Bought guild wars factions, there was no cd key inside

I bought guild wars factions yesterday and there was no cd key inside, i looked everywhere in the gamecase so i guess it was stolen. I emailed anet and they gave me a link to where it says the key should be located in. I told them im still unable to find it and i have sent them a copy of the reciept and gamecase. Is there any chance i will still be able to play factions?

Not without the key. Maybe things will get sorted out.

Yeah i meant do you think anet will help me out or will i just lose 40$?

Where did you buy it from? If it's a regular store like Amazon or one of the game stores, get in touch with them. If you bought it from Joe Shmoe at ebay or along those lines, then your SoL and out $40.

Just to make sure, the key code was on a little envelope like thing, where you had to tear off the sides to get the key. Look in the manual and stuff, between all the little pieces of paper in thee.

On it were also buddy keys (I think). I sort of remember that being the case because when I got mine, I was all like, hey, there's no key here. If I remember correctly, it's below the buddy keys.

I got it from gamestop, i called them and they told me that they cant replace it because it was there last copy, and i looked all over the manual and i couldnt find it

check inside the cd case

He already did.

If they can't replace it, then they need to give you your money back so you can get it somewhere else.

I got Factions from a Gamestop about a year ago, and the same thing happened to me. I went back to the store with the receipt, and then they *gave* me the key. Apparently they kept the keys separate from the boxes themselves and had forgotten to give me the key when I bought it. I thought it was weird, but this might be the same problem. You did keep a photocopy of the receipt, right?

Too many shops are clumsy like this, I got a copy of GW:EN from WHSmith's with a voucher. The spotty student shuffled around some cardboard boxes finally finding an open game box (when I say open I mean contents hanging out) and gave it me. I checked it and the game key wasn't there so I challenged him there and then and he told me that its "obvious" guild wars doesn't require a code! After some arguing his manager came across threatened to throw me out of the shop until I managed to convince him to look through the cardboard box, he duly apologised and gave it me. In all the confusion they forgot to take my voucher off me so I'd call that fair.

Why are they opening the games and taking the codes out anyway? They are not supposed to do that and you shouldn't be buying one that's been opened. Maybe this should be addressed with anet.

I would definitely not buy games from them at all.

Most game shops in my home town take all the contents out of the game boxes and only display the boxes on the shelf to deter any would be thieves. Its common practice.

I always check to see if the game activation card foil has been scratched off before I pay.

I could see them doing that with one for display......but to go in every box and take the key code out? No, that's just wrong. No one should be buying the game opened.

Many stores will display an empty box - but you have a right to a sealed box. Ask them to sell you a sealed box and not the one they used for display.

The box itself says it is not to be sold if the seal is broken. Technically, they're violating they law if they sell it unsealed - but I don't think that's a legal obligation that carries any penalty...

For an example of what I mean, look on the box to GW:EN or Factions (the two on my desk, so I am sure its there on them), a little white bordered box on the back at the bottom right just above the bar code. It says this:

Note the part I've bolded. I know in the book trade a book seller can get in trouble if they sell a book that has had the cover torn off. This relates to a contract often arraigned between publishers and distributers over how to handle overstock (if I remember it right). I think they're supposed to rip off the cover and send back the books for recycling.

For software, I suspect they could also get into trouble for selling opened boxes. This probably relates to efforts to monitor fraud and software piracy - in the 90s at least one if not two of the local shops here in San Francisco would open software and copy the disks, then sell you the copies rather than the originals (one were I know this from something I bought, one where I suspected it).

So, if they insist on selling you opened boxes, send in a note to Anet about it, and you might see a change, though it will take time for industry wheels to turn on the issue and the change you see might be your local store going out of business...

It's understandable to say that the games they sell should never be opened, but if there is only 1 game left and it's the display case one, which is empty, then it's also understandable that this type of situation occurs.

In London all the Game stores have empty boxes just for display. When you buy them they take a sealed box from behind the counter. I wouldnt buy unless sealed.

I think mine came in a little white square, sealed that i had to rip open. My husband at first thought his didn't come with one, it fell out when he opened the box and fluttered away under his desk.

I know that GAME, Game Station, Virgin Megastore, WHSmiths, Woolworths, and Playtime ALL sell the game in an unsealed state, using the empty boxes on stands method to stop theft.

As long as the foil over the code or sealed code booklet hasn't been compromised its ok. But if you suspect the contents have been tampered with ask to swap for another set of contents before buying.

well i emailed anet yesterday about it and havent gotten a reply still... ill wait until tommrow to see if i get a reply and if not i will have to email again

Don't bother with A-net. They have no way of confirming your story, and will most likely regard you as a crook.

Get your money back from GameStop.

Sounds like a crap story from someone who bought a used game to me.

KANE

With WoW TBC they completely messed up the cd keys. Like they put WoW cd keys in WoW TBC boxes. Thousands of people were affected. Maybe something similar happened here. After all mistakes can happen.

