Awkward game store moments or stories?

[Richter Belmount]

Anyone have some of these? Where you go in to purchase some classic games in a big mainstream gaming type of store and they give you a weird stare? Or buying some really bizarre and they comment on it?
or any funny or irritating moments in a store?

[Push Upstairs]

My best would be at a GameCrazy store nearby.

Me and the guy working there would chat when i would visit and this visit was no exception.

We're chatting about games and stuff and this guy comes in the store looking for games for his son. He looks around for a bit and then Halo catches his eye (I think he wanted to buy it for himself) and he asks if Halo is out for Gamecube yet.



Now this wouldnt be my VERY BEST if the story ended here...No no no! This story only gets better.



After finding out that Halo wasnt made for Gamecube and that it was an XBOX exclusive he asked the employee if it was possible to play that disc on his Gamecube at home.

Employee: "No, even if it could work the discs are different sizes"
Customer: "What if i took the top off the Gamecube?"

We both then explained that each system has its own video, main, sound processors and so forth and that games are designed for the specific console they say they are for.

This man didnt want any of this silly talk coming from our mouths. This man who was twice out age, obviously knew far more about video games than we did because as he was leaving the store he said this:

"Ahhhh...they all pretty much run on DOS anyway." O_O

[Richter Belmount]

you wouldnt have to explain to him all of that if you probably had explained it in terms of cassesttes and cds. = /

[Flack]

There used to be this really crappy vintage computer store not too far from me. Basically imagine a store that had new Amiga and PC games, with their new prices still on them ... like people are going to pay $30 for old PC games or something.

Anyway, I was standing in line (buying something I can't recall now) and this lady is in front of me with a huge grocery bag. She gets to the front and asks the guy if he's interested in buying it. She dumps out the bag and there's an Atari and about 30-40 games.

The guy starts giving this speech that NOBODY wants that stuff and he couldn't offer her more than a couple of dollars for the whole thing.

"A couple of dollars?" I said. "I'd give you twenty right now!"

The guy all of a sudden starts SCREAMING at me! "You do NOT come into MY store and OUTBID ME!" and all this other crazy stuff. I mean, it was like, the entire store stopped what they were doing because this guy was yelling and screaming and spitting.

Then he tells me I'm BANNED for LIFE from his store. The lady left, I left, and about half the store left. A couple of months later, the store closed down -- I doubt over that incident, but no doubt he had treated others the same way over the years.

[Jehuty]

Me: Do you have any copies of Final Fantasy 7 instock?
Clerk: Final Fantasy 7? What the hell is that.

Salesguy when FF7 just came out in PAL.

[Kilik Kurosawa]

While i was visiting relatives in Vermont I woke up one morning with the tv on and saw a commercial for Pool Paradise on the GC. Immediately I ran to the store and asked about it. The guy looked at me like I was nuts and told me that this game was never listed as a title that was ever coming out. After insisting that I saw a commercial he again told me that I was mistaken (damn his stupid computer) . Feeling insane I let it go. This was Nov. 03.
Then over the summer I saw ads for the game, and went through the same thing...like I was looking for a ghost game or something. So everytime I go into EB or Gamestop I always ask..."when is Pool Paradise coming out...'' the last response I got was from a girl at my local store..."That game was discontinued in 1999" 1999!!!!!! She assured me that it will never be made again blah blah blah.....long story short I found it at an EB last week and nearly pooped myself......

[unbroken]

well i work at a gamestore. and i have had people ask me if we carry gamestations, or x-cubes, playcubes....ect. I had one guy ask me if playstation 2 games work on a playstation one. My only response is "uhhhhhhhhhhh ... NOPE!!!!!!"

[Felixthegamer]

At the local used game store I was buying some NES games and the lady behind the counter said, "You must be in an old school mood today." I felt like saying, "Baby, I am always in an old school mood." But instead I just smiled and nodded.

[thehistorian]

I used to manage a game store back when the SNES had just rolled on to the scene... I've seen and heard things you wouldn't believe..


But far more interesting stories can be found in the Acts of Gord (http://www.actsofgord.com/).

[Iron Draggon]

Yeah, buying Barbie Super Model for Genesis when everybody who worked at the game store knew that I was buying it for myself! That was awkward!

[christianscott27]

i've got my classic told too many times story, i'll try and make it brief.

went to a seedy used games / burned games place, sleazy owner wasnt there, left 17 year old backyard wrestling fan in charge.

