I'm permanently banning EB

[congobongo]

OK, so I preorder my Zelda. Eventually the phone call comes to say "hi sir, your pre-order disc is in, come on in and pick it up" For various reasons (snowstorms, pregnant wife, etc.) it takes me a little while to get in to pick it up. Well tonight I made it in and guess what? Yup, no Zelda. "sorry they're all gone" We don't know if/when we're getting more. ME: "uhm, but I made the reservation, gave you my $20, you called me and said MY copy was in. Not someone elses copy, MY copy." Needless to say, I got my $20 bucks back. I'm not giving those F$%#@!$ any more of my money, EVER! >:(

[Mr Mort]

Don't be so quick to disaprove of the entire company for the actions of a few employees at one store. My local EB's treat me rather well, as I frequent them quite often.

[ashbourn]

It seems alot of EB's are like that try another location.

[Raedon]

Weee!! Join the EB got screwed on a Zelda pre-order group!!!

I pre-ordered Zelda:OOT from EB like 2 months before the Nov. release.. Went to pick my gold cart up after work later that day of release and all gone!! Manager wouldn't even refund my pre-order money because, "We have grey carts in stock sir." EB is full of crap.. and I only buy from them when I feel like I am ripping them off. (like new dreamcast controllers for $3.95)

[GENESISNES]

i heart my EB. they threw older system(2600, NES, SNES, Genesis) into a bin called the nostalgia bin all marked at 3.99

[geelw]

i think you mean "boycott". they can ban YOU if they don't like the way you punched out the counter (or the manager) when they told you they screwed you over (they should have called you). but you can only ban THEM, if the manager decides to call you up with an apology (and a steak on his eye), and offer to deliver the game to your doorstep. a helpful tip from your friendly neighborhood, er...wordyman... :-D

[CrazyImpmon]

I haven't been to EB for a long time, their service sucked badly. I remember that one time when I was in to buy Simcity 2000 for Macintosh, they said they don't carry anything for Macintosh junk. Right next to the checkout counter was a 10 feet wide section of Macintosh games. And sure enough I found the SC2K for Mac (in the PC section :?) and pointed it out. The person was still like Macintosh was crap and that Apple would go out of business soon. >:(

I said to them they lost a customer and I went to Best Buy for the game. Not surprising a few years ago that EB closed.

[Sylentwulf]

I've always loved my EB, known everyone who works there, and the place is great... BUT

I pre-ordered Xonesaga, paid in full, and I got my artbook, BARELY. They received a total of 8 Artbooks, and were only giving them to the people who pre-paid the full amount, AND first come first serve.

Also, the used game prices are just stupid, because they're always like $5.00 cheaper than the NEW ones. Although I DID just get super puzzle fighter 2 turbo for $40....

[Bighab]

OK, so I preorder my Zelda. Eventually the phone call comes to say "hi sir, your pre-order disc is in, come on in and pick it up" For various reasons (snowstorms, pregnant wife, etc.) it takes me a little while to get in to pick it up. Well tonight I made it in and guess what? Yup, no Zelda. "sorry they're all gone" We don't know if/when we're getting more. ME: "uhm, but I made the reservation, gave you my $20, you called me and said MY copy was in. Not someone elses copy, MY copy." Needless to say, I got my $20 bucks back. I'm not giving those F$%#@!$ any more of my money, EVER! >:(
Did they give you a time limitas to how long they would hold it for you? My store does but i usually get there ASAP. Were you able to get the bonus disk somewhere else? The EB World near me had about 5 left that yo ucould get if you preordered the game from the. PM me if you want me to pick one up for you :)

[congobongo]

They didn't give a time limit. Just said come in and pick it up. Thanks for the offer on the disc. I'm going to try somewhere else for the disc today and if I have no luck, I'll let you know.

[kainemaxwell]

I rarely buy at EB anymore myself except for the occasional used title. My local babagges has better service.

[hamburgler]

Yeah that happened to me once when i pre ordered gta 3 for the computer at Ebgames the store.Luckly,Now i have learned never to reserve a game from there ever again.

[Nature Boy]

I'm familiar with the EB in question (I got my preorder disc from the same one - mind you I happened to be in the store as they were calling people to let them know).

It's definitely *not* my favourite EB (that would be on Britannia Congo - just East of Mavis). When I was asking about the preorder disc in the first place they were vague and made it seem like, even if I was putting my money down it wasn't necessarily going to happen. I miss the employees they had when I first started working in Mississauga (like 6 years ago). That chubby guy just annoys me...

[ClubNinja]

I know the question of EB's integrity comes up often, but really, I find that it depends on the employees more than anything...

