PLAY N TRADE Franchise Stores Closed & Closings

75 thoughts on “PLAY N TRADE Franchise Stores Closed & Closings”

• I am glad I closed the store! I was a long 4 years. Aug2007 – Aug 2088 The first year was great! Sales were better than expected. I bought into 3 more stores in my state.

  year 2 saw a downturn in the economy…I also saw 2 more CEO’s and numerous changes in corporate staff. Sales were slipping quickly.

  Year 3.. the challenges were unexpected and HUGE. Suppliers (we were and never will be direct with publishers) couldn’t get product on time, didn’t have the needed products in stock after day 1-4 release. Sometimes we would wait 2-3 weeks for replaenishment. That meant Hundreds to thousands of dollars lost to competition and a loss of credibility.

  Year 4 was dismal. sales = 1/2 that of 2007/2008. no choice but to close. Asked PNT Corp for help but an unwillingness to help was the answer and I was forced to close bankrupt.

  Corporate support was lacking at best…some of thier answers included “get it at Target, call your competition and see what they have left”. Amazon became my 3rd largest supplier of video games.

  Unfortunately, I do not beleive that the corporate team has the skills to do the job that they want to…industry contacts, buying power, marketing, social networking…all of these things combined are setting themselves up for disaster not success.

  For the most part, The franchisees themsleves put their lives into the franchise and were duped into a system that has major and very evident flaws.

  Opening a entertainment based franchise in this type of market will surely go down in flames.

  I am glad to be disenfranchised with Play N Trade. I expect that PNT will see more closures in the future with less store openings. Expect less than 150 stores open by years end.

• The store on Mineral Spring Ave in North Providence, RI closed down this week.

  The owner said she was going to try to make it strictly family-owned and rename the store when I went there a few weeks ago, but I guess they couldn’t do it due to lack of profit.

• It was a little over a year ago that with great fanfare, and major press releases, that the Countryside IL Play N Trade brand new proto-type rediesgned store opened. This Play N Trade now too has closed. I believe the count of PlayNTrade stores closed in the last two years is over 100. Does anyone have a good number. And yet…PlayNTrage continue to sell franchises. In my opinion, Play N Trade is a black eye to franchising.

• I almost invested in PnT, but I am sure glad I didnt !!!! Great concept, but if you can’t make money its a no go. I heard a lot of area/region managers got duped as well.

• The Play N Trade in Carmel, Indiana closed in August (2011)

• Athens, GA closed

• I am in the process of closing my store now. Play N Trade in Chester NY. It has been open for a little over 2 years. $350k out of pocket!! All though I have a great location and great customers… The franchise was absolutely impossible to make money. Everyone gets paid but me! I was in the top 10% almost every month in sales and it made me nothing! Of the stores that closed … How did you get out of paying the royalty amount of the 10 year agreement? I suppose bankruptcy through the LLC?? Help a broke dude out!! All though I have to say one thing… PNT corp does have good people working there and they do try to help verbally! A shame that we all pay into “national advertising” anyone ever see a commercial or link out there? I sure as hell have not! Franchisees have to pay for advertising! Somebody reply with any info on closing and breaching the contract properly!

• They are nice people..

  unfortunately the business model is DEAD, and they have no clue what to do about it.

  It’s a shame…they have no answer for how being a showroom for amazon.com is a money maker….

  they have no answer for what to do with $100’ks of rapidly deteriorating inventory you need to buy (i went to fye yesterday..they had well over 1000 old games and movies lying on the floor),..

  they have no answer for how to compete in an increasingly digital and socially connected world

  they have no answer for what to do as publishers and manufacturers conspire to kill the used market (they won’t kill it, but they will make it impossible to make $$ on it)

  Don’t let them reel you in with disc protection and repairs…if thats your thing, just open a website and send out a couple thousand mailers every month..at least you won’t go broke on rent while you sit there all day bleeding to death buying 75cent used games off teenagers, desperately hoping for a copy of halo 3 to come in so you can make10 bucks

  if you are still interested, read gamestops 4th quarter earnings report..