Buyer Beware... it's unfortunate yes, however this should not be the case when you purchase NEW products from a reputable company and have a receipt to prove that you were the ORIGINAL purchaser of a NEW game.

Tell you what to do while working with a company like GameStop...

Print this forum thread. Speak face to face with the manager at Gamestop and ask for a refund due to no CD Key being in the game. Bring your receipt of course.

If he does not care about the negative publicity of the "big picture" and reputation of the company he works for, take it higher. Talk to a district manager, and so forth. At this point, if they are unable to replace the product, simply ask for a refund, if that is not an option, ask for store credit. I am not familiar with their return policies however, one of these options should be viable. (store credit you can use when they do get another NEW copy of the game in)

Any manager of a large corporation/business outlet would be out of their mind not to do the right thing and take care of their customer, especially since now you that have brought the issue to a large gaming community which has the potential to hurt their reputation. (hense the forum thread print out). Don't waste your time with ANet, the issues lies with Gamespot.

Big Picture thinking... $40.00 is nothing ... I guarentee you will be successful with the management at gamespot, if they are not service oriented, feel free to let us all know so that we can dump our stock since they certainly don't have a positive future outlook as a company if they don't take care of their customers.

CNET Networks, Inc.
7.200.15/ 2.13%
(NASDAQ NM: CNET)

CNET Networks, Inc. is an interactive media company that builds brands for people and the things they are passionate about, such as gaming, music, entertainment, technology, business, food, and parenting. The Company's leading brands include CNET, GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com, CHOW, ZDNet and TechRepublic. Founded in 1992, CNET Networks has a strong presence in the US, Asia, and Europe.

Likewise, when they do take care of you, be sure to also inform us that you were "satisfied" with your customer service issue.

Now, if you knowingly purchased a USED game, well, your SOL. Most game stores don't sell used copies of games that require a unique CD KEY that also requires on-line play, it would surprise me if they do this. If this is the case, well you can chalk it up to having a "noob" moment because you should NEVER purchase a USED game such as GW that requires such a CD KEY.

I dunno but here in the netherlands, i almost always get opend boxes. I buy at e plaza(instore), i do have to say the salesguy shows me the all the booklets and cards that go with it. On the 1 hand its is handy, if you know what should be in there, you know for sure because they show you, if its still sealed it still could miss parts.

Could be a problem if you buy GW for the first time and you dont know about the activation card, so you dont know what to look for. Another weird thing is that GW is the only game that cant be returned in 24 hours,like whats normal for other games( in the Netherlands), the guys says its because of the online code.

I would say you try the store were you bought it and not anet

mzzls

Sorry i can't be any help here as i have no real advice for this situation...

But as for companies opening all the box's and taking out the contents... Sounds weird. Certainly a new one to me. The shops where i live have one or two empty display cases on the shelf, which you just take to the paypoint then recieve a fully sealed version from behind the counter.

The GAME near me always has the sealed boxes behind the counter. I will never trust another game shop for online games. Otherwise you'll get know-nothing idiots like the guy who worked in WHSmith and the over protective manager who knew even less.

I've purchased 2 copies of prophecies, 2 copies of factions, 1 copy of nightfall - all from GAME in Nottingham Victoria Centre and every single one was in an open state, infact when I bought a copy of factions and Prophecies together they put the content in the wrong box (factions in proph - visa versa). Oh and they even remove the cds and codes from the pre release cds! Honestly who's gonna bother stealing a £1.99 bonus disk.

Same thing here at 2 of my local game stores
They only have the empty boxes on display say 15 or whatever is shelf space reserved
you take the empty box to the service counter they then put all the bits and
pieces from a locked draw ( that also has a mix of other games)
into the Same box you just grabbed from the shelf and sell it that way.
Most of the other stores in the area have only a few empty boxes you take to the counter and they
swap it for an unopened box.
needless to say I never buy stuff from the first 2 stores.

I managed a Gamestop a few years back. It wasn't at all uncommon for Gamestop or any of the companies operating under Babbage's Etc. out of Grapevine, TX to have all their boxes on display and all the boxes gutted to prevent theft. Theft of contents in PC boxes goes way back and was a very real and costly issue. (yes some pointed out the boxes says some various ramblings....good luck getting that to stick)

The process involves all the boxes being gutted, the contents being rubberbanded and then all of them placed in the locked drawers in order. As the box was sold, the employee would get the guts and put them in the box. Sometimes in a rush, stuff might fall out or get caught by rubberbands of other guts and snagged. The managers of the stores know that.

First off, don't get all mad. Don't get in their faces about opened boxes. Be polite and realize...honey gets honey.

It may have been their last copy, but they can check the drawer to make sure its not just sitting in there loose or wedged in with the game behind or in front of it. You can also ask the manager to see to if one of the other local stores has the game and if they would get verbal approval with that manager to exchange the box (without the code) for one with the code at the other store...then make sure you have your receipt and ID handy. If nothing is working, get the District manager's number. If the manager won't give it, call the next closest store and simply ask for the district manager's number. If none of that works.....

