GameFly Sucks
Yes, I signed up for a GameFly account a few months ago. I thought, hey, my enjoyment of my relatively new Xbox 360 (and my gamerscore) could benefit from the membership, so why not. I set up my account with dreams of playing the latest and greatest games in existence floating in my head. What was delivered, again to be clear, was far from that pipe-dream.
I started by putting Just Cause in my number 1 slot (hey, I played the demo and was somewhat interested). I them placed a number of secondary games in my queue. I got Just Cause and played it for a month of so. I liked the idea of taking over regions as I had done with Saint’s Row, so I was in to it. But, fairly quickly the game began to drag on (hell, those cut scenes sucked, sucked, sucked). So, back it went to GameFly.
And what did I receive back from GameFly? None other than the third game on my list! A game I had placed on there basically just to have something in my queue. (I mean I owned the great games for the 360 and was using GameFly to spread my wings a little.) I wasn’t miffed or anything. I just tried to play the game, was barely interested and sent it back.
Then, I once again received the third game on my list. (I can’t even remember what it was, it sucked so bad.) So, after a couple attempts at playing it, I sent it back…
Then, I once again received the third game on my list! WTF is the problem with sending me some Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas!?! I want it. I’ve been wanting it. And yes, I still want it! But no, they sent me Enchanted Arms! Have you played this game!? It’s horrible and the voice acting could single handedly make anyone hate video games. After about 20 minutes of attempting to play this game, I packed it up and sent it back.
Than, I once again received the third game on my list!! No Kidding! Yes, Phantasy Star Universe was on it’s way to me. When you think about it, this game wasn’t really number 3 on my list, but actually something like number 6! It only became number 3 after I received a bunch of other game I had little interest in.
As you can imagine, I was miffed. I filled out the form on GameFly complaining. On February 2nd, I wrote:
I’ve consistently received the 3rd game in my queue rather than the first ones. This is very disappointing and I expect I’ll cancel my service if I can’t get the games I want.
On February 5th, I received the following:
Dear Patrick,
If you would rather wait for the game to become available and NOT have the next available game ship, keep an open rental slot by removing all other available games from your GameQ and return a game. When a copy does become available, it will get sent to the member who’s had it in their GameQ the longest and has an open rental slot at that time.
Please note that we do not recommend removing all other games from your GameQ as you would be missing out on receiving games and we will not credit for unused service time.
Wait a second. Did they just say that they’ll ship the first game when they’re good and ready and instead of receiving my 3rd in line, I should just wait for my number one and keep paying monthly dues!?!
Am I wrong in thinking that I pay monthly dues to receive games I want when I want them, and not wait for months (it has been that long) to receive the game in my first slot? I didn’t think so, so I went to their site to cancel my account.
This was additionally fun.
First when I started to cancel my account, I received the following:
Patrick, you still have 12 days left until your next billing period. If you choose to cancel your account now, your cancellation will be effective as of today, and you will not receive a refund or credit for unused time. Are you sure you want to cancel your membership now
Hmm, I’m canceling my account, yet they still want to hose me on the membership. Thanks. I bite the bullet and hit “continue canceling” only to receive:
While GameFly’s in-stock rate is far higher than any other online rental service can offer, we realize it can be frustrating if the game you want is not available. As compensation for your availability issue, GameFly is happy to give you a special, one-time offer on your next month of service for only $9.95 – that’s a 30% savings!
Bastards! So, they don’t want to service me correctly, but want to give me a 30% savings instead!? I would be happier getting that extra 30% of service rather than the 30% savings! Why don’t companies understand this!? This only made me more upset, so I continue canceling only to get this:
Yes, they remind me again, that I’m losing money by canceling their crap-ass service, but the most important thing to notice is this:
All rented games must be received by GameFly within 7 days of cancellation or you will be charged the full retail price.
Whoa! Not another month’s price? Not something fair? No, the entire retail price of the game! I know there have been many exclamation points in this post, but seriously, WTF is up with this? That’s literally 5 to 6 months of membership at my plan’s cost.
Of course, with the approximately 5 day postage on GameFly games, no matter what, you’re cutting it close… But I hadn’t even received the game yet!
The bottom line is, that until GameFly can offer service on par with NetFlix (which I never have trouble getting the number 1 movie in my queue) then they’re offering a service that will frustrate and confuse people. Add to that their “screw you if you don’t like it” attitude and they become a company I will never do business with again. It literally becomes cheaper to buy the games yourself and return them, then play their game.
I’m sure I’ll have no problem remembering: GameFly sucks.
Posted in gaming, Interactive, Technology, Tips
February 7th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
As far as I know, when a title has low availability in any online mailing service, they’ll send you your next item instead. The only way to guarantee the next thing you get is by making it the only thing on your list. If GameFly is responsible, they’d tell you what the availability is. I could be entirely wrong, but it seems you’re just lucky with the Netflix
The first cancellation warning is just telling you that you could wait 11 days to cancel and get more out of the money you already paid. Seems nice enough.
