Another Angry Gamestop Customer

[jesughs]

I went to Gamestop today to return my preorder for New Leaf so that I could buy a points card for the eShop and buy the digital copy instead. I was going to do this because going to Gamestop to pick up my preorder on Sunday was inconvenient for me as I had somewhere to be. So I get to the store and try to do this and they tell me it’s impossible to do. I’m super confused because I know for a fact that it’s possible to download it digitally. I've had this game preordered for over a year, obviously I know more about it than some stranger to the series. I leave because I get anxious with strangers and don’t want to start problems (I should’ve just explained that he was wrong, ugh). Then I go back because I’m furious and tell him that all I wanna do is get my money back and buy something else with it. He and his little friend do some “research” and say “Oh, you can download it digitally. My bad, but you know you can only download it two days after the actual release date. And also, if you download this game you can't ever return it once you beat Animal Crossing. (M*THERF***ER YOU DON'T BEAT F***ING ANIMAL CROSSING OH MY F***ING GOD) That would suck.” So this idiot decides to just brighten up my already ****ty day by being persistent to let me know that I should not cancel my preorder. He kept giving me all of these reasons. I am not a rude person, I don't like to start **** as I said earlier so I politely left without causing a scene. It was clear that he did not want me to leave that store with a cancelled preorder and an eShop card. You cannot fathom how pissed off I was and still am.

I posted about this on tumblr and someone told me that he most likely didn't want me to cancel my preorder because if an employee has a cancelled preorder they have the risk of being "soft fired". (Whatever that means) I find this completely ridiculous as you run more risk of being fired by having an angry f***ing customer calling and complaining about your resistant ass self. Ugh.

Have any of you ever had a bad experience with Gamestop employees? And the reason I posted this in the New Leaf forum is because I was wondering if any of you had heard these stupid rumors that New Leaf will not be available for download at the eShop until two days after the release date (June 9th/June 14th).

 

[kittycate]

You can most certainly cancel preorders, my boyfriend literally does it all the time. He'll preorder a game for $5 down and then decide he doesn't wants it or wants something else and cancels it, AND they give him his $5 back. I have no idea what the heck that person was talking about? Did you pay off your preorder in full? You stlll should be able to cancel it, and that would be NO reason for someone to get fired. That's like someone at a retail store getting fired because someone returned an item to the store, it makes no sense! I think there are some people on this forum who work at Gamestop and can back you up too. That person probably just thought you were trying to pull some scam or had just started working there or something? idk, sorry about your bad experience D:

also that's complete bs, the game will be available at midnight EST on June 9th in the eShop. They are just trying to deter you from canceling the order and not buying from them.

 

[Hamusuta]

Good job I live in UK...
But I don't blame you for being pissed off!

 

[Bubble Pop]

I've had funny Game experiences in the UK with staff who haven't got a clue. I went in to get the Meloetta Pokemon download and the woman serving me - who might I add was the manager - had no idea what it was called or how to work the 3DS app to distribute it (or the 3DS at all for that matter...). It got to the point where she just gave up and gave the stores 3DS to me from behind the counter to do it myself!

 

[Smoke]

Perhaps these clerks really need to look over their own policy four or five more times since they clearly missed it the first time that you can cancel a preorder. I don't even work there, and I know their store policy better than them. That's kinda sad.

 

[Bambi]

When it comes to persistent sales people, I push right back. I can handle sales people being pushy for about 2.2 seconds before they see my Mr. Hyde.

 

[Shriken]

I would have asked him "Excuse me, what was my original request?"

He would have replied "Well you asked to cancel your pre-order and get your money back."

I would have said "So lets do that. I'm informed on my decision, thank you for your concern, but I'm here to cancel my pre-order, not chit-chat."

Of course I'm used to dealing with rude people, or entitled people on a regular basis haha

 

[aikatears]

I had one worker a long while back mess up a preorder for a pc game...he didnt last long working at that shop.

 

[Sara Lynn]

As someone who has worked at Gamestop (albeit over 10 years ago now), it's true that the credit that employee got for the pre-order would get revoked. I think in most cases it's not a big deal if you get a lot of pre-orders, you can lose them here and there, but maybe he was already teetering on the edge of getting a warning or a write up for not having enough. I know we had a little poster in the back that we kept tally marks on, and people that didn't get enough were slowly fired and replaced. Keep in mind that a lot of people that work there aren't always going to have a lot of retail experience, or might just be young and not understand that it's better to give the customer what they want instead of being stubborn. They could've also been new, and not trying to give you false information on purpose. I obviously wasn't there nor do I know the person, so I can't say that for sure. Gamestop is a common "hobby" job for younger people, though that's me making a gross generalization, but when I worked there we were all under 20.

