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RF Generation Message Board | Collecting | Collection Connection | The Bad Video Game Store Thread - Places To Avoid (Updated Apr 28 2015) 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. « previous next »
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Author Topic: The Bad Video Game Store Thread - Places To Avoid (Updated Apr 28 2015)  (Read 56644 times)
Antimind
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« on: February 21, 2009, 08:16:30 AM »

I figured there's room for a bad video game store thread. Don't just post about the obvious (EB, Best Buy, blah). Just post about local stores that scream ripoff, have piss-poor staff, things of that nature. Post the store's info and why you think it's a bad store.


US: AR

Game X Change
Harrison, Arkansas
Submitted By: kamakazi20012

The store use to be cool in its early days and carried a LOT of selections from Atari to 360 including consoles.  But after an owner exchange the store owner purchased a beauty stores old inventory which now dominates the shelving.  Customer service is still top notch but seems to have very little gaming gear...at least the last time I visited the store over 5 years ago.


US: AZ

Games Plus
Mesa AZ
Submitted By: Tynstar


US: CA

SpaceCat Comics & Collectibles
North Bascom Avenue near I-280, San Jose, CA
Submitted By: Zagnorch

I know SpaceCat Comics & Collectibles on North Bascom Avenue near I-280 in San Jose, CA was mentioned here before it was washed away by the Great Outage of 2012. While they have cleaned up the place and reorganized their stock since that last post, the asking prices for their video games and hardware are still rather exorbitant, usually about 50% above the same goods on Amazon Marketplace. Their collectible toy prices are just as bad.

As for the people who work there: a few are at least fairly friendly and helpful, but most seem to be a bit... well, spaced-out as it were.


US: GA

Play N Trade
1880 Epps Bridge Parkway Suite 110 , Athens, Georgia, 30605
Submitted By: Moriya Hanzo

Ex. Silent Hill (GH) $79.99-----need i say more?


N2 Games
Social Circle, Ga
Submitted By: Moriya Hanzo

Ex. Super Mario All stars cart only $49.99


US: MO

Velocity
Moberly, MO
Submitted By: kamakazi20012

Advertises itself as a one-stop gaming store.  Has maybe a handful of games made up of some PS3 and 360 games.  Other than that, mostly empty shelves.


US: NJ

Gamers Gambit
Submitted By: A8scooter

You ask them if they have certain games older than NES, and they say make a list we have to check storage for them and will call you when we check. Even with follow ups you get the runaround. I dont mind a store not having something I want but it says alot about your company when you wont have the curtsey to call the customer back.


Quick Cash
Toms River, NJ
Submitted By: Flee

They'll sell you untested, broken games and refuse a refund. Their store is a mess and not yet priced inventory gets the ol' eBay look up sorted by highest price first. Old dude working there accuses people of stealing for no reason. They don't even have the initiative to update their new address on their website. Not worth going to if you're at the Jersey Shore.


Trade 1
Rt 1 in Edison, NJ
Submitted By: A8scooter

They are majorly over priced the owner isn't helpful things are a complete mess and the only reason I can come to see why they stay afloat cause every so often you'll see ads looking for young females to be actresses and models for him..... Reading between the lines he doesn't sell jack so how else does he stay in business you be the judge


US: NY

Game Craze
Destiny USA Mall, Syracuse, New York
Submitted By: ErbBetaPatched

New York may be large, but the prices are too high. I bought Devil May Cry 2 there for $12, and it only came with disc 2, the disc that didn't have Dante on it.


US: WA

Game Lobster
Federal Way, WA
Submitted By: RetroRage

greedy owners.  not interested in building a relationship with their customers.  here's why.

the other day I was hunting at Game Lobster and I ran across Maxi-15 and they wanted 100 bucks for it.  I couldn't buy it but I told a friend who was looking for it, so he called them up and ask if they still have the game and how much they wanted for it.  they said 100 dollars and he left to go pick it up immediately.  when he got there all the sudden they wanted 200 bucks for it....what?  they had a big white shiny sticker on it that said 100 dollars and now they want to jack the price up?  if they were smart they would have given him the lower price anyways because that kind of loyalty pays off in the long run with return business.  instead they decided to be greedy and tried squeeze in a few more bucks out of them..... well not a few, a hundred. 

and besides that incident they've always appeared to be just interested in making money and have very little appreciation or respect for the hobby and the collecting community.