The reduced price offer? All rental services do that. It’s their way of getting people who want to cancel to continue. Netflix, Blockbuster, they all do it. It’s not really that bad.
The final cancellation screen is a bit much, but you go through a lot worse and misleading things for some other services.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Ok I’ve had gamefly and have been more than satisfied with the service. If a game isn’t available it isn’t available, when it comes to a que based service you have to get used to the ques. Learn some patience is what I’d say, if you wanted the game so bad you couldn’t wait for it to be available maybe ummm go buy it.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:51 am
[...] read more | digg story [...]
February 8th, 2007 at 8:14 am
wow! i had the exact same problems and was actually charged for the last game i rented and mailed back because they did not receive it before i cancelled; a complete customer service nightmare. i was amazed that they would send me an email 3 monts later, telling me that they missed me and wanted me to come back.
February 26th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
It’s easy to slam any mail rental service that isn’t Netflix. Everything you said about Gamefly could also be said about the smaller video rental services, but you couldn’t say that the smaller ones have anywhere near Gamefly’s selection. Just imagine if you’d actually bought all the games they sent you — you’d be out several hundred dollars. Instead you’ve spent, what, twenty or so bucks and played a half dozen games? I think that’s actually pretty awesome. Sure, you can’t always get the exact game you want, but if you’re a serious gamer you get your money’s worth by trying out dozens of games per year, and if you like one enough you can buy it off them at a discount. That’s the reason I have it: every game I’ve liked enough to keep is one that I might not have ever played if I wasn’t renting them to begin with.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
I actually was a member of gamefly from it’s initial inception to ’04/’05. The service was actually pretty good considering they only have 1 distribution center in Los Angeles in Inglewood if I recall. I lived in NYC at the time so it would take on avg. 3.5 days for mail to go back and forth. When I moved out to the burbs of NJ, wasn’t quite the same result. My avg time for mailings became something around 5-6 days. I gave up on them shortly after that as it appeared they were not going to go the Netflix route of multiple distro centers. I think in the 3 years of membership, only one game was ever lost (over 100 rentals). I really thought gamefly was pretty good but those shipping times need some help. I would try them again but I don’t think that usps scanning technology really benefits me. Instead I’m going to give gamerang a shot since they have a center in NJ. Maybe I can actually get rentals 2x/3x a week just like with netflix.
April 8th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Update: Gamefly just announced a couple weeks ago that they’re opening up a new distribution center in Pittsburgh. Not only will this make shipping a lot faster for people in the upper midwest and east coast, but it’ll also cut down on traffic at the LA distribution center.
So they’ve got better selection than all the other game rental companies, as well as discounted prices if you want to buy games from them — and now the shipping times are going to improve.
February 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hi Patrick.
I feel your fustration. I was a member of gamefly myself and let me tell you something it was a horrible experience. Apperently, GameFly is thinking that they are all that. But guess what they are not!!! Unfortunatelly, they do not have much competition but I found a website that beats them 100%. For all of those who had problems with gamefly before and are tired of not getting the games try(www.mygamexpress.com) They have a new service New Releases are guaranteed. My experience with them have been so good. I placed my gameQ at night and I had my first game choice in 3 days. I hope this information helps you. They also offer free Trial!
January 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Sounds like Brien works for gamefly.
I just recieved my last 2 games from this shit company. Effectively 22 and 23 on my list. Both PSP games. UN FUCKING REAL.
BYE BYE GAMEFLY.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
The problem I have with Gamefly is that, they have sent me my #5 and #7 items on my q, when their website clearly stated that #s 2 and 3 were available… wtf?
April 10th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Yeah, GF kinda sucks…alot~
October 21st, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I just found your blog via Yahoo answers, a really good read, thanks.
October 23rd, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Here’s a bright idea! Why don’t all of you just queue ONLY the games that you actually WANT to play? Seems like common sense. Why would you put a game on the list that you don’t want to rent?
If every game on your list is a game you desperately want to play then it doesn’t matter if they ship you the first game or the last!
Why don’t you do a bit of research online before you add a shitty game to your list. There are tons of review sites that can help you out in your decision.
If GameFly sent you Enchanted Arms and you hated it, it’s your own damn fault for renting the game in the first place.
I had GameFly for over 3 years and never had a single problem with them. Only recently I had to cancel my membership because I became unemployed and couldn’t afford the monthly fees.
November 9th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I had the same problem and this is the repose I got from them. They really don’t care about unhappy customers.
Ross D: Hi, my name is Ross D. How may I help you?
Tomas: hello
Tomas: i’m having a issue with the availability of your game.
