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Today was probably the last time I will ever set foot in a gamestop...

G

GKDAIR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 4, 2011
230
4
So I went to gamestop to buy some PS2 stuff, which I will be returning tomorrow.

Anyway, while I was waiting, the cashier, who honestly looked like a younger Frodo Baggings, was checking out this...I wanna say...mom? who was buying a game for her kid. It was either a young mom or an older sister.

The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?

The cashier would not stop pestering her, at all. He would not stop shoving pre-order bonuses and membership card offers down her throat. Worst of all he was kind of semi-flirting with her. But he just keeps going on and on and on and on with her, literally won't leave her alone, and im just standing there with a poker face and finally I lost it.

I said "Dude, stop pestering her she doesn't want any of your pre-order bullcrap"

The dude didn't speak other another word besides the whole "That will be Blank Dollars, thank you sir" deal.

When I was walking outside of the store the woman (who I thought had left) pulled me over to the side and said "Thanks."

Such a disgusting store.
 
Yup that's retail for you. Yes it's annoying, but that's the name of the business. Making money. It happens everywhere. Some more than others. Not sure why you wouldn't want to return again. I've worked in retail and we pretty much have to be able to sell anything to customers.

Not too sound like a jerk man, but if I was an employee and you stepped in I would have told you to buzz off. Would you likely come back? Nope. But seeing as how you would react you probably wouldn't come back anyways. I've lost all patients for customers. Not worth taking customer crap for a min wage job. Yea it's bad "customer service," but if a customer is gonna cross the line, then so am I. They can go ahead and give a bad review on Yelp or whatever. Not a big deal for that type of job. Don't get me wrong, I think customers should be treated with respect, but if they cross the line, don't expect to blow you a kiss when you start verbally bashing me.

You went to a GameStop, what do you honestly expect?

Hope that didn't sound too harsh, but I see it from both sides. I just have strong opinions when it comes to the wonderful world of retail or WWOR (war) as I call it :D
 
I noticed this today too. My gamestop at the last place I lived was never pushy but today my friend went to buy something and the clerk suggestive sold him like 7 things and kept pestering him until my friend finally said "I used to work in retail, I know all the tricks, I simply want my controller, nothing more." and then the dude shut up.

Maybe Gamestop employees are under a new job threat or something hence why they are extra pushy.

I personally don't like to be pestered in a store. I only want help if I ask for it (although I didn't mind the nice deaf guy at the Apple store who offered me help by typing on a Macbook air, he was cool and I'm glad Apple employed him in such a demanding environment).
 
GKDAIR said:
So I went to gamestop to buy some PS2 stuff, which I will be returning tomorrow.

Anyway, while I was waiting, the cashier, who honestly looked like a younger Frodo Baggings, was checking out this...I wanna say...mom? who was buying a game for her kid. It was either a young mom or an older sister.

The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?

The cashier would not stop pestering her, at all. He would not stop shoving pre-order bonuses and membership card offers down her throat. Worst of all he was kind of semi-flirting with her. But he just keeps going on and on and on and on with her, literally won't leave her alone, and im just standing there with a poker face and finally I lost it.

I said "Dude, stop pestering her she doesn't want any of your pre-order bullcrap"

The dude didn't speak other another word besides the whole "That will be Blank Dollars, thank you sir" deal.

When I was walking outside of the store the woman (who I thought had left) pulled me over to the side and said "Thanks."

Such a disgusting store.
Click to expand...

As a gamer who works at a gamestop a couple days a week. I'll put it this way, it's not the kid's fault. You can and will be fired if your numbers aren't high enough. In the market i'm in we need to maintain 12% of weekly transactions for the Pro card, and 25+% for reserves. And games like Call of Duty they expect our store to break 1000 preorders.

That kid is doing what corporate expects of him. So being a dick and intruding on someone's transaction is pretty rude.

Also, as a woman, your "The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?" has earned you the "Sexist Dick of the Day Award". Congratulations, you should be proud.


chrono1081 said:
I noticed this today too. My gamestop at the last place I lived was never pushy but today my friend went to buy something and the clerk suggestive sold him like 7 things and kept pestering him until my friend finally said "I used to work in retail, I know all the tricks, I simply want my controller, nothing more." and then the dude shut up.

Maybe Gamestop employees are under a new job threat or something hence why they are extra pushy.

I personally don't like to be pestered in a store. I only want help if I ask for it (although I didn't mind the nice deaf guy at the Apple store who offered me help by typing on a Macbook air, he was cool and I'm glad Apple employed him in such a demanding environment).
Click to expand...

