Gamestop: Nintendo Wii, refurbished, 1 year warranty $79.99

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Chihlidog

[H]ard|Gawd
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I just picked one up for my kid, there's a free product replacement plan promotion going on right now, along with the $20-$30 dollar discount on the system. According to the employee, the deal ends this Friday Dec. 2nd. Im not a fan of gamestop but this was a nice deal, hopefully worth posting.
 
Is this only in store? Not seeing a refurb online; just preowned and not seeing warranty.
 
DonInKansas said:
Is this only in store? Not seeing a refurb online; just preowned and not seeing warranty.
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Unfortunately, I cant tell you for sure. However, looking at their weekly ad (saw this after I already bought the system in-store) they're advertising the free product replacement plan. I'd like to think this applies online as well since theyre advertising it online (though it says see store associate, so I cant be 100% sure)

weeklyad.jpg



I expected simply a used system, but he offered me refurb or pre-owned in-store, told me it was my choice, so that may only be in-store. Wish I could help more, just sharing what I know.
 
requiem99 said:
Beware Gamespot used consoles. No, seriously, B E W A R E
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The replacement plan was what sold me, hopefully if something goes wrong they honor it without a problem. I havent heard any horror stories about their replacement plan yet. /fingers crossed
 
What is their definition of "refurbished"?

Do they take it apart and check everything out, power it on and run some games? Or do they just take it from the customers, do a hard reset and put a price tag on it?
 
plunger said:
What is their definition of "refurbished"?

Do they take it apart and check everything out, power it on and run some games? Or do they just take it from the customers, do a hard reset and put a price tag on it?
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According to the employee, and take this for what it's worth, the pre-owned systems are tested when they come in, work fine, and are then sold. The refurbished systems dont work when they come in, they're repaired and then sold. With the free replacement plan I feel OK about the purchase.
 
If you notice on the replacement plan fine print its replacement up to $49.99 (so for the for the Wii you pay $80 for if it breaks you get $49.99) edit: the promotion can end any time *face palm* not the coverage my bad. But it doesn't say how they'll compensate you the $49.99. My guess is possibly through store credit. Either way though.. looks like not as bad as I thought.
 
blisk said:
If you notice on the replacement plan fine print its replacement up to $49.99 (so for the for the Wii you pay $80 for if it breaks you get $49.99) and "subject to cancellation at any time without notice" and it doesn't say how they'll compensate you the $49.99. My guess is possibly through store credit.
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Actually (wow, I feel like I am working for gamestop today - I hate feeling like Im defending them, but also hate for anyone to miss out on a good deal) the employee made it very clear that it would be replaced for free if something went wrong. I think what the $49.99 value means is that in some cases, the replacement plan can cost you up to $49.99 if you purchase it.

I could be wrong, YMMV, caveat empor, etc.

EDIT: Looking at my receipt, it shows the PRP cost without the promotion would have been $10, and it's a plan for $50 - $100 items.
 
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I worked at gamestop several years ago. The definition of "tested and working" was turning the console on and loading a game title screen. That's all. It was not played, cleaned, etc. Observed flaws that did not prevent loading a game (such as extreme dirt, non working cooling fan, and even graphical artifacts) would not necessarily cause a console to be binned. It all depends on the manager of the specific store, and some are incredibly shady.

Their replacement policy for used consoles is for another similarly sourced and untested used console if they have more in stock.

Again, this was several years ago, but I doubt much has changed. The return rate on used consoles was > 50% within 24 hours.
 
MrSneis said:
:eek:

I'm sure that's not too profitable!
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Overall it very much is. Where is the money going, do you think? They make a massive profit on every used console, accessory, and game sold, pay the people a fraction of the actual value to buy their stuff in the first place, and then pay their workers minimum wage to resell them. Gamestop has made massive, massive profits for years on this strategy. It works, even with massive return rates on consoles, because they make their money on accessories and games, and not the console itself (few people sell their consoles to gamestop, mostly idiots and theives honestly, and people who secretly know their console is broken somewhere and won't be caught selling it this way). In fact, my 2nd manager even said to try to discourage people from selling their consoles to GS by telling them they could get more money for it on ebay, because the return for selling consoles is so poor.
 
requiem99 said:
Overall it very much is. Where is the money going, do you think? They make a massive profit on every used console, accessory, and game sold, pay the people a fraction of the actual value to buy their stuff in the first place, and then pay their workers minimum wage to resell them. Gamestop has made massive, massive profits for years on this strategy. It works, even with massive return rates on consoles, because they make their money on accessories and games, and not the console itself (few people sell their consoles to gamestop, mostly idiots and theives honestly). In fact, my 2nd manager even said to try to discourage people from selling their consoles to GS by telling them they could get more money for it on ebay, because the return for selling consoles is so poor.
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I didn't mean big picture lol. I'm sure they probably doled out $40-$50 store credit for the console in trade credit. Customer buys it, returns it, they give another used/refurb console. At that point they are out 2 consoles for one sale; the first can probably be fixed but must be shipped to some facility to get repaired by someone who gets a paycheck to do so and then shipped back.

Games, replacement plans, poorly paid employees, blah blah ~ cash cows yes.
 
FWIW: I bought a used/slim ps2 from gamestop for $49.99 mostly to play tourist trophy & it has worked like a champ.
 
The used hardware/controllers from Gamestop that I looked at the other day were fitly and full of dirt and grime. Who would want to buy that?
 
requiem99 said:
I worked at gamestop several years ago. The definition of "tested and working" was turning the console on and loading a game title screen. That's all. It was not played, cleaned, etc. Observed flaws that did not prevent loading a game (such as extreme dirt, non working cooling fan, and even graphical artifacts) would not necessarily cause a console to be binned. It all depends on the manager of the specific store, and some are incredibly shady.

Their replacement policy for used consoles is for another similarly sourced and untested used console if they have more in stock.

Again, this was several years ago, but I doubt much has changed. The return rate on used consoles was > 50% within 24 hours.
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Considering that, Im gonna see if local GS will give me the choice and I'll take the refurb. system.
 
bigdogchris said:
The used hardware/controllers from Gamestop that I looked at the other day were fitly and full of dirt and grime. Who would want to buy that?
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a few months ago, I was in the market for a gamecube, the guy at gamestop brought out like 4-6 gamecubes so I could look at them the only thing was the controllers were pretty dirty :/ they didnt have black color for the console, so I ended up going to game haven instead... game haven also had the cleanest gamecube! :D
 
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