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Businesses The Almighty Buck Games

GameStop Offers $50 Certificate For Coupon Fiasco 147

Posted by timothy from the token-effort-for-stealing-tokens dept.
First time accepted submitter milbournosphere writes "It appears that GameStop has a guilty conscience. They are offering a $50 gift certificate to any person who bought the new Deus Ex at GameStop. You may recall that GameStop has admitted to removing the OnLive codes good for one free game from new, unopened copies of the game. From GameStop's email: 'For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience. Please bring in this email and your store receipt or order confirmation from GameStop.com and present it to a Game Advisor.'"
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GameStop Offers $50 Certificate For Coupon Fiasco More

GameStop Offers $50 Certificate For Coupon Fiasco

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  • Corporate humility at its best (Score:5, Insightful)

    by richdun ( 672214 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @07:43PM (#37224152)
    Please humbly accept our apologies. To make this better, we'd like to offer you the chance to buy more stuff from us.
    • In another leaked memo, it was found that GameStop had instructed employees to deny that this "was part of the plan all along."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cryacin ( 657549 )
      Give em a break. Their business model is dead and they know it. Just like we no longer buy dead tree, why should be go and buy a hunk of plastic in a bit of dead tree? Much more convenient to impulse buy from your lounge chair.

      • Who buys? That business model is dead and gone. Much cheaper just to download off a bittorrent site.

        • Re:Corporate humility at its best (Score:4, Insightful)

          by f()rK()_Bomb ( 612162 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @08:32PM (#37224456)
          i buy stuff from steam every week pretty much in their sales as do my friends. games are just overpriced, that's the real reason people download them. I won't buy deus ex till it's half price for example. online stores allow you to easily expolit the long tail effect since you don't need to keep stock on shelves.

        • Who buys? That business model is dead and gone. Much cheaper just to download off a bittorrent site.

          Only cheaper if you don't get busted...

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I disagree. I could go on steam right now and buy the witcher 1, along with the witcher 2, both of which I quite want to play.

        Or, I could buy the boxed copies off of amazon for cheaper.
        And get a manual, a story book, a cd with extra missions and a making of cd. Just for the witcher 1.
        For 2 I'll get a coin, a map, a replica of an ingame pamphlet.
        Buying physical copies for some games is very very beneficial. Plus it gives you a nice collection on a shelf. I just need to get 2 pen drives, put the updates on th

        • Does that additional stuff (with the possible exception of the extra missions) actually add any value to your gaming experience?
        • I wanted a physical copy of The Witcher 2, but ended up purchasing it on gog.com instead as it is a sister-company of the developer and I wanted to make sure more of my money went directly to them to support the lack of DRM and overall quality development they do.

        • Speaking as someone who is stuck in a hotel with lousy, intermittent wifi, you won't regret that decision.

          (yes i know about offline mode.)

      • Speak for yourself son. I like my dead trees. I'm not going to tell you to get off my lawn, but I LIKE a physical copy.
        Now get out of my tree.

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @08:49PM (#37224574)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by splutty ( 43475 )

          I would argue that all of you in the US will have data caps with a pay per GB, possibly, yes.

          In most countries in Europe that really wouldn't work, either due to there being enough choices to punch whoever tries this in the face, or due to it simply being illegal.

          There have been lawsuits and other badness around this model for mobile phones, which sets a bit of a precedent.

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • In most countries in Europe that really wouldn't work, either due to there being enough choices to punch whoever tries this in the face, or due to it simply being illegal.

            We have them here. We only have 3 companies and they're pretty much reached a balance between them. They've always had the cap so nobody saw it strange.

            That said between midnight and 6 is free, so I tend to download all my stuff that time, and end up going over the cap 3-4 times.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by josath ( 460165 )
          I'm in the US, I pay $50 a month for 18/2mbit cable, with a 300GB cap. Over that, it's $5 for 25GB (which is $0.20 per GB). I've gotten close, but haven't gone over 300GB yet.

          It's amazing what happens when there is competition -- there are two cable internet providers in my city (Comcast and Astound)

      • Just like we no longer buy dead tree

        We? Who the fuck is "we"? You got a turd in your pocket? Oh, you must be under 20. Wait until you're my age kid. Live through a couple of abandoned formats and you'll learn the attractiveness of a medium that doesn't rely on a third party remaining in business.

        LK

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LibRT ( 1966204 )
        "Their business model is dead and they don't know it." FTFY.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Pharmboy ( 216950 )

      In all fairness, what they are offering sounds much better than the coupon they took out. Unlike the Sony asshats that offered a free month (zero cost to themselves) for unleashing your credit card data all over the net.

