darkSpyro

I have seen countless posts saying the following
"gamestop *****"
"Gamestop is HORRIFYING"
etc

Gamestop is NOT any of those things expecially when it comes to skylanders.
Some employees can be clueless and facepalm worthy but others know their stuff.
For instance the manager of my gamestop knows a LOT about various franchises of games including Pokemon, skylanders,etc. (He runs the cash register often to get to know his customers)
BUT there is another clerk that makes me facepalm so hard my face turns red. (Mostly for skylanders)

The point is
Know the clerks and which ones are good for which game franchises/genres.
The clerk that doesn't know much about one game could be an EXPERT on others.

Sadly on the Pumpkin Eye Brawl release I couldnt grab one because well Mr. Skylander Noob was there and said
"You didnt pre order one"
the manager said he was going to order and hold one for us so what right does he have to say we cant get one?

so gamestop isnt THAT bad

I agree. I'm suppose to get mine Wednesday. One of the employees even preordered one so I'm not that weird. Lol

1-well, windemup, you said you leaved?
2-never experienced a gamestop......

Quote: NINJAsk11

1-well, windemup, you said you leaved?
2-never experienced a gamestop......

1. I came back because I thought Big green left due to that old trend. O and btw you can call me wind for short or just make sure to put the second u (I just dont like windump as it refers to that old stale SAN joke)
2. Idk where you are in the world (UK?) so have you experienced EB games or GAME

My GameStop said that they might be doing something with Pre-orders for X/Y, so I'm excited to see if that's true. GameStop isn't always bad.

Gamestop is hated because whenever you send them back multiple games that you bought for 50-60 dollars. You only get 2 freaking dollars back.

Considering that there's not too many of the good types of employees and most of them tend to be dirtbags or clueless idiots. Plus considering the info from Bazinga's thread of why Gamestop gets hate,

Quote:

I don't know if this has been pointed out before but..... Here is a new bundle with Flocked Prism Break on Gamestops website. If you do all the stuff at regular price you are paying more than retail price for them. If you take into account Gamestops sale online on figures right now you are really getting ripped off. Here is the link. http://www.gamestop.com/collec...a-bundle/107755

There's recently been a couple threads explaining and/or discussing exactly why a lot of Skylanders' fans dislike or disapprove of GameStop, in general, and with regard to Skylanders.

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=88349

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=87503

I'm pretty sure you started one of those two threads yourself.
I don't know why you feel compelled to champion GameStop, Windumup, but I guess good for you for believing in something, even if it's a naive belief in a flawed product.

To be honest, the Gamestop hate is hardly unique to Skylanders. In general they are pretty good in relation to that, their employees typically are told when things are coming in and stock them quickly - which is a far cry better than many stores. They cannot stock to the levels of a TRU, but that is a space issue.

Gamestop deserves their reputation from a lot of other things. Their prices stay MSRP far longer than any other store. They rarely put anything on sale that isn't old. Their "events" are poorly planned and communicated, and handled inconsistently. They hammer you with cross sale pre-order pitches (employees are forced to do this). Their trade in values are comical, and resale prices really high. They "gut" games, then sell them as new. They have been known to "short" pre-order bonuses at times, particularly when it is a cool bonus that might "disappear" before the first copy is sold.

Their employees, of course, run the full gambit. You get really good knowledgeable ones. You get some that don't know as much, but really try to be helpful. Then you get some that are jerks. Some that don't care. Pretty standard for all retail businesses. You don't get many professional acting salesmen when you pay minimum wage.

I don't love Gamestop, but at the end of the day it's a very daunting task to run a physical store these days against giants like Wal-Mart and Target and online options like eBay and Amazon. I understand that they can't afford to always hire talented employees and they can't give the most credit for your trade-ins. They are a for-profit business, and the last big gaming retail chain in existence as far as I know. It's definitely tough for them to drive a profit in this day and age. Their competitors all failed to.

Quote: Sky Airglow

My GameStop said that they might be doing something with Pre-orders for X/Y, so I'm excited to see if that's true. GameStop isn't always bad.

Yeah they are giving out a poster

First reasonable topic I've ever seen from Windumup. YOU GET A THUMBS UP!!!

There are a few things that GS does that other stores do not do with Skylanders that gives you a bad taste in your mouth and none have anything to do with the clerks at the register: (More towards the Manager (District or Local) and or Corporate)

1) You will never find a Chase Variant in the store (unless you got them the first 2 months of SSA release when no one knew about them). There are plenty of post explaining what happens to them.