Store Issues
If you have an issue with a store, please contact the GameStop.com Customer Service Center at 1-800-883-8895. At the menu press 1 to be directed to Store Issues. They will be able to assist you with any issue you may have regarding stores. Hours of operation: Open Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (CST); Saturday - Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (CST) .

Don't think they will just dismiss you. If you didn't get the code, someone else did...and if that was an employee that lifted it, it's employee theft and if there is one thing GS is good about....it's Internal Security. Employee theft is a sure fire way to get canned AND prosecuted.

Good advice, kjfett.

Please do contact the store, and I don't think that our Support Team will be able to help you. I wish you luck.

(I had no idea so many stores were opening boxes. That makes me very, very nervous, honestly. Why not put a dummy box on the shelf and replace it each time a customer buys a real sealed box that's stored in the secure back room? As Roo said, that's a far better system!)

This shops aren't as customer service orientated as yourselves. It costs them more in both time and money with the printing of shelf covers when they can just empty a box and put it out. Thus they won't bother.

Buy your game online through the Store if you can...
It prevents hassle and you won't get trouble with open Boxes.
Trust me, I've been there.
After having bought 3 separate games and all out of the box i didn't bother with GWEN. Just bought it's from the online-store.

I would think that it take more time to open all those boxes and empty the contents then it would just one box for display.

A good crew on the floor and it's not a problem. I have seen Decembers roll by, with double staff and huge crowds and the employees get it spot on every single time. It's the occasional blue moon when someone gets distracted and doesn't do a click glance for all improtant documents that it really becomes an issue.

As for the process as a whole, having one box on the shelf can lead other customers to thinking there is no product as a customer could wonder a store for an hour with the one empty box in hand. Dummy cases are sometimes used, but its a matter of the publisher supplying the number of dummy boxes needed to stock a store shelf. Say a company has 700 stores and needs 6 boxes on a shelf....that's 4,200 dummy boxes that have to be made, packaged and sent out. Given that some do that and some don't...I could only assume its not the store chosing to not use them, but rather a publisher opting out....not that I can blame them...that's a lot of boxes when you start considering it across all game stores.

I'm out of retail now, and Gamestop was the last store I managed. In all the time I was there as store manager, no one ever came back in claiming to not have their game code...trust me, I would have known about it if they had.

One box on display is the norm, but when a game is new, a bunch will be gutted and put on display to hype the game...as the game sales slow down, many of those will be regutted and put back in the drawer...until then, the odds of getting a gutted box are pretty high. If it's an issue, ask the employee to identify on the reciept that the box was opened and used on display so that you won't have problems should anything be missing. I am sure they will put a little more effort into making sure it's all there before saying that on a receipt.

I had a similar problem a few years back. I bought a copy of DAoC Gold Edition, but strangely, when I opened it up I was missing the CD-Key needed to play. I called the store immediately, and they asked that I bring the game back to swap it out for another copy.

Had the store not had anymore copies, I am sure they would have refunded my money and allowed me to buy it from another store. Heck, I bought it in a big mall in California...there were 2 EB Games stores in the mall alone. I'm sure they would not have minded if I walked over to the new store with my refund and bought the copy there.

No matter what, don't make the mistake I made years ago with Duke Nukem. I bought the game, but it was missing the disk (agh!). I returned it and swapped it for another copy, only to find it too was missing the disk! In the process of verifying the new box had everything, the clerk accidently placed the old box in the bag I had just returned. He called and left a message on my machine apologizing before I made it home...of course I had to make another trip.

This time around, open it up with the clerk in front of you to save added grief before you leave.

If legal is in the same building as whatever office they have you in, might be something to drop by over lunch and comment to someone about.

Is some contract or other between Anet / NCsoft and these stores being violated, and if so, can anything be done about it.


While I doubt the big chains are doing it to commit software piracy, I've seen that once before and the practice always raises hackles when I hear of it. At least the newest chapter of GW shipped the code in a very solid and opaque cardboard package. Older chapters might have been viewable through the paper under light (not sure on that)...

I think I must be missing something.

Why would you need to "gut" any thing when the content comes in a box and the box comes in it's own case? It takes all of three seconds to push the box out of the case and put them in separate piles.* So, why not put the cases on display and a customer can simply pick one up and give it to who ever is working in that area, the employee puts the box back in the case and rings it up? Both the box and the case, at least with GW Factions and Nightfall, are already marked with which they are. With Prophecies all you have to do is slide a single thing out and you can more than likely find "Guild Wars" written on it.


*Prophecies doesn't have the same case type as the other two, but it only takes about an extra 2 seconds to open and close the tab.

I have seen gutted boxes, and personally I never buy them. period. But try to be nice to the people that work there and they should fix the problem. In the future, don't buy opened games, specially not MMO's.

Gl

As I recall even were the box sealed, there was a problem way back then with a lot of Factions boxes having NO keys and a lot of Factions boxes having 2 keys.