Gamestop (or other Video Game Retailer) Stories of ...

[TheKbob]

Well I started it another thread, and thought well... instead of being a hijacking loser I would make my own thread and see how that propagates.

I encourage others to share their horrors or joys of happenings in a retail video game store/chain. Either employees or customers. Please, no generalized hate or disrespect towards employees of said stores because as an employee of one, I can assure you we all aren't "brain-dead dimwits who know nothing about games and are just pre-order/subscription bots". I can assure you I have a wide taste in gaming and have been doing so for about 14 years now and have owned pretty much every major home console besides the obscure or very old (thinking some of the Atari and Sega Master System).


ANYWAYS, on to a tale:

The Little DS that Could.

So it was a bit before Christmas, and we were lulling about, recovering the store and the such when we had a mom and a dad walk in looking pretty tired and sad. The parents walked up to the counter and said "I know, you guys are the least likely spot out of everyone (the "We have no Wiis though triggered"), but something happened to our little girls DS and she wanted a new one for Christmas, but we just COULD not find it. We are just hoping to get her a new one."

Well, it turns out we actually has a DS Lite or two left from a shipment and were able to sell them one. This was during a big ice/snow storm that happened, so I was surprised to see them trudging about as I only lived about 2 minutes away from the store and was the first one to get called in, while the "farther outs" were told to hold off. Sold them the DS and they seemed pretty exhausted, yet happy.

Fast forward to sometime after Christmas/before New Years. The same people come in again, I wasn't waiting on them this time, but they were returning the brand new DS. I was curious as to why, so I asked them. They told me, after the snow had melted off some (I live in Ohio, our weather is anything but normal) there, where a snow drift has been in the yard, was a white DS. The Lost One. They brought it inside, took out the battery and such and put it on a register and let it sit for a few days. Then they put it back together, recharged it, and it PLAYED. We were all like... what the... But they were both very open about it and was returning the DS, but picking up some games for their kid instead, so it seemed pretty trust worthy. If it was a PSP I would call it a far fetched tail, but gotta give it to Nintendo. I have heard cell phones surviving the washing machine, but a DS in a snow drift? Wow.


Next up, as requested:

Crazy PSP Lady
A Questionable Broken PS3
The Xbox that Nearly Killed Me (not really, but it sounds cooler, doesn't it?)

 

[Alex_P]

Here's an old thing about a video game store guy, bunch of little stories. It's been on the Internet since, err, I guess the late 90s:
http://www.actsofgord.com/

-- Alex

 

[Jumplion]

Crazy PSP lady please.

then the Broken PS3 then the Xbox killing you.

I love these stories, they're so much fun to read!

 

[TheKbob]

I'll hold off a bit, I want to see if anyone else has fun things to share.

Oh, and it almost is true about the "getting hired at a Game store" thing. If you know someone or become a regular at a store and the employees like you, you have a much better chance at getting hired. I was a regular at my store and the Asst. Manager and Third key liked me, so I got hired.

 

[Mistah Kurtz]

Here's an old thing about a video game store guy, bunch of little stories. It's been on the Internet since, err, I guess the late 90s:
http://www.actsofgord.com/

-- Alex

This site is awesome. I'll be reading these all morning

 

[Fire Daemon]

I love these stories, they're so much fun to read!

They are fun.

I want to hear the Xbox that nearly killed you story.

 

[Jumplion]

I love these stories, they're so much fun to read!

They are fun.

I want to hear the Xbox that nearly killed you story.

Can't wait to see what'll happen when I work at Gamestop.

I know it isn't the most glamorous job in the world, but it's extremely convinient and about a 5 minutes drive from my house. Plus i've had good experiences there.

