broken as long as the person is careful. Since working at the store I have played about 3-5 releases a week for 8 years....
On the FLIPSIDE.. being a collector of games I want mine to be FACTORY SEALED so call me a hippocrit if you like. I was just doing my job and my job ROCKED
I do feel good about warning would be customers about the crappy SUPERMAN (N64), telling them how cool the undersold PARAPPA THE RAPPER was and attempting to sell more NEO-GEO POCKET COLORs than GBA to help SNK (failed attempt), but hey I did sell out all of our Parappa copies and I would not have done that if I didn't borrow it.
The best thing I can say is to know the difference and don't buy it if they offer you a shrinkwrapped copy. You always have the right to yell NO!! and run away or stop drop and buy the damn thing.
my $2 worth... Sp00nman
Its a well known fact that a well known chain accepts GAME's back if your not happy with the purchase for a refund... not sure how there resold though, presume they just go back on the shelves as new... also I know staff members take GAME's home overnight then take them back the next day (after they've copied them)... I dont think its just one retail chain in the UK, I think they all do similar things, including the DVD rental chains...
My mouth dropped opened when I read this. I cant beileve these dumba$$e$ do this shi*. That is totally mess up.
That somethign they sould go to jail for! Lol for real. If I buy a brand new game I want it to be brand new and never played be4 or open case.
That bs. Wow now I'm gonna do alot of work be4 I buy anymore games from anywhere. That is so dumb inmature and bs and the ppl who sel lthe games means they lie out there a$$e$.
Saying a game is new when they tryed it out lmfao. That bs. Just wow, lol.
Wow that's insane. I hate gamestop the most because I even seen brand new games in open cases!
Old used cases and used booklet. That is so bs and omg the game not even in the case!
Lol they have to give it to you when you pay for it.
They are the wrose, lol. But seeing how ebgames plays new games be4 they come out too and sell them new!!!
That sould be breaking the law. It a lie to play a new game then sell it as new how dumb are these ppl, lol.
Where can I make sure I can buy brand new games that the cases was never ever opened and the game was never ever used or played or touched be4, lol.
I want my games to be brand new and never played be4 in there real cases that never been opened be4.
This is in fact true. One of my best friends worked for gamestop and they do have the oppurtunity to "borrow" new games. These games have to be returned in new condition however, and the employees can only have one game "checked out" at once.
i bought a ds lite from game crazy about a month and a half ago, the first day i got it i noticed to bright blue stuck pixels so i took it back and got a new ds lite then a month later my little brothe bought a new ds and they gave him one and i said check it out cuz mine had 2 stuck pixels he ignored me, when we got home he turned it on and it had my old screen name and i said she gave him a used ds and so he put in mkds and saw my 2 stuck pixels, so he took it back and got a new one and she had opened the box for him and turned his new ds on to see if he had any dead pixels on his new one. and she left a bright blue thumb print and scratched his bottom screen. thats nice isnt it.
Only buy shrink-wrapped games (if at EB Games, request a still sealed one. If they don't have one, leave...) And learn the difference between factory shrink-wrapped and store shrinked-wrapped. It's easy to tell the difference most of the time since most game manufacturers use special wrapping machines that leave the shrink wrap looking kind of like Christmas wrapping papper on the ends of the box. I have yet to see a retail store buy one of these types of machines (they are very expensive)... But it wouldn't surprise to see that someday...
quote:
Wouldn't it make you feel cheated when the game you just bought from a store already has somebody's save file in it?
You can't write to a pressed disc, and xbox 360 doesn't even have a burning drive anyway. So that's impossible. But about the topic.
I bought ninja gaiden back in the day from a finnish gamestore called "dose" (I don't ). It was shrink wrapped and sold as new with a ~60€ pricetag. When I opened it the disc was scratched so badly that xbox couldn't read it well. The there was an old coffeestained receipt inside which show that the came was bought as used once before. So it had at least 2 previous owners before me. I got my money back of course, but I should've reported about it somewhere.
Anyway I had a similar incident not so long ago when I bought a used hitman blood money from ebgames. But this time it was in my favor, the chick gave me a new one and charged for a used game. Still it was a ripoff, they charged the same price of the used one as some stores charge for new ones.
I work in a GAME store in the UK (Electronics Boutique was aquired by GAME a few years ago).
Our system is simple and aims to be effcient when dealing with a large amount of customers daily.
We get a delivery of games, and we take two copies, unwrap them and put them on display, the rest on display are what we call dummies, empty boxes with inlays showing the game but with no barcode.
