Gamestop - False advertising??

L'prof

ROC1977 wrote: »

Still Andy Gray and Martin Tyler on US Fifa.

Really? I wasn't sure and didn't want to take the chance...not that it's changed much from last year anyway!

thebman

Perfect fit wrote: »

or dont be so niave, wake up and use a bit of cop-on to not get ripped off in the first place!! realistly did you honestly think you could stroll in with any 2 old games and get a new one. Gamestop are a big company do you not think they have more than likely spent millions on there policies and procedures to make sure what they advertise is 100% within there rights and not misleading rather than risk a lawsuit from every customer that walks threw the door.

its people that think they can get such deals with out using there head that allows for other companies to rip people off, theres one born every minute!!

Gamestop operating in Ireland most likely have an Irish manager and are prone to all the mistakes every other Irish business makes. A lot of these companies do advertise illegal offers on the basis that it'll take ages for anyone to report them and when they do get reported, all that happens is they get a slap on the wrist and told to change it by our toothless regulators. You can't sue someone for false advertising, you can only get your money back through the small claims court in most instances and these companies usually don't turn up and just give you the money back and then they'll come up with another illegal advertisement to entice other people in.

Being a big company is not to be associated with being a legal company. They didn't get big by playing fair all the time.

jill_valentine wrote: »

Being the high flying captain of industry that I am, I've worked in quite a number of game shops, and can say that actually, all of the big three game shops have a minimum value policy, specifically designed to keep out games like PGR, Halo, Perfect Dark, Kameo, Brute Force... etc, all the crap they'd never, ever sell.

S_myths might be a bit slapdash about enforcing it, but that's because they're horrible employers and have the staff turnover rate of a Chinese gold mine. They do have a minimum value policy of 30 quid per game.

Do ask for the terms and conditions.

Do Not bother asking the employees what games are in the offer, because they won't know until they scan the games in on the till.

Do have the games you're thinking of trading in with you to value, and tell the employee in advance whether you're looking for cash, credit or both.

Do Not be rude to the employees either, they can get the heads eaten off them at the end of the day if they've taken in undervalue games, and have to abide by their employer's rules regardless of how much sense they do or don't make.

See its a load of bollocks that the staff can't query the system to see if a game qualifies. That makes this entire system unimplementable IMO. If it depends on the quality of the box and whether it comes with a manual then these things need to be stated. They could have a clear list of game values and a standard amount that gets taken off if it is missing a manual or if the case or disc is battered. I imagine such policies exist but the consumer isn't told them (maybe not even the staff at the counter).

Of course its much easier to stay with the system that ends up with a few sales like the OP's being made instead of actually clearly stating the terms of the offer to the consumer.

It is quite simple, this is a scumbag move and of course not on the part of the staff but the actual company needs to get its act together.

Patricide

In the Tralee gamestop they have the offer advertised as trade in ANY 2 games and get fifa for 9.99. theres no * above the lettering and no smaller writing to say terms and conditions apply or anything.

So therefore that is Technically Illegal, false advertising etc. If theres an * or small print your fair game though.

jill_valentine

brim4brim wrote: »

You can't sue someone for false advertising, you can only get your money back through the small claims court in most instances and these companies usually don't turn up and just give you the money back and then they'll come up with another illegal advertisement to entice other people in.

Ah, here's a point. Yes, most retailers will not send a representative to Small Claims, they just write it off as an acceptable loss.

See its a load of bollocks that the staff can't query the system to see if a game qualifies. That makes this entire system unimplementable IMO. If it depends on the quality of the box and whether it comes with a manual then these things need to be stated. They could have a clear list of game values and a standard amount that gets taken off if it is missing a manual or if the case or disc is battered. I imagine such policies exist but the consumer isn't told them (maybe not even the staff at the counter).

No, hang on, to clarify:

If you have the game with you, yes, the staff can query the system to find out what's it's worth. But every game has an individual price, so they won't know it off the top of their head, they will need the barcode to check. That's also why they can't value games over the phone, they almost always need to run the query.

This is which is why it drives them nuts when somebody asks "How much would I get if I traded in 5 games?" Do not ask them that. Ever. It makes them want to cry. Just bring in the games you want to price, and the staff can run all of them through the till and tell you what they're worth, although once again, I'd stress that you should let them know beforehand whether you're checking for cash/ credit or both. It would be nice if you could wait until their isn't a massive queue to do this, but they really, the staff don't mind doing this at all.

That price you'll get for a game is dictated by head office, who decide it based on what that chain can sell that game for. This is important.

What it means is, so long as it's useable, it does not matter what condition it's in. Nor does it matter how much you paid for it originally, or how new it is, or what the other stores can sell it for. What matters is a) how likely that title is to sell quickly and b) how much they can that title for. That's all.

Smyths will not accept a game without a manual. Game and Gamestop will accept games without the manuals, but will offer a reduced value for them. Smyths will turn away badly scratched games, as will Gamestop, but Game will accept fairly messy ones at a reduced value because their disc repair machine can fix practically anything.

All three chains will slap their forehead in disbelief if you try and sell them the following: a laserburned disc, a UMD with a cracked or broken casing, American/ Polish/ etc games, porn in PS2 cases, pirated DVDs, PC games, ActionReplay, original Xbox/ Ps1 games, free demos, empty boxes or boxes with the wrong games in etc, so please double check everything first. It's also not uncommon to find another disc hidden under the traded-in game, and by then the staff have no way of returning it to the owner, so make sure you don't accidentally sell something you want.

