Paid full price and got this in the mail (open box). GameStop and I have different definitions of “new”

Return that immediately. I worked for gamestop for about 6 years from 11-16. It was a horribly run company that should be a relic of the past like circuit city and blockbuster. Executive management would rather make tiny profits than make pro-consumer changes that would draw in gamers (things like tournaments were actively discouraged).
I really hated that gamestop became a meme stock. It meant executive made a lot of money from no effort on their own. I would have much rather seen their shares go to zero and then get bought for pennies on the dollar, leaving the top brass on their ass.
- Yeah, people forget that Gamestop basically ran all of their favorite local game and card shops out of business. They should not be celebrated.
  Fuck now I want to invent a game hangout space that has indie game tournaments, sells games, cards and comics and regularly holds tournaments. Online gambling is legal now, right as long as its base off a skilled game? Stream that shit and take bets...
  
  As a casual yugioh enjoyer that went to Barnes and noble every few Saturdays to play and trade, I never saw GameStop even try to compete. I can't imagine it had any impact on running game/card shops out of business.
  
  I try to patronize my local game shops as much as I can. I'm not into card or board games which limits where I go but I'm lucky enough to have a few local game stores that sell a lot of retro games for fair prices.
  Of course with new games (I still like to buy physical quite often) I generally have to buy from the big stores but I make it a point to avoid gamestop.
- GameStop exists to swindle WSB and crypto bros out of their investments. It’s not a real game retailer anymore or at least that portion of the business is still as shitty as it ever has been
- Management have been replaced, they are not the same company they once were. Ryan Cohen has taken the reigns and is currently driving the company with a focus on the customer. The guy from Chewy
  
  They raised the cost of their Pro membership from $15 to $25. They fill most of their stores up with collectibles, have very little stock of anything. Have absolutely abysmal phone support for any problems (hour+ hold times, no call back options, needing faceless escalations you just have to trust will be resolved in weeks). Have misleading pricing online including advertising prices incorrectly by subtracting available $5 rewards or percentage off deals on certain but not all pages. Oversell products online, wait 6 weeks to cancel and actual refund people.
  They treat their employees like commission based sales people but pay them terribly with no commission. Managers often have to manage two stores.
  They’ve tried changing the terms of their pro membership mid-subscription.
  They are Blockbuster circa 2004.
- I'm glad you said this. I was really confused by the meme stock phase.
  As a consumer, they never felt like a great company to deal with. They were just convenient being located nearby. Trade-ins always felt like cons.
  
  Tbf part of it was that a lot of senior management was let go and fresh blood was brought in to revitalize the company.

So, here's what probably happened.
Physical GameStop stores will usually open a handful of new games that they receive, so that they can put the boxes on the shelves. But the boxes are empty. You take the box from the shelf for the game you want to buy, bring it to the counter, and they go into a locked drawer that has their stock of games, and they put the game into the box, and then sell it to you. This is assuming that they don't have any unopened copies available; usually they will, but if you're unlucky and happen to catch them at the end of their stock for a particular title, you might get one that's been opened so that the box can be used on display.
Unfortunately, a lot of would-be thieves don't realize that the boxes on the shelves are empty, and steal them. So if you're really unlucky, you'll get a generic box that they print out like this if they don't have any originals left. Usually these boxes are only used for used games (where they bought the game without the box), but sometimes they use them with new copies if they absolutely have to. Depending on the store and the cashier, you can sometimes get them to give you a small discount for the missing box, but I'm not sure if that's a corporate policy or not.
I believe that they can technically still sell these as "new" product, as opposed to "unused", because the product never left the store's possession during this opening/storing process, and isn't the same as a returned product being resold. So what likely went down here is that when OP ordered this game, due to availability or logistics or whatever, they sent a copy that was being held at a physical GameStop store, instead of from some warehouse.
If you're really worried about it, OP, you can probably contact GameStop and request a return or replacement for an unopened copy. In my experience, they're usually pretty understanding about that. It's an annoying extra hoop to jump through, but unfortunately that's just always been a risk one takes when buying from GameStop.
- Sounds like what should be called an "open box" product to me
  
  Employees can also take “new” games home and play them for a few days, the being back and sell as new for full price.
  Absolute shit business, hilarious that they were chosen for stock shenanigans.
  
  Yeah, once they break that shrink wrap, regardless of the reason, its open box and used.
- Yet, other stores don't do this. Avoid GameStop and you avoid this, and all that comes with it. It's fine to learn what happened. It's not OK to do this or have this happen to you.
  
