Great Escape Gaming — Local services in Flint

I’ve been shopping at Great Escape since they opened. I’ve had a pretty great relationship with a few of the staff, I own GEG merch, i’ve spent thousands at this store and i was always proud to call it my LGS.

Not anymore.

I called 2 times about double masters and they refused to give me straight answers. I went up there thinking “eh, they will see me, recognize me, and ultimately give me more information if they can.” Nope. same answer

-We do not know what we will be pricing at. -We will not take pre orders (only LGS inside 60 miles that didn’t. -We can’t give any information we open at 12:00 that day if you want one be here.

I showed up at 8:30am because i wanted to support MY local shop, and i decided ultimately i wanted GEG to be where i bought from per usual. period. i didn’t want to preorder elsewhere and have to go to some other shop i like mine 🤷🏼

I sat there til 11:55 when 2 other cars showed up and walked around to the front door (i assumed to wait there) even though i was waiting first and was at the side door waiting for open first. The staff must have let them in early as when i walked in at 12:00 exactly… one guy had already opened a pack and i was third to buy… okay a little rude but whatever. I walk up and the cashier says “Ah man i didn’t know you were a magic guy i thought it was just D&D and Board games for you.” I laughed and told him i’d been in on Magic for about a year now.

I continue to buy a pack to my astonishment at $339 rounded the change up. I said whoa… what happened to the prices here… as i said that my card blinked approved and the cashier was on the phone talking to someone already. he turned and walked away while i continued to use the touchpad to send myself a receipt. Every other LGS was at $297 tax out the door. I was a little beaten down by my long morning and the scam i feel like i just went through so i called 2 buddies who had bought 2 packs each and talked about it. They were pretty salty at the over 11% markup and clearly sheisty play they have made here. They purposely ran no pre orders and no price amount to trap people. Luckily my friend wanted to sell me his at cost so i returned mine. i was met with a shaking head and a weird attitude with the same cashier that met me with kindness before. I told him i felt like my LGS took advantage of me and he did not care at all all he had to say was “ YOU HVE THE PROMO SOL RING TOO, RIGHT?” wow that’s what this shop is concerned with rather than retaining customers that have brought tons of business not only in themselves but also in friends and family. $17 hyper inflated sol ring is the most important thing.

This shop just did me dirty and it feels really bad but you can find me at CTR...

I visited this card shop yesterday for the Mega Evolutions pre-release and was very excited to find a local card shop to frequent close to home. I arrived at the store and walked in with a couple gentlemen who had arrived at the same time as me for the pre-release. While we were waiting in line I was chatting with the gentleman in front of me about the products available, our favorite chase cards in the new set, etc. After the gentleman in front of me finished purchasing his booster box, I proceeded to the register and the employee asked me if I lived with/was married to the man in front of me. I promptly said no, as he was a stranger I was just conversing with in line, and was told that if I was "gaming the system" I would not be permitted to buy product in the future. I kindly explained to the employee that this was not my intention and I was there to purchase cards for my personal collection. He denied me a booster box and told me I was only able to purchase 6 individual booster sleeves because the limit is "one per household". While I certainly understand the policy and the reason it is in place, it is difficult for me to believe I was denied product when I simply walked in and was kindly conversing with the stranger in line in front of me. If the policy is one per household, then the employee should have been checking IDs and would have seen that the individual in front of me and I did not reside in the same household. It's extremely frustrating to be denied product on an accusation that I am married to/in a relationship with the other people in line simply because I am a woman. I very much enjoy collecting cards and maintaining my own personal collection, participating in leagues, and frequenting local card shows. I waited in the store for the other patrons behind me to check out and none of the men behind me in line were asked if they had any relationship to the others in line. What I was hoping would be a great experience at Great Escape Gaming was a significant let down. I unfortunately will not be returning and would strongly suggest other patrons (especially females) to be wary of this establishment and how they implement and maintain their...

Despite being local to the Flint area, I'd rather drive to another location than stop at Great Escape Gaming. It's okay for a few supplies like sleeves when you need them in a pinch, but much of the product is overpriced. For example, lots of older unpopular sets of Yugioh are still selling for the same price as when they were released. I've traveled to the majority of TCG shops in the mid Michigan/Detroit area, and GEG was by far the most expensive. I understand they need to make profit from product, and that product at shops are often upcharged for the convenience of not having to wait for product to ship, but most any other store will have cheaper pricing.

Trade in rate for product is 60% store credit and 30% cash, which is the lowest rates I've seen from any store I've visted. It would be more worth my time to go to another store or to just order online with those rates.

Owner is rarely around and not particularly friendly or welcoming. The few staff members they have make it worth it, but are mistreated.

My boyfriend worked here for some time and was never given an actual lunch break as he'd often be the only one working in the store. If he brought food, eating was often dependant on how busy the store was, and often meant going a whole shift without being able to eat until late (or not at all) if he was too busy with customers or working on orders. The store is also open until midnight on weekends, of which he would work the last four hours by himself, which made for several unsafe situations of homeless people and/or shady folks trying to sell stolen product during late hours when no one was around. Owner often contacted him on days off to have him do extra pieces of work (such as taking photos of cards/prizing), or would text his phone late at night pressing him about a call out when he was sick.

I do enjoy the staff that work here (Christian, Teach and Michelle) and the locals communities for Magic and Yugioh are good people, but the shop itself and the owners behavior (both toward customers and employees) leave a bad enough impression that I'd not return to this...