• @ Todd, I feel your pain, I closed my store also at the end of 2010. First thing to do is cut them off ASAP, they will continue to debt your account or charge your CC for royalties. I dont know what Franchise agreement you signed, but when I did mine, there was not a personal guarantee in the agreement, so they couldn’t go after me personally, only my LLC, which was broke and had nothing. After a few months, PnT will contact you about the past royalties due, and send you a mutual termination form to sign, basically they are letting you slide on the royalties, and you promiss to release them of any wrong doing and not sue them. My store was open for 2 years also, and I have yet to meet anyone who has made a dime off this franchise.

• @Todd @Former Franchisee
  I agree with Former Franchisee. Cancel the Credit card or debit account they use for royalties. It sounds like you are on the way out so nothing to lose but pride anyway.
  I ended up closing in May 2011. having a Huge liquidation sale that they never saw anything of. Closing up shop and putting everything in storage.

  I signed a mutual termination form.

  I have sold most remaining inventory at Amazon.com for next to nothing but enough to pay for the loan payments I have for the nect 3 years.

  I realize you are top 10% but that means nothing when you are eating rice and beans.

  Get out while you can…save your home and your life and relationaships.

• Does anyone have current information on how many units have closed? I heard that over 100 stores have closed and am looking to confirm.

• Just wanted to report a couple more closures :

  My Play N Trade store closed July of 2011 (North Augusta, SC)

  And, someone I know had to close his Play N Trade in Nov. 2012 (Augusta, GA)

  Sad & very unfortunate!! Run far away from this franchise!!

• I’m wanting to find someone who wants to open a video game business without getting involved with a franchise. Maybe someone out there is doing their homework and reading this. I had to close my store and everything is FOR SALE.
  A whole stores worth for $9,950. I pd. $75,000, just for what I’m selling. Though I lost much more than that in total! Lets not talk about that – it makes me depressed!
  What I can talk about is how this great deal is a steal for someone who could use it.

  Contact me if anyone out there is interested. (706) 855-5521 (or) email me
  brownpac82@att.net

  I’m the person who posted the above store that closed in North Augusta, SC which
  is located real close to Augusta, GA

• We are looking for closing store fixtures. please send me email. thanks

• See my entry dated March 3rd 2012 – Still available if your interested.
  Don’t miss it . All info. you need is listed above. A great opportunity!

• I closed my store with excellent support from PNT corp. I was not looking for money from them. It’s not there place to give me $$. They helped me step by step And even helped me try to find someone to purchase my fixtures/ build out. Though many of us have. Closed, there are plenty of stores killing it! We have to take the fact that the economy sucks as well. Believe me .. It sucks losing $300k but with my aswsome accountant… We will get Alot back over time. It’s a gamble and we all know it going into this. Even Game Stops are closing nationally. PNT helped me with an awesome exit strategy and it was as simple as a couple of phone calls. Good luck to the stores that make it and better luck to the ones that are struggling! I tried my best and it was not good enough in my area.
  So I think I will open a Hooters now! I need a couple of partners .. Lol.. My dad already claimed to do the hiring!! He said if the girls can walk straight into a wall And her nose touches the wall before her boobs… No chance !!!
  I thank PNT for the support they provided…. But remember .. Nobody twisted our arms to open.. This adventure was a Learning experience and only made me wiser for my future plans!
  I do look forward in seeing a national add from PNT!!

• “I closed my store with excellent support from PNT corp.”

  This can’t be serious.

  What a great franchise endorsement. “With Play N Trade, you’ll get excellent support and assistance in closing your store and filing for bankruptcy. If you want to lose $300K, there’s no sweller gang to do it with than Play N Trade!”

  The sophomoric comment about Hooters and boobs makes me think that this is not really Todd Finley. Or is he that goofy?

