Why Corporations Like GameStop need to Die.

[MournelitheCalix]

So on 6/23/15, I ordered Fallout 4 PipBoy Edition (PC) on Gamestop's web site after being alerted by my local store that it was back on sale.  At 9:50 PM on 11/9/15 I received an email to my hotmail address entitled: "Your Gamestop.com Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition Order."  So being concerned after all the damn release is only fucking hours away I clicked on  the link and the reason why this corporation and others like it need to die was contained in this letter below:

Dear MournelitheCalix,

 

Due to an unforeseen shipping delay, your Order #<number> for the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition has been delayed. Your order will be shipping slightly later than expected, at which time you will receive a tracking number for your shipment. We appreciate your business and sincerely apologize for any frustration this may cause you.

 

To apologize for this issue, we will be issuing you a credit for your overnight shipping. This credit will be issued to your original form of payment within 7-10 business days. If you paid with a gift card, we will be mailing you a new gift card for the amount (please allow 10-15 business days for your gift card to arrive).

 

We would also like to send you a $10 Coupon Code for your next GameStop.com order:

 
REDACTED

 

Simply enter this coupon in the “Promotional Code” field in your cart next time you check out. Offer is Online only and while supplies last. Not valid with other offers. Not valid on consoles, pre-orders, bundles, special editions, gift cards or DLC.

 

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

 

If you have further questions or concerns, we are here for you. Just reply to this email, or you can call us at 1-800-883-8895. Our agents are available Monday – Saturday from 8am – 10pm CST or on Sunday from 8 AM to 8 PM CST.

 

Have a wonderful day,

 

Your friends at GameStop.com

So keep in mind I get this 10 minutes before their damn call center closes.  So I call this parasitic shitty ass corporation to find out what the hell "slightly delayed" means.  Well 54 minutes later, I am continuing to hold for the "next available team specialist."  What really gets me is that these damn box stores are starting to die.  Yet they don't seem to get why they are dieing to platforms like STEAM.  Here is a hint J. Paul Raines, CEO of SHIT Stop,  I don't give a shit about your damn $10 dollar courtesy card for your worthless online service.  I care about getting the product that you promised me on the god damned time it was promised and that more importantly I FUCKING PAID FOR!  So if your planning on doing business with this aweful service GameStop Online, my advice to you is to think twice, and go to STEAM.  This corporation is slimy as hell, it is eager to take your money, it promises the moon as it gives you the option to pay more to get your product on the same day, and the day before the game comes out, it sends you an email 10 minutes before the damn customer service line closes that they are laughing their asses off taking your money and promising you "some day" you will recieve what you paid for and here is a $10 dollar gift certificate... spend more!  Like I will ever spend a god damned dime with them again.

DO yourself a favor stay away from this shit hole of a store.

[Malakili]

To be fair, it's been pretty obvious GameStop is a worthless piece of shit store for over a decade at this point.

[schild]

I miss Egghead.

[apocrypha]

Apparently GAME in the UK fucked up 1000s of pre-orders too. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

[Yegolev]

Physical media: Amazon
Logical bits: Steam,PSN

[01101010]

Physical media: Amazon
Logical bits: Steam,PSN

I dunno, Amazon has fucked up many of my deliveries. The most glaring was my Destiny PS4 which was shipped the day it was guaranteed to be delivered. First time I ever wrote Amazon to bitch and was less than impressed that they simply said sorry and knocked their $50 shipping cost off.

If I want a physical copy of anything on release, I reserve it at a brick and mortar store and haul my ass there. Much easier to bitch and moan at a real manager when you stuff is not there, they'll do way more to get you to calm down and leave than an email scrum with Amazon.

[slog]

Stop buying physical media.  Half the game isn't on there anyway, making the DVD useless.

[rattran]

Half the game is better than none, when you're on a metered connection. That said, I burned through all my data after Amazon let me know my months ago preorder would arrive Wednesday. Then shipped it usps from california, so it'll arrive Friday. Another sale for Steam.

[01101010]

Stop buying physical media.  Half the game isn't on there anyway, making the DVD useless.

Fair enough. I have only Destiny that came with the console on physical media. The rest I have digital downloads.

[Yegolev]

Related, I'm looking into compatibilities of various SSDs in the PS4.  500GB is not enough.

[Sir T]

boogie2988 talks about Gamestop and how it's bloody terrible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQUBnqcFEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEdmbE9M1Gk

[Velorath]

Physical media: Amazon
Logical bits: Steam,PSN

I dunno, Amazon has fucked up many of my deliveries. The most glaring was my Destiny PS4 which was shipped the day it was guaranteed to be delivered. First time I ever wrote Amazon to bitch and was less than impressed that they simply said sorry and knocked their $50 shipping cost off.

If I want a physical copy of anything on release, I reserve it at a brick and mortar store and haul my ass there. Much easier to bitch and moan at a real manager when you stuff is not there, they'll do way more to get you to calm down and leave than an email scrum with Amazon.

Yeah, I finally had to cancel my Prime membership and stop ordering through Amazon. They entered into a partnership with the USPS and my last several deliveries now have gone through them rather than UPS. Problem is, I live in an apartment building and the postal service folks around here don't come inside to deliver stuff and they can't fit most deliveries in the small mailboxes here. The end result is that even when I'm in my apartment actually waiting for a delivery they just leave their "we tried to deliver this item" slip in the mailbox, mark the item as delivered, and expect me to go to the post office to pick it up.

