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Out with the old, out with the new

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    Out with the old, out with the new

    On Thursday, I picked up a duo of highly promising titles from GAME. For different reasons, I had an intention to return the pair of them for a full refund. The 10 day return is GAME's trick card; where they can't financially compete the supermarkets who break street date and the online retailers who have no store front to maintain and pay for, they can offer consumers the opportunity to make to buy the latest release or make an impulse purchase on the offchance that, sure, they might like it, but if not, they can always get a refund. Alas, the routine trip to my local GAME to return the offending items led to the staff informing me that the scheme was over and that the relevant point-of-sale material had been all over the store for ages. Yeah, because a customer rushing in on their lunch break REALLY has time to look at posters. To cut an ultimately pointless story short, I was eventually able to get a refund from the Debenham's GAME concession just up the road - who aren't starting the scheme until Sunday.

    I could sit here all day and complain about the lunacy of the previous sentence, but instead, I'd rather mention the circumstances that have led to GAME pulling their long-standing policy. It's down to publishers; games that are taken back play with their projected sales figures and create an inaccurate set of numbers for them. Nothing that they can't correct over the longer term, of course. GAME's return policy was abused by pirates and those looking for an extended free rental, but for every individual responsible for those moments, there were far more willing to use the service to give the more dubious titles a chance. The fact that GAME buckled to pressure to publishers is just another indescretion by the business suitss who steer the market further away from its target audiences. Any number of incidents over recent weeks do not reflect well on the attitudes on many organizations. Sony's action over the import of PlayStation products, EA selling cheats over Xbox Live Marketplace, Konami offering a half complete version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6... the list goes on.

    Ultimately, all of this activity is only going to drive the long time gamer away. Using myself as an example, I used to spend upwards of ?250 every month in GAME, both to buy absolute triple A hits and to take a chance on the more obscure, conceptually fascinating productions. There's no longer a reason for me to do that. The supermarkets break street date almost every week, so I can pick anything up during my lunch break if I fancy strolling down to the retail park. Maybe I'll choose to save a little money, and import one of the Asian release region free titles from Play-Asia, where even the latest games are a pair of scores cheaper than the UK RRP. Or perhaps, I'll just ignore the release for a few months, until I get the opportunity to try a demo or get a second hand copy on eBay for less of a risky price.

    You can be certain I'm not the only one with these thoughts buzzing through my head. Gamers like me will be making the same or similar assessments, which is going to damage publishers much more than they think. The publishers seem quite content to publish the hardcore for wanting to try out games before committing to them, or for wanting to experience them at the earliest opportunity - both easily situations that are resolved by showing just a little effort and care towards the European community. Whilst kids and the casual gamer won't realise this or understand, it won't be long until developers find themselves under the force of creating a generic sports title, Disney adaption or random first person shooter - because they're almost all that sells to the FIFA fan who might buy one game every 4 or 5 months and the kids who's parents resist spoiling their kids with a bloated ?50 toy that will only provide them with a few hours of enjoyment before it's tossed asides.

    If the suits don't realise this soon, then the industry and everyone within it is in danger of eating itself.
    Last edited by MartyG; 29-10-2006, 08:09.

    #2
    In the last few yrs I seem to have become a lot more patient when it comes to buying games & very rarely buy on release day. I'm not that charged up so I sometimes wait until a month or so because I know that games prices drop quite quickly these days.
    I used to shop quite a bit a GAME a few yrs ago but since I got a PC 90% of my purchases are online, mainly due to cheaper prices & because I know that most of the time I only buy what I want.
    I still stroll into GAME every now n then but, like you, it was to try out a title I hadnt heard of & that I could take back if it wasnt to my liking, although sometimes if it was to my liking but cost a lot I'd still take it back for a refund & then buy it online for ?10 cheaper, but that was very rarely. The problem is when u offer sometihng like this then people are bound to take advantage of it in some way.
    Its good to see that they offer free postage on their website now. Its a step in the right direction.
    I dont know what its like for the rest of the country but I think GAME need to sort out their pricing down here in S.Wales. Many of the Supermarkets & Entertainment Stores are still hammering them on price & unless they compete on a similar level then I cant see them surviving for long. If the 10 day returns policy is gone then they should now be looking at lowering their prices a bit to make sure they still get the punters in. I mean, they're supposed to be THE biggest videogames retail store in the country & yet they still charge at least ?5 more for their games.

