It's no secret that there's some bad blood between GameFly and the US Postal Service but this ... this is personal. Philly.com reports that Reginald Johnson, a former Philadelphia mail handler, has admitted to a federal court that he stole 2200 GameFly games -- totalling $86,000 in value -- before they could be delivered to local subscribers.
Johnson was caught as the result of an investigation into missing GameFly mailings in the Philadelphia area, conducted by the USPS inspector general. The culprit was spotted during a 2008 test mailing under government surveillance, after which Johnson escaped in his SUV, crashed it, and then fled on foot with a duffel bag, which was later recovered. Between the bag and the SUV, authorities uncovered 160 games and a load of Wii Fit units, controllers, a Playstation and GameStop receipts. It would appear that Johnson had been trading the games at GameStop for store credit. He now faces up to 18 months in prison.
When contacted by Joystiq for comment, a GameFly representative stated that the company appreciates "the diligent efforts by the Office of Inspector General agents" to apprehend Mr. Johnson. Do you hear that? It's the sound of healing.
[Via GamePolitics]
Reader Comments (102)
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:04PM (Unverified) said
Wow sounds like a really good (and interesting) case by the Postal Service. Hope he's enjoying his new meat job.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:05PM chichipapa said
I didnt get a game a couple time after it said it was shipped.. had to report it and they resent..wonder if my postman was stealing games?
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 8:43PM TherionMEC said
I share the same sentiment, as someone who has had Gamefly games stolen by USPS, I hope this guy gets what he deserves.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:18PM whylekat said
Christ amen to that!
That's why I canceled my gamesnail service. I'd ship 1 game on Monday and get my next game almost 10 days later! Sometimes longer!
More then once I had to contact support
"uh, I mailed this shitty gamecube game back like a week ago and my que has yet to update...?"
I swear the response I got was something along the lines of "give it two more days, if your que doesn't update by then contact us and we'll label it lost in the mail."
Meanwhile with Netflix, I'll mail it Monday from NYC and get a fresh movie Tuesday or Wednesday the latest.
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That's why I canceled my gamesnail service. I'd ship 1 game on Monday and get my next game almost 10 days later! Sometimes longer!
More then once I had to contact support
"uh, I mailed this shitty gamecube game back like a week ago and my que has yet to update...?"
I swear the response I got was something along the lines of "give it two more days, if your que doesn't update by then contact us and we'll label it lost in the mail."
Meanwhile with Netflix, I'll mail it Monday from NYC and get a fresh movie Tuesday or Wednesday the latest.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:49PM (Unverified) said
Im in NYC and I send them from Grand Central Post office before I go to work and I have a number of times had a movie on the next day at home... normally its 1 day out one day back. Gamefly was horrible in comparison.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:49PM Vidikron said
"and stop sending me the last on my list!"
Hah... I keep my list empty except for maybe a few unreleased games as reminders. And I always make sure I have an empty slot before a new release. This has yet to fail me. I always get the first shipment of any new release no matter how big.
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Hah... I keep my list empty except for maybe a few unreleased games as reminders. And I always make sure I have an empty slot before a new release. This has yet to fail me. I always get the first shipment of any new release no matter how big.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 4:17PM Odog4ever said
@ whylekat
Gamefly definitely has it's flaws but have you considered:
Gamefly only has 4-5 distribution centers and Netflix has a distribution center(s) in every state just about. Also the price of DVDs compared to the price of games. High demand for a finite amount of discs = long wait. Also I don't have any games in my queue that I don't want to play, period. It takes like 10 seconds to re-order your queue online after you send a game back.
I think Gamefly is still a good option for gamers on a budget who only purchase a couple games a year. I've played a ton of games I enjoyed but would have never purchased which puts the sometimes lengthy wait times in perspective for me personally.
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Gamefly definitely has it's flaws but have you considered:
Gamefly only has 4-5 distribution centers and Netflix has a distribution center(s) in every state just about. Also the price of DVDs compared to the price of games. High demand for a finite amount of discs = long wait. Also I don't have any games in my queue that I don't want to play, period. It takes like 10 seconds to re-order your queue online after you send a game back.
I think Gamefly is still a good option for gamers on a budget who only purchase a couple games a year. I've played a ton of games I enjoyed but would have never purchased which puts the sometimes lengthy wait times in perspective for me personally.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 4:38PM TheDarkWayne said
but gamefly's been around just as long as netflix hasnt it? They should have more shipping centers by now.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 4:54PM whylekat said
I agree it's worth it for some. But not myself.
1st off I had the 1 game at a time deal.. So that meant when I send a game back I was left with 0 games for almost 2 weeks... When you're paying a monthly fee and have no product for half that month, it's not worth it.
And 2nd - the que never bothered me, I'd mostly use the service for any game I wouldn't pay for but wanted to at least try. So I rarely, if ever, had a problem with a game being unavailable.
