http://gamerlimit.com/2010/03/gamestop-threatens-customers-with-xbox-kill-bugs/
It looks like Gamestop employees are trying new tactics in their everlasting “get people to buy an in-store warranty” campaign. According to a customer, a Gamestop employee claimed Microsoft was sending out kill bugs for Xbox 360 consoles to fry their motherboards, and the only way to protect against this was to buy an in-store warranty.
Check out the full customer rant below.
“I typically avoid shopping at GameStop and have been doing a good job abstaining from buying anything from them for the past two years. However, this past weekend I volunteered to help my friend purchase her very first Xbox 360 console. Naturally, we went to Frys to buy it. Unfortunately, they were out of the normal Elite model (Halo ODST/Forza) and only had the Final Fantasy bundle in stock. Well, there happened to be a GameStop in the same shopping center and we decided that, rather than driving around in circles, we would just pick up the system there.
Big mistake.
While they did have the correct console in stock (they always do), the next 20 minutes at the point of sale counter ended up being an excruciating exercise in badgering. The associate proceeded to ring up the console and go into his normal pitch on why we should buy the in-store warranty for 39.95. While this is typically par for the course at GameStop, he just would NOT let it go. I told my friend that the in-store warranty was not necessary and that she could send the console in to Microsoft if anything bad occurred in the future. The associate, in turn, told her that it was ABSOLUTELY necessary and that her console was definitely going to break in the next few months. He proceeded to explain that if she were buying a PS3 that the warranty would not be necessary. BUT with an Xbox, it was absolutely necessary. He also told her that it would cost her $60.00 + to mail the console to Microsoft and that their standard warranty probably would not cover the ‘red rings of death’ and other hardware failures. He then told me that he hated me for telling my friend not to get the warranty… while she was standing right there. He then proceeded with other car-salesman tactics to bully her into getting the warranty (he tried reverse psychology at one point: “I don’t care if you get it wah”)
But that’s when shit really got bat-shit crazy.
The associate then told her that Microsoft was in the habit of sending ‘kill bugs’ to consoles via the internet that would subsequently fry the motherboard. I laughed it off before he told me “It’s true. They did it to people who played Modern Warfare 2 early.” He said that their warranty would cover all of this and more.
A little background: I used to be an ASM at GameStop. I understand how points work and how corporate pressures associates to meet a certain percentage of their transactions (whether it’s reservations, subs, warranties, etc). It’s one of the reasons why I quit and boycott the store (among other reasons that you’ve probably read about on Reddit).
I spoke to my friend afterwards who stated that if I had not of been there, she would have caved and got the warranty because he made her feel so uncomfortable about it. I’m sure he makes a lot of add-on sales using this tactic. Regardless, there comes a time when “no” means no. And there also comes a time when you should not make shit up just to get a warranty sale.”
It’s certainly sounds like a good reason to buy a warranty, I wouldn’t want my Xbox turned into fried food. But seriously, I feel bad for the not-so-average gamer who gets suckered into this type of bad deal.
More reasons on why I hate Gamestop and won't ever go there again.