All chains, as far as I know, offer either cash or credit, usually in the form of a voucher. Contrary to popular belief, however, they cannot put your credit onto your loyalty card for later use. When spending your voucher, please insure that you are in the correct shop.

DS carts tend to hold their value better than disc ones, because they're practically invincible, but remember that games decrease in value all the time; if you want to trade something in, trade it now.

Y2J_MUFC

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm sorry, but if you are so apparently annoyed at it, then why did you pay the money?

Read other posts, I've explained the situation more than once......

thebman

jill_valentine wrote: »

No, hang on, to clarify:

If you have the game with you, yes, the staff can query the system to find out what's it's worth. But every game has an individual price, so they won't know it off the top of their head, they will need the barcode to check. That's also why they can't value games over the phone, they almost always need to run the query.

Need a barcode seems kind of ridiculous. Why can't you just query by name? It seems ridiculous to force people to bring the game to the shop to check how much its worth as a trade in.

It would be far easier for the same person to put the game up on adverts IMO an they'd probably get more for it.

That price you'll get for a game is dictated by head office, who decide it based on what that chain can sell that game for. This is important.

What it means is, so long as it's useable, it does not matter what condition it's in. Nor does it matter how much you paid for it originally, or how new it is, or what the other stores can sell it for. What matters is a) how likely that title is to sell quickly and b) how much they can that title for. That's all.

Could still have a list of some of the in demand games up that they don't have much stock for so people know they'll get good value for them. Of course good value isn't good value so maybe they don't want people knowing anything about the system.

IMO it just pays for them to leave this as obscure as possible so nobody knows what anything is worth until in it is in the store. When nobody knows that nobody has ever gotten a decent price for a traded game then people are more likely to trade them in.

Again just use Adverts and get more for your money IMO.

original Xbox/ Ps1 games

So Gamecube games are okay

remember that games decrease in value all the time; if you want to trade something in, trade it now.

Or just use Adverts or Ebay and get more for it.

I was in a shop previously and when asking for the trade-in values, they scanned another copy of the game they had lying around. So simply choose which games you want, ask them to check if they have it in stock, then get them to scan it to see the trade-in value.

No more shocks.

MURDO

Y2J_MUFC wrote: »

I went into Gamestop yesterday to buy FIFA'09, I seen that sticker on the cover "Trade in any 2 games and get this for 9.99.", so I went off and decided to trade in 2. Went up to the counter and handed in the two games and FIFA and your man told me, oh, the offer won't work with those two games. I told him the sticker said ANY two games. Yes, any two games once they will give you 37 euro for them. Thats not ANY two games, at which point i should have said, actually, screw it so, I'll just go to Xtravision.

I ended up trading in two, and still paying 37 quid in Gamestop, 27 more than i had anticipated, and 27 more than advertised! Now unless i missed some fine print on that sticker, this is false advertising. Anyways, I hope they enjoyed the extra 27 quid, because that is the last time I will buy a game there. I'll be taking my money for Gears 2, COD 5, Saints Row 2, Pro Evolution 2009 else where.

I'd og gave you 40 for the 2. Just starting out.
Is there a thread on here anywhere that would facilitate that sort of thing.??

thebman

MURDO wrote: »

I'd og gave you 40 for the 2. Just starting out.
Is there a thread on here anywhere that would facilitate that sort of thing.??

Adverts facilitates this kind of thing. It might be an idea for a mod to create a sticky to the relevant section on adverts to try to encourage this a bit more.

Rev. Kitchen

FutureGuy wrote: »

Wen't into Smyths one day and they told me I can get any game for free if I trade in two games and 10 euro. :rolleyes:

Ha ha im waiting to see the offer that says trade in your old 60euro's and get this game for free

Carroller

What games were you trading in.
If they were old its no use, they have to be above 15 euro each to trade in and avail of the offer, but then they go sell them for 25. Its like that in most game shops.

Mr Bloat

I remember around the time Burnout Paradise was coming out, Xtravision had a big poster in the window advertising that it was €30 (I think!) when you traded in certain games and then listed the very games the offer referred to.
I've seen the same thing since, with other games. *That's* how these offers should be advertised, imo.

Danger_Dave

Just on the orginal post. The deal there offering is an offer to treat , not an offer to sell. So for example if you see a miss priced playstation 3 for 4euro and 19 cent it is wrong and your not entitled to it at that price.

Retailers use this system to there own advantage to offer to treat, to entice people into there shop.

Absolam

Danger_Dave wrote: »

Just on the orginal post. The deal there offering is an offer to treat , not an offer to sell. So for example if you see a miss priced playstation 3 for 4euro and 19 cent it is wrong and your not entitled to it at that price.

Retailers use this system to there own advantage to offer to treat, to entice people into there shop.

I think you mean 'invitation to treat'. However that applies to prices marked within the shop itself; public domain such as posters in windows or advertisements in newspapers are subject to provisions in the Consumer Protection Act, which allows for a fine of up to €3000 on a retailer the National Consumer Agency finds to be guilty of 'misleading' advertisement.