Xbox 360 For Drug Money?
by Chad Lakkis on July 8, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Do retailers look the other way more often than not? Scary but the answer may be yes.
My girlfriend (aka: the boss) finally convinced me to get out of the house and go get the hair cut I’ve been promising her I would get, the same one I have desperately been putting off. She tagged along of course to enjoy the many wonders of our local mall.
After the cut, a few slices of food court pizza, and a walk through Kay Jewelers I was able to convince her that a quick look inside one of world’s largest video game retail stores would be harmless.
We walk in and after a few minutes of investigating it was easy to see that this in fact was a video game store and I was happy to be inside of it. My girlfriend on the other hand, eh not so much. All that would change in a few minutes time though.
As we stood there at the counter I tried to convince the manager that the Playstation 3 would be dropping in price to $499.00 in just a few days. He claimed he had no knowledge of such a thing. Just as I whipped out my iPhone to bring up some visual proof, in walked a lady holding a brand new unopened Xbox 360. This is where the story gets interesting.
The other associate asks her if she needs any help as the manager, my girlfriend, and I watch. She responds “Yeah, I would like to sell this. I got it as a gift and I don’t play games.” At this point in time I look at my girlfriend who does not play video games and she immediately says what I am thinking, “bullshit”.
I was busy staring at the obvious needle injection scars on the womans arms when I heard the associate say something that shocked me even more. He told the woman that they could not accept unopened merchandise without a receipt (good so far) and then quietly suggests she walk back into the mall and return to the store with the item opened if she would like to sell it (holy shit batman).
The entire time the manager, my girlfriend and I were locked into a three way staring contest. A few seconds later she walks back in with an opened item and is told that the most she can receive for it would be $136.00. She says that would be fine. The transaction is completed and she leaves the store.
On the ride home I decided to call a few other video game stores and ask them how they would handle a similar situation. One associate jokingly said that they are not allowed to take unopened merchandise and usually suggest that the customer leaves the store and comes back the next day with it opened. He admitted though that most opt to return to the store within minutes instead.
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Tags: drug-money, trade-in |
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on July 8, 2007 6:56 pm
Man I worked in gamestop for 2 years and that kind of stuff happens all the time so I believe it. People would walk in with systems that we flat out KNEW were stolen and we would look the other way.
Bottom line is if they can get a console for hundred bucks and turn around and sell it for more than double they are going to do it.
on July 8, 2007 7:39 pm
If a shop owner feels there is something criminal about a costumer he or she should call for security.
on July 8, 2007 7:39 pm
Proof everyday that the world we live in has much room for improvement. Thanks for the read.
on July 8, 2007 8:06 pm
What is the harm in selling a console or two for a shot of the good stuff.
on July 8, 2007 8:46 pm
Wow….what a waste of time writing that story. You were right about one thing. You dont get out of the house much. You have been living an extremely sheltered life if that was a new realization for you. I’ve managed a pawn shop for 3 1/2 years so you can imagine the people and stories and ive seen and heard. Dude get a clue and just laugh at the fact that she only got $136.
on July 8, 2007 9:03 pm
Adamas,
First of all, thanks for the comment.
Secondly, there is a difference between living a sheltered life and exposing yourself to the type of people I can only imagine must have frequented your pawn shop on a daily basis.
That said, I am currently on a ration of ten minutes of sunlight a day and the glow from my monitor counts towards it so I gotta run.
Mad-
on July 8, 2007 9:11 pm
@Adamas
There is a big difference between your crappy ass pawn shop full of baby mamas, white trash, and crack addicts and a nation wide retailer like a Bestbuy, EB, or Gamestop.
It sounds like you need to get out more since you obviously think the the fate of the world depends on your “i used to manage a pawn shop” stories.
on July 8, 2007 9:16 pm
@Adamas
Wow are you sure you don’t own a pwned shop?
on July 8, 2007 9:30 pm
“It sounds like you need to get out more since you obviously think the the fate of the world depends on your “i used to manage a pawn shop” stories.”