Yes, corporate is cracking down on low numbers. Mostly because game sales are tanking, so they're being desperate and penalizing low performing employees.
 
skottichan said:
As a gamer who works at a gamestop a couple days a week. I'll put it this way, it's not the kid's fault. You can and will be fired if your numbers aren't high enough. In the market i'm in we need to maintain 12% of weekly transactions for the Pro card, and 25+% for reserves. And games like Call of Duty they expect our store to break 1000 preorders.

That kid is doing what corporate expects of him. So being a dick and intruding on someone's transaction is pretty rude.

Also, as a woman, your "The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?" has earned you the "Sexist Dick of the Day Award". Congratulations, you should be proud.




Yes, corporate is cracking down on low numbers. Mostly because game sales are tanking, so they're being desperate and penalizing low performing employees.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Best Buy's tactic when I worked there 10 years ago... Look how well that turned out /sarcasm
 
PC World here in the UK seem to be heading in this direction. I reserved an iPad for pickup, should have been in that store for no more than 10 minutes. I was there for half an hour whilst the salesman tried to flog me their in-house extended warranty, cloud storage, movie streaming service, etc.

The only thing that stopped me from telling him he'd just lost my sale was that I needed the iPad and nowhere else had any stock. I don't care if it's company policy to pester customers, it's obnoxious. I consider it rude when they keep plugging away after I've clearly shown I'm not interested.

I haven't bought anything from PC World since.
 
I think this is happening across all retail as they struggle more and more.

I recently had a couple of slightly off experiences in Richer Sounds (If you know the UK retail scene, they are renowned for their stellar customer experience - So, I just put them down to bad luck) but my brother recently bought a TV from them and was treated to a really heavy, Dixons like sales experience. Very, very unlike them... It must be really, really bad out there...

I suspect the only retailers that survive are going to be the one's that hold their nerve and don't descend into pressure selling?
 
jeremy h said:
I think this is happening across all retail as they struggle more and more.

I recently had a couple of slightly off experiences in Richer Sounds (If you know the UK retail scene, they are renowned for their stellar customer experience - So, I just put them down to bad luck) but my brother recently bought a TV from them and was treated to a really heavy, Dixons like sales experience. Very, very unlike them... It must be really, really bad out there...

I suspect the only retailers that survive are going to be the one's that hold their nerve and don't descend into pressure selling?
Click to expand...

You're exactly right. This is why the original founder/CEO of Beat Buy is now trying to buyout the company. Is goal, if he succeeds, is to provide amazon like pricing with an apple store-esq feel.
 
skottichan said:
As a gamer who works at a gamestop a couple days a week. I'll put it this way, it's not the kid's fault. You can and will be fired if your numbers aren't high enough. In the market i'm in we need to maintain 12% of weekly transactions for the Pro card, and 25+% for reserves. And games like Call of Duty they expect our store to break 1000 preorders.

That kid is doing what corporate expects of him. So being a dick and intruding on someone's transaction is pretty rude.

Also, as a woman, your "The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?" has earned you the "Sexist Dick of the Day Award". Congratulations, you should be proud.




Yes, corporate is cracking down on low numbers. Mostly because game sales are tanking, so they're being desperate and penalizing low performing employees.
Click to expand...


So corporate's plan is to pester customers so much that it makes them never want to set foot in Gamestop again. They must have some Harvard Business School alumni working there :rolleyes: I think if they stopped bugging customers to buy all this extra crap that no one is interested in and had competitive prices and outstanding customer service, that would do much more for the company than whatever garbage they're trying to push. I don't want to feel like I'm buying a used car from one of those sleazy "buy here, pay here" lots when all I'm buying is a freaking video game.


I was at a store a few weeks ago and the cashier kept bugging me to sign up for one of their stupid credit cards.
"Will this be on your store credit card today?" No
"Do you have a store credit card?" No
"Would you like to apply for a store credit card?" No
"You can save 10% by applying for a store credit card!" No
"You don't even have to be approved, you get the 10% off just for applying!" No, I do not want a store credit card, I just want to buy my stuff and pay for it with my debit card.

It really makes me not want to go back to that store if I'm going to be bothered like that every time. And I know the cashier is just doing her job and the orders to do that come down from way up in the corporate ladder, but I don't think the big shots coming up with these awful ideas actually go into their stores and experience it from a customer's perspective. It's obnoxious, annoying, and one of the reasons why people buy stuff online instead of in stores now.
 
yg17 said:
I was at a store a few weeks ago and the cashier kept bugging me to sign up for one of their stupid credit cards.
"Will this be on your store credit card today?" No
"Do you have a store credit card?" No
"Would you like to apply for a store credit card?" No
"You can save 10% by applying for a store credit card!" No
"You don't even have to be approved, you get the 10% off just for applying!" No, I do not want a store credit card, I just want to buy my stuff and pay for it with my debit card.
Click to expand...



*looks at avatar*

You're a freaking naysayer I tell you! And the last two phrases were factual statements and no questions, you should have replied 'Yes'!
 