There's one about 30 minutes away from here that used to be very good. One night a while back, I was in there and wanted to pick up NHL 2K for the Dreamcast. They had a "new" copy (granted, the case was open, so how is that new?) for $12.99 and a used copy for $6.99. The new one was a regular printing, while the used one was a Sega All Stars thing... and of course, I didn't want to break up my Dreamcast games with the ugly orange All Stars bar. So, I asked the guy (manager) if I could have the white, original printing one instead, but for the used price - convinced he'd laugh at me and say no chance. Instead, he said "yeah, sure", and sold me the regular one for $6.99. Nice guy. He's not there very often now, though, and I avoid the place when I can as the new personnel consists of idiot kids with big mouths and no knowledge.

The EB about 15 minutes from here has a very friendly staff, and I've never had a problem there, ever. I purchased a $16.99 game with a $15 gift certificate there once, and the guy told me not to worry about the difference. I've had to return scratched titles, and I've always been taken care of well. Not to mention, this foxy little blonde works there ; )

So yeah, some EBs suck and some of their policies are a little lame, but with the right staff, they're far from bad.

[scooterb23]

Recently, EB has opened up 3 new EB Games stores in the Columbus area...these are either located in strip malls or in Easton Town Center (kind of an upscale shopping area). The biggest thing I have noticed from these three stores is how friendly, knowledgable, and OLD (comparatively) the staffs are. I go to these stores at least once a week, and I have yet to be in there and seen anyone under 23-25 working there!!! The stores in the malls still have some of the bratty young people, but these new stores have much more experienced crews...this is probably the #1 reason my first stop for video games is almost always an EB Games store...and no, I don't work for them :)

[Raedon]

it's all fine and dandy until you guys get screwed hard by EB.. it's not an if, it's a when.

[Anonymous]

*Cough*zeldabundlepakatnintendo.com*Cough*

<looks innocent>

why yes, I do work there.

[Nature Boy]

it's all fine and dandy until you guys get screwed hard by EB.. it's not an if, it's a when.

I don't agree that it's inevitable. You take your chances with any chain store - be it EB or anything else. Heck, you take your chances with independents too (at least EB doesn't try to pass of used games that came in without cases as the real deal - at least one independent prints or photocopies covers and sells them that way).

The employees at the EB Congo is talking about aren't to blame for the shortage itself, but they are to blame for not explaining the shortages to both Congo and myself to begin with. Being vague and uninformative just means they lose some of our business (and, as we're both collectors, it's their loss, not ours).

[portnoyd]

OK, so I preorder my Zelda. Eventually the phone call comes to say "hi sir, your pre-order disc is in, come on in and pick it up" For various reasons (snowstorms, pregnant wife, etc.) it takes me a little while to get in to pick it up. Well tonight I made it in and guess what? Yup, no Zelda. "sorry they're all gone" We don't know if/when we're getting more. ME: "uhm, but I made the reservation, gave you my $20, you called me and said MY copy was in. Not someone elses copy, MY copy." Needless to say, I got my $20 bucks back. I'm not giving those F$%#@!$ any more of my money, EVER! >:(

Ohhhh man! I thought you literally got banned from EB! Like you took a dump on the floor or something.... well, can you? Not necessarily taking a dump on the floor, but do something funny to get you banned (and not arrested at the same time).

But yeah, I'd be highly annoyed if that happened to me.

dave

[Raedon]

it's all fine and dandy until you guys get screwed hard by EB.. it's not an if, it's a when.

I don't agree that it's inevitable. You take your chances with any chain store - be it EB or anything else.

No Nature Boy, the difference is EB makes you a promise and then breaks that promise. No other game store i have ever been to has made me a promise then not come threw with the goods.. I hear about EB doing this all the time, this isn't the first time a subject about EB's poor service has come up.

[l_lamb]

This may sound like a plug since I work there, but most Blockbuster stores got the Zelda bonus disc and they're not doing too well with the presell. The deposit amount is $15.00 and you should get the disc when you place the deposit. If there's a Best Buy in your area they might have them; the ones here had standees full of the bonus discs.

Kinda off-topic, but I was in a Gamestop a couple of months ago and they were calling customers that had pre-ordered some Xbox game (can't remember the title but there was no bonus for pre-ordering). They were telling them that they were only receiving about half of what they had presold and that they were going to be first come, first served. Why even put down a deposit if you're not getting a freebie or discount and you've still got to line up before the store opens?

[congobongo]

Well, I ended up getting the bonus disc from Toys R Us since I happened to be there and they happened to have one behind the counter. I still plan on boycotting EB. I know some locations and sales reps are better than others but what makes a franchise good is consistency (you should be able to walk in to any location and know what to expect). If the head-office doesn't maintain a certain level of quality control then there is a problem with the system. I don't normally by from EB anyways because i have a great independent shop that always sells for less.

*returns to a happy afternoon of playing OOT on GC*