Gamestop stops selling product replacement plans on Xbox 360s
By Conrad Quilty-Harper 
posted October 28th 2007 2:57PM
posted October 28th 2007 2:57PM
[Thanks, Alvin]
posted October 28th 2007 2:57PM
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Yet another reason to not buy from Gamestop. I hope they go down in flames.
"lack of a PRP probably won't be a significant issue for most gamers: just one less reason to shop at Gamestop."
Come on Engadget where am I going to go to get obscure titles then? Wal Mart? Best Buy? Target?.... Just because they are making a good business decesion and are not going to continue selling replacemant plans fo X360 doesnt mean they are a bad company. They will still honor orders prios to now. Also, they have a fantastic dis scratch plan thats super cheap and you get free replacement if your disc is scratched by the console. I am on X360 #4 and I continue to send them in to Microsuck when they break. We shouldnt blame Gamestop but rather should blame Microsuck for their shoddy components and cheap system. Oh and how about now free HDMI on the low end console. How about when my 360 craps out again (which it will, it alreasy wont read DVDs) they send me one with the new components and HDMI.....Yet another reason I love my PS3 mo better...but, we shouldnt take this out on Gamestop....They are just making a smart business move...
Looks like the Xbox 360 has such a high failure rate that even Gamestop is losing money from their overpriced extended warranty "scam."
On another note, according to the picture, Nintendo is asking Gamestop to prevent people from playing Galaxy too much.
This is the only reason I shopped at GS, when my system would die, I would rather go in for a new one and not wait.
Phew, good news.
I have a year left on their plan anyways so I at least have one more outta them.
Hey, right in the nick of time! I'm glad GameStop covered this in the heat of the 'red ring' issues.
It doesn't say that they can't give you a warranty on new systems, just used and refurbished ones.
You fail.
New systems are infact included.
"...offer PRPs on NEW, refurbished, and used Xbox 360 systems"
New systems are infact included.
"...offer PRPs on NEW, refurbished, and used Xbox 360 systems"
I fail. I didn't read closely.
why does the memo say 1 year manufacturers warranty?
Because the 360 only has a 1 year warranty. The 3 year thing is RRoD only.
Anyone who has had their 360 break and go away for a month while MS fixes it knows that the 3 year RRoD warranty can still leave you wanting. There is still a market for a "swap it on the spot" warranty.
Yes, exactly. MS' entire way of getting a 360 serviced is horrible. At this point, I believe Best Buy is the only place (US) you can get an in-store replacement plan.
Negative Ghost Rider, you can also get a replacement plan at any GameCrazy store. Not sure if Blockbuster's GameRush does the same.
From what I got at a Gamespot, the reason for the drop of the PPR is because of the extension of Microsoft's warranty. Regardless, I've had my 360 since day one (18 hours in line baby!) and still have yet to see a problem.
If you get 3 years of warranty for any RRoD problems (the one causing the controversy) and 1 year warranty on everything else, it's probably hard to justify paying for an extra warranty. Then again, gamestop probably wouldn't tell you that.
Did anyone notice the second thing on that list? Nintendo wants to stop people playing too far into Super Mario Galaxy. Wonder why?
In that blurry text I could decipher that they didnt want people to post images or story elements on the internet. It seems like they are sending the full version of the game and not a demo...my wii is still dusty and sucks....Its a gloafies Sega Pico (pica?)
I like to think of it more as a hardware upgrade plan. After a year I get the newest hardware MS has put out, whether it be HDMI or improved cooling. Gamestop will take it back for any excuse. For a small fee my launch 360 became a new HDMI 360. This is prolly why they stopped it, people like me abusing a plan they likely started to rape their customers with. I would feel bad, but it is gamestop. I like to think of myself as a sort of anti-hero. But that might be a bit much...
I don't think the Nintendo thing is to keep people from playing the game. It sounded more like Nintendo does not want people posting gameplay footage video on the internet. It all depends on how you read it.
Your chechen news blog SUCKS!!!!
Or they can pull the same scam that Future Shop is doing up in Canada.
