Hope God of War 2 was worth it for you. That game was not worth the time.

I think once I heard "not going to waste their time looking for a $10 game" I would have hung up and ordered the game from someone that actually wanted my money, such as: Amazon has used copies for $10, new copies for $15, and ebay has new in sealed box copies, buy it now, for $5 + $7 shipping. You'd lose out on the instant gratification, but it's the principle, really - if you let a company piss on you, and then reward them by giving them money... They're going to think you like being pissed on, and paying them for the privilege.

Good luck with the chargeback or whatever to resolve the empty box. That sucks pretty hard.

That sucks.

The problem with store computer inventory is that it does not account for shrink. The machine an employee looks at might say 2 copies are in stock, but if some jerk stole them, there's nothing left for the employee or customer to grab off the shelves.

She told me that upon inquiring at another store the associate was bold enough to tell her they were "not going to waste their time looking for a $10 game" and hung up.

I do believe that warrants an email to the higher-ups at Circuit City. Getting people in the door could result in more than just a $10 sale. And if not, a $10 sale is still a sale.

After the first time you got hosed, I would have gone online and tried to order online and pickup at the store. Then if they can't find it, you get a $24 gift card to boot.

I had a similar experiance at Walmart a few weeks ago. I ran off and bought the last copy of Too Human that they had. Drove home & Opened the box to find it contained no game disc but only a manual.

I quickly returned to Walmart and told my story to the customer service desk who sent me back to the electronics department. THANK GOD that the guy who sold me the software was still there, so I didn't have to go through all the theatrics it would take if he wasn't.

Normally they would've just traded my copy for another copy they had in stock but as it was the last copy I got the whole "We usually don't take returns on software, I'll need to talk to the manager" at which point I opened the box, stared at the space where the disc would normally be and said "I realize that you don't normally take returns on software, but as an actual game disc was not included no software was sold".

A short time afterwards he came out and gave the ok for a full refund.

Apparently some people are resealing games after stealing discs out of them, and there have also been alot of mixups where games are simply not put in the box's.

@TVGenius: That does not apply to anything less than 25 dollars.

@djsyndrome: Troll much?

I agree with several of the above posters. Sure, some of the lessons are about how to protect oneself as a consumer (chargebacks, EECBs, etc.). But I think the real lesson is how to be a smarter consumer in the first place. I've had similar experiences with brick & mortar stores and finally just stopped shopping at them. Amazon.com and Steam (for PC games, at any rate), have been cheaper, faster, and more reliable ways of getting my game fix than B&Ms.

Retail trolls seem to use "The computer is not accurate" line very often. It isn't just Circuit City. You'd think these corporations have a better handle on their inventory. I had a Bicycle shop (Penn Cycle of MN) tell me they had 3 units of a bike in my size in stock, yet when I went to the store they had none!

@CubsPride: it's a legitimate question. People are willing to jump through horrendous hoops to save a few bucks - not realizing that the time and money they are spending to do so far outstrips any actual savings on the item purchased.

Oh, and please try a little harder with your insults next time. :)

@CubsPride: Maybe poorly phrased, but I was thinking the same thing. Too much effort, too much time, too much gas. Most ultra-low end jobs pay $9-10 an hour. "Hours later after battling traffic" means both time and gas were wasted.
Be inventive in your EECB...invoice them for your time, gas, and lost game. Probably total out at about $50 or so...all for a $10 game. That is why I order online and pickup in store. I want to be out in 10-15 minutes max.
Good Luck!!

Similar thing happened to me at Wal-Mart. I picked up a Need for Speed game for my brother for his PSP. Got home and prepared to wrap it (Christmas present), only to realize that it was (crappily) reshrink-wrapped, and the game was missing. This game was even behind the glass in the electronics department when I bought it.
Hopped in the car and headed down to Wal-Mart. Returns counter sent me to electronics to get another copy. The clerk was extremely suspicious and almost didn't get it for me.

It all worked out in the end, but it was still a pain. I've made it a point to confirm that the shrink-wrap is intact and factory-applied from now on, though.

I had no idea how common this problem was until I started reading Consumerist. I fully expect to open an empty box any day now.

Sorry to hear all of the trouble that you had to go through Chris, this really sucks and hopefully you will at least be able to get your money back, or hopefully the game.

Now lets me ask you...really? Really? Was saving $10 on this game really worth the trouble? You had mentioned "...was on sale AGAIN! Vowing not to miss this second chance". So I have to ask you, if you had missed it last time, and were willing to wait for it to go on sale again, why didn't you just order it online? If you had ordered it after you had missed it the 1st time, you probably would have had it before the 2nd time the game went on sale.

Also, when you had heard them say that they were not going to look for a $10 game, you should have called that location and spoken with a manager (personally, when I had worked at Circuit City and if someone from another stored had called me to find a $10 game, I probably would have said the same thing though.) and tell the manager what just happened.

