Funcoland (Also called GameStop)
Sent in by misgradman@icqmail.com
I used to own a NES and about 30 games. I got my NES back in 1986 and
my collection of games ranged from 1986 up until the last games released
in 1993-94. I loved the NES and all my games, which consisted of
classics like the Super Mario Bros. Trilogy, the Castlevania Trilogy,
the Double Dragon Trilogy, and so on. I also had a Super NES that I got
when they were first released in 1991 and had about 15 games, such as
Zelda 3 and Super Metroid. Now I loved these games and I had beaten all
of them numerous times but I was caught up in the "next generation"
movement. I had an N64 and a few games, but I also wanted a Playstation
and games like Resident Evil.
At the time (late 1996) I was away at college, which wasn't but an hour
from my home but I was at school most of the time with my friend. We
shared an apartment. Well to get money for the PSX I sold all of my old
NES, Super NES and Game Boy games and systems. Now I didn't go to
Funcoland for this, because at the time there was a local Used Video
Game store near the college, and they paid good money for used games.
So I got the money necessary to buy a Playstation and Resident Evil.
Well eventually I realized what a mistake I made. Not that I don't like
my PSX, but I regretted selling all my NES and Super NES stuff for the money.
So in late spring 1997 I finished my semester and I went back home for
the summer. I went to the local mall and I saw a store called "Funcoland".
Up until that time I had no idea what "Funcoland" was. I went in and
was surprised to know they sold games. Then I realized they sold old
NES and Super NES games. I was overcome with so much joy that I
said "I want a NES and some games."
Well like most people have already told you, the service stinks at most
Funcolands. There was only one guy there, he looked barely 16, and he
was engrossed in a game of Mario 64. After 15 minutes I finally got
his attention. So he cracks some horrible jokes and then he gets me a
NES. I actually wanted him to hook it up to prove it worked, but he said
"It works I promise" and made another weak attempt at humor. So then I
say "I want all 3 Castlevania games." So after 20 minutes he finally brings
me all 3 games. Then he does the typical "How about a cleaning kit?" I
say "Uhh no thanks" but he wouldn't take no for an answer and as he
was ringing it up, he started to add a cleaning kit! I said "I said no!" Then
he tried to sell me a subscription to the worthless magazine they have,
again I said "No, I want only want I asked for." Then he talks for 10
minutes about cleaning kits, magazines, and then tries to sell me more
NES games, games that I NEVER liked. Finally I got my stuff and left.
What should have been a 15 minute visit took an hour and a half.
So I get home, I hook everything up, and nothing. The thing would not
work. Unfortunately, it was already past time they closed, plus I had
plans, so I had to wait until the next day to take it back.
The next day I go in, and dork boy is there again. This time he has a tag
team dork working with him. Both of them immediately want me to buy
a cleaning kit. I said "No but I will take a NES that works." So basically
the same thing happened as the day before, and I went home. I hook it up,
and nothing. This one doesn't work either. I get angry....
I got back an hour later, and I get in dork's face, and I demand he give me
a NES that works. He tried to crack more dork jokes, and I say "Shut up
your freakin' jokes, and get me a new NES." So he pulls out another box,
and puts in a bag. I say "Uhhh no, you hook it up and SHOW me it works."
So it takes him 25 minutes at least to hook up the NES to one of the TV's
they have and finally it works.
I eventually bought more games and replenished my NES and Super NES
libraries, however I have many more stories of horror about that place.
The worst thing is that the morons don't even clean the games. The Double
Dragon II game I got from them was literally covered in caked mud.
There's no telling when that mud was put on the cartridge, it had to
be 5 or 6 years old.
Sent in by Hadoken
It seems that this store never has what I want! They're either sold out
or charge too much. I mean, how the beep does Mega Man 5 for NES cost
25 bucks?? When I had the money, they didn't have the game. But then,
as soon as I run out of money, boom--they have it. Another thing that
really beeps me off is their ludicrous credit payouts. They charged
45 bucks for Super Game Boy and paid $12 credit for it! I mean, I can
live with about 50 percent value, but 12 dollars? Come on! And why
do they have to change their beeping prices for old games every
beeping month?? It really makes me mad. In short, defuncto land is
about the worst store I've ever been to. They always seem to charge
ten times more than anyone else does.
