Kotaku
So I ran out today to pick up Iron Man the video game, exciteable little fanboy that I am, and decided to purchase it at my local Blockbuster Video, to see how they were doing with the new retail push. They had one copy for the PlayStation 3 and one copy for the Xbox 360 available, and on a whim I chose the PS3 version, seeing as my poor system hadn't been getting much attention since Hot Shots Golf last month. Upon getting the game home I hastily unwrapped it, only to discover that my PS3, which I have long considered the best of the three current consoles when it comes to reliability, would no longer accept any Blu-ray media. PS2 games work fine, and DVD's, but PS3 games and blu-ray movies were a no go. I was completely crushed, and jonesin' for some Iron Man, so I took the game back to Blockbuster, hoping they would show pity on me for buying a game I couldn't play. They swapped out versions for free and I lived happily ever after!
Unfortunately I'm lying.
No, the manager at the Blockbuster Video...someone I had known for years...wouldn't let me return the game. All I could do was trade-in the game for store credit - $35 - which I then put towards the Xbox 360 version of Iron Man. All in all, I wound up spending about $90 for a copy of Sega's Iron Man, but with the game I received a bit of knowledge that I will carry with me from here on out. Don't buy games from Blockbuster.
I understand that it isn't their fault my PS3 decided to crap out on me, and I understand they have store policies to adhere to, but unfortunately for many Blockbuster employees that is the limit of their understanding. Without a basic knowledge of how the game systems work, they simply don't understand this sort of situation. Hell, when I first brought the game back the elderly day shift manager looked absolutely terrified, running to the back room to get the store manager to handle the return.
I know for certain that had I done this at my local GameStop store, the employees there would have swapped out the version without blinking an eye, especially considering I was back within the hour. Of course I have built a rapport with them over the years, but as I said, I have known the Blockbuster Manager for years (she knows my mother) and she still couldn't do anything to help.
Incidentally, Iron Man? Not worth $90.
Comments
$90 for ironman ouch
Lame.
I only buy games from Gamestation (we only really have two game stores here in Scotland, Game and Gamestation - Gamestation generally has employees who actually know what the hell they're selling)
Damn, that sucks. Does your PS3 have the latest firmware?
I'm sorry to hear that Fahey. Good thing you took one for the team and told us what happened.
My ps3 has been having some issues reading some movies and games. I get to watch a good second and then it freezes on me. :( I think I might have to send it in . :(
I wouldn't spend 90 dollars in total renting movies from Blockbuster, lol!
And for a game made by sega :O?
It'll probably get me banned (For siding with Lucifer... I mean Blockbuster), but listen, you opened it, so you technically cannot bring it back, unless the game is defective. No store allows that, not even Walmart.
I'm sorry that happened to you, but uh, you could have just waited to get a new PS3.
The same thing happened with my PS3. I inserted "Night at the Museum" Blu-ray, and it would not play. Everything else worked fine, but every time I put a Blu-ray disc in, it would play for a few seconds, then completely lock up the PS3. Thankfully, I had a Gamestop warranty, so I went the same day to trade it in for a new one, and haven't had a problem since.
I can't blame the employee/manager. She is just following company policy, after all. I just can't believe you bought Iron Man.
I think that was God punishing you for even wanting to buy Iron Man.
Mike you lost your mind for a second?
1) You went to a Blockbuster to buy a game? Regardless on them trying to get into the business you should know by now that most companies who jump into retail game sales do not get it right at first. If at ever.
2) You bought Ironman. Renting it...ok I understand. Though the next time you curse another movie based game and wonder why it is crap...just look at your shelf. Then take a slow drink of your favorite alcoholic beverage and know you contribute to the motivation of developers producing these crappy games.
3) You should have complained...badly when they pulled that return nonsense.
Other than that, just use this as food for thought. You learned one lesson about buying games at blockbuster, but follow rule number two as well.
Now go sit back and drink a beer or something. Haha
Frankly, Iron Man looked like it wasn't worth 20, based on the demo. And I LIKE Iron Man.
The funny thing is, if you had posted that story without naming which console you had first bought it for, and which console crapped out on you...
... people would have guessed it completely wrong.
that really sucks, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. Only time I ever buy from blockbuster myself is when I find a used game I wanted for a good price.
You should have just kept the PS3 version and sent your PS3 into Sony to have it fixed. Sony does that, right? They should, if it just stopped playing blue ray media for no reason.
You could have just rented the 360 version and played it now. You would have saved money that way.
