End of the line for PC game retailers???

[mathewdbarlow]

Has anyone else noticed the distinct lack of retailers out there these days prepared to sell pc games?

I felt the urge over the weekend to spend some of my hard cash on a new game to pass some time, this proved to be somewhat tricky and I managed to spend more on petrol looking for a shop than I did on an actual game.

I live in Torquay (please don't mention our football team) and we have approximately 8 stores in and around town that trade in games, components etc. You have the typical chain stores, Game, Gamestation, Blockbuster and then we have some local, one man band retailers.

Upon frequenting at least 6 of them at the weekend I noticed that only 1 even has a PC games section wider than about a foot that doesn't only stock the typical "Top 10". This was Game, who had a pretty decent selection ranging from new releases to the older, budget titles. About 5 places sold some kind of PC range, if not resticted to the so called "Top 10" they stocked no more than 20 titles (normally including at least 5 sims 2 add ons) In lots of stores I used to visit regularly for games puchases, PC titles had disapperared of the shelves completely.

Is there no money in it for them anymore??? I find that difficult to believe as there must be more people out there with PC's than PS3's...and its games were everywhere to buy or rent.

Whats more than this, the only shop that did have any kind of selection seemed to want to make it quite clear to its customers that if they purchased a game from them, it was going to do its best to make sure it infringed on all their consumer rights in relation to returns etc. What happens if it not compatiable with Vista but doesn't say so on the box??? I just lose my money as your returns policy doesn't valid on PC titles. Is this even legal? "Sorry, we can't give advice relating to technical queries on pc games"...well aren't you in the wrong job then, you work in a games store???

My only explaination is that Internet shopping for this now "niche" platform is replacing highstreet shopping. I think this is a shame as although I do buy many games online but it still shouldn't replace my option to nip into town and return with a decent game in a few minutes.

P.s I would like to know if Game can refuse all returns or is this infringes on you rights as a consumer if anyone knows.

[Blitzen]

Game used to have a 'no quibble' 14 day returns policy on all their software. Has that now stopped then?


BTW.....Hahaha....i know what you mean about The Sims....thats all most of them stock now.

Play.com seems the best and cheapest now so 'if' i decide to buy a game then thats where it comes from.

[mathewdbarlow]

You can only return to Game now if the item is cellophane wrapped and unused...what good is that if you try it but it doesn't work on your machine? If you look at my pc specs I have a pretty able machine but for some reason Farcry has never worked no matter what I try. Just one of those things, luckily I have a second machine that it runs on but if I didn't the only way to get my money back would have been via fleabay.com

Sainsbury's has had 4 Sims 2 add ons in the "Top 10" for about 6 months now. The xmas add on is still in there now, I find this quite hard to believe.

[finlay666]

My local game (as in 2 doors down where I work) has about 1/5th of the shop for PC games, gamestation about the same

mind alot of the games I get now are online or D2D style purchases like through steam

[mathewdbarlow]

My local Gamestation stocks the top 20 and some old 2nd hand titles that it is phasing out.

[Saracen]

P.s I would like to know if Game can refuse all returns or is this infringes on you rights as a consumer if anyone knows.

They can .... and they can't.

You have your usual Sale of Goods Act rights to return goods, and NO retailer can opt out of those. But they only apply in certain circumstances (goods are not of satisfactory quality, not fit for purpose, not as described, etc).

Game do, I believe, offer a 28-day exchange/refund option BUT it only applies to CDs/DVDs that have their seals intact. As this is in addition to your statutory rights and doesn't affect those, it applies according to the conditions Game state (unopened, etc) and that's entirely legal.


The ONLY right to return goods you have are either those given you by law, or offered by the retailer as part of the terms of sale. And your rights by law do not include any right to return goods to a shop UNLESS they're in some way defective, not as described, not fit for purpose, etc. That applies to all retailers, and all goods. You do not have a legal right to take goods back because you just changed your mind (though many shops will let you).

The "fit for purpose" part opens a grey area. The purpose you have in mind for something you buy can be either implicit in the nature of the goods, or explicitly stated. For instance, it's implicit in the nature of a raincoat that it keeps out the rain. If it doesn't, you can take it back because it isns't fit for the purpose.

Similarly, if you specifically state what you want something to do (i.e. an explicit purpose), it must be capable of doing it or you can return it even if the goods are in perfect condition and not defective. For instance, if you bought a processor specifying it was for a Socket A motherboard and were sold a Pentium 4 chip, you could return it as not fit for purpose.

On that basis, if you specified that a game was to run on a PC, and were then sold a Playstation version, you could take it back.

But .... you'll find a lot of retailers include a provision in their terms and conditions that attempts to exclude any liability for statements about fitness for purpose. It's probasbly why Game say they can't offer technical advice abvout compatibility. If they do offer such advice, and it turns out to be wrong, then the goods wouldn't be complying with an explicitly stated purpose and that would give you a statutory right to return the goods, unsealed or not. Of course, if they refuse to refund you you might have to take them to small claims court, and then you'd have to establish what they had actually told you, and that might not be at all easy.