      IMHO, this seems like a fair deal and an honest attempt to correct a mistake. After all, no one bought the game originally just to get the coupon, so most of the purchasers are getting way more than they paid for.

      And...... of course it is a coupon for their own company, plus BOGO offer on

      • Re:Corporate humility at its best (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Hijacked Public ( 999535 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @08:20PM (#37224376)

        It wasn't a mistake, it was a purposeful altering of a product prior to selling it as 'new' without telling anyone.

        The claim is that they didn't want to sell what is essentially a coupon for a competitor's store, and I don't blame them, but they could very well have been up front about that prior to the sale and included this 'deal' in its place then instead of now.

        It is annoying to me and I don't even game.

        • It wasn't a mistake, it was a purposeful altering of a product prior to selling it as 'new' without telling anyone.

          I believe that qualifies as a mistake. Not an accident, but a mistake.

        • IMHO what they should have done PRIOR to this whole batch of idiocy: Accept the coupon themselves. Just like many grocers have been doing for years for their competitors coupons.
          Corporate short sightedness strikes again.

          • Or they could have swapped it out for an Impulse coupon of the same value, since they bought that out (and promptly fucked it up, but that's pretty typical of a global mega-corp).

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          How is that not a mistake? Given they are now apologizing . Hint: purposefulness does not change whether something is a mistake or not.

          "It was a mistake to punch Joe in the face." "It was a mistake to steal the cookie." "It was a mistake to watch the Matrix 2." "It was a mistake to pick the chocolate flavor." "It was a mistake to have sex with the bosses daughter." All common usages of mistake for something done purposefully.

        • They did it on purpose, definitely, but it was a mistake to do it at all. The $50 dollars definitely covers the cost of the coupon, and the buy 2 get one free deal also results in "free" stuff to the customer. I think Gamestop is being fair here: They're giving the customer back what they took (arguably more, a coupon can only be used to redeem one specific game that they already had, they can get anything with this gift card), and extending a special offer to those they screwed over.

          At the very least, they

        • Several other have already articulated why this *was* a mistake, and it certainly was. What matters most is that they admitted it was a mistake, and instead of punting the blame, or being miserly in dealing with it, they put their money where their mouth was and instantly stopped the practice AND compensated everyone who was affected with something that was worth much more than the original coupon, arguably twice the value since the coupon was good for any game, plus the buy1/get1 on used, any used.

          Compani

      • Why was parent modded troll? He may have been a little passionate about Sony, but he was right on most counts.

        It sounds like a damn good deal, especially if the only people affected were already GameStop customers.

        It really does seem like GameStop is trying to apologize for this mistake. so fucking let them already.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by sorak ( 246725 )

          I am a firm believer that, if I try to take X from someone, and get caught, I need to do far more than "return X". It's not about revenge, but about making this kind of behavior unprofitable enough so that the losses exceed the gains. I didn't buy the game, but if I bought something there, and didn't get EXACTLY what I paid for, including the game, the box, the manual,. and everything else that the manufacturer had wanted me, the customer, to have, then I would feel that they had cheated me.

          "X plus a coupon

        • I have to agree with you there. What game stop did was retarded, an abuse of all trusts, and borderline illegal. But I do have to admit this attempt to fix it, is actually abnormally good for a snafu of this sort. Most companies even despite outrage will at best offer the customers to come in and get the receipt, gamestop is basically giving out 1 free new game (personally I do see the BOGO used game coupon as a ploy, that is a coupon that gains them more then it costs them) as compensation for screwing som

        • Why was parent modded troll?

          My last 5 comments were modded troll, not just this one. IE: drive by modding by someone who does like me. The system is supposed to be designed to notice this and deny mod points in the future to people who use points like this. I can karma to burn, so it doesn't hurt me, just shows how petty some people are.

      • In this instance, it seems like they really are trying to fix a mistake.

        If they wanted to "fix" the mistake they could pay for OnLive service for anyone that was deprived of the experience by this unethical practice. Anything else is just blowing smoke up the customers asses.

    • Also, here is 50 bucks. Please don't sue us.

  • Uh No Thanks (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Reminds me of class action lawsuits: "Hey there friend, sorry we fucked you so hard last time, here's a coupon for $10 off your next ass-fucking at any of our many locations."

    • Re:Uh No Thanks (Score:4, Insightful)

      by sjames ( 1099 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @08:40PM (#37224506) Homepage Journal

      To be fair, it's not a $50 off on a purchase, it's a gift card. In a class action suit, you'd have to spend $150 in order to take advantage of the $50.

      I have no idea what the original OnLive code was worth, but the gift card is genuinely better than a dollars off coupon.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Aladrin ( 926209 )

        It was worth $49.99.

