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Best Buy to end all Gamers Club Unlocked subscriptions on March 1st, refund checks to be sent out

Koppai

Koppai

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,417

Best Buy GCU to be discontinued 3-1-2021

Ugh. I had a year left. Oh well, good while it lasted. —— We have an important announcement to share about your Gamers Club Unlocked* membership. Thank you for being a My Best Buy® member and part of the Gamers Club Unlocked program. We have made the decision to end the current Gamers Club...
www.cheapassgamer.com www.cheapassgamer.com

As per an email sent out this morning.

Best Buy will be ending the rest of the Gamers Club Unlocked subscriptions that some of y'all still have on March 1st. They will be issuing refund checks.

Ugh Best Buy is getting worse and worse lately and this is just icing on the cake. I have a coworker that still has it so that is definitely a bummer.

They have been making cuts everywhere, to labor, etc so I would not expect them to bring out a new program or add it to Total Tech subscriptions.

Not sure if people were to order everything now if they would still get the discount upon release.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,802
Have they ruined the store warranty add ons yet? It's the only reason I use best buy
 
Citizen Rizer

Citizen Rizer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
265
Unsurprising, to say the least. My subscription ran out a couple years ago. Ever since then I've barely bought anything from them. Congrats, Best Buy?
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,209
This was a sweet value add. Didn't use it too much since I got tired of discs mid generation.
 
Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,755
My subscription ran out last March.

I went from years of buying about4-5 games a month, to maybe one a month - and not always from them once I lapsed.

but also stopped buying damn near anything else there, either.

shame. Was a dope program.
 
PlayBee

PlayBee

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 8, 2017
5,542
I tend to buy games new and at release, and the lapse of my GCU subscription pushed me to all digital.
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,447
gozu said:
$1000? Damn! What a profitable racket extended warranties are!
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That sounds way off to me but I will say that their warranty is overly broad (generous) and arguably one of the few worth signing up for. I got my $1800 dollars back when my Marantz receiver started to overheat and turn off 4 years after purchase. It's a shame people abuse it to just get new items when they tire their old ones.
 
Teh_Lurv

Teh_Lurv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,099
Damn, mine was good until July. I'll miss GCU and the glory days where it would stack with their frequent B2G1 free 3DS sales.
 
Powerofthecloud

Powerofthecloud

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,429
BriGuy said:
TVs, probably. I spent $1000 extra dollars getting their extended 5-year warranty for my CX. I'd be really bummed if they went back on that because that peace of mind is why I don't overly baby the TV.
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They can't do that. A warranty and a game discount service are two different things.

Plus the warranties bring in big money. They aren't going away.
 
MrNelson

MrNelson

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,356
Damn, sucks for the people that still have it, but at least I'm not kicking myself for not buying a few more years when I still had the chance anymore.
PlayBee said:
I tend to buy games new and at release, and the lapse of my GCU subscription pushed me to all digital.
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FYI Walmart tends to have their games discounted by around $10 on release day.

Best Buy also still does the $10 rewards for pre-ordering for a decent number of releases.

And Target typically includes new releases in their B2G1 sales.

Physical is still going to be cheaper for you if you're buying at release.
 
gozu

gozu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,354
America
Kill3r7 said:
That sounds way off to me but I will say that their warranty is overly broad (generous) and arguably one of the few worth signing up for. I got my $1800 dollars back when my Marantz receiver started to overheat and turn off 4 years after purchase. It's a shame people abuse it to just get new items when they tire their old ones.
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Well, indeed if they will straight up refund you cash and not exchange for similar item or store credit, that IS preem. And it deserves to command a preem price.

My apologies to Best Buy.
 
Empyrean Cocytus

Empyrean Cocytus

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,724
Upstate NY
Well damn. I still had time left on mine.

Guess I should get some preorders in.

EDIT: Shit, can't preorder Breath of the Wild 2 yet, probably because it doesn't have an official title.

MrNelson said:
FYI Walmart tends to have their games discounted by around $10 on release day.
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Also worth noting that Amazon will usually price match Walmart a day or two after launch, if you'd rather go through them and not have to walk into a store.
 
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panama chief

panama chief

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,056
mine expires on 2/18/21
i better get some amiibo

Edit: perfect timing. the 3D World amiibo were there for preorder. THANKS OP!
 
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FTF

FTF

Member
Oct 28, 2017
28,433
New York
BriGuy said:
TVs, probably. I spent $1000 extra dollars getting their extended 5-year warranty for my CX. I'd be really bummed if they went back on that because that peace of mind is why I don't overly baby the TV.
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Wow that's an insane price. I got my CX at pc Richards and wasn't happy I had to spend $279 for the 5-year warranty :/ I also don't think they can change a warranty you already bought, so you're fine.
 