ME- hey got any new atari games in?
dude- oh yeah you're that old games dude, theres this shoebox thats new
ME- lemme check it out

(finds 14 uncommon to rare games, room of doom, wall ball, china syndrome and so on)

dude- whats he usually charge you?
ME- a buck or two
dude- uh just gimme 20
ME- thanks bye

so next time i go back to the store they get the owner on the phone and tell him the atari dude is here, it gets relayed to me that those were special games for a friend yeah thats it, so can we buy them back. i told him i had so many atari carts i couldnt remember which ones i got there...banned for life feeling sets in. months later i would return to the store wearing winter hat with glasses off, undiscovered but too blind to see games behind counter.


story #2

heading down to the gamestop in fields corner (da hood) to get used copy of secret missions over normandy. while i'm checking out the games on the wall a 12 year old hood rat comes up all nice like and says hey man can you do me a favor please. hands me $40 and asks me to please buy him a copy of GTA: vice city. i was feeling like the cool grown up so i said sure, besides his hood was nearly vice city so what the heck. goto counter, game comes up $2.50 more than the cash he gave me, i cover it and get the games. kids follow me outside, i feel like a drug pusher, kid grabs the game, i say hey man you owe me $2.50. the kid says wow man you're cool and runs away. wife berates for corruprting a minor the whole way home.

[FlufflePuff]

I too have been ejected from a gaming store for trying to outbid the employees/owner. At the time I was pretty pissed, but i came to the realization that these people rely on ripping people off for their games to make a living. I should have at least had the decency to wait until she went outside to offer it to her.

[Half Japanese]

Once long ago when I was stupid I considered trading in my Neo Geo Pocket Color. Thankfully EB didn't take them at the time, but the guy behind the counter made me an offer and his manager got pissed at him for it and said he'd be fired for buying anything off of customers. That bitch is still around for some ungodly reason, which is part of the reason I don't shop at EB.


I was on my lunch break (work part-time for Circuit City) and I go into EB and buy River City Ransom EX for the GBA. Guy behind counter (and the SAME goddamn bitch manager I mentioned before) are all "haha, why don't you buy this where you work , haha." I guess they don't realize that we're not a specialty shop and carry very few games by smaller publishers. Then again, what the fuck do they know.

[rhetoric]

not too long ago, i was just glancing around in an eb store. some guy came up to me and asked if I needed help, so i said 'when are you guys getting the 3do?'

him: what's that
me: it's a video game system
him: as soon as it comes out
me: cool, i'll pre-order this week

[DigitalSpace]

Back in March, a Game Crazy customer tried to inform me that I was getting ripped off when I made a $2.99 purchase of a loose Street Fighter II for SNES. I made a thread with the full story later that night - you can read it here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31662).

[sirgeoph]

I too have been ejected from a gaming store for trying to outbid the employees/owner. At the time I was pretty pissed, but i came to the realization that these people rely on ripping people off for their games to make a living. I should have at least had the decency to wait until she went outside to offer it to her.

This may be true for some game stores, but not all. Where I work (The GameTrader), that's not how we work. Yes, we don't allow customers to make offers to other customers while in the store, but we also give 50-70% more in trade in values than EB or Babbage's, plus we beat any competitor's trade quote by 10%. And if you trade in 5 or more next-gen games, you get an instant bonus $10 and 10 or more next-gen games gets you a bonus $20.

So while EB might give you 4 bucks for a game that's $20 new, we give $9-$10, and maybe even 12 or 14 if the game's decent enough and you press hard enough.

It's discouraging when you're trying to get decent items for your store's stock and some asshole says they'll give more than what we'll give for a game.

[Daria]

Heh, when I was gamestop this guy came in with a Sega CD with a CD copy of Shining Force CD, while I'm trying to do the trade in the kid behind him pipes up with that "I'll buy for so much..." line. So... he glances at me and I just say "Hey, he's offering you more then we would. Go for it."

I don't see what you can do in that situation, if you throw the customer out the other guy's never going to come back to you for trade ins. Not to mention I don't see why I should have to go out of my way to rip customers off.

There was another time this guy game in with all these boxed NES games, and my assistant manager and I are just drooling over these damn thing as the guy pulls one minty game after another from his bookbag. So we start ringing them up and they're worth nothing, couple bucks altogether. We both just felt bad for him, so we end up refusing the sale and explaining to him what they were worth.