  Who gives a shit?? If the game is new that’s all that’s important. It’s not like studios put anything interesting on the box let alone inside the box these days.
  Maybe I’m biased because I hate physical clutter and refuse to stack plastic trash in my house tho (home RAID server ftw)
- I hate that they do this. You opened it, you touched the disc, the disc was run in a system. That's not new, that's not unused. GameStop should have never done this in the first place, and I can't believe they still do it.
  
  What system? "The system" is to put it in a plastic sleeve in a glorified filing cabinet. The game is never played, the box is just used for display. What's asinine is that the video game manufacturers never realized they could sell cover boxes to gamestop and the like and probably make extra profit... which would stop the entire need for them to do this at all.
  
  Why do you assume the game was ran?
- This is so unbelievably shitty, and they’ve been doing it for decades now. The number of times I went in, asked for a new copy of a game, and was told to pay full price for something that came in a grubby open box covered in stickers was infuriating. It’s a big reason I stopped shopping there over 10 years ago.
  Other stores figured out how to put games on their shelves without opening the boxes and taking the discs out. In fact, it’s actually less work to not be shitty. Just put the fucking game on the shelf LIKE EVERY OTHER GODDAMN STORE ON THE PLANET.
  Fuck GameStop. I hope their CEO gets hemorrhoids regularly.
- That's a fuckload of words to explain why they sent OP an open box product as new. Like a super shitty company.

Recently went into a gamestop for the first time in a while. Immediately wondered what happened. $25 dropship shirts, OLD (5, 6 year +) titles for $30+, just kinda barebones over all. Sorry that happened to you bud, hopefully you don't get bullshitted if you try to fix it.
- They were basically a failing company before the whole WSB stock manipulation. Now they have money again, but no useful business model.
  
  What, you don't like Pop! figurines of decade-old niche franchises?
- If they're selling them at a retail location, it's not a dropship

From an old Reddit post of mine:
If you buy an item and the seller sends one that differs significantly from the description or is defective, you have the right to reject the item and require the seller to retrieve it at their expense - no matter what the seller’s return policy says. You also have the right to a full refund. Rightful Rejection is part of state law and based on the Uniform Commercial Code. It is also written into Visa International’s rules. Don’t believe Citibank representatives or anyone else who tells you otherwise.
If you don't want to pay new prices for a used item, it's 100% up to GameStop to make it right. They have to pay to retrieve it and for return shipping. They have to give you a full refund on everything, including shipping charges.
- How does that work when Amazon forces me to travel to a whole foods, kohls, or UPS to return items. Since the item was brought to my doorstep can I force Amazon or other retailers to come to my doorstep to get the item? Honest question since the process of going to those locations costs fuel.
  
  State law always trumps seller policies. The seller can force you to check a box agreeing to their terms of sale but those terms are not enforceable if state law gives you other rights. Unenforceable clauses have been in literally every contract or terms of sale I've ever read.
  Rightful rejection laws make sense too, especially when you start looking at large purchases. Let's say you ordered a black car from a dealer 500 miles away and the dealer delivered a pink one. The terms of sale say that you have to return the car to the dealer and pay a restocking fee for a refund. Those terms mean that the dealer has no obligation to deliver what you ordered or paid for and will make a profit (from you) even if they deliver something you didn't order. That's where Rightful Rejection laws become indispensable. All you have to do by law is make the product available for retrieval by the seller.
  Funny you should mention Amazon - I'm literally dealing with this issue this week. They sent me a DOA item that has to be sent back. Amazon suddenly wants to charge me a fee to return a defective item that they have the legal obligation to retrieve. While I don't mind dropping things off at a UPS store because I'm regularly a block away, they want me to make a special trip to a Staples or Whole Foods which is not convenient or reasonable. I was just going to order a replacement from them, but because of their new return fee I won't be buying the replacement from Amazon, or much else going forward. My Amazon purchases will easily decrease by 90%.
  Here's the rub - a retailer does not have to continue to do business with you. If you force Amazon to retrieve an item they can close your account and refuse to sell to you again.

That sucks. Suggestion, return it and buy this for $49: https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Sword-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B07PC7X38X
- If I return it, I’m afraid they’ll claim I pulled some shady shit, since it’s clearly not a new product.
  
  Try it if they complain pull a Karen and speak with the manager. If they refuse escalate to corporate complain. This should not happen.
  