Two more copies are taken out of the wrappings, and put in the back catalogue.
Two more copies are left in their wrappings and put in the drawers at the counter. The 'guts' (manuals and disks) are then elastic banded with one wrapped copy of the game, and put in the store room safely. This allows us to keep as many on display, and to keep as many customers as possible going being served.
Hardware is never removed from boxes. We have store hardware which is kept securely, for demonstration purposes and display boxes for display purposes.
We absolutely never sell preowned hardware / software as new.
When a faulty product is returned, they are labelled as faulty with a large sticker and sent back to the manufacturer.
Preowned hardware is always discounted and has a one year warranty.
We never wrap games back up and sell them "as new", if this has happened in any EB/GAME store then surely an investigation by the regional / district manager has already been started and a disciplinary against the staff member involved taken.
Hope this gives an insight into how we do things (In the UK at least).
I have friends who work at gamestops who do this all the time.
i didn't want an old used disc container. i wanted my games sealed up from the game factory were it was made. if i had an old disc container of the game then i should the game a little more cheaper, of course im right. plus its a mess in those gamestop and eb games. they rip you off. buy a new and return the next day they will only give you half price of it, very bad deal. even one ps2 game in very good condition brand, they only give $5, manics. and can't return policy bull crap.
Yeah, I work at Gamestop currently and yes we can check out games. However, we cannot check out unopened new games, we can check out the display copy which we must keep mint unless you want to replace it. We can take out any game we want but to live in fear that you are gonna get a bad copy is ridiculous. Usually when a new game comes out, we get a used one instantly so there is no need to take out display copies. We also cannot check out games 1 week before and 1 week after inventory checks. So don't think we take your new games, scratch them and sell them to you. I take very good care of the games I take and if you've ever had a problem with someone and a scratched new copy, it wasn't at my store.
#13 - "godaym i must be the luckiest person"
why, because you get to bang a darky, get free broken stuff and get paid $5 dollars an hour!
Thanks but i'll stick with my $70k a year job and a nice clean white girl.
Where can I buy games where the ydont freakin open them and play them. I want to buy games that are only brand new and never ever opened be4 or the disc ever played be4 or touched.
I want the game totally brand new and factory sealed right after the game is made. This bs with ebgames and gamestop sould be put a end too and osuld not be allowed.
Ppl sould go to jail for this kind of bs.
They sould'nt be allowed to play used games too. If they want to play any games they sould have to pay for the game or just open one new game and play it and keep it i nthe store and never sell it.
That the way it sould be and keep one used game to play if they dont got a new one of it and keep it i nthe store and not sell it tho.
I mean come... it totally dumb, inmature, and retarded for them to be able to play brand new games then sell them as new!!!!!
Wow! Does this mean they can play new consoles and then sell them as new!!!!! So wrong, lol.
Now where am I gonna buy my PS3 brand new, lol.
that is very true it happened to me when i bought Ninja Gadien it was 20.00 (US) though so it was not too bad of a problem.
Yeah, a real grown up materialistic rasict. Nice!
if given the chance,we'd all do the same thing.
In the UK one of the major retaillers offers a 10 day returns policy. Under this any console game (not PC or online activating) can be returned for a refund or exhange within 10 days of the original purchase. This is subject to the disc being in absolute mint condition with no marks or smudges on it in any way.
So yes, sometimes it is possible to purchase a preowned game at full price, but it should always be in 'new' condition. If requested (and if it's in stock) a customer can always request a factory sealed copy.
But for most people, the benifits of being able to return a game should it turn out to be the wrong product or just plain awful far outweighs the lack of shrinkwrap around a plastic box.
Now I dont know where to go to make sure when I buy games/next gen console to make sure it's totally brand new never ever opened be4 or used or played be4.
I want it factory sealed right after it is made and totally brand new never opened or played. I want only brand new, lol.
Where to go...
I have suspected EB games of selling used games as new for a long time, and it was confirmed a few weeks ago, when I noticed that the single *used* copy of Digital Devil Saga 2 which had been sitting on the shelf for a great number of months (retardedly expensive)had mysteriously made a jump over to the new games shelf.
Highly suspicious.
A lot of the older *new* games seem to have a lot of damage to the box, damage that looks a lot more like it had been mishandled by a couple of 12 year old kids in a living room than damage caused by general shelf wear.
