GRcade

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

Someone on here - i forget who - mentioned that GAME was stopping distinguishing between preowned and new intentionally?

TigaSefi wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

Someone on here - i forget who - mentioned that GAME was stopping distinguishing between preowned and new intentionally?

The Preowned prices certainly backs this theory up

I got £113 on a GAME card so I am gonna use it up!!

TheTurnipKing wrote:

TigaSefi wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

Someone on here - i forget who - mentioned that GAME was stopping distinguishing between preowned and new intentionally?

The Preowned prices certainly backs this theory up

I got £113 on a GAME card so I am gonna use it up!!

I mean, they were talking about GAME taking entirely new stock and treating it as preowned as well.

Shadow wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

TigaSefi wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

Someone on here - i forget who - mentioned that GAME was stopping distinguishing between preowned and new intentionally?

The Preowned prices certainly backs this theory up

I got £113 on a GAME card so I am gonna use it up!!

I mean, they were talking about GAME taking entirely new stock and treating it as preowned as well.

Yeah that used to happen when I worked there, it was never really explained why they did that. I imagine it's some sort of shady goings on. Maybe they write it off as stolen and then add it to their second hand inventory whilst claiming for the new copies on their insurance or summat.

TigaSefi wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Cal wrote:

Turok wrote:This is so outrageous I went upstairs and kicked my dog in the balls.

Still, it's not on to be selling shoddy copies as new if that is what's happening. I suppose this kind of thing matters more to us obsessive collectors than most, but all game stores would do well not to piss off their core customer base with these shenanigans.

Someone on here - i forget who - mentioned that GAME was stopping distinguishing between preowned and new intentionally?

The Preowned prices certainly backs this theory up

I got £113 on a GAME card so I am gonna use it up!!

spikey wrote:Is this not just the by-product of GAME's 10 day returns policy?

GAME Group PLC has been selling "ex-display" stock as new from its website GAME.co.uk, as well as from its sister site Gamestation.co.uk and allegedly Gameplay.co.uk.

The stock, which GAME says "slipped through our quality screening processes", appears to be stock of older titles that are being ordered via the company's website during its Easter sale period.

But the new games are arriving in customers' hands in an unsatisfactory, and occasionally even damaged condition, sparking outrage on gaming forums and social website Twitter.

"I bought a new copy of Resident Evil 4 Wii a couple of weeks back from them for a friends birthday," said a member of UK gaming forum GRcade.com. "It was anything but 'new'. It had Game's own seal on the tattered box, but inside there were preowned stickers all over the place.

"I contacted them and told them I was furious with this service, after having paid additional costs for a new copy. They told me to send the copy back to them for a full refund, but have yet to contact me."

Another GRcade forum member added:

"While Red Faction looks new (the cellophane is torn, but it's got the Xbox sticker over the bit where you open the case), The Bigs 2 and Infinite Undiscovery are clearly second hand. Battered boxes, labels half torn off (only the sticky labels, but a new game wouldn't have that), the cases are scuffed, and the The Bigs disc is scratched/marked. I haven't opened Infinite Undiscovery in case, but I assume it's shoddy inside as well."

A member of popular UK electronics forum AVForums also created a thread named "Beware of GAME.co.uk Easter Sale", which later housed stories of numerous GAME customers receiving new product in an imperfect condition.

We also experienced it for ourselves. After ordering a copy of an Xbox 360 game from GAME.co.uk, it arrived with a torn case, dog-eared manual and scratched disc. Ordering the same game again a few days later from Gamestation.co.uk prompted the same result.

We contacted GAME Group PLC to find out why games labelled as new were being sold to customers in an unsatisfactory condition, and to ask what processes were in place to ensure that stock being sold as new was fit for purpose.

A spokesperson for GAME told us:

"It has come to our attention that a small number of our customers have raised concerns about the physical condition of some products purchased from our websites in the current Easter sale period.

"We can categorically confirm that all products sold as "new" on our web sites are new. In order to ensure that we had adequate inventory cover to meet the projected demand during the sale period we had moved some stock back from stores and into our online distribution centre. This stock should be in MINT condition but we are now aware that some ex-display stock has slipped through our quality screening processes. This stock is new (it has never been owned by anyone other than us, and certainly it has never been played) however it may have been stripped of its plastic wrapping.

"If any of our customers have bought a "new" game from us, then we will have sent a new game out to them. If any customer has received a game that is damaged or that they are not happy about the condition of, we will be pleased to replace it or refund it, subject to our normal terms and conditions. We would never seek to mislead our customers by offering for sale product that we know to be sub-standard and would like to take this opportunity to offer our apologies to any customer that has been inconvenienced by this matter.

"If any customer has received a product that they are not happy with, they can;

a) contact us via the web form located at: http://www.game.co.uk/Help/CustService.aspx

b) Take the product to their local store (along with their despatch note supplied with the order)

Or

c) call our Customer Services team on 0871 200 1221*. Hours of Operation: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. Please be aware that calls cost 10p per minute; calls from mobile and some networks may be higher.

"We value our reputation as a trusted retailer and can assure all of our customers that we will respond swiftly and positively to any issues that may be raised with us. We have conducted rigorous quality checks of our Sale stock holding to ensure that all items we ship are of the quality our customers expect and can assure them that they can continue to purchase from our online Easter Sales with confidence."

KKLEIN wrote:Typical, all these people hearing about GRcade.com & we've turned it in to a strawberry floating Glee sanctuary! WITH PURPLE FONT.