GKDAIR said:
So I went to gamestop to buy some PS2 stuff, which I will be returning tomorrow.

Anyway, while I was waiting, the cashier, who honestly looked like a younger Frodo Baggings, was checking out this...I wanna say...mom? who was buying a game for her kid. It was either a young mom or an older sister.

The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?

The cashier would not stop pestering her, at all. He would not stop shoving pre-order bonuses and membership card offers down her throat. Worst of all he was kind of semi-flirting with her. But he just keeps going on and on and on and on with her, literally won't leave her alone, and im just standing there with a poker face and finally I lost it.

I said "Dude, stop pestering her she doesn't want any of your pre-order bullcrap"

The dude didn't speak other another word besides the whole "That will be Blank Dollars, thank you sir" deal.

When I was walking outside of the store the woman (who I thought had left) pulled me over to the side and said "Thanks."

Such a disgusting store.
Click to expand...

This is disgustingly sexist... OP please think before you write

Highly offensive to women
 
I honestly hate going into Gamestops... I made the decision a long time ago not to go back.
 
Vote with your wallets people. Yes, this will require some sacrificing on your end, but if everyone did it, we'd all be better off.
 
tech4all said:
Yup that's retail for you. Yes it's annoying, but that's the name of the business. Making money. It happens everywhere. Some more than others. Not sure why you wouldn't want to return again. I've worked in retail and we pretty much have to be able to sell anything to customers.

Not too sound like a jerk man, but if I was an employee and you stepped in I would have told you to buzz off. Would you likely come back? Nope. But seeing as how you would react you probably wouldn't come back anyways. I've lost all patients for customers. Not worth taking customer crap for a min wage job. Yea it's bad "customer service," but if a customer is gonna cross the line, then so am I. They can go ahead and give a bad review on Yelp or whatever. Not a big deal for that type of job. Don't get me wrong, I think customers should be treated with respect, but if they cross the line, don't expect to blow you a kiss when you start verbally bashing me.

You went to a GameStop, what do you honestly expect?

Hope that didn't sound too harsh, but I see it from both sides. I just have strong opinions when it comes to the wonderful world of retail or WWOR (war) as I call it :D
Click to expand...

Completely agree.

Plus, you have to remember, that guy is under pressure to distribute those promos. He's doing his job. Sure the flirting was unnecessary, but outside of that?

----------
SiPi said:
This is disgustingly sexist... OP please think before you write

Highly offensive to women
Click to expand...

Lol OP said that woman was good looking and now he's sexist?
 
This is why online shopping is winning. Yesterday I seen a huge sign in front of several Gamestops here in NYC that read "50% more for trade ins". I guess that Gamefly commercial really got to them.
 
GKDAIR said:
So I went to gamestop to buy some PS2 stuff, which I will be returning tomorrow.

Anyway, while I was waiting, the cashier, who honestly looked like a younger Frodo Baggings, was checking out this...I wanna say...mom? who was buying a game for her kid. It was either a young mom or an older sister.

The mom looked decent, kinda had that punk rock thing going on, shes probably an animal behind closed doors ya know?

The cashier would not stop pestering her, at all. He would not stop shoving pre-order bonuses and membership card offers down her throat. Worst of all he was kind of semi-flirting with her. But he just keeps going on and on and on and on with her, literally won't leave her alone, and im just standing there with a poker face and finally I lost it.

I said "Dude, stop pestering her she doesn't want any of your pre-order bullcrap"

The dude didn't speak other another word besides the whole "That will be Blank Dollars, thank you sir" deal.

When I was walking outside of the store the woman (who I thought had left) pulled me over to the side and said "Thanks."

Such a disgusting store.
Click to expand...

So the kid was overt and you were covert. Sounds like you're just as bad as that kid.

However, I think it's completely rational to judge 17,000+ people off one employee. :rolleyes:

While I typically preorder my games at Best Buy, I've never had a poor experience in a Gamestop. In fact, the ones I've been in do a pretty good job of dealing with the ******** tweens and teens and their oblivious parents.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
This is why online shopping is winning. Yesterday I seen a huge sign in front of several Gamestops here in NYC that read "50% more for trade ins". I guess that Gamefly commercial really got to them.
Click to expand...

Ya. Especially since now online retailers are able to get you the products on the day of release.

There simply is no longer a need for brick-and-mortar stores for things like this other than simply to display them (TVs, stuff like that).

Too bad Best Buy isn't realizing this and closing down stores and moving toward strictly online business.
 
eric/ said:
Too bad Best Buy isn't realizing this and closing down stores and moving toward strictly online business.
Click to expand...

