My relationship with GameStop reminds me of an unhealthy relationship between two people. I keep getting screwed over, but I keep coming back. And every once in a while I’ll be super impressed with something they do, and it makes me want to continue seeing them. But then I get screwed again. Rinse and repeat.
By now I’m sure you’re familiar with my obsession for collector’s editions of video games and their respective guides. What can I say? They look pretty in my woman cave and it’s something I probably inherited from my grandmother (who owns more collector’s editions than I can even count). But back in July money was a little tight, and I had to choose between the Uncharted 3 Collector’s Edition ($99) or the Skyrim Collector’s Edition ($149).
We all know Nathan Drake is my future baby daddy (and he was uh, cheaper), so I slapped money on the Uncharted 3 CE and the Skyrim standard edition. But before I checked out the clerk asked if I would be interested in pre-ordering the Skryim CE game guide. I thought about it (for a good, long 2.5 seconds) and said, why not? I always appreciate a pretty guide, and at least I’ll be getting something collector’s edition-y.
Proof:
Perfect. With my receipt in hand I skedaddled out of GameStop.
On the fabled date of 11-11-11 (DOVAHKIIN!!!) I stopped into GameStop RIGHT after work. I walked up to the counter and giddily asked for my copies of the Skyrim game and the CE guide. Within thirty seconds my copy of the game was placed in front of me. I inquired about the guide and I was told with a shrug of the shoulders that they had sold out; that GameStop hadn’t ordered enough.
Ooookay. After it was clear I wasn’t going to be provided any more information, I asked if they would get another shipment in.
“Uhhh…maybe this weekend?”
I must have been emitting frustration because another clerk caught on and wrote down my name, number, email address and said she would contact me as soon as she learned anything; that she would hold a copy of the guide for me should they come in. I told her I greatly appreciated that and, again, skedaddled out of Gamestop.
Well, that weekend came and went, and I never heard anything.
The next weekend came and went.
And the next.
Finally I called back and explained my situation to another clerk. Not only was I told that my pre-order didn’t even EXIST on their computer, I was also told that they wouldn’t be getting another shipment of guides in. But he offered to take down my name and number and call around. He also said (and this struck me as weird) that he’d leave my information for another clerk and that if I didn’t hear from her that afternoon I should “call again because she might forget.”
Uggggh.
At this point I threw in the towel. As expected, I never heard back from GameStop nor did I attempt to call back.
But a few weeks ago I was being a curious cat and (just for shits) checked Amazon for a Skyrim guide. And holy balls on an oak branch, THEY HAD THEM IN. Faster than a whore drops her panties (what?) I ordered one and that bad boy was on its way. Although I was happy, giddy and filled with nerd joy I was also slightly agitated. Look what I also found on GameStop’s website:
Okay, I don’t expect to be treated like a princess nor do I expect to have everything handed to me, but if GameStop really had my information taken down when this new (albeit second edition) version of the Skyrim CE released, shouldn’t they have contacted me? Possibly ordered it from a store that had the guide in stock?
Just. Saying.
Anyway, long story short my Skryim guide arrived last weekend, and I’ve been studying it like it’s the mother’effin….bible of nerdery.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pre-order Mass Effect 3 from GameStop as they have exclusive bonuses.
I told you it’s a very unhealthy relationship.
<3 Britt
DONT DO IT ITS POISON
EGADS!
Mass Effect 3 <3 ^_^b
Why must you be so nerdly awesome.
LOL @ Nathan Drake baby daddy joke.
I have someone on my friends list From High School that works as an Advertisement Artist for GameStop Corporate in Dallas TX. We can talk to him so gamestop doesn't screw you over as much =P
Hahaha, well it’s not only me getting screwed over! GameStop gets around, you see.
GameStop’s pre-order exclusive’s are total bullshit. The only real way to guarantee you get them is to show up in the first few hours of the game actually going on sale, pretty much rendering the whole pre-order process moot. If only they didn’t have cool exclusives… Dammit.
That’s still shitty though, because you lost $5 on a guide that they didn’t give a shit to sell to you. Or did you get your money back?
Speaking of which, years and years ago I pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater CE at gamestop. I got it when it came in, no problem. I get home that evening and had received a generic email from Gamestop about if you buy the CE, you got Snake’s Bandanna (AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL BANDANNA). No one mentioned that when I pre-ordered, nor was it mentioned when I picked it up. I called the store back that evening, and they said yeah it comes with that, but told me they were out when I picked it up. I got it at like 10am when the store opened, the DAY it came out.
