That's it. I bought quite a lot of PS2 and Xbox games from them back in the day. They were the cheapest online and I'd get them a day before release.
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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
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That's it. I bought quite a lot of PS2 and Xbox games from them back in the day. They were the cheapest online and I'd get them a day before release.
damn straight.
anyone knows the contract agreements for GAME employees or does it change from store to store? I had redundancy pay even thought I worked for less that a year, but I guess it's different for retail.
Yeah as someone has already mentioned, actual wages should still be paid, just you don't get the usual redundancy package if there's no money for it.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Employees are still first in line to get their money should any asset sales take place. The way this is going down I would be very surprised if employees didn't get their money, there is a salvageable company within GMG and one that should be able to bring in enough money to pay employees what they are owed and the banks. I said it before, but the biggest losers from this are landlords with expensive leases and high rents.
There is definitely part of me that would like to see the government legislate to bring rents down to ensure the survival of high street stores. While Game has gone bankrupt because of bad management and idiotic board room policies, there are thousands of independent retailers and chains across the country going under because they can't afford the crazy rents being asked. The market price will come down, of course, but that will take quite a long time and many businesses will go under and people become unemployed in the time it takes for the market to respond. Landlords are too quick to raise rents and too slow to lower them, it's an area where the government needs to intervene, landlords are like leeches on the economy, destroying wealth and job creation.
PrematureQuiche
Member
My local GAME (Farnborough) survived. I was expecting to stay at this moment as it is the only Game Group store in Farnborough but it is opposite a Blockbusters so wasn't 100%.
Good luck to all who lost your jobs!
Good luck to all who lost your jobs!
I'm honestly surprised she wasn't brought up on criminal charges. Not because I think what she did was wrong, just that after being involved in a lot of "going into administration" situations, I know how retarded people (management/the administrators) tend to be.One of the times I lost my job, a colleague of mine smashed a monitor and legged itEDIT: Oh and a bit of just so you know for anyone here who is affected, any benefits (as in Job Seekers Allowance) you receive is subtracted from your statutory redundancy payment, so be sure to factor that in to any budgeting you are doing.
I doubt it's the case, but perhaps GAME contracts stipulate a redundancy payment over and above statutory? Statutory is bloody risible anyway. They set a certain amount based on your length of service, but then cap it at such a low amount that it's like them laughing in your face sometimes.
Are they first in line though? They weren't during the administration processes I was involved in...
Other than that though I couldn't agree more with the rest of your post, landlords are like home owners who refuse to accept what their house is actually worth and stick rigidly to what they paid for it (or more) because they refuse to accept the reality of the situation.
Oh and the real winners here are the administrators, they will take millions and millions out of the capital that would otherwise be available to pay staff and creditors. Between them and the landlords, it's a leech-off!
IdreamofHIME
Member
I was just in GAME cameron toll Edinburgh, yikes....what a graveyard. Massive sign outsign asking for Mass Effect3, Mario Party etc and little new stock inside.
Was tempted to pick up Preowned Dead or Alive 3D for a tenner though.
Was tempted to pick up Preowned Dead or Alive 3D for a tenner though.
I wouldn't call administration fees 'a leech-off' personally.
Administrators are appointed by the creditors committee as an independent body who carry out administrative functions and ensure administration adheres to statutory requirements.
Administrators' fees are set by the Insolvency Rules 1986. You can't, as an administrator, arbitrarily charge an insane amount.
These fees are in line with any fee (other than advisory which are always more expensive) by a professional body.
You might think "oh there's the administrators taking all the money". But that's simply not true. Administrators first and foremost will try and save the company which will - obviously - be the best thing for all creditors. A good administrator will look at the financial records and with some cuts, and industry knowledge, be able to suggest a solution whereby the business can return to going concern status. From the creditors point of view a good administrator (typically one of the Big 4) is worth every penny.
Like any business, the administrators need to be paid for their work and time too!
Administrators are appointed by the creditors committee as an independent body who carry out administrative functions and ensure administration adheres to statutory requirements.
Administrators' fees are set by the Insolvency Rules 1986. You can't, as an administrator, arbitrarily charge an insane amount.
These fees are in line with any fee (other than advisory which are always more expensive) by a professional body.
You might think "oh there's the administrators taking all the money". But that's simply not true. Administrators first and foremost will try and save the company which will - obviously - be the best thing for all creditors. A good administrator will look at the financial records and with some cuts, and industry knowledge, be able to suggest a solution whereby the business can return to going concern status. From the creditors point of view a good administrator (typically one of the Big 4) is worth every penny.
