Wow... My eyes have truly been opened about Gamestop...

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ajemas

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krazykidd said:
Jitters Caffeine said:
In the last few days, I have heard about and subsequently researched horrible things Gamestop has been accused of doing. Now I'm not talking about whether or not the "used games market" is stealing money from publishers, I'm just talking about business practices of the stores themselves. But from what I hear, Gamestop is guilty of acts that are LITERALLY illegal in the state of California, such as not giving employees breaks, forced searches on employees before their lunches and at the ends of shifts, and damn near stealing money from employees with something called a "Comdata" card that the store signs you up for when you're hired. It was also brought to my attention that in some, not all, that employees actually run criminal record scans on customers without notification. Even the police at least TELL you that their doing it. Now this is FAR from everything that I've been told, but I would really like to know if anyone else had heard anything like this. I would especially like it if current or former Gamestop employees would speak up, because those people would have been on the front lines so to speak.

Now I have no idea how "up to date" my information is, but I will be glad to link the videos I was shown that really bothered me.

Please do not misunderstand me. I fully supported and even defended Gamestop until just recently, so this isn't just some "I hate how they steal money from publishers" thing. I am speaking on Gamestop's apparent treatment of employees as expendable numbers that can be replaced in an instant, and customers as walking sacks with dollar signs on them ripe for the pillaging. I am genuinely interested in any information people have about their experiences.
Yeah so? If the employees really mind they wouldn't work for gamestop . Either that or they would sue them . If the employees are not aware of these laws , then it's their own fault , ignorance is not an excuse . Say what you want about gamestop but , it's the employees fault for not contestig this or working for them. I blame gamestop for nothing.
Do you have any idea how hard it can be to find a job for some people? For many, switching jobs isn't an option because they will be out on the street without a paycheck for that week. And what you're saying about suing them is even more ridiculous. Lawyers cost money, and it is a massive gamble that can leave one in an unworkable situation.
There are basic labor laws and requirements that employers have to abide by, and Gamestop is blatantly exploiting these people and breaking those laws.
 

maskedklaus

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Ok, there are too many pages and I am too lazy to read them all, but here is the long and short of it.

Are we denied breaks? No. Maybe there are some stores that commit that crime, but that would be more the fault of the store or regional manager. I've never been denied a break, and in fact have been told I MUST go on a break when I've worked too long without one.

Are we searched before going out of the building? Yes, but it literally consists of someone patting down your coat (if you have one) and you lifting your pant legs quick. It's not even remotely invasive (or a bother; I've never once minded), and, once again, if some stores are taking it too far, that is the fault of that stores managers, not the company as a whole.

Are there fees on the Comdata cards? Yes, BUT those fees don't go to Gamestop. All the fees are charged by the financial institution that runs the card. There are a number of companies that have switched to using cards like these, and YES they do suck. HOWEVER, your check only goes on these cards if you don't sign up for direct deposit. Plus, the company informs you of the card fees and encourages you to sign up for direct deposit so you can avoid those pesky fees.


I know a lot of former employees like to complain about their jobs, but Gamestop, in general, is a fun place to work. Yeah, there are probably certain stores out there that are run by douche-bags, and that is really unfortunate. However, I wouldn't hold that against all Gamestops.
 

Jitters Caffeine

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michael87cn said:
I went into a gamestop to trade in my semi-new xbox 360 slim for cash, not because anything was wrong with it, (nothing was wrong with it, i had it for like a month and took great care of it) but I needed the money for an emergency.

The gamestop guy took the xbox, turned his back on me and set it up and turned it on, to test it out. Now, before I continue, the gamestop had at least 3 televisions BLARING trailers to new video games, and I had to shout to hear the guy. So here's where it got stupid: the guy turns back and faces me and tells me to my face that he can only give me like $20 for my xbox because he "can hear something moving inside" and that it needs to be refurbished. BULL! not only was he lying, but it would have been impossible for him to hear any such thing in that store without muting the tvs 2 feet from his face.

I told him "nothing is wrong with the xbox, ill take it back please" and he gave it back to me.

