Almost every single one of my transactions at Gamestop is followed by upsell, upsell, upsell.
Do you want game protection warranty?
Do you want to be a rewards member?
Do you want to preorder this game?
They are pretty aggressive about this as follows their training. It’s a bit irritating. Sounds like you got a good location, Dave.
Retailer stores have to be very careful to be pleasant experiences now. I’ve never heard music playing in a GameStop, for instance, something that’s all but mandatory now.
I hated it when I worked retail and i hate it now. I hope everyone who promotes that shit in retail companies hits a really nasty pothole on the way home today and jars their neck in a way that will hurt and ache, fade, then suddenly leap back in full force when least expected for several weeks or even months, always just not-quite-serious-enough to justify a trip to the doctor, but bad enough to leave a small knot of worry in the pit of their gut, wondering, “Did I really mess myself up on that pothole? God. . . I should really rethink my life choices and maybe be a little less passionate about upsell.”
Let’s not forget that GameStop absorbed and destroyed a pretty great little retro game franchise in Funcoland. Also, that they have a tendency to crack open brand new game packages, slap a sticker on it, stash the game disc away, and then sell you the game at brand new prices.
They’ve gotten better recently. Customer service has improved dramatically since I swore them off circa 2008 or so. I don’t remember what triggered it, which is probably why I went back years later!
Never had a real issue with them. Went there all the time until the hard drives with the Xbox One got big enough that I could just d/l games directly. Already had to order PC games online (now d/l them as well). Ever since I started d/l-ing games, I went to one only once, when I pre-ordred something and instead of getting it on Tuesday (release day) or Wednesday, it was maybe going to show up on Friday. So I went and bought a copy. I did find out the one super near me closed recently, so I had to go back to the original one I went to in a big strip mall. Shame to see it disappear, but stand-alone locations w/ parking almost a block away probably wasn’t long for the world anyway.
Chapter one, we didn’t really get along
Chapter two, I think I fell in love with you
Said you’d stand by me in the middle of chapter three
Then you were up to your old tricks in chapters four, five and six
I think there’s some value in them existing as a mainstream B&M nerd/geek gear store, but I would never buy a game from them given the choice. Last year was the first time I’d bought a game from them in ages, because I got a night-before request for Persona 5. Sadly I don’t think the profits from Minecraft shirts and Funko pops is enough to keep the lights on.
As I’ve said on many occasions, any store is only as good as its manager and their employees. Yes, asking about those things is part of their job, but for the most part they do benefit the customer (there are exception, ofc, esp the warranties 9/10 and I generally didn’t suggest those except in cases where it made sense). Also, I knew my regulars. There were people I knew not to ask that stuff to. Others I could just hand a reserve list and say let me know if you’re interested in anything, or what have you.
Good customer service goes beyond the bare minimum in so many ways, sometimes by doing more, sometimes by doing less.
I used to go there (back when they were Software Etc. back in the 90’s) at least once or twice per week back when PC games were front and center in the store. I spent maybe $100 a month in that store then.
Then they became GameStop, and I still bought a lot of stuff there.
Then Steam got really popular, and they drastically cut back, until finally they went to a single small shelf of top-sellers, and then finally zero PC games.
After I bought my PS3, I still went there for a few games, but Amazon always had them beat on price, and so did Best Buy, which opened a store here in Bismarck in 2005.
I have literally not stepped foot in our GameStop for well over 5 years now.
Which is a shame, because our original local store had a consistently awesome staff. Because I was in there so often, they knew me well, knew what I liked, and we had tons of great conversations about games. I really, really miss those days, and those people. Some of those employees I stayed in contact with even after they went on to better jobs.
I could give you a list, but any company that rips open the retail version I just paid for, salvages some of the stuff in it and then sells to me, or you know sells it as “new”… they have never been at the top of my list to buy stuff from.
Also, years ago when I went to buy games, they tried to talk me out of buying the game I set on the counter… and guiding me towards some other game they thought would be better… not really going there for a review.
Oh yeah, that practice sucked, and the employees knew it, but they totally understood when I refused to purchase that last copy. Unless it was a hard-to-find game. Then I’d grudgingly buy it, but they’d usually give me like $2 off in that case. And to be fair, they kept the contents pristine in its own baggy. Those employees really tried hard for the customer, but their hands were totally tied by corporate. They seemed just as frustrated as I was.
I love this aspect of Gamestop interactions, going in and trying to top eachother with gaming knowledge and opinions. My wife hates it, calls us nerds. She thinks it’s unprofessional… But what doe she know!?
And I think this one of my biggest complaints for Gamespot. Your experience in one of their stores was completely dependent on the manager and the employees. That’s true for a number of stores to some extent but it’s not as if you go from say one target to another and get a hugely different experience… typically.
Now the last time i went there to buy Pokemon cards for kids, they were fine. I didn’t mind the small talk and no one tried to convince me why the Wii sucks so it was good. This is not the store in the mall though this is a newer store closer to me and it feels different. I don’t dread going there anymore. I might even stop by just to browse now and then when I am in that shopping center.
I had the hardest time buying a Nintendo 64 back in the day (my first console since the NES in the 80s), because the guy behind the counter was convinced Playstation was the way to go and I was throwing my money away as a gamer over 10 years old.
Turns out I didn’t enjoy the N64 that much. But that was a bold, annoying move on his part.
I too hate upsell. Which is a shame because most Gamestop employees are real gamers. Oddly so is the exec team, or at least was. I went and visited the old (RIP) CEO at their HQ and I was very impressed by how he and his team genuinely cared about their employees and in large part customers as well, they had no reason to lie to me or make it up, its what they seemingly were all about. Which makes the mystery of how a seemingly alright exec team managed to alienate so many customers with their upsell nonsense. As for game developers, well Gamestop never really recovered from their reputation with games publishers around used games. Whether you as a gamer think thats a good thing or a bad thing (and at this point in the digital world it doesnt matter any more) I can assure you it was a relationship problem between gamestop and big publishers. Its why when Sony & Microsoft then Nintendo started pushing their digital stores first and Gamestop asked publishers for help all they heard was crickets.
