I'm still not sold on online video/game rentals. There's nothing inconvenient about running down the video store unless you don't have one close to your home. The biggest discrepancy though is in selection. For a gamer, portables are out of reach. Unless you have a specialty store in your area, you're out of luck. That's where Gamefly.com comes in.
They're one of the only outlets to rent out Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and soon-to-be-released Sony PSP games. It's simple. Sign on, select a one or two game plan, pick your games, and they're in the mail in the order you have chosen. That's all well and good, assuming everything goes smoothly.
I decided to rent some DS games since I haven't played it in some time. The plan also benefits me because I'm planning on nabbing a PSP at launch and that falls within the month I have paid for. So, I put some DS games in my "Game Q," a fancy name for a want list. Everything I ordered was in stock, impressive to say the least. Since they're located in California and I'm in Ohio, the game took about 4 days to arrive. Not too bad, but not great either.
The first game on my list, "Asphalt Urban GT," arrived today. I get the mail, rip open the envelope, and prepare to play. Unfortunately, a XBox game is not going to run on the DS. Yes, they somehow managed to mix up a XBox copy of "Mercenaries" (a DVD basically) and a DS game (a small chip, maybe the size of a small cracker). That's not a good first impression.
So, what do I now? I need to send the wrong game back within seven days or be charged for it. Plus, I need to wait for them to send me the right game. That's over a week gone of my monthly period, which really isn't all that cheap (reasonable compared to a real store, but not so much considering all this trouble). They may have just lost a customer on their very first game shipment. Not smart.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - C Bassett
I've never even heard of a problem like that with Gamefly. I've been a member for almost 2 years, and the only problem I've had was a scratched disc. I sent them an email about it, and within the hour got a response. They shipped the replacement game even before I put the damaged one in the mail(I live in Oregon, and usually recieve the games in 2 to 3 days). They've been changing and upgrading their site recently, though, so maybe something got lost in the translation.
I've been most impressed with their customer service. I mailed a game back a few months ago, and it never arrived. I notified them and they went right ahead and shipped my next game, no questions asked. And they usually respond to feedback. I sent a suggestion in last year for PDF instruction manuals for the most popular games, and got a reply back that they were working on it, but there were legal and other issues to deal with before they could do it. Now, they have the PDF manuals up, though there aren't very many of them yet.
As they grow bigger, I think more little (or big) problems might pop up, but I'd still recommend it.
2 - Aaman
Netflix should buy them out - the lack of game rentals and porn are the two missing pieces of the Netflix line, apart from VOD
3 - Travis
My Gamefly experience has been terrible... two of the games I mailed in were never received, and I've tried to get in contact with Gamefly about it, and have not received a single response... these people are terible and a waste of money.
4 - alex
My Gamefly experience has been OK, not great but OK.
My big issue is that a game takes 4 days each way (receiving/sending) so that's an 8 day turn around.
And that's my only issue with Gamefly, my last return took 5 days to get to them.
As for Netflix they have a great turnaroud, it's takes a day each way for a DVD.
I live in Texas, btw.
5 - Luke
I lost 3 games over a 6 month period. Now Gamefly cancelled my account and threatening to charge my account. Don't believe them. I e-mailed customer service but they wanted me to pay for the lost games. Terribly customer service.
6 - Bob
GameFly roolz! I had a problem getting my emails from them...and at first I thought they weren't responding...then I realized I had a spam blocker up! DOH! My bad...
Then, I lost too many games...they let me go, but after contacting the post office, it turns out that it was a delay in the post office that caused it....all the games that were lost turned up and they welcomed me right back.
They are good peeps.
7 - Rick
I am 39 and a longtime gamer both PC and console. Having worked both in the IT and the market research world I am highly dissapointed with Gamefly on several levels. I live in Maui Hawaii and have had a Gamefly account for two years. Recently three games were not recieved by gamefly. Their response was to cancel my membership. No attempt was made to salvage any relationship with me as a customer. Apparently, Gamefly chooses to alienate and infuriate its customers rather than comunicate and attempt to salvage its customer base. I bought and rented many games in the term of my membership and was outraged at my sudden termination. I have since switched to Gplay their competitor and have begun a letter writing campaign to the execs of gamefly. Anyone who wishes to contact me and have me wright on their behalf is welcome.
Aloha
Rick
Palmer
8 - Tan The Man
Well, for any rental company that doesn't have as many distribution warehouses as Netflix, you're gonna experience delays. Try imagine living in Alaska...
9 - Matt Paprocki
I can't imagine getting the games to Hawaii for as bad as it was to get them to me in Ohio. I've long since switched to a far better service (www.intothegame.com) and I'll never go back.