[Samwise]

Physical media: Amazon
Logical bits: Steam,PSN

I dunno, Amazon has fucked up many of my deliveries. The most glaring was my Destiny PS4 which was shipped the day it was guaranteed to be delivered. First time I ever wrote Amazon to bitch and was less than impressed that they simply said sorry and knocked their $50 shipping cost off.

If I want a physical copy of anything on release, I reserve it at a brick and mortar store and haul my ass there. Much easier to bitch and moan at a real manager when you stuff is not there, they'll do way more to get you to calm down and leave than an email scrum with Amazon.

Yeah, I finally had to cancel my Prime membership and stop ordering through Amazon. They entered into a partnership with the USPS and my last several deliveries now have gone through them rather than UPS. Problem is, I live in an apartment building and the postal service folks around here don't come inside to deliver stuff and they can't fit most deliveries in the small mailboxes here. The end result is that even when I'm in my apartment actually waiting for a delivery they just leave their "we tried to deliver this item" slip in the mailbox, mark the item as delivered, and expect me to go to the post office to pick it up.

Amazon Lockers are a decent solution to that if you have one near you.  I usually get stuff shipped to the office, but on the rare occasion I want to try to get something over the weekend the lockers are a pretty good solution; there's one walking distance from my house and they're automated so it's available 24/7, unlike a post office.

[HaemishM]

I hadn't heard the shit about Gamestop focusing more on tablets and mobile phones. WOW. Good luck with that, shitburglars.

Talking with the wife last night about Christmas gifts - she usually gives me a Gamestop gift card that I used to use to go get a bunch of used console games back when I played those regularly. The last few years I've just turned the Gamestop card into Steam Wallets. I told her this year not to even bother with the Gamestop card because I would just turn it into Steam money and she could just send me that as a gift through Steam. Fuck Gamestop. I think I've averaged 1-2 visits there a year, and so rarely buy anything from them anymore.

[Rendakor]

I hadn't heard the shit about Gamestop focusing more on tablets and mobile phones. WOW. Good luck with that, shitburglars.

They started that when I was still working there, so it's been ongoing for at least 3 years now.

[01101010]

Yeah, I finally had to cancel my Prime membership and stop ordering through Amazon. They entered into a partnership with the USPS and my last several deliveries now have gone through them rather than UPS. Problem is, I live in an apartment building and the postal service folks around here don't come inside to deliver stuff and they can't fit most deliveries in the small mailboxes here. The end result is that even when I'm in my apartment actually waiting for a delivery they just leave their "we tried to deliver this item" slip in the mailbox, mark the item as delivered, and expect me to go to the post office to pick it up.

Exactly my issues with them. I have all my stuff delivered to my office at the University. Post Office signs receipt of the package and I don't see it for another 3-5 days. But as long as it shows receipt in the timeframe, they dodge all delivery responsibility. I understand using the lowest bidder to cut shipping costs, but they just lost much of my business.

[Chimpy]

A lot of those "USPS" deliveries are actually shipped through UPS or FedEx and put in the "SmartPost" system where the Postal Service are the ones who are delivering the FedEx/UPS packages so they don't have to pay their drivers.

[Rasix]

I have a longish (for living in the middle of the city) driveway to my new house.  Depending on the mood of the postal worker, I may or may not have to drive to the post office to get my package.  

If I can avoid it, I'll never set foot in a Gamestop again. 

[Paelos]

Advantages of living in a building with a front desk service. Packages are always delivered.

[Trippy]

A lot of those "USPS" deliveries are actually shipped through UPS or FedEx and put in the "SmartPost" system where the Postal Service are the ones who are delivering the FedEx/UPS packages so they don't have to pay their drivers.

Yeah they are using USPS as the "last mile" delivery agent for many shipments now. Which is very unfortunate. Before Amazon hid away the discussion forums the threads complaining about late Prime deliveries because of USPS were among the most popular. Through for me things started to go downhill even earlier when they started using OnTrack for deliveries. In my area they really suck compared to UPS and FedEx.

[Viin]

onTrac blows everywhere. At my house ups delivers to my door but fedex uses the usps for final mile. Sometimes ontrac is used and they are always late and my package looks like it was trampled by elephants.

[Selby]

My UPS & Fedex drivers are both car guys & love seeing what I'm working on, so packages get delivered without a problem there. I can always tell when my usual 350lb mailman is on duty as if it fits in the mail box with a hammer & crowbar it gets delivered and if it doesn't I don't even get notified & have to go downtown to get it later. I asked what was up with that & the guy behind the counter was pretty honest about it being entirely up to the guy in the mail truck as to whether it got delivered or not. When the alternate mail guy is delivering the mail things always get put up at my door. Go figure.

I think I went to gamestop once in the last 3-4 years. I ended up calling the guy who was there a moron to his face over something stupid, like him having no clue. Now I just order a game I want online (Amazon Prime usually!).

[MournelitheCalix]

Just an update, I got word today that my pipboy edition is on its way.  While I am happy that I am going to get the pipboy even if it is a glorified phone case, businesses like gamestop need to do better and spell out more clearly when there is a problem.  Upon reflection, In my case it would have spared me a lot of frustration had they simply given me a concrete time frame instead of the weasel message quoted above.  This business just doesnt seem to get it.  Its not enough to be selling the same variety as Steam.  They also have to be as reliable.  When they cant be as reliable then you do no favors by sending corporate speak weasel messages. Be clear, concise, and spell out to us not only when we will be getting what was promised but also why they couldnt meet their obligation.

So my little Gamestop drama appears to be ending happily if still a bit late.  Let us hope they sent a pipboy pc....