The Bad Video Game Store Thread - Places To Avoid (Updated Apr 28 2015)

[Antimind]

All posts prior to this one have been added to the first post. VERY sorry for the delay on that folks. I'm just getting old and neglectful.

[jtxgamer]

GameTraders

New Port Richey and Hudson FL

Practically every employee is a complete dick. There was one guy that was nice and would make deals with you.  But his boss forces him to now run the business like a retail giant that has 0 chance of bargaining.  My biggest problem was they used to label things with prices.  And the owner would then 'change his mind' on selling it to you and then charge a much higher price.  I've been to a store that wouldn't change the price even if they knew they could sell it for more.  But this guy would tell you straight to your face that he was doing this.  They also got into the habit of charging slightly above amazon and eBay.  They literally look the items up and then price them at the register.  I can understand not underselling.  But when I can look it up myself and see they are doing this, I would rather just buy it online.

And they're so ignorant on certain games.  Some of the Final Fantasy games on PS1 can be purchased new on amazon for around $15. And the rest never seem to go over $20 anymore for a used copy. And yet they're still asking $40 for their one copy of FF8 that has been there for over a year.

[SirPsycho]

Amazon.com

For those that saw my 3DS Miku game in Small Scores I got my replacement today! Its also crushed because it was just tossed into a bubble mailer.

So in frustration I spend part of my lunch hour on their customer service line, so I could talk to somebody and request a replacement with specific instructions that it gets put into a box (which I also did for this first replacement). Instead of going with a simple replacement that's tossed into a box and taped up, they gave me a refund and told me to re-order the item. I totally believe, after 2 strikes, that a simple re-order would lead to me having a pristine copy of this game, it would probably be the standard release and not the launch edition by now anyway. I'm done with them.

[Addicted]

@SirPsycho: That sucks. Can you find a copy at Gamestop or Best Buy?

[SirPsycho]

Best Buy's too far, but Gamestop still has stock. I'll still be gambling on a Launch Edition until I'm in the store.

*Edit: Just went to the phone again since my replacement ticket is still open. Apparently I'm getting another replacement on top of the refund. I'm still sour about it, as this should have just been tossed into a bubble mailer, then that mailer tossed into a little box and taped up the first time, not the third time.

[mumboking]

Did you have to send the others back?

[wildbil52]

I should use this thread more often.

GOOD STORES:
Retro Games Plus
267 Main Avenue    
 Norwalk, CT 06880

Retro Games Plus
350 Boston Post Rd
Orange CT 06477

Retro Games Plus
2453 Berlin Turnpike
Newington CT 06111

AVOID
Gamers Gambit
67 Newtown Road
Danbury, CT 06810

This is actually a VERY GOOD Tabletop Gaming store and a decent Comic/Graphic Novel store.  The video game prices are unbelievably high.  Loose NES $100, Loose N64 $100, Loose SNES $100, etc.

[techwizard]

I should use this thread more often.

GOOD STORES:
Retro Games Plus
267 Main Avenue   
 Norwalk, CT 06880

Retro Games Plus
350 Boston Post Rd
Orange CT 06477

Retro Games Plus
2453 Berlin Turnpike
Newington CT 06111

AVOID
Gamers Gambit
67 Newtown Road
Danbury, CT 06810

This is actually a VERY GOOD Tabletop Gaming store and a decent Comic/Graphic Novel store.  The video game prices are unbelievably high.  Loose NES $100, Loose N64 $100, Loose SNES $100, etc.

there's a separate thread for the "Good Stores"

also i don't know where to put this one but:
Dark Side Games in Chilliwack, BC - not bad, but not great either. prices were very high on all hardware, i wouldn't recommend them for that, and many games were insane ($40 for loose SMB 3, $100 for smash bros melee, etc). but on the flip side i managed to find 5 games that were below the lowest end of my price range for them. so i would say they're worth browsing through for the occasional good deal, but on the whole their prices are too high.

[retrosportsgamer]

Here's an awful one:

Retros
Route 1
Lawrenceville/Princeton NJ

I decided after this new store cropped up, in what used to be a house next to a AAA building and a seedy motel, to finally check it out - and brought some old dupes I had that wouldn't have fetched much on eBay anyway.

Wow was this place a dump and the guy was the most aggressive deal maker (in a bad way) I've maybe ever seen. I listened to him go around in circles with a contractor on paying for licenses almost the entire time I was there. so I took store credit vs cash because my intent was to get something out of this trip - had $35 in store credit.

Nothing was in good condition, there were a ton of - what looked like - re-seals of stuff like GameCube games that he had $80+ stickers (common Nintendo selects versions too). I ended up getting two original Xbox games for that credit - that's right, oXbox (which he had a ton of) were all mainly $15/$20 (complete at least). Grabbed Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge. I have no idea how that guy will ever make a sale, the prices on everything else was astronomical. $40 for N64 games that would be $15 tops online, just bad. Strong recommendation to avoid.

[Bear78]

Not sure how many people are in the St Louis area but here is a custom google map of the STL area with all the game stores on it and some additional locations I created a while back.  I do update it every now and then when something changes.

https://drive.google.com/...ef1ITnXbM&usp=sharing

[man99helm99]

 KW vintage games (Kitchener Ontario Canada) the store owner is a thief.  A lot of the merchandise is stolen as well.