If you buy by a distance method, then the Distance Selling Regs give you a brief period (usually seven working days starting from the day after delivery) to cancel the contract, and you can then return goods BUT ..... while it applies to most goods, there are exceptions and CDs and DVDs and computer software are among the exceptions unless they're still in original seals. So even mail-ordering won't give you the ability to return software, unless it falls under the Sale of Goods Act conditions (satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose, etc).


So, while there are exceptions, the general rule is that they can refuse to take opened software back, and are generally quite within their rights to do so.

[Tarffie]

My nearest GAME is inside a Debenhams, and all they have is Top 10 and the 3 for £20 type offers. My closest proper GAME (just up the road) has a pretty good selection. Top 20, a 4ft section for the back catalogue and THEN the 3 for £20 style offers area. The Gamestation further up the road just straight up sucks for any console. They've gone down hill recently.

[Agent]

Game used to have a 'no quibble' 14 day returns policy on all their software. Has that now stopped then?

LOL, ages ago mate

You can only return to Game now if the item is cellophane wrapped and unused...what good is that if you try it but it doesn't work on your machine?

On the flip side - its not GAME's problem, its a Farcry / your machines problem.

It's probasbly why Game say they can't offer technical advice abvout compatibility..

Its exactly why
When I used to work there many moons ago, we were told time and time again that the most we could do was point out the specs to people, and that tech support couldnt be offered due to the huge number of variations on PC's.

[Kezzer]

http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/0...loper-royalty/

Read.

[BlackDwarf]

Hey OP.

I live in Newton Abbot, and work in the Game here.

As for the returns policy, we did used to have a 10-day return policy on everything, opened or not. People abused it, and used us as a blockbuster. Buy a game on a release friday, complete it or not like it, get the new release the friday after.

If people don't like the game they're buying.... Its not our ****ing problem. I would never go and buy a game without reading reviews, reading the buzz about it.... And hey... If i buy a game and I don't like it... **** happens, I obviously didn't read the reviews enough.

The 28 day policy we have now (manufacturer's seal or one of the purple seal's we put on the game otherwise no return), is in addition to your statutory rights.... We don't even need to give that. And it really is hilarious when someone waltzes into our store with a game which has been purchased for a month or so, opened and blatantly used and disliked and starts spouting out their 'rights'.... Bull****.... And also not our problem, nothing in the law states you can return it.

/rant over

[mathewdbarlow]

Thanks for clearing that up Saracen...I was a little unsure of the exact law on this.

But surely a better solution to stopping all people returning goods that are unused is to have some kind of system that checks whether product keys have been registered or something. That way the retailer knows they can resell the item. Even if you give a 2 or 3 day period it would be enough for you to test the game and determine whether you could use it. At least this way they could retain the goodwill of their honest customers.

By the way, stopped at Sainsbury's this morning to buy my lunch and just to confirm that they actually sell 4 versions of the Sims, not 5 as I stated!

[mathewdbarlow]

As for the returns policy, we did used to have a 10-day return policy on everything, opened or not. People abused it, and used us as a blockbuster.

Why not just charge them a charge per day like my old games store used to? E.g. Bought on Friday for £30 and didn't like it. Return on Monday in good condition and are charged £1.50 a night rental, receive £25.50 back. Everyone is happy.

[YorkieBen]

Hey OP.

I live in Newton Abbot, and work in the Game here.

As for the returns policy, we did used to have a 10-day return policy on everything, opened or not. People abused it, and used us as a blockbuster. Buy a game on a release friday, complete it or not like it, get the new release the friday after.

hehe guilty

when I was on the dole for 6 months after leaving uni (not that I couldnt find work, I was being lazy) I used to screw HMV and Game over something rotten

ahem. sorry for spoiling it for others

[mathewdbarlow]

hehe guilty

when I was on the dole for 6 months after leaving uni (not that I couldnt find work, I was being lazy) I used to screw HMV and Game over something rotten

ahem. sorry for spoiling it for others

Damn you YorkieBen for crushing my entire argument!

[finlay666]

The 28 day policy we have now (manufacturer's seal or one of the purple seal's we put on the game otherwise no return), is in addition to your statutory rights.... We don't even need to give that. And it really is hilarious when someone waltzes into our store with a game which has been purchased for a month or so, opened and blatantly used and disliked and starts spouting out their 'rights'.... Bull****.... And also not our problem, nothing in the law states you can return it.

Thats why the shop I work in doesnt operate a return policy for preowned games as we dont have a way to seal them, only time we will take it back is when its like less than an hour later (in a shopping centre...cant exactly play the game in an hour) or the disk is faulty

[mathewdbarlow]

Is this also the case for Playstaion, Xbox games etc or are there different rules for these??