• Not goofy.. It’s a Loss and that’s it. Gamestops are closing as well.
  So you don’t like boobs or Hooters.. Move on and get a job.. Listen.. I am not happy about my loss .. Especially my pocket. I just don’t feel it was PNT’s fault. I have some negative thoughts as well. But I know some store owners who are killing it. Goofy is everyone blaming PNT.. It’s a lot more than just PNT. Great revenue in a Hooters as well! Have a good one! Got to move forward now and get over my loss!

• Todd, I think you are either in shock or so fabulously wealthy that you can lose $350K without even bothering to think about what happened.

  You were sold a business model that isn’t viable. It doesn’t work. Period.

  Some PnTs are killing it? Really? How many? And how many are getting killed?

  Todd, you wrote: “I was in the top 10% almost every month in sales and it made me nothing!”

  There are what, fewer than 150 PnT stores? That means you were one of only 10-15 PnT stores in the Top 10%. That means you can be one of the top 15 stores in the world and STILL lose $350K out of pocket. Wow! How do you think the bottom 90% are doing?

  How many are “killing it”? 3? 4? How many people have lost their investments, savings, homes? 100? 200?

  Dude, you are in denial. If 90% of franchises are doing well and 10% are failing, so it goes. They took a risk and lost. If the ratio is reversed and even the top 10% are going bust, then there’s another name for it: scam.

  Just because they hired people to be nice to you on the phone doesn’t mean they didn’t sell you a concept they knew wasn’t going to work. And they kept your advertising money cuz they sure weren’t making enough off the actual sales being produced by the dying stores.

• It’s all good !! I was just thanking them for helping me get rid of my stuff. Yes I am wealthy but that has nothing to do with it . I am sorry you lost as well. Nobody likes losing an investment or a dream! Denial?? No .. Just nothing we can say will bring back any money for those who closed. I hated closing the store ! It’s no reason for a pissing match. Nor did I post my thanks to have a debate with you.. I don’t know anyone named Guest… Good luck with your future . Sometimes a loss makes the next venture a gain!

• Todd, I must respectfully disagree with you: It’s NOT all good.

  Hundreds of people have lost their total investments because they allowed PnT to seduce them with their slick sales schtick about the size of the gaming industry and how they are perfectly positioned to meet the need, etc. etc. They were not passively receiving calls, they and their master franchisees were aggressively recruiting, hard-selling, hiding their failures, etc. Only if prospective franchisees stumble on sites like this one will they get a warning from those of us who know better.

  I’m not bitter and I’m not saying you should be. However, THEY ARE STILL SELLING THIS DOOMED OPPORTUNITY TO THE UNSUSPECTING! They are still having Discovery Days and webinars, probably selling in the very towns where others have failed (which they won’t mention).

  I’m not suggesting a pissing contest. And, yes, what’s done is done. BUT I’m suggesting you be responsible and share what you know with people who might not be able to weather a $350K loss with as jovial an attitude as you have. I believe the fact that these guys haven’t stopped selling in order to fix what is broken indicates that they are crooks.

  My suggestion: Stop complimenting crooks just cuz they said thank you after they bent you over.

  (PS Guest is my real name, after my grandfather on my mother’s side)

• I am with you Guest. I will thank them on the phone. Sorry for a positive post. I should have known better. For the record.. I have no direct comments about PNT at this time or in the future!. I am not one to point fingers! Only things i point are my pistols ! I am glad I closed when I did during this. bad economy. I am also sad to see many local businesses close across the NY area! Including my favorite hardware store! Guest … Have a good one !

• Todd you are truly a trip…

  Pls join my franchise….its just $30,000…5% of revenue…all in costs are in the $250k range

  …(but i’ll tell you secret..its really about $350-$400k)

  and in a couple years, I promise I will help you close it!!