I enjoy browsing EB Games, see what kind of stuff they have in stock, and see how horribly inflated their prices are. When it comes to actually buying the games, I'd rather hit up ebay. Prices are always better, even when you consider shipping.
Makes you wonder why they came up with playable demos, huh
Game stores really shouldn't be allowed to open games and put them back. This is especially true for PC games that have CD keys. I posted earlier that I got ripped off on a copy of Half-Life. It was in the new games section and I expect it to be unopened. The CD key was stolen and I could not activate it with Steam. The idiots at EB wouldn't take it back so I mailed it to Sierra so I could get a new key. Since most PC games use CD keys that are clearly visible when you open the package, they really shouldn't be allowed to be opened then reshelved. Once the key is registered, it's useless. It's as simple as removing it from the packaging and copying it down. Now with camera phones everywhere, it seems even easier for employees to steal keys and then just download the games online. Like most people, if I pay for a new game, I want it factory sealed. I hope EB/GameStop go out of business. That's one store I wouldn't mind seeing gone.
I believe that EB and their other owned gamestores do in fact engage in this practice. I bought a couple of PSP games that were not even wrapped and had several fingerprints on them. The store associate insisted that they were "new".
It's about time someone said something about this !
We were allowed, even encouraged to take home evaluation products and they were returned to the store and then sold as new (and as another comment said here, not re-shrinkwrapped - all product as it entered stock in the store was normally de-shrinkwrapped (if it came that way) - but this could vary from store to store) - this included DVDs (many an xvid/divx came from store stock) and even hardware.
- the 'spin' was that employees could better 'sell' knowing the product - but to sell as new was pretty lame.
- same thing applied to the "7 day return if you dont like it'" policy - tha stuff was turned around as new product.
- Personally - I now buy all my stuff from KMart - price is better and it is usually new/untouched - return policy is much better as well.
I have seen store employees not only of EBGames and GameStop doing this, but Game Crazy (don't know if anyone else has one around them) doing so as well. It's a huge scam and personally I feel outraged at the fact that we're forced to buy games that have been used at a new game price.
I work at Walmart and they let us take home the cleaning lady and try her out every night! Then they still try to sell her as new to unsuspecting Johns!
they did this with my psp. but it was still in brand new condition i guess they just wanted to look at the manual. i reserved it one minute b4 closing because they had 1 spot left. i bought it the next day and he just tossed the box to the other guy and sold it.. i was like "wtf" to him..he was like "nothings wrong." so then i just bought it and left because the 14 day rule or w/e. it was ok, except for the fact that the *****ing seal for the box open side was broken off too. so i used it and it's still ok...but damn, i don't really want people to touch my ***** w/o my permission...and then the same thing for burnout legends, burnout revenge, twisted metal. oh did i mention MADDEN 07 360 COLLECTORS EDITION...i mean wut *****s...i was too pissed..
Yep ive been ripped off like this before, the shrink wrap work is quite shoddy
Hey #10 (Soma) here's what happened....
At Gamestop sometimes the original box gets misplaced or even stolen. Who would steal an empty box with just the instructions? Who knows but heres what they do. They have backup color copies of the original box art in the back of the store just in case the original is misplaced. You bought the last copy with the color copied artwork. IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL YOU THIS ARTWORK. They have to keep it even if it means losing the sale. It was not not the girls decision to lose the sale it's company policy.
Im not sticking up for these douchbags, I hate Gamestop and would never buy from them agian, just wanted to explain this to the readers being an old manager and all.
Now for the subject at hand, of course this is true. This is nothing new. What might differ from store to store is a slight variation of the game checkout policy. Some managers may be more leanient than others towards there employees. Although, corporate does try to brainwash their managers into seriously checking each disk after it comes back this was rarely enforced. I have personally seen many disks sold as new with at least a few scratchs on it. The thing was we would let the customer look at disk and approve it before we would shrink wrap it. It just brings back horrible memories of a crappy job with underpaid employees and a dirty corporate office. I hated that job. I WOULD NEVER PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM EVER AGAIN. F U GAMSTOP
Sorry, thetruth but you are wrong. Every EB Games and Gamestop here in So Cal does this (opens one copy of the game to be the shelf display). Where do you think that empty case for each new game comes from thetruth? Many, many, many times I have tried to purchase a game and they have none left in cellophane wrap (games do not come shrink wrapped any more, it's folded cellophane) so they attempt to sell me the display (with a goddamn sticker on the actual DVD case) and yes it is new, not used. When I ask if I can get one thats wrapped they say this is the LAST COPY and offer to "shrink wrap" it. What does that do? Instantly make the manual and case new again? Take the new price sticker off of the case? No. I really hate EB and Gamestop's greedy practices (trying to charge $25 for $20 worth of Microsoft Points & selling the DS Rumble Pack for $50 when you can order directly from Nintendo for $10 or get it free with a $30 Metroid Pinball) and hope that they go out of business. All they do when you go into their store is bug you about getting preorders when there is no need to (when there IS a need to like when a system launches, preordering DOES NOT EVEN GUARANTEE YOU WILL GET ONE) this store is rubbish and run by morons... trust me I have known people who worked there and they know how their corporate works. Stay away from these stores.
