GAME - and their stupid reward card/preorder BS

metalangel · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 18:25

Mrs Meaty's younger sister gave me a £20 giftcard for GAME for my birthday last year. Now, I don't shop much in GAME. I buy online if they've inevitably gotten the exclusive for a special edition I want (Forza 4) but in-store purchases are much rarer, and usually of grotty chav-smeared pre-owned games that are killing the industry don't you know.

ANYWAY. Saints Row 3 is out. Do want, and if you 'pre-order' you also get the Professor Genki stuff: the people cannon truck thing is what I'd like especially. What a great opportunity to finally use this damned giftcard!

So I take a detour home through rush hour traffic to the GAME near my workplace, go up to the counter and ask if they have Saint's Row 3 available to pre-order.

INT: Evening. GAME, Capital Retail Park, Cardiff.

GUY: Yes we do, have you got a Reward Card?
ME: *digging in wallet* if I do it's very old.[¹]
GUY: Right, well you need a Reward Card, do you want me to see if we can look it up by your postcode or name?
ME: *becoming suspicious* It's probably so many postcodes ago I doubt I'll be able to give you the correct one.
GUY: Okay, well, you need one to pre-order, they're £3 each...
ME: Hang on, I have to pay for this card in order to pre-order a game?
GUY: In store, yes.
ME: See, I have a £20 giftcard, and you can't use those online, so I thought...
GUY: I see. Do you still want it?
ME: *putting wallet away* Not enough to pay £3 extra for the privilege, no.
GUY: Okay then.
ME: Thank you.
Exunt

EXT: Evening. Outside GAME, Capital Retail Park, Cardiff. Cold, misty rain blows on our hero.

ME: In the words of the ancient Saxons, you Canute be serious!

But really, they are. You're not allowed to pre-order stuff unless you have one of their fucking cards, and their fucking cards aren't free like they used to be. My Tesco Clubcard (which I never use) didn't cost me anything. My pre-ordered Gears 3 at the Blockbuster at the end of my street didn't cost me anything. GAME really can fuck off (once I've figured out a way to spend this £20).

[¹]My last GAME Reward Card, which was of the free variety they used to give you free if you didn't already have one, for free, and was the unhappier side of a decade old. It usually sat pointlessly in my wallet. It died in the line of duty due to terminal snapping-in-half in its new role as an improvised ice scraper for my car.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

metalangel wrote:

But really, they are. You're not allowed to pre-order stuff unless you have one of their fucking cards, and their fucking cards aren't free like they used to be.

This is all true. But the staff of Cwmbran GAME (who are, inexplicably, excellent) spent almost fifteen minutes scouring the database until they found my details registered to a postcode from thirteen years ago so I could avoid paying £3 to pre-order Fallout: NV.

Still a stupid policy, mind.

metalangel · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 18:33

So a free card from when we were young and idealistic would still count? That's idiotic. If only I'd known, when that card snapped in half at 5am on that cold December day two years ago I should have KNOWN to keep both pieces so I could have presented it today to his gel-haired ponce in his ill-fitting white shirt.

TheVision · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 18:40

That does sound a shit policy and definitely a new thing. It never used to be like this but then I remember when the cards were free and then £2.

If you can be parsed hanging about then make someone search their database for your number... or alternatively, use my GAME card number!

Actually, that'd work. Use someone else's number written down. The GAME staff wont check that its not actually yours and bingo... pre order done!

myp · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 18:52

I've really missed these stories since you started shopping online.

metalangel · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 18:55

I'm wondering if I might have the same luck I did with Crackdown 2 in the Cardiff Queen Street store: I went in, bought the game, and the guy winked, grabbed one of the pre-order cards from the pile behind the counter and stuffed it into the bag with the game even though I hadn't actually pre-ordered it*. Perhaps if I throw in my sob story it'll help.

*thus enabling me to be one of four amazing colours in-game. Wow.

WITHOUT PREORDER: :hug:

WITH PREORDER: :luv:

CraigGrannell · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 1639

Luckily for GAME, there's no way to pre-order videogames anywhere else, otherwise stuff like this would turn existing stores into places with rapidly diminishing returns and an air of absolute desperation through PLEASE COME IN HERE! JUST COME IN! kinds of advertisements in the windows and outside.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

myp it wrote:

I've really missed these stories since you started shopping online.

