Game Crazy employees out of control lying and stealing Seattle Washington

You gave a proper response and it makes sense ... but honestly.. have you looked up your company's fiscal or annual reports for any year? You might be overly suprised. Anyways I just wanted to say its lovely how all the Gamecrazy's/Hollywood videos do their interviews in Colorado and I'm not sure if its done like this everywhere.


But basically meet at the business/ place of business for a timed interview and see if you meet proper criteria for a job? Yeah well Gamecrazy is shady... with to many things, I wish the FTC would just fine the F#$* out of them!!!! Thats the idea of an interview right? Well I got there on time and everything... this d##&* bag already interviewed two other people before me who had to of arrived twenty minutes earlier than I. Instead of interviewing me for a location by my house, WHICH I DROVE 60 MILES FOR THE INTERVIEW WHEN GAS WAS 4 DOLLARS A GALLON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this guy tells me to go home, maybe they'll call me if anything else comes up.

Thats it.

This has happened to 5 other people I know of.

Its just so jacked up.
Its fairly obvious after reading most of the reports on this website that this company doesn't care about any one, or any thing for that matter except money. Thus they do not deserve any business what so ever of anyones and should be shut down for good... hopefully they will be.

I've already said what I had to say here, I just thought this needed to be added.

To the anonymous "employe (sic) for now," Gamestop has not "swept up" Gamecrazy. Gamecrazy is a subsidiary of Hollywood Entertainment, which is now owned by Movie Gallery, Inc.

So, I think the misinformation may be your own. I agree with the employee from Michigan, you will be treated better at most Gamecrazy stores than Gamestop stores. As in any business, there are good and bad locations of each, but I do feel that Gamecrazy is much more in touch with their consumers as a whole. For those of you looking for an alternative besides Best Buy or Wal-Mart, look for a Play N Trade in your area. It's a national franchise rather than a corporation, so if you shop there, you're supporting a local business owner in your community.

Wow you say you are a journalist?
Why do you base all Game Crazy stores and EB stores on the same value level that is based on your single store examples? Its kinda specious reasoning to me that the one store you work at is just as honest as all the others and the EB that stole your backpak makes them all bad?

PSST, scince early last year, Gamecrazy and and year or so before that EB Games, were all swept up by Gamestop. So you are less informed at the store level than general public news and business reports.

Lets put this another way. I see just like me, you are afraid to post your real name because just typing a message like this is grounds for immeadiate fireing.

Hey have you tried jumping into a pair of your customers shoes lately? They put their "faith", trust, expectations, whatever in the person who sold them the game. Do you make recommendations to customers? Do you tell them about your 1st hand knowledge of how the game plays? Do you encourage people to buy your favorite system over just telling them the features of each system and letting them decide?
I think the answer is yes, because you do come across as a fair person who really enjoys the products he sells, and enjoys shareing the fun experiances the games bring. I know I do.

Now, do you point out return policys and specificly warn people to inspect their merchandize and retain their recipts in case of trouble for at least 30 days before leaving? "Thanks for shopping, oh and im human so if something is wrong, read the legal mumb jumbo and dont hold me accountable plz, bye now."

So shoppers who have a bad experiance tend to feel cheated because its misleading to put out friendly expectaions so long as they are spending money and not asking for it back. Sometimes I think all the stores would do better if they just converted to some sort of vending machine format. Probally make more money that way too...

Oh and the orignal post was about some game returns and not systems. So quoteing those return policys was just plain misinformation, no matter how well you presented it. That could really anger someone whos taking your word based on this posting.

See my point?

BTW I have worked at 4 gamestop/eb stores and have visited several more in other states as a customer. They all have good people and bad people. Corp seems totally detatched at the store level as there are over 3800 stores in the US now and the higer up reps that would administer corrective actions dont even inspect all the stores anymore. They take the "word" of some dishonest or misinformed regional subordinates. My current store hasnt been visited by anyone other than my sometimes shadey DM for almost two years now. I wince with pain everytime I see some of my jerk employees tell people lies or treat them less fairly than other people.

If I were to escalte issues past my DM im sure I would be fired for being a disgruntled person whos haveing a personal feud with my staff.
So I just try to do my best in spite of others not trying or careing.

I work for Game Crazy, and I can tell you we do all we can to treat you like freaking gold while you throw dirt in our face. It's the same with any game store; I can guarantee it.

