Snooty EB Games Employees

[sega saturn x]

One thing i love about privately owned stores is that (most of the time) you get very nice and friendly people who will answer your questions. Whats great is the people working at those stoes like games a lot to or are also collectors so if i ask them a question about an old system or game they dont give me the deer in the headlights look. They answer my question plus the prices are always MUCH better.

[Gabriel]

I remember this thread.

 

The GameStop I mentioned in my post from 2 years ago rapidly declined. Any clerk with any competence either quit or was fired. All that were left were a group of employees who were worse than trained monkeys. Plus, there was the one "hardcore gamer" employee who was in actuality nothing more than a wannabe and a prick.

 

They got rid of their NES, Genesis, SNES, and Dreamcast games. Any used PS1 game which might actually be worth finding was inevitably not in their stock despite the case being on the shelf. And, if the game was in stock, it was deeply scratched.

 

One of the last things I bought from the shop was a used copy of Monster Rancher 1. I made the mistake of not checking it for scratches like I normally do. I got it home and discovered the disc looked like it had been cleaned with sandpaper and a knife. Needless to say, the game didn't work. I returned it, but the next week when I was browsing the games, a new copy of Monster Rancher was on the shelf.

 

Surprise, surprise! It was the SAME sandblasted copy of the game. I complained to the manager there at the time about this, and he assured me it was a mistake and that he would make sure the game wasn't accidentally put out for sale again.

 

The next week they had a copy of Monster Rancher on the shelf. I'm certain it represented the exact same worthless disc. That was the last time I ever browsed there for used games.

 

The place even became worthless for new games. They'd constantly harrass customers to pre-order Halo 2, or the latest Madden game, but they'd try their best to ignore you if you wanted to pre-order Time Crisis 3 or a RPG or anything which wasn't the latest big moneysucker. They also started not ordering any titles beyond the biggest releases.

 

I think the very last time I was in there, I was there with a friend. I noticed a guy standing at the end of the counter, blocking off their Game Boy section. He never moved from that spot and was there the entire time my friend and I were there.

 

The odd thing was that several people came in the store asking about the ESPN football game while I was there, and this guy would suddenly pipe up and tell the customers it wasn't very good and that Madden was much better. The clerk would then stop and listen to the conversation, until this guy had convinced the customers to buy Madden instead. If the customers insisted on ESPN, then the Madden fan would suddenly need help with the Game Boy games, and the ESPN customers would be ignored by the clerk. At least one guy left in disgust. Not one customer was able to get a clerk to hand them one of the ESPN games from the case.

 

Buy Madden or leave.

 

I don't even consider shopping there anymore. It's really more convenient, and less of a hassle, to shop online.

[sega saturn x]

Thats funny i do have some nice guys who work at my game stop they dont pretend to be hardcore and they are as helful as they can be if they have limited knowledge of a game. Game stop is the only new game store i go to heres why. At a difrent e.b i asked how much dance dance revolution was after enjoying it at a friends house i was thinking of getting it. The clerk who i didnt ask started snickering in the back im like are you kidding me? I dont want your opnion you prick i want to know how much it costs. And then i asked if tehy had time crisis 3 and he said no and i asked well could you check? He gave me an evil eye and sat there but my favorite was when i asked for him to see how much money was on my gift card he said im sorry but you need to make a purchase for me to do that. WHAT!? I said well how am i supposed to make a purchase if i dont know how much is on the card? He told me to call it in after that i just left and store with service that shitty dosent deserve my money.

[spacecadet]

Sometimes I'll go into an EB or Gamestop literally for just a laugh. I'll pick up something if I find something good but really I'm just going to hear the "word on the street".

 

The funny thing is I used to work for a pretty large game publisher and I usually wear my old company jacket (unless it's too warm, but it's my standard winter jacket). Nobody ever puts two and two together, though, and it's funny to listen to these guys talk to customers about my old company's games as if they actually know what they're talking about. Just today I was in EB and a guy came in asking about the PSP version of a certain popular game from my old company that's coming out shortly; the clerk went on this rampage of misinformation about the game, stuff that he had no way of knowing because it's never been publicly announced, and which was all wrong anyway. ("It's a new adventure, but in the same city!" kind of stuff.) He spoke, like all EB employees seem to, with an air of superiority - as in "I AM YOUR VIDEO GAME AUTHORITY. BOW DOWN TO MY SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE."

