Brand Loyalty

[DrLove42]

Not to GW before you get too excited!

I've been very loyal to GAME as a company all my life. I've always believed the high street needs a dedicated game retailer, and have bought nigh exclusivly from them for many years

But I'm being pushed to the point where I have no loyalty to them anymore

They don't have a phone line you can call for customer service, only a MSN style webchat
They screwed up my xbox one order, promised to call me back, never did and then cancelled my order

And the last few things bought from their online store have been late, some by weeks.

I don't think i'll ever order anything from them again. Just go to shopto now, and maybe buy from them occasionally on the street

[Mr Mystery]

And here we see why they are struggling as a company.

For me, the worth of a company isn't whether things never go wrong, but how the deal with them when they do.

[ElectricPaladin]

For me, the worth of a company isn't whether things never go wrong, but how the deal with them when they do.

So true.

I've never had any difficulties from any minis company. All of them have been more than happy to replace missing or damaged parts, no questions asked. It's kind of beautiful, actually.

[Wildeybeast]

Why on earth would you have loyalty to GAME? They have the worst customer experience I have ever experienced. I'll never forget when my mate went it to complain about the cancellation of his ME3 pre-order and the guy he spoke to in store hadn't even been told about the whole fiasco. I also know of several people who have had pre-orders cancelled for no reason and I won't go into my diatribe about being IDed there.

I believe in brand loyalty, but only when a brand earns it from me and GAME is a brand which deserves to fail due to the gross incompetence they persistently display as a company, from top to bottom.

[DrLove42]

I worked for the company for years and it until I started my current job two months ago it was the best job i had.

Thats why I has loyalty.

I just can't believe a massive national company doesn't have a damn phone line you can call

[Wildeybeast]

Well, we all base it on our personal experience. You are the first person I've met with a good word to say about them, so fair enough. Sadly I can believe full well they don't have a phone line. They don't want you calling them, because they know the phone would never stop ringing. Instead, the hapless chumps in the store end up facing the fury of disgruntled customers. When I complained, I just addressed it 'complaints department' and posted it to the HQ address, because there isn't a customer service address either. Surprisingly they actually got back to me.

[DrLove42]

I used their crap MSN help chat yesterday and they promised to call me back first thing today.

Clearly didn't

So I spoke to them on the bloody chat again this evening. Guarenteed me they'd call back within a few hours. Bugger all

Have filled in the "Call me back ASAP ****tards!" form in the hope it does something. But i doubt it.

So I doubt i'm getting the console I wanted on release date. If i get it at all....useless company. I can see why they went under once.

[Deadlift]

I get most of my games from Sainsburys. Always have plenty of stock of the big releases and competitively priced. Nectar points too.

[Wildeybeast]

That's thing. Supermarkets under cut them on price, because they can afford to use it as a loss leader. Online undercuts them because they have lower overheads. They have done nothing whatsoever to respond to either of these, as well as ignoring the growth of digital sales. Combine that with terrible customer service and the general decline of the high street and I have absolutely no idea how they are still afloat. I'm assuming it is that perverse group of people who enjoy queuing for midnight launches that keeps them going.

[Wolfshade]

I use the most convenient store/website or the cheapest. Frequently this turns out to be Amazon, am I loyal to the brand or is it easy of access?

When one uses products and services regularly one builds up an expectation of the level of service, like I know from my FLBS I will get exemplary service but the prices are slightly inflated and their range is small. When the vendor fails to live up to expectation it is perfectly reasonable to expect some recompense. I usually revert to sending an e-mail of complaint, if the response answers my queries sufficiently and assuages my fears then that is fine, if not then it is time to move on. But then I am quite stubborn.