Gamefly, however, started a new program where they send you your next game when the PO scans it. Anyone have any experience with that? I suggested it on ITG.
10 - John
I'm having a bad second experience with GameFly already and I just signed up. I had an account with them before and cancelled because it took too long to get a game from them. It took about a week for any game they mailed to arrive, and I live in Seattle. A week from LA to Seattle is ridiculous. Round trip that's half a month so to get any game play at all you're paying about $10 a game per rental. So I cancelled after just a few months. Now, about 2 years later I decided to try them again, hoping that their service had improved. I just signed up and my "Q" says that my first two games were shipped on 8/6. It is now 8/13 and I still don't have any games. None. By comparison, on 8/8 I mailed a letter to Washington D.C. (that's completely on the other side of the country). It arrived there whenever it did, and they sent a reply mail to me that I received FROM D.C. yesterday 8/12. Now you tell me how I can mail a letter all the way across the country and get a response back from all the way across the country, in less time than either of two games can get to Seattle from LA?
This service sucks. Don't get it.
11 - Randall
I was about to sign up for Gamefly as I finally broke down and bought an Xbox (long-time PC only gamer). Anyway I had play GTA: Vice City at a friend's house and thought that I'd try out FTA: San Andreas before buying it as I'd heard it was different in some ways.
I thought, perfect then - San Andreas will be the first game I try from Gamefly. Luckily I came across this FAQ before signing-up:
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Question:
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Why don't you have Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?
Answer:
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Due to the ESRB's new AO (Adults Only) rating for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, GameFly has decided to temporarily suspend rental of the current version. We are currently working with GTA's publisher to get access to an M-rated version that cannot be modified. We will pass on additional information as it becomes available. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.
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Well, as a 34-year old adult I'm a little steamed by the implications in those statements. It seems that any new AO-rated game will not be available through Gamefly (or will be significantly delayed pending a watered-down version). Is Gamefly attempting to moderate video game content by restricting availability of the games? That's not what I'd be paying them to do - no thanks. Let the minor's parents regulate what games their kids are playing. Gamefly can cover themselves by alerting the adults who are allowing their kids to sign-up that some of the games available are AO-rated and that the adults will have to monitor access to the account by minors. They can use a system similar to Netflix that allows an adult to setup a ratings-enforced queue for the minors. Really, anything would be better than simply making the game unavailable.
Anyway, I sent them an email message requesting clarification as to whether they will carry both an AO and M rated version, or just the M rated version. I also asked if they intend to continue this policy for future AO-rated games. We'll see what they say. I'm holding off on a membership until i get an answer...
12 - mad as hell
i had the same experience, they never recieve my games and cancelled my account, seems to me that there workers are stealing there games that arrive in the mail, i am very dissappointed with them, i will never do bussiness with them again
13 - Frank
Hi, had gamefly for about 6 months. about 2 weeks into my membership I didnt recieve the game that they claimed to have sent me. I notified them and they sent the replacement out the next day. a week ago, the same problem happened and they cancelled my account, as if I was stealing games fron them. they had sent a game out the same day as they ended my subscription, and wanted it back by this thursday (october 27, 2005) and I still havent recieved it. They claim that they will charge me the full amount for that game if it isnt back on thursday, which I swear by god I will not be charged for a game I never recieved, or at least didnt recieve in time to send back. Ill update once the smoke clears.
14 - Eric
Problems I had with gamefly are that the games took forever to recieve. When I was done I sent them back and guess what, they lost every game I returned. They never cancelled my account, but trying to contact customer service was a nightmare. I cancelled service with them and will never go back.
15 - Keith
I would say Gamefly is crooked and corrupt, but they haven't charged me for any games that got lost in the mail. Oh, Gamefly is located in Inglewood, CA. I am in Thousand Oaks, CA (45 miles away). So, could they really be able to just accept the loss on those games, or just put the blame elsewhere? I believe that they have no infrastructure to back up there service, so they have no way to keep up with the huge amount of rentals; so things will continue to get worse now that they are advertising. I have had 7 games go lost in the mail in a 2 MONTH SPAN!! That is 87.5% of the games I have rented from Gamefly!! I have filed 4 cases with my local post office, as I believed in shady dealings as the post office. We even had a general inquirty from the National Postal Review to understand this situation. Believe me when I say, IT IS NOT THE POST OFFICE. And it takes forever for Gamefly to follow through. I'll walk you through the last incident. I dropped two games in the mail on October 17. Waited a week, two weeks, THREE WEEKS, they don't receive either game. So on November 14, I report them as lost in the mail. I get an automated response. Today is 7 days after I reported them lost, and I still don't have this resolved, no new games, and I have paid for an entire month without being able to rent. Yeah, I think my next move is to cancel, wouldn't you?
