Game closes 277 stores High street retailer Game's administrators started the company shakedown in frantic fashion today, announcing the immediate closure of 277 stores in the UK and Ireland, and suspension of refunds and exchanges, store credit and the company's Reward card scheme. While points can still be earned through purchases in Game's …
I sensed that the writing was on the wall for Game last year when I ordered a game online from their website for store pickup (I was browsing online*, wanted the game and as I was driving home past the shop (one of about seventeen in my town......) I thought I would pick it up to save waiting for the postie ).
When I arrived at the store to pick it up, I was told it had not arrived yet as I had only ordered it that morning, despite there being about seventy bajillion copies on the shelf in the store. On asking, I was told that I could not have one of the store copies as mine would be sent separately to the shop and that's the one I had to have. It would take about 3 or 4 days for it to come and they would e-mail me when it arrived so I could come and get it.
So what did I do ? I drove around the corner to Tesco, bought the same game for less money and when Game e-mailed to tell me my ordered copy was ready, went in to the shop, opened the package and immediately returned the game to the shop for a full (in cash at store price, not online price !) refund.
No wonder they are bankrupt (but it does leave me with £1.85 in Game card points unspent....)
*I try to do as much of my online shopping at work as possible so as not to waste my own valuable leisure time doing such mundane things.....
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I'll miss you guys..... A Better store than the local Game IMO. Staff always more chatty too, I snaffled up about £60 of bargains when the fire sale kicked off, lucky timing for me in getting a PS3 is that I got a good stash of good games cheaply. Guess my £60 wasn't enough to save the store.
Definitely.
Big up to Gamestation Glenrothes.
When I lived in Fife in my student days, the guys there kept me right about a Dreamcast and a great package of games, at a great price. Enthusiastic, not just about the latest releases, but gaming as a whole.
<-- That pints for you guys.
Having been an avid gamer since the Atari VCS console first graced my parents living room carpet, in front of the TV in the early 80's, I must have spent a considerable amount of disposable income on gaming through the days of Commodore 64, Atari ST and Amiga battering before finally embracing WoW in 2005 and only playing the one true game ever since. My console loving buddies dragged their couch potato asses down to Game and its ilk to trade and spend on new delights far more than I ever did. The smarter ones went to the local maison de geek (called Playaway) which was cheaper and always on the money for getting the right titles in for the even righter price and always on release day not later.
My only misadventure with Game was to buy a Gravis joypad that broke within a fortnight. When I tried to return it I was flat refused by the manager who told me to send it to the manufacturer for a replacement. Gravis refused to entertain such behaviour and insisted I return it via the shop. Both refused to budge so the piece of crap went in the bin and I never spent another penny in that emporium again.
Strangely enough my home town still has 2 booming gaming shops, both off the high rent shopfrontage and neither run as badly as the latest recession casualty we are here to lament.
Condolences to all the staff who just got the bullet, never a nice thing to happen, especially right now. :(
I hope whoever buys it knows exactly what they need to do to fix a very broken business model.
Anyone remember Our Price? VShops? Sanity? Maybe Paris does... no wait.....
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