'Game' Stores, UK

Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find the following things missing - - All leads - The base (clamp) unit - The gearstick - The instructions - The installation CD They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or intelligence to realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone has in mind... OK, I know I should have checked it in the shop, but it's a shame you have to anticipate such incompetence. In fact, of the seven items that should have been in the box, they managed to give me two - the wheel and pedals. Oh well done. When I called them, the excuse was 'well.. our storeroom is very messy..' Give these guys a very wide berth ;) P.S. This comes in the same week that I bought a Sony laptop, which had serious hardware problems on delivery. When I called Sony, they promised a very reasonable '3-5 week repair time' - well, they have to send it off to their only European service centre, in Alsace, after all... Sony won't return calls, won't give out telephone numbers, or even e-mail addresses. Their customer service is non-existent and I'd strongly advise anyone to look elsewhere. Btw, Dell make some good laptops with the GeForce2Go card inside - soon as the refund comes through, that's where it's going ;)

"Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]... > Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. Geez, Roger, this sounds like the week for horrible customer support! ;] Cheers! -- �� Jan Kohl �� SECURITY CONSULTANT The Pits - http://www.theuspits.com Castle Graphics - http://www.castlegraphics.com

I don't think you can judge a whole company by one bad experience at one store, annoying though it is. I've bought most of my gaming hardware from GAME and have had absolutely no problems with them. Plus they have the 10 day refund policy which helps decide about the things you're not sure about :) -- Ian P <email invalid due to spammers> "Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]... > Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find the > following things missing - > > - All leads > - The base (clamp) unit > - The gearstick > - The instructions > - The installation CD > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or intelligence to > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone has in > mind... > > OK, I know I should have checked it in the shop, but it's a shame you have > to anticipate such incompetence. In fact, of the seven items that should > have been in the box, they managed to give me two - the wheel and pedals. > Oh well done. > > When I called them, the excuse was 'well.. our storeroom is very messy..' > > Give these guys a very wide berth ;) >

In article <oJ7%6.12241$[email hidden]>, "Jan Kohl" <[email hidden]> writes: >"Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]... >> Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. > >Geez, Roger, this sounds like the week for horrible customer support! ;] > Should I include my experience with United Airlines on Tuesday...? Sheesh...must be 'screw the customer' week...<g> Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett F1 hcp. +16.36...Monster +366.59... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

In the interests of fairness, I should probably say that I bought the same wheel from PC World today, and found that it had been built up completely differently by Thrustmaster - different fascia, grip, etc. Looks like they sent 'Game' entirely the wrong thing. Anyway - let battle commence ;) Roger Middleton <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]...

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> Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find the > following things missing - > > - All leads > - The base (clamp) unit > - The gearstick > - The instructions > - The installation CD > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or intelligence

to > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone hasin

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> mind... > > OK, I know I should have checked it in the shop, but it's a shame you have > to anticipate such incompetence. In fact, of the seven items that should > have been in the box, they managed to give me two - the wheel and pedals. > Oh well done. > > When I called them, the excuse was 'well.. our storeroom is very messy..' > > Give these guys a very wide berth ;) > > > P.S. This comes in the same week that I bought a Sony laptop, which had > serious hardware problems on delivery. When I called Sony, they promised

a

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> very reasonable '3-5 week repair time' - well, they have to send it off to > their only European service centre, in Alsace, after all... > > Sony won't return calls, won't give out telephone numbers, or even e-mail > addresses. Their customer service is non-existent and I'd strongly advise > anyone to look elsewhere. > > Btw, Dell make some good laptops with the GeForce2Go card inside - soon as > the refund comes through, that's where it's going ;) > >

"Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]...

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> Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find the > following things missing - > > - All leads > - The base (clamp) unit > - The gearstick > - The instructions > - The installation CD > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or intelligence

to > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone hasin > mind... Steer clear? for a simple problem like that? I remember when my girlfriend bought me the psx for christmas in '97 from HMV. Got home from work, and found that we'd been sold what turned out to be defective and already returned item (was easy to compare the state of the internal packaging with a pucka item) returned it the same day (fair enough I live about a mile away from the local store) got a replacement and no problems. I still shop at HMV, it was a simple mistake, easily rectified. If I lived a whole 25 miles away from where I spend large amounts of money, I'd make sure what I bought was in the box, I would be stupid to drive all that way without checking. Give them a break, and take some responsibility- do you not check your change before leaving the shop either? cheers John

In my opinion Game are the best in the High Street. They have a no quibble refund policy which meant I could take back Black&White within 10 days and I buy all my son's console games from them. If he doesn't like the game then I just take it back. The same deal applies to all hardware and they have an excellent loyalty scheme. Just try getting any of this from Dixons / PCWorld. And yes I always check the contents of a box before I leave a shop - unless it's cornflakes I'm buying or peanuts I'm paying Ian "JM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:IRu%6.36225$[email hidden]... > > "Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]... > > Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game'stores. > > > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, > > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to findthe

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> > following things missing - > > > > - All leads > > - The base (clamp) unit > > - The gearstick > > - The instructions > > - The installation CD > > > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you > > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or

intelligence > to > > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone has > in > > mind... > > Steer clear? for a simple problem like that? I remember when mygirlfriend > bought me the psx for christmas in '97 from HMV. Got home from work, and > found that we'd been sold what turned out to be defective and already > returned item (was easy to compare the state of the internal packagingwith > a pucka item) returned it the same day (fair enough I live about a mileaway > from the local store) got a replacement and no problems. > > I still shop at HMV, it was a simple mistake, easily rectified. > > If I lived a whole 25 miles away from where I spend large amounts ofmoney,

