Crappy service ruining your game store?

[figgler]

This topic is worhty of it's own thread methinks

 

Posts like this make me realize why I do not go to my local gamestore anymore. Fanboys. One of the clerks there almost made this kid cry when the kid kept asking about if such and such game was available for PS2, and the guy kept saying "you bought the wrong system" or "a PS2 could never play that", I mean the kid was only 9, but he had cash to spend, but since the clerk was suck a dick, the kid left and went to the best buy across the street.  but they leave me alone when I buy my GCN stuff

Call me a Nintendo fanboy all you want, but you'll never hear me putting down someone elses console (unless its an early PS2 that breaks alot

 

That's some lousy customer service. In this case, the person saying this is a complete moron and loser for picking on a 9 year old who just wanted to get a certain game. That attitude is why I stopped shopping at one of my local EB stores. I can't stand adolescents or adults picking on or making fun of children. Children never forget those types of things. It stays with them.

 

It seems EB is building up quite a reputation for this kind of nonsense. I've actually gone so far as to write a comlaint letter over the shit-ass service I received when I tried to take advantage of free Splinter Cell with Prince of Persia purchase deal. "That deal's only for PS2, why didn't you get a PS2 instead of a Cube? The games are way better, unless you like kids' stuff. We have preowned PS2s for $XXX" and so on. Also, being that they are phasing out the classic vids, I now avoid EB like the plague

[sku_u]

I think it depends on the actual store and not the company as a whole. I've seen this same elitist attitude in music stores and comic book stores. There are a few other EB games stores around me that are not at all like that.

[Albert]

It seems EB is building up quite a reputation for this kind of nonsense.  I've actually gone so far as to write a comlaint letter over the shit-ass service I received when I tried to take advantage of free Splinter Cell with Prince of Persia purchase deal.   "That deal's only for PS2, why didn't you get a PS2 instead of a Cube?  The games are way better, unless you like kids' stuff.   We have preowned PS2s for $XXX"  and so on.  Also, being that they are phasing out the classic vids, I now avoid EB like the plague

 

I know when I worked for EB (many years ago) that I probably would have been fired if I got caught speaking to a customer like that. Certainly it is not their policy to talk down about different game systems, it's just a fanboy who doesn't know how to check his bias at the door when he gets to work. The store manager is responsible for hiring employees, and if the manager allows this type of behavior, he or she is mostly to blame.

 

..Al

[figgler]

I fully agree. Unfortunatley the best way for a disgruntled consumer to show that they are unhappy is to take their frustrations out on the company as a whole. So because this one manager's hiring skills are suspect and the employees bias is unchecked all of EB must suffer

[ninjarabbit]

I've seen stuff like this happen too, both at EB and Gamestop. Usually it's they're trying to push the X-Box stuff, that I should get a X-Box and trade in my PS2 and CUbe, telling me how much better the X-Box version is than the Cube or PS2 versions are or giving me strange looks when I'm looking at the N64 or older stuff. Luckily the Gamestop I live next to now has a couple of old school gamers (including the manager) who are cool and actually respect you for the ststems you have and son't make you feel like a loser if you don't have a X-Box.

 

Question: Does Microsoft pay EB and/or Gamestop to push the X-Box? I've noticed workers at both store are usually wearing X-Box shirts or name badge holders.

[Saikyo]

Is this Electronics Boutique/GAME we are talking about here?

 

Cuz if it is it's not just "fanboys" that ruin things, get this right there are a lot

of games that we all miss the first time around so I save up my money to get

these games, but of course they would have to be preowned.

 

Here's where the problem was, I was shopping for early PSone games and

did this for years, no problem. But one day I went in and was insulted

by one of the staff and said some thing about me never buying new games,

(Which is a lie) and gave me a funny look.

 

That was it I stopped shopping there for a while but everything is ok now but

I was so insulted, I mean it's not like I can go and buy a mint condtion Mr. Driller (Still haven't got it)

like 4 - 5 years AFTER release very often. And even if I could I would probably

skip it and go to another game because It takes me a long while to save

up my money, and when I do go to buy games I make sure I can get

a lot of games in one go.

 

However if there is a newly released game and I want it then I will buy it for full price because it is

in mint condition and not like something I may have already owned at one

point. The only older games I'll pay a lot for is rare - extremely rare classic vintage

originals, I cant go spending £30 or more on a Still-In-Box Tekken when I could

be spending the same on a game that warrants a price (rarity 5 - 7) and more

on the cream de la creme! (Rarity 8 - 10 games on any console).