2) New Single releases are $1 more than other stores. (To name a few: Polar, Gnarly and Pumpkin)

3) They will not honor Activision Coupons. (No issue with EBGames)

4) They never have any sales on Skylanders except for the Polar Whirlwind release (To most people that was a joke)

5) When you have an issue with the store, they blame Corporate and when you call Corporate, they blame the store. No one takes the blame.

If you have EBGames, you are in better shape even though they are considered the same company. EBGames seem to treat Skylanders much better. Issues 2 and 3 do not seem to be any issue with EBGames.

how sure are we that they wont honor the coupons? is it just rumors or do we actually have evidence?

Here is what I posted earlier: //forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/vi...&page=3#4631093

I attempted to order the dark edition, then my brother and niether of us can as it saying our credit info doesnt match etc...which it does..idk what is going on with gamestop.

Quote: dinoah2005

1) You will never find a Chase Variant in the store (unless you got them the first 2 months of SSA release when no one knew about them). There are plenty of post explaining what happens to them.

Is there actual proof of anything suspicious going on at a corporate level? The problem is with the concept of chase variants to begin with. You can't honestly say that if you worked at Gamestop and had a lot of friends who were Skylanders collectors that you wouldn't be calling them up to give them advance notice of chase variants going on sale. The only way this doesn't happen is if every employee at the store is completely apathetic about Skylanders - highly unlikely since everyone working there is a gamer. You're way more likely to run into a chase variant at Wal Mart simply because the employees there aren't necessarily gamers.

Quote: Friendzie

Quote: dinoah2005

1) You will never find a Chase Variant in the store (unless you got them the first 2 months of SSA release when no one knew about them). There are plenty of post explaining what happens to them.

Is there actual proof of anything suspicious going on at a corporate level? The problem is with the concept of chase variants to begin with. You can't honestly say that if you worked at Gamestop and had a lot of friends who were Skylanders collectors that you wouldn't be calling them up to give them advance notice of chase variants going on sale. The only way this doesn't happen is if every employee at the store is completely apathetic about Skylanders - highly unlikely since everyone working there is a gamer. You're way more likely to run into a chase variant at Wal Mart simply because the employees there aren't necessarily gamers.

The answer is YES. Looks like you are new and instead of looking for old post with proof, go to gamestop.com and search for "Skylanders Bundle". There you will find that they remove the Chase variants and put them together in OVERPRICE bundles that they sell online:
http://www.gamestop.com/browse...rs+bundle,28zu0
They never make it out of the Warehouse, needless to say none make it to the stores.

Never had a single problem with my local EbGames here in Canada!!!

Ah I stand corrected dinoah, apologies. I thought you were talking about employees buying up the variants for their friends which I had seen mentioned in another thread. It's hard to keep track of all the references to other threads and topics. If GS corporate is advocating this behavior then I would ask that you please explicitly say they every time you talk about this issue so that people understand you're not just blowing hot air. Lots of rumors on the internet....

Quote: Hazard335

how sure are we that they wont honor the coupons? is it just rumors or do we actually have evidence?

The manager at mine honored the coupon.
He said to save it for release day( swap force coupon)
And used the 1$ coupon to help pay for GTR

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

1-well, windemup, you said you leaved?
2-never experienced a gamestop......

1. I came back because I thought Big green left due to that old trend. O and btw you can call me wind for short or just make sure to put the second u (I just dont like windump as it refers to that old stale SAN joke)
2. Idk where you are in the world (UK?) so have you experienced EB games or GAME

1) ok btw: sorry for my "evilness"
2) nope, i live in the Netherlands, a horrible place for skylander hunters there's not s2 bash here, or ANY of these shops

Regarding the GameStop bundles... I'm not a fan of them, but is it possible, in theory, that the chase figures in these bundles are the ones that would come out of the cases that they open for dot-com orders, while still sending full, unbroken cases to stores?

It seems if they were pulling all the chase figures out from all their stores, they'd have more bundles to sell on the website...

Just a thought.

Quote: UncleBob

Regarding the GameStop bundles... I'm not a fan of them, but is it possible, in theory, that the chase figures in these bundles are the ones that would come out of the cases that they open for dot-com orders, while still sending full, unbroken cases to stores?

It seems if they were pulling all the chase figures out from all their stores, they'd have more bundles to sell on the website...

Just a thought.