Sent in by Poobah1132@aol.com
Ever since Donkey Kong 64 came out, I have been dying to get it. About a
month ago, I could wait no longer. I went to the nearest Funcoland,
thinking that I was just a few minutes away from having 1999's best
N64 game...or so I thought. Some kid and his dad had entered the store
just after I did. Since I had some games to sell, I walked over to the
selling rates chart. The kid (who had his Game Boy with him) asked to
try out Super Mario Land. He played it for some time. After this, he
asked to try out Donkey Kong Land 3 (or whichever DK game was made
for Game Boy.) He plays it for some time. He finishes and asks to see
Link's Awakening. Meanwhile this whole time I am waiting to sell my
games and buy DK64. After playing Awakening for about 5 minutes, the
kid asks to try out Wario Land 2. By this time I am getting pretty
impatient. For about 30 minutes the kid kept trying out games while I
stood in line! Finally he buys a game. The employee (assistant manager to
be specific) rings up the sale and finally walks over to me. I told him
my request: To sell games and buy DK64. While he is checking the rates,
I decided to buy a Player's guide as well. Since I did not make enough
money selling the games to pay for DK64, I pull out a wad of cash but
hold onto it in case something is missing from the game. Sure enough,
something was missing: the Expansion Pak! I asked him about and he
said, "Duh...waz dat?" After this I had had enough with Mr. Intelligence
of a flea. I decide to just buy the player's guide. Just as he is ringing
up the sale, the kid comes back in and tests out 3 more games,
wasting another 5 minutes. After the kid leaves, the manager says
to me, "Y'know, them strategy guides can have wrong stuff in 'em." I
came very close to cursing my head off, but simply said, "I don't mind."
Just as I am leaving, the kid walks in for the third time and sees the
player's guide. He says, "Hey! I need a player's guide!" and tries to grab
it from the bag, but I hold it up out of his reach. Then, his dad comes in
and sees what I am doing. The brat tells him that I was real mean because
I wouldn't give him my strategy guide. He says, "My son needs a player's
guide! Give it to him!!" I said, "No, it's mine. I bought it for myself." He
says, "Well, my son needs a player's guide and doesn't have enough money
for one." I could stand it no longer. I sprinted for the door, yelling as I ran
out, "I don't give a beep!" Moral of the story: Don't go to Funcoland if you
want fast, efficient service!
Sent in by Janitor Smapti
I had recently bought Dragon Warrior 3 for a whopping $30.00 (it is in
limited supply and is VERY awesome). I had only gotten so far in the
game, until the next time I sat down to play, these weird greenish
waves would appear on my screen, and that alone doesn't make it
IMPOSSIBLE to play, but it would be doing that thing were it the frames
become like a movie reel, rolling off screen and coming back. So I
called the Nintendo Hotline - My help was "Chris", as if you ever even
cared, who told me my RF Switch was busted. So I went to Old
Faithful -Funcoland. I placed an order for an "Auto RF Switch", found
under the NES section. I was waiting, waiting, and finally got it. It was
by a company I had never even heard it of, it was a Super NES switch,
even though it could work on the NES, I am not about to put an product
from an unknown company on my vintage, priceless, hand-me-down NES.
Also, there were parts like switches missing from it! It was like A
Funcoland Associate had left a flaming bag of poo on my doorstep. So
I called, and took the associate's advice, and sent it back with a polite
note saying that I wanted a Nintendo of America manufactured RF
Switch, USED, because the person I talked to said they had that in stock.
So, problem solved, right? WRONG! I waited even longer now, since I had
to mail it, and got back another one, but it was still missing a switch?!
How dumb can these people be?! So I just forgot it, and just called
far-off places in the very large metro cities asking around, and a few
days afterwards I went to Wall-Mart with my dad. I hung out at the
Electronics section, when I saw it. For some reason, Nintendo of
America made NEW a RF switch for N64, but it was backwards
compatible with Super NES and ! N ! E ! S ! !!!!! My dad joked that I treated
like it was manna from heaven... but somebody up there must like me...
quite an odd "coincidence" that right after my arduous ordeal, Nintendo
decides to make this... it even is EXACTLY like my old one... in EVERY
aspect (except it isn't busted of course).
