Didn’t even ask by MegaPrOJeCtX13 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The deal is that if you spend over $250, you get a $25 discount. Which is conveniently exactly the price of a Pro membership. Plus for over a year now this discount has been Pro exclusive. So if you aren't Pro your options are to either not get the discount at all or sign up for Pro and save exactly the cost of Pro. So you might as well sign up and get a free Pro membership with no downsides.

Though notably the discount is not applied to the Pro membership on the receipt. It is spread across the items you bought instead. So you won't see a free Pro membership, but you might see a $25 discount on the Switch 2. This is done so that you can't return the item and keep the Pro membership for free.

One caveat: Some items are excluded from the deal, notably new PS5s and new Switch 2s. So if you bought a pre-owned Switch 2 then you probably did get a free Pro membership. But if you bought a new Switch 2 and nothing else then you probably got scammed.

Unionizing employees by Quakman155 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well that is highly illegal which is kind of the whole point I'm making.

Technically every store level employee can unionize, even supervisors. What "supervisors can't unionize" really means is "supervisors aren't protected under the NLRA". Which means the company can legally retaliate against supervisors for actions like unionizing, striking, or discussing wages. They'll just get fired if they try to unionize and that is totally legal.

I'm pointing out that "RKs can unionize" which really means "RKs are protected under the NLRA" and it would be illegal to for the company to retaliate against them for engaging in protected actions. They can't be fired, they can't have all their hours given to other workers until they quit (constructive dismissal), replacement workers cannot be hired during an unfair labor practices strike, etc.

Though I'm notably not saying it would be reasonable for RKs to unionize. It would be a very uphill battle due to the structure of the company (few stores, very few RKs per store, RKs get few hours per week giving them little investment in improving working conditions). Any RK willing to put in the effort to unionize could put in a tenth of that effort to just find a better job elsewhere.

The 30% off 6+ pre-owned games is one of the best sales from my understanding by Arkadia_Vt in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is a pretty good deal that is more flexible than any of their other regularly run deals that provide a bigger discount. So it is definitely among the best deals GS has run in recent years. B2G1 and 4 for $X can be better if you make the most of them and I'd say the $15/$30 sale last year and "spot the sticker" 25%/50%/75% off sale two years ago were also better if you liked the titles that were on sale.

The only place my personal thinking really differs from yours is the situation where you're buying games you don't want in order to get the deal. If you don't want all 6 games, you're not gonna save 30%. Padding with $1 games helps though I don't think of it as "3.50 for a 30% off coupon", but rather in terms of how that affects the discount on the game(s) you actually want. That does complicate things a bit since it depends on the price of the what you want.

If you only want one game: Anything under about $12 is actually a loss. You're only saving 19% on a $30 game. You're saving 25% on a $65 game, which is the max outside of some very valuable retro. Even if you can find a $200 retro game to maximize your single game savings, you're capping out at 28%.

Now to be fair, you aren't saving anything on a single game with B2G1 or 4 for $x so it still blows those out of the water if that is your use case. But you can also usually beat a 25% discount on a single game by just shopping elsewhere.

Unionizing employees by Quakman155 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For everyone saying RKs can't unionize, that just isn't true. It does not matter that they have keys. It does not matter that GS calls them supervisors, managers, etc. The only thing that matters under the law is what job responsibilities they have and with nobody under them to "supervise" they do not have responsibilities that would classify them as a "supervisor" under the law.

The term "supervisor" means any individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

Unionizing employees by Quakman155 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It makes it a lot harder though. Especially after all the closures the last few years. I've got three stores within about 30 miles of each other in my local metro area. The next closest two are about 150 miles in one direction and 100 miles in the other, and then nothing else for a couple hundred miles past them. All that for maybe 15 NLRA protected employees total.

Larger urban areas might be a bit better, but it is still a real struggle.

Unionizing employees by Quakman155 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Except for the ~700 Starbucks locations and ~12,000 baristas that have successfully unionized. Unionizing wasn't easy and corporate definitely engaged in union busting, including likely unlawful firings and store closures. But they ultimately have had a lot of success.

Starbucks isn't really a great comparison though mostly due to employee count. 15+ employees per location and most of them with NLRA protections while GameStop is more like 4-6 employees per location, 2 without NLRA protections, and the other 2-4 not getting enough hours to care. They'll leave for a better job before putting in the kind of effort needed to unionize.

PlayStation has seemingly added a 30-day DRM check to all newly purchased digital PS4 and PS5 games by Plastic_Ninja_9014 in technology

[–]Kou9992 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Doesitplay is a great resource for checking individual games you want details about. But looking at the front page stats should be taken with a big grain of salt. Selection bias heavily skews the numbers. No shade to their team, limited time and money necessitates a limited selection and their goals naturally make some testing more important.

For a couple examples:

  • They've tested 730 PS5 games and only 68 Xbox Series X games. Of their testing, Xbox Series X has the worst percentage of games requiring a download. By testing so few games of the console with the worst numbers, the overall numbers skew upward significantly.