 

Now, someday I am no longer gonna know any real current insider info, and maybe I'll actually end up believing some of this garbage they spew as well (though probably not, now that I know first-hand how clueless they are). But it's really funny how these guys act like they're actually part of the video game industry when in reality they are no more that than a theater usher is part of the Hollywood film industry.

[SteveW]

Last year, I met an EB Games employee that truly impressed me. He was in his late 20s/early 30s, and he knew about all sorts of classic games, along with the new stuff. He was beaming with pride because he had finally gotten himself a Sylvania branded Intellivision to complete his Inty collection. We talked for about 10-15 minutes about all sorts of games. I even invited him to sign up to AtariAge.

 

The last couple times I went to the store, he wasn't there. He probably quit or something. Kind of a shame. I prefer salespeople to have knowledge about games instead of spewing marketing information.

[Dones]

He spoke, like all EB employees seem to, with an air of superiority - as in "I AM YOUR VIDEO GAME AUTHORITY.  BOW DOWN TO MY SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE."

 

...But it's really funny how these guys act like they're actually part of the video game industry when in reality they are no more that than a theater usher is part of the Hollywood film industry.

Nice comparison.

 

LOL I could mention a few guys around here who behave in the same manner.

[JB]

*squints*

SteveW, that Tunnels of Doom in your avatar?

I used to spend ages playing that. Makes me want to hook up my p-box right now...

 

 

He spoke, like all EB employees seem to, with an air of superiority - as in "I AM YOUR VIDEO GAME AUTHORITY.  BOW DOWN TO MY SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE."

 

...But it's really funny how these guys act like they're actually part of the video game industry when in reality they are no more that than a theater usher is part of the Hollywood film industry.

Nice comparison.

 

LOL I could mention a few guys around here who behave in the same manner.

No you couldn't. What you COULD do is get bent out of shape because a few people here know something you don't.

[SteveW]

Yup, that's Tunnels of Doom. My fave TI game.

[rockman_x_2002]

You know my experience with my local EB Games store hasn't been that bad. I know a couple of guys that work in EB and they're fairly knowledgeable about Atari stuff. He told me one time someone brought in a 2600 and a rather large sum of games and wanted to trade them in. Of course he had inform them that the store didn't accept games for trade in that were older than the NES, but he went on to tell me that if he'd had the money he would've bought the lot personally.

 

Besides that, the guy does seem to know his games pretty well. Unlike a lot of the, if I may call them so, pinheads, that work in the local Gamestop. But even they are honest about what they know. "I haven't played that game" is the general mantra when they truly don't know about a game. Though they don't laugh when you go to buy a game that truly sucks. They just make the sale and move on, as they're paid to do.

 

My only grief with EB, and really Gamestop too, is the prices are generally about $10 higher than most places. So I still buy most games through Wal-Mart. They have the cheapest prices down here. But if Wally World doesn't have what I'm looking for, I've generally been able to count on EB to have them, even harder-to-find used NES games.

[Lord Thag]

I think there's a 'pricky' game store in every town

 

It's gamestop where I'm at, and the place is full of those 'hardcore' elitist gamer types who sneer down at you if you have the unforgivable bad taste enough to buy something uncool (read unprofitable), and who will ignore you unless you hit them in the head.

 

The EB games is actually the small, new store in town, and the people are friendly. Unlike the other big stores in town, their not jumping down your throat every five seconds with those stupid sales gimmicks, but it's still a corporate store.

 

Unfortunately, the locally owned store is even worse, as it's run by a guy who charges high ebay prices, and THEN ADDS SHIPPING to them, because (as he says) you'd pay that anyway, and his store ofters the 'convenience' of not waiting for a package to show up.

 

Fortunately, he's not very knowledgable, and will sometimes miss a rare game. What IS it with game stores anyway?

[JB]

Yup, that's Tunnels of Doom. My fave TI game.  

I'm more of a Parsec person lately, but ToD is still good fun.

 

Wish my quest editor disk hadn't gone bad, though.

 

Still, I've got a fair number of playable variants.

...

Dang, I really WILL have to hook this p-box up.