 

[monodiabloloco]

The only story I have is about my local GameStop not too long ago.. I am on pretty good terms if not actually friends with most of the employees there and especially the manager whom I sort of watched go from lowly register dude when it was an EB up to the manager now. I was in and talking to one of the other guys who was fixing a display while waiting in line with my 'new' purchase of Pokemon Diamond (finally). The kid behind me looked like the kind of ass I would normally chalk up to giving me one more day to live * : complete with ICP t-shirt, ultra baggy jeans with tons of chains, and a serious F! you look for all that he as 14 at best. When I told the G.S. guy what I was buying and he started to tell me a little about it (having already logged some serious time) the kid behind me started in with 'are you F!ing serious? Old dudes playing a F!ing kids game? How F!ing lame are you?'there was a whole lot more that followed. I started to turn around to teach this punk that it's not really the best idea to poke fun at a 270 lb former MMA/Kickboxer (I wouldn't have hurt him.. just scared him a little..)when the manager asked him to come up to the counter.. where he took the box from the kid, put it under the counter, then went off on the kid for at least 15 min about being a rude little ass, an idiot, and how his parents should have beat him more. The best part is that he was in to buy GTA IV (right about the time it came out) without his parents. After the manager had really reached a high point in reaming the kid out, in walks mom with some starbucks from next door. She gets all mad until we tell her about the kid, the manager tells her what the kid was trying to buy and she gets pissed and snatches him up giving him hell all the way to their car.
We laughed, then went back to talking Pokemon like the well adjusted adults we are.

 

[TheKbob]

Hmm Crazy PSP Lady or Deadly Xbox? Crazy Lady is long, so I'll share Xbox now.

So, one day, during a usual proverbial "@#$%" storm of trade-ins (this usually happens on a Saturday, for some reason) one guy walks up with a bulging duffel bag. Interesting thing about Gamestop employees, based on the shape, size, and the way people carry some sort of bag or box, we can guess pretty much 90% accurate what system someone is trading in.

The large black bulge turned out to be none other than an original Xbox. With the collection was some musty old sports games, Halo, and some random stuff that might have been good which was probably a random gift/purchase and was never played (you know, good games like Oddworld or Jet Grind). Anyways, all systems have to be tested before played. Very rarely do we turn a system away for being too nasty (another story later...) but this thing wasn't really dirty, just extremely dusty.

I thought nothing of it, set it into our cradle, hooked it up and turned it on and...

*BAAZZT* *PAT PAT PAT PAT*

Sparks and smoke threw out the back fan hole as it scared the living CRAP out of me and I quickly pressed the power button on our power strip and yanked the cord out of the box. I stand there, a little shaken with a few customers and the manager going "are you ok?"... well all except one guy.


You guessed it,... "What you do to my XBOX!?"

"Sir, this Xbox is incredibly dirty and dusty, all I can assume from the burning smell is that too much dust has accumulated on the board somewhere in the system, causing a short circuit and frying something in there. I can assure you..."

"Awe that's Horse #*$&, I played it just yesterday. Worked GREAT! You broke it, did something wrong... I want a new one!"

Manager is looking kind of miffed when I reply,

"Sir, there is no way in my time of playing systems have I EVER seen this happen. I have hooked up many a system before and these things are quite idiot (emphasis) proofed and you can only hook them up one way. This power strip and station are used to run Playstation 3s and Xbox 360s which pull FAR more wattage than this Xbox. I highly doubt you played this yesterday and the only thing we can offer you for this system is defective store credit"

He begins to start ranting and my manager, she is great, but not a tech person, more managerial type just says "Sir, you heard what my employee said, defective store credit or you can take it back".

He looked pretty angry, but realized I probably used big intelligent words and knew what I was talking about (more so that we called him out on his wanting a new xbox when he was trading the damn thing in) and just took the credit and left.



Fun fact for the readers: Never trade in your disc based console cold. This can cause the disc drive to jam and make the employees take it in as defective. I have caught many of my peers doing this and instead letting the system warm up for 15 minutes and then testing it to prove it works JUST fine.


Mental note for other stories: Tobacco Box, Round Kid, and the most spoiled brat, ever.

 

[Goenitz]

COMMON!!!! CRAZY PSP LADY!!!!