Ross D: I’m sorry to hear that.
Tomas: This service is not cheap and 9 games in my que were passed up because you don’t have them in.
Tomas: i don’t believe this is a good way of doing business.
Ross D: I apologize for the inconvenience, but I see what the problem here is.
Ross D: The GameQ is built on a first-come, first served model. A good number of your top titles in your GameQ were just added 2 days ago, and were just released and shipped from our facility on the 3rd of this month.
Ross D: It’s very hard to locate a game to ship to a member if it’s put in his GameQ immediately after the release date.
Ross D: When there’s demand for releases, we ship out as many copies of a game as we have available.
Ross D: So typically new releases are unavailable for a good week and a half or so, at least, after their release date.
Tomas: Yes thats true for some of the games but others have been out for near a month already
Ross D: Right, however, Alan Wake was the first title we were able to locate for you, so we shipped it to minimize your time without a game at home.
Tomas: I what was sent to me was at the bottom of those on the list
Ross D: Pardon?
Tomas: i understand that and i appreciate that but my problem is why am I paying for a service that obviously isn’t properly equipped.
Ross D: Unfortunately we’re unable to purchase a copy of each title for every member that has it in their GameQ.
Ross D: The business just wouldn’t work that way.
Ross D: There are absolutely things you can do to increase your chances of receiving new releases around their release date, though.
Ross D: Like I mentioned, the GameQ is built on a first-come, first-served model, meaning that the earlier a title is placed in your GameQ, the more likely you’ll receive it when it’s released.
Ross D: We add titles to our Coming Soon pages up to a year in advance of their release — sometimes more.
Tomas: well I think that I should be able to get at least 2 out of 10 games I have in a q if i’m paying so much for a service like this
Ross D: Unfortunately I can’t change your Game Plan to allow additional games to ship and still bill you for the 1-Game Plan, if that’s what you’re suggesting.
Tomas: that’s not what i’m asking for
Tomas: i’m saying out of 10 games on a q 2 should be available.
Tomas: i pay close to $20 a month for this
Ross D: Well that’s going to depend entirely on each individual game you place in your GameQ.
Tomas: and there are hundreds of other people doing the same
Ross D: If you place the 10 most recent releases in your GameQ, of course they’re not going to be available.
Tomas: so it shouldn’t be hard to off set the price they pay for games
Tomas: since im sure some of those people keep games for more then a month
Ross D: The service is going to remain a flat rate, to the best of my knowledge.
Ross D: We can’t provide service credit for unused service time.
Tomas: as a company that deals with games, you should know a certain games popularity and order more
Ross D: We do that, certainly.
Ross D: And frequently we restock titles that stay in high demand.
Ross D: But we still can’t buy a copy of each title for everyone, so it’s still a matter of that first-come, first-served business.
Tomas: I’ve had this service for 3 months already and some of the games that were popular when I started are still out of stock
Tomas: that shouldn’t happen
Tomas: you wouldn’t need to but a game for each customer just enough to cover the off set to a month or two
Tomas: because then games would be coming back in
Tomas: if the game is till out of stock after a month
Tomas: buy more
Tomas: you’ve made your money on it already
Ross D: Again, we do regularly restock titles that remain in high demand.
Tomas: i like the idea of this service but something needs to change
Tomas: your taking money from people and leaving them not properly satisfied.
Ross D: Unfortunately, due to the nature of how people approach video games, and other restrictions, this is going to continue to be an issue, unless you take steps to prevent it in the future by adding titles to your GameQ well in advance of their release, and having a shipping slot open at the time of the release.
Tomas: i did
Tomas: today when call of duty arrived a slot waas open but i didn’t get it
Ross D: I apologize that our service is not meeting your expectations. You can cancel at any time, if you choose to.
Tomas: which i was fine with because i understand the first come first serve
Ross D: Call of Duty: Black Ops shipped out yesterday.
Ross D: Not to you, but in general.
Tomas: but i didn’t get the next for titles in my q either
Ross D: Its release date was yesterday.
Tomas: four
Tomas: but this morning it was available.
Tomas: i feel your answer shouldn’t be as simple as “cancel if you want”
Tomas: as a paying customer you should try to make me happy
Ross D: Certainly, we’d like you to be happy.
Ross D: However, we can’t change the system to suit your specific desires.
Ross D: I’m attempting to explain how to manipulate the system in your favor, but that doesn’t seem to be the answer you’re expecting.
Tomas: i don’t think my desires are specific, i’m sure there are a lot of people with similar concerns.
Ross D: I apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Tomas: it’s not because I’ve tried that
Ross D: Ultimately, the way to get GameFly to work for you is by figuring out what you want from it, and taking the steps to accomplish what you want.
Ross D: If you want the best shipping turn-around time, keep as many released titles in your GameQ as possible, and make sure plenty of them have good availability and are near the top of your GameQ.
