GameStop Apologizes for Deus Ex Controversy, Offers $50 Gift Cards
by Craig Getting on August 26, 2011 5:49 PM ESTGameStop is attempting to make up for the Deus Ex: Human Revolution debacle by offering a $50 gift card and a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free Pre-owned Purchase” to those who bought boxed copies of the PC version in-store.
By first removing free game vouchers from boxed PC copies of Deus Ex and then removing the game from its shelves altogether, GameStop garnered a lot of negative press this week. Today, the retailer apologized – sort of.
GameStop CEO Paul Raines extended an olive branch to disgruntled customers via email:
“We regret the events surrounding this title’s release and that our customers were put in the middle of this issue between GameStop and Square Enix, the publisher of this game. And for this we are truly sorry.
For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience. Please bring in this email and your store receipt or order confirmation from GameStop.com and present it to a Game Advisor.”
By focusing its mea culpa on the customer, GameStop avoids having to address its stance on Square Enix’s promotional deal with OnLive. GameStop's apology is a win for whoever bought Deus Ex on PC from a GameStop. For everyone else (that includes publishers), it’s simply evidence that GameStop’s only sorry it got caught.
Source: Joystiq
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
29 Comments
View All Comments
tayb - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
This place is so sketchy I've refused to buy games there for almost 4 years now.The thing that really did me in was when I purchased a brand new copy of a game and they pulled a disc out of a sleeve and inserted it into an unsealed game box. I told them I wanted a brand new game and they told me it was. A brand new game is sealed. That was it for me.
The other major annoyance was that they insist you pre-order something and/or sign up for their gamestop card. $5 to pre-order? Why? You'll get hundreds of copies.
With so many options to buy games where you don't have to put up with ANY of this crap I don't see why anyone continues to shop there.
Alexvrb - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
I have to call you out on the preorder thing. They don't always get "hundreds of copies", for starters. Further, there are some hot releases you really DO want to preorder if you want it on day one. Also, they don't charge you $5 to preorder. It's a deposit. It counts towards the purchase - you can pay the full amount ahead of time, if you so choose.JKflipflop98 - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
That's such a crock. If it's a "hot release" you're going to get excess inventory. That's basic business sense.The only thing GameStop is good for is midnight releases and that's it.
cmdrdredd - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
"That's such a crock. If it's a "hot release" you're going to get excess inventory. That's basic business sense."WRONG! They sell out very often. I remember many games like Grand Theft Auto, Uncharted 2 that only had 2 or 3 copies that were not reserved.
Azh1 - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
And it's only Gamestop that has these artificially low numbers of copies. Go into any other store and you would've found a copy no problem. I have in 20 years of gaming never had a problem buying a game on release day. The closest I came was for Panzer Dragoon Saga for Sega Saturn, which Sega only initially made 6000 copies since it was one of the last titles made for the system. Even then, I didn't preorder and managed to get a copy on day one after calling a few stores to see who had it.Murloc - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
yeah sure, but some people can't be arsed with that and prefer to preorder, regardless of the shop, so that they can walk in and get their game without wasting time.quiksilvr - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
I'd rather save $20 an preorder online. Lots of times Newegg and Amazon have great online pre-order promotions. Sure you have to pay upfront but you can cancel at any time and it is sent to your house the day of release.B3an - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
The Panzer Dragoon series was fucking excellent. Highly underrated series, mostly thanks to Sony and there marketing BS for killing the Saturn console.Craig Getting - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
Amen on Panzer Dragoon.WhamBham - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
It's true. Walked into Gamestop and asked for a game. "Did you pre-order it?" No. "Well sorry, it's only for people who pre-ordered."Drove to Toy's R'Us picked up the game and was out in less than five minutes.
Ever since I've never been back to Gamestop. If those jokers at Gamestop corporate ever wonder why I've never been back and why they've lost my business for life, there's the answer.
Was it really worth it? The game was not a mainstream title, it was a Game Boy Advance game for christsake. I know they had enough titles to sell. Was it really worth it to lose me as a customer for life over this?