Rate The Retailer

[tallkid123]

I'm not from the UK but as I've used most of those retailers, I'll provide my opinions. Gemini, I've instead just used a scale of 1-10 (1 being bad, 10 being excellent) for simplicity.

GAME.co.uk (8) - I've used them a few times in the past and have never really had any problems with them. There were standard delays sometimes with my credit card as I'm an international customer (understandable) but once cleared, items were all mostly sent out promptly and without fuss. I've been happy with their service and their exclusive products (standout was Castlevania: Lords of Shadow LE with God Mask). They are however quite expensive when compared to the competition so I haven't really bought much from them since then. The GAME AUS store has also been quite good to me as they tend to have some awesome deals on occasion but their range is very very limited however.

Ozgameshop/365games (7) - This online retailer has specialised themselves towards the growing video game export market to Australia and for that, I'm quite pleased. They've also come across here as one of the go-to stores for Australian buyers new to importing as all prices are shown in Australian dollars and include free shipping. Those are my good points. One thing in particular I don't like about them is that they refrain from stating what region their products are. I can never tell sometimes if I'm gonna get an NTSC/PAL copy and that really annoys me due to DLC restrictions and also the personal fact that I hate buying any game that's not PAL. I think they've improved since then though. Also, their preorders require you to pay it straight up which can be annoying if you want to cancel your order later but I guess that's the tradeoff when their prices tend to be cheaper than anyone else. Their range is alright from my standards but I think they need to clean up their product list (too many old out of stock CE listings). Their packaging is pretty sub-standard though as some of the PSP LEs I've ordered from them have come to me a little crumpled. I think once again, they've improved slightly in this area since then as well.

Dvd.co.uk (9) - This is probably my favourite online store for obscure games over many consoles. I find these guys tend to stock things that no other store does and add to the fact that they automatically take off VAT for me at checkout, their prices are really awesome for the Australian buyer. I'm also comforted by the fact that everything is PAL and that unlike Zavvi, I can also order books and clothes (i think) if I wanted to. However, their packaging sucks (cardboard boxes, no protection) but I've never had anything come damaged from them which is quite surprising and a relief. It's unfortunate though that they don't supply many CEs but I'll counter this with the fact that I've bought many games I've never heard of previously from them for great prices.

Shopto.net (4) - I hate this store. I've ordered 2 things from them. The Enslaved CE and Goldeneye Bundle. Enslaved CE came a bit crumpled which annoyed me as their packaging wasn't too bad. The Goldeneye Bundle however will be the last time I deal with them. I've never received something with a box that came so badly damaged. And I'm pretty sure from reading elsewhere that such damage did not occur through the post but originated at the distribution centre itself. In some ways, I guess I could say I got what I paid for. This bundle was heavily discounted and as such, I took the bait and received a damaged product for my trouble. Furthermore, their prices are really not that great to me as an importer and I think they've stopped sending their CEs to us as well.

Their website also has the most horrendously terrible layout I've ever had to deal with. I feel sorry for my browser everytime I've had to load it up. I repeat, I hate this store. And was more than happy to mention that repeatedly when they sent me a customer feedback survey a few months back.

MyMemory (6) - I've bought a few obscure items off this store in the past (ironic as games arent their real specialty) but I find little reason to deal with them nowadays. Their packaging is alright (I did have my case for Risen Xbox 360 damaged though) and their prices were great back when they still offered free worldwide shipping (its 2 pounds now though) but most of their obscure games are usually out of stock now and everything else can be purchased cheaply elsewhere. They're probably still a good store but in terms of gaming, just go elsewhere.

Zavvi/TheHut (7) - Their customer service sucks. They've responded to all my enquiries I've made in the past but usually after a week or so. Apart from that though, everything got resolved. In terms of products, this corporation is great. I've bought many obscure games for them at great prices and I love it when their CEs are discounted. I'm patiently waiting for the day when they cut the price of the Duke Nukem Forever: Balls of Steel edition. Their vouchers are also quite worthwhile to use and coupled with their Monday sales, I come back to Zavvi often. NOTE: I mention Zavvi and not theHut. I've bought a few products from theHut specifically but that was when it was on special only through them (the 25th Mario Anniversary Wii CE comes to mind). They did however screw up my Balls of Steel preorder, a blessing in disguise, and their only solution was to cancel my order and have me reorder it again which I didn't. Otherwise, I keep business mostly to Zavvi and stay away from theHut whenever possible.

Their packaging is pretty average. I've never had anything damaged come to me but I do remember when I found a half opened parcel containing my Black Ops Wii Remote on my desk for the world to see (it was received this way). Still, they're a good store so long as you don't have any problems occur. It's a shame they're restricted from posting many of their products overseas to Australia though.

