Gamestop Game insurance...is it a scam?

Potential-Monke

Ye must be going to idiot GameStops, my local one is fantastic. They know i buy games for me, and no-one else, and every now and again they might say "You don't get the insurance, do you?" if i haven't shopped there in a while, and that's it, no pressure, etc.

Actually, come to think of it, i think GameStop Waterford is the only GameStop i've been in that has all gamers as staff, so makes it way easier than some idiot (like my manager when i worked in a GameStop) trying to sell you something they have no idea about!

But no, it's not a scam.

Ape Lincoln

gubbie wrote: »

I'm at that age now where everyone thinks that if I'm buying games, I'm buying them for my kids (which I don't have)

For example, in Game yesterday

Me: I'll have the PS Vita bundle with the game pack so
Seller: Can I interest you in...
Me: No thanks
Seller: ... game insur...
Me: No
Seller: ...ance
Me: No
Seller: It's a must to stop your games getting destroyed when your kids are playing with it.

What's wrong with a 27 year old female buying a PS Vita?!

Stereotypes about gamers are hard to shake unfortunately. Even for people who work in the bloody shops selling them!

rizzla

gubbie wrote: »

I'm at that age now where everyone thinks that if I'm buying games, I'm buying them for my kids (which I don't have)

For example, in Game yesterday

Me: I'll have the PS Vita bundle with the game pack so
Seller: Can I interest you in...
Me: No thanks
Seller: ... game insur...
Me: No
Seller: ...ance
Me: No
Seller: It's a must to stop your games getting destroyed when your kids are playing with it.

What's wrong with a 27 year old female buying a PS Vita?!

What I found wrong with that was they tried to sell you insurance on a download code. Isn't that what mainly comes in the Vita bundles.

I've seen people purchase it, I've seen people claim on it. It's not a scam but not for the majority, plus the staff are probably told to upsell it, but they should just take the no and move along.

gubbie

rizzla wrote: »

What I found wrong with that was they tried to sell you insurance on a download code. Isn't that what mainly comes in the Vita bundles.

I've seen people purchase it, I've seen people claim on it. It's not a scam but not for the majority, plus the staff are probably told to upsell it, but they should just take the no and move along.

It also came with a physical copy of the Lego movie game

2Mad2BeMad

too be honest, their have been a case of 1 or 2 times where I accidentally broken a game. But with the amount of games I buy , if I was too insure them all well then it would go past the point of cost of replacing the 1 or 2 games I broke in the first places. So technically its cheaper to buy a game, break it and rebuy it if you were insuring all your games

tomdempsey200

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

too be honest, their have been a case of 1 or 2 times where I accidentally broken a game. But with the amount of games I buy , if I was too insure them all well then it would go past the point of cost of replacing the 1 or 2 games I broke in the first places. So technically its cheaper to buy a game, break it and rebuy it if you were insuring all your games

can't you just send them back to playstation xbox etc for a new disc anyhow.. no??

I know two people who had awful trouble getting their replacement dics with GameStop making numerous excuses. One lad was given a second hand copy of the game, he had expected a new copy given that the copy he insured was bought new. GameStop told him take it or leave it. The other guy insured a game which he bought on release day and when the disc broke he went in and was told as they didn't have the game in stock his only option was to accept an €8 voucher which he could use against a purchase in store. They wouldn't even offer him the cost of the game new or even secondhand but rather the trade in price of it.

2Mad2BeMad

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

can't you just send them back to playstation xbox etc for a new disc anyhow.. no??

What?
I don't think ps or xbox would cover any game that I broke, specially ones that are not made by their company

rizzla

gubbie wrote: »

It also came with a physical copy of the Lego movie game

Ah, its kinda ridiculous on a Vita game though, the size of them your more likely to loose it than damage it, which isn't covered.

