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.

nvm=)

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this story.

I absolutely believe the person telling it that the Gamestop person badgered them about the warranty, I don't believe the bit about them telling them all that wrong information (and this coming from someone who considered the average Gamestop employee dumber than a rock).

-edit-

Just to clarify, I totally don't put it past the typical Gamestop employee trying to push an unecessary warranty on the customer, I also assume the customer might be wrong in thinking it costs money to send the console to Microsoft, I expect the employee to tell them the console will probably break, I just don't believe the employee seriously telling them MS sends a code to all consoles a few months after purchase to break the console and only the Gamestop warranty can fix it.

This story reeks of someone just trying to villainize Gamestop or is just trying to make a story worse so gullable people will post it all over internet forums.  In either case, the person who told the story is likely a giant tool.

Pet rock dumb or do they have a class of their own for dumb, Tommy?

Btw as this is a stupid thread anyway do you have any plans for working at Gearbox? Sorry if you can't/won't answer, I won't take offense. Im just curious as you've spoken highly of the people there on a couple of occasions.

Doesn't surprise me. Like I've said several times on this site for years, I saw a Gamestop associate tell a lady that she had to buy a cooling system for her PS2 of it could burn down her house. It's more a problem with the character of the salesman than the store, though.

The Tim is strong in this thread.

I try to never buy anything from Gamestop if I can help it ever since they screwed me out of the Juggernaut on MUA2. Since then, the only thing I have bought from them has been FF13 and that was because I have a friend that works their and he hooked me up with two free posters of the game :D

Ive never had a problem with gamestop before. And as such i will continue to conduct business there. I happen to love the used game market!

I wouldn't be surprised if an employee actually said that. But I wouldn't hold it against the whole company.

Gamestop forcing people to buy PS3's confirmed?

Anyways what an idiot, both of them. The customer (if) they believed it and the GS employee.