It's an unfortunate symptom of a larger problem in retail sales, really. If you make commission in a dept. store and someone returns something they bought from you, that commission gets taken away. Lots of people are made to push store credit cards, even to people who don't need it or can't afford it. Most big box stores only care about numbers, not individual customer experiences. That said, rarely ever shop at Gamestop anymore. I never have great experiences there, and nowadays there are so many more places to get your games from. I happened to pre-order my 3DS bundle from them because it was the most convenient, but I prefer to not give them my money when I can avoid it.

Regardless, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. In situations like that it's best to be patient and polite, I've been in customer service for a decade and as soon as a customer starts yelling/cussing/pointing fingers, my interest in helping them goes way down.

 

[Tommytulip]

I've luckily never had a problem like that from Gamestop aside from sometimes employees being annoyingly pushy to try and get me to buy extended warranty or preorder another game.

 

[Animal_Crossing_brony]

im sorry to hear you had a bad experience the person that helped you obviously was not well informed (rather odd for someone who works at a store to sell games you'd think they'd make it mandatory to know these things)

 

[jesughs]

You can most certainly cancel preorders, my boyfriend literally does it all the time. He'll preorder a game for $5 down and then decide he doesn't wants it or wants something else and cancels it, AND they give him his $5 back. I have no idea what the heck that person was talking about? Did you pay off your preorder in full? You stlll should be able to cancel it, and that would be NO reason for someone to get fired. That's like someone at a retail store getting fired because someone returned an item to the store, it makes no sense! I think there are some people on this forum who work at Gamestop and can back you up too. That person probably just thought you were trying to pull some scam or had just started working there or something? idk, sorry about your bad experience D:

also that's complete bs, the game will be available at midnight EST on June 9th in the eShop. They are just trying to deter you from canceling the order and not buying from them.

I did pay off the entire cost when I first preordered it, maybe that's why it was more of a deal I guess. But how hard it would have been to just let me cancel it?! I came back to the store three times, and still didn't get what I wanted done. It's unbelievable. And I agree, why would anyone get fired for something like that that is completely out of their control? And I have no idea where the hell they found that lie that it would be available for download only two days after the release date, but it's completely untrue! Where could they find something like that?

Perhaps these clerks really need to look over their own policy four or five more times since they clearly missed it the first time that you can cancel a preorder. I don't even work there, and I know their store policy better than them. That's kinda sad.

I agree, someone should send them back into training because it's ridiculous that they would do something like this! I've never once been to a store that has given me hell for trying to cancel a preorder or return an item. Especially if I was going to buy something else at their store that cost more money!

When it comes to persistent sales people, I push right back. I can handle sales people being pushy for about 2.2 seconds before they see my Mr. Hyde.

This experience has made me wonder if I should be more assertive with sales clerks. I'm pretty passive aggressive so it's hard for me to get my point across without me being completely mortified that I'm coming off as rude. But if I would've put my fist down on this maybe I would be sitting here at home with the $50 points card that I planned on buying.

As someone who has worked at Gamestop (albeit over 10 years ago now), it's true that the credit that employee got for the pre-order would get revoked. I think in most cases it's not a big deal if you get a lot of pre-orders, you can lose them here and there, but maybe he was already teetering on the edge of getting a warning or a write up for not having enough. I know we had a little poster in the back that we kept tally marks on, and people that didn't get enough were slowly fired and replaced. Keep in mind that a lot of people that work there aren't always going to have a lot of retail experience, or might just be young and not understand that it's better to give the customer what they want instead of being stubborn. They could've also been new, and not trying to give you false information on purpose. I obviously wasn't there nor do I know the person, so I can't say that for sure. Gamestop is a common "hobby" job for younger people, though that's me making a gross generalization, but when I worked there we were all under 20.

It's an unfortunate symptom of a larger problem in retail sales, really. If you make commission in a dept. store and someone returns something they bought from you, that commission gets taken away. Lots of people are made to push store credit cards, even to people who don't need it or can't afford it. Most big box stores only care about numbers, not individual customer experiences. That said, rarely ever shop at Gamestop anymore. I never have great experiences there, and nowadays there are so many more places to get your games from. I happened to pre-order my 3DS bundle from them because it was the most convenient, but I prefer to not give them my money when I can avoid it.

Regardless, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. In situations like that it's best to be patient and polite, I've been in customer service for a decade and as soon as a customer starts yelling/cussing/pointing fingers, my interest in helping them goes way down.

The guy "helping" me wasn't young at all--probably somewhere in his late 30's or early 40's but I don't know if he was new or not. I feel bad for him if he maybe was having trouble with his sales and wanted to try to save his skin, but he wasn't the one who helped me with the preorder in the first place. Would he still be punished for losing a preorder that wasn't his?