It's really not. Best buy sucks. We would be better off without them. Just like GameStop. These places just overcharge for things you can get cheaper online. They'll try to sell you a 99 cent hdmi cable for 40 bucks then try to tell you the two cables aren't exactly the same, which they are.
 
zioxide said:
It's really not. Best buy sucks. We would be better off without them. Just like GameStop. These places just overcharge for things you can get cheaper online. They'll try to sell you a 99 cent hdmi cable for 40 bucks then try to tell you they don't do the same exact thing.
Click to expand...

Amen to that!!!!

The only store I go to nowadays is B&H here in NYC. I love that store. Even their online site is good.

Before that I was a frequent CompUSA customer before they went downhill.
 
zioxide said:
It's really not. Best buy sucks. We would be better off without them. Just like GameStop. These places just overcharge for things you can get cheaper online. They'll try to sell you a 99 cent hdmi cable for 40 bucks then try to tell you the two cables aren't exactly the same, which they are.
Click to expand...

Every company ever does that
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
Amen to that!!!!

The only store I go to nowadays is B&H here in NYC. I love that store. Even their online site is good.
Click to expand...

B&H ****in rocks. They are my go to store for anything big electronics purchases, especially my camera (obviously). Never been to the actual store but I've ordered from them countless times and it's always been great.

eric/ said:
Every company ever does that
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Obviously, a retail store is going to have to mark up their products to account for operating expenses, overhead, etc. But there's a difference between that and completely fleecing the customer with a 50x markup on a piece of wire.
 
yg17 said:
So corporate's plan is to pester customers so much that it makes them never want to set foot in Gamestop again. They must have some Harvard Business School alumni working there :rolleyes: I think if they stopped bugging customers to buy all this extra crap that no one is interested in and had competitive prices and outstanding customer service, that would do much more for the company than whatever garbage they're trying to push. I don't want to feel like I'm buying a used car from one of those sleazy "buy here, pay here" lots when all I'm buying is a freaking video game.
Click to expand...

Yes. I hate this with a passion. "Do you want the extended warranty for this $10 item?" "Do you want to get our rewards card?" "Do you want to apply for our credit card?" And when you say no, it's "are you sure...it's a really great offer!"

All this is, is another revenue stream for them. That's why they push it so hard. Why the hell would I pay for an extended warranty for a cable??

eric/ said:
There simply is no longer a need for brick-and-mortar stores for things like this other than simply to display them (TVs, stuff like that).
Click to expand...

For stuff like games, dvds, etc, sure. But for actual hardware, I want to see it and get a real feel for it before I buy. An online store simply won't do for that kind of thing. If they could compete, even within 10% of the cost, with online stores, I would always buy in store. And it would help, too, if they had actual knowledgeable staff, not the high schooler saying things like "Oh yes, the HDMI on that TV will give you much faster internet!"

zioxide said:
It's really not. Best buy sucks. We would be better off without them. Just like GameStop. These places just overcharge for things you can get cheaper online. They'll try to sell you a 99 cent hdmi cable for 40 bucks then try to tell you the two cables aren't exactly the same, which they are.
Click to expand...

That is my biggest beef with these places. You go into Best Buy to get a simple RCA cable, and it's a minimum of $15, some upwards of $40. The worst is all that Monster Cable crap for digital cables. If using coaxial digital audio, a cheap RCA cable from 1983 is going to sound exactly the same as the double ferrite oxygen-free copper gold-plated connector inch-thich RCA cable from Monster for $50. Hell, a coat hanger as wire would sound the same if it transmitted the signal. Why on earth people actually buy Monster Cable products is behind me.

eric/ said:
Every company ever does that
Click to expand...

Pretty much, but I'm starting to see more options at Best Buy. When I was looking up stuff for this post, I was seeing a lot more cheap options. It used to just be the $40 3' HMDI cables and crap like that.

I get all of my cables form Monoprice. They simply can't be beat.
 
zioxide said:
It's really not. Best buy sucks. We would be better off without them. Just like GameStop. These places just overcharge for things you can get cheaper online. They'll try to sell you a 99 cent hdmi cable for 40 bucks then try to tell you the two cables aren't exactly the same, which they are.
Click to expand...

Some things at Best Buy like cables are a rip off, others are in line with other retail sources. You just have to do some comparative shopping. Best Buy is best if you need it today. I always check against online pricing. I think this is why Best Buy and most brick and mortar retailers, like Barnes and Noble are in trouble. It's tough to compete with the relatively higher overhead.

As far as Game Stop, some of that depends on the individual. I go into my local GS all the time. They might mention their deals, but if I say no, they let it go.
 
I don't like buying a lot of things from retail, especially games. I can get the much cheaper online, for example. Additionally, you don't have to deal with jerks like that.

However, I have a $50 giftcard for that place so I might stop there today. Can honestly say that I've only bought something once from there.
 
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