GAME no longer stocking EA Games..

[Colly]

When did this thread turn into a Fight Club-esque self help group for ex Game employees? You weren't there man! You don't know what we saw!

[Benji]

I am Jack's lost game sales.

[King Ellis]

I'll call Watchdog!

[Skummy]

I'll call Watchdog!

We got that so much last year. It's like...as soon as a new series starts, they think they'll be able to take every problem they ever have with a company to them and they'll fix it for them, regardless of whether or not the company is actually at fault. FUN!

[King Ellis]

Also, looking over my recent emails, one from Zavvi advertising the fact they're offering double points on their new loyalty scheme or whatever it is on all EA titles including Mass Effect 3. Subtle.

[apsham]

From my time working at EB Games/Gamestop - yeah, I pretty much have seen just about every situation that other people here have been discussing. People just don't think much of game store employees I guess.

[Dan]

To be fair I think it's the same with any company where you deal with the public, when I was at a large government backed savings company a woman I worked with was told by a customer he was going to write to David Cameron about the way she talked to him, despite her being very nice and understanding about the situation.

[Liam]

As one of my old customers once said....90% of people are cunts.

[Quom]

In all honesty most shops are dodgy little fuckers, not the workers, the shops. Over here our return laws have always stated that the warranty period is set, but on top of that you have a period that would seem normal to a reasonable person for an item to last. Basically it was to stop manufacturers making goods that would blow up shortly after warranty. You also have the right to the 'three r's' (return, replacement or refund) and all of this stuff is meant to be done with the place of purchase since that's who your contract sits with.

So it's sad when you have workers who have been told by management stuff like they aren't allowed to do things they legally have to do and instead to tell the customer they have to take it up with Sony or whatever. It's an incredibly frustrating situation for both the consumer and the staff member. But legally they have to do it (over here).

I was pleasant until they started telling me the procedure they follow and wouldn't be willing to do any of the three r's (it was seriously two weeks out of warranty). At that point I just pulled out all of the relevant information which I'd printed off the web and advised them to keep my PS2 and sticky tape the info to the side and call me when they had read the information, or checked it out for themselves, I got a call three days later telling me to go in there and pick up a brand new PS2.

But I've seen far dodgier than that. Over here all of the supermarkets are signed up to this voluntary agreement where if something scans at a higher price than is on the shelf (or in the catalogue) then they get it for free (I think they get the first 5 or something if it's a multiple item). When I worked in a supermarket the manager would do all sorts of dodgy shit to get out of it, he'd print out new tags matching the old one and put it on the product next to the one they were buying and remove the one they saw and tell them they must have seen that tag and got confused. He'd also argue that the price advertised was for the tomatoes in the catalogue were coming in tomorrow and are different and inferior quality to the tomatoes the customer was purchasing (they would then fix the tag once the customer left). Just really weird shit like that to save like $2.

So I see it from both sides. But I don't argue with floor staff since they are only ever doing what they have been told to do and would likely be risking their jobs if they did something other than that.

[Cactus Drags]

I love it when customers go on about breach of contract or tell me it is illegal to refuse them a refund and that sort of thing. Highlight of my day!

Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it? My favourite part is when they start quoting random laws at me, and threatening to go to Trading Standards.

The best part of that threat is that they've usually accepted the partial refund/credit/exchange as they don't want to be seen as 'losing'. And once they've done that, they've basically not got a leg to stand on.

"I KNOW I HAVE A RIGHT TO RETURN A CONSOLE FOREVER! Not just six months or that two year warranty you gave me. FOREVER! AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"

"Yes, of course. You just have to send your console back to the company for a replacement. Your costs are totally covered and they'll dispatch a new console for yo....."

"NO! NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONO! I bought this XBox 7 years ago in one of your stores in another city. You've got to take it and give me a replacement now!"

"Do you have a receipt?"

"No! But I know my rights! Get me your manager!"

I had a wonderful situation not too long ago where someone had been chewing me out for a good five minutes about their rights and it wasn't necessary to provide proof of purchase or proof of a fault (I tested their game, it was fine; their console was the problem) to qualify for a refund. She got quite snotty and argumentative and eventually asked for the manager, at which point I looked away, looked back and said with a beaming smile "Hi! How can I help?" I've never seen someone look so defeated so quickly.

When did this thread turn into a Fight Club-esque self help group for ex Game employees? You weren't there man! You don't know what we saw!

This is a wonderful idea and it needs to exist.

In all honesty most shops are dodgy little fuckers, not the workers, the shops. Over here our return laws have always stated that the warranty period is set, but on top of that you have a period that would seem normal to a reasonable person for an item to last. Basically it was to stop manufacturers making goods that would blow up shortly after warranty. You also have the right to the 'three r's' (return, replacement or refund) and all of this stuff is meant to be done with the place of purchase since that's who your contract sits with.

