Yesterday online retailer ShopTo ran a banner promotion for new customers – if they sent in their GAME loyalty card they could get £3 off their first order over £20.
After much debate over Twitter last night the company has decided to pull the promotion, which the official Twitter account for the site said was to “attempt to secure the customer database from the administrators to re-instate all customer reward points”.
Today, though, the company’s Igor Cipolletta said he had “withdrawn this promotion immediately as some customers have suggested the promotion was in bad taste, which was never our intention.”
“The administrators of GAME Group announced yesterday that they had suspended the GAME Rewards card. As a specialist games retailer we wanted to offer those GAME customers some value for their card,” he told Eurogamer.
Yesterday administrators were called in to take control of GAME, resulting in the sudden loss of 277 stores and 2,000 jobs.
Apparently, according to reports from GAME’s Facebook page, some customers are now left with up to hundred of pounds of credit on cards they (currently) can’t use, with one individual trading in a Vita for £220 credit.
bigmac175
It does seem a little naughty of them but i can still understand why they would. It helps the ex-GAME customers and gets ShopTo more customers, its a smart idea really
The Lone Steven
What Shopto did was pretty dickish as they were adding insult to injury. There is harmless promotion, such as Blockbuster letting everyone know that they have RE:ORC and Game don’t and then there is this. Also, Shopto, would you love to pay for £50million’s worth of Game credit? Didn’t think so.
Forrest_01
To be fair, i think that they were trying to do the gamers a favour as well as increase their customer base, which is fair enough as it is all business, but it was just a bit too soon.
They should have waited until the dust settled on exactly what is going to happen with Game & then offered it. That way (if Game closed entirely for example), people would have jumped on it as their cards would hold no other value & it wouldn’t have been so raw on those that lost jobs.
I totally get why they wanted to do it though.
3shirts
I think they just wanted to get in there before anyone else and do so in the wake of the publicity. They certainly achieved that.
mrfodder
And it’s said there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Mick939
Dickish? In what way exactly, they ran a promotion to collect customers from a fallen rival, i’m more annoyed its brand new customers only, i would of been sending mine!
Forrest_01
Really? Oh, arse – I was gonna send mine too! :D
David Carlson
I don’t see what the big deal is, you aren’t forced to trade in the card… it might be in bad taste, but the people with 0£ on their cards are happy.
Foxhound_Solid
Business unfortunately
ico
Sadly it’s just basic business. Day in day out businesses operate ruthless tactics to get ahead / one over on the competition. Can’t say I like it but the majority of businesses are run solely with the owners and shareholders pockets in mind. It’s economics and I know that doesn’t help the poor souls who are now out of a job but the people factor is separate to the business need.
I’ve always found shopto to be nigh on perfect with delivery and prices. Shame then that when you google them the first results in predictive search relate to scams.
Forrest_01
Yeah, there was a bit of bad press a couple of years back with regard to CC fraud & whatnot, so it’s a shame (& a little strange)that those links still appear at the top of the page when you search.
RudeAwakening
Traded in a vita? hmm wonder why.
Forrest_01
No cross game chat.
Mick939
Business is business, and as sad as it is to see people loose jobs pulling this promotion does not change the fact that its happened, if a company wants to make money from another companies fall well that’s pretty much how the world is. In fact i have noticed shopto really have tried grow because of this, and if it does then there will probably be more jobs to go round there in the future. Swings and roundabouts but sitting and mourning game is going to help no one.
It’s simply unrealistic to think the world works any other way.