EB Games, a Bunch of Thieves - UPDATED

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was going to go to EB Games, trade in some old games and DVDs, and pre-order The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (Xbox 360) which is coming out this Tuesday.

Thieves. EB Games is full of thieves and there's a reason I've gone on about how crappy their establishment is.

The American EB Games web site shows The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles retailing for $29.99 (US). With Canadian currency stronger than American currency now, a straight conversion would place it at $29.21 (Can), however no retailer is properly matching prices on anything and everything we Canadians buy we're now ripped off on. That being said, I'd expect it to retail for about $34.99 (Can).

The clerk at EB Games told me it was selling for $49.99 (Can), and then suggested I just buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition which retailed for around $20.00 more. So The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles is selling for $49.99, nearly $21.00 over it's actual worth. I can't blame this particular instance on the clerk, as he's simply informing me of the cost laid out by his head office, but of course I'm not going to buy it for that cost when I can purchase it via the Xbox Live Marketplace for significantly less.

What I did decide to try, however, was going to a second EB Games just to see if their cost was the same, and guess what, it wasn't! Instead, they were selling it for more!

The clerk at the second EB Games first denied any existence of the retail version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, and tried to get me to buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition. Finally he agreed to check and found The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles in his release binder, but again tried to convince me to buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition. Once I refused again and pressed a little more, he told me the retail price for The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles was $59.99, $10.00 more than the first store I visited, and he again told me to just buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition.

Thieves. I'm going to wait until this coming weekend, and then I'll check my local Best Buy. Odds are I'll find it at the most for $39.99 there, and even if I don't, I'll download it for 2400 Microsoft Points when I feel like it.

EB Games has really, really fallen from it's high place as an electronic entertainment retailer, and unless there's some exclusive deal where I need to visit them to get a product, I'm renewing my pledge to not provide them with any of my business. There's many other competitive establishments out there.


UPDATE: Bingo. HMV is selling The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for $34.99, which means I'll find it for the same price at Best Buy or Future Shop. Take that EB Games. $49.99 to $59.99 my ass.