  Bruh, stand up for yourself. If they claim that, you point at the box you just posted a picture of and go "No, this is what you sent me, and it isn't new. I ordered a NEW game, not a Gamestop open box special."
  If they really won't budge THEN you do a chargeback as others are advising, but that shouldn't be your first response.
  
  Just do a charge back worst case, you won't be able to buy anything from them again. Not really a loss and generally doesn't happen anyway.
  
  Likely not, you wouldn't have anywhere to get that labeling other than them selling it to you. You can always call them first and tell them what happened, get return authorization. They should be willing to accept a return on a new product that doesn't come in the original packaging. In fact with Gamestop if you have a local store they might accept the return there, I would think a store employee would be more sympathetic.
  
  Like what? It's in their box, with their sticker that says the games name, "new", and has a barcode. What do you think they're going to accuse you of?
  
  If that’s the case then just do a chargeback with your credit card.

I'll probably be downvoted for not joining the GS hate train, but just reach out to them, their CS is usually pretty decent. Hell, tag Ryan Cohen on Twitter and you're half likely to get a response from the CEO himself offering to correct the mistake.
- He has multiple times responded directly to customers and helped them get what they needed. I like everything I'm aware of from the guy, except the hoarding of billions of dollars.
  
  Dude...
  He has people who answer those messages. The fucking CEO isn't personally responding to twitter @s. What is he, the POTUS?

I'm so confused, this seems like a string of really weird decisions
Why would you buy from gamestop of all places online when they're so ubiquitous that you could walk into one anywhere and buy it new with the box instead?
Why buy it from gamestop online for full price when you could buy it digitally for full price or other online places with a discount.
Of all things to buy new, a pokemon game is one that buying used for cheaper is a better option all around, and gamestop specializes in used games.
I'm still stuck on this but why gamestop? Amazon and ebay have the game much cheaper new, and with the box guaranteed too
Op get a refund and save like 20-30 bucks buying the game from elsewhere with better quality control.
Edit: To make it perfectly clear since people can't differentiate, I ain't blaming OP at all. Gs is a shitty company who I wouldn't trust to provide free air. OP needs to get a refund and buy elsewhere from a company that will treat him better. My questions are just me personally being curious about what lead to picking gs in the first place given their reputation. It's not victim blaming and I dislike that I even have to make this disclaimer instead of being able to trust people to understand nuance
- I ain't victim blaming, I'm not saying it is ops fault for what happened. I even made that clear with my last sentence that OP needs to get a refund and buy it elsewhere cause gs is a shitty company that's also charging more for a new older game than other places. I honestly was just more personally curious of what lead OP to trusting gs in the first place in the manner they did. Not to blame but genuinely just wondering why from a personal standpoint.
  Also gs is selling the game used for about half the cost of new so they essentially scammed him out of 30 bucks. Even when they get a refund OP shouldn't trust gs with any of that money
- Maybe they had a gift card?
  
  That makes sense. Either way OP needs to get a full refund then take that gift card (if that is the case) to a converter/sell it to get the money off of it so he can use the money elsewhere with a better company that will actually keep up their end of the deal in full
- If you have multiple Nintendo switches in your household (read- kids) and everyone has their own account then buying digital doesn’t make sense. I don’t buy from GameStop as a rule because my local game shop is better in every way but I wouldn’t blame someone who bought from them as not every city has a thriving local game scene
  
  I didn't think of having multiple kids and sharing the game since iirc pokemon only has one save file per cartridge, so you'd still need multiple copies, unless they finally changed that. But I do know lots of people like just having physical media anyways so I considered that. I ain't blaming the guy for what happened. He bought something with a clearly advertised expectation and gs bait and switched/scammed him and he needs to get a refund.
  I'm just curious why they picked gs when there are other cheaper online alternatives and other brick and mortar stores offering it as well. Gs wouldn't be my first pick so Im just curious to get another persons perspective on why it was for them
- The popularity of ebay and Amazon kinda proves how many people would rather shop online, doesn't it? Since basically any retailer still around has added a competitive online store. You can also easily go hundreds of miles between gamestops so they're not truly ubiquitous to most of America's land mass
  
  Yeah I get that, but then I'm still curious as to why picking gs when Amazon, ebay, and other brick and mortar retailers like walmart, target, and best buy. All also sell the game online for new for a cheaper price. One other person mentioned maybe OP had a gift card which would then make sense.
  Either way OP needs to get a full refund, if it's on a gift card then they need to take it to a converter to get the money to spend it with a different company that will actually treat them well and won't pull a shady bait and switch.
- On digital vs physical:
  Digital versions are locked into the whim of Nintendo. For instance, you can't play the game on another switch if the user who brought it is playing another game on their account. In fact, the second Switch can't even play it without having an internet connection.
  You can't sell a digital copy second hand, meaning the value is way lower for digital copies. They still have the same retail price though...
- Victim blaming is cool and fun
  