So it's sad when you have workers who have been told by management stuff like they aren't allowed to do things they legally have to do and instead to tell the customer they have to take it up with Sony or whatever. It's an incredibly frustrating situation for both the consumer and the staff member. But legally they have to do it (over here).

I was pleasant until they started telling me the procedure they follow and wouldn't be willing to do any of the three r's (it was seriously two weeks out of warranty). At that point I just pulled out all of the relevant information which I'd printed off the web and advised them to keep my PS2 and sticky tape the info to the side and call me when they had read the information, or checked it out for themselves, I got a call three days later telling me to go in there and pick up a brand new PS2.

But I've seen far dodgier than that. Over here all of the supermarkets are signed up to this voluntary agreement where if something scans at a higher price than is on the shelf (or in the catalogue) then they get it for free (I think they get the first 5 or something if it's a multiple item). When I worked in a supermarket the manager would do all sorts of dodgy shit to get out of it, he'd print out new tags matching the old one and put it on the product next to the one they were buying and remove the one they saw and tell them they must have seen that tag and got confused. He'd also argue that the price advertised was for the tomatoes in the catalogue were coming in tomorrow and are different and inferior quality to the tomatoes the customer was purchasing (they would then fix the tag once the customer left). Just really weird shit like that to save like $2.

So I see it from both sides. But I don't argue with floor staff since they are only ever doing what they have been told to do and would likely be risking their jobs if they did something other than that.

The trouble with the refund/replace thing is that as far as I've read, you don't qualify for a full refund or a brand new machine after a certain amount of time. That's the part people don't always realise. Refunds drop by a percentage after a certain period of time, I think if we have the capability to replace then we don't have to offer a refund, stuff like that. Also, after around 6 months, the burden of proof of fault is on the customer, not the store. It's a bit contrived and hard to remember everything, but the main problem is the customer not having any patience and refusing to see the issue objectively.

One of the worst things I had happen was a young lad came in with a broken 360, he was pretty shy and didn't say much really, just gave me a handwritten letter from his mum insisting on a replacement and reimbursement for traveling in as the live 45 minutes away(fuck off forever for that), and that she couldn't come in because she was looking after her husband who had cancer (fuck off forever for that sob story bullshit, too). I asked the kid what he wanted, and he just wanted a working console. So I swap it over despite not finding anything wrong with it, because a. I felt sorry for the kid and b. I know how temperamental consoles can be and faults can be intermittent. Anyway, kid leaves with a massive smile on his face. Two minutes later, the mum comes in, presumably leaving the cancerous father to fend for himself. She demands a refund since I'm not reimbursing her for travelling in (never mind how she managed a 45 minute trip in 2 minutes) and is insisting on leaving the console with us. Kid is now visibly distraught because all he wanted was to be able to play his games again. She is now not allowed in the store anymore.

tl; dr don't use your poor kid or sob story (however true) to get more than you deserve, you will be banned.

[Skummy]

Yeah, that's absolute bullshit. At my current work we always get people bringing up that they or their partner have a terminal illness, and that complaining to us is "causing undue stress" - just fuck off. I don't care if it's true or not, it's not relevant, and you just don't do that shit, it's fucking disgusting.

And, yeah, quite often we get people insisting that we reimburse them for the cost of posting things to us, or the cost of travelling somewhere, or of phoning us. I really don't understand how people think they're entitled to that kind of thing.

Actually, that story kind of reminds me, the present Lady Skumfrog had an incident recently. She works in HMV, and she'd been told that someone had reserved an iPad, and it was behind the counter under the name of Debbie. Now, ordinarily, anything that's so in demand they wouldn't allow people to reserve, but whatever. Later that day, a woman comes in with a receipt for an iPad and a points card, says her name's Debbie and that the iPad is behind the counter for her, so the present Lady Skumfrog hands it over.

A couple of minutes later, one of the supervisors walks over and tells her that the iPad was reserved over the phone, so hadn't been paid for. What they'd obviously done is had a friend buy one iPad, then send her in with the receipt after reserving this one and hoped to be able to get away with it in the confusion.

Now, borderline impossible criminal investigation starts, as the CCTV is too poor quality to be able to recognise the woman.

However, about two days later, a bloke comes in with the exact same receipt and says "I've got an iPad reserved in the name of Debbie". The manager happens to be on the tills and knows exactly what's going on, so he says he's going to go and get it from the back, and slips away to call the police.

