Your GameStop Reward Points May Be Gone!

Where they went and how to get at least some of them back.

Your GameStop PowerUp rewards points are most likely gone, if like me you haven’t been paying attention to the tens of emails they send you on a monthly basis. I went to pre-order the Big ‘ Ole $100 copy of Red Dead Redemption 2, with $40 worth of useless digital bull crap that I of course “need”.  Hell, I think Rockstar deserves my money for the quality games they continue to put out, especially the upcoming title which I’m sure to sink endless hours into. To help me justify my over-the-top purchase, I searched for coupons which I was sure didn’t exist for GameStop (I was right). I then thought “Hey remember all those stupid reward points you got when you bought games and actually remembered to hand them your PowerUp Rewards card?”(because I’ll be honest most of the time I either didn’t bother or didn’t think of it and lost a lot of potential points in doing so, oh well).

So I proceed to log in and go check my balance, which I have yet to touch since the inception of the account. Understandably I was then instantly puzzled as I read the number under Current Points (1170)  and compared them to the not so stellar amount of Lifetime Points (29,279) I had earned over the years. A few thoughts ran through my mind, the first of which was “Had I in fact used them?”  So I checked the transaction history to confirm that I in fact had not. Instead there was a handful of transactions labeled “Auto Issued Reward Certificate” subtracting 5000 points each.

“Oh well, big deal”. “They must have just turned my points into $5 certificates and emailed them to me” I thought. Still strange though, because I also thought they used to stockpile, but ok, I’ll just go find them. I began digging through all the junk they send me and find one. Success!… “Not!” – Borat, 2006. I got a certificate alright. One that was issued on July 1st, 2018 and expired on July 31st, 2018. “A measly month to use a certificate, which they decided I wanted to use my points on without my permission” I thought to myself. By this time it was October 17th, 2018 and I realized all these certificates and all the points I had accumulated over the years were gone.

Off to the Google! Surely I had to find some answers and I couldn’t have been the only one that lost all of their points. After some research I found out that GameStop had sent e-mails out to PowerUp Rewards members all the way back in May of 2016 which you can read in the image below. I found it amongst all the other junk mail they continuously send me. So much so that this email itself was even automatically thrown straight into the junk drawer. In short it reads that members could now stockpile their points (which to my knowledge, they had previously been doing) or choose to opt in for automatic certificates of $5, $10, or $15 when the accumulated points hit their respective amounts. Just like the ones I had unknowingly been receiving. 

Here’s where it gets shady. In the e-mail it states “if you don’t make a selection before 5/26/16, your selection will default to a $5 rewards certificate.” What this means is all the points you had accumulated up until then (or would in the future) would begin depleting by 5000 points ($5) a month if you, like me, never seen the e-mail amidst all their others in your junk box, simply skimmed by it, or opened it and didn’t think anything of it. Smart on their part from a financial stance, but on grounds of morality this seemed pretty screwed up for lack of better words. I would think any company would know that in todays world of the constant flooding of “Terms and Conditions” and bombardments of promotional e-mails that the vast majority of consumers (A) never even bother to open these e-mails; (B) never even see them; or (C) just skim through most terms and conditions. Knowing this, if GameStop had in fact had consumers in their best interests they would have surely put the default to stockpile your earned points, no? Instead the default was set to shoot out certificates at the lowest and fastest amount of points accruable. Surely if a consumer didn’t see the e-mail which would set this in motion to begin in the first place, then it could be expected that the same consumer would miss similar e-mails containing the $5 Reward Certificates.

So, is this legal? Yes. According to the terms and conditions GameStop can pretty much do what ever they want with your points or make changes whenever they feel.

Is it moral? In my opinion, no, and GameStop has been no stranger to immoral practices in the past.

I think they figured most people would never see these e-mails and in turn could drain most of these accounts of their points with most consumers never even knowing. Take me for example, it took me well over a year to even find out that it happened to my account. I, like so many others, had put my trust in the company (like I do with my Amazon Prime membership for example) that my accrued reward points would be there when I, and only I, decide to use them. I wouldn’t have expected the company to make that decision for me, especially out of no where. I think if anything, in the future they should at least be upfront with it like say Kohl’s. There when you spend $50 you get a $10 reward which they print out right at the point of purchase and hand you with an expiration date on it. Instead GameStop decided in a way, which I believe they were well aware of, to go behind most of our backs and dare I say (in a moral sense) steal from their customers.

How to Get Some Points Back

I do have some good news though for the people that now find themselves in the same predicament as me. All hope is not lost. I did in fact contact GameStop and questioned them about my Reward Points. It took a little bit of pushing and prodding but I was able to at least get 15,000 of my 28,109 missing points back. Apparently they “had no clue” where the rest were. Did I win the war? No, but it was a slight victory nonetheless. I’ll take what I can get. I also had them switch my settings over to “stockpile points” while I was on the phone with them, but you can do it yourself in your PowerUp Rewards settings on http://www.GameStop.com. (Account Details>PowerUp Rewards>Reward Preferences or simply click HERE).

If you want to contact GameStop the only way is by phone – 1 (800) 883-8895. Be ready to provide your account info, answer some security questions, and jump through some other hoops. “Dance for your points monkey, dance”. I can’t promise you you’ll get your points back like I did, but it’s worth a shot and I wish you luck!

I plan to use my 15,000 points to purchase some Nintendo eShop currency and go buy Overcooked 2 there instead of at GameStop. After all this trouble and researching I found out that I couldn’t have used my Reward Certificates on a pre-order anyways and I will also be purchasing my over-the-top unnecessarily expensive copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 elsewhere as well. However I don’t urge you to do the same thing. This piece was to merely inform the masses if possible and I would hope you reach whatever decision you choose to make on your own. Please keep in mind if you do call to voice your issue that the folks in store and on the phone are not the ones making these decisions and to please be kind to them as they are just doing their job like everyone else.

In conclusion I admit this is no ones fault but my own. They are doing everything completely legal. I also should choose which companies and stores I trust a bit better. I’m normally good at that, (I haven’t bought an EA game since November 17, 2015) but I always chose GameStop and even EB Games back in it’s hay day ever since I was a kid. I continued to stick with them out of pure convenience I’ll be honest. Fast forward 20+ years now and I’ll be looking else where, learning from my mistakes and trying to be more aware. It can definitely be hard though in a busy world where my attention and time is drawn in a million different directions, or maybe that’s just my mild ADHD.

So am I alone? Have you ran into the same issue? Are you just now finding out? Were you able to get any points back? Was this a terrible post and old news? Should I never write another article in my life? Did my parents really ever love me? Is the earth really flat? Let us know below!

UPDATE – 10/18/2018

My brother went to his account a day after I told him about this issue and found out he was in the same boat. After sending him this article he decided to call and give it a try. He referenced the article and the issue and they gave him about half of his points back also; even though most of his points had been used to “Auto-Renew” his membership which was 15,000 points. Cool on GameStop’s part, as I’m hearing similar things from other people since I posted this story.