GameFly opening new distribution center in Seattle

by Alexander Sliwinski on Feb 3rd 2011 6:45PM

GameFly, the by-mail gaming rental service, will expand its operations this spring with a new distribution center in Seattle. A company representative informed Joystiq that the new location will be in addition to those already established in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Tampa and Austin.

The company is currently going through the (arduously) long process of going public. We kinda miss the old days when tipsters broke to us the news about new distribution centers instead of "official" communiques. So, you know, if you want to do it for old times sake, let us know GameFly is opening up a Seattle center by hitting that "tip us" button in the upper right of your screen.

Tags: ds, microsoft, nintendo, playstation, ps3, psp, sony, wii, xbox

Reader Comments (62)

Considering I live right next to Seattle, I might haveta look into this.

yay! hopefully this means it won't take 3 to 5 days each way for my games. shipping times were really good a few months ago but i'm often waiting almost a week between a game shipping and actually receiving it lately =/

@blackboxrory

Im guessing lots of people got memberships as xmas gifts.

@blackboxrory I used to have Gamefly, and they apparently pull this a lot: new members get really good service, then after several months, it takes forever for them to send you the next game. One of the reasons I dropped them is for me, though I lived an hour from a distribution center, it would take over a week to send me something from me queue (regardless of availability status).

@superdarrin A similar thing happens with Netflix. New subscribers get all the new releases right away. After a period of time, you have to wait for the new stuff. You still get the one-day turnaround but all the new releases become "long wait".

@Flapjackal I've heard netflix has a history of doing that, basically throttling people. I have a tendency to keep lots of stuff on my queue and it always annoys me when Gamefly receives my game early in the morning and still takes a day or two to send something back out.

I suppose its the lack of consistency with Gamefly that is most tedious. Sometimes the service is crisp and really fast taking a couple days each way. Other times it's a week each way, at least it allows me to play lots of games that I would ordinarily never play, so I can't complain too much.

@blackboxrory I never had any issues with Netflix in that way. Subscribed for years now. I get new movies within two days in general.

I wish Netflix just had a games plan too. I'd pay for that.

@Flapjackal

Bogus. I've had Gamefly for 5 years and have never seen any major shift in shipping times or days waiting.

The USPS, though, does suck. It's sad, but games take just as long to get to/from me in Louisville from Pittsburgh as it did from LA.

@superdarrin I think this is partially true - we've had them for three years, recently canceled because we were moving, and then when we got set up at our new place, signed up under my dad's name instead of our mother's, so they saw us like "new" customers. We got Epic Mickey the day after it was released as our first game. I think what they do is - for newer customers, specifically customers on their first month, if they request new releases, they are given priority over older customers. But shipping times never increased; just that the new games are more likely to be given to new customers.

Good news! I live nearby...in Costco.

@NBA Kirkland

I got my law degree from Costco.

@bigwhiteyeti

Doesn't Costco sell law degrees in bulk?

Best of luck to them. I especially root for GameFly in their fight against the Post Office, which has resulted in me getting damaged goods a couple of times.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Gamefly-Brings-New-Evidence-in-Their-Law-Suit-Against-the-USPS-124230.shtml

@False

That whole USPS line about it being the way that GF packages their games is complete bullshit. Their games are insanely well protected, to the point that it feels like overkill, while Netflix has these paper thin sleeves. I don't think so. Also, I think it's partially the USPS that has resulted in Gamefly's shipping times being awful.

@False

B.S. I've made 656 trades at GameTZ, most being me sending an item out, and NOT ONCE have I had an issue with an item being broken, cracked, lost, etc. Since I've had Gamefly I've had at least 5 games either broken or "lost". As a USPS employee I know for a FACT that we don't give Netflix preferential treatment over Gamefly in any way shape or form. We treat both as first class mail, that's it. The kicker to all of this...? I started putting delivery confirmation on my Gamefly sleeves and paying extra for it...two games were "lost" despite the tracking numbers stating that the games got to Gamefly. Just another excuse for this terrible service to use.

@AlphakirA

I don't buy that for a second, not to mention Gamefly has photographic evidence of Netflix preferential treatment.

This is awesome. I'll be getting my games in a day or two now.

I was hoping for one to open up in Jefferson City or Chicago or someplace like that. The Midwest needs some lovin', too.