 

[oath2order]

So I get to the store and try to do this and they tell me it?s impossible to do.

This could mean quite a few things. I'm not really sure what exactly you're saying because it's a confusing wall of text, but I'm assuming you wanted to cancel the preorder and put the money that was on the preorder towards the eShop card. Maybe that's impossible to do. Maybe it's impossible to transfer the money.

I've had this game preordered for over a year, obviously I know more about it than some stranger to the series.

How do you know he's a newcomer? How do you know that he doesn't know anything about it? This is what I hate about most people who complain about anything in retail. They have this attitude of "Well obviously I know more about it than this guy." It's this exact attitude that turns me against you on this.

And also, if you download this game you can't ever return it once you beat Animal Crossing. (M*THERF***ER YOU DON'T BEAT F***ING ANIMAL CROSSING OH MY F***ING GOD)

Okay, so he is a newcomer, but you did NOT know this coming in there. You had no way of knowing about what knowledge this employee had about Gamestop.

Yeah, obviously he didn't want to cancel the preorder, that'd be losing money. At that point you should've just asked for a manager.

"Soft fired", as far as I know, is where they give you very little hours, or make the job as inconvenient for you as possible, so you'll quit instead of them having to fire you.

Do you have any idea how few people actually get fired from customer complaints? In the year and a half I've worked in retail, at the same store, none. Nobody at my store has gotten fired from customer complaints, and believe me, they've complained.

I want you to know that I'm not a Gamestop employee. I'm just a retail employee.

 

[ChaosKitten]

Wow, that story is completely absurd. They must not keep up to date on gaming they don't enjoy, in which case they shouldn't be working at a video game store. I dislike COD and the like greatly but if I worked at a video game store I would at least keep my knowledge on said disliked games up to date. o.o; I feel very lucky to live near an EB Games with employees I've gotten to know over the years and are very friendly, knowledgeable and just love gaming.

If I were in your situation, I would have asked to speak with the manager. If they refused, I would have become that loud, angry customer so that everyone else around knows the crap I was being put through! I firmly believe everyone should take an assertiveness class. It really helps out, lol.

 

[jesughs]

This could mean quite a few things. I'm not really sure what exactly you're saying because it's a confusing wall of text, but I'm assuming you wanted to cancel the preorder and put the money that was on the preorder towards the eShop card. Maybe that's impossible to do. Maybe it's impossible to transfer the money.



How do you know he's a newcomer? How do you know that he doesn't know anything about it? This is what I hate about most people who complain about anything in retail. They have this attitude of "Well obviously I know more about it than this guy." It's this exact attitude that turns me against you on this.



Okay, so he is a newcomer, but you did NOT know this coming in there. You had no way of knowing about what knowledge this employee had about Gamestop.

Yeah, obviously he didn't want to cancel the preorder, that'd be losing money. At that point you should've just asked for a manager.

"Soft fired", as far as I know, is where they give you very little hours, or make the job as inconvenient for you as possible, so you'll quit instead of them having to fire you.

Do you have any idea how few people actually get fired from customer complaints? In the year and a half I've worked in retail, at the same store, none. Nobody at my store has gotten fired from customer complaints, and believe me, they've complained.

I want you to know that I'm not a Gamestop employee. I'm just a retail employee.

What I planned on doing was returning my preorder and getting my money back. Then, using that money (with ten extra bucks) to buy a $50 eShop card, a completely different purchase. I know that this was possible because I've done it at other Gamestop locations before. I did it a few months ago with my old 3DS and purchasing a new one.

The only reason I mentioned his little knowledge of the game was because he claimed to know information about it that was untrue. I wasn't trying to seem like I was better than him because I knew more about Animal Crossing than him, it's just that when I asked where he got this information from he refused to tell me and changed the subject, which seemed kind of sketchy to me. I had/have no intent on getting this man fired, I'm just angry about the experience I had and how he handled my situation.

Wow, that story is completely absurd. They must not keep up to date on gaming they don't enjoy, in which case they shouldn't be working at a video game store. I dislike COD and the like greatly but if I worked at a video game store I would at least keep my knowledge on said disliked games up to date. o.o; I feel very lucky to live near an EB Games with employees I've gotten to know over the years and are very friendly, knowledgeable and just love gaming.

If I were in your situation, I would have asked to speak with the manager. If they refused, I would have become that loud, angry customer so that everyone else around knows the crap I was being put through! I firmly believe everyone should take an assertiveness class. It really helps out, lol.

I completely agree with you, if I worked at a video game store I'd make it a point to keep up with most games. And if I couldn't I would be sure not to give out fake information. But then again, I'm not him. I'm not here to criticize him for that, haha.