• As a former franchisee, my husband and I went through 3 years of financial demise. We never were able to make a penny off of our PNT franchise and during the process lost all of our financial resources. After trying to work with the bank where we had our SBA loan, they finally called our defaulted loan in and put our home that was collateral up for auction. Our family was literally pennliness and about to be homeless. A relative stepped in and purchased our home from the bank so we would not be on the street. We have three children and one of them is disabled. It is not that we do not know how to operate a business and we are both college graduates with post graduate degrees as well. The problem is the PNT business model does not work. That is evident with the number of stores that have closed. We are in the process of putting our lives back together after being forced to file bankruptcy due to the outstanding debt we had from opening our PNT store. We are thankful we still have a roof over our heads. One year ago in May, we were almost homeless.

• I would disagree with those who say that this industry is dead. Disc Replay hasn’t closed any stores, and our fdd item 19 numbers are very very strong. I feel for all the play n trade franchise owners who have failed. I encourage all people looking at any franchise to study the item 19, and call numerous existing franchisees. In my opinion a franchisor that does not use an item 19 claim is a red flag. Unit closures are also a huge red flag.

  John Chesny
  President
  Disc replay Worldwide, Inc

• Respectfully John, the model for you guys is very different than playntrade..

  it’s certainly true that there will always be a bricks/mortar location to barter used goods…

  that being said, the entire digital PHYSICAL media industry is a melting ice cube…there is no way for physical media to stay competitive..we can already download hi-def media wirelessly, and as 4G proliferates, the “jig is up” as they say

  It seems possible that a DEVICE oriented barter store could provide value ..streaming content needs devices, and they go obsolete very quickly..
  but for small players, its an impossible dream..the value in the used ipad/handheld/cell/device business is based on a very large and diverse product mix that requires a very big capital investment that includes the risk of buying stolen and broken merch…one bad buy can be a killer…

  there is one more iteration of physical media left…as the new devices proliferate, and streaming goes from niche, to common , to domination, there will be one more huge migration of people selling physical media to late adopters of the new technology..

  microsoft’s entire business strategy is built around the idea of streaming and downloading..surely the new xbox will support physical media, but it will emphasize downloads, huge hard drives and the cloud..

  good luck with your business…but a potential franchisee considering starting out in any of this is well served to be deeply suspicious of long term viablity

• Karl,

  You are correct the disc replay franchise model is very different from the play n trade model. We have evolved our model over the years, and will continue to do so.

  John

• I posted a comment (see above) March 3rd, 2012 looking to sell all my Play N Trade stuff from my closed store. I wanted to report that I was blessed to sell everything as a whole package (not having to break things up) selling everything to the same person. It took 8-9 months, but it sold! I can now move on, closing this chapter in my life. I prayed a lot, and thanks to God for answered prayer, and Craig’s List it happened.

  To anyone out there who has to sell – hang in there – and pray, pray, pray!!!!

• I am glad you were able to sell the contents from your closed Play N trade franchise that went out of business. Hopefully you can move on, and someday maybe use what you learned during your time as a Play N Trade fanchise owner in another business.

• Have there been attempts or is there currently any type of class action lawsuit against these liars and thieves?

• How many former franchisees went on to de-brand from PNT to either join another franchise or go independent and how did it work out? How did you resolve your issues with The Devils?

• Since there aren’t many left, how about the Area Developers? How did you finalize your divorce with the evil bride?

• Since I am no longer in the system, I thought I would share my experiences with anyone considering getting into the video game industry and if there is any significant benefit to being involved with The Big Bad Play N Trade franchise system in the hopes that you don’t make the same mistake that I and the hundreds of others that got duped into believing that you’re making a good investment.

