Yet another Gamestop "Hiding Games" complaint thread

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chosen1s

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I know there are a hundred thousand other threads complaining about this same subject, but just in case anybody out there wants to hear yet another story...

This morning Gamestop showed Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 AND Valkyrie Profile at the store near me. So I go in looking for both. The employee is genuinely baffled as to the location of Valkyrie Profile, but I have no problem finding Marvel. I also asked the employee (nicely) to satisfy my morbid curiosity and just show me the hold drawer, and sure enough no PS games in there.

At this point I'm so flabbergaster by Gamestop's online game finder (I have played this scene out at least 20 times in the last 6 months) that at this point I'm pretty numb to the disappointment and leave with a shrug. After all, maybe the system REALLY HASN'T UPDATED as they always say.

Just for fun, tonight I looked up Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on Gamestop.com and it has ALREADY disappeared from the store where I bought it. Now, forget the beauty of their system updating so fast - that's a story for another day. The point is that clearly the system has updated. Sure enough, there is Valkyrie Profile still showing in the store's inventory.

This really burns me. Really, REALLY burns me. Were it not for the fact that the system only gets screwy with the "Ebay games" it wouldn't bother me. But come on man!

I don't really know what else to do. I'm not really out for revenge and I don't feel like turning a store upside down to prove that a Manager or employee is hiding the game...I guess I just wanted to vent - and to add my story to the list of "proofs" that Gamestop is most probably being dishonest when they say their online system doesn't update very often.
 
It depends at times. I know I've visited a location that had an empty RayStorm case before in its PS1 sections, the price tag was marked as RayStorm, but the employees went through every PS1 disc they had and couldn't find it. I checked the store locator and, unfortunately, there weren't any copies in the store.

What was sad, however, was the fact that they then took the empty case without the game and put it back in with the rest of the PS1 titles. I think it's still sitting there, actually. A bit odd but, eh, what can you do?
 
Or it's just a perk of a job having to deal with some of us gamers/soccer moms/etc who can be alittle bitchy over small things at times. Not saying your bitching or anything I'm just sayin if I worked at a video game store making 7 bucks an hour by god I'm gonna take home something nice from it
 
The same thing happen to me on Valkyrie Profile and Suikoden II,the employee can't find the game.I check the store locator the next day and the inventory was gone.The employee was just doing their job properly and update the inventory.So the customer will stops asking questions on the same game.

I hear a lot of ebgames and gamestop employees bashing in this website.Is it just me?I always get excellent service service from their employees. They alway hold games for me,glady find the game and exchange games with no problem.I think it's because I treat them like a decent human being with kindness and respect.
 
[quote name='fatbeer']I hear a lot of ebgames and gamestop employees bashing in this website.Is it just me?I always get excellent service service from their employees. They alway hold games for me,glady find the game and exchange games with no problem.I think it's because I treat them like a decent human being with kindness and respect.[/quote]

Oh, it's more or less the staff that works a store rather than anything else. I've gotten "help" in EBs, GameStops, and other locations where the workers had no problem lying to my face in order to make a sale. Some of those situations were fun, particularly the one where I was buying Sanvein for the PS1 and a few other titles and the guy behind the counter was telling me how absolutely rare it was, rarer than Suikoden 2, and that I would be foolish if I didn't buy the extra preowned protection on it. I told him that that was utterly amazing and that I should buy the other six copies that were sitting in the bargain bin for $2 a pop then. I then apologized, said I didn't feel like buying the lot of games anymore and left. Too bad, it was a good $80 worth of games, but he wasn't likely to care anyway.

It all depends, honestly. Most of the time you deal with people whom you won't see again the next time you go, or even four or five months from now. Just hope that the people you deal with aren't the managers or whatnot, mostly since they seem to turn over less frequently in most locations.
 
I'm not sure if it's all Gamestops, but I called a handful this week asking about rare PS1 stuff they had listed on the online game finder. All of them said the thing doesn't update for a long time.

