I've heard that you can get credit back to your account for unused generic tickets. How do I go about doing so? I came across some of my old unused generic tickets and it would be great to use the credit for those. Baring that, it would be good to know what to do this year so I'm not in the same boat with my left over generics this year.

You can return unused Generics, but you have to return them before sometime Sunday afternoon of the year in which you bought them.  Tickets from previous years aren't worth anything more than the paper on which they're printed.

What to do?  Don't buy more than you think you'll need.  I haven't bought any in years.  If you do, plan to spend Sunday returning them or plan on writing them off after the con.

Gotcha, Just didn't know the procedure for returning them. I always have a few generics for random things that come up and rarely end up with more than a couple, but they do add up after a while.

Yup you can't return tickets from a prior year; generics need to be returned to customer service before the end of the show.

I'm sorry but does it say this somewhere explicitly? I went last year for the first time, bought a bunch of generic tickets because for some reason I thought they didn't expire. Maybe I read through too fast and only caught the part about system credits... Only now in preparation of this year am I coming to realize that I was wrong about the tickets.
I'd just like to see the part of the documentation that says they must be returned it will be invalidated. It clearly says that for refunds, things must be done at a certain day/time, it just didn't occur to me because I didn't really want a refund, I just wanted to save them for later. I feel like a jerk for wasting an extra $30 for nothing. 

Policies & Show Information: "REMINDER: Any unused generic tickets may only be refunded via system credit and must be turned in to the Customer Service kiosk onsite before 4:00 pm on Sunday, August 7, 2016. More information on our Ticket Refund Policies can be found on the Refund & Exchange Policies page. Event tickets are only good for the year in which they were purchased."

Refund & Exchange Policies: "The last day to receive a ticket refund is 4:30 pm, Sunday, August 7, 2016, at the Customer Service kiosk."

Terms of Service: "The last day to receive a generic ticket or event specific ticket refund is Sunday, August 7, no later than 4:00 pm, at the Customer Service kiosks."
 

Unfortunately I don't know what usually happens, because I'm new. The fact that I'm not the only one to get burned by this it seems, should call into question how plain it is.

I truly didn't think the generic ticket was synonymous with event ticket. Even while reading the disclosures, I find the wording of Event-specific ticket and event ticket to sound, arguably, like something slightly different than Generic ticket.

It makes all the sense in the world why event specific tickets would be treated as unique, non-refundable, void after the event, currency. The generic system of "like cash for admission fees" seems to carry an implication that it's not going to just dry up and vanish. If it's tradable for credit then, without penalty, why not now? I'm sure the paperwork is gruesome, and tracking random ticket validity, for eternity, is the last thing anyone wants to do. All that would have been required to happen is to print an expiration date on the generic tickets, and there wouldn't be any chance of misinterpreting a section of seven pages of policy. Or a helpful line of text on the tickets that says "Hey kids! Don't forget to return any unused tickets for credit towards next year!"

Sorry you misunderstood and lost out. That sucks.

Your suggestion of including an expiration date isn't a bad one, but I have no idea how widespread the problem is. You're probably in a pretty small minority.
 

I got burned by this one a few years ago; I assume at least some others have as well. The More You Know!

I'm sorry this is a problem for you, but as Alec posted, it's pretty clear in the Event Host Policy that physical tickets don't carry over, but you can get a refund onsite for your generics prior to show closure.

Marian McBrine
Event Coordinator
Gen Con LLC

Unless i really plan on needing generics i just don't bother anymore. More than once i've looked at the customer service line on Sunday and figured it wasn't worth the 2-10 bucks in generics i had left over in past years. I miss out on the odd event or two but overall i'm farther ahead now.

"which although it is the policy, is highly unfair: there should be the capability of using generics in future years"
I'm sorry - why is this "highly" unfair?  Where else do you ever go that if you buy a ticket and don't use it, you can go back the next time the event is run ( a year later)and get credit for it?  
Not to be rude, but I don't see this as any different than any other fair / convention / street party / movie theater / ball game / ballet / play. "yeah, I was going to see the Bengals play the Steelers last year, but I couldn't come.  I want a ticket for today's game."  :)

I always tell myself I need to return those (and a couple of years I have and enjoyed the credit next year) - but I usually forget on Sunday in the rush to get things ready to go home (and/or make that one last trip through the exhibit hall)

I always tell myself I need to return those (and a couple of years I have and enjoyed the credit next year) - but I usually forget on Sunday in the rush to get things ready to go home (and/or make that one last trip through the exhibit hall) :D

If you don't call them tickets, but tokens, I think your analogy breaks down pretty quickly. You trade money for an object that holds an equivalent value. You walk around to different games or booths or events, and trade in your token. It's generic, can be used at whichever place you choose, and you can save it and come back again later, or next year. Gift cards, stamps, coupons, tickets, certificates all have plenty of applications as revolving currency. 

Even if these examples suggest that the location is open year round, which may be true in some cases, it doesn't always apply. They are transferable, convertible, and redeemable at various vendors. We're not talking about event specific tickets, like to a ballet, sports event or even an airline ticket. This is a question about generic tickets only. Unless the owner of GenCon is changing, the money all stays in the same bank account right?

I just lost the game.

It got me and my buddy too for $8 and $6 respectively.  I was planning to keep them until next year.    I figured I could handle my own system credit.

But I guess that's not how it Works.

Had a bite to eat at 4:00.  Decided to return them at 5:00ish.  "Oh sorry, computers are packed up now."

So, I like the idea of giving it to my favorite GM.  How long do they have to turn it in because now I'd have to mail it to them?

There is the oft forgotten rule too at an unused ticket for another event works as a generic ticket for it's face value.