And Jeremy is right; read your d**n service contract before you get all pissed off at the guy behind the counter, because it certainly isn't our fault you didn't read the terms of agreement between you and Movie Gallery Inc. before you purchased it.

Let me lay this down for the both of you; this is EXACTLY how our service contracts work.

1. Used system purchases with a service contract are covered for one (1) year and ninety (90) days from date of purchase. If your console breaks due to a defect within the console OR a problem the store associate failed to notice when he sold you the system, then it is subject to replacement at any Game Crazy store; NO CASH REFUNDS. If an identical system is not available, you have two choices: You can have the store order a replacement console from another store and wait for it to arrive and make the exchange, or we will issue STORE CREDIT in the amount of the CURRENT value of the system. Service contracts do NOT cover customer neglect (ie you throwing it against a wall, dropping it in a toilet, running it over with a car, etc.)

2. New system purchases with a service contract are subject to different terms. ALL NEW PRODUCT is guaranteed defect-free within the FIRST SEVEN (7) DAYS ONLY. Game Crazy's new contract covers any breakage for one (1) year due to defects AFTER the manufacturer's initial out-of-box warranty. Example: Nintendo Wii is covered for one year through Nintendo when purchased new. Our service contract's coverage begins ONE (1) YEAR from the initial date of purchase. Any and all repairs within the first year are covered by Nintendo DUE TO THEIR IN BOX WARRANTY. This is stated clearly within the service contract, NOT on the receipt. We're not allowed to override the manufacturer warranty.

I hope that helps; although I'm sure it doesn't because you seem to have already taken a stance because you didn't get your way. We DO take back merchandise; my store has seven defective Xbox 360 Pro units in the back room that used to belong to customers that we returned for replacement units happily. It's not our fault the product is defective; we didn't make it. I don't know who you dealt with but the majority of my company will go out of their way to help you to the best of our ability. But just like ANY retailer, we MUST adhere to our company's policies or face penalties.

Your return policy is stated clearly on the back of all receipts. Used sales are final, unless the product is defective. If it doesn't work, we'll repair or replace within 90 days with a receipt. Why do we need a receipt? There's a number on the bottom front that is required to pull up past invoices in our computers; if we don't have that number we can't pull the transaction from the corporate computers, thus giving us proof you bought that game from our store. New merchandise is not covered past seven days period (unless it's the holidays, we're a bit more lenient due to the fact that it might be a gift). Also, remember that the Store Manager has complete and final say on all returns; if he/she says no, there's an obvious reason for it.

Before you go blaming us for stuff, put yourself in our shoes. Have you ever worked retail? IT SUCKS. Personally, I do it for my discount and the fact that I'm a journalist and need to stay informed on the business; working at Game Crazy is the best way for me to stay current on releases and such. I DEFINITELY do not work retail to put up with angry bull headed customers who want everything their way even if I can't help them with their problem. TRUST ME: I WILL do everything in my power to help you until you get in my face, because after that you make things personal.

Mr. John Q. Taxpayer sounds like a prime example of the kind of people who come into my store expecting to be treated like royalty. Well guess what Johnny? EB Games/GameStop flat out STOLE from me; I accidentally left a backpack full of about $150 of my "trade ins" in the store, and when I came back later that day the backpack was in the garbage bin in front of the store and the games in the store's trade bin. An employee found my bag and shared my trade credit with the store's other employees, instead of looking for identification (which was inside the front zipper pocket) and notifying me. I never got any of that back.

That's why I work and use Game Crazy. They've never been anything but honest and understanding because I treated them with RESPECT, and in turn they to me. I've been going to Game Crazy since my local store opened 4 years ago, and I've been employed there for about two of those years. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The rebuttal made by the ex employee states individuals that return merchandise "outside of guidelines" can be fired for doing so. I can see this if, say, they returned for cash a 1 year old x box 360 that had a crack in the casing that was clearly the owners fault and didnt even have an extended warranty on it.

But I have been a victim of Game Crazy's bull crap many times (from here on out, no more.. im going to EB Games) and I know how they work, and their return policies are beyond strict, they are borderline illegal. I have been refused exchanges on products 7 days after purchasing, when i bought their service contract! They just plain and simple DO NOT LIKE TO TAKE BACK MERCHANDISE!!! And just like any business, they do what they want till they get busted... I am currently seeking a way to file a class action lawsuit against the company.