That is possible, actually. I could flat out see someone who ordered online complaining about getting, say, a metallic figure when the advertised one was painted. This issue doesn't exist in a store where the customer sees the bundle they're getting. I worked in online retail for 5 years and people will complain about things that are way more trivial than that, and then give you a bad rating for it.

Quote: UncleBob

Regarding the GameStop bundles... I'm not a fan of them, but is it possible, in theory, that the chase figures in these bundles are the ones that would come out of the cases that they open for dot-com orders, while still sending full, unbroken cases to stores?

It seems if they were pulling all the chase figures out from all their stores, they'd have more bundles to sell on the website...

Just a thought.

That might be true, but has ANYONE seen a chase variant at Gamestop store since back in the SSA days? At all? As I recall, I've seen people on this forum get lucky and find them at several stores, but never Gamestop. They are exceedingly rare, but someone inevitably finds one at other stores.

And BTW, the times I have seen figures come in (minus the direct to store Hot Dog Battle Pack shipment), they come in from Gamestop headquarters, not direct from Activision. They are thrown in the boxes of other stuff, shipped from Oklahoma (which is why new stuff fans out around the country starting from there). And even if they come in cases to the store, that does not mean they don't pop them open, then re-tape the box.

Quote: Friendzie

Ah I stand corrected dinoah, apologies. I thought you were talking about employees buying up the variants for their friends which I had seen mentioned in another thread. It's hard to keep track of all the references to other threads and topics. If GS corporate is advocating this behavior then I would ask that you please explicitly say they every time you talk about this issue so that people understand you're not just blowing hot air. Lots of rumors on the internet....

I hear you, but if I keep saying it others will make a statement like, "We already know" or "Stop it already". If you have over 300 GEMs you are or should be aware of this but since you only have 11 GEMs, I figured it was easier to explain to you than for you to go find it.

As for not having more bundles, Activision is aware (Other post show that we at Dark Spyro have called Activision and complained) of this issue so I see it as, Activision is limiting GS or cutting them off all together with the Chase Variants. And if we keep complaining about GS not honoring their coupons maybe, just maybe they (GS) will stop getting exclusives (i.e. Dark Starter Pack). Of course EBGames is not included in this conversation because we know from previous posts that they do honor the coupons. But since I don't live in Canada, it does me know good...

Quote: defpally

Quote: UncleBob

Regarding the GameStop bundles... I'm not a fan of them, but is it possible, in theory, that the chase figures in these bundles are the ones that would come out of the cases that they open for dot-com orders, while still sending full, unbroken cases to stores?

It seems if they were pulling all the chase figures out from all their stores, they'd have more bundles to sell on the website...

Just a thought.

That might be true, but has ANYONE seen a chase variant at Gamestop store since back in the SSA days? At all? As I recall, I've seen people on this forum get lucky and find them at several stores, but never Gamestop. They are exceedingly rare, but someone inevitably finds one at other stores.

And BTW, the times I have seen figures come in (minus the direct to store Hot Dog Battle Pack shipment), they come in from Gamestop headquarters, not direct from Activision. They are thrown in the boxes of other stuff, shipped from Oklahoma (which is why new stuff fans out around the country starting from there). And even if they come in cases to the store, that does not mean they don't pop them open, then re-tape the box.

I agree 110%.

Not counting the first 2 months of SSA the stores that have seen the most Chase Variants is TRU, Walmart is Second and Target is Third. Is there anyone out there that has gotten them from any other store since Christmas time of SSA?

Quote: NINJAsk11

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

1-well, windemup, you said you leaved?
2-never experienced a gamestop......

1. I came back because I thought Big green left due to that old trend. O and btw you can call me wind for short or just make sure to put the second u (I just dont like windump as it refers to that old stale SAN joke)
2. Idk where you are in the world (UK?) so have you experienced EB games or GAME

1) ok btw: sorry for my "evilness"
2) nope, i live in the Netherlands, a horrible place for skylander hunters there's not s2 bash here, or ANY of these shops

1) Its ok I am sure Big green/Rendar was just twisting your arm and using you as an anti wind up weapon. (Seeing as you are the only reason I came here)
2) oh. Well thats lame

Nope same here, no problem at my Gamestop here in Missouri. I actually head there first to get all of the new figures when they are released.