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> I'd make sure what I bought was in the box, I would be stupid to drive all > that way without checking. > > Give them a break, and take some responsibility- do you not check your > change before leaving the shop either? > > cheers > John > > >

I realise I shouldn't have put any trust in Game selling the right product and checked it in store, but I do find the ignorance of their staff quite unbelievable. Anyone working in a computer gaming store must realise that a steering wheel is going to need software drivers, a connection lead(!) and perhaps some instructions too. How he could miss out five of the seven items that were supposed to be included in the box, and (presumably) believe the package complete, is quite beyond me. If you were to buy, for instance, hi-fi from a similar specialist shop, you'd expect better service and better product knowledge than you'd get from a bigger store. I'm thinking particularly of Richer Sounds - the knowledge of the staff is second to none, the service is superb, and they know what goes in the boxes. Why computer and console users put up with second class service and non-existent product knowledge is a mystery. Ian Barrett <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ezD%6.572$[email hidden]... > In my opinion Game are the best in the High Street. They have a no quibble > refund policy which meant I could take back Black&White within 10 days andI > buy all my son's console games from them. If he doesn't like the game thenI > just take it back. > > The same deal applies to all hardware and they have an excellent loyalty > scheme. Just try getting any of this from Dixons / PCWorld. > > And yes I always check the contents of a box before I leave a shop -unless

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> it's cornflakes I'm buying or peanuts I'm paying > > Ian > "JM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:IRu%6.36225$[email hidden]... > > > > "Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]... > > > Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' > stores. > > > > > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this

afternoon,

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> > > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find > the > > > following things missing - > > > > > > - All leads > > > - The base (clamp) unit > > > - The gearstick > > > - The instructions > > > - The installation CD > > > > > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when

you > > > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or > intelligence > > to > > > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyonehas > > in > > > mind... > > > > Steer clear? for a simple problem like that? I remember when my > girlfriend > > bought me the psx for christmas in '97 from HMV. Got home from work,and

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> > found that we'd been sold what turned out to be defective and already > > returned item (was easy to compare the state of the internal packaging > with > > a pucka item) returned it the same day (fair enough I live about a mile > away > > from the local store) got a replacement and no problems. > > > > I still shop at HMV, it was a simple mistake, easily rectified. > > > > If I lived a whole 25 miles away from where I spend large amounts of > money, > > I'd make sure what I bought was in the box, I would be stupid to drive

all

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> > that way without checking. > > > > Give them a break, and take some responsibility- do you not check your > > change before leaving the shop either? > > > > cheers > > John > > > > > > > >

>Should I include my experience with United Airlines on Tuesday...? And I'll include all the fun I've been having with British Telecom over the last few days... errgghh :-( -- Cheers! Graeme Nash

"Roger Middleton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:XSH%6.1662$[email hidden]... > I realise I shouldn't have put any trust in Game selling the right product > and checked it in store, but I do find the ignorance of their staff quite > unbelievable. > I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill, and a drama out of a crisis. So a mistake in stocking is enough reason for you to post on a global newsgroup saying "never shop at this store?" You'd think they murdered your family the way you posted. I buy all my games from GAME, except when PC World has an offer on. I've made savings with GAME, and had no problems returning eg, a Voodoo2 card bought in error (mine not theirs) it wasn't faulty, and it wasn't packaged wrongly, but they let me get a full refund on it. Yay for GAME I say. Buy all your stuff there. Most of the less mainstream auto sim/racing games sell there for �15 to �25 maybe as soon as a month after initial release- a great place to stockpile your sims. cheers John

It's not just Game, I've experienced this at a lot of stores. I don't get the idea of them unpacking all new stock, putting it away and displaying empty boxes, yes, it's safer but it takes so much time and does not work. They could do like some stores and display one like this and when you want to buy take an unopened one from the stock room if they are really safety conscious of protecting from theft. Roger Middleton <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:eB7%6.41801$[email hidden]...

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> Some quick advice for anyone in the UK: stay well clear of 'Game' stores. > > I bought a Thrustaster FF Wheel from the Plymouth branch this afternoon, > and, after a 25 mile drive, opened the box when I arrived home to find the > following things missing - > > - All leads > - The base (clamp) unit > - The gearstick > - The instructions > - The installation CD > > They display empty boxes, and fill them up from the store room when you > buy - unfortunately, the staff don't seem to have the wit or intelligence

to > realise that a wheel lacking all that stuff is not quite what anyone hasin

Quoted text (14 lines)

> mind... > > OK, I know I should have checked it in the shop, but it's a shame you have > to anticipate such incompetence. In fact, of the seven items that should > have been in the box, they managed to give me two - the wheel and pedals. > Oh well done. > > When I called them, the excuse was 'well.. our storeroom is very messy..' > > Give these guys a very wide berth ;) > > > P.S. This comes in the same week that I bought a Sony laptop, which had > serious hardware problems on delivery. When I called Sony, they promised

a

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> very reasonable '3-5 week repair time' - well, they have to send it off to > their only European service centre, in Alsace, after all... > > Sony won't return calls, won't give out telephone numbers, or even e-mail > addresses. Their customer service is non-existent and I'd strongly advise > anyone to look elsewhere. > > Btw, Dell make some good laptops with the GeForce2Go card inside - soon as > the refund comes through, that's where it's going ;) > >