An angry NeoGAF poster bought what he thought was a new copy of Steambot Chronicles from Gamestop, only to find out later that the US retailer actually sold him a demo disc for the game, with the "Demo: Not for Resale" watermark scribbled out with a sharpie marker.
Thanks to Gamestop's policy of holding discs from new games behind the counter, this sort of thing is inevitable. The customer brings the empty case up front when purchasing, and the underpaid Gamestop employee finds the corresponding disc and puts it in the box. The problem with this system becomes plainly clear with incidents like this -- consumers have no real way of knowing if the disc they're being handed is the one that Gamestop originally removed from the packaging.
Our advice? Always double-check Gamestop purchases for scratches, scuffs, or sharpie scribblings before leaving the store. The onus falls on you, the consumer, since I seriously doubt Gamestop's policies are going to be changing anytime soon. Why the customer chose to buy the decidedly bland Steambot Chronicles in the first place is unclear.
Bad press for game-stop?? Count me in, I hate that place. Haven't been in one in quite awhile since they started pushing extras on you as hard as a car dealership. And I got my copy of Mario Galaxy here before they were even selling their damn pre-orders. Blah to gamestop.
ReplyDeleteone of the reasons the games are kept behind the counters is so that they can have a case out on the floors for people to look at. Makes the booklets available to look through as well. If "un-gutted" games are left out on the floor there would be a lot of shop lifting. 99% of the time you should (if they are available) be getting one from behind the counter that is still wrapped and ready to go. If not then you are getting the last copy in the store. The new ones are never put in a system.
ReplyDeleteThough I am talking about Canadian game stops and EB games so things may run a little differently