 

If they carry on like this then soon they will lose all custom, Oh and they should

start stocking Dreamcast games in again as well.

[Famicoman]

They never seem to bother me when I'm there. I look thrue the PS2 section, they come over and ask if I need help, I decline, but they always seem to stare at me. Then I wonder to the Genesis games, and dig in the bins for that. Sometimes they try to sell me some peice of crap while I'm leaving though.

 

Once a guy in his late 50's walked in and asked for a girls game for the PS2, he wanted an $8.00 Barbie game, but they trashed it and said it sucked. They then showed him the $25.00 copy of ATV Offroad Fury, and lectured him about Crash Team Racing. About 3 guys were swarming around him. No one at the register, and about 5 people in the back looking at PC games. I could have walked out with anything, and they wouldn't notice. Next thing I no, the guys give him a Kingdom Hearts box, $35.00 price tag. They praise it, and he buys it. Show how persuasive they are? He left empty handed and badmouthed them in the parking lot. Never seen him there again.

[DeV0]

EB in Australia is a fricking joke, Run by dumb ass playstation era kids that dont know any better. I had one littlke bastard ask me if the dc was better then the psx with a smug look on his face. The obese manager seemed shocked when i explained that dumb fuck kids shouldnt be asking adults and former clients ridiculously obvious questions.

 

I for one will never shop at eb in any country

[Avid Fan]

Actually when this happened to me it was at Gamecrazy. It makes me sad cause the one clerk there is helluv cool, but the rest are morons

[dinovelvet]

I don't shop at EB. Sure, I'll go in there when I'm in the mall, usually just to kill a few minutes if my wife is looking at clothes etc The last time I tried to buy a game there, which was supposed to be NEW, the guy went in the back, came out with the game case, opened a drawer and took out the CD and manual, and put it in the case. That is not NEW by my definition, so I declined to buy it.

EB's prices stink anyway. They're still asking $40-$50 for games that can be had for $20-$30 at Best Buy, Circuit City, Target etc, (such as Breakdown, and Manhunt), and and those other stores have better incentives, such as you can usually get a $10 gift card when you buy a new release game, etc.

[cimerians]

Beleive it or not but Target isn't too bad!

[ninjarabbit]

Another thing that these stores do that really bug me is that they always try to push pre-ordering a game, telling me that the game will run out if I don't pre-order. Why would I want to pre-order a game if I don't know if the game is going to be any good or not, 99% of the time the store won't run out of the game, and usually I can get the game cheaper either used or they'll mark the game down within few months.

[SteveW]

I went into an EBX that had a couple of really, really good clerks. One guy was a classic gamer, he told me about finally getting a Sylvania Intellivision to complete his collection, and so forth. We ended up talking for about 10 minutes. It was because I was wearing a T-shirt with an Atari joystick on the front, with the word "Represent" underneath it. I am always running into people and getting into conversations about classic gaming when I wear that shirt.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I have had mixed attitudes at both EB and GS/Funcoland. Sometimes the clerk is really cool, and I talk with them about something or another, and leave happy. Other times, it seems the people there are just dicking around, arent friendly, and that sort of thing. I never got one of the 'the ___ version is better than that, trade it in and get one!' but if I did, I'm just about 100% positive that I would bitch the guy out. I have got pushed on preordering stuff, but I think thats the policy they have. Also, calling them is a nightmare, when they answer the phones they read off a paragraph about their latest 'deal'. Makes me pissed off.

[Kialan]

I just hate gamestores because I want to steal everything (only older games, I don't care about anything past Dreamcast)

 

But anyways, I have always gotten bad service in ANY game store.

 

Knights Video Games in Newark

Game Masters in San Leandro (used to be good but got taken over by playstation era idiots like someone else said)

Any Gamestop or Funcoland

 

And I think EB has been good to me the few times I've been to one..it's all Gamestops here.

 

But Knights sold me a third party playstation memory card which erased twice so I burned it and sent it straight to hell with a hammer. They said it was a 'mega' memory card, but no, it had just the same amount of space as a regular one. They are $15 overpriced on everything (or should I say were, they went out of business a month ago, hahahahaha take that bitches!)

 

Game Masters used to be hella good, they knew about old video games and everything and were always friendly. Now they're jackasses who didn't know what a Sega Saturn memory card looked like. And their classic games section has shrunk into zilch. They are also $15 overpriced on everything and always were, but their nice service used to make up for that. I only go there now if I am desperate.

 

Gamestop- I was just there today and I asked for a playstation grey original memory card and they tried to sell me a shitty third party one. They didn't have any officials. But the point is they thought I didn't know any better since I'm 16. They pissed me off by not selling Dreamcast stuff anymore. And that's it since they're new in this area.

