Support NeoGAF

[jedimike]

I decided today that I'm done shopping at EB. This is coming from a guy that shops almost exclusively at my local EB. I buy upwards of 20 games a year from them. It's a shame too because I really like their employees. They know me by name and are always honest, courteous, cordial, etc. All of the things you would want your employees to be. The problem has been the whacked out policies from headquarters.

1. Current promotion offers you a bonus credit of $20 when you trade-in 5 games. No exclusions. I figure it's a good time to get rid of my Fever 2002, NFL2K3, Sega GT 2002, etc.

The catch - you have to make a purchase at the same time you trade them in. No putting the credit on a Gift Card... and no putting the money towards a preorder. I don't get it. In both of those situations EB still gets your money. So I have to make a purchase I didn't really want... Burnout 3. I'll hold onto it and do the WalMart thing.

2. Current promotion - buy 2 of the following 5 games and get a $20 EB gift voucher. Games are Sudeki, Crash Twinsanity, Fable, Battlefront, or Kingdom Under Fire. Cool, I just bought Fable and Battlefront from EB, so I get $20... wrong

The catch - The games have to be on the same receipt. WTF??? They don't even release on the same day. Once again, EB already got their money, but the loophole prevents me from getting mine.

3. Older promotion which I did - Preorder Battlefront and get a free Star Wars figure (which is fetching $20-$30 on Ebay).

The catch - while supplies last. I preordered Battlefront over a month in advance, but didn't get the figure because the store only received a handful of them. I'm pissed because I could have gotten the game cheaper somewhere else.


It just seems like EB is pulling the old bait and switch trick. I don't appreciate it and will shop somewhere else from now on.

 

[Wario64]

The lesson: Never buy from a video game speciality store unless you really have to

And never trade in. Get a job if you really need money, or Ebay

 

[sprsk]

EB sucks. they are the reason gamestop doesnt take back new games opened anymore.

also they push stupid "if you preorder a nintendoods you have to preorder halo" and other such stupid shit.

 

[teepo]

so what type of pistol did they have on the back of your head forcing you to participate in these deals.

 

[Meier]

I pre-ordered my GC there and had to do the buy 3 games thing too so it was like 400 bucks after a memory card, games, etc. Fuck that noise for the future -- all my systems will be bought by themself on the launch day from a place like Best Buy or whatever where you can pre-order without all of these restrictions if you feel the need.

 

[demi]

Their "Trade 2 titles get $20 off Burnout 3" promotion worked for me (had to print out the ad from the website though), I just threw them two titles from Circuit City, even one I never played, I simply tore off the wrapping before I went in, LOL STUPID EBGAMES.

Then I traded Burnout 3 for Valkyrie Profile.

 

[Fifty]

3. Older promotion which I did - Preorder Battlefront and get a free Star Wars figure (which is fetching $20-$30 on Ebay).

The catch - while supplies last. I preordered Battlefront over a month in advance, but didn't get the figure because the store only received a handful of them. I'm pissed because I could have gotten the game cheaper somewhere else.

The others are stupid, but this one is really unfair. I know it says while supplies last...But they should notify you if their store isn't getting it in. Whatever..Maybe I'm just spoiled because "while supplies last" has never affected me.

 

[Drinky Crow]

GameCrazy >>>>>> EB

GameCrazy's only problem is that they understock, majorly, so you really hafta preorder.

 

[BuddyC]

I'll agree Mike. I used to be an EB fanboy, even after I stopped working there. They had some good deals, but it's just all gone downhill lately.

GameCrazy and GameRush fill the void quite nicely though.

 

[Speevy]

And never trade in.

These were my first games. The following amounts are estimates, but are basically right.

Super Smash Brothers Melee $50
Pikmin $50

Traded in Pikmin got:

Sega Soccer Slam $35

Bought REmake $50

Traded in Sega Soccer Slam, Smash, REmake

Got Super Mario Sunshine for $30

Traded in Super Mario Sunshine, bought Animal Crossing for $20

Bought Metroid Prime for $50.

Received Bloodwake, Blinx, Morrowind, JSRF/Sega GT as gifts.

Traded in Bloodwake, Blinx, bought Halo for $25.