No company likes to return merchandise... it costs money to send back to the supplier, and hurts sales figures. but the FTC really doesnt give a rats a*s about whether or not a company "likes" to return merchandise, they have guidelines set to protect the consumer from situations like these that FORCE the company to accept returns... it just takes someone bringing the situation to court, and coming to court informed. the problem? game crazy deals with merchandise that is on average, under $100... most of the time? under $50... unless your buying a rediculously overpriced new video game (which isnt their fault... but it still is rediculous) so consumers go home pissed off and after a while decide that the few bucks they just lost dont mean THAT much to them... but they dont think about a class action costing the company those few bucks over millions of transactions that were faulty... and how much they can piss in Game Crazy's cheerios if they actually DID something about it.. I, for one, am going to be taking that step forward... so, my friend, when the s*** hits the fan, hopefully you will be behind the glass laughing with me, and all the other consumers game crazy has sought to defraud over the years nickel and diming them to death..

I used to work for Game Crazy. Let me explain to you how this works.

First, the employee did not "lie" to you. You do have 90 days to exchange a defective used item for another, working copy of the same item. However, as you read on the back of your receipt, "all used product sales are final." This means you can't bring a used item back because you don't like it or it isn't what you wanted, or any other reason other than it being defective. If you had read the rest of your return policy on the receipt, it would have explained all this to you.

Furthermore, I would like you to understand that there are a massive amount of people who will come into video game stores and try to "pull a fast one" on the employees there, then get really cranky when it doesn't work (even up to the point of having people scream at me, threaten me, and one man even suggest getting his lawyer involved - over a $6 controller no less). I'm not trying to say that this is you, I just want you to realize that video game store employees are very wary of these types of things. Believe it or not, they can be disciplined or fired for performing returns that are not within the company's policy.

I must wonder why it took you 4 days to realize that you were given an Xbox 360 game rather than an original Xbox game. It sounds to me as though this was an honest mistake at the store level. Someone probably traded the game in with an original Xbox case and the employee who had been sifting through games all day simply didn't notice. This is a bit careless and should have been caught, if not when the game was taken in, then at least when he sold it to you. This is the one place where I fault the employees.

However, you should have checked the game IMMEDIATELY when you left the store. Buying used games from a video game store is like going through the drive-thru at McDonald's. We all should know by now to check and make sure everything is right before you drive away. After four days, showing back up and saying you gave me this cracked 360 game instead of an Xbox game seems shady. Think of it this way: if you go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac and you are given a fish sandwich, but you wait until a few hours later to drive back up there and go - hey, I bought a Big Mac like 6 hours ago and I got this fish sandwich. If you are LUCKY, they may give you another Big Mac and take that fish sandwich off your hands. But you know what they absolutely are NOT going to give you? A cash refund.

Actually, though, the employee gave you the benefit of the doubt by allowing you to pick out another game (since they didn't have the proper replacement in stock) and by letting you keep the difference in store credit. This IS store policy, according to your "return policy" on your receipt. NO cash refunds for used merchandise. Understand, that employee who doesn't know you personally doesn't know that you didn't have a cracked 360 copy of that game sitting at home and brought it in trying to get some cash back (this is actually something people will do).

I also think you should be more careful about tossing around the words "false advertising" and "fraud." They followed their return policy (the one you cited bits of in an attempt to help your case), allowed you to exchange your game and give you a credit (even though you chose not to), and just generally did everything they were supposed to in the scope of their jobs. I wonder, too, what your demeanor was while you were returning your game. The nicer and friendlier you are when you walk into a retail store, the more likely you will be to get exactly what you want with a smile.

What really confuses me here is the fact that they allowed you to do an exchange, you actually found another game, then decided to keep the cracked game because you were only going to get that $5 as store credit? So this whole thing is about $5? Isn't that a bit trivial? You could have taken the $5 credit, asked them to call you when an original Xbox copy of the game you first bought arrives to use it on, and been happily at home with a game you can actually play. Do you believe that any other store out there would have offered to call you when that replacement came in? I can assure you that the answer is no. Gamestop wouldn't, Wal-Mart wouldn't, Blockbuster wouldn't, so on and so forth. But hey - if you want to try shopping at Gamestop, go for it. I don't think you'll have nearly as much help in trying to return a game as you did here.