On one hand we would have bought back the games and split them up between us, but it just didn't sit right. Heh. My coworker's girlfriend was PISSED though (she worked there too). She wanted the games. :P

[Cauterize]

as im the biggest retro freak in leeds, im a regular in the local gamestation...
ive got quite friendly with the manager and employees and im now know as "Retro Boy"
Its really good cause they know what im after and keep stuff aside for me, like the virtual boy i got a while back :)

Another story could be the time i went into this new gameshop in leeds called "Playtime Video Games"
I picked up a few SMS titles to buy (really cheap too..) and the guy said to me,
"Do you have Phantasy Star for Master System? Its the RAREST!"
I said to him,
"Not yet, but there are rarer games like that french Smurfs 2..."
He replied with
"Nah Smurfs 2 isnt rare, weve had loads in stock before, but ive never seen Phantasy Star around before..."
I just looked at him in a manner i cant really describe....

Wierd wierd guy... and whenever i go in now, he trys to make out that EVER Retro game i buy is rare... FFS MATE I KNOW MY STUFF!

[Videogamerdaryll]

Anyone have some of these? Where you go in to purchase some classic games in a big mainstream gaming type of store and they give you a weird stare? Or buying some really bizarre and they comment on it?
or any funny or irritating moments in a store?

Yes..and I tell them off...It's usually this one dumb (...)..at EB that doesn't know shit...

[Flack]

I forgot about the old Radio Shack guy who old me hooking an old Atari to a new television was impossible ... that was when I went in looking for an RF > Coax adapter. I ignored him, found an adapter (at HIS STORE) and bought it.

[FantasiaWHT]

Funny stuff :)

IN regards to not allowing other customers to outbid you, it's a very simple explanation.

The corporate types can only see immediate numbers- Somebody outbidding your store = you losing trade numbrs, sales numbers, and the large profit margin.

They have no way of tracking the long term numbers- Customer gets pissed that you threw out the other guy, never comes back, and the guy you threw out never comes back.

The managers and workers understand and can see these things, but the corporate morons only see numbers...

Same thing with giving away things for free that aren't in inventory or are supposed to be field destroyed. Corporates see that as really bad because then they don't buy it if they know they can wait a few months and get it free. We managers see that as really good because it builds customer loyalty and FFS they werent' going to pay $15 for that stupid hint book.

So in general, when I can get away with it, I have no problem with somebody getting a better deal than we offer because then they trust us, and I have no problem with giving away a freebie to a good customer. Just yesterday somebody gave the store a broken Genesis, and somebody came in wanting to know if we had a Genesis power adapter. I could have sold it to the guy but I just gave it to him.

[digtempest]

I remember when I bought the Lynx and a few games for itat Toy R Us. The clerk was telling how the Lynx wasn't going to last. I told him you are probably right but I don't like Game Boy. One few times that a retail clerk was probably honest with a customer.

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

One time i pissed off some one working at an EB gameworld because i came back to the store later the same day(i usually get good finds there CIB Metal gear 2, sm rpg)
________
Ford GT90 picture (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Ford_GT90)

[Chunky]

gamestop # 1
me: do you ever get anybody in here trying to sell you some of the more older games like atari or neo-geo
Skater girl: New geo, like the car or something?
me: neo......err, how about atari?
her: whats that?
me: Bye!

gamestop #2
as i was sitting there waiting for clerks to ring me up the mamager comes in and full out yells at them that this place is dirty, clean up outside, do something other than sit and talk to your firiends(me? i am buying shit, never met these guys before) he was swearing and ranting and so on. i said "wow this is a great place, nice to berate your employees in front of a customer, how smart is that" he said sorry and went into the back room. what was odd.

gamecrazy was the oddest of all: i walk in and there are 3 people standing around talking, a huge clerk, some other odd people and a midget grave digger. he was talking about how he had to be at work soon and about 3 graves to dig.

[Gapporin]

There was this one time I was at a pawn shop, and I found a loose Sega Master System game inbetween some piles of NES games. So I take it, and I carry this armload of stuff up to the counter.

The guy looks through it, and starts telling me the prices. "It'll be $2.50 for this game, and $5 for this video tape, etc. etc." Then he gets to the Master System game. "And it'll cost..." He just sits there, looking at the game. Then he finally asks me, "Where did you get this?"

He ended up giving it to me free, because he didn't know what the heck it was. LOL

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

There was this one time I was at a pawn shop, and I found a loose Sega Master System game inbetween some piles of NES games. So I take it, and I carry this armload of stuff up to the counter.

The guy looks through it, and starts telling me the prices. "It'll be $2.50 for this game, and $5 for this video tape, etc. etc." Then he gets to the Master System game. "And it'll cost..." He just sits there, looking at the game. Then he finally asks me, "Where did you get this?"