Sent in by Avatar
I will never go into or phone a Funcoland store again. I was trying to get
a Game Genie or Game Shark for Game Boy, and was told that there was
no such thing made for Game Boy ever, and never will be. I placed an
order from the website and guess what I got: the nonexistent Game
Genie and Game Shark.
Sent in by TheMasterX
This is about the worst game store out there, Funcoland. alright. Here
is the story. One day I went to a Funcoland a few towns from where I
live (I don't know what I was thinking) to get some Super NES games
because I got a X-band for Christmas and I wanted some games to use
it with. Well, when we got there there were three high schoolers
playing Nintendo 64 games. I did not think they would ignore me but
I was wrong, VERY wrong. I looked in their price list list and found
what I wanted. Well, I called for attention politely about 7 times and
got no answer. At the 8th time this 16-year old said to me "wait a
minute, I'm getting really far in this". Now, you know I was mad but I
patiently waited, for about 15 minutes and then I got aggravated. I
said "excuse me" about nine times when the clerk playing the games
literally slams the controller on the counter, breaking it while yelling
"beep, hold on a dang minute! Jeez" and goes back to his game. Now
I was really mad. I give him a icy stare and he FINALLY pauses the
game and angrily grunts at me "Now what do you want?". At least I
got some attention and asked him for the games I wanted and yelled
out "we don't have those games, go away." He didn't even look for them.
Then he dashes into the stock room and comes out with his manager.
Then the manager starts telling me to leave the store! I couldn't believe
it!! I stomped out of that Funcoland vowing never to come back.
Sent in by Jake
I have been to several Funcoland stores (for those of you in Michigan, the
Lincoln Park store, the Detroit store, the Southgate store, the Flint store,
and the Dearborn store.) All of them, except the Dearborn store, are
TERRIBLE! The employees are usually busy playing games, reading magazines,
or talking with friends, and not helping the customers. I walked into
the Lincoln Park store, and not only did I stand at the counter for a half
hour, but they told me that they didn't have what I wanted, but they did
have cleaning kits. I don't know why they bother trying to annoy people
with cleaning kits, because most people have one already. Considering that
I was 10, and about 4 feet tall, I couldn't see the NES games. I went back
about 4 years later(a lot taller than before) and asked for a copy of Final
Fantasy for NES. The guy told me they were out, but just as I started to
leave, something caught my eye on the shelf for the NES games.It was a
row with about 8 copies of Final Fantasy! I asked the guy behind the
counter: "If you don't have any copies, then why are there 8 of them on
the shelf?" He looked very disgusted that I still tried to get the game,
but rang it up anyway.
Then, at the Southgate store, I asked for NES Rolling Thunder, along with
some other cheap, common games. "were out of stock on that game" He
never even looked! I asked him, "are you sure" He said, "yes, It would be
right here," he pointed to where the game would be (or was, should I say)
"See, all we have here are those funny-looking black cartridges, R.B.I.
Baseball." Realizing that he just didn't want to look, I asked, "can I look
at those, then? I want one for a personal collection, and I want it in good
cosmetic condition" He handed me the stack of games, and sure enough,
not one, but 6 Rolling thunder cartridges were in there! I bought it, but
nothing else.
The Dearborn store, on the other hand, is how I wish all other Funcoland
stores were. First off, the employees are helping customers, or stocking
shelves, not playing games and ignoring the customers. Also, my cousin
works there, but that doesn't bias my opinion, it just adds to it. That
comes in handy, because I am trusted by him and the other employees
(The manager has offered me a job several times, because of my knowledge
of games and systems, but I wasn't old enough) I am also (under supervision
by the manager) allowed to browse behind the counter for what I am looking
for. They treat the public greatly, and I will always be glad to do business
with them.
Sent in by Fes13
Funcoland has once again hired another idiot worker, (along with bad
experiences afterward):
I had just one of those Donkey Kong 64 Sets that come with the green
Nintendo 64, so I needed to do some more shopping before I went home
(making only one trip). I needed an Nintendo 64 RF/Switch because my TV only
had a cable port. So I went to Funcoland. (Why? I dunno) I came in, looking
for a Nintendo 64 RF/Switch, and I asked how much they would be. This
kid with half-bleached hair tells me, "about $14.00". I ask, "Is that for a
used one?" and he replies, "We don't sell used ones here."