Gamestation UK (6) - I've used these guys once for the MVC3 Steelbook which I bought as a consolation due to there being no PAL CE and how I hate buying anything non-PAL. Item was received in due order and I had no problems. Would I use this store again? No. Reason being their games are overpriced and like MyMemory before, I can just buy the same thing cheaper elsewhere.

Amazon US/UK (7) - As an Australian, most of their products from the US/UK are restricted to me so I can only order certain things (Video game accessories and guides). Buying game guides off Amazon UK has become awesome for me as their super saver shipping makes it really worthwhile to make a large purchase. My first bulk buy (14 or so guides) came to me in the condition that was advertised with little problem but it annoyed me how the whole order was sent inconsistently. As in 2 packages came via courier whereas the rest were sent through standard post. Still, I'll gladly buy some more guides in the future off them when I feel the need. Amazon US has also given me little problem and has made me quite grateful for some of the amazing controllers I've gotten off the site in the past. While I can't relate to buying actual games off Amazon, my orders for gaming related products has gone through with little to no problems.

[The Darth]

The Good

GAME: +9 Never had any bother but I tend to only buy exclusives from them or good stuff on sale.

Gamestation: +9 Once again, never had any bother from them and they do get the odd good exclusive.

Amazon UK: +7 Again, very good but the delivery times often put me off.

ShopTo: +6 Nice fast delivery but awful packaging. I use them if I want the item here yesterday.

Zavvi: +5 Even though the packaging is crap, everything so far has arrived fine. Mind I have heard quite a few horror stories about them.


The Bad:

HMV: -1 Seriously, how slow can one company be. Even when there isn't 10 foot of snow everywhere they are still terrible.

Gameseek: -1 Fast delivery but total crooks. I can buy the same things elsewhere normally and don't have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.

And not forgetting the ugly:

Play.com: -? Everyones favourite online retailer. There for the morons of society who think that play.com is the only online retailer in existence.I'm not even going to give them a number because they don't deserve it. Packaging = shit. Delivery times = shit. Customer service = shit.

Back in the day they used to be good when they stuck to DVD's. Then some money grabbing clown must have taken over and turned it to crap. Credit cards, clothes, oil changes, you name it they do it all. Unfortunately they aren't very good at any of it. They are basically the Kwik Fit of the online world. Sorry, anyone not from the UK might not know who Kwik Fit are. They are a UK garage that specialise in ripping people off with crap repairs. The customer service rivals play.com in the fact that the staff have the I.Q of a turnip and the looks to match.

[mosavon]

Game.co.uk + 8 - Every pre-order i've ever got from them has turned up on time or early, condition is generally fine and its also convenient for me that i have a store 5 minutes walk from my house so any unwanted items can easily be returned, loyalty system is pretty fair also, overall good retailer

HMV.co.uk + 7 - I haven't ordered too much from these, but i did get the helghast edition from them which was fine, i've traded a console and games with them and got fair prices, again they seem to have a pretty fair loyalty system, good experience

Amazon.co.uk + 7 - Never had any problems ordering directly from amazon, generally fair prices, easy returns and i cant remember getting anything damaged, mostly positive experiences when ordering from the independent sellers too

thegamecollection.net + 6 - Cheap prices, good and quick communication and i like how they state that an item is new/sealed and the region/stock availibility next to the majority of items, packaging wasn't the best in my experience which places it slightly below the big hitters, mainly positive though

Gamestop.com + 7 - Really fast service considering im an international customer, reasonably priced item which arrived un-damaged, cant fault them on my first order

Play.com 0 - Im staying neutral because i've only ever had 2 items from them, 1 was fine and 1 order got cancelled without notification. i know they have a poor reputation so id only ever order an exclusive or an item at a great price, jury is out

Zavvi.co.uk -5 Well what can be said about these guys, virtually every single item i've ordered from these clowns has arrived with some form of damage, if its anything cardboard related then forget zavvi it will get squashed and bashed about, they are very slow and basically ignore any form of communication through there online messaging service, the only good thing which holds them up is the prices...Poor

Shopto.net - 10 Alot of people seem to rave about these but i dont know why, my one and only order failed to arrive which i know is down to the postal service but the way they dealt with it was very bad...rude communication and id certainly never order from them again i hate them so much i wish this was a real hammer

Game4game.at - 8 After a good start with this retailer (Sniper GW SE) it just went from bad to worse, COJ is one of the worst CE i own, cheaply made and significantly different to what i thought would be a nice item, misleading picture and just a huge disappointment!!!! then we come to Dead Island Treasure Edition, again what can you say when an edition is labelled as "lavish" "handmade" "unique" "numbered" and "COA" it didnt contain either a COA or numbering of any kind...quality again leaves alot to be desired imo, im sure its in there T&C's about content changing etc but i dont think im the only one feeling ripped off here?

Good Thread BTW Gemini