Volksy, I haven’t had that experience at any of my Best Buys. They always have the latest games on the shelves. I don’t think any of them even have a locked cabinet for their games.
Hopefully yours is a test branch in which they’re testing the idea out, and hopefully they’ll decide it’s not a good idea to take nationwide.
Spect
3662
I gave up going to B&M stores long ago. I have experienced many of the same issues you have, and got frustrated with it. Now I either buy from a download service like Direct2Dirve, or just order from Gamestop or Amazon. It’s 10x easier and UPS delivers right to my door.
Lantz
3663
Is your BB in an urban area? The BestBuys in Chicago have started keeping their new
release 360/PS3/etc games up front in cabinets, presumably due to shoplifting. I normally
have to push a person to check for me since they normally have no idea about game releases.
No urban area Best Buys, that’s true. The two near where I work are in a suburb, as are the two near where I live. I think there might be one in Kansas City proper in an urban area, but if so, I don’t know where it is.
According to cheapassgamer: This Friday and Saturday only, Toys R Us is giving away $20 gift cards if you purchase Resident Evil 5.
The closest Best Buy to me (Emeryville, CA) is completely useless when it comes to anything game-related. New releases aren’t displayed for a week or more and employees haven’t a clue about where to find them in the meantime. I have given up on b&m stores, but they gave up on me first.
ILTPS
3667
Why would they do this ? For fun or something else ?
Sometimes I pick up a game and I absentmindedly don’t stop walking, then I put it back on the shelf where I am currently standing. So, I’d say it’s more laziness than malice.
Lorini
3669
If you see that it’s available on the website (search for the game and then click 'check stores) and you go in the store and they don’t want to find it for you, just ask for the store manager. He/she will get it found for you.
The problem with this is that it takes away the fun of shopping for stuff. I’m not going to pay a premium in both price and sales tax if I have to hassle employees to get what I want - I’m just going to buy it online and wait an extra day or two with my extra money.
Jorune
3671
All I do is order it online and select in-store pick-up. In this case, when I went to the store, the guy handed the games to me but didn’t put in that I picked it up. Than I went to the register to buy them and use the coupon. Than a quick call to the bestbuy online customer service and the online order was cancelled.
And while I DID think of doing this myself, the bestbuy customer sales rep for that particular store whom I spoke with on the phone ALSO suggested that I do it, to make sure the item would be in stock so I could use the coupon.
Jorune
There are people out there who have no problem hiding games for their personal benefit. Known as stashing, it’s most prevalent at Target with their clearance titles. People will stash them in a hiding spot somewhere in Target, and wait for the titles to drop in price before purchasing them. This practice prevents customers who are willing to pay the current clearance price from purchasing the title and, as such, is a very selfish act and an offense for which Target will ban you if caught.
In this BB case, they may be hiding them behind other games if they can’t afford to buy them just yet.
My local Best Buy started putting some new release games up front with the cashiers with the last 9 to 12 months. It’s irritating because you go in and don’t see the title displayed on the shelf at all. Moreover, there is no sign saying, “If you’re looking for Gears of War 2, it’s up front with the cashiers.” When they started this practice I asked a sales guy why they didn’t put up a sign indicating that whatever title was up front. He got weirdly huffy and said something like, “Well if we did that, then you wouldn’t shop around the sales floor.” I couldn’t argue with that, but I also to this day fail to see how making me walk to the back of the store to the games section where I’m forced to walk around looking for a game that’s not there and then forced to search out/wait in line to speak to a sales guy only to have him direct me back to the front of the store is good customer service. I mean, hell, if they put up a sign in the games section of the store saying whatever game was up front, I still had to walk all the way back there, so the same forced perusing would still occur. Dumb dumb dumb.
Is it me or is BB becoming more like Circuit City every day? I’ve increasingly taken to just ordering from Amazon. And while CC may not have been the best at least they’d offer decent deals on new games the week of release. BB used to, but now-a-days it is very rare (or they’ll have some crappy item to give away along with the game).
BB remains head and shoulders about CC for a couple of key reasons. First, BB actually has cash registers. I dunno about your local CC, but mine never had any cashiers. Instead you were force to take stuff up to the customer service desk, where you had to wait behind the lady returning a vacuum and a guy trying to get a rain check before you could check out. Secondly, BB actually has employees on the sales floor. Finding someone to unlock the game case at my local CC was like finding a virgin in a whorehouse. Finally, while some are apparently not having a good experience with timeliness of new release games at BB, my BB always has the games on the day they’re supposed to (typically Wednesday). CC was all over the place in this regard and they’d typically get a new release days after everyone else had it.
Game came out last year. Its already too late on that front. If multiplayer was my end all I would of purchased on Day 1 to have a (minor) chance of being a decent player. But since the whole DRM kaka kept me away, I already knew that multiplayer will be of limited value for this game.
But then again, I am one of those weirdos who likes to play the SP campaign before ever going online so already behind the curve for some who go multi from day one.
Does BB pricematch their online prices? I went to my local store this weekend, but RA3 was not $29.99. It was $49.99, making the $20 off coupon a far less compelling deal.
No. And it’s utter crap for a brick and mortar store to have prices online that don’t match the prices in store.
Haven’t seen this mentioned yet. Jets n’ Guns Gold for $12 Monday only.
Don’t be put off by the weird art direction. You want this game.
STALKER Clear Sky is $10 at BB.