Why won't they sell this last copy as a store display and at a discount?
"Because they'd just have to open another and sell it at a discount at the next shipment."
So what??!! Thats the price they pay for having one out on display and deterring theft. They sould put it in a case like Best Buy does. NO ONE WANTS A USED CASE AND INSTRUCTION BOOK. I don't buy these "used" games at new prices and nothing you say can justify them doing this. It's BAD BUSINESS. PERIOD. F EB and GAMESTOP. Also anyone who says that their "job rocks" at any of these stores must love earning minimum (or at least really low) wage.
just buy it used and quit *****ing
I don't mind in general if the game still appears and functions in a pristine fashion... EXCEPT when it comes to cartridge based games....
Their are ALOT of cartridge based games (including NDS/GBA carts) that permenantly track some statistics that you can NEVER delete.
For example, I bought a used copy of "Advance Wars DS" for my NDS just to find out that the bonus features that you unlock by reaching pinnacles in the game and racking up certain stats CAN NOT be reset!!! Even if you delete all the save files it still remembers the last completed level and what kinds of troops you have unlocked/learned about. This absolutely infuriated me (even tho I willingly bought used) because I was unable to truly make the game "mine". I wound up going to get a new copy so I could play without effectively cheating and sold the used one.
I know their are more games like this but I cannot remember specific titles at the moment...
Eric
I wish game stores would give you a discount on displays. I bought a game that had its case out on display as NEW, and of course they had to open it and take the disk out. But in that face I still had to pay the new price even though it had already been opened, and for the fact that SOMEONE HAD STOLEN THE CASE OFF THE SHELF!!!
It's called SuperCard Lite
Four or five years ago I started suspecting that EB was selling used games for new prices because I bought a couple games that had suspect shrinkwrap and the discs had small scratches on them. I traded in a PS2 game I barely ever played that had a mint disc and manual, except for one thing. I made a very small mark on the back cover, underneath the plastic near the UPC code. Sure enough, I went back in a couple days later and found my exact same copy being sold as new even though they paid me a ridiculously low price for trade-in value. This was back when the non-new realease games were actually out on the shelves. In any case, a buddy of mine was asst. manager at a Gamestop and he told me that Gamestop used to do the same thing when he worked there. They would take games in really good shape and sell them as new even though they clearly weren't. They'd pocket the difference. EB and Gamestop are not the most ethical game stores.
Thank you for your reply. The thing is this certain female employee just doesn't give the case and booklet to anybody. It doesn't matter to her if the case is original or copied artwork she just doesn't give you the cases and booklets(I have already seen her do this more than five times). So anyway I went back to the same store two days after the incident(this happened around a month ago) and there the cases were in exactly the same spot I picked them up that day. Checked them both still had the booklets inside so I decided to try my luck with another employee. Got the usual would you like to reserve the overly priced crap we sell over here told him no. He looked for the discs they still had them, he put them in the cases he even told me how lucky I am that the booklets are inside I paid him and I left with the cases and the booklets and the discs were both in pretty good condition. So I think that it also has to do with the employee.
It's common place at Game Crazy stores. They will open up any new game for you to test out to play. They want you to try out the games and make sure your happy.... and it's also a way to get gamers in the store.
The one I worked at never resealed games. We left them open, and we would always sell the open copy last (so we wouldn't have to open another copy). There was no deception, since we always showed the open copy to the customer, if they didn't want it, they didn't have to pay for it.
Yeah it sucks paying full price for an "open" copy of a game, but IMO it's better for gamers since they get to try out the games in store, with out renting or paying a dime. Equal trade off if you ask me... Also, if there was a scratch or anything on it, I'm sure the store would take care of you and switch it out for you. It happened once in a great while at the store I used to work for.