  I ain't victim blaming. I made that perfectly clear with my last sentence saying OP should get a refund and go buy it from a better dealer for cheaper since gs is a shitty company. My questions are entirely coming from curiosity of what lead to using gs in the first place given their reputation

This is not what you paid for. You should demand either the item you paid for or your money back. Anything less is fraud.
- They said I could mail it back, but I’m not really in a “trust GameStop” kinda mood
  
  If you have a local store near you you could take it there for an exchange.
  
  You’re literally trying to make an issue out of this at this point. No shot there isn’t a GS near you, you just don’t care to actually solve this so-called problem. You just wanna yell
  
  If you mail it back, make sure they agree, in writing, to waive the $8.99 return fee and to cover your shipping costs. Keep all the records from shipping it. Then, if they don’t refund you in a timely manner, chargeback.
  Alternatively, if you tried to return it in store and they refused to accept it, inform Gamestop that they’re in violation of their own return policy and ask whether they are able to give you a refund, mail you a replacement copy, or if they would prefer you to pursue compensation through your bank. If they don’t do either of the first two then that should be sufficient to justify a chargeback, too.
  I recommend email for your communications with them since that creates a paper trail. Their customer support email is care@gamestop.com
  Good luck!

Just fucking return it. If I made a post for everytime Amazon did something like this to me, it would get really annoying really quick.

This for 60 bucks!?

priced like new
- And that's why we need to read the tiny letters folks!

Bought a smartwatch from Amazon while I was out of town, my brother recived it a few days ago. Got home yesterday and opened the package to find inside a freaking cheap microphone, I'm guessing for influencers, or YouTubers, I know the feeling.
On a little more positive note, yeah, reach out to them, customer service agreed to send me the correct item by tomorrow. (Fingers crossed they get it right this time)

New to you, I suppose. ¯(ツ)/¯

GameStop is still in business??? I haven't seen one in years lol! I thought they went bankrupt because of this exact kind of bullshit they always used to pull
- They almost did, but then there was the whole thing with people getting stock and holding, and that actually ended up on helping GS. How long they will hold out is still debatable though. Mostly because of things like this post and the other comments. They used to be great, but because of stuff like that, i refuse to order from them at this point. And there's a retro game store near me that actually has a ton of switch games. More than any GS I've been to. So I don't see a reason to go into one in person. Not to mention the rise in digital games.
  
  By the time the last of four (!) Gamestops in my town finally closed, I am certain it had more square footage devoted to Rick and Morty shit than it did to video games.
  
  Don't gloss over the stock issues. That was straight up Q-Anon shit with the CEO sending them secret messages because of the SEC or some absolute insane bullshit.
- Come on. People actually believe this guy believes GameStop went out of business? There are 2500 of them in the US and like 8 around Columbia SC where this guy posts pictures from in the reg. Stop being suckers.
  
  Well they did close many, many stores just before the whole stock market shorting thing. Like my area had like 12 and now there is only 1 still in operation. Some areas probably have 0 stores in operation, making it seem like they went belly up.
  
  What exactly is it that you think I'm "suckering" people in to? I'm sorry I haven't scoured the entire town looking for shitty overpriced used game stores... 🙄

What am I missing? I'm assuming this is not new for some reason ¯_(ツ)/¯
- The original absolutely does not use that packaging
  
  TIL: Thank you 🙂

There's going to be a new movie out about GME and Reddit called "Dumb Money" out soon, directed by the same guy who directed "I, Tonya" (Could have won that Oscar if they named it "It's Hardin' Time" like I asked)
Don't watch it. Both GameStop and reddit are terrible companies.
- How you gonna put GameStop, who have turned their business around, namely by working on restoring value to customers, next to Reddit who has been on an anti-user tirade for years now?
  You don’t need to be involved in the bullshit stock market to realize that it’s a different company now than it was just a few years ago. GameStop most certainly was a terrible company and has a lot of things they still need to work on but a LOT has changed.
  Also, that movie you mention is just propaganda by other elites that smell blood in the water. In my opinion I see funding as a more important metric than what dumbass directed it but go off I guess
- What does the movie have anything to do with this?