2Mad2BeMad

Deleted User wrote: »

I know two people who had awful trouble getting their replacement dics with GameStop making numerous excuses. One lad was given a second hand copy of the game, he had expected a new copy given that the copy he insured was bought new. GameStop told him take it or leave it. The other guy insured a game which he bought on release day and when the disc broke he went in and was told as they didn't have the game in stock his only option was to accept an €8 voucher which he could use against a purchase in store. They wouldn't even offer him the cost of the game new or even secondhand but rather the trade in price of it.

well what gamestop did their was illegal and I would sue their ass

GarIT

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

What?
I don't think ps or xbox would cover any game that I broke, specially ones that are not made by their company

Any major game publishers will give you a new disc if you send them the old one and a small fee. My brother broke COD Ghosts on launch day, the replacement disc was €5 + he had to pay postage of his disc to Hungary. Under €10 all together. I think the companies have to do it if they want to be allowed sell games for the PS or Xbox.

tomdempsey200

GarIT wrote: »

Any major game publishers will give you a new disc if you send them the old one and a small fee. My brother broke COD Ghosts on launch day, the replacement disc was €5 + he had to pay postage of his disc to Hungary. Under €10 all together. I think the companies have to do it if they want to be allowed sell games for the PS or Xbox.

that's my understanding too ..a point i raised earlier;)

you send the broken cd/game back to microsoft or playstation afaik and they send you a new one for free


after all you've paid for the software



so why would you need insurance then??

johnny_ultimate

I was in Gamestop a week or so ago, and there was a mother and her teenage son at the counter with a damaged copy of one of the Black Ops games. The exchange went something like this...

Mother: "This game isn't working. Can we get a replacement?"
Gamestop worker: "Do you have disc insurance?"
Mother: "No"
Gamestop worker: "Do you have a receipt?"
Mother: "No"
Gamestop worker: "How long ago did you buy it? Is it less than six months?"
*Mother turns to son*
*Son shrugs shoulders*
Son [mumbling]: "A good bit longer than that. Maybe a year and a half, two years"

They ended up buying a second hand copy of the game after conceding they weren't going to be getting a free replacement.

I'm not really sure if this story in any way addressed the OP or indeed tells us anything at all But it does go to show some people probably do need the goddamn insurance.

GarIT

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

microsoft or playstation

It's neither of those, they don't make the game, you send it back to the manufacturer/producer.

tomdempsey200

GarIT wrote: »

It's neither of those, they don't make the game, you send it back to the manufacturer/producer.

ok sorry i'm not a gamer but i buy them for the kids


but they can be replaced without paying for insurance yes??

GarIT

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

but they can be replaced without paying for insurance yes??

Yeah, it will cost you €5-€10 though.

deathrider

Deleted User wrote: »

I know two people who had awful trouble getting their replacement dics with GameStop making numerous excuses. One lad was given a second hand copy of the game, he had expected a new copy given that the copy he insured was bought new. GameStop told him take it or leave it. The other guy insured a game which he bought on release day and when the disc broke he went in and was told as they didn't have the game in stock his only option was to accept an €8 voucher which he could use against a purchase in store. They wouldn't even offer him the cost of the game new or even secondhand but rather the trade in price of it.

If the Gamestop in question is the Galway branch, then I'm not even a little bit surprised. The guy who runs the show there seems like a complete scoundrel.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I was in Gamestop a week or so ago, and there was a mother and her teenage son at the counter with a damaged copy of one of the Black Ops games. The exchange went something like this...

Mother: "This game isn't working. Can we get a replacement?"
Gamestop worker: "Do you have disc insurance?"
Mother: "No"
Gamestop worker: "Do you have a receipt?"
Mother: "No"
Gamestop worker: "How long ago did you buy it? Is it less than six months?"
*Mother turns to son*
*Son shrugs shoulders*
Son [mumbling]: "A good bit longer than that. Maybe a year and a half, two years"

They ended up buying a second hand copy of the game after conceding they weren't going to be getting a free replacement.

I'm not really sure if this story in any way addressed the OP or indeed tells us anything at all But it does go to show some people probably do need the goddamn insurance.

If they had of had insurance, would it still have worked that long after purchase? What's the shelf life of game insurance?
Also, keeping the reciept in the game's case is always a good plan.

deathrider

deathrider wrote: »

If the Gamestop in question is the Galway branch, then I'm not even a little bit surprised. The guy who runs the show there seems like a complete scoundrel.