My thoughts are he was trying to rip me off and pocket the extra cash. What a sneaky bastard. Probably does it to people all the time.

P.S. btw ive had my xbox now for at least 8 months since then and not only does it NOT make sounds but it has run like a dream.
I've certainly never heard any accusations of employees pocketing money, so I can't really say anything on the matter. But the cash for merchandise brought to Gamestop is notoriously bad. They take 20% off of the trade in credit, which is hilariously low to begin with. Especially with consoles.

The thing about referbishing, it's totally subjective. It'll change from person to person whether or not THEY think a product needs to be referbished.
 

emeraldrafael

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Jitters Caffeine said:
emeraldrafael said:
Jitters Caffeine said:
emeraldrafael said:
I dont what makes this a gaming discussion necessarily.

More OT: its probably the gamestop in the article you read. My friend works at a gamestop and he loves it.

now, if you want to see a truly shitty place to work, just apply to walmart.
I might have? I certainly can't pinpoint anything specific other than seeing a headline for a class action lawsuit against Gamestop for neglecting the legally required 30 minute break. If that was yours, then I suppose it was a factor.

But I suppose it could have elsewhere...
Yeah, I think it was just certain gamestops. Go into any thread about gamestop, and people will eventuall say it depends on which one, that there are good and bad ones, and it all depends on who staffs it. The one my friend works at (and the one in the nearby mall) are both two of the "good" gamestops, cause the guy who owns gamestop one (the one my friend works out) is a pretty cool guy, and is pretty lenient with his employees (in that no one who worked at that gamestop after he came in had anything to really say bad about him that wasnt justified), and gamestop 2 (in the mall) had the fewest compliants out of the all the department stores in the entire mall (theres something like 50+) annually and is the most applied for store to work at after the main anchor clothing stores.
I'm sure it IS very dependent of which store you go to. But the fact of the matter is, people don't like being treated like garbage. Whether or not your experiences are fine and dandy doesn't mean everyone else has had the same. You may have very friendly people working at your local stores, I can't speak on that. But the point of the thread, at least my initial point that seems to have been entirely missed by most, was to see if other people had experienced anything similar or if they had grievances to add.
Well when you say "gamestop" as you did in your OP, you make sound as if every store is evil. So you have to expect the posts that will defend their stores.

and actually, looking at your OP:

Jitters Caffeine said:
... I am speaking on Gamestop's apparent treatment of employees as expendable numbers that can be replaced in an instant, and customers as walking sacks with dollar signs on them ripe for the pillaging. I am genuinely interested in any information people have about their experiences.

...
Thats every business liek gamestop that pays minimum wage view's on their employees, and every business' view on customers. If you're not looking at every customer as how can I at least some if not the most profit out of, you're not only doing it wrong but failing in the primary objective of what it means to be a business. and as Ive said, these complaints you mentioned arent unique to gamestop, its just that this being a video game site predominantly, you hear gamestop come up more since its morein the news.

I get what you're trying to say in your post, but you should add the word certain in fromt of gamestop and put an s on the end if you dont want posts talking about how good they are people telling you it just depends on the one you go to or just make this a business in general thread about businesses like gamestop that do this and about how wrong it, while including other business examples.

...

then again, thats just my two cents.
 

Jitters Caffeine

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Sep 10, 2011
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emeraldrafael said:
Jitters Caffeine said:
emeraldrafael said:
Jitters Caffeine said:
emeraldrafael said:
I dont what makes this a gaming discussion necessarily.

More OT: its probably the gamestop in the article you read. My friend works at a gamestop and he loves it.

now, if you want to see a truly shitty place to work, just apply to walmart.
I might have? I certainly can't pinpoint anything specific other than seeing a headline for a class action lawsuit against Gamestop for neglecting the legally required 30 minute break. If that was yours, then I suppose it was a factor.