@Mr Fister - I agree. Service to the midwest isn't as good as it could be. Then again, my metric is how fast Netflix discs get here, and they have a shipping center less than twenty minutes from where I live. I get all of those discs in one business day, while the turn around for Gamefly is more like four or five days.

What needs to really change is how the post office handles Gamefly mailers. If they scan them at the post office, Gamefly will send the next disc without waiting for the first disc to return. The problem is, the post office is kind of lackadaisical when it comes to scanning them (clearly it isn't a priority for them) so I often have to wait for discs to reach the distribution facility before the next game gets shipped out, which basically doubles wait times. A little cooperation from the USPS would go a long way.

@BananaBoat

This is EXACTLY what needs to happen. The USPS is shit for gamefly. I have had them scan my return ONCE out of over twenty rentals from GF. I live in Chicago, and the turnaround times are exactly like this. The one time I did get the fast return, I got a new game in 2 days.

@bigwhiteyeti - Imagine how Gamefly is going to be when mail is only delivered five days a week instead of seven (which they've been talking about). You send a game back Monday, it sits in a local sorting facility on Tuesday (because there is no mail service), takes until Friday to get to its destination. On Saturday, they ship your game out, which then sits in a sorting facility on Sunday because there is no mail. You finally get your game on Monday, one week later. 1/4th of your subscription just went down the toilet.

I tell people considering Gamefly around here that they shouldn't even bother with the plans that are less than two games. You could realistically expect to receive three, maybe four games a month on the one game at a time plans. At least with the two game at a time plans, you've always got something to play while the other game is in transit.

The USPS either needs to cooperate, or Gamefly needs to have some sort of honor system wherein you tell them that you've put a game in the mail (on their site, on the phone app, wherever) and they send out the next game. That small step would be worth almost as much as a new shipping center in the Midwest (not quite though).

@BananaBoat - *five instead of six

@BananaBoat Gamefly does ship your next game once they have return confirmation from USPS. The only way that doesn't work is if USPS doesn't scan the envelope for Gamefly to know it's on it's way back to them. It's been very hit or miss with this, but I'd say at least 50% of the time, once I drop a game in the mail to be returned, I get a confirmation from Gamefly the very next day that my next game is shipping to me. The other 50%, I won't get a confirmation for my next rental until they've actually received it back to their returns facility.

@XperimntNterror - I know that Gamefly has the service. The USPS doesn't work with them closely enough though, and as such, it is a crapshoot as to whether or not your game will get scanned by the USPS.

Gamefly needs to take matters into their own hands and ship games after the customer has given word that he has posted the previous game. This would cut out the reliance on the USPS actually doing its job, and speed up the service for everyone.

Can't we get one more in the middle of the country not just the edges? I live in CO and my games either come from TX or CA. That means I send a game out on Monday morning, they get it Wednesday I have a new game on Friday. That is almost a whole week of my membership in the mail. I'm sure if they ad one more in the middle it would help a lot.

Netflix should just start doing games or buy out Gamefly.

DarkNightRJ Netlix is hoping to go all-digital, not even bother with DVDs eventually. I don't see that happening.

@Flapjackal That makes Netflix even better then. Would they even have the newest releases?

@DarkNightRJ In Canada, DVDLink has the ability (with no extra fee) to tell them you sent the disc back on their website. They always sent me a game the same day I told them I sent mine.

So Gamefly doesn't have the feature of reporting the you sent the disc out on Monday, so that you get the next game on Wednesday?

If that is true, that is totally crap.

@Kirkpad *that* you sent the disc out on monday

@Kirkpad

Game discs are expensive and too high a risk to take it on faith that you have returned them, I think. (Based on the way that GF packages its' games, I'd say they take this pretty seriously). They do have a fast return service that's tied to USPS scanning the game when it comes into the system, but when has the postal service done anything above and beyond?

@Kirkpad They have something called fast return but it never works. I think it is only certain post offices that do it. Like when it scans at the post office they know, but only if the post office has the equipment. Neither Netflix nor Gamefly just lets you tell them you sent it. But netflix is much faster anyways. (send it out monday morning get it wednesday)

@DarkNightRJ Ah, Ok thanks for explaining. I guess Canadian companies don't have the ability to track packages so they just take our word for it.

@Kirkpad
They don't trust us americans. haha

Great news! Gamefly is now opening a shipping center in Alaska!

@blakepro

Look out! His star destroyer's systems are fully operational! His shields are still up!