[Albert]

I worked at an Electronics Boutique (Crystal Mall, Waterford, Connecticut) long before they were known as "EB Games". At the time I think I was a reasonably knowledgeable employee. In my travels I've found that some game store employees are quite familiar with many of the games they sell, and many are not. Generally I've had better luck getting questions answered at EB Games and Gamestop than at Radio Shack.

 

..Al

[J.Max]

You know, I don't think it has as much to do with the shop itself as it does with some of the "Comic Book Guy" employees. There's an EB Games not far from me where the employees are actually good...they know me, and they know that I know more about games than they ever will, so they stay out of my way. (Sounds snotty, but I've been playing video games since before some of them were born).

 

On the other hand, there's a mom-and-pop store that has one of the worst and stupidest employees I ever run across. An unfortunately, it looks like they made him a manager. It has a few helpful people too, but this guy is a total douchebag. He acts like he knows everything, but he spouts off ridiculous statements to people like "Nintendo is going to make games for the PSP...I have inside info!" Dumbass. The funny thing is that they had a giant stack of 5200 games there one day, and he had no clue what they were. I picked them all up for about $20, he checked me out and said "You know those won't work in a regular Atari right? I tried and they wouldn't fit." I informed him that they were for the 5200 and he said "Oh, I didn't know Atari made any other systems besides the first one and the Jaguar. They were a really crappy company, don't you think?" Jackass.

[shep]

I was mad when one turned my friend down from getting Lumines for his psp.

[Shannon]

Sounds like the Secretary of State's office employees (Department of Motor Vehicles for those outside Illinois) are starting to give lessons to the private sector...

 

Is it just me or are dumb DMV employees universal?

[Cousin Vinnie]

You know, I don't think it has as much to do with the shop itself as it does with some of the "Comic Book Guy" employees.  There's an EB Games not far from me where the employees are actually good...they know me, and they know that I know more about games than they ever will, so they stay out of my way.  (Sounds snotty, but I've been playing video games since before some of them were born).

 

On the other hand, there's a mom-and-pop store that has one of the worst and stupidest employees I ever run across.  An unfortunately, it looks like they made him a manager.  It has a few helpful people too, but this guy is a total douchebag.  He acts like he knows everything, but he spouts off ridiculous statements to people like "Nintendo is going to make games for the PSP...I have inside info!"  Dumbass.  The funny thing is that they had a giant stack of 5200 games there one day, and he had no clue what they were.  I picked them all up for about $20, he checked me out and said "You know those won't work in a regular Atari right?  I tried and they wouldn't fit."  I informed him that they were for the 5200 and he said "Oh, I didn't know Atari made any other systems besides the first one and the Jaguar.  They were a really crappy company, don't you think?"  Jackass.

 

 

You know, I like reading this thread, but actually the biggest a-holes that I have ran across work in the local Mom and Pop stores around here. In Knoxville, we are chain stored to death, so I always try to support the little guy, but those people are fools. After my second PS2 broke and they couldn't fix it after 3 tries, I never went in to Game Haven again. They treat Gamecube owners and classic collectors like we have the Black Plague.

 

But last week, I hit a small mom and pop in West Memphis Arkansas near the dog track on a trip and got three NEW Gamecube games with 10% off for $100. Resident Evil 4, Fight Night Rnd 2, and Warioware. This guy was nice, smart and I wish his store was back home.

 

Have you guys noticed how Target has great specials on New Releases lately? They are almost always worth checking out. Also K-Mart is the one chain that doesn't know what its doing, so you can get screwed or screw them depending on your knowledge about games, they are always worth checking out for a laugh.

 

Cousin Vinnie

[Rhindle The Red]

My local EBs are generally pretty good. The ones in strip plazas tend to be better than the mall ones, I've noticed. The one closest to my house (a ten minute drive) usually employs nice people and the ones who have moved to other stores have tended to increase those stores friendliness.

 

They always help me find the bargains (by running checks for games under $5 for instance) and I get a *lot* of free stuff from them. I think in the last month I've gotten two t-shirts (Samus and Punisher), two big displays (WarioWare Touched! and Starfox Assault), a bunch of display boxes (including a "for display only" Halo 2 "Collector's Edition" case), some demos, an extra Resident Evil 4 DVD...

[Gabriel]

Also K-Mart is the one chain that doesn't know what its doing, so you can get screwed or screw them depending on your knowledge about games, they are always worth checking out for a laugh.