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1st off I had the 1 game at a time deal.. So that meant when I send a game back I was left with 0 games for almost 2 weeks... When you're paying a monthly fee and have no product for half that month, it's not worth it.
And 2nd - the que never bothered me, I'd mostly use the service for any game I wouldn't pay for but wanted to at least try. So I rarely, if ever, had a problem with a game being unavailable.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:08PM Shagittarius said
Wait since he played video games shouldn't his reaction to have been shooting up the post office?
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:29PM oOWallaceOo said
I think him going postal would have been a little too cliche
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:10PM (Unverified) said
Cause nobody would notice 2000 disks missing, on the same route. Dumbass.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:28PM (Unverified) said
Sorry Ryan, that wasn't meant to be a reply to you. That was supposed to be a standalone comment. I don't randomly call people names either.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:39PM (Unverified) said
It's cool Ryan, I felt bad. I'm just glad I read through the comments again.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 5:15PM (Unverified) said
"Cause nobody would notice 2000 disks missing, on the same route. Dumbass. "
According to the post, this guy was a mail handler, NOT a carrier. Mail handlers would have access to the mail that would be sent out to his entire district, which could be hundreds of miles in size and hundreds of routes.
The thing that caught him would be the users who reported it. A spike in the number of shipping complaints in a specific area let the inspectors target the district it was occurring in and from there it was a matter of watching and sending test shipments.
Reply
According to the post, this guy was a mail handler, NOT a carrier. Mail handlers would have access to the mail that would be sent out to his entire district, which could be hundreds of miles in size and hundreds of routes.
The thing that caught him would be the users who reported it. A spike in the number of shipping complaints in a specific area let the inspectors target the district it was occurring in and from there it was a matter of watching and sending test shipments.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:11PM (Unverified) said
Anyone remember GameFly's old envelopes? The ones that were all orange (instead of the white with orange)?
My games were constantly not arriving so I sent a letter to GameFly suggesting they stop using those envelopes that screamed "Hi, I am worth $40-$60 dollars, regardless of what is inside. Steal me now." Attractive nuisance, anyone?
"...regardless of what is inside..." Ok, I know. I rented some crappy games. But on the average, probably worth an a-hole's time to steal.
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My games were constantly not arriving so I sent a letter to GameFly suggesting they stop using those envelopes that screamed "Hi, I am worth $40-$60 dollars, regardless of what is inside. Steal me now." Attractive nuisance, anyone?
"...regardless of what is inside..." Ok, I know. I rented some crappy games. But on the average, probably worth an a-hole's time to steal.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:21PM (Unverified) said
Duke -
I just relate these kinds of "PLEASE STEAL ME" situations to dangerous places that seem so wrong that they seem to invite kids who don't know better to come and play. Attractive nuisances. Like those electrical stations that have just a metal fence around them and look like a jungle gym. Or an unfinished swimming pool. Things that scream "Hi. It's wrong, but play with me anyway, regardless if its wrong."
Admittedly, does not quite fit, but the idea is there when you look at it from GameFly, and the consumer's points of view.
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I just relate these kinds of "PLEASE STEAL ME" situations to dangerous places that seem so wrong that they seem to invite kids who don't know better to come and play. Attractive nuisances. Like those electrical stations that have just a metal fence around them and look like a jungle gym. Or an unfinished swimming pool. Things that scream "Hi. It's wrong, but play with me anyway, regardless if its wrong."
Admittedly, does not quite fit, but the idea is there when you look at it from GameFly, and the consumer's points of view.
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:30PM (Unverified) said
@seanemac007
Can't say I know too many kids that see electrical enclosures or construction sites and think "I should climb that"
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Can't say I know too many kids that see electrical enclosures or construction sites and think "I should climb that"
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:59PM whylekat said
I was definetly one of those kids.. So were all my friends. Maybe it's a suburban thing? Sadly a lot of childhood physical activity was spent ventureing thru an abandoned mental hospital. Totally awesome! I'd go back today but I'm now too big to fit thru many of the openings I did pre-puberty. Ahh childhood =)
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 4:21PM Duke said
Kalenn, you would be shocked (pun!) but in reality there are a lot of items that kids see and think would be fun to mess with that in fact are not. So if you have something like that (say a swimming pool or an abandoned house) then you can find them ruled an attractive nuisance.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:14PM (Unverified) said
Maybe I'm not hardcore enough, but...
WTF would you do with $86,000 in GameStop credits???
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WTF would you do with $86,000 in GameStop credits???
Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:16PM darkinchworm said
Be the hero that places so many pre-orders that they never hassle another customer about it again.
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:17PM WillCookForFood said
More like what would you do with the 800 dollars you would get for trading in all those games at Gamestop?
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Posted: Oct 16th 2009 3:17PM (Unverified) said
The games were worth $86,000...which means you'd get maybe $10,000 at Gamestop if you were lucky.
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