 

Funcoland. Before they got taken over by Gamestop around here, I actually kind've enjoyed going, even though they pushed you to buy shit you didn't want. I like the fact they had NES games, Genesis, SNES, and other older stuff. Now, they don't. Because they're gone. Decent prices I remember though.

 

Electronic's Boutique is only in this one mall that I never go to, but I did get a sealed 3DO Game Guru from them which was nice. I forgot the price. But they didn't have many old games and it was in the bargain bin lol! So I'm sure they were phasing out at least 3DO by the time I went. But there wasn't anything bad about the service. That was 7 or 8 years ago.

 

I really just don't like game stores anymore. Give me a thrift store anyday so I can be surprised to what I find and not angered by high prices (usually!) Thrift stores don't usually piss me off that often compared to game stores, and it's never the service that bugs me. Ok done ranting!

[spongebue]

I almost never go to GS anymore now that they ditched the classic stuff around here. I usually go to a place called discland on 35W and 98th street. (hey... I can give a tip to the Minnesotans around here, cant I?) The prices are ok (though atari isn't too great, usually $3 or $5 for a 2600 game) and they let you try before you buy by setting up almost every system they have games for (at least the popular ones, not really for Jag or 3DO) I've never ran into a fanboy employee or anything like that.

[chrisbid]

i see that same kindof crap at those chain stores too. i dont know how these asshats get hired. i bought Intellivision Lives for XBox and the clerk asked me if i had pre-ordered Halo 2. I just replied with a "nah", and he semi-jokingly said, "I cant sell this to you if you dont"

[liveinabin]

I have to say, I had really good service in GAME (The UK division of EB) the other day, I needed some research on Gundam for something I'm doing, they fished out all of their Gundam games, let me go through the manuals, well aware that I didn't want to buy any of them. Nice guys, I appreciated that.

[Clock]

Yeah I get great service from both my local GAME (EB) stores. If I want help I just ask and they go out of their way to be helpful to the best of their abilities. If I just want to look they leave me alone. No complaints.

[Needles Kane]

I've had bad experiences dealing with the morons at Gamestop. I went there one day and bought a 3rd party DC memory card. Brought it home, didn't work at all. When I returned it, the guy at the counter said, "Okay, I'll get a working one," and hands me an N64 memory card. When I pointed this out, he said, "Whoops," and handed me back the same broken DC card I just gave him. "This one should work," he said.

 

They also get annoyed when a minor tries to sell their used games. They sigh and say, "Have to be 18 with a valid in state drivers license."

[Paralistalon]

Saikyo, they should be happy you're looking at their used games. If people didn't buy them, EB wouldn't be pushing their "trade in your games" policy.

 

I encounter plenty of idiots in gaming stores, but they don't bother me because I know I'm more knowledgable than them.

[eldunko]

When I bought a copy of Burgertime for ColecoVision at EB, the two clerks were kind of puzzled at what it was. I guess they must get surprised when they see someone buy a cartridge game, after selling CD games all day.

[shep]

I have had mixed attitudes at both EB and GS/Funcoland.  Sometimes the clerk is really cool, and I talk with them about something or another, and leave happy. Other times, it seems the people there are just dicking around, arent friendly, and that sort of thing. I never got one of the 'the ___ version is better than that, trade it in and get one!' but if I did, I'm just about 100% positive that I would bitch the guy out. I have got pushed on preordering stuff, but I think thats the policy they have. Also, calling them is a nightmare, when they answer the phones they read off a paragraph about their latest 'deal'. Makes me pissed off.

 

I get pushed into so many things there I finally just have to start saying in a sigh, No I dont want anything extra as soon as they start to say something like "May I interest you..." "Have you heard of..."

[chrisbid]

I get pushed into so many things there I finally just have to start saying in a sigh, No I dont want anything extra as soon as they start to say something like "May I interest you..." "Have you heard of..."

 

 

that is not a local store thing, that is a directive from corporate, if clerks dont sell enough of those stupid discount cards, they eventually get fired

[liquid_sky]

the local gamestore here is pretty cool, the same clerk is usually working and aside from giving me a hard time about my dynasty warriors/ koei addiction is a nice guy. Of course, he saw me come in the store the other day, got on the net, downloaded a PSP video and then told me that Koei planned to make a dynasty warriors game, and let me know that Samurai Warriors is heading for the xbox in July 14th.. even ordered a copy but said that it might be in the display unit for a few days becaause he is hopelessly addicted to the series as well.