PS - great stories, keep them coming.

 

[Aries_Split]

These are good, let's hear crazy psp lady!

 

[HomeAliveIn45]

Luckily for me, Steam has reduced the monthly number of people I have ot talk to by 5%, thanks Valve!

 

[TheKbob]

Crazy PSP Lady

Christmas... brings out the festivities and the dumb #$*%s.

*sigh* So in Novemeber, I think last year, Sony released the Star Wars PSP-2000 bundle. A lady comes in asking about them. We go through the usual schtick on features costs of accessories and the what not and she is so happy about all the info I gave her. She thinks about, thumbs through some games, and then walks back up and says "Oh that will make my Son so happy, I'll take one!". I told her good choice, these are going fast (the new 2000 series PSP, they were!). She walked out pleased and so were we.


Three weeks later, the lady returns.

She walks in a little confused with the new PSP and receipt. She's like I want to return this. I ask why, and the reason is that she wanted to spend less money (buyer's remorse, maybe) and asked what else we might have to offer, maybe a used one? Of course we had no used PSP-2000s, only 1000 series (Fat from here on out) for $130. She said ok because she could get the system, a replacement plan warranty, the game, and memory card and save about $20. I told her that this is a used system and if anything should go wrong, we honor the receipt until the 15th of January, after that, her warranty would be in place. She seemed happy, end of story... or so we thought.


Side Note: I HATE shipments from other stores, more so large traffic stores in downtown urban areas... ones that send us used PSPs...


Day-After-Christmas

Oh my god. Line of at minimum 10 people and up to 40 all day long. It's getting about 7 hours in for me as I'm a more vocal employee, so I answer questions and up sell stuff instead of running register. Pretty easy, just lots of people. In walks a guy with a Star Wars PSP bundle. He looks at me with a sad face and says it's F'd. I bring out my PSP, test his game, try my game in his system and go, yep, and you're in luck... we have TWO left. He's like ALRIGHT! He has his receipt, I hold one for him as he gets in line, and he leaves the day thanking me and getting another game or accessory or something.

Then... PSP Lady. This is about an hour or so later,... it was a long day for me since I know most of everything in the store and college kids need money, so I worked pretty much all day. I was at the register now when I saw her face. She brought up the used PSP, plopped it on the counter and said the disc drive is dead. I'm like ... Ok, and repeat said tests. ... No Dice, Dead PSP. Here's the kicker though:

We are out of Used PSPs.

I tell her this and explain we can mark her receipt and the FIRST one we get in, we will call her for a replacement (even try calling other stores to have one shipped)... but about halfway through our explanation she exploded with anger, raging about how I'm ruining Christmas and how we don't stand by our stuff. I tried to explain to her that this is the holiday season and the only used system we had were GBAs, everything else was sold out. Everything. She hooted and hollered and made a scene in front... the other 30 some people in line.

My manager comes over to sort it out and looks at her receipt and then her and says Listen, what I'm going to do is swap out this broken one, return your NEW OPENED game, mark down this last brand new Star Wars PSP bundle so you still have a new, better PSP today. Just for you, just for Christmas.

The lady thought about this (shocking...) and said ok. I looked at her stuff and I'm like Ms. I do need the charger, do you have it with you?

O_____O Death glare.

Well that caused another pain in the ass when we dare ask for the entire package for the return when we are marking down perfect, new product, which by corporate standards, we are NOT allowed to do. She storms out saying "We'll be back".

The lady behind her just said "*****" as she left and bought her stuff laughing.

... and she returns.

Well she gets through the line again and plops the stuff back on the counter and says "We want a refund, cash, now!". My manager goes uhm, whoa whoa, what's wrong with our deal? She's like no, you guys are terrible we will go somewhere else to get a PSP. I stop... pick up her receipt and just casually pass, pointing out her previous purchase. My manager goes "Ma`am, you bought the exact same thing we are offering you 2 months ago, returned it for this used and I'm sure we explained the trade offs to buying used (I confirmed doing this) and I'm offering you the best deal I can. We cannot give cash refunds on something purchased so far out." She starts yelling about our product, used, all the crap and I just stop her and say:

Ma'am. Someone came in here today with the exact same issue with a brand new PSP.

