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"Any company or business can have their share of complaints or bad reviews. That including Estarland themselves but I am writing this because staff doesn't care enough to handle massive issues or even simple customer service troubles,even to point of wanting to talk with upper management but being denied..let's begin with some common pros and cons before moving onto the complaint shall we?
Pros:
-Decent stock and inventory
-Decent trade values
Cons:
-Horrible customer service
-Not guaranteed game if still going through processment for longer than 10-15+ days especially if they make a huge mistake and sell off.
-Will nickel and dime faults at times with trade ins even if they are fully working and as most said,it is true they will either keep or discard your stuff in trash if do not mention to them specifically that want stuff back and cover for shipping unless use trade credit to do such.
-Will accuse of trying to resell when are not and never respond back to accusations
Onto the complaint: vvvvv
Complaint:
Had used trade credit as have done through many times to purchase a $400 game which was still being processed and was told it would need at least "$20" more until they could ship. 10-15 days later with nothing moving,contacted and was told they would ship within 24-48 hrs until they when received email saying they sold out and apologized for any inconvenience despite order saying processed and email stating they were sending. Curious to see what was going on,talked with one of the employees who stated "Oh no" and apologized as an employee "Sold off" game but as another. Did not offer much help other than there was nothing they could do except "$5",a "refund" & dibs whenever it would come back in trade to buy but I would have to pay for it. Fustrated and disappointed,had asked to speak with upper management only to be denied even talking. Let me ask you,does any legit business deny you the chance to talk with upper for simply wanting a better resolution? No and that's a poor excuse which leads me to believe they did not like the pricing and took it off despite giving the "Employee did not realize it was this edition" based excuse when covers are different ontop of cart itself. Since this is the only way to really outreach since emails get ignored ontop of feedback I hope many see this company cannot keep or hold their guarantee as are likely told by their owner and founder to do so in situations which is very disappointing.
Highly suggest if are looking for better deals or even simple trade ins to use gamestop or even ebay but with purchases to think twice because you may end up in a similar situation like myself who never thought a company or business such as EStarland would stoop that low"
"I've been shopping with eStarland for nearly 20 years. My oldest invoice number shown on their website is dated 11/16/2004. For most of those years, it's been a perfectly fine experience. Quick trades, quick turn around times, quick resolution to any issues that may have cropped up (but there weren't many).
In the last six months, something has really gone wrong with this company both with trade-ins and sales.
They have mishandled two of my $120+ trade in orders, both of which have required multiple contacts with customer support. Only one of the issues has been resolved -- at time of typing, my latest trade-in order has been sitting at their office for 14 days without being processed. It is now several days past the "due date" their system assigns to trade-ins, but according to the tracking information it was delivered to an actual human at the office two days after the trade-in order was placed.
E-mail support finally got back to me regarding the issue saying they found my package and tried to say the delay was MY fault for not including a reference number on the label -- something I've NEVER had to do in the past 18 years. They then said they had given it to the trade-ins team and it would be processed right away. That was five days ago and it still hasn't been processed. I tried calling their voice support number and was hung up on. Until/unless they actually credit my account they have, effectively, stolen this order.
Ordering games has also taken a nosedive. Preorders of new games usually got shipped the day of release, now they sometimes don't ship for several days, or up to a week AFTER release. I have paid for 2-3 day priority shipping on multiple occasions only to get the slower, economy shipping without the extra shipping payment refunded. Their social media and support teams refuse to answer whether or not they will be getting big, triple-A titles with confirmed release that have been available for pre-order elsewhere for over a month.
Their social media team is more obsessed with posting memes and taking potshots at GameStop than they are actually addressing issues customers have. I don't know if this company is under new management or got sold, but they've taken a significant drop in quality and customer service since spring. Almost 18 years of built up goodwill thrown in the trash. I'll fight to get the rest of my trade-in credit applied but after I use it up I'm going to shop elsewhere."
"If something seems too good to be true...it probably is. I decided to start the process of trading in some games that I no longer wanted. The instant credit option sounded enticing and the trade-in rates were suspiciously high. As soon as I submitted my trade-in order for store credit, I received an email stating that I would have to ship the games before receiving store credit. Okay that's fair enough but then I discovered that shipping was completely my expense and after weighing my package, I realized that I would have to pay over 40 dollars minimum for shipping. (Other online game traders take the loss for shipping themselves.)
I decided not to go through with the trade-in right then and I began investigating the company for awhile after that. Turns out, they have a reputation for claiming that your trade-in items aren't in a good enough condition and bc they charge a rather steep price to return the item to you, they are basically getting free games from people this way. I discovered that they do this alot with high value and rare games which is dishonest and disgusting. They claim to be super picky about what they accept but then ship out dirty and damaged items.
I'm just so glad I didn't waste any more of my time trying to go through with the trade-in and I'm so glad I didn't get swindled out of some of my high value older games. This company is dishonest and untrustworthy and I've been spreading the word around wherever I can. Just stick to selling your games on eBay or platforms where YOU have more control over what you're getting for them. eStarland lures you in with a deceptively alluring trade-in procedure but it's a scam through and through."
"I know there are a lot of bad reviews and I don't think anyone is lying but my personal experience was the best online small business experience I've had. Cheap prices, really fast,free shipping, and the PS4 games look Brand new."
Won't take items back that they sold you, in the exact same condition, when they're sold
"Have been buying games from this company for years without any issues. Today I try to trade in a game they sold me, with writing on the disc, in the exact same condition it was sold to me, which is a current violation of company policy. The company CS manager refused to even try to come to a compromise, twice. He also refused to let me talk to a higher up manager."