@blakepro

Do you have Gamefly? I can't imagine the shipping times. Here in Illinois, it takes until the 2nd day after I send a game back for them to get news from the postal service that it's in the mail so they can send me a new one, then 4 or 5 days to receive a new game.

So that's two for the West Coast, one for the South, one for the South West and one for the East Coast. Still none for the Mid West. This sucks.

Well, I live in Florida so I guess I can't complain with the Tampa center.
What I can complain about is WHY DID USPS STOP SCANNING MY GAMES FOR FAST RETURN?!?!?!?

Gamefly is horrible and alot of people are cancelling there subscription. If anyone else has noticed they lowered there inital fees to be a member. And i dont know what it is now but it was 18 bucks a month for 1 game out which is a rip off. I am now using blockbuster online thats only 9.95 per month for one game out and you get games and blu ray movies for that price. And most of the time it only takes 2-3 days to get a game and usually 1 day for the titles to be recieved after i send them back. So basically they made this new warrehouse to bring back customers that left. I dont anyone will come back

@gofish1985
The games on blockbuster you gotta wait 3 months for though.

@DarkNightRJ Yeah, Blockbuster's plan is a waste. Sure, I get them somewhat quickly but you can't rent a single new game. Having to a wait for a game to be 3 months or more old before they'll even consider mailing it to you is asinine.

Their selection stinks compared to Gamefly even beyond that. Good luck renting anything unusual from them.

Meh. Been burned once too often by Gamefly's erratic shipping speeds and unpredictable queue pattern. I'll stick with Blockbuster for now.

They desperately need a shipping center in the Midwest. Cancelled my membership because they treat you good the 1st couple of months than it becomes slow.

Also in the winter they are absolutely worthless, takes forever.

Did they ever fix their horribly broken queue? I had it for a few months but canceled it because their "queue" was worse then useless. It would literally skip 20 games down in my list and ship me something completely at random. No thanks.

@vitriolix If anything it got worse. The broken queue was the main reason I gave up on them altogether.

@vitriolix I cancel for the same reasons, but I come back now and then for a few certain games and I just leave those games in a few days until they ship it. I had blockbuster's membership before ($23 for 1 game at a time and you swap in store) but they didn't have vanquish or castlevania so I got gamefly again just for those two. Left them in the Queue and got em. Took a couple days though. The service is far from perfect and you gotta work the system if you want a specific game.

@vitriolix I agree its broken, but it also has loopholes. If you leave your queue completely empty except one game, you'll get it almost immediately, regardless of how high of a demand it is. I routinely get games delivered to me a day after their release date. With this trick, it has made Gamefly totally worth it for me.

The only downside is the shipping wait- and now with a seattle distro, I'll have almost no wait at all.

@Speedracer98
same here. tired of this taking a week to get the next game, and never the one I want crap...

Be nice to get another one on the East Coast. Wait times from Pittsburgh are a bitch. But I guess that's their business model. Send you games eventually while you waste subscription days without a game.

They desperately need one in the Midwest. I subscribed in Chicago and it'd take a week to get my games and sometimes over a week before they'd even tell me they got them. It wasn't worth the money because of it.

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GameFly opening new distribution center in Seattle

Reader Comments (62)

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 6:48PM wcarnation said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 6:49PM blackboxrory said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:23PM Dirty said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:36PM superdarrin said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:28PM Flapjackal said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:49PM blackboxrory said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 10:53PM Softserve said

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Posted: Feb 4th 2011 2:45AM littlepunkryo said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 6:51PM NBA Kirkland said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:07PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 12:57AM False said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 6:55PM False said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:10PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 5:40AM AlphakirA said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 11:24AM Magetf said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 6:57PM Ignatius said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:00PM Mr Fister said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:40PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:13PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 12:17AM BananaBoat said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 2:50AM BananaBoat said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 11:22AM XperimntNterror said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 1:39PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:03PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:33PM Flapjackal said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:46PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:00PM Kirkpad said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:02PM Kirkpad said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:15PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:21PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 11:11PM Kirkpad said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 12:17AM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:11PM Admiral Ackbar Supreme Commander said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:16PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:31PM Admiral Ackbar Supreme Commander said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:26PM zack11190 said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:55PM Tegolin said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 7:55PM gofish1985 said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 9:24PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 10:48PM Softserve said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:02PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:14PM The1stMJC said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:46PM vitriolix said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:47PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 8:49PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 4th 2011 12:31AM Frostfell said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2011 10:19PM xddga said

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