"Game shopping - live from Cardiff" was a regular feature on alt.digitiser.

devilman · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 21:09

In a similar vein, when I signed up for the Gamestation reward card in store, the trainee drone tried to charge me a fiver for it. I think they're supposed to scan it up and then deduct it manually or something. I assume he was a trainee from the prior conversation -

Drone - Can I help you?
I hand over a pile of games which he proceeds to scan
Drone - Ok, that's £4 trade-in.
Me - Er, these are your games. I want to buy them.

myp · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:59

devilman wrote:

In a similar vein, when I signed up for the Gamestation reward card in store, the trainee drone tried to charge me a fiver for it. I think they're supposed to scan it up and then deduct it manually or something. I assume he was a trainee from the prior conversation -

Drone - Can I help you?
I hand over a pile of games which he proceeds to scan
Drone - Ok, that's £4 trade-in.
Me - Er, these are your games. I want to buy them.

You should've just taken the £4 and then taken them back off the shelf again to buy.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:25

£4? That must have been a quality pile of games.

devilman · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:34

Grim... wrote:

£4? That must have been a quality pile of games.

The good thing about my local Gamestation is that they do some 5 for £5 or 5 for £10 on PS2/Gamecube/Xbox games. Most of it is just PS2 tat, but they've been getting Gamecube games in quite regularly so I picked up 7 games for £11. Not bad at all.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:37

Yet, the game station in Telford is full of awesome... The manager, who now knows me, perhaps it is the 2 xboxs, 1 kinect and a pile of games I bought from there.. Always talks me thought the best deals..

The trainee girl that was new tried to sell me MW2 when I went to get MW3 for my steps sons birthday..

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38667

KovacsC wrote:

The manager, who now knows me, perhaps it is the...

... ginger tash.

LewieP · **Joined:** 29th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 7600

No one is allowed to trade games in to gamestation without reading this.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:32

Is 'Car wot goes fast 2: Off-Road' any good? I've not heard of it.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:38

DavPaz wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

The manager, who now knows me, perhaps it is the...

... ginger tash.

It is quite fetching..

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

LewieP wrote:

No one is allowed to trade games in to gamestation without reading this.

Which isn't true for all Gamestations, as I've mentioned before. My local store will only match the prices across the entire basket, then add £1 in total -- not £1 per game. Which means it's not worth bothering with.

Asda are the best place to trade games in. The prices are great and the store credit is as good as cash.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:48

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

The prices are great and the store credit is as good as cash.

Can I spend it at Tesco?

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Grim... wrote:

Can I spend it at Tesco?

Tit.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 13:10

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Grim... wrote:

Can I spend it at Tesco?

Tit.

You can, you know.

zaphod79 · **Joined:** 16th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14518

Grim... wrote:

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Grim... wrote:

Can I spend it at Tesco?

Tit.

You can, you know.

I thought they were stopping that because they are doing this 'massive discount' type thing in Tesco instead (so they will simply reduce a few things by a few pence and then stop taking other peoples vouchers)

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Grim... wrote:

You can, you know.

As discussed in IM (beex cleeq spook!), no, they can't.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10175

zaphod79 wrote:

I thought they were stopping that because they are doing this 'massive discount' type thing in Tesco instead (so they will simply reduce a few things by a few pence and then stop taking other peoples vouchers)

Apparently we saved £13 on our £50 shop on Monday by shopping at Sainsburys. But then, Hel did pick up 3 packs of Finish Quantum dishwasher tablets as they're on half price. It's quite offensive that they print a voucher to tell you that, it must cost a fortune, not to mention the environmental cost.

She also used up a "£2.51 off your next shop" voucher we got a while back because everywhere else was cheaper for stuff we bought that week; I don't know if they included that in the total saving - they shouldn't, but that doesn't mean they didn't.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 14:26

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

As discussed in IM (beex cleeq spook!)

metalangel · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 19:24

Into GAME Queen Street today, to try and get my details recovered. However, I got the card at the long-defunct Queens Arcade store back in 1999, and have lived at eight addresses since then. I don't remember the house numbers for all of them, and have no idea what the university residence address would look like on their system.

The manager (who recalls starting his glamourous career at the Queens Arcade) gallantly suggested coming in tomorrow and they should have tons of the pre-order codes anyway... and I can ask him for one.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

I once had an awesome GAME reward card experience. My little brother and my mum went into town to buy an Xbox 360S (IIRC) for his birthday (my brother's, Zard-arse). The guy behind the counter said "do you have a reward card?", to which my mother replied in the negative. They were convinced to sign up for one (I believe it might've still been free at this point, but any way) and the guy checked their details on the system. There was already a J Robson at our home address registered! My brother has the same initial. They assumed it was his. It was mine. BAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAH. I think I got at least a free tenner out of that deal.