Other stores also open up the cases, and put the game locked up in back, with just the case outside... It's technically an open copy, but not really used.
You know if someone put their mind to it, a big lawsuit could come out of this... I mean i know you all don't live in the U.S. but here there was a big lawsuit against blockbuster video just because they charged a late fee for every day that the movie was late, and blockbuster lost and had to pay a certain amount of damages to ALL who were screwed by this... i really don't see why you can't win a case against a company who advertises a game as 'new' when it has clearly been used before YES it's a crime here in the U.S. all it would take is someone with a lawyer and enough time on their hands and kaching we're all getting checks from eb games!
Soma,
You know you get what you pay for. If they are going to pay people s_it pay then thats the type of person your going to get working for you. Thats why I left among MANY other reasons.
I didn't read the whole thing here, and i don't know if this was brought up,
but gamestop has recently stopped allowing employees to do this. It's not so helpful in the past, but now they can't do it anymore.
A friend of mine who works there told me about the memo they got a few weeks ago
gamestop/eb is a terrible company. I used to work for them and it was terrible, first pay sucks and they expect it to be a sales job with minimum wage and no form of commision so alot of people seem to not have a reason to be a good employee. Yes they do let the employees take home new games to play ususally not even shrink-wrapin it back up. If they pull a open copy of a new game demand a 10% discount . Or even better do a couple reserves (like 2-3) then demand the discount if they wont do it threaten to leave. Most people will do it then all you gotta do is say you wanna get your money back on the reserves.
ok basically yes the claim is true. eb games has if anyone hasn't found out yet merged with gamestop. so eb games IS gamestop meaning all the prices are the same as well as steps we take. i am personally an employee and i feel like you all should know. before gamestop and eb merged, eb was never allowed to borrow games and then shrink wrap them back. the whole checking out games was GAMESTOPS incentive for taking away commision from employees. the way the "gamestop" checkout works is an employee can check out a game/or dvd for 4 days as long as there are more copies of the game than just one and you checking out the only game. if the game or dvd gets returned messed up, the employee is charged with the full price of the game no discount allowed. if the game is also late not returned within the 4 days, the employee must buy the game. i know my store is willing to help people out. if you're a customer bad mouthing eb games or gamestop, then why are you shopping there? theres many stores like best buy or circuit city that you can buy their games for full price when you can trade in the crappy games you've bought or simply beat. my store, if you get a game and it doesn't work, no matter how late or even if you don't have the receipt we will definitely work to help you out if you don't get an attitude cuz simply we'll tell you no if you cause a scene. most stores could also give a ***** about what you buy, my store we will literally tell you if a game sucks because like i said earlier, we don't run off commision anymore because gamestop took that away from us. basically what im saying is well one there aren't game saves on discs anymore so that can be ruled out but 1 game depending which game it is, is checked out and maybe played, maybe not played within those 4 days. not EVERY GAME is checked out there for you basically have a 1 out of lets say 30-40 chance of getting a game that has been shrink wrapped. at the same time...we also don't keep our games in the actual cases for theft reasons. if you simply don't like it, why are you shopping there? our policy is that every game you coming out of eb games or gamestop with, it's guaranteed.
Where can I buy brand new games that never been open be4 or played be4 or open the case or wrapped it back up and not used.
Where can I buy games that are REALLY TRUELY TOTALLY BRAND NEW never ever opened be4 or open case or ever played be4 game or used game and is factory sealed right after the game is made, lol.
Really I dont want to buy a new game if it been played be4! That bs!!!!!
You know what i have to open games to display them so what if they get played. People have to try out games so they can tell you about them.
I work at a gamestore and we open games to let people try before they buy. most of the time people are 90% sure they want the game before they try it, but there are times when people dont buy the game in the end. in those cases we wrap them back and put them back on the shelf. the product is still considered new because it hasnt been bought.
Some people complain their "new" game has a speck of dust on it and i tell them to go screw themselves. Try before you buy is a service we OFFER to gamers. in exchange, someone is gonna come across something that has already been played. too bad. live with it. otherwise we could take away the whole try before you buy program and let people go home with crappy games. if you are one of those people who knows what you are buying and never tries stuff out, take an extra breath and ask the employee if its been demoed. not the end of the world.
People are really obssessing over this...I guess I will be too once I also get screwed. In the mean time, 2.8 ELOADER!!1!1!!!
"But it's a horrifying possibility to imagine. Gamers buy new games and expect them to be new."