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      #3
      All things considered for me it just seems easier to order a game I want online where it's cheaper and take my chances on eBay if it turns out to be a turkey. I might lose a couple of quid but I've already saved by not buying from a overpriced Bricks & Mortar store like HMV or GAME when they seem to over no advantage anymore.

      I don't blame them for pulling the 10 day return policy though. Having worked in EB as a student people DO take the piss with it and used it like a rental service for piracy. Also those opened games had to be passed on to the next consumer as new not just be sold as 2nd hand for a lower margin so it's really not good for the consumer.

      Perhaps they could have gone about it a different way however. I would keep the 10 day return policy but have a system so they knew who were abusing the system. Still I guess the problem is people would just pay with cash and get their mates to return it or take it to another branch. Rock >> GAME << hard place

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        #4
        I don't know why they can't make it so only people with a reward card can make use of the 10 day thing. If you use your card each time you buy something/take something back then GAME can keep a record of how often you're taking things back and just simply refuse you if you're doing it regulary. Seems a shame that people like me, who have only returned 2 games (one of those was Driv3r for god sake!), have to suffer because of others who just abuse the system

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          #5
          I had no idea that scheme was over. I only ever returned two games on the grounds that I thought they were cack (Star Wars AotC for GBA and Monster Hunter for PSP), but the security of knowing that I wasn't in a real risk situation taking a chance on a game was worth a lot to me. Often I'd be happy paying a higher price in GAME knowing that I wouldn't have to keep it if I didn't like it.

          That's a shame.

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            #6
            I dont feel it's such a shame.

            As a Kid I never had schemes like this and I had to make do and mend with the games I was given. However I decided very carefully and would debate for weeks what game I should ask for before my Mum or Nan would stump up the ?20 for one.

            When I got a more disposable income I became silly for a few years buying games left, right and center. Now I've sold most of them and calmed down with my purchasing.

            Game's policy was nice but as most of the folks round here can attest to, they used it as a rental service rather than a valuable life saver when you've brought something, on closer inspection, you dident like.

            Rather than rushing out and spending ?250 or more a month on games, buy less but play more.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Wools
              I dont feel it's such a shame.

              As a Kid I never had schemes like this and I had to make do and mend with the games I was given. However I decided very carefully and would debate for weeks what game I should ask for before my Mum or Nan would stump up the ?20 for one.

              When I got a more disposable income I became silly for a few years buying games left, right and center. Now I've sold most of them and calmed down with my purchasing.

              Game's policy was nice but as most of the folks round here can attest to, they used it as a rental service rather than a valuable life saver when you've brought something, on closer inspection, you dident like.

              Rather than rushing out and spending ?250 or more a month on games, buy less but play more.
              Yeah thats how it was with me as a nipper too. And over the yrs I used to spend a lot & not end up playing half of them. Now I just buy what I want & even then I'm looking as to where I can get it the cheapest.

              I think the worst thing about GAMEs 10 day policy was not just the fact that people used it as a rental service, but the fact that people would treat the game like a piece of ****, & then have the cheek of returning it. I used to work in my local GAME & the amount of discs that came back looking scratched was unbelievable! Some looked as though they'd been done deliberatley too, as though theyd been sanded down!
              Then because u mentioned that u cant take it back as brand new because of the state of the discs u get the customer going ape **** & threatening to phone head office, who then overide you & tell u to give a refund, making u look like a complete twat.

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                #8
                The 10-day policy was the only reason id even consider buying from Game. Everything else they do is ****e, prices and policy wise.