So I thank him and I continue to look around before I buy (one thing that
I saw interesting were a couple one NON-NINTENDO Game Boy games... made
by some church order or something) anyway...
By now, three minutes have passed. I go over to the same guy -- mind you
the store was much less than busy -- and I tell him that I'll take the Nintendo
RF/Switch. He goes and comes back with a box that is a third-party brand
RF/Switch. He says that it's "$10.00." "Cool," I think, "Cheaper than he
said." So I pay and I leave.
By the time I get to the car, I realize that the Switch is for the old Super
NES, not compatible with the Nintendo 64. I was beeped a little. -- For
some reason, I had thought that the guy would be able to remember a
small conversation about a NINTENDO 64 RF/SWITCH after ONLY 3
MINUTES had passed. -- So I return to the store.
I walk in and says to the guy that, "This is not what I wanted. I wanted
the Nintendo 64 RF/Switch." "Oh," he says.... So he takes the box back and
gives me my money back, and he leaves and come back with the proper item,
and NOW he tells me that it's going to cost $20.00!!! I am not sure about
much, but I do believe that there is a difference between $15.00 and
$20.00... Especially when they don't sell any used Nintendo 64 RF/Switches, nor
third party Nintendo 64 Rf/Switches..... Reluctantly I bought the RF/Switch.
To make matters worse: I come home, and to my dismay, discover that I
can use the video/audio hook-up (that comes "free" with the Nintendo 64)
with my VCR that I got for Christmas. Now I need to take the Nintendo 64
RF/Switch back, but since I had already taken off the box's plastic
wrap, Funcoland will only give me store credit. Now I need to spend $20.00
at this place that is beeping me off.
What could I buy that would be close to that amount... Well, I have the new
Donkey Kong 64, so I decide to buy an expansion pak. So I pay a little more
than that RF/Switch for an expansion pak. Unfortunately, they only sold
THIRD-PARTY Brand expansion paks there... yet, wary about buying a
third-party expansion pak, I bought it.
So finally, I get home... again... and break out my new Green Nintendo
64 and Donkey Kong 64... I fill out the Registration card before the mail
goes by. I then hook it all up (with my VCR) and plug in the new expansion
pak. I turn on the system, and I start to play. Suddenly, The game starts
acting up. I called the Nintendo 800 Number and tell them the situation.
First off they asked me if I was using any Third Party peripherals. I said
that I had a third-party Expansion pak. The guy on the phone quickly said
that all warranty on the new Nintendo 64 was now VOIDED because of
that, and he hung up.
I was now REALLY BEEPED!! To make matters worse, I had to return the
expansion pak, for a now bigger amount of Funco Credit to be spent at
Funcoland. And then... oooo, you won't believe what happened next.
My brother comes in and snoops around as usual and pokes through the
Nintendo 64 wrappings. He picks up a little black box (about the size of a
small brownie) with a red top. "what's this?" he asked. I looked at it and saw
an expansion pak. A Nintendo Brand expansion pak that apparently was tucked
in the bowels of the Styrofoam and plastic wrap, that came with the
Nintendo 64/Donkey Kong 64 set. I was ready to kill some one when the
phone rang. My mother answered the phone, seconds later she called to
me saying that I was supposed be at an appointment with my eye-doctor
earlier that morning.
I swear I heard laughing in the distance.
Sent in by Jr. Pikachu
Earlier today, Thursday April 20, 2000 my sister was ignored by a Funcoland
manager (Mark). My sister waited 40 minutes in line but 3 ladies cut her.
My sister asked if she could buy the game and the manager just said she
was wandering around and he IGNORED HER!!! We yelled at him big time and
he just said "Whatever". Now what kind of 40+ year old man says "Whatever"?
He was the MANAGER of the store!
Sent in by Psyduck
My worst experience was with the one in San Jose, California near
Eastridge. We drove there from home (30 miles) and the store was
closed! The problem? The sign said 6:00 PM. It was 5:50.
Sent in by Matt Perry
I can tell you my worst Nintendo 64 experience in one word. Funcoland.
My brother and I wanted to sell off some Playstation games for an Nintendo
64 game we had wanted for awhile. The clerks, who were eating McDonald's
and Burger King hamburgers dripping with grease took the games, opened
them up to inspect them, handled them without ever cleaning the grease
from their hands, and declined buying our games, because they were dirty.