Horrifying? No, the aftermath of a car bomb is horrifying. A plane crash is horrifying. Nancy Pelosi is horrifying. But buying a used game is NOT a horrifying thing.
Stop abusing the English language. And by the way, the word is Voila, not Walla. It's a French word meaning "there it is."
I'm sure when you all get old enough to get that first new car, you're going to want one that was never driven right?
Guess what? No such thing!
As long as the game is gauranteed to work, and comes with everything that it's supposed to, and is still in "out of the box" condition, I'm just not seeing what the big deal is. It's not like you just found out your "virgin bride" had been with your best friend before you met her.
Of course, given the choice, I'll take the factory sealed one myself, but if I really want the game, and the above conditions are met, then what's the big deal?
Back when I worked at Babbages 91'-'99 there were TWO REASONS your game might have been opened:
1.
We would borrow the game to get familar with it so we could give the customers an honest review when they asked "Is this decent?" or "will it work on my 486 dx with 64MB of ram and sb16 soundcard" -this is 1993 remember
Speaking for myself and when I became store manager the guys working for me, we treated everything with extreme care. Each game was inspected on take out and on return no later than 3 days later. If it came back with a single scratch (discs) you lost your privilages. If it came back with a game save present (carts) you lost 2 weeks of take out privilages. You COULD NOT take out hardware UNLESS one was returned damaged and it was only to verify that it was bad such as a sound,gfx ps card (I have to say 100% of the stuff I tested was fine).
-----
AND
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2.
We would open one of each game and system to display "on the floor" to deter theft.. We actually had quite a few people steal empty display... Idiots!
As far as displays went we kept the "guts" sealed in a locked glass case and put them back in the original retail box when we were down to the last one. I ALWAYS told the customer if this was the case and they always wanted it bad enough to buy the re-shrinkwrapped version. These were diehard gamers!
Anyway, thins have changed since then. We started getting display boxes for every game. There was no need to "gut" the games anymore. Yet we still did and from what I can tell EB Games, Babbages, Gamestop, Games Etc and others still do.
Toys R Us always had a superior display+ticket method for all of their games. No one would steal a flap would they? Maybe
Now most stores have console kiosks with tons of demos to try out. There are downloadable demos for most PC games so people can tell if they will run on their computers.
THERE IS NO NEED FOR CURRENT STORES TO UNWRAP NEW GAMES ANYMORE... but they still do. I feel it was ok in "the old days", but game demos and cardboard display boxes are available now.. so stop it!
So that's how I feel,
Sp00NMan
from: No. 65 (Zenurb) "We never wrap games back up and sell them "as new", if this has happened in any EB/GAME store then surely an investigation by the regional / district manager has already been started and a disciplinary against the staff member involved taken."
two stores I know of re-sell (inc. pre-staff tested) as new, yes your quite right there not re-shrink wrapped... and btw there is NO disciplinary against the staff member's involved is taken as the STORE manager is involved too... FACT!!!
When I buy NEW, I expect them as such, when I check the disk, or see how it is stored and if I am not happy with it... I politely hand it back to the assistant before any money is handed over and say NO thanks... this is part of the UK trading standards and I am entitled to do so...
CHECK the disk (possibly before handing over the dosh) or before you leave the shop, if your not happy, return it for a full refund! in the UK its within your customer rights
A long way back i remember buying driver 2 from new-age in tooting... i got home, opened case and... what? no discs or booklets.
I complained to new-age but they accused me of attempting to commit fraud.
If I see the game has to be put in the case, I always ask to see the state of the disk first... if it is in the un-shrink wrapped case, I check the disk... when I get to the car (before leaving to go home), I un-wrap the game and check the contents...
anyway any problems with the shop messing me around I have a word with my local Trading Standards to kick the shop back in line if need be... :)
gamestop is like a whore. shes used over and over again, and is really expensive, and can pass herself off as new.
The first time I went to one was when everyone was waiting for the release of Quake 1. The staff were total PC gamers and you could chat with them hours at a time and it would be like talkin to a buddy. They were bright college guys who were just trying to make some scratch on their off time.
They were always up on the latest gossip and rumour going around as I was so I knew my leg was not being pulled.
Apparently someone at corporate found out that intelligent people were working the store and they couldnt have that so they basically eliminated these guys and brought in the Morons who would try to tell you about predordering games that you knew were delayed for months or totally cancelled, something the previous crew would never have done.
Yes these stores have had their day.
its the employees not the company. im sure the company doesnt allow this, some store managers are just cool enoght to allow this.