Dear Gamestop,
I am currently a very agitated costumer. Today I took a trip to my local Gamestop in Bangor, Maine to try and find some used video games I’d been looking for. Not finding what I wanted, I decided to purchase a used copy of God of War, a game which I was aware was Rated M for Mature, meaning I had to be above the age of 17 to purchase. Prepared for the obligatory card check, I supplied my I.D. which states my age of being over the age of 17. The cashier satisfied went on to say, “I need to see your friends I.d.’s as well.”
“Excuse me?”
Flabbergasted I requested why he’d need this information. He replied “because you could be buying that game for one of your friends who’s a minor.” Shocked, I stood firm and said “I guarantee you this game is for me.” Still not happy, I asked my friends if they wouldn’t mind their privacy being invaded so I could buy a game.
One of my friends, is like me above the age of being a minor. My other friend is two months shy. As a result, the clerk refused to sell me the game.
At this point I was extremely angry. I understand it’s not the clerk’s fault, he was doing his job and he told me could be fired. My friend who was a minor even offered to leave the store but still the clerk refused. Can you seriously not sell me a game because one of my friends happened to be a minor? I’ve never heard of this policy, nor had it happen to me before.
My age considers me an adult, being above the age of 18 I can go and buy pornographic materials as well as cigarettes (not that I have) and have not been subjected to the assumptions that I am buying them for minors. I am an ADULT, I should be able to buy a rated M game and without my friends privacy being invaded!
Isn't this the infringement of a buyer's rights? And nowhere on your website can I find the policy listed!
Furthermore, my other friend who’s not a minor, had not ten minutes earlier bought a rated M game without any inquiry as to his friend’s I.D.’s. He walked out of the store, game in hand and I walked out with nothing! So now the policy is selective, because he didn’t seem to be with me and my other friend, he is free from being asked this question and denied his right as a consumer to purchase the game he wanted?
I’d really like some answers as to why this took place and how you have the right to enforce such an absurd policy. I can understand if I were underage, I respect the ESRB system and agree with it limiting minors from purchasing games full of gore/pornographic material, etc. But to assume I am buying a game for a minor is downright absurd, degrading, and insulting. It also is an invasion of my friends privacy who weren’t buying the game!
Sincerely,
Kimberly G.