Knowing about the RRoD, a lot of customers bought FS' extended warranty. After MS announced their RRoD warranty program, FS is trying to pass the buck. "Take it to Microsoft, it's their responsibility" is what FS will tell you if you tell them you got the RRoD. In other words, their warranty supposedly no longer covers the RRoD, rendering it almost useless. On the plus side, I'm told that if you get a reasonable manager and you argue enough, they'll cover your RRoD system.
thank you. i was wondering just that. I am considering an xbox arcade, and I was wondering if I should go with the futurehop extended warrenty. apparently not. I fucking hate them.
i remember when i was 16 our hp computer circa 333mhz was making huge jet engine style whirring and screaching (the cpu fan simply needed wd-40. i ddin't know much at the time) the tech guy sat there, with it, screaching, raised his voice to say 'I don't hear anything. you've got some broken icons on your desktop though".
incompetence. I'll make sur ewhne I buy it and they ask me to go with the warrenty to rip his/her ear off as to why i won't be doing that.
What the hell is chechen??
your blog is pathetic...quit spammng you troll
Gamestop is going down in flames, Wal Mart has shady business practices, Best Buy tricks you, Target mistreats it's employees, Circuit City just hates gamers. Where am I supposed to purchase games from?
online?
Newegg.com
Ebay!!!
lol- and the employees need to make sure you don't play and record Mario Galaxy for too long as well. (watch that guy with the helmet cam if he heads over to the Wii!).
It is a little odd for them to be doing this now rather than a couple months earlier if the reason was really the failure rate. MS replaced the drive (though they apparently went out of their way to find one just as goddamn loud), put a better heatsink in the system, and changed to the smaller process die for their cores also cutting down on heat, which by all reports account for a dramatic drop in system failure rate relative to the released system. It would make sense for used systems (though if they are going to sell the used systems at the markup they do the least they could do is stand behind them), but even recent factory refurbs have been getting a heatsink and drive replacement to increase reliablity.
All of that said, if they are using a third party servicer on contract per system (essentially reselling waranties) they could be getting screwed over there and thus dropping the warranty. If they are servicing the thing themselves, or only paying their servicer when a system actually needs to be fixed, I would think they would want to continue selling the waranty on new systems to recoup losses from old systems.
If only the 360 didn't have the RRoD issue. Then there would be nothing stopping it from being the best console.
So. . . They don't mind pushing the PRP on people, just so long as nobody ever needs to USE one. Once people start using the PRP for its intended purpose, then they yank it from their offerings and pretend it doesn't exist. It's only an option if it's not likely a customer will need it and the company can just take the money and run.
Basically, this memo is GameStop admitting they don't expect you to ever use your PRP, thus proving it's an insincere grab for some extra cash at the register, and not at all about "customer service" or "protecting your investment."
I knew GameStop was going to shit when I saw them adopt all the EB Games planograms and ideals in GameStop stores, instead of the other way around. I was pretty certain I was not impressed when I had a manager tell me I couldn't return a used game within my 7-day return period because he thought I was "abusing the return policy" and "treating it like a way to try a game without risk." Well DUH. That's what it's there for, right?
As a former FuncoLand manager, I can say that watching them circle the drain is quite entertaining. Couldn't happen to a better candidate. There's a reason some of the associates used to "accidentally" answer the phone with "FucNo Land" instead of "FunCo Land"
No disrespect to the people who work there-- But you guys all know the company screwed the pooch, so I'm not telling you anything new.
what makes me smile is that i work for gamestop and it is a wonder how these things get out to the web......mmm i smell a leak =p
Who buys the extended warrenty anyways? Even the Wal-Mart PCP at $30 is usually passed on.
alot of people do. youre not the only person in this world. sometimes they do come in useful
Just bought one last weekend. I asked specifically about a warranty and the store denied it to me. I asked, "Should I purchase your replacement warranty?" I was told to "just use Microsoft's warranty because it's 3 years." I won't even go into my response. It is inevitable that this would stop though. Shame.
Just another reason why you shouldn't get a 360. Don't screw yourself, get a PS3!
This is going on false information. The only reason why GameStop isn't offering the warranty is for the simple fact that Microsoft is offering a three year guarentee. It costs each individual store money to ship systems off to get them refurbished...and for the record this doesn't always include the ring of death. The warranty that gamestop offers covers more than just that issue. Gamestop is simply saving money and using Microsoft to their benefit with its Three year warranty.
*sigh*
so much ignorance. first, look at gamestop's latest success if you think they are going down the drain (fortune 500, S&P 500, etc...). second, they are not denying they had PRPs for XBOX 360 and are still honoring existing ones, they are just losing too much money to continue selling them for this system because of the high failure rate
finally, maybe people should investigate how much money retailers make from system purchases, the profit is in the games and accessorie. handing out systems over and over again to idiots who abused the PRP system has contributed to gamestop's decision
blame microsoft for a faulty product that is just now starting to get worked out and blame thieves that abuse policies for no PRP on your new XBOX 360 purchase