US: WI

Video Gamestar
2533 E Clairemont Ave
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Submitted By: Barracuda

- Employees care more about playing games behind the counter than helping a   customer at the checkout.

- The prices are high enough that there are games that have been sitting there for years.

- Lastly the store forever stinks of ass. It's really hard to spend more than a few minutes inside.

The only reason this store is still in business is because they are near the college campus.


Preplayed
3868 East Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
Submitted By: HypnosProjectHQ

There are two Preplayed game stores in Madison. This location on the east side, though fully in association with the store on the west side, has terribly unfriendly staff in comparison to the other store. Also, their prices, oddly, are significantly higher on many items in the store (ie. Zelda Twlight Princess (GCN) is $17.99 at the west side location but at this location is $42.99). They've also been unwilling to put me on the waiting list for many items, though the west side location is always willing to help you find any game you might be looking to find.


Game Quest 
River Falls, WI
Submitted By: renegadeviking

Don't expect any Sega Saturn, Sega Gamegear, Master System.  They charge double for the game Ebay purchases thru them.  They play Christian band (no awesome music) all the time, because actual rock scares away customers.  In store credit stinks.  98% of the games are run-of-the-mill, 2% rares.
NOTE: Edited out game titles they don't carry.


Toyrffic
The Hudson, WI
Submitted By: renegadeviking

Just as bad as Game Quest.  They have run-of-the mill titles, no rares at all.  Overpriced PS2  and Xbox games.   Ebay purchase thru them have 50% business added charge.


The Media Warehouse
Reedsburg, WI
Submitted By: Slowman

Owner was very rude to customers and his employee. They don't have any games out. You have to look through a database of prices, and then they change the prices on you before you purchase.  Apparently my friend is "a f***ing idiot" for not understanding how their pricing structure (scheme?) works.  This happened to a friend of mine, not myself, just passing along the info
Additional Information


CANADA: Manitoba

PNP Games
2-915 McLeod Avenue
Winnipeg, MB
R2G 0Y4
Submitted By: Antimind

1. Unfriendly staff - Staff completely ignored my friend and I. I do believe the fact that we're both female had a lot to do with that but so what. I had my damn Nintendo hoodie on when I was there. Let's not forget the fact that I probably know more about games and game history than the store's owner.

2. Extremely high prices - Who the hell charges $9.99 for a copy of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt? PNP does! The only good finds in the entire place are the instruction manuals ($0.25/each) and old issues of Nintendo Power ($0.50/each). Everything else is not worth the drive out there.

3. Poor selection - I just sold more games from my personal collection than they had in the entire shop.

4. Poor presentation - I always expect to find a few titles that aren't in alphabetical order on store shelves. It appeared to me that the shelves hadn't been reordered in ages. Everything was just jumbled together.

Bottom Line - PNP is only surviving because they're the only game in town. Unless you absolutely must have that certain game today, avoid. Even with high shipping costs it'll be cheaper online. Probably in better condition too.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2015, 08:07:46 PM by Antimind » Logged

Barracuda
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« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2009, 09:30:33 AM »

Great idea Antimind!

Video Gamestar
2533 E Clairemont Ave
Eau Claire, WI 54701

- Employees care more about playing games behind the counter than helping a   customer at the checkout.

- The prices are high enough that there are games that have been sitting there for years.

- Lastly the store forever stinks of ass. It's really hard to spend more than a few minutes inside.

The only reason this store is still in business is because they are near the college campus.

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Moriya Hanzo
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« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2009, 09:15:48 PM »

Play N Trade
1880 Epps Bridge Parkway Suite 110 , Athens, Georgia, 30605

Ex. Silent Hill (GH) $79.99-----need i say more?


N2 Games
Social Circle, Ga

Ex. Super Mario All stars cart only $49.99

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Antimind
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« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2009, 11:45:55 PM »

Posts prior to this have been added to the "catalog" in the first post girl
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Tynstar
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« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2009, 10:58:31 AM »

Games Plus

Mesa AZ 

Granted I dont know if there are still opened I haven't been there in so long.
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Tondog
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« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2009, 11:06:26 AM »

Yeah, those stores sound awful.
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kamakazi20012
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« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2012, 09:00:58 AM »

That's easy:

Game X Change
Harrison, Arkansas

The store use to be cool in its early days and carried a LOT of selections from Atari to 360 including consoles.  But after an owner exchange the store owner purchased a beauty stores old inventory which now dominates the shelving.  Customer service is still top notch but seems to have very little gaming gear...at least the last time I visited the store over 5 years ago. 