I called two places about Valkyrie Profile. One said their copy was discs only and there were scratches and stuff on them. The other said they hadn't had a copy of Valkyrie Profile in at least 2-3 months, and the copy they got was sent back defective. One place I called about Suikoden 2, the guy said the same thing about inventory that I should call to make sure the places have the stuff, but he said the copy of Suikoden 2 they had was disc only.

Seemed like everyone was really honest and helpful. But I could see how the OP would get mad at that. I really don't mind if I go to a game store and the employees hold copies of new games they want for themselves, and buy them after. It's just annoying when rare stuff gets held and employees lie about it, even though it's understandable. A buddy of mine ran into a new copy of Valkyrie Profile complete at an EB for $60, the girl realized what game it was and I believe almost through a fit :)
 
An employee at my store had a non-greatest hits version of Castlevania for PS1 for MONTHS in the hold drawer. I sold it. He was pissed. He still loves me though.

Mint condition too.
 
I worked at Gamestop and at Funcoland (before it became a part of gamestop).
In all 4 stores I worked at, employees were allowed to hold items for themselves at the discretion of the store manager. In 3 of them, we actually kept boxes with items we wanted to hold in the back room of the store indefinately. There was no time limit, just whenever we wanted to buy them. Anything was up for grabs, ESPECIALLY stuff for obsolete systems, since by us holding them, it meant they were definately going to be purchased at some point. The job paid HORRIBLE, the hours sucked, morale was low, etc. But the perks (Getting promo items, getting to check out games, getting to hold items, employee discount) more than made up for it, and does give someone who works at one of the stores a considerable advantage over the public. Is it fair? I'd say absolutely, it's the only reason to work there at all. Everyone has some advantage in working where they do, and that happens to be theirs. It wouldn't be happening if the company felt it wasn't a good idea.
 
the online game finder is accurate. it usually updates daily around 10 - 11 pm. If a game is traded in it will show up on the system that night. The only reason its not at the stores is cause the employees took it home for a rental or they straight up jacked the game.
 
You know what... I think there should be a stickied thread called "The General Gamestop & EB Games Bitch Thread" since every week we'll have one or multiple threads of the following:

A) The "Hiding Games" thread.
B) The "Open Game Sold As New" thread.
C) The "Dumb Employee Wouldn't Sell Me The 1 Cent Item" thread.
D) The "Dumb Employee Wouldn't Help Me" thread.
E) The "I Am Sick Of Being Asked If I Want To Trade/Sell My Games" thread.
F) The "Dumb Employees Who Know Nothing" thread.
G) The "They Would Only Give Me Store Credit" thread.
H) The "They Are Hiding 360s In The Back" thread.
I) The "Rare PS1 RPGs Being Hoarded By Employees" thread.
J) The "Employee Wouldn't Take A Preorder For MGS3: Substinance" thread.
K) The "Employee Wouldn't Take My Tradeins" thread.

And I am sure there are others but I can't think of them right now. Just let them combine into one huge thread much like the dumb customer threads and let people just bitch about how great/aweful GS and EB are.
 
yeah we really need a sticky...


but to make the OP feel better, there could be a few reasons why the game cant be found,

it might be defective, but not moved to defective in the computer

it might be checked out by an employee

it coudl have been stolen, ps1 games are put out on the floor with the games in the case, unlike other systems

a mistake, believe it or not, but sometimes an employee types the wrong letter, or sometimes a customer thinks about trading something in, but then changes their mind and the employee forgets to erase it from the transaction

all im saying is, its possible that the game isnt there, however its just as likely that its being held. want to fix the problem, ask for the number to the DM, they have to give it to you and you have every right to call them, if you tell the DM that they are holding a game and will not sell it, not only will you get hte game sold to you, the employee will likely get in trouble.
 
[quote name='fatbeer']The same thing happen to me on Valkyrie Profile and Suikoden II,the employee can't find the game.I check the store locator the next day and the inventory was gone.The employee was just doing their job properly and update the inventory.So the customer will stops asking questions on the same game.