In closing, in the future, I have three suggestions for you to avoid another situation like this one. First, Game Crazy allows you to play any game in the store before you buy it. Ask the salesperson if you can try it out before you make your decision, that way you're sure not only to get a working game for the right console, but a game that you enjoy as well. Secondly, if you decide to buy a used game without trying it out, open the box and take a look at it before you drive away from the store. Does the disc correspond to the box? Is the disc scratched horribly? If something is wrong, walk back inside and tell them before you ever leave the premises. Third, treat the employees with respect. Smile when you talk to them, be friendly, and don't treat them like dirt over a $5 credit.

I used to work for Game Crazy. Let me explain to you how this works.

First, the employee did not "lie" to you. You do have 90 days to exchange a defective used item for another, working copy of the same item. However, as you read on the back of your receipt, "all used product sales are final." This means you can't bring a used item back because you don't like it or it isn't what you wanted, or any other reason other than it being defective. If you had read the rest of your return policy on the receipt, it would have explained all this to you.

Furthermore, I would like you to understand that there are a massive amount of people who will come into video game stores and try to "pull a fast one" on the employees there, then get really cranky when it doesn't work (even up to the point of having people scream at me, threaten me, and one man even suggest getting his lawyer involved - over a $6 controller no less). I'm not trying to say that this is you, I just want you to realize that video game store employees are very wary of these types of things. Believe it or not, they can be disciplined or fired for performing returns that are not within the company's policy.

I must wonder why it took you 4 days to realize that you were given an Xbox 360 game rather than an original Xbox game. It sounds to me as though this was an honest mistake at the store level. Someone probably traded the game in with an original Xbox case and the employee who had been sifting through games all day simply didn't notice. This is a bit careless and should have been caught, if not when the game was taken in, then at least when he sold it to you. This is the one place where I fault the employees.

However, you should have checked the game IMMEDIATELY when you left the store. Buying used games from a video game store is like going through the drive-thru at McDonald's. We all should know by now to check and make sure everything is right before you drive away. After four days, showing back up and saying you gave me this cracked 360 game instead of an Xbox game seems shady. Think of it this way: if you go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac and you are given a fish sandwich, but you wait until a few hours later to drive back up there and go - hey, I bought a Big Mac like 6 hours ago and I got this fish sandwich. If you are LUCKY, they may give you another Big Mac and take that fish sandwich off your hands. But you know what they absolutely are NOT going to give you? A cash refund.

Actually, though, the employee gave you the benefit of the doubt by allowing you to pick out another game (since they didn't have the proper replacement in stock) and by letting you keep the difference in store credit. This IS store policy, according to your "return policy" on your receipt. NO cash refunds for used merchandise. Understand, that employee who doesn't know you personally doesn't know that you didn't have a cracked 360 copy of that game sitting at home and brought it in trying to get some cash back (this is actually something people will do).

I also think you should be more careful about tossing around the words "false advertising" and "fraud." They followed their return policy (the one you cited bits of in an attempt to help your case), allowed you to exchange your game and give you a credit (even though you chose not to), and just generally did everything they were supposed to in the scope of their jobs. I wonder, too, what your demeanor was while you were returning your game. The nicer and friendlier you are when you walk into a retail store, the more likely you will be to get exactly what you want with a smile.

What really confuses me here is the fact that they allowed you to do an exchange, you actually found another game, then decided to keep the cracked game because you were only going to get that $5 as store credit? So this whole thing is about $5? Isn't that a bit trivial? You could have taken the $5 credit, asked them to call you when an original Xbox copy of the game you first bought arrives to use it on, and been happily at home with a game you can actually play. Do you believe that any other store out there would have offered to call you when that replacement came in? I can assure you that the answer is no. Gamestop wouldn't, Wal-Mart wouldn't, Blockbuster wouldn't, so on and so forth. But hey - if you want to try shopping at Gamestop, go for it. I don't think you'll have nearly as much help in trying to return a game as you did here.

