Saturday, November 10, 2007

No, I Don't Want A Strategy Guide

There's a reason I don't patronize EBGameStopware, Etc. anymore. Mostly, it's because of a number of their idiotic corporate polices. When I saw they were running a trade-in special for Rock Band and offering an additional 30% on any trade-in value towards the reservation of the bundle, I knew I had to jump on it.

Oh, how I wish I had never seen that ad.

First off, I recently bought two GH3 bundles (because they aren't selling individual guitars yet, those mother fuckers) for the PS3. This left me with an extra, brand new, never opened copy of GH3. I said to myself, "Hey, I'll just trade this shit in, along with a bunch of my old PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games I never play anymore or ever will again, get an additional 30% on all of it, and I should be able to get Rock Band on the cheap!" Oh, the naivety boggles.

I call up my local EBGameStopware, Etc. and ask them how much I can get in trade for a copy of GH3 for the PS3. I'm expecting him to say about 30 bucks, because that's reasonable. Hell, they'd turn around and sell it for $55 or so. Since it's still in the wrap, they could technically sell it for $60. Half price is more than reasonable, right? The guy checks in his computer, and responds, "You get $20 for the game." Stunned, I don't even think to ask him about the other games on my list.

About a week passes, and after trying unsuccessfully to offload GH3 on Half.com, I decide to give the store another call. I've got a big list of games, but there's 4 stores in my area, so I figure I'll ask each store about a quarter of the games on the list, since the prices would all be the same.

The first store I call into asks me to hold immediately, and promptly hangs up on me. I figure she's new and doesn't understand how the phone works.

At the next store, I say I'm checking on trade values for some PS2 games. The guy says they're swamped right now, and would rather I come down in person if I've got a bunch of games to check values on. I'm not sure how adding to the overall number of customers in the store would somehow make him less busy, but whatever. I move on to the next store.

I try a different tack. This time, I ask about trade values on Xbox games. The guy responds, "We don't give trade-in prices over the phone." I ask why not. "I've gotta check the condition of the games." Excuse me? How about I worry about the condition of the games, and you just give me the fucking quotes? If, when I come down in person after receiving said quotes and you find the condition of my games unsatisfactory, then you can decide not to take them. Jesus Christ, this is like pulling teeth.

Having little hope, I try the last store. When I ask about trade-in values, he asks about how many games I'm checking on. I tell him 5, even though I have a list of about 30. He says, "I'd have to ask you to hold for a while, we've got a line. You could try us back in a half hour, we should be good then." At least he was nice about it, but I didn't call back. Chances are, someone else would answer and tell me I had to come down in person.

Here's the thing: Let's say I decide to come down in person, with a fucking duffel bag full of 30 games. Then what? You're telling me that one of your monkeys are going to run every one of them through the computer, check the condition of each, and give me a quote? It would be much easier and quicker to do it over the phone, so I can decide ahead of time which games I want to bring down and which aren't worth setting on fire, then you can do all the checking you want and give me my money. That's the logical thing to do, that's what makes sense.

Just for kicks, I tried checking at GameCrazy, which is a chain of used game stores attached to some Hollywood Video stores. They were busy too, and I asked the guy about Xbox trade values. He asked me to hold. I waited about 5 minutes, the guy came back and asked which Xbox games I was checking on. I just said Halo and Halo 2, and he gave me the quotes. Easy peasy, chicken cheesy. I'm thinking of skipping EBGameStopware, Etc. completely and just going to GameCrazy. It seems like they've got their shit together.

1 comment:

Nikoda said...

I hate those corporate game sellers. Pawn shops buy games. *laughs* Might have better luck there. Although, GameCrazy doesn't sound too bad.

You should just open up your own used game store. ;o)