EB Games has got to be one of the worst companies around for customer service. These guys must have to go through "Scam Artist 101" training before being employed.
Against my better judgement, my 12 year old insisted on purchasing a couple new Sims game with his birthday money at EB Games when he could have gotten the same game at the same price at a much more reputable store like Circuit City.
We have other Sims games and expected that we would have no problem with this one playing considering our computer is brand new and designed for business use with plenty of memory, etc. This was not the case, however. The next day, we returned to the store expecting to receive our money back since it was impossible to play the game. The employee was very stand-offish and would not budge.
I explained to him that as with any product sold in America, the consumer should have the right to sample it. Not at EB Games. Wal-mart will, Circuit City will, Staples will... All reputable businesses. (And, no, I don't make a habit of this, but have had to do it once or twice and have witnessed others being serviced in this way).
I realized we had been scammed when this employee then proceeded to insist that he couldn't even give me store credit because they just merged with so and so and didn't have their supply of new cards. Whaaaaaa! The only option was to choose other games. The pickings where very slim for new or used computer games that are suitable for a 12 year old... Virtually all titles where marked Teen or Mature. Further, I do not have an xbox or playstation at my house where my son spends 80% of his time.
After about an hour and a half of nothing but frustration and getting more and more angry at a store and industry that prays on the young like cigarette companies, we finally found an assortment of games and movies, some of which my son would have to take with him to his mom's house to play on the rare occassion that she can see him.
The problem goes on. Many of the games were now used, and, upon trying them at his mom's he discovered that many of them would not work properly. (Scam/Rip-off #2) This company claims that they test all of the used games, then refuses to stand by what they sell under the auspicies of "All sales are final" and/or "We can't accept returns because you may have copied the game". A.) I wouldn't now the first thing about how to copy something like that and B) it's been my understanding from when CD's first came out that they were copy-protected, therefore, a better alternative to the record industry than cassette tapes.
Regardless, we again tried to return the crap we now had. A call to customer service while standing in the store did nothing but bring a promise of the district manager, Tom Lawrence, calling within 48 hours. When I asked for this man's name, the clerk, Alex, chimmed in that he "isn't allowed to give out that information". Sounds like a company that is very secretive because they know they are doing things that are not morally correct and that they probably get so many complaints that the DM just doesn't want to be bothered.
As I explained to the store employee (no mananger was ever present and this information, too, was "not allowed to be distributed") and the CSR on the phone, all I want is my money back on the original purchase and I'll never do business with them again and will keep quite about my experience. They've refused. I am here and will do all I can to put their business into bankruptcy until they change their way and stand behind their products like most (and all reputable) businesses.
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