 

Ugh.

 

K-Mart around here is closed now. Truthfully, it was easier for me to shop there, and overall, I liked shopping there much more than Wal-Mart. The story I'm about to relate wasn't standard for them, just the electronics department.

 

The electronics section was a joke. For one thing, there was never anyone staffing it. So, if you found a game you wanted, you'd have to hunt all over the store in order to get someone to open the case the games were locked in.

 

One time, I ended up asking someone in layaway if they could get someone to the electronics section to open the case. I then went back there and waited. It was a good 10 minutes before anyone showed up. He asked what game I wanted and then his cel phone rang. Instead of getting me my game real quick, he took his phone out, answered it, and walked away! I waited for a couple of minutes wondering if he was coming back, but he didn't.

 

I went back to layaway and asked if they could get someone else to open the case for me. They agree, but I later find out this guy who walked off had the only key. So, I wait another 10 to 15 minutes. And this is during the time period when Christmas shopping is just gearing up. So there are people coming in wanting to buy games and consoles and leaving because no one is there to tend to the store. (And people wonder why K-Mart went out of business around here.)

 

I would have left, but the title they had was Tales of Destiny II, and I couldn't get that from any other store at the time. Later, I started seeing copies of it all over the place, so I kinda wish I had waited.

 

Eventually, the guy shows back up, but he isn't even coming back to help me. He's just passing by on the way to somewhere else. So, I stop him and demmand he do his job. He looks at me with recognition and says, "You're still here?"

 

In the end, I got the game. I complained about the guy, but it did no good. But, I ended up getting the game at the cost of my entire lunch hour and being late returning to work.

[Red 5]

My first job out of college was manager of an 'Electronic's Boutique' in the Danbury Fair Mall in Connecticut.

I worked there on my college winter breaks part time as well.

1989 - 1994ish.

 

I was good friends with my staff and we all loved to talk video games.

At the time, we did have the classic Sega vs. Nintendo battles but we loved all the games and loved to talk to our customers about all types of games. Old and new.

 

It was a very fun time. We had great customers and tried to take care of everyone. I was always impressed with the company. '

 

Of course when I worked there, you HAD to have a dress shirt and tie on.

Now it looks like the employees can wear whatever they want. The image seems much cooler now. We were definitely much geekier than the new EB. I think their hiring standards are different now. We sold a lot of software. I remember selling DOS 6.0 and Word Perfect as much as I sold SNES games.

[Albert]

My first job out of college was manager of an 'Electronic's Boutique' in the Danbury Fair Mall in Connecticut.

I worked there on my college winter breaks part time as well.  

1989 - 1994ish.  

 

I was good friends with my staff and we all loved to talk video games.

At the time, we did have the classic Sega vs. Nintendo battles but we loved all the games and loved to talk to our customers about all types of games.  Old and new.  

 

It was a very fun time.  We had great customers and tried to take care of everyone.  I was always impressed with the company.  '

 

Of course when I worked there, you HAD to have a dress shirt and tie on.

Now it looks like the employees can wear whatever they want. The image seems much cooler now.  We were definitely much geekier than the new EB.  I think their hiring standards are different now.  We sold a lot of software.  I remember selling DOS 6.0 and Word Perfect as much as I sold SNES games.

 

That pretty much describes my experiences at EB back then (it was around the same time, I believe). I completely forgot about having to dress up--probably the only job I've had where I was required to wear a tie to work every day. I'm glad to see they are a bit more casual these days. And yes, I do remember selling a fair amount of non-game software, but I think video games were still our biggest draw. Was not a bad job as far as retail goes, but working through the Christmas season was crazy.

 

..Al

[JB]

Also K-Mart is the one chain that doesn't know what its doing, so you can get screwed or screw them depending on your knowledge about games, they are always worth checking out for a laugh.

 

Ugh.

 

K-Mart around here is closed now. Truthfully, it was easier for me to shop there, and overall, I liked shopping there much more than Wal-Mart. The story I'm about to relate wasn't standard for them, just the electronics department.

 

The electronics section was a joke. For one thing, there was never anyone staffing it. So, if you found a game you wanted, you'd have to hunt all over the store in order to get someone to open the case the games were locked in.