She started to say "Well See ..!" or something, but I stopped her:

Ma`am. It's electronics. There can be bad ones. Sometimes they break, we are standing by our product by OFFERING this discount which I'm sure anyone would love to buy this package at $30 off (or w/e it was) since that's what you were intending in the first place.


The people behind this woman, now with husband and the supposed grief stricken child who looked embarrassed by his parents did not seem to notice the eye rolling and snide comments from the customers behind them (or the fact the other employees were all averting their eyes or acting busy).

I remember she called my manager some snide comment and she looks up, opens the drawer, counts out her money, takes the stuff and says "Merry Christmas" and points towards the door. The woman said some more comments when everyone else in line was just giving the "F-yah!" look or "Stupid Woman" stare.

I don't think I have seen that lady yet.


Mental note: Folded game manuals.

Side Story: How I got my PSP-2000

I walk into work with my old fattie playing lumines when I notice on the counter... what the? A Piano Black 2000 PSP. I was about 15 minutes early... I looked at my manager and said "Is that for real?" She's like yah, why you want it? I'm like HELL YAH! I run back home (being 2 minutes away by car), grab the charger, come back and trade in the fat for the slim. I toyed with it a bit for a little in the back, set it to charge and went back to work.

Another friend comes in to work that night and said "Wow, PSP-2000, we don't even have those..."

Looks at me.

what?

"Those aren't even out yet..."

What do you mean, right there it is ?

We question our manager who said some kid just traded it in today. It was pretty shady, but only confirmed more so when the kid tried to trade in a brand PS3 the following day. Turns out the system was a few days from release. I was like uhm... The best we can figure out is that Wal-mart broke street date. We never heard anyone coming in looking for one or anything.

It's still my PSP and I LOVE it. Added on the Stamina Battery and I get 10 hours out of it.

 

[Frosk]

The few times I've been into the Game Crazy store, closest games store to my house, they've always been nice and helpful.

Though, I almost always know exactly what I what and what I'm looking for. I haven't traded any games in yet, but it would probably be painless if I did.

 

[Aries_Split]

You've got quite the stories, lets hear Round Kid!

 

[mjhhiv]

These things are good; keep 'em coming!

 

[TheKbob]

Round Kid

Round kid isn't a story,... Round kid is a constant struggle of me vs. my sanity. We have a fairly big gentleman come in and play our demo units and to snag a few used games. When I say big, he isn't really fat, just, you know, big frame and maybe a little pudge, but just... big. Well his son may turn out like that someday, but this poor little kid...

... gotta be rounder than he is tall. He mouth breaths, wears glasses, and waddles. I feel bad for him, I really do... I'm not an angry person like "The Gord" (PS: Those are hilarious!), but he also irks. Me. Imagine a kid like that, but he is barely tall enough to get over the counter. All we see is the nose and glasses and hear the breathing. He comes up with a game, usually for the 360 and asks "Hey Mister,... is this good?" Usually it's some random game, like Gears or Viva Pinata or something. I say yes or no. He then asks "How much is it?" ... It's on the case, but w/e, I tell him. Then he goes "Oh" and I see him be sad and then asks "Do you have it used?". Now usually... this is a used copy. So I have to tell him it is. Then he just simply replies "hookaay" and waddles back and replaces the game.

Now once in a while, this wouldn't be bad, but while they are there: This happens until they leave. We usually do "not it" for counter duty when they come in. *sigh*


Hmm, another short one. I know.

Stupid Thieves #1

So I went to high school with this girl. Not very attractive, goth, w/e. She trades in copies of GTA, RE4, and GT4 for cash. I think nothing of it. Someone comes up to me and says, oh she was in here 3 days ago... she traded in... I'm like... Crap.