Pompadour

Pompadour

Member
Oct 25, 2017
472
Albuquerque, NM
Anyone know if pre-orders lock in the discount? I can pre-order Guilty Gear Strive now and it's 20% off in the cart although the game comes out in April.
 
Carthago Delenda Est

Carthago Delenda Est

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,119
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,447
gozu said:
Well, indeed if they will straight up refund you cash and not exchange for similar item or store credit, that IS preem. And it deserves to command a preem price.

My apologies to Best Buy.
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The price for the warranty is nowhere near that high. I think I paid like $80-100 for mine. For high end TVs I imagine is probably $200 for 2 years. Personally I would never consider anything over 10% of purchase price. They will try to exchange like for like or a similarly priced item. In my case they didn't have my receiver or one like it that I would accept. So the store manager gave me a GC.
 
Hippopuncher12

Hippopuncher12

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,290
Cincinnati
This is the reason I don't buy games in mass amounts and on day 1 anymore. The program was so so good, now I rarely even go to Best Buy anymore, and I used to buy a lot more than just games. Still salty they got rid of it.
 
SolidSnakeUS

SolidSnakeUS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,617
nsilvias said:
Have they ruined the store warranty add ons yet? It's the only reason I use best buy
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I still get the 2 year warranties for peripherals (expensive ones) and they will replace them without question. Hell, not only that, I was able to pay again for a brand new 2 year warranty for the replacement, so you can keep having it covered.

My Razer Viper Ultimate mouse decided to repeatably click on the one side button, took it back, got a replacement for free and spent $25 to get a new 2 years to cover it. Good stuff.
 
anexanhume

anexanhume

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,913
Maryland
I lapsed in November of 19, but pre-ordered a bunch of games before that. I still have Metroid Prime 4, bloodlines 2, outriders, and Elden ring pre-ordered with the discount.
 
thepenguin55

thepenguin55

Member
Oct 28, 2017
11,816
I still opt to buy games through Best Buy as they have a solid rewards program but I buy significantly fewer games than I did which honestly is probably for the best for me. lol
 
ShapeGSX

ShapeGSX

Member
Nov 13, 2017
5,231
I stopped getting GCU years ago as I switched to digital.

Best Buy's My Best Buy points program is still fantastic. They send out coupons for 10% off and incentives to get $10 or even $50 My Best Buy certificates if you use the card outside of Best Buy. You get $10 for pre-ordering most games (even digital in some cases). You get 5% back for Best Buy purchases and various percentages back for other purchases (Restaurants and Gas station purchases get more). Let's just say that my Xbox Series X purchase was significantly discounted.

Just make sure you pay it off every month. :-)
 
crimnos

crimnos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
282
Seems like canceling this in the first place was a miscalculation, as they were doing pretty well at that point and are now struggling. Obviously there are other, more significant circumstances like the retail collapse that's been accelerated by COVID but it seems like quite a few folks stopped shopping there once the discount stopped. I know they had become my primary entertainment source for awhile there and now I can't even remember the last time I shopped with them. It's a real pity.
 
Ultima_5

Ultima_5

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,673
Skel1ingt0n said:
My subscription ran out last March.

I went from years of buying about4-5 games a month, to maybe one a month - and not always from them once I lapsed.

but also stopped buying damn near anything else there, either.

shame. Was a dope program.
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Same. I️ would buy most major releases. Once the discount went away I️ only get a couple new games a year now. Rest I️ wait for discounts on now
 
Diablos

Diablos

has a title.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,595
They canceled it a couple years ago. I'm not shocked they decided to not let people stack for much longer. I do miss it though.
 
DontHateTheBacon

DontHateTheBacon

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,402
This kind of makes sense. Especially considering they cancelled it years ago and let people still retain benefits for that long.

Death to a real one though. I bought a ton of games because I could get them for great prices through this. What a loss.
 
Curufinwe

Curufinwe

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,924
DE
My sub ran out in October 2019, and TLOU2 was the last game I was able to preorder with it for $48.
 
Naythan

Naythan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
618
ATL
My GCU expiration in 2019 basically pushed me away from ever going to Best Buy except on very rare occasions . At this point, after doing 95% of my game purchases digitally last year due to COVID, I don't see a reason to ever go back.
 
SchuckyDucky

SchuckyDucky

Avenger
Nov 5, 2017
3,938
PlayBee said:
I tend to buy games new and at release, and the lapse of my GCU subscription pushed me to all digital.
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I'm still do mostly physical for Switch games, but getting eShop money at 10% off at Costco and then the Gold Reward points does make it so the choice between physical and digital isn't as cut a dry as it was with GCU.
 
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