He ended up giving it to me free, because he didn't know what the heck it was. LOL

At the same store i mentioned, one time I named off some games i wanted and the clerk(young kid) never heard of them(faria etc) LOL
________
mflb (http://mflbvaporizer.com)

[Nez]

Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"

Now when a guy that I've never meet before calls me Angel my first thoughts are

A. Hes an asshole trying to make an insult
B. He is Gay and trying to hit on me or.
C. For some random reason giving me a complement.

Well I chose a. Bad choice on my part. The real reason was that he was randomly complementing me. Why? I dont know.

After the commment I just walked right past the desk to check out the games. I said nothing, thinking the guys an ass. Then I could hear the guy muttering shit under his breath. I didn't stay long. Looked at a couple DC gfames and then gone. Never looked at the guy once.

[Oobgarm]

Strange things we’ve been asked if we sell:

Crutches. Knives. Playground Sets. Cigarettes. Light guns for Game Boy. Dog track racing games. Hubcaps for a ’72 Pinto hatchback.

I’ve heard countless stories in the vein of what Push Upstairs mentioned. Folks asking if PS2 games work in PS1, etc. They’re always good for a chuckle.

“Do you have Zelda for Playstation, or is that only for Sega?” –that is an actual quote from a little over a year ago.

Lots of “Do you have Mario for Playstation” questions too.

Not gamestore related, but I do recall seeing a classified ad from the paper back at the PS2 launch that offered a PS2 system for some exorbitant amount of money, or was willing to trade for a gun. O_o

[goatdan]

First off, while I have never worked at a gaming store I don't think it's right to make offers to people on stuff before they sell it. The person is there for a reason and that is to sell to the store. If this was a practice, you could camp out at a EB or GameStop and just collect all of the stuff there for slightly better prices and dump them on eBay. You don't have to pay the brick and mortor costs that a gaming place does. I've been in gaming stores before when really awesome stuff has walked in, and I waited and purchased it from the store directly instead. The store still makes their money, I still get the items at a decent price and everyone is happy.

Now, as for perhaps my most interesting story ever -- I used to go to a store in town that was one of the best for retro games. They had loads of Intellivision, Colecovision and Atari games, and they were all at decent prices. Because of this, I had decided to start collecting Colecovision games there. I had amassed about 25 games from them at this point, and I'm in there one day going through the games that they have to see if there is anything else that I need. About ten minutes into my search, one of the clerks walks up and grabs all of the games I don't have in a pile already and puts them on the side. I look at him kind of funny, and then he says, "Oh, sorry. Were you still looking at these?" I said, "Yeah. I was." He told me to pick out the ones I was looking at, so I did.

He leaves the rest of the games that I wasn't looking at sitting to the side and comes back with a price gun. He starts restickering them all. The $2.00 Donkey Kong cart went to $10.00, the copy of Ladybug went to $20.00 and a lot of other cartridges went to $30-50. Some were rarer, but none were rare enough to be worth that much. I looked at the carts that I still had with their $2.00 price stickers on them and realized this would probably be the last entry to my Colecovision collection for a long, long time.

They still have all of the same games now about three years later. I went in there a while ago with some 2600 games to see what I could get for them (their 2600 games raised in price the same way. Pac-Man with poor label = $5.00) and I was told that "oh, we don't purchase classic things any more because people won't buy them." I asked them if they considered lowering their prices, and the guy told me that they were much lower than what they were worth.

I haven't been back since.

[K3V]

Hubcaps for a ’72 Pinto hatchback.

Nice Clerks reference :)

[Oobgarm]

Hubcaps for a ’72 Pinto hatchback.

Nice Clerks reference :)

oooh, Minitrucker magazine!

Glad someone spotted it.

[Push Upstairs]

I’ve heard countless stories in the vein of what Push Upstairs mentioned. Folks asking if PS2 games work in PS1, etc. They’re always good for a chuckle.

“Do you have Zelda for Playstation, or is that only for Sega?” –that is an actual quote from a little over a year ago.

Lots of “Do you have Mario for Playstation” questions too.

I don't really find those type of questions to be all that odd/silly/out of the ordinary.

When i worked at a game store there was always someone asking if _____ played on a competitors system. I told my story not because of the "Halo/Gamecube" aspect but because of that classic DOS comment by that guy.

Thats a special kind of ignorant. LOL

[WiseSalesman]

Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"

Okay, what kind of random compliment is that? I mean, seriously, that's fucked up. I don't know of any good way to take that.