  If you ask 5 people at corporate how many stores they have open your likely get 5 different answers. Also, if you asked the same 5 people how many stores have closed, once again you’ll get 5 different answers if you even get an answer at all. I think its fair to say they currently have app. 160 stores open in the US and Canada, app. 15-20 of those stores are in Canada through a recent merger During their peak, they boasted about having 240 operating stores. In the past couple of years, I would guess they’ve still opened 20 new stores to new franchisees (that’s probably on the high side). . Let’s do some quick math…. So of the 160 current stores, roughly 40 of those stores were open in the last 2 years, app. half new franchisees and the other half through the merger. So they where at 240 at their peak and now app. 160, with 20 of those being through the merger which translates into 120 stores that have closed. Roughly HALF or a 50% success rate (I would say this is a generous figure if anything). These statistics are off the charts!! So while they are opening stores, they are closing more than they are opening.

  There are some key factors that I would be willing to bet everything I lost on going into business with them that I promise you they will not share with you. Unless your name is Gamestop, Best Buy or Wal-Mart, you are limited to purchasing your games from a 3rd party distributor. The Big 3 buy direct from the video game manufacturer. What does that mean? It’s pretty simple… Big Bad PNT offers zero, zilch, nada assistance in the ability to purchase new games. If you are going to try and compete with the big boys, you have to not only sell new releases, you have to push pre-orders. It’s part of their montra and its true. In order to push pre-orders, you have to have great relationships with these distribution companies. What this means is that its critical to get your titles prior to release date. This varies by location and distributor. Some distributors are not even able to service certain parts of the country based on where they are located and how many copies of these titles they are allocated. Allocation is a very important term in this industry. Just because you want 500 copies of Call of Duty doesn’t mean you’ll get it. By no means am I saying that its impossible. Here’s how you can improve (but still not guarantee) your chances… You have to find a great distributor in your area, if there is one that has the clout to get their hands on enough titles to appease all their clients, not just BBPNT. There are 2 ways of getting these titles, 1) you leave a revolving line of credit with said distributor and when you’ve used that line, you have to put money back in to able to get future titles. In other words, you have to pre-pay for your games, not COD, not net 30, PRE-PAY!! The other is based on your credit worthiness, just like applying for a loan. It’s based on your credit history, collateral, etc.. Even the best credit will not get enough inventory, especially for the bigger titles and during the holidays so that really only leaves the 1st option. Most if not all of these franchisees (existing and former) find it difficult to tie up enough funds to get the inventory they need. While you are taking $5 deposits on these titles so that the consumer is “assured” of getting their title on release date. These people don’t want to wait, they are going somewhere else to get that game. Many times these titles come in later that day or the next day and you’re pissing off and/or losing customers. Imagine going to see a movie on release date and someone coming out saying we never got our movie and doing that repeatedly. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t go back, or at least not to get a new release. This is where the fun starts. Not the recipe for success to say the least.

  BBPNT does not own any corporate stores. They used to own 1 in Orange County and closed it down due to poor sales (at what seemed like a very good location so you can’t blame it on the real estate), so in essence they are just in the business of selling franchise’s when they have no clue how to run a profitable store themselves. They are telling you how great their franchise is and you should put your hard earned money into their business when in fact they know the difficulties/challenges that are waiting for you after it’s too late. Pretty cool huh?

  If they tell you that they have buying power collectively through all the franchisees, it’s a crock!!! You do not get better pricing because you belong to a franchise model unless there is 1 buyer. That’s the way the world works, buy in bulk, get a better deal. Until recently, they didn’t touch anything (new/used games and accessories). Now they are nice enough to get you pennies on the dollar to buy back your used inventory only to turn around and sell it to another franchisee or on their e-commerce site for a profit. That’s nice of them isn’t it? I haven’t even gotten into how volatile the industry is or the tremendous turnover they’ve have with their corporate “if you wanna call them” executives in the past couple of years. Or how none of them have any video game industry background of any relevance. You are paying a franchise fee and royalties for the POS system and some nice marketing material. Translated, that basically makes you an independent that’s paying a franchise fee and royalties.