We tried to explain the they were dirty because of the fact that they had
handled them with greasy hands, but they would have none of it. We went
over to a nearby mall, went to Software Etc., and they took the games,
with clean hands. We will never go to Funcoland now.
Sent in by Chris
I went to Funcoland to sell some old game boy games hoping to get some
good money. When I look at the price guides that they sell them for, the
games are around $25 each, so I figured I'll get $15 - $20 for each of
them. When I go to give them to the clerk, he says he'll pay $8, I asked him
if that was for one game but he said for all of them together, and I had
4 games!!
Sent in by ChazBsweet@aol.com
The nearest Funcoland to me, about twenty minutes away, was actually
a very nice place. The people were courteous, EVERYTHING was either on
the shelves or in the bin, (none of that "If it's not on the shelf we don't
have it, but I'll check anyway" *5 minutes later* "oh it was in the back"
stuff) they had several rare and imported games, and it was a generally
good experience. Well, the Christmas where the Nintendo 64 came out, my
older brother reserved me one there. Unfortunately, I was seemingly
somewhere around number 10,000, so it wouldn't be in for a while.
But that's OK, cause I'm a patient guy.
Well, it's now the end of January. No call. Me and Bob (my bro) head over
there to check it out, and we meet Jack (his and others' names changed
to protect the innocent.) He punches a few things into the computer, and
yes we still are on the waiting list, slowly but surely moving up every
time they get a shipment. So, I use some of my Christmas money to buy
a couple games for the Super Nintendo, and we go home.
Come the middle of February, still nothing. We pop over, Jack's there
(his shift was right after school, which was when we went) yes we're
still on the list, yes they'll call. He even shows me. I go home, growing
a bit impatient.
Well, now it's March 5th, my birthday. We head over there, and who is
there? Not Jack, but this other guy we'll call Bill. "Hey, where's Jack at?"
He looks at me kind of funny, then starts talking in this nasty, very
annoying voice. "Who?" "Jack, the guy that was always working here." "Oh,
he was probably with the old group, we were brought in a few weeks ago."
I say "Oh well," and turn to go, when I get a glance of the BOTTOM
SHELF behind the counter there are about 20 Nintendo 64's.
"Hey, what the heck? Why didn't you call us to say you got the Nintendo 64's?"
"What do you mean?" "We've been on the waiting list for three months
waiting for that thing to come out, we finally get here, and it's just
sitting on the shelves?" "We don't have a waiting list, I told you those
were the old guys. If you want one, they're $250 (or whatever they were
at the time, I don't remember.)" Well, about a half-hour later we finally
get them to accept the fact that my brother had pre-paid something like
125 bucks, and we walked out.
Sent in by Josh Rutherford
After living through fourteen years of play and two NES systems, my
beloved Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt cartridge finally bit the dust.
Duck Hunt worked fine but Super Mario Bros. just refused to play. I
had heard that a Funcoland retail outlet had opened in my area, so I
went up to the store with a friend of mine to get a new Super Mario
Bros. cart, among some other things that I wanted. The reception of the
staff was anything but friendly. One of the employees was busy playing
a Playstation game, in between stints of running off innocent children just
looking around, and the other was lounging around behind the desk playing
with an Nintendo 64 copy of some action game. After standing patiently at
the counter for about five minutes, I walked over and stood right in
front of the young man and politely requested that he help me. He
complied... until he heard what I wanted: a Super Mario Bros. cart (only
20 cents at the time) and some other assorted inexpensive Super
NES memorabilia. Then he went back to playing his game.
I was annoyed. So what if I wanted items that totaled $3.00 in total?
I cleared my throat loudly, and requested that he look for the items. He
shot back with something like, "Well, what do you want that old thing
for anyway?" I was getting irritated on top of annoyed now, said it
didn't matter why I wanted the game, and asked again that he look for it.