                I went in last week and tried to have a game price matched, now i know they do price matching becuase i had Hitman Blood Money price matched for the 360. So i go in and ask, the guy was like ok where are you price matching I said Tesco and he was like errrrrrrrr we dont price match Supermarkets. So basically they wont actually price match anywhere with a lower price.

                Id find it funny if they had a massive loss in bussiness due to the scrapping of the 10-Day returns, and they then had to try bring it back.

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                  #9
                  I never understood the point of price matching with a shop. If its cheaper elsewhere then surely you just go and buy it from there :S

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                    #10
                    Yeah but i had a tenner on my Game card that i wanted to get used.

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                      #11
                      Well, I could understand it when they had the 10 day policy thingy, but u just wouldnt bother now would u?Yeah another problem I found with GAME was this price matching policy too.
                      You'd have Music Zone & Argos about 20ft away, Woolworths 1 street away, Tesco about 100 yrds away & PC World/Currys about 2 streets away all selling for way below what GAME was selling their games for but they'd never check the prices in these stores even though they were all so close.
                      It was basically a case of 'if u dont ask u wont get it'.

                      They're tight I tell u!

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Ajay1986
                        Id find it funny if they had a massive loss in bussiness due to the scrapping of the 10-Day returns, and they then had to try bring it back.
                        From what I've seen that's not going to happen, the region I work in has seen a big increase in sales from last year despite the scrapping of the 10 day return 3 months ago. The majority of GAMEs customers are just punters buying stuff for their kids and pretty much all of them that I've spoken to about the scrapped 10 day return couldn't care less about it.

                        As has been said before it's mostly just your typical dodgy types that return games with any regularity and I'd imagine GAME would be more than happy to weed those kind of customers out, if anyone is to blame for it being scrapped it's them. I'm surprised that people here actually bother with GAME for anything other than the odd decent deal of the week or sale stuff tbh.

                        I honestly can't remember the last time I returned any game and that's because I have a really simple strategy when it comes to picking up games and that's dont buy **** games unless they're very cheap, I refuse to take a risk on something I haven't read positive feedback from . I've probably bought over 100 games in the last year or 2 and the only true stinkers I own are Sonic Heroes and SNK vs Capcom Chaos both of which were bought for under a tenner.

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                          #13
                          The only things I regularly buy from GAME are used games, small accessories like PSOne memory cards and the occasional new budget/platinum/classic titles <?15. But I've had some great end of line deals through them: 2 new DCs + around 10 games + accessories <?100 during the last weeks that it was on the shelves.

                          In the last 7 years I've returned two games within the 10 day period and only then because I felt they were so **** I'd been ripped off: PSone: Urban Chaos and PS2 Project Eden

                          Their recent GC/XBox sell off hasn't been as bargain filled as for the DC but only this week I did pick up very clean used copies of GC RE: Zero/RE (Remake)/Rogue Squadron II at the equivalent of <?6 each using one of their regular 3 for 2 deals.

                          If the used games market disappeared they'd be in big trouble, I'd certainly have little reason to visit them.

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                            #14
                            I must have taken back about 4 games in total to Game, for me I did on many occasions go there and take a chance on something knowing I could get my money back if it wasn't to my liking.

                            I had always thought they still made money from this due to gaining interest on the money for over a week.

                            Anyway, it is the fact that it was used as a free rental by many that has caused this policy to end, it was bound to happen eventually.

                            But Game will need to start thinking about doing something to pull the punters in, give people like me a reason to still go in there and maybe make an impulse purchase.

                            Personally I reckon they should have just reduced it from 10 to 2 days, 2 days being maybe too short for those doing rentals to complete the game but enough time for someone to test the game out and know they made a mistake buying it.

                            I am fed up though now of losing out on good services like this because of those with this 'I ain't paying for my games' attitude.

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                              #15
                              The 10 day thing was rife to abuse by clowns and that's what probably put an end to it. I've never once bought a game with the intention of abusing the 10 day return policy but I know several people who have "I'll just pick this up on Friday then return it next Friday when game X that I want comes out".

                              I never figured it to be a sustainable USP.

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