        In other words, they are preventing a ton of lawsuits by giving you the value they stole from you. As a nice bonus, you can still buy what you would have originally had, or you can buy something else.

        • by giving you the value they stole from you.

          Except that you're going to use this value at their stores and not be able to take a peek at a competitor's company which you just might like more.

          Its a win for GS. Allright the customer gets an equal value, but its not that fair IMHO.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tycoex ( 1832784 )

            I'd say it's definitely a win for the customers too. Either you get a 50 dollar coupon for a useless streaming site for a game you already own... or you get to actually buy any game you want for 50 dollars. Sounds like a total win to me.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Aladrin ( 926209 )

            Oh, I missed that it was a GS-only gift card. I assumed it was a Visa one.

            Well then they haven't dodged the bullet, because you still can't end up with what you were supposed to. They're still up for a lawsuit. That's really stupid.

  • My housemate's an OnLive employee, so I've already tried it out. I think it's pretty good, but you can decide for yourself with their free trial [onlive.com].

  • Friends (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Friends don't let friends buy from GameStop.

  • Buy 2 Get 1 (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I understand the $50 as a sorry.. But how can they offer the Buy 2 get 1 pre-owned game, when that is a everyday sort of deal. Or at least Everytime I walk into my local gamestop they have signs posted about it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Binestar ( 28861 )

      This is extremely easy to answer: The removal of the coupon got them bad news on CNN, etc. By saying they are giving everyone a $50 credit and mentioning their buy two get one free on used, they are actually paying very little for good advertizing. Every news story about this will include their deal for their used games.

      If I was the cynical type, I'd say they planned it all along for the free advertizing.

    • Usually, the buy two get one free deal only applies to certain (usually older) used games. I'm assuming this will apply to all used games.

  • Gamestop's Side (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 26, 2011 @08:48PM (#37224564)

    I did not see many people taking Gamestop's side in all this. From their point of view publishers have been trying to ruin their business for a long time now. First they debate the legality of second hand sales. Then they begin offering their own distribution methods. Now they are specifically advertising for a competing market but using the old one that got them rich in the first place.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tridus ( 79566 )

      Probably because most people have a story like mine: go to Gamestop to buy a new game, and instead get a lecture about why I should have pre-ordered a month ago. Walk across the street to big box store that doesn't specialize in games. Buy game. Never go to Gamestop again.

      I didn't even know I wanted the game before release, and I shouldn't have to put up with that nonsense from a game store when a random big box can stock new games without a fuss.

      I can't think of any other retailer as terrible at selling th

      • Not to mention having to explain why i don't want disc insurance and why im not in the game club and no i don't want to buy a magazine.. ect.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Grave ( 8234 )

        GameStop's core product is used games, which they are massively better at selling than anyone else. You can complain about pricing if you like, but they move huge volumes of used games. Think it's not worth it to buy a used copy for only $5 less than new? That might be true of you, but whenever a big title is released like Call of Duty, those used copies are often sold before they even get put out on the shelves. GameStop only sells PC games at all to avoid upsetting publishers - the money earned from t

    • If they didn't want to distribute something that was in normal packaging of the product they should have negotiated a special run of the game, not broken every shrink wrap. It happens all the time (like certain games offering special unlocks when buying at certain outlets).

    • "From their point of view publishers have been trying to ruin their business for a long time now."

      If they don't want to sell items that include incentives from those publishers, they are free not to sell those items. If instead they open the boxes, steal part of what's being sold, and then sell those boxes as "new," well that's when people tend to not take Gamestop's side.

      I was going to pre-order Forza 4 from Gamestop before this happened. Now I'm going to pre-order it from somewhere else. Anywhere else. Fu

    • Their business isn't selling games, it's selling used games. That's what makes them money. It's no wonder they have an antagonistic relationship with publishers.

      However, regardless of what you think about things like included day one DLC or paid multiplayer passes, this was absolutely unacceptable behavior on Gamestop's part. And they know it. This is a pretty blatant attempt to dodge a class-action suit.

  • Corporate naming b.s. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MickyTheIdiot ( 1032226 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @09:02PM (#37224630) Homepage Journal

    Does anyone else throw up in their mouth a little bit when they read a corporate euphemism for "store clerk" like "game advisor"?

  • Trust? Hardly. (Score:3)

    by Alzheimers ( 467217 ) on Friday August 26, 2011 @09:49PM (#37224840)

    "We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience."

    Sorry guys, you lost that when you sold me a copy of Sins of a Solar Empire without a disc in the case.

    That was before I "trusted" digital downloads. Because of that, now it's the physical stores I don't trust. Ironic.

  • "...and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase."

    So basically anything in the store then.