Ross D: If you want to receive new titles on their release dates, keep an eye on the Coming Soon pages and add titles to your GameQ months and months (and if possible, more months) in advance of the release date, and have a shipping slot open at least a day or two before the release date.
Tomas: you know this seems like what it takes to please a customer is lost on a big company who’s bottom line is a dollar.
Ross D: Again, we would be ecstatic if you were happy with our service.
Tomas: since you don’t care enough to make me feel lie a valued customer I will be passing this conversation along to all the gaming website and etc just so they know what it’s like to get customer service from gamefly.
Ross D: But we also do have to go about things in a thoughtful manner.
Tomas: yes i agree
Ross D: I’m really not sure what you want us to do other than make sure you get the game you want when you want it, but that would entail making sure everyone gets every game when they want it, which is just not possible.
Tomas: if a national company wants to supply games to the nation they should buy more then enough
Ross D: The service is great if you want to play a wide variety of games, and it can even be great if you want to try every new game when it comes out, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.
Tomas: it’s like playing the lottery to get a game when it first comes out
Ross D: But if a title is in your GameQ, the system is going to ship it, and if you put a title in your GameQ right after its release date, we’re not going to ship it immediately.
Tomas: maybe 4 months after it comes out
Ross D: It’s not like playing a lottery at all, I’ve been attempting to explain how to do exactly that.
Tomas: and i explained that i’ve done that
Ross D: The first titles placed in your GameQ were added in September.
Tomas: it’s crazy, that you see i’m not happy and you haven’t even tried to offer me a discount on the month or anything similar
Ross D: Titles are added to our Coming Soon pages a year in advance of their release date.
Tomas: like i said your company doen’t care about it’s customerrs
Ross D: I’m suggesting that with more time before the release dates, you might have better luck, there.
Ross D: I’m sorry, I’m not sure what the discount would be for?
Ross D: As soon as we received Red Dead Redemption, we shipped Dragon Age: Origins. As soon as that was returned, we shipped Alan Wake.
Ross D: This is how our service works.
Tomas: i don’t even care about a discount, it’s the point of the matter
Ross D: Any thing that’s in your GameQ is going to be fair game for shipping.
Tomas: you a service i pay for and i’m not happy with the service
Tomas: you should try to make me happy
Tomas: but that’s not how it works at gamefly
January 6th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
So… you selected a bunch of shitty games, and got mad that they sucked, and wrote a poorly written article. And when you and 100,000 other people requested a popular game (rainbow 6) you bitch about not getting it. Perhaps the other 99,999 copies were in use? That last sentence was rhetorical.
Maybe you should think about how long you had Just Cause and that someone else was sitting there thinking “omg wtf bbq, I like fat chicks, where is my Just Cause game!??!?!?!”
Deal with it. It’s an overpriced system that isn’t perfect, and they will NEVER fix it if hundreds of thousands of dick-weeds purchase their service just to increase their gamertag/trophy count. Which is the main reason because, well fuck, if you liked the demo, wait. Buy then game half off and deal with it. And besides if you actually liked the Just Cause Demo, you have shitty taste in games to think “gee willacurrs batman, this will probably be a good game”.
March 24th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
yousuck, and stupidity, you both are morons. obviously these people are saying how they feel about a company. its an opinion, and if you dont like it shut your mouth and go suck gameflys dick. obviously you work for them or get fucked by some dude that does…..have fun queers
July 3rd, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Oh man, I know exactly how you feel. I signed up to Gamefly because I wanted to check out Halo Reach since I didn’t have the money to afford it right now. So I put it in my que and it says Available Now, I think ‘great, I’ll be playing it soon’ NOPE, next day it says LOW AVAILABILITY. I mean wtf? It was available, I had it at the top of my que, and now it’s not available? So I say fuck that shit and cancel the account, and they don’t give refunds for unused time, so I basically gave them 17 fucking dollars for nothing. I will never sign up with them again, and I will warn any one away from them.
July 23rd, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Shipping from gameflyslowerthanafatbitchpettalingbackwardsonatricycle…wait I mean gamefly takes about 7 days to get to me. When I send my game back it takes another 12 days from that point to get another game in my hands. NOW…every game in my q has medium availability and has been out for a few months or much longer. I stupidly did not expect these wait times or the fact that medium availability actually means out of stock. No matter how limited some titles are or what the policy is, you should still be able to see live availability on every game they have. This is not unreasonable. You can not put out a commercial saying we have cheap, beautiful, beer flavored nipples in stock and waiting for you. Then deliver my fucking grandmothers tits. This is what gamefly does ” in a very very awkward analogy” and there is no changes in site. Unless you like fucking lego Batman or harry potter, don’t waste money or time on this customer service abortion.