A lot of video game stores have a reservation policy which allows you to plop some money down on a game so the employees will hold the game for you when it comes out. The question I pose to you is how necessary is it to do this?
The employees at the game store will tell you if you want a game on the day it releases then it’s in your best interest to reserve it. After talking to a few friends of mine that work at GameStop and EB, I’ve come to the conclusion that what that statement means is that they might have extra copies of the game to sell other than those on reserve, but you won’t get one if you didn’t reserve it.
Why do the employees want you to reserve the game? I used to manage a GameStop store a long time ago and the official answer which was pounded into the head of managers’ was to raise the initial sales of the game within the first couple of days. Now the answer you’ll get from employees (behind the scenes of course) is “because we have a quota and my manager told me to.” The employees have a weekly quota on reservations so the fewer people they convince to reserve a game, that’s the more grief they catch from the higher-ups. If you did not reserve the game when it releases, then the employees will not give you a copy out of spite even if there are extra copies behind the counter.
I’m not saying that this happens at every gaming store in the world, but I think it’s a safe bet to say that this is happening in most of them. Is this to be expected from the average kid working at the store? It definitely is. If he or she catches hell from their boss (who in turn probably caught hell from his or her boss) about not getting enough reservations for the week on a particular game, then that employee will more than likely take out his or her frustration on you when you come in without your reservation stub, thinking you’re going to march into their store and get the game you want so badly, after turning him or her down a few weeks ago when asked to reserve it. You’re at their mercy now. What can you do?
Labels: Douceswild, Games, Gamestop, Videogames
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