@djsyndrome: While it is perhaps a legitimate question it is not a polite one, and you sir, are wrong to defend it.
So the guy wanted the copy, so he drove all over town to get it, some of us think it is more important then a company keep it's word then that we save a few dollars in gas. Even then, the desire for immediate gratification is large.
WHY THE FUCK IS SO MUCH BLAMING THE CONSUMER GOING ON? I have been banned for less and here someone is calling the poster a tool and you are backing it up? That is just fucking ridiculous.

*that* a company keep it word.

@vivelafat: Maybe the fact I was able to get my point across without cursing? Oh wait, how about the fact that your post just, well, sucked?

At what point did I ever condone Circuit City's actions? (hint: I didn't!) But there are three disconnects here:

-you mention that Circuit City needs to 'keep its word'. I'm all for a company putting on a unified (and good) face to a consumer, but expecting representatives to take responsibility for the actions of another store - likely performed by someone they have never met - is crossing from 'reasonable' to 'iffy'.

-you also mention the 'desire for immediate gratification'. Guess what - the OP's probably not in much of a hurry to play the game if he passed up the sale once already.

-I (nor anyone else) blamed the consumer. I simply questioned if the effort was worth the reward. To me, the answer would be no - I would have gotten mad at the first store and surely wouldn't have rewarded their idiocy with my dollars spent at another (out-of-the-way) location. But to the unwashed masses that can't see beyond the clearance and sale signs, the answer is often 'yes'.

Next time, check yourself before you wreck yourself.

@vivelafat: That's good Synchro!: You know, I've read some of your post over the past serveral months, and frankly, I'm surprised that you are still posting. Look, while djsyndrome my have asked the question in a rather unfriendly way, at least he didn't drop the F-bomb and curse words, which you seem to do quick freqently.

Ben Popken had mentioned that "We're anti stupid business practices." We may consider expanding this to the consumers too, cause obviously djsyndrome has a valid point, that the OP did waste a whole lot of time and probably gas to save about $10.

"I (nor anyone else) blamed the consumer"

Should be I never blamed the consumer. My bad.

@djsyndrome: Calling the victim names is not kosher. Don't do this again.

Vivelefat: The appropriate responses to someone else breaking the rules is not to have a loud hissy fit in the thread, throwing it further off track. The appropriate way to deal is to a) IM me, b) email me, or c) if you refuse to deal with it proactively, don't mention it at all.

@djsyndrome: We all cant come up with great insults like calling someone a tool before asking our ridiculously speculative questions...How do you know he was even driving a car? He could have walked, taken a bus, rode a bike, hitchhiked, etc...

Secondly how does one value their time unless they are being paid for it? Does someone pay you to sit on your ass when you are off the clock...if so can you hook me up?

Finally did you even read the article? If so can you point me to the section that explicitly mentions that the savings on the game were 10 dollars, because from what I read that was the price of the sale item and there was no mention of the original price.

So yeah if in fact you didn't actually read the article and just spewed you're garbage for the sake of being an asshole then you are indeed the definition of a troll.

@CubsPride: I've already addressed that poster and asked them to knock it off. Calling them out with name-calling and accusations is only going to light the fire, and I've asked him to cool it, so baiting him really isn't fair.

Folks - cool down, think before you post, obey the rules. Do not post only to attack one another. Let's get back to genuine discussion of the post, not placing blame or causing fights.

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Oi, what a crappy experience. I've never been a fan of buying games at CC because their shelves are *always* in disarray and never sorted in any manner.

Those cut-rate bargains like that are never around.

@CubsPride: While the OP never did mention that he drove, he did mention "hours later after battling traffic." I think it's safe to say that he drove.

"how does one value their time..." I pretty sure everyone here will agree that $10 is not worth anything more then 2 hours.

As for you asking how we know that the saving is $10, the game has been a "Greatest Hits" for a while now, therefore it's price is $19.99.

I had just read the "box of crap" post before I bought Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm at GameStop. After I paid for it, I opened the box right in front of them and checked it.

Lucky it was there.

I live within 1 minute of that Starbucks/Circuit City place. The best thing in that little plaza: Chinese Food.

And I don't ever actually remember that sign working properly

I have had this happen to me three times, all at the same chain, but I have bought hundreds of games from them and I don't feel like providing flamebait by naming the chain. The first time, I didn't discover it until I had moved (I bought a bunch of games on clearance during my moving week), but the next two times I was able to exchange the games. One of the exchanges went well because I knew the customer service person very well, having been a customer for a long time, but the other was extremely demeaning because the person behind the counter did not know me. This person said that there was no way I could prove that I didn't steal the game and said that I was SOL. I spent a good 45 minutes between that counter and the video game department. There was another customer service person that took over while the other person went on break, and this was a person that was well aware of my wife and I. She said that she thought that it was ridiculous to have a policy that assumes that all customers are thieves and that they had lost many longterm customers to policies like that. She knew that we spent hundreds of dollars a month at that store (we were newlyweds at the time and we had a ton of discretionary income). She processed it for us, but I doubt that we would have gotten a refund if the customer service people did not know us.