In the words of the caveman from the geico commercials…”Yea I have a response….Uh…WHAT?
That made absolutely no sense. What did you do with your $136?
Just to imform you Corporate greed, the pawn shop I worked at happened to be the largest chain in the southeast and owned by the second richest man in SC. As far as a business is concerned, it’s very successful.
And to Mad gamer, I wasnt trying to come off assholish. Oh and you need more sunlight than that dude….sheesh.
on July 8, 2007 10:02 pm
Adamas,
No harm done. I will consider upping my exposure to twenty or so.
Mad-
on July 9, 2007 1:11 am
I’ve been to Gamestop before and saw “crackheads” sell perfectly fine, unopened, opened games to them for money. That stuff happens everyday. Shoot, I used to work for Home Depot and they used to have a return policy where it DIDN’T matter if you had a receipt or not. All types of people used to come out of the
woodworks for that one. HAHAHAHA.
on July 9, 2007 10:06 am
Great story. I gave my thoughts on it and a link to your full story on our site.
http://news.filefront.com/trading-in-your-xbox-360-for-drug-money/
on July 9, 2007 11:51 am
William,
Glad you enjoyed the article. The more individuals that are made aware of this issue the better. Thanks for the link.
Mad
on July 9, 2007 1:19 pm
I can totally relate to this experience. I used to have a really bad drug problem and it got so bad that one day I decided to trade in my “Launch” 360. I got my money and went and bought drugs with it. It’s been quite awhile since it happened but I think I got about $230 for the system. I would do the same thing with my DVD’s, games, CD’s, etc. It sucked and when an addiction is that out of control you just can’t stop yourself.
At the same time, I’m a full-time college student and I work full-time. I didn’t look like a drug addict at all. I was addicted to Opiates by the way… pills mostly. There are more people out there doing drugs than ANY of you realize. They don’t all look “strung out” or near dead, they look like normal people.
I’ve been clean since March of 2006 and I feel better than I ever have. I’m almost done with school and I look back at “WHAT I WAS” as a HUGE lesson learned. I’m still an addict and always will be. I’m in an 18 month long rehab program that costs me about $500 a month. Point is, I GUARANTEE all of you, that most of the people that go trade their things somewhere and receive CASH back, are going to be spending it on illegal substances. It doesn’t matter what they look like or what color they are, it’s just how the world is. I don’t think stores should be giving cash for traded in items anymore… it only promotes what is already a HUGE ASS PROBLEM. Thanks for listening and DON’T DO DRUGS KIDS!!!!
on July 9, 2007 1:21 pm
it happens all the time in NL,i put adds on marktplaat for xboxes and stuff for 50 euros, some junk delivers an unopened box(or some pissed of parent worried about school) and i sell it in a shop foor 15 euros
on July 10, 2007 9:11 am
“Could you please fill out this questionnaire? Corporate policy requires us to ask what you plan to purchase with the money from this sale.”
“I’m sorry miss, we can’t accept your open-box PS3 without a urine sample.”
Aren’t people entitled to privacy? How sure can you possibly be that an item was stolen?
If the person has an obvious drug addiction problem, that is a completely separate issue. As a previous poster said, he was a drug addict and appeared normal by all other standards. Trying to infer someone’s intentions by stereotyping is going to get the company into much worse trouble.
I hear that people use ATMs to withdraw cash to buy drugs. I say we test everyone that uses those as well.
Cash-back option at the grocery store? That $20 bill could be rolled up to snort some coke.
Paycheck from your minimum wage job? You don’t look like a responsible person to me, I’ll just hold on to that for you.
Sensationalistic headline, pointless article.
on August 28, 2007 4:18 pm
[...] check out the full article. I think it raises some interesting questions that will only become bigger as gaming becomes more [...]
on August 22, 2008 7:43 pm
I’m no drug addict, but I’m about to go pawn my Xbox360. An unfortunate little event has left my car’s windshield with a great big spiderweb crack in the middle of it, and I do not have the cash to replace it. There are plenty of reasons a person might need cash in an emergency that don’t involve illegal activity or substances.