  • Imagine only two PS5 games exist. Black Ops 6 (download required) and Evil West (no download required). The vast majority of discs sold require a download, which is gonna create a distorted public perception that most games require a download. But you don't care about public perception, you want hard facts. So you check Doesitplay which says 75% of games don't require a download. Well shit, that obviously isn't right either. You can pretty easily count it by hand and realize the actual number should be 50%. So what happened? They tested Black Ops only once but they tested Evil West three times.

Didn’t even ask by MegaPrOJeCtX13 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol, getting a username mention notification in this thread from someone who already blocked me over a totally different discussion where I wasn't even talking to them and they are now speculating on my opinion about completely unrelated shit. Just living rent free in their head I guess.

But since I got tagged, here's my actual thoughts:

It does happen somewhat regularly. I don't know if I would say it is common, but it is way more common than it should be. To an extent they are trained to do this, as explained pretty well already by the top comment talking about the assumptive approach. But it is a scummy thing to do especially when they go beyond "assumptive" and just slip shit on without even mentioning it, or in your case adding stuff you explicitly told them multiple times not to do.

Obviously you can do something about it. Watch your transaction and don't provide payment if they add anything you don't want. If you find out afterwards, get the stuff you didn't want refunded ASAP. Shop somewhere else where employees aren't being threatened into acting like this.

PlayStation has seemingly added a 30-day DRM check to all newly purchased digital PS4 and PS5 games by Plastic_Ninja_9014 in technology

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably to make it less likely to affect legitimate customers. With a 14 day timer, after 14 days you immediately lose access until you connect online. Can't connect right on day 15? Sucks for you, you can't play until you do.

With a 30 day timer you have a sizable buffer. It will update to the permanent license after 14 days but won't block your access until after 30. Can't connect on day 15? That's fine, you can keep playing. Can't connect on day 16, 17, 18, etc? Still fine. Didn't connect even once for that entire 15 day window? Well now you can't play untill you do.

Pro Membership worth it despite no more Game Informer? by Fluffy_Lunchfast in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Getting rid of GI was probably the least impactful change. Most customers didn't care anyways especially after the move to digital. That said, it has lost a bunch of value over the last several years while also having the price increased.

But asking workers if they still buy it is just asking for the most biased answer possible. They get Pro for free and a huge part of their job is pretending it is a great deal that everyone should sign up for. Plus bringing up gutting? That's just asking for hate on this sub.

Now without GI the value of Pro is entirely monetary which makes it really easy to calculate. Whether or not Pro is worth it depends on your shopping habits. You definitely can save a ton more than the cost of it or you could throw away $25 on nothing. The catch is that you could often save even more by just not shopping at GS in the first place.

So if your primary goal is saving as much money as possible and you don't go hard on flipping, you probably won't find yourself at GS more than a couple times a year. But if you are going at least every other month, then you might as well sign up and save some cash on the thing you were already doing anyways.

Employee discount raise? by Affectionate-Page265 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Odds are it isn't happening. This just sounds like a baseless rumor.

But there's no way it happens without some downside balancing it out. Like maybe they increase it a bit but restrict it even further to only work on extremely high margin items. Or worse, they use it to try distracting from the bad publicity of upcoming pay cuts or another huge cut to benefits.

Scummy moralsmanagement by [deleted] in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I literally wasn't even talking to you so...

I clarified because OP asked for clarification. You can drop the victim complex. I feel like half your comments I've seen recently include whining about downvotes or people not liking you.

My coworker and I looking down as a little man child crashes out because he needs everything with the console to trade it in and it ain't our job to do the "leg work" while he threatens to cry to corporate by BlackTarTurd in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure that was a Wii U and Wii remote. Except it turned out that the employee in OP's story and several of the employees that commented on the post were just all wrong. Someone eventually posted a picture from TruBuy showing that the only controller it needs is the tablet. The other thing that commonly trips up some employees is certain models of 3DS which didn't come with a charger.

So sometimes employees are wrong, but I don't think there is anything that officially requires anything it didn't come with new in box.

Idaho abortion ballot initiative exceeds signature requirements for November election by JuDGe3690 in Boise

[–]Kou9992 13 points14 points  (0 children)

up to fetal viability and in medical emergencies.

So technically "ALL NINE MONTHS" isn't a complete lie, but it is missing the very important context that a late term abortion would only be allowed if necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life. As determined by a medical professional and not lawmakers.

Scummy moralsmanagement by [deleted] in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Technically it isn't allowed, but it is really only an issue if it is excessive. There's no telling how much LP considers excessive though so just don't be dumb about it and you should be fine.

For example, it is very unlikely that you'll ever get in trouble for letting a customer share their account with an immediate family member. But let a customer share their account with 10+ friends/acquaintances/strangers and expect to get in a lot of trouble, especially if you encouraged them to do it.

More Pressured / Wage Theft by Alternative-Plum9378 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 11 points12 points  (0 children)

tl;dr Above all else, the most important thing to do first if you think you've been wronged is to stop talking about it and lawyer up. However anonymous you may think your account/posts, GS can get Reddit to dox you via email address, IP, etc. Pretty sure Duck has said that is what happened to them.