 

One time, I ended up asking someone in layaway if they could get someone to the electronics section to open the case. I then went back there and waited. It was a good 10 minutes before anyone showed up. He asked what game I wanted and then his cel phone rang. Instead of getting me my game real quick, he took his phone out, answered it, and walked away! I waited for a couple of minutes wondering if he was coming back, but he didn't.

 

I went back to layaway and asked if they could get someone else to open the case for me. They agree, but I later find out this guy who walked off had the only key. So, I wait another 10 to 15 minutes. And this is during the time period when Christmas shopping is just gearing up. So there are people coming in wanting to buy games and consoles and leaving because no one is there to tend to the store. (And people wonder why K-Mart went out of business around here.)

 

I would have left, but the title they had was Tales of Destiny II, and I couldn't get that from any other store at the time. Later, I started seeing copies of it all over the place, so I kinda wish I had waited.

 

Eventually, the guy shows back up, but he isn't even coming back to help me. He's just passing by on the way to somewhere else. So, I stop him and demmand he do his job. He looks at me with recognition and says, "You're still here?"

 

In the end, I got the game. I complained about the guy, but it did no good. But, I ended up getting the game at the cost of my entire lunch hour and being late returning to work.

I waited an hour in WalMart once before I left.

APPARENTLY no one knew where the key was, and they were searching the store for it.

 

I didn't get my game. Nor did the many people that showed up while I was waiting.

[Chickybaby]

eB staff at least around here are required to wear a "shirt w/ a collar" for men as well as dress slacks. I don't know what standards they have for women though.

I also LOVE our local EB. Lots of great finds there.

 

Around here it's 2 Gamestops that I loathe. The one employee saw me an hubbs and said "What are you doing here? I figured we wouldn't see you anymore after we got rid of classic systems." Nice guy. *minor sarcasm*

The other problem is that another local Game Stop hires punk ass kids and *all* their friends hang out there. That place is horrible! Once you get past the kids skateboarding all over the curbs - usually two or three at least. You then have to make it past the haze of under age kids smoking.

Finally when you get to the doorway and think you are safe, you're greeted by what appears to be a gang of 14-16 yr olds cursing and rough housing at the demo kiosks. And upon making a complaint to a manager I was told that there are other GameStops in the area. As if we'd go back to that one on a regular basis.

 

Now, the one Game Stop near Cleveland, Ohio we always go to. One of my favorite places where we haven't been disappointed *yet*. The guys are great to sit around and BS games with, the one guy collects Vetrex,lol. They also get pretty rare games and imports every now and then and were willing to let me "borrow" one of their own personal PSP's to play with for at least a half hour. Needless to say we bought a lot there.

 

It was buy 2 games get 1 free so we got among other deals PS2 - Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, King of Fighters 00/01, plus Mega Man Anniversary collection for only 46$ total after tax. They dug around till they found the best copies used but complete and one person lent me their discount card for that 10% off on top of it! To me it was a really sweet deal at least.

Found a Konami GB collection Volume 1 for GB color. I don't *think* that was a US release but now I want the other 3 volumes,lol. Also picked up a color digi-cam for my GBA SP to go along w/ the MP3 Player we got for practically nada, just for the fun of it. *giggle*

I luv bargain hunting and having a bonus of finding new toys. :wink:

 

Would have bought so much more just ran out of funds,lol. But they know that as long as there are great employees working there we WILL be back!

[Avid Fan]

Ya, I can one vouch for gamestop being worse than EB. One time I was in there buying some PS1 games, and he asked why I wasnt buying PS2 games, and I told him because I'm a cheap/broke bastard and all I can afford is PS1, he then told me that I shouldn't play games if I couldnt afford the PS2. The sad part is, I was friends with the prick in high school.

They also talked my girlfriend into buying that GI subscription and discount card, I never used the card not once

[sega saturn x]

Ya, I can one vouch for gamestop being worse than EB. One time I was in there buying some PS1 games, and he asked why I wasnt buying PS2 games, and I told him because I'm a cheap/broke bastard and all I can afford is PS1, he then told me that I shouldn't play games if I couldnt afford the PS2. The sad part is, I was friends with the prick in high school.  

They also talked my girlfriend into buying that GI subscription and discount card, I never used the card not once

Wow you should have told the prick to go screw himself i would have just left.