But I suppose it could have elsewhere...
Yeah, I think it was just certain gamestops. Go into any thread about gamestop, and people will eventuall say it depends on which one, that there are good and bad ones, and it all depends on who staffs it. The one my friend works at (and the one in the nearby mall) are both two of the "good" gamestops, cause the guy who owns gamestop one (the one my friend works out) is a pretty cool guy, and is pretty lenient with his employees (in that no one who worked at that gamestop after he came in had anything to really say bad about him that wasnt justified), and gamestop 2 (in the mall) had the fewest compliants out of the all the department stores in the entire mall (theres something like 50+) annually and is the most applied for store to work at after the main anchor clothing stores.
I'm sure it IS very dependent of which store you go to. But the fact of the matter is, people don't like being treated like garbage. Whether or not your experiences are fine and dandy doesn't mean everyone else has had the same. You may have very friendly people working at your local stores, I can't speak on that. But the point of the thread, at least my initial point that seems to have been entirely missed by most, was to see if other people had experienced anything similar or if they had grievances to add.
Well when you say "gamestop" as you did in your OP, you make sound as if every store is evil. So you have to expect the posts that will defend their stores.

and actually, looking at your OP:

Jitters Caffeine said:
... I am speaking on Gamestop's apparent treatment of employees as expendable numbers that can be replaced in an instant, and customers as walking sacks with dollar signs on them ripe for the pillaging. I am genuinely interested in any information people have about their experiences.

...
Thats every business liek gamestop that pays minimum wage view's on their employees, and every business' view on customers. If you're not looking at every customer as how can I at least some if not the most profit out of, you're not only doing it wrong but failing in the primary objective of what it means to be a business. and as Ive said, these complaints you mentioned arent unique to gamestop, its just that this being a video game site predominantly, you hear gamestop come up more since its morein the news.

I get what you're trying to say in your post, but you should add the word certain in fromt of gamestop and put an s on the end if you dont want posts talking about how good they are people telling you it just depends on the one you go to or just make this a business in general thread about businesses like gamestop that do this and about how wrong it, while including other business examples.

...

then again, thats just my two cents.
No, no you're correct. Adding that simple clarification would have cleared up a lot. I suppose I just didn't think of it. I was still rather "in the moment" after hearing about all the accusations that I missed a very simple fix.
 

LiquidSolstice

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Dec 25, 2009
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Meh. I've heard countless stories of Gamestop being evil and at the end of the day, I really don't care. My experience with my local Gamestops have always been perfect, and at the end of the day, what do I care? They provide a service, I use the service. Getting all worked up about issues that really don't concern me or trying to convince myself that I'm somehow fueling the evil company by giving them my business and that I should stop is frankly pointless.

Bottom line, I have no doubt bad conditions exist. But then again, have you seen the rest of the world, recently? Are we going to boycott every store in the world too?
 

Jitters Caffeine

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Sep 10, 2011
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LiquidSolstice said:
Meh. I've heard countless stories of Gamestop being evil and at the end of the day, I really don't care. My experience with my local Gamestops have always been perfect, and at the end of the day, what do I care? They provide a service, I use the service. Getting all worked up about issues that really don't concern me or trying to convince myself that I'm somehow fueling the evil company by giving them my business and that I should stop is frankly pointless.

Bottom line, I have no doubt bad conditions exist. But then again, have you seen the rest of the world, recently? Are we going to boycott every store in the world too?
I'm not saying boycott. That word is thrown around WAY too much. It's just that most people don't like being treated like that, and sometimes hearing about things like that is enough for some.
 

Iwata

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Feb 25, 2010
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I worked for Gamestop for a while, and it was one of the best jobs I ever had. Good hours, the crew was fun to hang around with, we got to play video games, take first pick in new and used arrivals, get to talk and discuss games with both veterans and newbies, get a feeling of helping people with their purchases, and we'd even get some free goodies now and then. I have a TON of gaming t-shirts because of Gamestop.

The one and only thing they could do better is on the payment front. They do pay pennies, which is a shame.

Incidentally, someone DID get fired for stealing at my Gamestop, after I left, but it was the manager himself.

P.S.- Also, we had no random searches, or even cameras. Just an alarm at the store's exit.