And he didn't necessarily "refuse", all he did was make it seemingly impossible for me to return my preorder. He kept giving me reasons why I shouldn't do it, giving all of these excuses. Like I said earlier, even though I really should've been more assertive I wasn't and this is probably why I ended up without what I wanted. I tried to politely tell him that I was still intent on getting my transaction done, but each time he kept spewing out more excuses. Eventually I got tired and just left the store.

 

[KingRanch]

I'm a pretty nice guy, but if I encountered an employee like that I would quickly make their day hell for them. It's called being courteous and polite, if I'm not shown that then it's not going to be very pretty. If I were you, I would speak with a manager about it.

 

[Frosti]

Dude the guys at gamestop always know i either get, cancel or trade my preorders around. They can cancel your preorder and give you your money back in the exact format that you paid it in (gift card, cash, credit card) I would call and complain to the store manager. And then if you dont like the managers response call his district manager and chew him out. Also as far as i know you can download animal crossing at midnight on the release day NOT two days later, so basically they are misinforming and lying to customers to try to get their preorder sales. They are suppose to be the "experts" and yet they dont even know the games. you are a good one, i would have a f***ing sit in til they did what i wanted. good thing the gamestop dudes are where i am are not like those idiots.

 

[Sara Lynn]

The guy "helping" me wasn't young at all--probably somewhere in his late 30's or early 40's but I don't know if he was new or not. I feel bad for him if he maybe was having trouble with his sales and wanted to try to save his skin, but he wasn't the one who helped me with the preorder in the first place. Would he still be punished for losing a preorder that wasn't his?

Hmm, I honestly don't know. Like I said, it's been over 10 years since I've worked there now. There might just be a collective desperation to hold onto pre-orders, and stores are compared to others in the region when corporate looks at numbers. Maybe the store you went to is notorious for getting low pre-order numbers, I have no idea. Either way, it shouldn't have been a problem to refund your pre-order. All I can really recommend is to go in at a different time and hope you get a different employee, or call them and speak to a manager.

I'm a pretty nice guy, but if I encountered an employee like that I would quickly make their day hell for them. It's called being courteous and polite, if I'm not shown that then it's not going to be very pretty. If I were you, I would speak with a manager about it.

Being angry/rude/etc doesn't get your situation resolved any faster than just being clear and concise about what you want. If it's a corporate store they will honor your request (if it's reasonable and within their rules) regardless of how you act, they can't ask you to leave for causing a fuss, but it just makes you look foolish in the end. You don't know what's going on with the employee you're having issues with, so it's easier to just be patient and firm with people about what you want. Maybe they're new, maybe they're having a bad day, and maybe sometimes they're even TRYING to be rude to you, but an eye for an eye doesn't really do anything productive. It just perpetuates the cycle of negativity that will more than likely follow you both for the rest of the day.

 

[AndyB]

I think you're over-exaggerating things here. He's only trying to do his job and not lose your business, it's also a lot to ask of them to know everything about every game that they sell.

 

[jesughs]

Hmm, I honestly don't know. Like I said, it's been over 10 years since I've worked there now. There might just be a collective desperation to hold onto pre-orders, and stores are compared to others in the region when corporate looks at numbers. Maybe the store you went to is notorious for getting low pre-order numbers, I have no idea. Either way, it shouldn't have been a problem to refund your pre-order. All I can really recommend is to go in at a different time and hope you get a different employee, or call them and speak to a manager.



Being angry/rude/etc doesn't get your situation resolved any faster than just being clear and concise about what you want. If it's a corporate store they absolutely have to do what you ask regardless of how you act, they can't ask you to leave for causing a fuss, but it just makes you look foolish in the end. You don't know what's going on with the employee you're having issues with, so it's easier to just be patient and firm with people about what you want. Maybe they're new, maybe they're having a bad day, and maybe sometimes they're even TRYING to be rude to you, but an eye for an eye doesn't really do anything productive. It just perpetuates the cycle of negativity that will more than likely follow you both for the rest of the day.

I will most likely go to the store tomorrow and try to get this done with another employee. Next time I'll be more precise and clear with what I want. Also, what you said about being rude and loud to employees is exactly the reason I try not to make a big situation in stores. I don't know what's going on in their lives, and I don't want to look like a complete fool in public.

I think you're over-exaggerating things here. He's only trying to do his job and not lose your business, it's also a lot to ask of them to know everything about every game that they sell.

I realize that he was only trying to do his job, and I don't blame him for that. As for the misinformation about the digital download, I didn't expect him to know everything about the game from the get go. However he did search it on the internet in front of me, and when I asked him where he got his information from he wouldn't tell me. I simply don't understand Gamestop's policy on returning preorders. I was going to buy something for more money, so why not let me be?