  While there are some franchisees that are successful and making money, the vast majority are barely making any if not losing and simply can’t continue bleeding. Again, I would be willing to bet everything I lost that there are indeed more casualties in the not too distant future. So after you’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, they will still come after you if you have an outstanding balance to the extent that they can. They may seem nice and sweet while you are paying them royalties but once the faucet gets turned off, they flip the switch and turn into vultures and will pick at as much of the carcass as they can. In my opinion, these people belong in jail next to the Bernie Madoff’s of the world. Please, please, please, I am begging anyone who reads this before its too late to proceed with extreme caution unless of course you have a few hundred thousand to burn like our friend Mr Chesney above. If you are interested in hearing more, please post your comment or feel free to send me an email at [redacted*]. And oh by the way, speaking of class action, nothing would serve them justice more than an army of us to put them out of business and stop destroying peoples lives. You would be better off giving me the money, at least you know where its going and it would be for a great cause…lol. Sadly, there’s more truth than humor in that last comment.

  *NOTE: We don’t allow posting of personal info in comments. If you wish to exchange info with another commenter, please send an email request to UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com. Thanks. ADMIN

• yep…

  bad model, long term business is going digital, no competitive advantage, actually some major disadvantages

  …add some really incompentent and self important people at corporate, and you have a recipe for lots of bankruptcy auctions..

  I guess you are a little bitter…can’t blame you..

• The Last Play N Trade in Colorado Closed in July 2012

• Karl, this is not about being bitter, its about hoping someone reads this and doesn’t get taken to the cleaners. My money is gone, no amount of bitterness will bring it back. The only gratitude I could get at this point is to watch them fail, which in my opinion is just a matter of time.

• Correction: It’s Mr. Todd Findley, not Mr. John Chesney that had no issues watching a few hundred thousand go poof!!

• I am informed that the last store in Montana CLOSED July 2012! No more Montana in the mix.

  And—I must 100% agree with Action Jackson on his assement of the PNT system. Long post but very accurate.

  RUN, DO NOT WALK, AWAY FROM PNT!

  Many have left the corp structure and more stores are aiming to close by years end. I know of 2 more that are drowning in debt and have no way out.

  I still have my entire store buildout in storage. about $1000 in game related SHIT in my office collecting dust. Most sell on Amazon for $1 or less.

  I bet less than 125 stores will be open by years end unless there are this many now!

• Thanks for adding to the list Ex. Yea, sorry for the winded email, but you, I and everyone else on here knows there’s still more. Come on out people, where ever you are. Heck, I wouldn’t mind to see some good comments, although, I won’t hold my breath. Stop stealing people’s money you freakin theives!!!

• I see all these horror stories about pnt failures and it just upsets the hell out of me. I started a game store just me and my best friend. We watched 4 play n trades around us close and thought wow what the hell are they doing?! These places must be run by monkeys because we were and still are making TRUCK LOADS of money!?!?! How is it possible they can be failing?? Them i read here 300k…. 100k….. 150k…. What the hell are you all spending that money on?!

  We opened our first store with 20,000 we opened our second store with 25,000 and we opened our third location with 35,000 (its our flagship store) lol if we had 300k to blow on creating a business we would have 6 stores across the state with cash to spare! Now i see folks have supply issues but there are distributors that can get you new releases the day they come out! The trick is you dont make money on a new release! You pray kids trade 10 titles to get that one and your mark up is where the cash is! And you sell that new release at cost 55.53 and they trade in 90$ worth of games! You do that a hundred times and thats how you survive! We have anything but buying power ut we know how to hunt! We clean our flea markets, we destroy garge sales, and our wifes pounce on the target sales and walmart clearance sales! If its a sealed game and we make a dime we are shocked but if it brings in ten titles well then we have a chance!