In closing, in the future, I have three suggestions for you to avoid another situation like this one. First, Game Crazy allows you to play any game in the store before you buy it. Ask the salesperson if you can try it out before you make your decision, that way you're sure not only to get a working game for the right console, but a game that you enjoy as well. Secondly, if you decide to buy a used game without trying it out, open the box and take a look at it before you drive away from the store. Does the disc correspond to the box? Is the disc scratched horribly? If something is wrong, walk back inside and tell them before you ever leave the premises. Third, treat the employees with respect. Smile when you talk to them, be friendly, and don't treat them like dirt over a $5 credit.

I used to work for Game Crazy. Let me explain to you how this works.

First, the employee did not "lie" to you. You do have 90 days to exchange a defective used item for another, working copy of the same item. However, as you read on the back of your receipt, "all used product sales are final." This means you can't bring a used item back because you don't like it or it isn't what you wanted, or any other reason other than it being defective. If you had read the rest of your return policy on the receipt, it would have explained all this to you.

Furthermore, I would like you to understand that there are a massive amount of people who will come into video game stores and try to "pull a fast one" on the employees there, then get really cranky when it doesn't work (even up to the point of having people scream at me, threaten me, and one man even suggest getting his lawyer involved - over a $6 controller no less). I'm not trying to say that this is you, I just want you to realize that video game store employees are very wary of these types of things. Believe it or not, they can be disciplined or fired for performing returns that are not within the company's policy.

I must wonder why it took you 4 days to realize that you were given an Xbox 360 game rather than an original Xbox game. It sounds to me as though this was an honest mistake at the store level. Someone probably traded the game in with an original Xbox case and the employee who had been sifting through games all day simply didn't notice. This is a bit careless and should have been caught, if not when the game was taken in, then at least when he sold it to you. This is the one place where I fault the employees.

However, you should have checked the game IMMEDIATELY when you left the store. Buying used games from a video game store is like going through the drive-thru at McDonald's. We all should know by now to check and make sure everything is right before you drive away. After four days, showing back up and saying you gave me this cracked 360 game instead of an Xbox game seems shady. Think of it this way: if you go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac and you are given a fish sandwich, but you wait until a few hours later to drive back up there and go - hey, I bought a Big Mac like 6 hours ago and I got this fish sandwich. If you are LUCKY, they may give you another Big Mac and take that fish sandwich off your hands. But you know what they absolutely are NOT going to give you? A cash refund.

Actually, though, the employee gave you the benefit of the doubt by allowing you to pick out another game (since they didn't have the proper replacement in stock) and by letting you keep the difference in store credit. This IS store policy, according to your "return policy" on your receipt. NO cash refunds for used merchandise. Understand, that employee who doesn't know you personally doesn't know that you didn't have a cracked 360 copy of that game sitting at home and brought it in trying to get some cash back (this is actually something people will do).

I also think you should be more careful about tossing around the words "false advertising" and "fraud." They followed their return policy (the one you cited bits of in an attempt to help your case), allowed you to exchange your game and give you a credit (even though you chose not to), and just generally did everything they were supposed to in the scope of their jobs. I wonder, too, what your demeanor was while you were returning your game. The nicer and friendlier you are when you walk into a retail store, the more likely you will be to get exactly what you want with a smile.

What really confuses me here is the fact that they allowed you to do an exchange, you actually found another game, then decided to keep the cracked game because you were only going to get that $5 as store credit? So this whole thing is about $5? Isn't that a bit trivial? You could have taken the $5 credit, asked them to call you when an original Xbox copy of the game you first bought arrives to use it on, and been happily at home with a game you can actually play. Do you believe that any other store out there would have offered to call you when that replacement came in? I can assure you that the answer is no. Gamestop wouldn't, Wal-Mart wouldn't, Blockbuster wouldn't, so on and so forth. But hey - if you want to try shopping at Gamestop, go for it. I don't think you'll have nearly as much help in trying to return a game as you did here.

In closing, in the future, I have three suggestions for you to avoid another situation like this one. First, Game Crazy allows you to play any game in the store before you buy it. Ask the salesperson if you can try it out before you make your decision, that way you're sure not only to get a working game for the right console, but a game that you enjoy as well. Secondly, if you decide to buy a used game without trying it out, open the box and take a look at it before you drive away from the store. Does the disc correspond to the box? Is the disc scratched horribly? If something is wrong, walk back inside and tell them before you ever leave the premises. Third, treat the employees with respect. Smile when you talk to them, be friendly, and don't treat them like dirt over a $5 credit.