16 - Josh
Gamefly has had numerous shipping problems, and because my "mail route has difficulty" (Troy, NY), and they didn't receive one of my games I sent back, they cancelled my account. After 6 months of service, and purchasing two games, you think they could do better than this.
17 - azdesertsnake01
This blog s u x c o c k it doesn't allow you to even use the word d a m n!
18 - Victor Plenty
How dreadful that we are thereby deprived of your erudite commentary, azdesertsnake01.
19 - gonzo marx
for comment #17...
ya speak the opinions of an uninformed, fucking Idiot..
damn it, ya can say whatever the hell ya like around here, just like any other crusty bastard, so quit yer bitching about language
cuz any fucking thing goes on that front...
nuff said...
Excelsior?
20 - Purpose Andremedy
Huh. I went ahead and signed up for gamefly like two months ago and haven't had a single problem yet (and this is southern florida, soflo, btw). Reading all the comments above I'm thinking they must have improved their service recently. The next game in my q always gets sent like a day after I return a game since the po scans the return and gf knows then that it's coming. Selection, etc, is good also.
21 - MUDD
please ,please ,please hear this and listen good
gamefly is a ripoff.i think its a one man show and hes makeing big big bucks,this is not a real company ,not like netflix which i have been a happy customer for over a year.i have asked like 3 quetions thrue email and all 3 times i get no real answer just an automated reply that dont even try to answer
out of the 10 day free trial and my first mounth i have had 3 games go missing
and these last 2 im wondering if they will try to charge me for them ,i will cancel my account after the 10 days i have left or the lost games get sorted which ever is first ,i have cleard my gameQ.
when you report a game lost in the mail they want you to report it to the post office ,thats just crazy, when moto gp was lost i noticed it was on and off my gameQ ,its like we sent it ,no wait we didnt ,ok ,ok yeah we did,and then its lost.there is no real feedback ,yeah you can feedback to them but nothing like a forum or a chat box or something in real time help.
i live in ftwalton florida and i have a locked mailbox with a very old mailman that i know for a fact is very honest and very old,he dont play no psp,please trust me when i say do not use gamefly ,find another do your homework and be careful ,ill cancel me cards and get new ones as soon as possible(tommorow).theres more but i cant set here all night .ty
22 - hekker
If a company was anywhere near as bad as mudd says then theyd be in business for like 5 minutes before getting sued out of existence. Theres got to be hundreds of thousands of happy gamefly users like myself-and Im in Ohio and have no real shipping problems-who have made the company into like netflix for games. Anytime anything is sent through the mail theres a risk but if it makes gaming cheaper then its worth the risk.
23 - bigdawg
I've had a really bad experience with gamefly. I was basically charged the monthly equivalent for the 2 games rented under their 10 day free trial. I live 2 states away, and shipping took 5-6 days both ways. I played each game for 2 hours, one night each. I sent them back, giving them the benefit of the doubt to see how shipping went on the return trip. Before I could stop them, they charged me the monthly fee before the games even got back. I explained the situation and they basically ignored me and treated me like a juvenile. I'm nearly 30 years old and a professional. This is not how you do business. This is not customer service. And it was not a free trial. When you do business with gamefly, you get the short end of the stick.
24 - drewman
it's just weird how some people love gamefly and some people hate it. what bigdawg said is basically the same thing that i went through when i had gamesnflix. i switched over to gamefly and i live in columbus, ohio and haven't had any of those problems. the whole concept is good enough that if it can save you some money then it's worth a shot because i think most people get good service but those who don't are the ones who speak loudest.
25 - Mc Cop
I was a memebr of Gamelfy for 5 months and was only able to rent 3 games do to the long turn around time.
At first the had the incorrect address on my account for shippin, but the correct billing adress, at least is shows their priorities.
After two "lost games" and several e-mails and phone calls they now have the correct adress. Games still take 7-14 days to reach me.
After this I decided to cancel my membership.
I asked my wife to mail the game back as I was out of town on business. Sadly she returned the incorrect game.
I contacted Gamefly the very next day via e-mail requesting a return of my game, and I would use the mailer to reutrn theirs. Seems simple enough.
Their responce was less then thrilling. They stated they could not guarntee they would find my game. (Just look in the nevelpoe I mailed you!!) But would send an empty mailer so I could return theirs.
A week later I have not received the mailer and they charged my accont for their game. So basically I have been charged $32 to lose a game I like and keep a game I never liked.
The game is for sale on their site for $16, so why charge me $32 anyway.
I am still pending responce, but the local news will have me interviewing on it later next week. So lets take down this shady business.