Like any business, the administrators need to be paid for their work and time too!
That would be true if they didn't prolong the administration and obstruct purchases to increase their fees. Look at Deloittes and Woolworths for a good example.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
As a fellow Farnborough-ite (is that even a word?) I have to say I'm extremely surprised. Queensmead is such a ghost town these days that I'd have expected GAME to pull out.
IdreamofHIME
Member
That's a tempting price for FF13-2, but I can't help but feel waiting for it to hit a tenner somewhere wont be that much of a wait.
I haven't finished XIII yet but may get that if I am passing. Hopefully Sainsbury's keep doing this since it is the supermarket I go to most.
Both GAME and Gamestation in Cambridge survived, and except for these notices on the front you wouldn't be able to tell that anything had changed:
The "sale" promos are still up, the prices are still shit, and they still have the same stuff they had last week.
GAME said:
Gamestation said:
The "sale" promos are still up, the prices are still shit, and they still have the same stuff they had last week.
The idea that prices would go up online and in supermarkets with the demise of GAME has always seemed really, really odd to me.
Supermarkets compete in their own bubble with other supermarkets. Online competes in it's own bubble with other online retailers. Sometimes the two adjust to compete with the other for big releases. But they're never and have never been dictated to by retail. While Sainsbury's competes with Tesco and Amazon competes with Play, the high street has remained static at £39.99, £42.99 and £44.99. And that's the way it's been for the last few years.
Between the demise of a recognised place to buy games and supermarkets wanting to get you through the doors, I actually think they'll all be significantly stepping up their efforts. It wouldn't surprise me if us as consumers actually see a real benefit from this whole situation either in the long or short term.
Mr. Luchador
Member
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
Which 5 is it here in NI? Newtownards, Londonderry, Belfast (Donegall Arcade) and what are the others?
I know the one at Forestside is closed and presumably the one in Connswater too. Maybe the Castle Court one is still open?
GarthVaderUK
Banned
Castle Court one is closed too.
Abbey Centre and Craigavon are the other two staying open.
PrematureQuiche
Member
Every time I go there it is empty. I usually buy my games at the Blockbusters anyway but since GAME have been in trouble they have started raising their pre-owned prices :/
assassins creed revelations was already 17.99 in my local store. it's been that price for over a week.
Azure Phoenix
Member
Boy was today awful, you have no idea how furious customers were getting about the gift card situation.
Feel for you man
Is there signage that makes it explicitly clear that it's not a decision you can control? :-/Azure Phoenix
Member
There is some official document that was sent for us to print out and display, it's mostly the same as the second customer notice pictured in the post a little earlier on this page. Customers don't read the signs however, they just make a bee-line for the nearest staff member to yell at.Feel for you man
zomgbbqftw
Banned
So, if anyone is interested I will do a write up on why Game are bankrupt and where it all went wrong...
I'd make my own sign, on one of the flipcharts, that just says "IT'S NOT OUR FAULT" and put that front & centre. There'll always be idiots who don't understand the clusterfuck that is the situation, but it might help :-/
Psychotext
Member
In fairness, I'm not sure I blame them. It blows my mind that you're still allowed to trade (read: make money) whilst not giving them back the money that they're owed (or allowing them to spend it).
Of course, they should have realised this was going to happen weeks ago, but that's another story.
checkeredknight
Member
So it seems we're binning pretty much all POS, posters, dummy cases, etc. We have boxed all the stock up and were told today we would have to carry it all over to GAME across the other side of town. Are they having a fucking joke? Not only have we been made redundant, we're having to box everything up, take everything across to GAME (who are still open and all have their jobs) and are also having to mop the floors / get cleaned up. What a fucking joke this all is, we shouldn't have to do this shit.
Despite their incompetence, we vandalised our poster today. It's a real shame to see the shop in such a sad state. Lots of good memories...
We had a guy pop under our shutter (had to leave it up a bit) banging on the door. He had a faulty Call of Duty and £40 on a gift card, wasn't happy. As he could plainly see, the store was being emptied. We explained we'd all lost our jobs and couldn't do anything about it. We directed him to GAME but he went off in a huff. Glad I'm not having to serve these people; I feel for you mate.
Despite their incompetence, we vandalised our poster today. It's a real shame to see the shop in such a sad state. Lots of good memories...