  The model of a game store these days is tough and a lot fail i guess but its not just video games! Gt in to magic the gathering! Sell the cards cheap and watch how many times you sell a game to that card player who has been playing with his friends for the last hour in your store. Maybe we should start a franchise. We have three stores and they are feeding our kids paying our bills and fullfiling our dreams of ownership. Of course i would have to say be independant! Pnt has a name and no one cares, we dont have a national name but we have 20,000 unique customers who love us! I have more to say but im on an ipad and i hate typing on these things :/ folks PnT isnt going to make you wealthy but try it alone with out royalties and i know you can kick ass. Advertising fees?!?! Really? We only do free on campus school ads and go to the kids! Not many people know this but most kids couldnt care less about tv these days and about all of them have no idea what the hell a radio is! They have ipods! Which you had better be selling! Lol meh i’m rambling but i feel bad for the closed stores i feel they could have been saved :/

• Congrats Dwalk…you are doing the right thing. Assuming you are in a location that has the population for all the things you said. Buying from your competiton to supply your store. Buying high $$ on new and selling used at a markup. Just like us franchisees or ex-franchisees.
  In my location…i had no Target, Shopko, Costco…SCouring the garage sales in January…Haha…you must be in the south where it never gets cold.

  Nobody said the industry is dead…we make comment that the PNT model is flawed and that there is no help from corp.

  Knowing what I know now I probably could have made $$ on my own but hindsight is 20-20.

  If you think it is working for you and your model is good…stick with it. Namecalling the competition monkeys reflects a sour attitude best left at the dinner table.

• Would absolutely love to hear about a class action lawsuit. If we even got our franchise fee back, we would be satisfied. We literally lost our home in a foreclosure auction because we bought into the business in 2007. Worst decision we ever made. We are still trying to get our life back.

• Looking on a couple sites…under 140 stores open.

  Class action would be helpful but probably not get anything.

  They have nothing to give back. Thier own corp staff is leaving quickly and getting jobs that pay the rent.

• what happens if your a customer with a preorder and the store doesnt honor your money back for the preorder? I feel the corperate with all the closing stores should be responsible. the three locations the owner had closed up over night. Not a word from anyone. Please give me an idea of what i can do.. thanks.

• @Honesty. I would have given your money back, that’s just me, and that’s what I did when I closed my store down, only had a few that didn’t call me back. You have a couple of options…

  1.If you have the owners info, call him, and see what he can do, but there is a good chance that he has nothing left, but you never know.

  2.Call Play N Trade Corporate, at best you might get a gift card to use at another location if there is one near you. I would guess that you will never hear from them, but its worth a shot.

  3.If you paid for the full amount of the game, in cash?? File a claim in small claims court against the owner.

  Outside of that, you are probably out of luck, but that’s what i would try in situation

• Honesty, are you really talking about a $5 depoisit on a pre-order? We are all talking about losing hundreds of thousands of dollars and your worried about $5 you freakin moron. Can we all chip in and help this idiot get his $5 deposit back. Man, some people are so effin stupid.

• Just as an fyi every single play n trade in charoltte, n.c. Has closed epic fail

• I opened my store in 2008 and closed it in 2009. I bought my starting inventory from a PNT closing in 2008 after 8 months of operation. But PNT Corp told me that that owner was the problem not the business model. It is a unique incident. When I was interviewing the current store owners in the area, none of them told me the truth. They were all still drinking PNT coolaid. Expensive lessons in deed.
  I am surprise that Jimmy Kindred is still there, selling this BS of a franchise.

• I dont think they are even selling franchises anymore, looking at all the states where they have to register, California, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, they all expired in like April 2012 and never renewed it. If I were guessing, there are less than 60 stores open. Just checking out Facebook, I saw that a top 5 store in Ocala Florida is now
  doing business under a new name, so they must have been able to get out of their franchise agreement.

• I beleive Gamestops year over year sales in stores during the holiday season fell by over 7% in 2012

  i can’t imagine play n trade didn’t do worse… i love games, my kids play them, i play them…play and trade stores look immaculate, but they are also lifeless and they are often out of games…

  i have had a situaiton with them where the manager offered for me to come back in 2 hours so he could out and get a title at best buy!!! “anything to keep your business sir” he said…

  that’s hustle, but its not a business model