  • Dear GameStop: (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    STOP OPENING MY GAMES. This is why I never buy from GameStop / EB, because you have the audacity to OPEN everything before I do. You know what shrink wrap is supposed to mean?, it means I'm guaranteed on getting an UNALTERED product.

    ESPECIALLY with most stores not taking back opened copies.

    Oh, when you hear about say,
    selling used games as if they were new [kotaku.com], or say, ripping off the customers, and then trying to distract them with a shiny gift card,
    it makes me trust you even less then I did before.

    1) Stop o

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 6Yankee ( 597075 )

      You know what shrink wrap is supposed to mean?, it means I'm guaranteed on getting an UNALTERED product.

      Or that they have a shrink wrap machine in the back. According to Google, you can pick up a small one for 500 GBP. Sell enough used/altered stuff as "new" and it'll pay for itself in no time.

    • Their entire buisness model is based on selling Used Games. They make next to nothing on a new game purchase, usually only $5 or so, however, a used game is nearly 100% profit. That's also why they always ask you if you want to buy a used copy of the game for less when you try buying a new disc. MOAR PROFIT.

  • This is wasteful corporate stupidity at it's best. First, pay employees to spend time opening factory sealed new games to remove a voucher for a free ~$50 game from a competing service included in something they are selling. Then, when people find out about it, claim to have done nothing wrong at first, alienating and forcing people to question their trust in GameStop, and then after people have ample time to stew over it, follow it up by sheepishly offering a free $50 game purchase AND a Buy 2 get 1 Free p

    • anyone who still shops @ brick and mortar stores is asking for this sort of thing. Steam and NewEgg don't remove vouchers. Nor do they require gas $ to take a trip to the store. Or charge tax. Or require you to deal with annoying sales people.

      Yes, but when I want a game NOW....I want it fucking *NOW*...not in three to six business days, or for an extra $30 for super-rushed shipping on a 1lbs package.

      • I admit to having that urge too. But then I remembered that I can get stuff from newegg in less than 2 days, and that is with standard shipping. It never takes more than 2. And if you can't wait a measly 48 hours to play a video game, you are either an impatient child or you get everything you deserve when you head to a local shop. Also, Steam downloads your game instantly. Faster than than it would take you to head to your local shop in most cases. My steam games never download slower than 2.0 MB/s

    • Don't forget OnLive, who actually benefit from this whole thing.
      - They don't have to honor the $50 vouchers GameStop has thrown away.
      - They get free publicity as a company who decided to give something for free to their potential customers and have been wronged by a competitor.
      - ...

      Their marketing department should send a huge fruits basket to the GameStop HQ to say thanks.

      • Maybe they don't, but they probably paid Square a small fortune to include the coupons in the first place, and got ripped off by the retailer - you can bet Square isn't going to give OnLine a partial refund...

        • That's more of a matter of OnLive's lawyers looking into how they can suea hefty sum out of GameStop. It's not Square's fault that a retailer has caused financial damages by removing those coupons.

  • Now if only EA would change their EULA for Origin and eliminate the portion where they grant themselves the right to datamine your hard drive.
  • "It appears that GameStop has a guilty conscience." Simple answer is that, they do not have a conscience. The reason for this is not out of guilt but out of profit. This has always been about profit. Why did they remove the coupons in the beginning? Because it was aiding their competition, in other words their potential profit. And why did they decide to offer the $50? Obvious reason, profit in the long run. They realized the sheer amount of backlash from this and attempting to win people's hearts. All thi
  • I've totally changed though. Just don't leave, is all I'm asking, give me another chance. If you stay, I totally guarantee that I won't beat you up again, much, for at least a week, unless you do something dumb and get me mad again, or I have a drink, or I want to.

  • There's no conscience there, they're just p*ssed they got caught yet again, exposing their terrible business practices, I'm amazed honestly that anyone even shops there anymore, you don't even know if the game you're buying is new, legit, etc. I'll just stick with Steam, Amazon or even Best Buy.

    Their management is running that company into the ground, the sooner the better I say. They deserve to die screaming and in flames.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mysidia ( 191772 ) *

      Either that or this is a marketing promotion, to go even further. So they "removed" a free game from competitor coupon and included their own coupon for a "game from us", for the dilligent customers who learned about this whole thing.

      How is this not a marketing thing to benefit Gamestop at further expense to the competitor?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Morpeth ( 577066 )

        It might be a 'marketing thing', but the only PR it's gotten them is bad, and rightfully so; so I'm not sure it was in any way successful if that was the intent.

        I think it benefits Gamestop only at the expense of the consumer more than anything else, and in the end I hope it hurts their bottom line and reputation -- what little's left of it -- even further.

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