As many of you may know, three days ago Target announced that you would get triple trade-in value for video games in their system for the week of 5/18 to 5/24. It's a great deal, but there's been horrible execution by Target and many flaws in their system. Most gamers trying to take advantage of this awesome deal have been unable to do so because Target's systems have been down, pretty much constantly.
I can only share my experiences and what I've read on the NeoGAF thread, but it's a nationwide problem with this system and is flawed in many areas.
The main problem is that every time you attempt to trade in a game, Target's system is down. This means that the Target employee won't be able to scan a gift card to put your value on. Even if you plan to use the whole value right away, they still need to put the credit on a gift card. Many people have been calling their local Target to see if their systems were up to be told that they were, then they drive 10 minutes there and they're down again. It's incredibly frustrating, and it's obvious Target doesn't have the infrastructure in place to handle this kind of promotion.
Another problem is with inconsistency among employees concerning the details of this offer. The fine print says you can trade in up to three games, but in other cases, people have traded in 14. I was told that the value has to be used immediately on video games — that I wouldn't be able to save it for games at a later time or even something else in the store the same day. Had to be used same day on video games, no ifs, ands, or buts. And yet, other people report that they were able to use their $300+ credit on groceries or save it for a later date.
And let's talk about the Target Mobile, too. In order to take advantage of this trade-in program, you have to go to a Target that has a Target Mobile section — that's where they handle the trades. The problem here is that it's only open 12pm to 8pm and when the employee leaves to go to the bathroom or get lunch, there's no one else there. So not only is the system down 98 percent of the time, but the percent it's up, there might be no employee there.
During Target's system downtimes, it appears … no … it's a certainty that some title have had their trade-in values lowered, according to that GAF thread I linked. Values will adjust depending on the titles being traded in. What blows my mind is that anyone has been able to trade in enough games to affect the prices being offered. And this drop in value really isn't fair to us, the customers that have been trying to trade in games since May 18 and have been unable to do so because of problems that Target has been having.
TL;DR Fix yo sh*t Target.
/endrant
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at [email protected]