Ahhh yeah. That sounds familiar to my situation too! I can’t remember what it was I pre-ordered a while ago, but instead of getting what I was supposed to I was given a Mario pencil and a Link notebook XD
Also, no, next time I go in I’ll just ask to put that money towards ME3.
I buy almost exclusively from Amazon. I don’t usually go to Gamestop unless they have a used game sale or a gift card I need to use. You need to ditch the zero (Gamestop) Brit and get with the hero (Amazon).
Oh. Snap.
It’s not unreasonable to expect a vendor to honor a preorder. The sad thing is that they screwed up, but chose to ignore it and not to even try to fix the situation.
Sadly, for many Gamestop is the only place in town to buy games and such.
Right. And I would love to pre-order ME3 from Amazon, but…I want ME3 on day one, soooo….I’ve heard orders from Amazon sometimes take a day or two two arrive past their release date.
And this is why i refuse to preorder, unless it is a niche game (ex. No More Heroes on PS3 was the last game I pre-ordered.) You should at least have them take the $5 from the guide and apply that to the Mass Effect 3 pre-order.
Yep! That’s definitely the plan :)
Oh Brittney I use to work at Game Stop a year ago for a little over three years as a manager and I would say to stick with Amazon especially for guides. I can tell you what happened was whoever did the shipment of the guides forgot to check reservations (since no one really reserves guides) and forgot to hold them back for you which I’ve seen happen on a few occasions. Also they usually only get one shipment of Collector edition guides its pretty rare in my experience to get more than one shipment. Amazon always has them in and if you wait they are like half price a week later. So yeah Brittney go with Amazon I do :)
Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up! I think I learned my lesson ;)
GameStop is every impersonal, I wish there was a video game store that was more like a like a comic book shop, or hell the guy at the tattoo shop knows me better than the pimple faced punks working the register at GameStop, I feel your pain….
I wonder what it’s like to actually work at a GameStop. I wonder if that has anything to do with it…
Who says you don’t deserve to be treated like a princess? You’re a smart, cute, blond gamer. If you’re not treated like a princess who should be?
DAWWWWWWWWW
I understand your dilemma. Sometimes we get into these bad relationship, and the bad times are bad…
But goddamnit if that foul mistress GameStop doesn’t know how to get me off just the way I like it.
Mmmmmmm……
Just find a GameStop that isn’t awful. They exist. I promise.
Haha, I’m sure they do. But it’s so hard to find one!
I’m thinking some tandem pwnage is in order. A good helping of Blonde Nerd BITCH-OUT is what they deserve!
Do I…know you?
You still go to actual stores? Do you live in the 1800’s?
SHUT UP JASON AND GO LEARN TO MAKE VIDEOGAMES. Preferably ones with Alistair in them. And Kaidan. And nudity.
Seems you went to a GameStop run by morons. Never had an issue like that at the stores in my area. But oddly enough I have a friend who lives in Seattle, and he says all the stores there suck too.
It sucks that the person you talked to was so misinformed. The problem with the strategy guide fiasco wasn’t that Gamestop hadn’t ordered enough. It’s that Bethesda hadn’t anticipated the demand for their game (particularly their guide) would be as big as it was, and they didn’t check the pre-order numbers Gamestop had delivered to them until after their initial print-run. So really, Gamestop had been shorted on their order, and so each store only got 4-5 guides to sell. Bathesda scrambled to issue a second print run to meet GS’s initially order, but by then the game had been out for a week or so. Gamestop even briefly considered filing suit over the matter, but I suppose the bean-counters in corporate decided it wasn’t big enough to go to court.
So the fact that you didn’t get the guide at launch wasn’t *really* Gamestop’s fault. But they should have been more informed and told exactly what was going on. And everything that happened afterwards (them losing your pre-order in the system, not informing you when new guides came in, etc.) was totally not cool. At the Gamestop I work at, we offered everone the opportunity to cancel their order and get their full money back, and everyone that did decide to keep their order, we gave them 10% off when their book eventually came in.
Sorry the Gamestop you went to was kinda sucky. If you wanna give them anotehr try, Gamestop can be pretty cool (see evidence: http://consumerist.com/2011/10/when-newegg-drops-the-ball-gamestop-saves-the-day-wait-gamestop.html <–Check out the comments, too.) Try shopping around your local area.