Wow Mike... of all the people to have a PS3 die. Well at least now you can approach game consoles like woman: Normally guys like to go for women within their reach because they think it's safer (less chance of rejection). After enough failures with "safe" woman, you begin to release that nothing is a sure thing and then you start going for woman you want. At this point it because all about the experience leading up to the failure and not about the failures because those experiences are just more fun. Long story short, stick with the 360 next time regardless of how many times it fails you ;)
OMG(!), I'm so going to get flamed for this ^_^;
At least the movie was amazing. One of these days, a comic book movie and a tie-in game that both rock. Until then.
Gotta tell you though, Iron Man game would've been money if they bothered to steal the control scheme from ZOE and altered it a bit.
LOL.
Why!? Why Iron Man?! Didn't you play the demo?!
Dude, that sucks. I hate when you have to advertly spend more money cause of something like that.
Oh, and thanks for the heads up as to how the game is.
Wow =( That sucks.
I buy 95% of my games at EB Games, i hate their used games resell policy but they seem to be okay with everything else...
Am I a sucker for buying scratch protection?
PS3 Crapped out,... this is new..in fact this is the first time ive heard of this, email sony immediately
Heh, this reminds me of a similar ordeal I had to go through at a small store in my area. I had been a customer for 7 years and they still wouldn't just swap versions. Needless to say, I'm no longer a customer there.
Btw, if this is a 60GB or 20GB unit, hold on to it. I've heard of one person having a similar problem, and it turned out to be mere dust. He opened up the unit and cleaned the lens manually, but I know Maxell makes a brushless BD lens cleaner. Not sure if it's a DVD though.
Especially with electronics, this is normal for any store. Just because Walmart lets you do it doesn't mean anything.
I'm sick of hearing:
"Gamestop is gay because they have to follow the rules set by their company!".
And I'm glad other people are starting to see this.
...they aren't the best game RENTAL store either. (too bad my hollywood video closed)
@SG79:
I can confirm it's actually a DVD.
@mrplow8:
Yeah,they will send you a replacement.
@Fahey
Still under warranty?
Blockbuster's never been the best place to buy games from in my experience, anyway. Mostly because, as said in the article, a lot of Blockbuster employees have little to no clue about the games they're selling, whereas the guys at GameStop or a local game shop (which, if it hasn't already been, will probably be bought out by GameStop soon enough) can tell you pretty much anything you need to know.
Hell, even most people who work at the Electronics section of Wal-Mart can tell you at least a LITTLE about a game. Plus, they're incredibly lenient with returns.
I've had the unreadable disc problem on my PS3. It doesn't play games or movies. It's actually a slightly common problem with the PS3, but is something that various gaming news outlets refuse to cover. Check Sony's PS3 I promise their are a good bit of people who has the same problem.
you should have said the game was defective and received a full refund. arguably, it was, as it didn't want to work with your console, at least because it wasn't burned on a DVD. at that point, let them sort it out.
I haven't stepped into a Blockbuster in years, and after hearing this shit, I doubt I will again.
Buy a game for $60, it doesn't work, return it for $35, and then use that credit to buy it AGAIN?
Mike, Blockbuster just stole $25 from you. It's like they pick pocketed your wallet, took the cash out, and then ran up to you sheepishly grinning, handing your wallet back and skipping away with nothing but a "Sorry!". But they aren't sorry at all, Mike. They just stole $25 from you.
@Terance: Is there something wrong with criticising the company for setting those rules?
Hell, Iron Man isn't even worth $60.
While it has some cool elements, it's still your typical ever-so-slightly-above-average movie tie-in.
@Mike Fahey:
That's a weird problem with the PS3. Keep us informed of the process you undergo to get that fixed: Sony's response and actions taken, turn-around time, etc.
It won't be long before the fanboys for both the PS3 and Xbox 360, arguing about everything but the main topic of the article.
I, fortunately, have yet to have to actually return a game to any outlet. However, without fail, every outlet I've gone to has had a return policy where they would only exchange for the exact same game. I know that, in the past, EB Games had a 30 day return policy where you could exchange games up to one time for any other game, but it's been a long time before I've seen such a policy.
Unfortunately, this is probably due to the fact that people suck. No, really. I know that said EB Games policy only lasted about three, or so, months (at least where I lived at the time), before having to be changed due to so many people either treating it like a free rental program or simply copying the game and returning it for another game to copy.
What I'm trying to say, is that, yes, it sucks. Especially when you weren't trying to get the better end of a deal per se. However, I, at least somewhat, understand where Blockbuster is coming from. It's all a matter of perspective.