"Very disappointed with the customer service. I've used them for 10+ years, especially when I was still in the Army and stationed overseas. Long story short, just had an email conversation with an employee who was rather blunt and rude about a trade in issue. They expect us to be patient and loyal during this tumultuous time, which I was more than happy to be. However, after these 10+ years and many transactions with them, I have received no loyalty back. I am done, eStarland. This may not mean much to you but you have lost a long-time customer today."
"If I can save 1 person from a situation like mine I'll be happy. I'm from canada ordered a game from them and got my 51 dollars removed from my account. The next day they tried to say I only paid 30 and owed them an extra 19 dollars which I questioned on the online chat. O showed proof of bank statement. I finally asked for it to be cancelled and they guy refused to send me a confirmation email and said I can take his word for it. I put up a fight against the employee and after 20 mins they finally gave me my email....said it was a 24 hour wait to get it back and I'm waiting currently. Dont trust that I'm going to actually see my money again but he refused to give me any other means of contact if I dont get my money back. They tried to blame my bank and stated I'd have to take it up with them. They tried to RIP ME OFF only reason I got what I wanted was due to arguing with the guy... will keep you posted if I dont recieved my money back. Please dont ever send more to them. It's a 100% scam."
"I have a SEGA Saturn that I bought new in 96'. I thought that it needed the laser pickup replaced. I really didn't want to ship the console and had a couple phone conversations with sales personnel. Finally decided to make the 120 mile trip from Richmond to avoid any undo stress on my part. Even though I had to wait for the Tech (does not start until later in the day) it was worth it. The Tech troubleshot and adjusted the console resulting in me not needing the laser pickup (only small charge for cleaning). I would like to thank the eStarland team for their consideration and effort. I've seen some poor reviews but I can't complain about my experience with eStarland."
"I'll just keep it simple, I test everything before sending it anywhere, yet somehow one or more of the more valuable trades lately have been broken, scratched, etc. Not really happy with the return shipping rate, which it seems they count on, I 100% do not believe that any trade ins go in the trash, that discs get buffed, and that their in house repair service can handle things that weren't broken to start with. It's so sad to me, I used to love eStarland, honest, great prices and trade ins, I guess nothing great lasts forever :("
"Shady business practices. They no longer test trade ins the day of. This gives them an opportunity to scam you out of your belongings claiming that they are defective. I’ve been an estarland customer for over a decade. I can no longer trust them and that ****. Also fire the girl with the glasses that does trade ins. She is so easily distracted and that’s why things don’t get done in a timely fashion. She’s been there for years so clearly this is not getting better. Avoid estarland! Never buy hardware from estarland!"
"Estarland.com is one of the WORST online game trading stores. They are full of scam artists and thieves. I trade some of my games and even good quality accessories and they reject them. But now that I sent my games through the mail they get to keep my items they rejected and then they state that they will be throwing it in the trash in 2-weeks. Even though I bought games as a trade and they could have sent the rejected items with what I bought they refused and get to keep it for free. BUYER BEWARE THESE ARE REAL SCAMMERS!!!! DO NOT BUY OR TRADE WITH ESTARLAND.COM BECAUSE THEY ARE THIEVES!!!"
TRY EBAY FIRST or go to the store or a local store in person. Online shopping from estarland is a gamble.
"I recently bought two consoles with trade in credit and they sent me the wrong versions but at least I got a return shipping label. The games I bought with my trade in credit had damage to the cases. I received one game with a badly cracked case that needs to be replaced. Their live support is not working anymore and you may have to wait or call to get an issue resolved. I am not patient and called in a couple of days to get my issue resolved. I liked the live support where you typed to them better.
Last year I bought a ps2 from them and I noticed the usb ports were dirty. The outside was dirty and the inside where you put the game was dusty. It worked but it was not gonna last long in that condition. I took it apart and it was filthy with dust. The area where the fan blew air to cool the chip was clogged with hair and dust. I had to wash out the case and use canned air and alcohol to clean the board.
I bought a ps3 from them and the discs got scratched. When I picked it up I could hear a piece or pieces of dirt moving around. I took it apart and had to clean it. There were also some dead roaches, mold, more dust etc.
If you buy one game they will send it in a padded envelope and that is fine except that it might get broken depending on the distance it has to travel or the usps or ups handling, but if you order multiple games, they will not package them correctly. I once bought a gamecube with some games and the port cover at the bottom of the gamecube was cracked a bit but the gamecube worked fine. They do not use bubble wrap or any good cushioning.
I once received a case and there was no game. I had to contact their live support and they sent me a replacement. The replacement did not work. I had to send the game back and the third time it worked.
Discs, cases, and manuals will be in good to very good condition but if you want like new, then shop on ebay.
They have a very good professional buffer that wont leave scratches or swirly marks that let people know that a disc was scratched or used to be a rental disc but you might get a disc with a rental label stuck on the artwork. The problem is that some deep scratches cannot be buffed out completely. They do not give you trade in credit for discs with scratches and I have a hunch that they resell games they do not accept and instead of trashing them, they buff them. If you buy a loose rare game from them, it was probably a rental disc that was really scratched that they did not accept trade in credit. I once got a game that skipped and the disc looked perfectly smooth with no scratches. I looked at the disc very closely under a light source and I found a tiny long soft groove and that was causing the disc to skip. I once got a loose game that did not work at all and I thought it was the ps2 I had gotten fixed but it was the disc, which I traded back to them and they gave me credit. I know it was the disc because I took the ps2 to the store that fixed the console and they gave me the same copy of the game and that worked.
I can only conclude that they probably do not test game discs and only look at them.
If you buy a game with a cardboard box, it will most likely get bent or damaged in transit and the chances increase depending on how far away you live from them.
They offer more trade in credit than GameStop but estarland prices have risen a bit.
I think that if you shop online at estarland you are taking a risk. You might get an issue with a console or cases that are not in good condition."