I hear a lot of ebgames and gamestop employees bashing in this website.Is it just me?I always get excellent service service from their employees. They alway hold games for me,glady find the game and exchange games with no problem.I think it's because I treat them like a decent human being with kindness and respect.[/QUOTE]

No, the guys at my local EB rock. Very friendly, very knowledgeable, and they never try to push crap on me. Just yesterday I was in w/ a friend who was picking up Oblivion. While there, I asked if they had a used copy of Radiata Stories. The manager kinda chuckled and looked over at the other guy working there, and says "Well, someone's been sitting on it like a mother hen for a while now." I laughed & explained why I wanted it - I had picked up the game at another local GS a couple months back in their buy-2-get-1 sale. The game was in perfect condition except no manual. The manager there had told me that if any of the other local EB/GS had the game used, then they would hook me up w/ the manual. Once I explained, the guy who was holding it said he didn't care about the manual anyway & gave it to me. :)

He also, earlier this week, told me of a story where their preorders for MGS3:LE had gotten screwed up last week. I had preordered from this store, and got mine fine, so I was curious. He said that for some reason, due to the conversion, the corporate office basically never got their preorders. But also due to the conversion, the system had them listed as a new store - and every new store got 2 copies whether they preordered or not. Only problem was, they had 4 preorders for it - 2 for customers, 2 for employees (one of those was his - the manager's - copy). So they did the right thing - they gave the 2 copies they got to the 2 customers that preordered. I was happy to hear the end of the story tho - when he found out why they got 2 copies, he called a just-opened store that's not too far away. They had their 2 copies, and zero preorders - so he had them ship them his way so he & his employee could get theirs.
 
[quote name='argyle']No, the guys at my local EB rock. Very friendly, very knowledgeable, and they never try to push crap on me. Just yesterday I was in w/ a friend who was picking up Oblivion. While there, I asked if they had a used copy of Radiata Stories. The manager kinda chuckled and looked over at the other guy working there, and says "Well, someone's been sitting on it like a mother hen for a while now." I laughed & explained why I wanted it - I had picked up the game at another local GS a couple months back in their buy-2-get-1 sale. The game was in perfect condition except no manual. The manager there had told me that if any of the other local EB/GS had the game used, then they would hook me up w/ the manual. Once I explained, the guy who was holding it said he didn't care about the manual anyway & gave it to me. :)
[/QUOTE]
Heh, I just don't understand why the employees sit on a game for weeks or months on end... if you want it, then buy it, I don't care. Just don't try to make me feel bad for taking it from you when you've refused to buy it. If they really have to save up for a month to afford a game, maybe they shouldn't buy it :p

And to the OP, it's entirely possible that the game was defective, as somone previously said. You will notice if you return a game as defective to EB/GS, then check the store locator, it will show a copy in stock until they get rid of it.
 
The only thing worse than these threads is the store employees who chime in about low pay, low morale, etc. justifying the perquisites. And you really shouldn't be allowed to hold anything beyond the next paycheck. Any longer and you're just being a dick.
 
[quote name='Collaborator']Does give someone who works at one of the stores a considerable advantage over the public. Is it fair? I'd say absolutely, it's the only reason to work there at all. [/QUOTE]

Now hold up.

Why is it that you suddenly feel entitled to these perks? Your reasoning is that "Well the job sucks and pays badly."

What terrible justification. That isn't too far removed from "the workers at McDonald's hate their job, so they can spit in the food." The end result is roughly the same - you screw over the public/customer. Maybe spitting is too extreme, so what about, say, not preparing the order correctly? Maybe you didn't put mayo on the burger. Maybe you slacked on the order and made them wait because they were rude over the intercom. Maybe you gave them less fries, old fries, burnt fries, etc.

If the job is that bad, then you get off your ass and find something else to do that either pays better or is more rewarding or is less stressful. But don't sit there and pretend that you hating your job suddenly grants you access and priviledge over the entirety of the customer base.