The thing hasn't gone to court yet, and the bloke and the woman are giving too conflicting stories as to exactly what's going on, but the police think they've pulled the same, or similar, stunts all over the UK. What gets me, though, is how they got away with reserving the thing in the first place - either they were especially good at talking people into things, which judging from the fact that they attempted the exact same thing in the same store two days apart, and from what I've heard about the police interviews and whatnot, I'd guess that they aren't or, and I haven't even suggested to this to my girlfriend or anyone else at her work, it could be that someone in their stockroom was in on it. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Noah]

Pfft you all think you have it bad.

[Cactus Drags]

Yeah, that's absolute bullshit. At my current work we always get people bringing up that they or their partner have a terminal illness, and that complaining to us is "causing undue stress" - just fuck off. I don't care if it's true or not, it's not relevant, and you just don't do that shit, it's fucking disgusting.

And, yeah, quite often we get people insisting that we reimburse them for the cost of posting things to us, or the cost of travelling somewhere, or of phoning us. I really don't understand how people think they're entitled to that kind of thing.

Actually, that story kind of reminds me, the present Lady Skumfrog had an incident recently. She works in HMV, and she'd been told that someone had reserved an iPad, and it was behind the counter under the name of Debbie. Now, ordinarily, anything that's so in demand they wouldn't allow people to reserve, but whatever. Later that day, a woman comes in with a receipt for an iPad and a points card, says her name's Debbie and that the iPad is behind the counter for her, so the present Lady Skumfrog hands it over.

A couple of minutes later, one of the supervisors walks over and tells her that the iPad was reserved over the phone, so hadn't been paid for. What they'd obviously done is had a friend buy one iPad, then send her in with the receipt after reserving this one and hoped to be able to get away with it in the confusion.

Now, borderline impossible criminal investigation starts, as the CCTV is too poor quality to be able to recognise the woman.

However, about two days later, a bloke comes in with the exact same receipt and says "I've got an iPad reserved in the name of Debbie". The manager happens to be on the tills and knows exactly what's going on, so he says he's going to go and get it from the back, and slips away to call the police.

The thing hasn't gone to court yet, and the bloke and the woman are giving too conflicting stories as to exactly what's going on, but the police think they've pulled the same, or similar, stunts all over the UK. What gets me, though, is how they got away with reserving the thing in the first place - either they were especially good at talking people into things, which judging from the fact that they attempted the exact same thing in the same store two days apart, and from what I've heard about the police interviews and whatnot, I'd guess that they aren't or, and I haven't even suggested to this to my girlfriend or anyone else at her work, it could be that someone in their stockroom was in on it. Wouldn't be the first time.

Jesus. I won't even reserve DS styluses for people >_>

[Liam]

People are really good at conning others though. When at the bookies, slow counters (people who wouldn't pay for bets, or change their stakes mid-bet) were common place. Hadn't seen one for a couple of years, and always assumed it would be fairly obvious. Then, got hit by a gang of them. Only did one bet which shouldn't have counted, but still, I had no idea until after that first bet anything was wrong.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

http://i.joystiq.com/2012/03/02/analyst-calculates-games-loss-from-not-stocking-mass-effect-3/

In case you wondered how much they will lose not carrying me3

[Cactus Drags]

Except that doesn't factor in how much would be lost by essentially not being able to stock anything else. Also, I doubt the amounts made off each copy are right. I've heard that to be making the usual amount of money, we'd have to charge best part of £70 for ME3.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

never said it was for everything else. Just for me3. So thats all it factors in.

[METALMAN]

Told this morning that if we make our own advertisements for ME we are not allowed to make fun of Game in them.>_>

[Cactus Drags]

never said it was for everything else. Just for me3. So thats all it factors in.

And I'm just pointing out that that's a flawed analysis because we'd have lost far more money by not having anything else to sell.

Told this morning that if we make our own advertisements for ME we are not allowed to make fun of Game in them.>_>

Our local game have had HMV staff in all week begging them to send customers round for ME3. Doesn't exactly look like you're in much of a position to be poking fun anyway.

[METALMAN]

Told this morning that if we make our own advertisements for ME we are not allowed to make fun of Game in them.>_>

Our local game have had HMV staff in all week begging them to send customers round for ME3. Doesn't exactly look like you're in much of a position to be poking fun anyway.

Really? That's pretty pathetic! We get on pretty well with our local Game shop - usually send people round there if we don't have anything, and they've got a couple of people that used to work at HMV. But HMV's doing alright now - at least for the next two years, which is far longer than I intend to stay there. In any case, the whole situation just after Christmas wasn't a great deal of fun so we all (I hope) know take advantage of Game's predicament. I think the warning was in case anyone saw what Blockbuster was doing and thought it would be cool to copy it. Although Blockbuster are pretty fucked too. What a brilliant, optimistic industry to be working in!