GAME Bunch of Cunts

Argos experiences seem to be very store-specific. The Argos by me is very reliable - if they have something in stock, you order it online (which is wildly faster than the plastic catalogue method), even just if you're standing in the store, then you go up to the "I ordered online" queue (which is usually 0-2 people, as compared to the other queue, which is more like 5-20), and then bring it to you. Around Xmas it can get a bit desperate because they often seem to be understaffed compared to the numbers of shoppers, but otherwise they're great. Never had them not been able to find something or not have it or whatever.

But some things they don't have in stock, and I have to go to another Argos (my rule is, if I could buy something at Amazon or Argos, and Argos is within 5-10% of the price, I go with Argos), and that is wildly more variable, because some of them seem to be staffed by complete lackwits. Like the one where the manager decided to spend literally 20 minutes talking to a customer who wanted to return some low-value item (like, literally 20 quid), whilst the single other staff member was desperately trying to manage two queues of increasingly annoyed people. Is it really worth pissing off literally 15+ customers to avoid giving a £20 refund? Which he didn't even manage to do in the end - he did refund it, the customer wore him down.

Every physical Switch game I have (and the Switch itself) came from Argos, I note, as they've consistently had close pricing and better availability than other stores. Being able to go in and just pick something up is a huge asset as compared to waiting for delivery which often has a window of like 10am to 10pm (or they maybe can deliver it to some "local" corner store that's actually 1.9 miles away and you spend 10 minutes trying to convince the store owner he does have your package and then 5 as he tries to work out how to sign it out to you).

GAME have always been total wankers though. I remember avoiding them like the plague because they always managed to fuck up my pre-orders or orders over the phone or the like (back in the day!). The final insult was when I pre-ordered something (some early 2000s shooter, I forget what), they said they had it and I had to come get it, I went far out of my way to do so, and of course they can't find it, waste fifteen minutes bumbling around, and then admit they sold it, and tried to say they couldn't refund me, because they were expecting stock again in a couple of weeks (!!!). I wasn't having any of that and they did refund me, but the cheek of it. I was very disappointed when a previously-reliable EB got replaced by GAME and immediately had every GAME problem despite having some of the same staff as when it was EB.

They're kind of like the inverse of early CEX, who felt like they'd go out of their way to make sure you got stuff. This was back in the '90s, before they become this big dodgy brand, and were instead just a handful of super-dodgy shops, the best being the one off Oxford Street. They let me get Half-Life a day or so early, because I'd come in for some other game, heard them muttering about Half-Life, asked, and it turned out they were literally opening an actual honest-to-god crate of Half-Life copies in the downstairs part of the store, and they let the handful of people who witnessed this (I had rushed down to see, as I was in the ground-level bit) buy copies that day, so long as we didn't tell anyone (hah!). The same store also managed to hold on to a copy of US Final Fantasy III I'd asked them to hold (6 as we'd later call it) despite the store being crowded with people who wanted FFIII, and them having sold all the other copies.

Happened to my brother in law, he preordered Aliens Fireteam Elite and went down to collect it. The person at the store told his his copy hadn't arrived. He asked if he could have one of the dozens of copies they had laid out on the shelves and they said no.

Should be obvious before now but if youre gonna pre order, don't do it at GAME.

I think the quality of an Argos experience might depend on whether it's an actual Argos store or just a pick-up in a Sainsbury's Local or something. The whole postcode lottery of it is a bit of a pain, mind, especially as Argos is quite good at seeming to have random old toys that aren't necessarily being manufactured anymore, like older My Little Ponies or Lego sets or something, which is handy if you know kids who've seen one somewhere and desperately want it, but on Amazon it's like £200 because it only existed for six hours in 2013.

But then it turns out it's in Leamington Spa and you can't have it.

Every Argos I've seen looks like it's closing down, just a big empty floor with people directing you to the desks. They're really depressing

Index for life.

Thing is, they've looked like that for decades, because all they are is the front of a small warehouse. Like, I first went to one in 1986, and they're about exactly as hideous now as then, and the same vibe. But I actually use them regularly now. You get used to it.

I would have spent the next 20 minutes taking loads of games up to the counter and asking them to check the prices

I bought my PS5 from them during the Sony sale, getting a good deal on a trade-in of a switch lite. Only time I’ve been in one all year.

I got a great deal on Resi Evil 4 Remake about a month ago but that was the last time I went into a GAME store.

It should have been a click and reserve in store but that didn't go through until a couple of days later by which point I'd already collected the game. I did mention it in store but the staff didn't have a clue.

It's meant to be a bit like click and collect but they charge for that service whereas click and reserve is free.

Worked in Virgin Megastores for years back in my early 20s, and this used to happen all the time. You're not obliged to sell at the incorrectly marked price (but I would if the customer wasn't a dick about it) but you do have to remove all the incorrectly priced items from the shop floor for 24 hours before repricing.

Used to work at Currys and people tried this by swapping stickers around on big screen TVs. Assholes.

An "invitation to treat" if I remember.

I was in game earlier today and they've reduced Avatar for Xbox and ps5 down to £45 if anyone is interested.

I still didn't buy it but a decent discount for a new game.