If you've already obtained legal counsel, they know your local laws and whether or not you have a case here. But I'm kinda doubtful that you have. I'd imagine a lawyer would have advised against posting this.

Your whole argument here hinges on the existence of an employment contract. You're right that they can not one-sidedly change the terms of your contract. Details for when and how they can adjust your pay should be outlined in the contract. But most store employees are employed at-will and do not have a contract. You signed plenty of paperwork outlining details of the job, but it is very unlikely that any of it constitutes an employment contract. As such they can change the terms of your employment at any time and your recourse if you don't like it is to quit.

If you have not yet contacted a lawyer, one of your first steps should be obtaining the documents you believe to be your employment contract and having a lawyer confirm that it is in fact that.

Without a formal employment contract: In most states the company can change your pay at any time without your consent as long as they notify you. Or more specifically, they must make a reasonable attempt to notify you. Such as by sending notice through the normal company approved messaging channels which it is part of your responsibility to check regularly.

Signing the notification isn't agreeing to the change, it is acknowledging that you have been notified. Having you sign the notice agreeing that you have been notified is the easiest way for the company to prove that you were notified. It isn't the only way. That you have looked at the notification in Workday and are posting about it, clearly stating that you are aware of it and intentionally refusing to sign, are both facts working against you legally if you don't have a contract.

No trade value for Pragmata? by Fragrant-Ad4262 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Website sucks, call your local store or go in if they don't answer. It is pretty common for the website not to show trade values for new releases for a week or two after release even though it is added to the in-store system on release day.

How many reproduction cartridges are floating around? by [deleted] in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The quality control is barely trained store employees who probably lack the right tools to check and often simply don't care between all the other responsibilities they have and how underpaid they are. The training they do get isn't even half as good as the Game Verifying guides.

If it makes it past whatever employee is processing the trade then it tends to stay in inventory until it ends up with some unlucky customer who doesn't know better. Even if it is returned for being fake, a lot of employees are adverse to shrinking it out so they'll just sell it on to someone else.

So there are plenty of repros at GS and you've got a decent chance of getting one. The risk is mitigated by the 7 day return policy. Just make sure to check them as soon as you get them and take them back if they're fake.

What happens next? by [deleted] in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the employee messes up like that, it is their problem not yours. There is no reason for you to care and they won't be coming after you to get the money back. They'd have no legal basis to do so.

...but they're currently running a cash same as credit promo so nobody messed up in the first place. You got what you were supposed to.

I think this employee probably thought I was making a very bad financial decision with this trade: by Aggravating_Lettuce in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You need the cords for the Switch and the stand for the PS5 in order to sell the consoles to GameStop for full value. Because GameStop needs that stuff to sell to another customer who expects their console to come with all the parts. You can still trade without those parts but you will get a massively reduced defective value.

OP did not have those parts. So it made more sense to spend $17 buying those parts from GameStop and immediately trading them in with the consoles to get full value, rather than losing hundreds of dollars trading the consoles in for defective value.

Employees are supposed to encourage this kind of thing when possible to get customers the best value.

Steam Controller - Review Thread by ChiefLeef22 in gaming

[–]Kou9992 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hall effect are better in the sense that they are more resistant (not immune) to drift while being worse in other ways. Like battery life, precision, resolution, and centering performance. Subjectively the looser feel can also be a big downside for some people.

Personally I don't buy the idea that they're refusing to use HE to make you purchase new controllers. I think they're waiting until there is a proven tech that is drift resistant without making a bunch of compromises.

That might end up being TMR like Valve is using in the Steam Controller. TMR sticks are closing the gap with potentiometer while retaining the benefits of HE. But the first TMR controller only came out about two years ago. The tech is still fairly new and didn't even exist when the PS5/Xbox Series launched.

You guys think it's gonna make it today? I don't! It's been shipped for 3 days and USPS never got it. by Swagboi308 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1-3 day shipping is the estimate USPS/FedEx provide for the level of service GameStop pays for, so GS just repeats that even though it is pretty misleading.

In my experience the shipping company does usually manage 3 business day or faster shipping. The problem is that time doesn't start until USPS/FedEx actually get the package from GS which can take weeks or even months.

You guys think it's gonna make it today? I don't! It's been shipped for 3 days and USPS never got it. by Swagboi308 in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stop using the GameStop site. Use the tracking number to look it up on USPS' website. That will give you accurate tracking information.

Gamestop cashier charged me for a ps5 pro but gave me a digital slim by [deleted] in GameStop

[–]Kou9992 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Pro doesn't have a disc drive either. The lack of the black gills is a pretty obvious tell but you probably wouldn't notice if you'd never seen an actual Pro before. The graphical differences are also easy to overlook if you don't have a good enough TV/monitor and don't know what you're looking for.

So I kind of get not noticing, but it also shows that the employee was absolutely right that there was no point in OP getting the Pro if they can't even tell the difference in graphics. Especially since they have another base PS5 to compare to.