We had a guy pop under our shutter (had to leave it up a bit) banging on the door. He had a faulty Call of Duty and £40 on a gift card, wasn't happy. As he could plainly see, the store was being emptied. We explained we'd all lost our jobs and couldn't do anything about it. We directed him to GAME but he went off in a huff. Glad I'm not having to serve these people; I feel for you mate.
bobs...onGaf
Member
I feel sorry for the staff who have to deal with the barrage of angry customers, but I feel more sorry for the customers who are getting screwed out of they're money.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Can you upload some 'after' pics, as well, LordAlu?
You seem bitter. ;p
You're right, you shouldn't have to do all that manual labour now that you're unemployed, though I suppose it depends on if you're officially still under contract or not. But don't worry about it, ck - just do the slave work in the assured foreknowledge that they'll be joining you and me in the dole queue in a couple of weeks...
...and if that sort of customer is the norm from now on, they'll be begging for redundancy.
You're better off out of it now, believe me. Look forward to landing on your feet.
EDIT: Oh gods, those pics above brought back memories of the Chip Shop 2000's closure a few years back. Some of the saddest days of my life. I'm choking up.
Wow. They should have had the Game staff come to pick them up. That is bullshit. I'd have dropped a shit in every box and sent it over
Droog
Member
I'd be very interested to read such a piece. A short timeline showing where the instrumental decisions were made would be fascinating also - that is, if I'm not asking too much additionally please?
Definately interested in reading that.
My store looks so weird now...
Is that the Enfield store? Guess they all look the same anyway
Coppertracks
Member
In Scarborough today. Gamestation was closed, people were boxing up inside. Felt a bit sad over it. The Game opposite was still open but it's shelves are more bare than ever. The amount of stock they've moved around in attempt to cover the gaps was a bit embarrassing.
I wonder if the GS stock was been moved to Game? It'd make sense but I can guess there'd be some legal reason why they couldn't.
I wonder if the GS stock was been moved to Game? It'd make sense but I can guess there'd be some legal reason why they couldn't.
JennyTablina
Member
Working in Retail myself, this is so true - SO MANY people seem to totally ignore signs or information about stuff, no matter how big a banner you stick it on or how often you stick it about a store, people will STILL ask about something that has an obvious answer already posted up. I know when we open for bank holidays, people seem to always think we close at 4pm - when really we close at 6pm usually. Lo and behold, come 4pm every Bank Holiday, the store goes fairly dead for the rest of the shift.
That said, some customers will still rant and rave, simply because realizing you lost money tends to have that effect on some people. Though IMO those people only have themselves to blame, the signs were there that this was a sinking ship and they decided to ignore it. Reports gave them at least 2 weeks to act. Hopefully those who lost money learn a lesson about sticking a ton of money or credit on gift-cards and loyalty cards and forgetting about it.
Hope the angry customers fizzle out soon, dealing with angry customers whose problem you cannot solve even if you wanted to is tough : (
awanderingsoul
Member
Definitely interested in reading this and seeing your view of the whole situation.
bitoriginal
Member
Man, seeing all these empty stores sucks. I feel for anyone who lost their job. This thread has been one hell of a ride.
Little Old Man
Member
Sure, I'm documenting it a bit anyway.
They do all look the same. Not Enfield though
We're transferring all our stuff to our local GAME. Not just stock, but tills, computers and paperwork too. I would assume they'll be using our stock when they receive it. Oh, and we're getting TNT to collect our stuff... there's no way we're lugging it all up there, there's far too much!
Massive Nights
Member
Derry is still open, walked past it today.
checkeredknight
Member
Don't get me wrong, I love the GAME staff here to bits. It's not their decision, it's the higher-ups (once again.) It's just the entire concept that's pissing me off, not GAME itself. Sorry if what I wrote seemed like I was bashing them, as I don't want to do that.
Then why are we having to lug it all? We have like 20+ boxes of stock alone. ;O;
We don't even have a pallet trolley thing. My (assistant) manager has been thinking of asking places like HMV to see if they have any trolleys and such that we can borrow. It's silly...
It's hard to sympathise when these companies are trading themselves into the ground on other peoples' money though. They could do a quick sell and end up back at square one again.
Administration is rarely perfect and, yeah, there are plenty of vested interests involved but let's not pretend that these companies would have traded their way out of trouble had the administrator left them to it. GAME didn't suddenly go to shit overnight, this has been almost thirteen years in the making.
Tarin02543
Member
I'd like to buy 20 copies of Lair for 2 £ please.
No idea? They closure document that was sent out states that you can book it off using the normal process and TNT will collect it or if your GAME is "near enough" you can forgo the collection and take it up yourselves. We knew the boxes were going to be heavy and neither store has a trolley or anything so TNT collection it is!
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