@djsyndrome: So.. Are you going for two disemvowelings in one post, or are you just trying to get booted for being a troll?

@dveight: Yeah, I'm going to blame the consumer. Not for getting sold the empty box, but for wasting gas, time, and frustration to save only $10. I mean, was saving $10 really worth the hours of time this cost you?

Sometimes being a savvy consumer means knowing when the lowest price isn't the best deal or value. You could have paid $20 for the game, had a disk in the box, gotten bored with the game, and sold it to Game Stop. Then you would be $10 poorer, wasted hours of time, but at least played the game.

Oh yes, and the obligatory blame throwing for shopping Circuit City.

It's garbage to buy an empty box. I hope the customer gets his money back quickly.

That being said, there is something to be said for smart shopping. Just as it isn't a smart deal time or money wise to drive around looking for the cheapest gas station, this probably wasn't the best deal either. I'm an Angeleno from the Valley myself. Assuming this guy lives in Van Nuys by the store there, he drove at least a good 40 or 50 miles in traffic to three different stores. With what he probably burned in gas and in time, it would've been a prudent deal to swing by a Best Buy or a Gamestop where the game retails for $20 since it's a PS2 Greatest Hits game, all of which go for that price at retailers (same price normally at Circuit City). $10 more, but probably a savings of $10 in gas and a couple hours of trouble. That's smart consumerism, right?

Nevertheless, this open box thing still sucks. I have had Gamestop pull that on me once, too... I'm betting many other people have too (the ol' Gamestop "new" but actually used game).

I think that in retrospect it would have been better to just buy the game online, however, at the time I would say that finding the game became a mission. I once went to 6 targets in one day (I live in L.A. so it's really not that hard) to find 1 item. Yes I could have just gone to their site and ordered it but I was on a mission and didn't think about the time/gas I was thinking. It sucks that at the end of the ordeal he didn't get the game and I hope that it is resolved swiftly and in his favor.

oops I meant "time/gas I was wasting"

This is why I should proofread. :)

Games published by Microsoft and Sony have security stickers on the edge of the case, sealing the two sides together. Check for them when you buy a game. It should be clearly noticeable if they have been reapplied, too.

@CubsPride: Only every other thread or so. Same crap, different names.

It may have been better to buy it online, but there's something about buying a game and getting it when you buy it, and considering he got screwed with the game (being no game)makes it harder to prove he just didn't take it.

What is the price difference between the regular price and the $10 sale price? Is it less than the cost of the gasoline you wasted driving all over hell and creation to find the game? If it is, then I have no sympathy for you.

OK, modification to my previous post: If he took the bus or walked (both of which I tend to doubt), then whatever. Still a waste of time considering you can pick up a used copy of this game for $15. Were the clerks at the Circuit City store a-holes? Yes. But nobody should be surprised by that. C.City is a joke. That doesn't change the fact that the guy wasted time (and probably gas) to drive around and save a couple bucks. It's the same mentality that makes people circle a parking lot for a half an hour to find a close parking space rather than just park at the back and walk.

@Cupajo: God of War II hit Greatest Hits and went down to $20 a few months ago, so the savings is $10. Side note: some smaller stores won't mark games down to the GH price until they get the labeled boxes in stock; I've seen plenty of games go for full price at local joints (hello, Play 'N Trade!) long after they've hit GH status.

And I promise to behave myself going forward, but only on days that end in the letter 'y'.

My brother got a xbox 360 for his birthday a few years ago which was bought at target. He opened it up on his birthday and there was a ream of computer paper in the box. We were flipping out. It was completely sealed.

They gave him a new one when he went there but they didn't there was going to be some big problems.

@Consumerist-Moderator-Roz: This is totally off topic and has nothing to do with this thread, BUT

Roz, I think you should consider changing your avatar. Clancy Wiggum is the perfect picture of incompetence, and though we know that you aren't incompetent, it really makes a bad impression.

@springboks: If the store was being properly recovered at the end of the night and relatively well organized, they could just take a minute or 2 to physically LOOK and see if they have it or not, it just becomes a problem of people not wanting to get off their butts to check then.

It's not even consumers who are taking/buying video games, opening them, replacing them with bogus discs or even just removing them outright. I used to work at a Walmart returns desk a couple of years ago, right when Halo 2 came out. After about 3 returns of Halo 2 with freebie AOL or Earthlink install discs tucked away in what we were told was an untouched package, our management decided to do some investigating. Apparently someone at the actual packaging level had done the switcheroo and then let the package get the sticker/shrinkwrap treatment. The moral of the story, ALWAYS open and check ANYTHING after purchase before you leave the store. Test it out if you can as well, either there or immediately as soon as you get home.