I realize these perks are allowed by the stores, and I realize that it will happen until the end of time, and that even if there were policies in place to prevent that sort of thing, it would be next to impossible to enforce them, so I'm not going to naively accept that they will stop at any time in the future.

But the fact is simply that you shouldn't use your own misery and angst as leverage against other people "just because." That's ludicrous. You are getting paid for the job you signed up for, no one is forcing you there OR forcing you to stay there, and the only reason you want the job to begin with is for the cash.

Working retail sucks. It always has and always will. But I've never understood why people suddenly think they, as employees, are entitled to various things. It's bad enough I can't be assured my order is prepared correctly, let alone that I have to worry about whether or not it was fu(ked with. Compound this will lazy and slow cashiers, uninformed clerks, and a variety of other "fu(k this, I'll just do a piss poor job" mentality that runs throughout EVERYWHERE, and it pisses me off as a customer.

And while I know the following is a slippery slope/hugely hypothetical situation, if corporate found out about how widespread something like this is (which appears to be the case), I can gaurantee you that they'd come down on it hard. Their argument would be that it hurts the customer base. They'd probably throw in something about how the employee discount is hurting their bottom line, especially on the more rare games. Those are weak arguments, but since when has corporate anyone ever used logic? We have Office Space and Dilbert for a reason, which is to highlight that nonsense. So I'm not saying they'd be right, I'm saying they'd use it regardless.

If you have a job, it is for money, people. You can take this "woe is me" 13 year old crap and shove it.

Again, I am not raging against the perk machine here. I'm just saying that perks they may be, but that doesn't make them totally right or give you completely valid justification.

As to the topic at hand. 1) I support a stickied catch-all "B&M stores suck" thread, and 2) sorry OP, that sucks. I've had similar issues trying to track down Intelligent Qube, and I think everyone at CAG has been in this situation. We've just all become so used to hearing about it that it becomes grating after a while. :) That isn't a stike against you or anyone else in particular, it's just kind of like "yea, it sucks, but I've heard it before."
 
Interesting story... a store once had Tales of Destiny 2 in stock. I called, guy told me it was on hold. Holds are generally 24 hours, I'm in the area anyways, I stop in and ask about it. Guy tells me its now on hold for a few days, that "someone called and cancelled the hold but it wasn't the guy who held it, so now we're not selling it anyone... I think it was you". I'm kind of dumbfounded at his utter rudeness, and the fact he is now holding something for a few days, and I knew something was up.

Store locator has that, Grandia, both Lunars, Tactics Ogre, and a whole mess of other ps one RPG's in that store... they kept showing up day after day. I finally called back, asked about all of them, to which the girl told me "Oh, those games... yea, my manager buys them all when they are traded in, we are told to hold them, so either him and his friends can get them to sell them, I think. It kind of sucks"

A few calls to the DM later and they tell me Gamestop very much frowns upon this matter, that they've gotten complaints about the store before and they are looking into it. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but I felt pretty good, and now I just avoid that store no matter what is in there.
 
Never really had a problem with EBG, just the fact they REALLY pushed the X360 and said it was better than the PS3 and everything.

Gamestop, they never have the game I want, and if they do it's too pricey, and even then the employees suck. Every one I've been to the employee's been deformed somehow and also had an attitude problem. "Can I get a trade in value for TimeCrisis 3 with gun?" "Sorry we only take the game-only version."

>< stupid EB

Never going back to either place after that damn buyout
 
I'd have to agree with Strell. If you don't like your job, quit. Don't be a fucking douche about it though and be a pain in the ass for customers.
 
Most of the time it is pretty good. There are stores around my area that have shipped all their ps1 games to other stores, yet the Game Locator says they still have some, which obviously they don't.
 
I never see the same employees from Gamestop to Gamestop but then again I frequent up to 10 different stores in a month. I also support the stickied EB/Gamestop "complaint" thread.
 
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