Ex-GameStop employee speaks out - questionable GameStop policies revealed

[forevercloud3000]

Sky Render said:

The video series is pretty hard to sum up, but I'll try to get the key points.

* GameStop employees are rated on how many trade-ins, magazine subscriptions, and reservations they get, which encourages them to do anything to raise their numbers for those things

This is true. If you are not bringing in enough numbers a week then you could be fired. This is similar to those whoe get comition for their work but in this case the incentive is to simply keep your job, at most get a promotion.

* The mark-ups on used products versus trade-in values are akin to a pawn shop's: they'll pay $25 for a traded in game which they then re-sell as used for $55

Also very much true, its really sad really how they do this. I slyly tell some customers where they might be able to find cheaper games and acc at other stores if applicable(shhhhh! dont tell anyone)

* GameStop knowingly buys stolen copies of video games to resell

This is partially true. The company does not know per say. It is more like we have a very promising hunch that a product might be stolen yet we cannot prove it so we take it anyway. If we didnt that would be denying a customer service which then goes into discrimination blah blah blah.

* Employee benefits are basically nonexistent, and promotions are a joke

TRUE! I get 15% off store merchandise except new systems.

* If you're employed at GameStop, you're signed up for a debit card service that nobody accepts and that you have to pay outrageous fees just to withdraw money from

Yes, we are payed on what is known as a Comdata card. Like a check card. It is only accepted at very select places. The only places that I have found that take it are my bank(bank of america) and McDonolds lol (who knew?)

* Corners are cut everywhere to reduce expenses: customers frequently get roped into being the play-testers for traded-in games and systems

This is not true at all stores. The truth of the matter is that Gamestop is a giant chain store. We get in about 200 trades a day. Do we really have time to check them all to see if they work? NO, it is impossible. Some games will play initially yet but freeze at a certain interval in the game. That is something we cannot anticipate. The policy for used stuff is 30 days if defective, 7 days if you dont like it. So honestly to further exploit a company that exploits you, buy a game and bring it back in 7 days and get your money back. It is like renting yet you are never actually paying for it, simply letting the store hold your money.

I am still currently an employee of gamestop and alot of this is not very far from the truth. I could not watch the video(they took it down I think) but te list you made is pretty accurate.

Not all GS employees are douches tho. I try to be as fair as I possibly can for the customer without getting fired. I even let some customers in on my employee discount.