This must have obviously disrupted his game, because he walked over to
the shelf behind the counter, pulled out a copy of Super Mario Bros. and
nearly threw it down on the counter, then headed back to the Nintendo
64. Ignoring my friend's urging that we leave and my own better judgment,
I walked back over to the console, told him I was very dissatisfied with
his performance, and asked whether they treated all their customers this
way. He glanced at me briefly and - mind you, while all this was going
on, the other employee was watching, refusing to do a thing - you guessed
it, went right back to playing. I asked whether they even had a copy of
the other item I was looking for. The young man mumbled "Yeah, we got
it." I asked if I might see it. He kept playing. I asked again, louder,
and he threw down the controller and pulled the game from the shelf.
I inspected it, thanked him, paid for the two games and we left. I got
what I came for - but it took an hour and a half. I've never gone back
there, and any further business I do with the company (if at all) will
be only by mail-order.
Sent in by Geoff Smith
About a few years back I was looking for employment in an environment
I thought I might enjoy, something that related to one of my hobbies
and Funcoland immediately came to mind( I was a bit naive back then).
I went on down to the Local Funcoland in my area to pick up an application
and the manager, who I know now to be a total brat, was very encouraging
about bringing it back ASAP. The same time I was there I noticed someone
familiar behind the counter, talking to one of the employees, but I
shrugged it off and figured he just had one of "those faces".
I fill it out, attach photocopies of letters and codes I've had printed in
various magazines (It took me a whole day to dig those mags out of
storage, btw) as well as subscription invoices to around 8 different
gaming magazines as proof I keep up with the goings-on in the industry,
and a list of my systems, games and gaming achievements. (And of
course my past experience in retail:) )
The Manager is impressed, or so he says, and tells me that unless they
find someone else more qualified, which isn't likely for less than six
bucks an hour, it's a sure deal that I'll get a job there. He proceeds to
gives me a time to go for an interview and I figure the job is mine. (A
bit cockily, I might add) Because of this, I cancel any interviews I had
at other businesses as well as get back the applications I handed in to them.
I proceed to be a very happy person, and when the day of the interview
rolls around, I get ready to go to it and when I get there, I find the
manager just happened to take the rest of the day off!
Obviously he didn't think I was important enough being there for my
interview. I reschedule the appointment two more times and he's either
out or sick on each of the occasions, I start getting paranoid and thinking
he's doing it on purpose and try to get a hold of him for a week with no success.
I finally get a hold of him a week later and he tells me that they simply
decided to transfer over an employee from another one of the stores that
was over staffed and I feel like a total idiot for counting on getting
that particular job.
Well, as usual, I hit the store a week later looking for cheap and/or hard
to find games (Mostly 3DO, this was back when they still carried them.)
and as I enter the store and proceed to scan the shelves for new 3DO
boxes on display (Since the last time I was there.), near the entrance, I
notice the same familiar looking dude from the day I went there to pick
up the application! Only he's wearing a Funcoland shirt!
I go up to the counter and say:
"Hey, you're new here, huh?"
And he says:
"Yeah, just started working here, it's da bomb!"(And proceeds to spew
some more unintelligible rap slang) in an effort to foist a cleaning kit
upon me and I decline.
I proceed to ask him:
Where did you work before here?
He replies:
'Nowhere, this be my first job."
I say:
"Hey, you look kinda familiar...do I know you?" And I look down at his
name tag and I practically snap the front off of the laminated counter
as my knuckles turn white from clenching it so hard in anger..
I realized he was an old, shall we say, "enemies" from my High School
that was always giving me a rough time and I tossed around a few
comments after I told him what High School I went to and he said he
already recognized me, but he just didn't say anything.
I started to throw hints around about various incidents that happened
at the High School and threw a menacing glare at him as I moved closer
and he didn't take the bait, I was hoping he would try to start something,
but I was a lot bigger than him since I had grown from the last time I
had saw him and I assume he was intimidated. I started to make little
snide remarks and comments that could be taken the wrong way and/or
as insults and he still didn't take the bait, I could tell he was getting
mad, but he didn't make a move, either because he didn't want to get
hurt or simply lose his job.
