Gamestop : How Not to run a Company .

Today I was browsing Gamestop and looking around at some used PS3 and PS4 games to consider buying. As a fan I'm big into finding used games to get for both systems. So after finding one I liked , the guy at the counter handed me a paper that Gamestop is now doing. They are doing big changes to their Pro Membership cards in 2020.


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Now the Pro Membership cards today give you a good discount on used games and your points can roll over and get you $5-10 off coupons. Which many of us really like to use. Also we get deals during the year like a Buy 2 used , get 3rd free deal etc. Its all about the deals you can get. Like in 2019 I got Dragons Quest 11 and Red Dead Redemption II for $20 bucks apiece months after they came out due to these deals.

Of course a big threat to Gamestop isn't competition or its staff. Its their own board who sit around and scheme to try to make as much money as possible and don't understand their own fucking company right now. They are huge into debt and had buyers back off due to these folks involved the last 2 years. In fact how useless are these people ?

In 2017 the company launched a new plan to spur used game sales and make money. By all accounts Elite Membership was a step into right idea. Give your loyal customers MORE deals , higher percentages to buy used games and push things . Elite cost $15 bucks more than regular membership but you were getting more buy 2 , get a 3rd free as well as higher point totals.

By all accounts people applauded Gamestop for this and Elite launched very well. You also got Game Informer magazine. But as 2018 rolled in Gamestop's board saw a bottom line deal. People were getting too good deals on used games. The board felt these used games were fucking gold to harvest and demanded the program end. Not a year into its launching as they wanted the program to end and pinch those pennies like Uncle Scrooge...


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Guys I know called me from Gamestop and told me people were given 1 day before Elite was ended to renew it. You couldn't renew Elite Membership around the same time your membership was ending because Gamestop's rulers decided to ruin this move. You had months before your membership ended and they knew people would rarely renew a membership 7 months in to re-up so quick. Not only did this alienate and piss off more loyal customers , it blew up negative online.


But the kicker was the shit program tried in 2019. This past spring Gamestop's rulers decided that people were still getting too good deals from Gamestop and their pennies needed to be pinched further . Yes folks a company that has ruined its newly launched program a year before decided to torch its long standing Pro Membership.

The new move was to hand people $5 a month gift cards if they renew. You no longer get the percentage off each used game which made the deal worth while. Because many people would save more than $5 a month buying used games due to discount. Also the $5 doesn't roll over. If you don;t spend that $5 coupon that month well...your SOL. Oh yeah they increased the price $5 bucks to $19.99 for this horse crap.

To say people were pleased with this trial program Gamestop tried months ago would be like having someone take a 2x4 and smashing yourself in the balls. People were blasting the company worse for this and reaction was universally negative. People I know told me they hoped Gamestop's rulers above would see the reaction and realize to not fuck up the long standing thing that really was the only key to people really buying games.

Months passed and today in reading that flyer I was handed was literally like the idiot rulers of GameStop did not listen to ANYONE. They have done all this nationwide starting in 2020. I told the guy I was ending my Pro Membership because this was the shit they did on a trial basis in spring. And everyone told them not to do this.

Its rare to see a company piss on its customers so bad the last few years and keep doing it. There is a point when your customers tell you not to do a program and you ignore them fully.

Gamestop was a bittersweet job for me back when I worked at one.
Awesome environment, great co-workers, a few trouble customers but mostly very nice and wonderful to assist.
But, those damn Game Informer magazines and subs.

We all had a quota to reach in our small town and near the end of each month, everyone was afraid of losing their jobs.
It got so bad that one of the managers jumped in and took over a sale when a customer showed interest in subscribing. Leaving the employee with less subs.

Now days, when I go to a store and the cashier spills out about the random object on the counter, I just know it's something they're being forced to do and I pray they don't lose their job because I turned it down.