4 ms·

A very common tactic during the period when video cards were improving rapidly was to buy a card, use it for six months, and then return it and buy the newer on

A very common tactic during the period when video cards were improving rapidly was to buy a card, use it for six months, and then return it and buy the newer one. Rinse and repeat. For a while a lot of these electronics retailers had a zero question policy, but when they moved to asking "Why?", people would proudly talk about ruining the card with 120v to justify the return. There are ways that people can rationalize these gaming of the system behaviors, but it just seems to be a descent to crapitude, where every retailer treats every return as a crime, because often it really is.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
> There are ways that people can rationalize these gaming of the system behaviors, but it just seems to be a descent to crapitude, where every retailer treats every return as a crime, because often it really is. I do wonder where the line is, though. I didn't have a PS3 growing up, but I wanted to play Uncharted and a few other games when I was in High School. Game rentals were long gone by then, much less console rentals—but I realized that Gamestop had a 7-day return policy on used hardware. So one year, during spring break, I bought a used PS3 and copies of Uncharted 2 and 3. I didn't manage to finish the latter in time, but I still enjoyed myself. I am to this day convinced I did nothing wrong. The console was used both before and after purchase, and I took good care of the hardware and followed the written return policy. And in the process, I bought multiple non-returnable games from the store. But I was definitely taking advantage of the return policy, since I had no intention of holding on to the console.
- Cd00d 6y ago
  I think you're good. Gamestop was never on the high end of the integrity debate. "oh you have a game that was $60 12 months ago? Here's $2 and I'll put that on the shelf for $57"
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    But that doesn't seem like a great way to make decisions, right? "It's okay to screw over this store because I don't like Other Thing X that they're doing."

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

> There are ways that people can rationalize these gaming of the system behaviors, but it just seems to be a descent to crapitude, where every retailer treats every return as a crime, because often it really is. I do wonder where the line is, though. I didn't have a PS3 growing up, but I wanted to play Uncharted and a few other games when I was in High School. Game rentals were long gone by then, much less console rentals—but I realized that Gamestop had a 7-day return policy on used hardware. So one year, during spring break, I bought a used PS3 and copies of Uncharted 2 and 3. I didn't manage to finish the latter in time, but I still enjoyed myself. I am to this day convinced I did nothing wrong. The console was used both before and after purchase, and I took good care of the hardware and followed the written return policy. And in the process, I bought multiple non-returnable games from the store. But I was definitely taking advantage of the return policy, since I had no intention of holding on to the console.

Cd00d 6y ago
I think you're good. Gamestop was never on the high end of the integrity debate. "oh you have a game that was $60 12 months ago? Here's $2 and I'll put that on the shelf for $57"
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  But that doesn't seem like a great way to make decisions, right? "It's okay to screw over this store because I don't like Other Thing X that they're doing."