Well, I decided to leave it at that and walked out as an employee started
to get drawn to me like a magnet and try to sell me a cleaning kit and
ignored him on when he was talking to me and never went back for a
long time, I surmise that the employee had trashed talked about me
to the manager before and had used that to get the job himself or
simply one of the other employees was good enough friends with him
that he was able to get him a position there, I never let go of that incident
in my mind, but I find some happiness in it because of several reasons:
ya see- the dude who shall remain nameless and the manager are still
working there, at a company I now despise, for minimum wage I might
add, the manager has to work a full time job (And be a so-called
"keyholder", which means nothing.) where he has to deal with annoying
people all day for only eight bucks an hour, and live with himself
each day after deceiving unknowing parents into buying cleaning kits,
one of the worst and biased magazines in print today and hand out
free samples of bad customer service to all.
While he's wasting his life in "retail management" or whatever he
does, I've moved onto working in the *REAL* gaming industry, (not a
game shop hawking the newest releases used at 90% of the new price)
at Panasonic Interactive Media/Ripcord Games and gain skills and work
ethics he will never acquire there (Not to mention the fact that I'm
making more than him/them :)
I actually find solace looking back on this, and I actually would consider
it a "good gaming experience" because if I had gotten the job, I would
be working for a corporation loathed by many and get nowhere in life.
And the whole reason I so vividly recall this is because I stopped by a
month ago and the same two individuals were still working there.
Sent in by William Colleton
A few phone calls in my area to Funcoland landed me a Tengen Tetris! I
asked the clerk to put it away for me until I could get to the store to
pick it up. The person that took my call was very helpful.
The next day upon arriving at the store I told the clerk that they were
holding a game for me Tengen Tetris, he (the clerk now becoming a
jerk) looked at the cart and placed it back in the shelf and handed
me the regular release version!!
I could feel my blood boiling I told him that I didn't want the regular
NES release but the one he put back in the shelf he tried every which
way to make me not take the Tengen version trying to point out every
flaw on the cartridge I told him "Well you have a 90 day return policy
so I don't see what the problem is." He reluctantly handed me the
Tengen Tetris which I might add works flawlessly.
Sent in by Michael
I can sum up my worst Nintendo experience in one word: Funcoland. I
have had more problems with that company and its games in the last
six months than I've had with my games in the last two years! I like
to order from their mail order service because you can't find any
decent games at their stores and their workers are UNFRIENDLY. I
ordered Ms. Pac-Man (the Tengen version) for the NES (29 bucks!) but
they gave me the wrong version. I sent it back and the problem was
corrected. Then they take the excess money from my mail order
credit and give me a subscription to their magazine (which cost me
ten bucks and I never asked for it!) So I called them and had the
problem corrected. (By the way, every time I called them, the phone
bill increased by about four bucks.) Then I ordered Star Trek (NES),
Wario's Woods (NES) and both versions of Pokemon for Game Boy-used.
They send me both versions of Pokemon-new (OK, I didn't mind that),
Wario's Woods (which I had to clean FIVE TIMES to get it to work and
to this day it's still a pain) and Star Trek for Game Boy. So I sent the
Star Trek back and used five hundred Q-tips to get Wario to work.
Then I go to their store and buy the three NES Ninja Turtle games for
my little brother. I'm still cleaning the RUST and ACTUAL DIRT off
those games. One more thing, my little brother asked a worker at
Funcoland if he could play Zelda for NES. The guy said they didn't
have any copies. Even though I saw TWELVE SHINY GOLD CARTRIDGES
on the shelf! I thought that was mean.
Sent in by Charles Grace
One time I went to Funcoland to get a game for the Super NES when they
said they didn't have it, but they'd look. I waited about five hours for them,
so I just left. I never did find that game.
"Sent in" by Jesse Smith
I ordered a game from Funcoland, Superman 64, for one of the winners of
one of the contests, and guess what game they send out to the winner?
Super Mario 64.
Another time I ordered Zelda 64 from them for myself in new condition,
with the Gold version. I find out they don't know how to take care of
the games. The box was torn up. The game hadn't even been out for a
month when I got it.
A tip, don't order new games from them if you want them in good condition.
Sent in by Devin Lee
My worst experiences are with my NES and Battletoads game from
Funcoland. Because it is a used game, it is nearly impossible to
get it to work. Whenever I want to play it, it takes nearly an hour
of banging my system to get it to work. When it does start working,
I can't play for long because it only takes half an hour to overheat
because of taking so long to work right. then I have to wait an hour or
two for the system to cool down before doing the whole process over
again. In order to play Battletoads for an hour, it takes 3 or 4 hours
of working and waiting.