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

Quote: Windumup

1. I came back because I thought Big green left due to that old trend. O and btw you can call me wind for short or just make sure to put the second u (I just dont like windump as it refers to that old stale SAN joke)
2. Idk where you are in the world (UK?) so have you experienced EB games or GAME

1) ok btw: sorry for my "evilness"
2) nope, i live in the Netherlands, a horrible place for skylander hunters there's not s2 bash here, or ANY of these shops

1) Its ok I am sure Big green/Rendar was just twisting your arm and using you as an anti wind up weapon. (Seeing as you are the only reason I came here)
2) oh. Well thats lame

1) who? srsly, i dont come much on there
2) we have Intertoys, Bart Smit, Gamemania and Dixons Mediamarkt and Satrun
you dont know any of these do you?

Quote: dinoah2005

Quote: Friendzie

Ah I stand corrected dinoah, apologies. I thought you were talking about employees buying up the variants for their friends which I had seen mentioned in another thread. It's hard to keep track of all the references to other threads and topics. If GS corporate is advocating this behavior then I would ask that you please explicitly say they every time you talk about this issue so that people understand you're not just blowing hot air. Lots of rumors on the internet....

I hear you, but if I keep saying it others will make a statement like, "We already know" or "Stop it already". If you have over 300 GEMs you are or should be aware of this but since you only have 11 GEMs, I figured it was easier to explain to you than for you to go find it.

As for not having more bundles, Activision is aware (Other post show that we at Dark Spyro have called Activision and complained) of this issue so I see it as, Activision is limiting GS or cutting them off all together with the Chase Variants. And if we keep complaining about GS not honoring their coupons maybe, just maybe they (GS) will stop getting exclusives (i.e. Dark Starter Pack). Of course EBGames is not included in this conversation because we know from previous posts that they do honor the coupons. But since I don't live in Canada, it does me know good...

I see you are an outstanding member of this community. :-)

Quote: NINJAsk11

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

1) ok btw: sorry for my "evilness"
2) nope, i live in the Netherlands, a horrible place for skylander hunters there's not s2 bash here, or ANY of these shops

1) Its ok I am sure Big green/Rendar was just twisting your arm and using you as an anti wind up weapon. (Seeing as you are the only reason I came here)
2) oh. Well thats lame

1) who? srsly, i dont come much on there
2) we have Intertoys, Bart Smit, Gamemania and Dixons Mediamarkt and Satrun
you dont know any of these do you?

1)Big green/Rendar are the biggest trolls (expecially toward me ) in the stuff and nonsense section. Occasionally they fight each other when they arent calling me windump
2) I have no idea on any of those exactly

Quote: defpally

Quote: UncleBob

Regarding the GameStop bundles... I'm not a fan of them, but is it possible, in theory, that the chase figures in these bundles are the ones that would come out of the cases that they open for dot-com orders, while still sending full, unbroken cases to stores?

It seems if they were pulling all the chase figures out from all their stores, they'd have more bundles to sell on the website...

Just a thought.

That might be true, but has ANYONE seen a chase variant at Gamestop store since back in the SSA days? At all? As I recall, I've seen people on this forum get lucky and find them at several stores, but never Gamestop. They are exceedingly rare, but someone inevitably finds one at other stores.

And BTW, the times I have seen figures come in (minus the direct to store Hot Dog Battle Pack shipment), they come in from Gamestop headquarters, not direct from Activision. They are thrown in the boxes of other stuff, shipped from Oklahoma (which is why new stuff fans out around the country starting from there). And even if they come in cases to the store, that does not mean they don't pop them open, then re-tape the box.

I've seen the re-packs at some GameStops. Not too uncommon.

As for never finding a variant there - Could easily have something to do with employees holding them for themselves/friends. Has anyone ever found a variant at a K-Mart? Or a Walgreens?

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

Quote: Windumup

1) Its ok I am sure Big green/Rendar was just twisting your arm and using you as an anti wind up weapon. (Seeing as you are the only reason I came here)
2) oh. Well thats lame

1) who? srsly, i dont come much on there
2) we have Intertoys, Bart Smit, Gamemania and Dixons Mediamarkt and Satrun
you dont know any of these do you?

1)Big green/Rendar are the biggest trolls (expecially toward me ) in the stuff and nonsense section. Occasionally they fight each other when they arent calling me windump
2) I have no idea on any of those exactly

Um... You're going VERY off-topic.

Not to mention, you probably only go to one or two GameStops, while I go to at least 4 or 5.

Just because the one you go to is good doesn't mean that the thousands of other stores are just as good with Skylanders.

Quote: Matteomax

Quote: Windumup

Quote: NINJAsk11

1) who? srsly, i dont come much on there
2) we have Intertoys, Bart Smit, Gamemania and Dixons Mediamarkt and Satrun
you dont know any of these do you?

