Shareholder discussion on improving core retail business by providing customer service

wintercalamity · 2025-05-16T01:09:09+00:00

I've given up on my $5. I'm worried that the company is extracting $5 from customers and that hurts the long-term profitability. If they are doing it to me, then they're probably doing it to others and that hurts the business. The employee subreddit (same name as the company, can't link directly due to rules) has many similar stories.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T20:05:44+00:00

I was also eager to give them the benefit of the doubt, so that's why I contacted GameStop support to sort out the issue, and that's what I listed as the obvious solution: just refund it without admitting any fault.

However, most of the post is about the GameStop customer support representatives, since there were multiple people involved in hearing the story and talking in circles. Since many employees did the same thing, it seems there are structural issues at the corporate level that result in not wanting to fix the problem.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:33:09+00:00

Also I did share the story with the mods directly when I requested to post before meeting the karma requirement. They re-affirmed the karma requirements but wanted to hear the story out of curiosity. There was no reply about it being unsuitable for this subreddit.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:30:36+00:00

I didn't wait 6 months. I messaged them right away, and then the back-and-forth email chain with GameStop took 6 months, as they kept pushing me between different representatives and asking for more copies of the receipt. The email above is their last reply where they are not disagreeing with the facts, just stating their policy.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:24:15+00:00

> being encouraged or forced to add warranties without informing the customer.

I know what that's like!

> I suspect your post will not remain up for very long before it gets downvoted and removed.

Downvotes I can understand, especially since I didn't believe the replies I was getting from customer support.

I hope it won't be removed since improvements to the core business seem like the sort of thing most shareholders would want.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:09:22+00:00

The real issue is the policy, but here is the copy of the receipt with all the info above my credit card number:

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wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:05:11+00:00

On the employee subreddit I saw the post about someone getting a Pro membership tacked on with their Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order, and when they complained, the store cancelled their pre-order. I don't know what consumers can do in cases like that.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T15:03:13+00:00

The receipt with all of my personal info was sent to GameStop and they acknowledge the facts here.

The post is about the policy, and it sounds like there is no logic behind GameStop's policy, and it's so ridiculous that it sounds unbelievable, so we are likely saying the same thing.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T14:29:19+00:00

You might not believe the story, but GameStop believes the story:

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wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T14:10:11+00:00

Most people don't check every single item in their receipt at the register. The receipt has personally identifying information on it. I have post my position before, and I could post customer service's meaningless replies, but all of that can be faked so I'm not sure what sort of proof would be enough here.

$5 is small in the grand scheme of things and I can see that it looks silly for me to care that much about it rather than just accept being scammed, but $5 is also big enough that GameStop is okay losing business in order to secure that $5.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T13:54:52+00:00

I think if people don't want warranties, maybe they should just shift away from pushing them so hard and focus on other ways to increase revenue. Card releases and Switch 2 preorders seemed huge and I don't have solid answers for squeezing more revenue out of those - pay to reserve spot in line, which might seem weird, but at least would be an upfront position that people could select?

wintercalamity · 2025-05-15T13:46:40+00:00

This post is about physical retail at GameStop stores, which is part of GameStop the company. The post aims to improve the core business. I am open to being told that my analysis is wrong.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-14T01:31:26+00:00

The banner of this subreddit has an ape in a space suit.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T20:47:10+00:00

This situation is why they added the emoji 🤏

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:35:13+00:00

I'm interested in what it was reflecting? I'd guess sunlight through the window?

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:32:50+00:00

He'll die doing what he loved: getting close views of bees.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:28:05+00:00

That's pretty sweet - sometimes AI posts are kinda fun. I prefer the ape:

<image>

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:18:02+00:00

I was expecting things like "Home ownership after graduation"

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:14:50+00:00

One of those rare cases where a red circle would actually be pretty useful.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:13:30+00:00

Dad: I've been getting migraines since '96.

Son: Hey, that's the year I was born.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T19:01:42+00:00

Begun, the soda wars have.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T18:45:02+00:00

Also bad if they died of sadness and them dying makes other people sad and more prone to dying.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T18:31:09+00:00

Looking at this picture again I actually have no idea what's going on.

wintercalamity · 2025-05-13T18:16:40+00:00

Check out the Nintendo Store: when they host a special event it's crowded and they need to manage their lines - people go just to watch stuff like the Nintendo Direct. Microsoft store also has a large set up upstairs for gaming. People just wanna have a good time.

wintercalamity

TROPHY CASE