But yeah, I don't like GAME. Overpriced and I don't like talking to the staff. They always assume you're some sort of gaming belm.

Pundabaya · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5016

WTB wrote:

They always assume you're some sort of gaming belm.

Well, in your case they are quite correct.

WTB · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 14497

Ohnohedi'n't!

Dr Zoidberg · **Joined:** 15th Oct, 2010 **Posts:** 5415

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

LewieP wrote:

No one is allowed to trade games in to gamestation without reading this.

Which isn't true for all Gamestations, as I've mentioned before. My local store will only match the prices across the entire basket, then add £1 in total -- not £1 per game. Which means it's not worth bothering with.

In that case just trade them in one at a time and get the credit put on one of their trade in cards.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

I told them I'd do that; they said they'd only let me trade in one a day (!).

Dr Zoidberg · **Joined:** 15th Oct, 2010 **Posts:** 5415

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

I told them I'd do that; they said they'd only let me trade in one a day (!).

Sounds like you have a crap branch by you.
Mine always seem very pleasant and amenable, and I've not had any problems getting them to do price matches.

LewieP · **Joined:** 29th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 7600

I must say, almost everyone I have spoken to about it (quite a lot of people) have reported success.

Derek The Halls · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 3742

I trade entirely with CEX because I don't trade for games, I trade for DVDs. Cex list all their stock online as well so I have an idea of what they have before I go in. Though it isn't always there.

Mr Dave · **Posted:** Fri Nov 18, 2011 17:19

The only conclusion is that they hate short shouty people.

devilman · **Posted:** Fri Nov 18, 2011 17:28

Mr Dave wrote:

The only conclusion is that they hate short shouty people.

To be fair, the assistants probably can't see where the noise is coming from with the counter being in the way.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Nov 18, 2011 18:06

Game get. No sign of the manager in question (the place was busy as hell, a huge line, one staff member continued to demonstrate golf on the Kinect) and they tried to get me to sign up for the stupid card again but I just refused and asked for the damn game already with added Genki stuffs.

Noted:
-duty manager was asking people in the (very long) line what they were buying so it would be ready for them at the register. He took the display box from me and threw it in a basket. This system was clearly honed to perfection as when I got to the checkout the till tart had no idea what I was buying.
-some tarts were with their friend buying the new Zelda game with gold controller. The manager, taking the box from her, offered her the strategy guide.
"no, that's cheating!" exclaimed the girl.
"are you sure?" pressed the manager, "it has GOLD TRIMMED edges!"

MaliA · **Posted:** Fri Nov 18, 2011 18:41

metalangel wrote:

-some tarts were with their friend buying the new Zelda game with gold controller. The manager, taking the box from her, offered her the strategy guide.
"no, that's cheating!" exclaimed the girl.
"are you sure?" pressed the manager, "it has GOLD TRIMMED edges!"

And you didn't take the opportunity to shout "YOUR MUM HAS GOLD TRIMMED EDGES!"?

Forshame.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Fri Nov 18, 2011 18:42

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:06

MaliA wrote:

metalangel wrote:

-some tarts were with their friend buying the new Zelda game with gold controller. The manager, taking the box from her, offered her the strategy guide.
"no, that's cheating!" exclaimed the girl.
"are you sure?" pressed the manager, "it has GOLD TRIMMED edges!"

And you didn't take the opportunity to shout "YOUR MUM HAS GOLD TRIMMED EDGES!"?

Forshame.

Also, "Your mum has a strategy guide!"

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

I wanted to get a Turtle Beach headset as my wireless earpiece is giving up the ghost, and also with the Boychild normally sleeping at xboxtime, it would be good to play with the TV muted. I was accordingly furnished with GAME giftcards for christmas.

- You can't use them online, only in shops.
- My local shops do not hold headsets in stock
- My local shops do not permit you to order stock in if it is a non-stock item, directing me only to order online. See initial problem.
- GAME website has a click and collect option, which allows you to order on line for in store collection. On the face of it, it is unclear whether you can pay in store or have to pay online. This is academic however, as click and collect is only available on certain products. Well, 99% of stuff they sell, but not headsets.
- Gamestation in Lewisham have both PX3 and PX5 in stock. They do not accept Game giftcards.

