Slashdot Mirror
GAME Australia Now Also In Administration
Fluffeh writes "Yesterday the Australian Division of GAME saw an email from their Marketing Manager confirming that the 95-store chain has gone into voluntary administration. PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Kate Warwick said, 'Initially we will continue to trade all stores, operating these on as close to a "business as usual" mode as possible whilst we get a clearer understanding of the current state of the business and actively pursue options to secure its future.' It also seems that GAME is having a bit of a fire sale, with many titles, including quite a few new releases, now in a $5-$74 bargain bin. Ms. Warwick also noted that the company's customers hold various claims against the company under loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers. She said, 'We are working on schemes aimed at giving customers some return on these claims if they are used to make additional purchases.'"
This follows similar news from the UK in March.
$5-$74 is part bargin, part way too much money
So for people who put down the $30 to pre-order or $50 to pre-order the collectors edition have lost that cash. So I'd hardly say it's business as usual... My wife plans to pick up a few games from there but I'm still of the opinion that we should just get them from ebay or ozgameshop.com where it's cheaper anyway.
... wait, what?
Its interesting watching the journalist / news release re publishers solely focus on competition from download services and totally ignore mail order.
Download took away all the "I want it on release day" and "I want it now".
Mail order took away all the "I want it cheap" and "I've got metered/slow internet access" and "I want something unusual"
That leaves retail stores with... gift sales? Apparently the book industry has given up on retail except for gift sales, and that works for them, but video games are too fast moving of a target.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
What's GAME? What's administration? I'm guessing GAME is something like Gamestop or Best Buy, and administration is something along the lines of bankruptcy/liquidation?
I'm sorry to say, but any idiot that "pre-orders" something which will be readily available when released anyway deserves to lose their cash.
Seems GAME AU couldn't get Diablo 3 because of financial problems, so customers who pre-ordered the game won't get the game and won't get a refund.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-14-game-australia-falls-into-administration
Congratulations, your comment #40000001 has been awarded 6 additional internets worth of credibility by being the equivalent of the Slashdot "40 million GET".
Seems Slashdot's database sequences are odd-only, so there you have it.
Some idiots like the special pre-order DLC that becomes available to them for doing so...
... wait, what?
And right here, ladies and gentlemen, is why I will not put down money for a pre-order of anything in the game industry. Or, if I do, it'll be by credit card: chargebacks (on the basis of "goods were not provided as agreed") are your friend.
I also don't buy gift vouchers; cash is king. Even if it's considered gauche, I consider it less so than gift vouchers, which basically say, "I can't think of a good present, so here's some money that you absolutely have to spend at this particular store."
That's numberwang!
As the other fellow pointed out, CIDs are all odd, so you got it!
Buy yourself a beer, you deserve it.
It sounds almost EXACTLY like it is the equivalent of Chapter 11 BANKRUPTCY in the US. (anyone with knowledge of the specific lawys tell me if I am right or wrong).
With liquidation being Chapter 7.
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1009395
Don't deal with bankrupt companies. In any country. If they can't pay their bills, they can't pay their suppliers, their inventory can get sold off, gift cards could be non-redeemable, your order could be paid for by you and the money gone and you get nothing.
If you see something in the store and you buy it right there you may be OK, just don't expect support, warrantee service, returns, refunds or exchanges.
They are going to die, and screw people on the way down.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Thanks for keeping me abreast of this News for Nerds, this Stuff that Matters, Slashdot!
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5007290816 Blizzard announced in their forums they will be allowing people to get a refund of the preorder amount when ordering digitally. Doesn't really help if you really wanted the collector's edition but seems like a decent move on their part when they weren't even the ones who took your money.
Except that Collector editions of Diablo 3 sold out about a month ago. At least here is AU.
Kind of hard to not pre-order it and still get one since it was released today. Now, you could argue that collector additions are pointless anyway.
the company's customers hold various claims against the company under loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers.
Nice to hear that they have some respect for the customers in that regard. When Blockbuster went under, they stopped accepting gift cards locally (gift cards that were paid for in cash) for the final sales. Seems Australia treats the customer better than Canada in such instances.