Traded in Halo, Morrowind, Animal Crossing, got Zelda TWW for free plus $10 credit.

Bought Ikaruga for $40.

Traded Ikaruga over the internet for Skies of Arcadia Legends

Traded Zelda, Skies, and JSRF disk for Star Wars KOTOR free.

Traded KOTOR for WWE RAW 2. (stupid mistake)

Traded RAW 2 plus coupons and got GunValkyrie, Max Payne, and Silent Hill 2 for .35.

Traded those 3 games plus $27 and got Top Spin.

Guy on the internet gave me Soul Calibur 2, MGS2: Substance, and $10 for Top Spin.

Bought Viewtiful Joe for $40, Prince of Persia for $50.

Bought Beyond Good and Evil with trade credit.

And somewhere in there I traded PoP, VJ, SC2, MGS2, and Beyond Good and Evil for Crimson Skies, Metal Arms, and Gladius. All free.

Traded in those games at Blockbuster's Game Rush for Chronicles of Riddick, Eternal Darkness, Max Payne 2, and Resident Evil 0. Free.

Recently traded in those plus $16 and bought Pikmin 2.

$483.35

That's about 10-15 games had I never traded in anything, but I got to play double that. Trading in works if you don't mind losing games.

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

EB, how did it become the worst game store so quickly?

Funcolands turned into gamestops

I saw an emplyee who never played Hitman or Counter Strike, admit it to these 2 kids then tried to sell them on Counter-Strike as a one player game that you HAD to buy GOTY half-Life for. I inteupted him and told the kids CS is online only and you don't need to buy half-life. Man I got SUCH a dirty look.

 

[Mr_Furious]

3. Older promotion which I did - Preorder Battlefront and get a free Star Wars figure (which is fetching $20-$30 on Ebay).

The catch - while supplies last. I preordered Battlefront over a month in advance, but didn't get the figure because the store only received a handful of them. I'm pissed because I could have gotten the game cheaper somewhere else.

I was itching to preorder SWB in order to get the figure, knowing it was gonna fetch a pretty penny on eBay, but ultimately decided that I wasn't probably going to even get the damn figure due to EB/GS clerks hording them. I've had this shit happen before and will now only preorder if I can collect the freebie that same day I give them my money. It's bullshit.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

EB's does suck ass, but the reasons you listed are just whiny. Most of that is standard retail type policy.

 

[Phoenix]

I don't know how, but I know that I don't really have a compelling reason to shop at EB over any other store anymore. Many times they are higher than other stores (and I don't pricematch - if its cheaper somewhere else I will reward them with my business), they stopped taking back games (and sometimes the games are crap - you know it from day one and you end up stuck with it), they are almost always flooded with table upon table or rack upon rack of old back trades.

 

[cvxfreak]

I usually go to EB because they're the first ones to have games. But now I usually wait for a good deal at Fry's.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Eh, all the "specialty" stores have that kind of crap going on. I go stores like EB only when I want to get something with store credit.

Today I traded in Burnout 3, Fable, and River City Ransom towards Monster Hunter. I got Fable with some other trade-ins, so I'm not counting the value. I paid $35 for Burnout 3 at Fry's, and got $25 in store credit. But since I traded in three games, I got another $10....and all my money spent back. That just leaves River City Ransom, and I'm willing to get rid of it to get something better. I actually ended up with $15 left over, which I put towards a pre-order. And to pay for that game, I'll make sure to have some more stuff ready to trade for it.

But really, if you like the employees, I'd stay stick to EB for when you just want to trade something in towards an item they have in stock. I used to pre-order a lot of stuff worrying it would sell out, but other than really big games (Halo 2), I don't bother anymore unless I get leftover credit (which is why I preordered Halo 2 months ago to begin with)...I don't see the point in going to a specialty retailer and spending $49.99 on a game when a larger "discount" store puts it on sale for $34.99 the same week.

My boss believes that many of these EB/Gamestop-type stores are going to go under; there's far too many of them opening up, and there can't be that many people willing to go to them instead of Walmart or Best Buy. One street near me has THREE game stores within a few miles of each other....two of them are EB stores. The mall near me has TWO EB stores in it. And then there's the trade-ins, which are priced far too high most of the time (a used game is $5 cheaper than a new one? What's the point?), and seem to just pile up within these stores....

