Backyard Baseball Bonus Codes Hit A Foul At GameStop
Dan's son is learning an important consumer life lesson, which is that sometimes companies promise really fun things that just don't happen. GameStop sent out a promotional e-mail about a really cool contest involving Backyard Baseball '10. Except the contest isn't working, and no one knows who can help Dan straighten it out.
I got an e-mail from GameStop a few weeks ago saying that people who played Backyard Baseball '10 on the "hard" level would get a code at the end of each season played and could then be entered into a contest to win a $1000 gift card to GameStop and a signed David Ortiz baseball. My 8-year-old son is into baseball after playing on his little league team this spring and I thought it would be something for him to do over the summer months (with some help from me).We finally finished our first season a couple of weeks ago but we didn't get a code. I thought that was weird and searched through every possible menu item to find the code the GameStop and Atari web sites talked about. Unfortunately, there was nothing available. So I e-mailed their customer support address and waited a few days. I didn't hear anything. I found another e-mail address and tried that but still haven't heard back after a week. I tried calling their contact number for "media inquiries" just to see who I could talk to but no one answered.
I'm sure it could be a simple mistake my son and I are making so we can't get the code but I have searched the internets to no avail and Backyard Sports won't contact me back. I also called GameStop but they told me they had nothing to do with it and would have to contact Atari and Backyard Sports.
So GameStop has nothing to do with the contest that they e-mailed their customers about. Fine, that happens. Why don't they have any information on who to contact when things aren't working as they should?
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Comments:
From the rules... maybe the OP alreasy did this.
- A player must play a 32 Game Season.
- Each game must be played on the Hard Difficulty Level.
- The Game Length for each game must be 6 Innings.
My best guess is perhaps the code was left out of the final version of the game and somewhere along the line someone didn't realize that and still sent out the contest email.
I know that at least two other Gamestop promo codes (one for Sacred 2: Fallen Angel) that have had massive issues this year so they are never really a guarantee of anything.
@twophrasebark: Yeah, the OP read the rules and has played the first inning of the game, but has no code.
Cool. I'm just wondering if he knew he had to play six innings.
The reason I'm wondering is that their rules listed first say: "Play the Game: Play a 32 Game Season of Backyard Baseball '10 on Hard Difficulty level."
Then when you further read, it clarifies the rules.
It's kind of misleading and that might be the problemo.
Looks like the rules are a little more complicated than the guy thought, I'm now curious if he had all the other settings correct (32 game season, 6 innings each, etc.)
Wouldn't be the first time GS has screwed something up and I'd be shocked if it were the last. Just recently with the release of Ghostbusters there was a lot of inconsistency with who got what as part of the reservation promotion. Some people got what they signed up for, others got absolutely nothing. Not a good deal if you're paying full MSRP...
@aphex242:
That's what I'm thinking...
The rules are kind of misleading at first and then they clarify them in the fine print...
I've always heard that these promotions are very important to Gamestop Corporate and if you contact them they go out of the way to fix things.
I'd hope that's true because these promotions are the only reason I can think of people buying stuff from them.
@aphex242 / @twophrasebark - Thanks for the comments. I'm the guy they're talking about. And I did read all the fine print before we purchased the game. I thought my son would find the game fun even if he didn't win the contest (which he does) but the fact that the contest isn't working properly kind of puts a damper on the fun I thought he would have.
I still could be doing something wrong in the settings but unfortunately, I can't find anyone at any of the companies who can tell me what, if anything, that problem may be.
I'm confused. How can there be "no purchase required", yet you need to play the game (and perform well) to win?
Are there people out there letting strangers hang out in their houses for hours while playing their video games for free?
@Stephen Schenck: one could rent the game, or play a friend's copy, or whatever. although if one were going to pursue something that is presumably somewhat time consuming and difficult, you'd think they probably would own the game. unless it was a really easy game. but then what would be the point of the contest if there were no challenge? but that's beside the point.
so maybe the fine print could be useful to some people, to know they don't have to have proof of purchase in order to enter the contest.
@benko29:
Yeah, devil's in the details, I guess.
Still, there seems to be SOME purchase required, even if it's not your own.
Your friend, the rental store, or SOMEONE needs to purchase the game. "No purchase", my ass.
@Stephen Schenck: Once you've purchased the game, you don't need to make an ADDITIONAL purchase to participate in the contest.
Gamestop did this to me too but with a different promotion. The promotion was 'Sharpen the mind' and you were able to get a free mag subscription if you purchased a particular Wii game from them. The store manager said to call customer service, customer service said to call the store manager. All in all, I sent 8 emails to their corporate office, trying to explain my situation and it was never resolved. I even found the press release from Gamestop which had two email addresses of corporate contacts and tried to email them. I am so frustrated with that company that I will never buy another product from them.
Does this link help?
[www.gamestop.com]