Gamefly is something I have been interested in for some time. It sponsors some of my favorite podcasts on Revision3 and it seems to be run very similarly to Netflix, which I absolutely love and highly recommend. I decided to get an account just about 4 months ago now, during which time I've been nothing but disappointed..NAY.. fucking pissed off by how horrendous this service is. I'm going to compare it to its movie equivalent, Netflix, just for you to get an idea of how different they are.
Let me start by saying that they have a wide selection of games. You can add just about anything you can imagine to your queue, just like Netflix. The difference lies with availability. I have never had an issue with Netflix availability, but thus far with Gamefly, I have never been shipped a game that was higher than 6th on my queue because they were never available. It would be as though your local Blockbuster put a case of every game ever created out on display, but they didn't actually have any copies of any of them. Pretty useless, right? I e-mailed their support team once before about availability issues. This was their response.
"Thank you for your inquiry. As you have noted, the demand for the titles in your GameQ has been high. We use information from our members’ Game Q’s to identify the most popular titles and anticipate customer demand. Circumstances such as a rush of signups or a sudden demand shift can make titles suddenly unavailable. In most cases, the unavailability is temporary, as the games being returned by other members and additional game purchases make these titles available in a few days. We pay close attention to our inventory levels and will continue to work to minimize the number and duration of unavailable games."
Just about as automated as you can get. Basically a waste of time, but what did I expect? In response, I lowered my queue down to just three games, hearing that this is the way to get around their shitty availability system.
So, after dropping my Gamefly queue down, was I able to finally get what I wanted? Well, no. The next time I e-mailed Gamefly was today and it was about the lack of availability of a single game on my queue. That's right; they have nothing to ship me. I asked them if I am expected to continue paying when I am sitting without any games available to me that I want to play. This was the response.
"Our apologies. We have reviewed your account and noted we are unable to ship you another game immediately since you have only three released items in your GameQ that are currently high in demand. We ship games to our members based on the length of time that you have been waiting for a game (once a return is received in our facility) and the time the desired available game was placed in your GameQ.
GameFly strives to send you your highest ranked game, however, if it is not available at the time of shipment, we will ship you the next available game on your GameQ to minimize the time you are without one. Therefore, we recommend you place more released games in your GameQ so you do not miss out on receiving titles.
We pay close attention to our inventory levels and re-order key titles regularly to minimize the number and duration of unavailable games.
We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know."
No mention of any refund and nothing done to resolve the issue. They're just basically ignoring what I'm asking of them and continuing to send these automated, bullshit messages.
Next issue is turn around time. Netflix has over 40 shipping centers, which means if I send back a movie today, I'll have another one sitting in my mailbox the day after tomorrow. Gamefly has 4, which means I'll have to wait 5 days after shipping a game back, assuming they have one to send to me.
Surely, I wasn't expecting Netflix-like customer service. This is an e-mail I recieved from Netflix, just 2 days ago.
"Last night, you may have had trouble instantly watching movies or TV episodes via your Xbox due to technical issues.
We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. If you were unable to instantly watch a movie or TV episode last night via your Xbox, click on this account specific link in the next 7 days to apply your 3% credit on your next billing statement for the price of your 1 DVD out at-a-time (Unlimited) plan. Credit can only be applied once.
Again, we apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-866-923-0898."
I never even fucking noticed. I was not aware of an issue at all, but they were so on top of that shit, that they offered 3% of my money back anyway. I didn't e-mail them or do anything at all.
All in all, avoid Gamefly. I regret to say that getting a game that is at all popular or fairly new is highly unlikely. The only thing I can recommend is to sign up for a 2 week free trial, play a couple of games, and cancel that shit.
If you couldn't tell though, Netflix is the shit. Recently getting a PS3, their selection of Blu-ray titles if amazing. And get this! They are actually available! It would cost me about 2 and a half months of Netflix to buy a single Blu-ray disc. And if you're not in the mood, just put your account on hold. Something you can't do on Gamefly. Totally sick bro!
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