Ol' Salt N Pepper as I call him. Know of a number of people he out right lied to about console and games and when a friend bought the complete Eureka on DVD he refused to give a refund even though the discs were DVDR and the episodes had as breaks during them. He also told someone I know that went in looking for a WiiU and Maruo that they should get the 360 as it had all the same games. Told them that Mario was easy to get on it.

deathrider

Deleted User wrote: »

Ol' Salt N Pepper as I call him. Know of a number of people he out right lied to about console and games and when a friend bought the complete Eureka on DVD he refused to give a refund even though the discs were DVDR and the episodes had as breaks during them. He also told someone I know that went in looking for a WiiU and Maruo that they should get the 360 as it had all the same games. Told them that Mario was easy to get on it.

That's a scoundrel alright.

Mal-Adjusted

deathrider wrote: »

If the Gamestop in question is the Galway branch, then I'm not even a little bit surprised. The guy who runs the show there seems like a complete scoundrel.

It's the lad in the Galway branch that prompted me to start this thread. oldish fella? He offered me game insurance and when i declined, he looked visibly annoyed and put on a bit of a show about how i should (without going into any detail)

Deleted User wrote: »

Ol' Salt N Pepper as I call him. Know of a number of people he out right lied to about console and games and when a friend bought the complete Eureka on DVD he refused to give a refund even though the discs were DVDR and the episodes had as breaks during them. He also told someone I know that went in looking for a WiiU and Maruo that they should get the 360 as it had all the same games. Told them that Mario was easy to get on it.

that's disgraceful behavior :mad:

falan

In 26+ years of gaming i never had a broken disc/tape or cartridge apart from a couple of years ago with Battlefield 3 where the disc cracked mysteriously in the centre hole and was no longer usable. I never had insurance so its just sat in my collection. Sickened i was!:(

Ape Lincoln

GarIT wrote: »

Any major game publishers will give you a new disc if you send them the old one and a small fee. My brother broke COD Ghosts on launch day, the replacement disc was €5 + he had to pay postage of his disc to Hungary. Under €10 all together. I think the companies have to do it if they want to be allowed sell games for the PS or Xbox.

I didn't know about this. Is it in writing somewhere or provided by publishers as a good faith gesture?

deathrider

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

It's the lad in the Galway branch that prompted me to start this thread. oldish fella? He offered me game insurance and when i declined, he looked visibly annoyed and put on a bit of a show about how i should (without going into any detail)

That's the very lad. I've never met anyone who's had anything nice to say about him after shopping there.

COYVB

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

I didn't know about this. Is it in writing somewhere or provided by publishers as a good faith gesture?

Back of every manual ever

v3ttel

Cashier: "Would you like to take out the game insurance, it covers you for scratches or any damage to the disc"
Me: "No thank you"
Cashier: "Are you sure?"
Me: "No thank you, I'm sure"
Cashier: "It's only a Euro?"

And it's at this very point where I appear to be completely calm, but in my head I'm holding a chainsaw.

CiDeRmAn

It's not a scheme employed to rescue gamers from damaged games, it's a racket to make extra money from ignorant people.
I got the whole 360 laser burn lecture on one or two occasions and normally just shut the conversation down without being too rude.
When buying Tropical Freeze I made the error of being distracted and, as a result, got a long spiel about both insurance and the loyalty card nonsense as well.
An, yeah, a chain saw would do the trick.

Varik

Only really consider the extra insurance for portable devices, not buying it for anything else.

Greenmachine

The people who buy the insurance will always find a way to vindicate their choice to buy it. I know one lad who was coaxed into taking out such a policy when buying something in argos. It turned out to be faulty and he returned it and got his refund. Even without the insurance he would have been able to return it. Funniest thing is he normally never keeps receipt for anything. Only thing that convinced him to keep the receipt was the insurance. A false economy but he was adamant of how lucky he was to have taken out the insurance.

Adamcp898

Since this thread has moved on to general disc replacements, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that if you're disc has only got laser burn or fixable scratches on it, Gamestop will swap a working pre-owned copy of it for €5 on the spot, no matter how recent the title is.

Don't work for GS but thought I had done myself out of €60 when I did this to a game I only owned a few weeks.