Velocity
Moberly, MO

Advertises itself as a one-stop gaming store.  Has maybe a handful of games made up of some PS3 and 360 games.  Other than that, mostly empty shelves.
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RetroRage
it's not that bad...You can barely notice it.
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« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2012, 07:02:26 PM »

Federal Way, WA

game lobster.

greedy owners.  not interested in building a relationship with their customers.  here's why.

the other day I was hunting at Game Lobster and I ran across Maxi-15 and they wanted 100 bucks for it.  I couldn't buy it but I told a friend who was looking for it, so he called them up and ask if they still have the game and how much they wanted for it.  they said 100 dollars and he left to go pick it up immediately.  when he got there all the sudden they wanted 200 bucks for it....what?  they had a big white shiny sticker on it that said 100 dollars and now they want to jack the price up?  if they were smart they would have given him the lower price anyways because that kind of loyalty pays off in the long run with return business.  instead they decided to be greedy and tried squeeze in a few more bucks out of them..... well not a few, a hundred. 

and besides that incident they've always appeared to be just interested in making money and have very little appreciation or respect for the hobby and the collecting community. 
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HypnosProjectHQ
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Posts: 4


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« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2012, 10:51:59 PM »

Preplayed
3868 East Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53704

There are two Preplayed game stores in Madison. This location on the east side, though fully in association with the store on the west side, has terribly unfriendly staff in comparison to the other store. Also, their prices, oddly, are significantly higher on many items in the store (ie. Zelda Twlight Princess (GCN) is $17.99 at the west side location but at this location is $42.99). They've also been unwilling to put me on the waiting list for many items, though the west side location is always willing to help you find any game you might be looking to find.
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Antimind
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« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2012, 06:12:27 PM »

All posts prior to this have been added to the list. Thanks for the submissions, keep em coming!
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renegadeviking
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« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2013, 06:25:34 AM »

I two more, Game Quest  River Falls, WI

Game Quest only consoles besides NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, DS, NDS, PSP, Vita.  Don't expect any Sega Saturn, Sega Gamegear, Master System.   They charge double for the game Ebay purchases thru them.   They play Christian band (no awesome music) all the time, because actual rock scares away customers.  In store credit stinks.  98% of the games are run-of-the-mill, 2% rares.  They didn't have Shining Force II or Phantasy Star IV, Thunderforce III.    The rarest game in the building was Chrono Trigger for SNES.  

The Hudson, WI  location of Toyrffic  is just as bad as Game Quest.  They have run-of-the mill titles, no rares at all.  Overpriced PS2  and Xbox games.   Ebay purchase thru them have 50% business added charge.  

Both these stores are littered with   Magic the Gathering high schoolers, because they need somewhere "safe" to combat.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2013, 06:30:01 AM by renegadeviking » Logged
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« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2013, 11:30:25 AM »

Theres a store in Jersey, Gamers Gambit. You ask them if they have certain games older than NES, and they say make a list we have to check storage for them and will call you when we check. Even with follow ups you get the runaround. I dont mind a store not having something I want but it says alot about your company when you wont have the curtsey to call the customer back.
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« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2013, 09:06:36 PM »

There was a Play N Trade in Chalfont, PA with the most pompous owner I've ever met. They had terrible customer service and at times were outright belligerent. Well, recently they went out of business so I cleaned out tons of his overstock stuff, shelves, and promotional items for dirt cheap. Vengeance feels oh so goooood....
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Zagnorch
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« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2014, 08:08:52 PM »

I know SpaceCat Comics & Collectibles on North Bascom Avenue near I-280 in San Jose, CA was mentioned here before it was washed away by the Great Outage of 2012. While they have cleaned up the place and reorganized their stock since that last post, the asking prices for their video games and hardware are still rather exorbitant, usually about 50% above the same goods on Amazon Marketplace. Their collectible toy prices are just as bad.

As for the people who work there: a few are at least fairly friendly and helpful, but most seem to be a bit... well, spaced-out as it were. Maybe that's why it's called SpaceCat...  cat
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tactical_nuke
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« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2014, 08:07:10 PM »

« Last Edit: February 26, 2024, 09:17:07 PM by tactical_nuke » Logged
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