Same damn games.

*Sigh* We have a Wal-mart next to use and I used to call all the time telling them what games we are probably getting stolen and they really need to keep eye on their inventory. They always never, ever care, so I stopped caring as well.

Except 3 days later, she comes back. Trading in... RE4, GTA, and GT4. The thing is, the cases are scuffed, the instruction manuals are crinkled and the discs are ever so lightly scratched. If for the fact that she hasn't done this about 2 other times, I would have fallen for it... except...

I go: So Listen, you can either take these games, never come back to another Gamestop or I start calling Wal-Mart until someone counts their stock and then watches cameras of you stealing their games.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!"

Listen, you fooled me once, shame on you... You obviously scuffed the discs and cases and wrinkled the manual. You could almost get away with it if it wasn't for one thing: They still SMELL new.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, GIVE ME MY MONEY!"

Hey man, cmere. *employee friend comes over* You know that great smell, you know the one with opening a new game? *lifts case to his nose*

That's it

"WHAT IS THIS?!?!"

*throws games back* Listen, you can leave now or you can stay when the police get here.

"THIS IS BULL#*$&, *takes games*"

I call our closest store and fill them in. About 45 minutes later they call, laughing, and fill us in as they tried to do it there.

Stupid Thieves #2

People actually steal the empty game cases on the wall. Wish that story was longer, but that's dumb enough.

Stupid Thieves #3

There are serial numbers on the used systems we sell. If you try to swap out a broken one, we can tell. Just please, don't make it so easily obvious that it's a fat PS2 for a slimline.


PS: Gamestops prank call each other... or at least us because we are the only store without caller ID besides another. The Battletoads thing was one thing, Mudkips another, but nothing like having another store manager call in a fake arabic accent asking for "Camel Jockey 3000". Love getting the new guys.

 

[runtheplacered]

I'll just say this.. a few years ago I got hired on at a Gamestop. I didn't know anyone, I just walked in and asked if they were hiring. I told them I was going to school and that part-time worked out great. What I didn't realize (until after they made my first schedule) was that I was getting about ooooh... 10 hours a week?

Apparently the way they do scheduling is by who's selling the most subscriptions/pre-orders. So, if I wanted good hours, I had to be a sub/pre-order bot. And thus, everyone in that store was basically a bot. Trying to sell things to people they really didn't need. So, naturally.. I quit. I'm not saying every gamestop is like that.. but this one definitely was. They were all huge sales whores.. and all for what? So they could NOT get screwed on their hours? What a system...

 

[Aries_Split]

I love these things, keep em coming!
The most spoiled brat ever!

 

[TheKbob]

I'll just say this.. a few years ago I got hired on at a Gamestop. I didn't know anyone, I just walked in and asked if they were hiring. I told them I was going to school and that part-time worked out great. What I didn't realize (until after they made my first schedule) was that I was getting about ooooh... 10 hours a week?

Apparently the way they do scheduling is by who's selling the most subscriptions/pre-orders. So, if I wanted good hours, I had to be a sub/pre-order bot. And thus, everyone in that store was basically a bot. Trying to sell things to people they really didn't need. So, naturally.. I quit. I'm not saying every gamestop is like that.. but this one definitely was. They were all huge sales whores.. and all for what? So they could NOT get screwed on their hours? What a system...

Our store, thankfully, isn't like that. If someone is buying a $9 used game, much to our manager's dismay, we aren't gonna press a $15 sub down their throat and if it's for PS2, Xbox, or Gamecube... the idea of a pre-order isn't even thought of.

We know our limits with people and try not to press. Good weeks and bad weeks, but our manager keeps us on schedule based the actual knowledge we have on games and how good of salesmen we are. See if you aren't a bunch of pushy a-holes and instead make the people regulars, downt the road they will want the magazine due to the discount (I loved Game Informer before working there) and will want to pre-order games, as well. I had a discount card for both EB and Gamestop. Glad they joined so I could save money.