Mike, you lose points for supporting BlockBusters. Don't you read up consumerist? Avoid Blockbusters like a plague.
@munchausen: alternatively, you could have bought the ps3 version from gamestop, returned the open version for the xbox version, then returned the unopened version to blockbuster. but, then that may be considered fraudulent as you aren't returning what you truly bought there.
as for blockbuster, i call bs on them. they can always override something, i really doubt otherwise, that's why they are a manager. also, they could have easily called up the regional manager for authorization if they needed to go up the chain. i don't care if you know the manager, as apparently that relationship was worthless if they can't be reasonable with you. i'd never return there.
@超外人: Can't fault him for trying. At least he took one for the team!
Blockbuster should really be held accountable for this, I mean they had no way of even knowing if the game was defected, as they had no system to test it on. I dont know of many other stores that would not take something back, especially within an hour of purchasing it, and this really makes me think twice about ever going to Blockbuster again. Of course I am a Hollywood Video girl and I know they would take it back, from experience. Bought a defective XBox many years ago for a Christmas gift and, on Christmas Day no less, I was able to return it for a new one, with no hassle.
With Blockbuster this is a case of "buyer beware" I suppose, and a warning to anyone else that even considers buying games there.
@mrplow8: Same thing happened to my PS3, called up Sony and they paid for shipping, a box and bubble wrap so it was a really easy process.
None of the stores I buy from allow full refunds for open returns, the best Ive ever been offered is for an exact replacement.
Your PS3 turned into a PS2? Ouch.
@Maldron: Spider-man 2 and game for Xbox / PS2, couldn't have asked for more.
why even bother with Iron Man to begin with? I'll never understand these comic book nerds :P
to be honest, I work at what they now call is Hollywood Video/ Game Zone
which was in the past just hollywood video / mini gamecrazy.
When we first started us with retail product it was small pushes, not every game would come in. They also base alot of the amount of product we get for say 1 game based on how many pre orders.
For Example: 9 people preordered Grand Theft Auto, they'll get 9 copies w/ names attatched and then 9 more copies for any one who did not.
So with these small pushes of retail in a rental business they base alot of it on a small portion because it is not yet big enough..
Our Trade in values how ever are absolutely amazing compared to gamestop.
However they dont allow us to take in used systems and accessories.
This is yet another reason I rent before I buy. You only need to get burned once or twice buying a really crappy game, and then realizing that you're stuck with it....and 60 bucks for a crappy game really sticks in the craw.
But I wouldn't blame Blockbuster here, or any other store. You bought the game, the game (in theory) worked...why should they be responsible for your hardware issue?
The situation sucks, but Blockbuster didn't do anything wrong here.
Yeah, I bet this happens with many of us, and unfortunately we have to put up with such crap as not being able to return our open-cased discs as well, tough luck.
eBay! eBay!
Sucks your ps3 went bonk on ya, but am going to have to side with Blockbuster. Most of the people that complain about such and such store following their policy for returns have never worked retail or you would not get upset at something like that.
You know full well when you go into a store what it's return policy is because it's either posted on a board somewhere, on your receipt or another location that you should pay attention to.
Don't get all bent out of shape about Blockbuster following their policy just because you know a guy at Gamestop, because I can guarantee that if the district manager or LPM of your Gamestop paid attention to it's returns, you would be out one manager in that store and you would have to actually follow the return policy again.
Any gamestop I know of would have swapped it for you. No, it's not blockbuster's fault, but its also about customer service heh.
@Shadebane: No.. most district managers would have applauded that manager for not taking a customer service hit, on a product that can easily still be resold.. If you were told no by a store manager and complained to a DM, he would have OKed it in a second.
@slomo788: No, this is happening more and more often as time goes on. Older PS3s are beginning to fail for any number of reasons. So far, i have seen two of my friends' 60GB PS3 bluray drives go dead (with same symptoms as in this article). Also, right now Im on my 2nd 60GB because my first one completely died with what many people call the "Yellow Light of Death" (do a youtube search to see it).
In fact, i even posted a youtube video of my own failing. Find the yellow light of death video on youtube made by "leimeisei909" :)
It is funny reading these comments that
A) No one is surprised that a movie tie-in game sucked
and
B) Buying a game at Blockbuster, is not a good idea (although we all appreciate you biting the bullet to confirms it Mike, thanks)
But instead are focusing on the fact that your PS3 was the console to crap out on you.