 

[Ninja Scooter]

.
My boss believes that many of these EB/Gamestop-type stores are going to go under; there's far too many of them opening up, and there can't be that many people willing to go to them instead of Walmart or Best Buy. One street near me has THREE game stores within a few miles of each other....two of them are EB stores. The mall near me has TWO EB stores in it. And then there's the trade-ins, which are priced far too high most of the time (a used game is $5 cheaper than a new one? What's the point?), and seem to just pile up within these stores....

i wouldn't be suprised, especially as more and more Best Buys, Targets, ect...open up. I mean, how many of those specialty movie/music stores do you see anymore? Wherehouse went bankrupt, and i hardly ever see them in malls anymore.

 

[Soul4ger]

Well, you can buy ANYTHING in the store. If you buy a 12 cent mousepad, you get the extra $20 in credit. We've been doing that for people in my store. Also, for the $20 thing on a receipt, ask the employees if they'll return one game for you and put it on the same receipt. Also, we've been doing that. As for the figure, we got like 30... I dunno, bad circumstances.

 

[DDayton]

I do like GameCrazy stores... the prices might not be the best, but they feel less annoying.

 

[impirius]

GameRush is the best store in the history of stores.

- trade in any 2 games, get $20 off a preorder of $40-50
- trade in any 3 games, get any used game for $10

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

For me, it was when they stopped carrying NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, DC, and Saturn games.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Today I traded in Burnout 3, Fable, and River City Ransom towards Monster Hunter.

Kill yourself immediately.

j/k. Sorta. But really, it's rare for the trade-in deals to be really worthwhile. Even GameRush is starting to wise up. I like when Gamestop has the 3 for 2 deals or special coupons. And EB sometimes has the best bargain bin. When I was in Nevada I really enjoyed Gamecrazy because they would buy older systems and games...hopefully that's still a trend.

 

[Blackie]

I use to shop exclusively at EB because I knew everybody who worked there, and developed this odd system fanboyish like loyalty to them. The whole crew I knew left while I was on summer vacation one year, though, and got replaced by assholes.

Nowadays EB and Software Etc./Gamestop are completely interchangeable to me, cause they both suck.

 

[djtiesto]

Then I traded Burnout 3 for Valkyrie Profile.

Why are you sad about this?

VP is undoubtedly the much better game, and plus you definitely got the better of the deal, price-wise...demand for that game on ebay has been high and it's only gonna get higher.

 

[snapty00]

2. Current promotion - buy 2 of the following 5 games and get a $20 EB gift voucher. Games are Sudeki, Crash Twinsanity, Fable, Battlefront, or Kingdom Under Fire. Cool, I just bought Fable and Battlefront from EB, so I get $20... wrong

The catch - The games have to be on the same receipt. WTF??? They don't even release on the same day. Once again, EB already got their money, but the loophole prevents me from getting mine.

Sorry, but I can't believe you thought otherwise. Just about anytime they say that you get something for buying X amount of games, you have to buy them all at the same time. There's really nothing very strange or awkward about that policy.

 

[shoplifter]

Just did the 'trade in 5' deal twice...got home and noticed that one of the games (nfl2k3) didn't get counted in the deal, so I actually got 'trade 4' and 'trade 5'. Now I have to go back up there and get my extra $5.

 

[signet]

For that trade in 5 thing, you can buy a game then return it the next day if you don't open it.

 

[shoplifter]

Actually my store was willing to give a gift card, but I didn't need it.

 

[Ramirez]

Wait a minute,that little stupid action figure is selling for 20-30 bucks?!

*High tails it to EBAY*

 

[Lil' Dice]

If Fry's, Best Buy and CC were somehow able to receive games on the same day as EB and other bullshit specialty stores, they would undoubtedly crush them. I usually wait an extra day and get my games from Fry's for $35.....

 

[jedimike]

Like I said, it's the corporate bullshit that is ruining the store. I've been shopping at this store for at least 7 years and have done a lot of their offers. The difference now is the stipulations on the offers. They're made to deceive the customer.

Even the online store is screwing customers. EvilAvatar stopped linking/promoting them because he was getting charged $7 per month on his CC due to an online preorder promotion he did.