I have ordered the PX3 from Play.com.

myp · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:17

Rudolph's Dick wrote:

I have ordered the PX3 from Play.com.

/

zaphod79 · **Joined:** 16th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14518

This sorta fits here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012 ... tmas-sales

Quote:

Game shares slump as Christmas sales fall 15%

Shares in video games specialist Game collapsed on Tuesday after it warned that a disastrous Christmas means it is danger of breaching its banking covenants.

The shares dropped 26% to 5.1p after the retailer said UK like-for-like sales tumbled 15.2% in the 8 weeks to 7 January and that profit margins had been squeezed by the price cuts it used to attract shoppers. Game chief executive Ian Shepherd said the retailer, which has 610 stores in the UK and Ireland, was still operating within the terms of its loans but the difficult market conditions "raise the likelihood" it would not meet the conditions tied to its underlying earnings performance when tested on 27 February. The retailer said its financial position was shored up by £120m of cash in the bank.

"Our industry had an incredibly tough 2011, and so did we," said Shepherd who added that the retailer was in a "regular and constructive" dialogue with its lenders and that they remained "supportive". He said: "We remain the market leader and have a clear strategy which will return the business to growth. We are adapting to the changing market and are well prepared for the next hardware cycle."

Group like-for-like sales are down 11.9% for the 49 weeks to 7 January which Shepherd said was better than the market, which had contracted 13.1%.

Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan said Game could now fall to a £30m loss in the current year. "We are reducing our target price from 10p to 5p on the basis of these weaker numbers and uncertainty as to what the implications will be for equity shareholders after the banks have extracted their pound of flesh."

Game hopes that next month's European launch of the PlayStation Vita will provide a major sales stimulus for the whole games market, with that console to be followed by the new offering from Nintendo, the Wii U, later this year. Dorgan cautioned, however, that he expected the supermarkets and online operators to be the prime beneficiaries of the debut of the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo Wii U.

GovernmentYard · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5318

zaphod79 wrote:

Game hopes that next month's European launch of the PlayStation Vita will provide a major sales stimulus for the whole games market, with that console to be followed by the new offering from Nintendo, the Wii U, later this year. Dorgan cautioned, however, that he expected the supermarkets and online operators to be the prime beneficiaries of the debut of the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo Wii U.

They're really pushing it. I tried to buy a very cheap bit of 360 software last week, the guy on the till first tried to flog me some third party tat, then a reward card, then a PSV. I find a simple 'no' usually stops them trying to pursue a 'sales line' with the first couple of things but I conversed on the PSV, saying that I'd have to be an idiot to preorder one before I now what the battery performance is like in the real world (apparently it's 'very good'), that I'm not paying over the odds for save game media (nonplussed) and that I don't buy consoles until I know I can hack them and run what I want on them. None of which dissuaded him from trying to coax me over to a display which was the usual shite - just a blue box with a picture of one on it and some almost complete case covers. Probably because he had a manager on either side of him, staring at him while he did all this and ignoring the customers behind me that all wanted serving.

Epic.

metalangel · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 15:19

Both their pricing and customer serving techniques are staggeringly out of touch.

I went to see if I could price check FSX at the shop near work and their PC section is now gone altogether, while the preowned section was bigger than almost everything else put together.

GovernmentYard · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5318

Second-hand. Resist the newspeak. Also, they fucking hate it when you say it loudly in front of other customers.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 15:33

I used to buy loads of 'nearly new' games from Gamestation, but the agonising over what DLC I'll be missing, coupled with aggressive online/supermarket pricing means I probably bought two games max from them over the last 12 months.

zaphod79 · **Joined:** 16th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14518

GovernmentYard wrote:

Second-hand. Resist the newspeak. Also, they fucking hate it when you say it loudly in front of other customers.

I'd go for "slightly soiled" if you really want to wind them up :-)

metalangel · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 16:09

I think I got yet another GAME card this year from the same well-meaning sister-in-law-sorta.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 16:09

is there not a website that allows you to sell giftcards?

Be Excellent To Each Other

GAME - and their stupid reward card/preorder BS
Perkies rage

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Be Excellent To Each Other

GAME - and their stupid reward card/preorder BS Perkies rage

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GAME - and their stupid reward card/preorder BS
Perkies rage