Level Up Video Games — Local services in Santa Cruz

My experience with Level Up Games was really bad. I took my Xbox 360 Elite Pro, a very nice machine there. They said they would fix it for $50. They gave it back to me after saying that it needed to likely have the laser replaced and the drawer that moves the disk in and out of the box, replaced. They were too lazy to replace the laser, and they said perhaps just a cleaning would fix it, and because putting in a new laser would cost money, they would try to just fix the drawer mechanism first. That didn't work, and they gave the box back to me. They gave the box back to me without testing whether or not the box was actually working again. I brought it back, and said my box is still not working, I would like you to fix it. They then took the Xbox back again to repair it, and gave it back to me again, without it working, again. At that point in time, I said to myself, if they can't fix it and they keep on trying to, maybe I shouldn't just bring it back to them. So I waited a couple months. I then saw the owner, who I believe is named Jerry, on the streets, outside of Level Up Games. I told him what had happened, and he said all I needed to do was bring it back, and he would make sure the Xbox got fixed, no charge. I waited about a year to bring back the Xbox, because I was living in my car and did not have a place to play the Xbox. I got into contact with Jerry the individual himself, and reminded him of what he had told me. He told me he would fix my Xbox, and he wouldn't charge me again to do it, because they haven't fixed the Xbox twice, even though they said they would. Then he contacted me, and he says that he won't fix the Xbox without me paying to get it fixed again, because it's outside of the warranty that they provide. I told him, that he told me, that it did not matter it was outside of the warranty, he told me he would still fix it. But because I waited a year to bring it back, he wouldn't fix it. He then told me, that the Xbox was just simply not capable of being fixed, and that his technician couldn't do it, because the rubber belts, that move the disc drawer in and out, are so melted that they would need to be replaced, and he felt that the whole Xbox was probably not working. That is ridiculous. The rubber belts that move the disc drawer, are not going to cause the entire Xbox to not work. Last I knew, the Xbox did work, except for needing a new laser, and a new disc drawer. Those are the things that they said were wrong with it originally. The service that they gave me was entirely substandard. Everyone I talked to was snide, disregarding, uncaring, and entirely unhelpful. When I talked to the manager, who I believe is Jerry, again, he tried to offer me $10 for the whole Xbox in order to take it off my hands. He essentially said, "I didn't fix your Xbox twice, after not checking to see if it was fixed, and gave it back to you TWICE, without it being fixed, and then you returned it to me to be fixed again after I said I would fix it for you, and now I'm telling you I won't do it, but here is 10 bucks for me to take your Xbox from you and then sell it to someone else". I know it might seem ironic and judgemental and Superior to say this, but the whole place seems like it's run by children, and the manager, Jerry himself, is an overzealous infant with an incompetent attitude towards customer service and others. They said they fix my Xbox and gave it back to me and it was still not working when they didn't test it to see if it worked. I then took it back, and they said they fix it again, and they didn't test it to see if it was working, AGAIN! The owner slash manager then gave me his word I would be able to fix it because of that mistake, and then he decided to try and charge me to fix it again! The epitome of incompetent, the epitome of disregard, the epitome of not...

Jerry the owner has been always such a fantastic person to deal with, to my knowledge him and his wife run the store as a mom and pop. They have fantastic selection and offerings such as professional refurbishing of even the retro'ist of retro consoles and the more obscure like the Panasonic Q (a notoriously difficult variant of GameCube to Fix) they even host gaming tournaments including retro events. The staff is tremendously helpful and has a friendly personal approach. Feels like you are buying games from a fan with the same love and understanding of the titles that you have. I've been supporting level up since they first opened and Jerry was always a really nice person to me even if I was just hanging out wasting time and not buying anything as a kid. Tremendous people amazing niche fit/offering and truly deserving of your business if you're a gamer of any sort. They're one of the only stores of the sort within a very wife radius of Santa Cruz. Cannot thank level up enough for being a safe haven for collectors, gamers, and aficionados of even the most obscure gaming and gaming related collectibles and accessories. Sure the internet can be a place to find many great collectors items but level up has such a wide variety of timeless classics in store for a price often less than what any collectibles resellers are offering for the same products online. I can't thank them enough for continuing to provide such a fantastic service and offering to the community. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much Level Up games! You guys make Santa Cruz a much nicer...

I live in the Portland Metro area of Oregon. Took a trip down to Cali to visit family, and got a chance to check out the shop. I'm a big collector of games, retro or not, and between Portland Oregon to Seattle Washington, we have one of the most faithful communities in the entire country. This game store really set the bar high in terms of service, quality of inventory, and faithfulness towards the preservation of these collectables. There are dozens of shops up here in Oregon and Washington, and none compare to this place. This place is an absolute gem! You guys should get some face up here at the next Portland Retro Gaming Expo, it's the largest retro gaming expo in the world! Thanks for all the service you game my nephew and I! I'll be sure to stop by the next time I'm...