1)Big green/Rendar are the biggest trolls (expecially toward me ) in the stuff and nonsense section. Occasionally they fight each other when they arent calling me windump
2) I have no idea on any of those exactly

Um... You're going VERY off-topic.

Not to mention, you probably only go to one or two GameStops, while I go to at least 4 or 5.

Just because the one you go to is good doesn't mean that the thousands of other stores are just as good with Skylanders.

Sorry Matteo it wont happen again

And yeah true but I was just giving some advice for those having trouble

i have been to ONE gamestop in my life
and the people are nice there, we had a chat about skylanders lasting one HOUR!
then the person asked me what i wanted to get, and thats where i got my triggerhappy plush!

My Gamestop is awesome.
But Swap-Force Dark Starter Pack... 130 euros...

Quote: UncleBob

As for never finding a variant there - Could easily have something to do with employees holding them for themselves/friends. Has anyone ever found a variant at a K-Mart? Or a Walgreens?

Very possible, and it does make sense that employees at a game store would recognize those as being special/valuable. However, I would have thought a few would have slipped through at the thousands of Gamestops. MY question was actually an open one, I was just wondering if anyone could prove it wrong.

I don't think Walgreens really carries the volumes for it to surprise me they on a lack of a confirmed sighting.

As for K-Mart, you mean people actually shop there anymore?

Quote: StalkerSnake

My Gamestop is awesome.
But Swap-Force Dark Starter Pack... 130 euros...

here we dont have gamestop, but we do have Bart Smit!
Dark Starter Pack here is 100 euros!

I think you'll find a lot of how Gamestop behaves is due to the management and staff at that store. They truly appear to have a very loose franchise system. I've recently removed one from my go-to list as they seem shady. I feel like they'd have sold my preorder if I did not show up when I did.

The other two are above board and behaved well, they treat me and the kids well. They almost know who I am when I come in, and will even tell me if there is something in that they know I'd want to have. At times they've gone above and beyond to find something I was asking for.

I don't like that they may be breaking cases to sell bundles. However given my shadier experience (oh this shop had been bothering me) I don't think it matters much. Lots of options out there in my travels.

When it comes to slanderers the hardest problem I see is that stock does not change enough. When you get to a point where everyone has the commons or the ones they want, a place that stocks the way Gamestop does, will have less and less selection.

Regarding the Jun-ish event? We made out well. If it had not happened Skylanders would not be in my house. We saved quite a bundle that day.

Quote: NINJAsk11

Quote: StalkerSnake

My Gamestop is awesome.
But Swap-Force Dark Starter Pack... 130 euros...

here we dont have gamestop, but we do have Bart Smit!
Dark Starter Pack here is 100 euros!

Whyy??

Quote: CRBeau1

I think you'll find a lot of how Gamestop behaves is due to the management and staff at that store. They truly appear to have a very loose franchise system. I've recently removed one from my go-to list as they seem shady. I feel like they'd have sold my preorder if I did not show up when I did.

The other two are above board and behaved well, they treat me and the kids well. They almost know who I am when I come in, and will even tell me if there is something in that they know I'd want to have. At times they've gone above and beyond to find something I was asking for.

I don't like that they may be breaking cases to sell bundles. However given my shadier experience (oh this shop had been bothering me) I don't think it matters much. Lots of options out there in my travels.

When it comes to slanderers the hardest problem I see is that stock does not change enough. When you get to a point where everyone has the commons or the ones they want, a place that stocks the way Gamestop does, will have less and less selection.

Regarding the Jun-ish event? We made out well. If it had not happened Skylanders would not be in my house. We saved quite a bundle that day.

Mine says they arent getting any "big" stock till swap force (No point in stocking up on giant figures)
Exclusions are special varients (They got like 10 PEBs recently but I ordered one from another store the day they did might get it in the mail today or tomorrow)

gamestop is awful with skylanders.

Quote: TacoMakerSkys

gamestop is awful with skylanders.

I agree 120%

Quote: dinoah2005

Quote: TacoMakerSkys

gamestop is awful with skylanders.

I agree 120%

Did you even read the thread?

Quote: Windumup

Quote: dinoah2005

Quote: TacoMakerSkys

gamestop is awful with skylanders.

I agree 120%

Did you even read the thread?

Ummmm...
Yes,
We both (TacoMakerSkys and Myself) agree to disagree with you. 120% in a disagreement with you.