[FantasiaWHT]

Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"

Okay, what kind of random compliment is that? I mean, seriously, that's fucked up. I don't know of any good way to take that.

What about sugar? Or hun? Or sweety? Sweetheart?

All things a girl I knew in college randomly called people. How different is Angel?

[Gapporin]

Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"

Okay, what kind of random compliment is that? I mean, seriously, that's fucked up. I don't know of any good way to take that.

What about sugar? Or hun? Or sweety? Sweetheart?

All things a girl I knew in college randomly called people. How different is Angel?

Methinks what the problem is, is not what was said, but who was saying it.

[link1110]

FantasiaWHT wrote:
WiseSalesman wrote:
Nez wrote:
Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"


Okay, what kind of random compliment is that? I mean, seriously, that's fucked up. I don't know of any good way to take that.


What about sugar? Or hun? Or sweety? Sweetheart?

All things a girl I knew in college randomly called people. How different is Angel?


Methinks what the problem is, is not what was said, but who was saying it.

Sounds like a pickup line to me.

[Nez]

All that I know is that it was a guy, who seemed straight. I don't think my gaydar is that off.

[neuropolitique]

This one time, at Gamestop, the clerk said there was only about 300 NES games. I just looked at him, then said "Are you sure, that seems awfully low." "yeah, man, that's it" According to him, I'm almost done!

Other than that I get the usual "The rare games are in the case" I just smile, nod my head, then pick The Flinstones: Surprise at Dino Peak out of the bin. ;)

[Pantechnicon]

Somebody on this board gave me the idea to instigate the following exchange. I can't remember whose idea this was but thanks for a good laugh:

Gamerz in Lincoln, Nebraska (visiting in-laws). I approach the counter with a big pile of cheap Intellivision carts. Kid behind the counter says "You've actually still got an Intellivison?" I say, "Not the actual machine. But I've got the PS2 adapter. It's great..." Kid -> :eek 2: .

[dreamcaster]

All that I know is that it was a guy, who seemed straight. I don't think my gaydar is that off.

Just because they seem straight, doesn't mean they are.

[tritium]

[ Begin complaining rant ]

Here's my first one.

I find out an old friend from high school is a manager at a gamestop. So I start hanging out there, no benefits mind you, just scroungin for dreamcast stuff that I was collecting at the time. And one day when my buddy isn't there, one of his employees decides he wants to rank on me for buying old games. Needless to say I wasn't very happy about it. Soon after Gamestops in my area stopped taking trade ins for that stuff, and all the retro stuff was moved to a district store. Same drive from where I live. Haven't seen my old buddy in awhile.

Gamestop where I shop now, the guys tend to pick on each other playfully. Nothing too bad but alittle rough. They had hired some new employees one summer, and one of the new employees was a girl. And they treated her like one of the guys. At one point when I was talking to her, she got all quiet and embarrased about being picked on and started flirting with me! Never saw that girl again. lol

Oh yeah, and I hate it when shops complain or make fun of me when I ask about dreamcast. Especially since ALL of them have PsOne and N64 games on the shelves.


[ End rant ]

-Tritium

[chadtower]

I've got a good one.

I don't go to Gamestop much because I don't collect nor even really play modern games. I was there a few months ago while they were clearing out the rest of their stuff I have interest in. I saw some Star Wars game on the demo kiosk so I started to play it. A kid, about 8, comes and grabs the other controller and joins in. I'm cool with that. He has a brother of around 12 with him who is watching. Then I hear a sound that can only be described as a liquid explosion followed by the WORST SMELL EVER. The 12 year old yells, "MA, TOBY SHIT HIS PANTS AGAIN!" The mother grabs him and literally runs from the store while the kid's shoe starts to drip.

This is the first time I've spoken of this incident.

[Push Upstairs]

Oh yeah, and I hate it when shops complain or make fun of me when I ask about dreamcast. Especially since ALL of them have PsOne and N64 games on the shelves.

Asking about Genesis stuff is worse. Back when Gamestop still had this stuff (well, the one i went to on a trip) i asked about Genesis stuff when i came in the door. Judging from the look on his face, when i said "Do you have any Genesis games?" it must have sounded like "I just did your sister, twice". After the dirty look i get a sigh, then he points to a tiny shelf in the back corner.


Another fine incident was at the EB in the mall here.

On this occasion i was wearing a shirt for a music group i like called PIG. Well, this employee there walks up to me and has this wonderful conversation:

"Are you a pig?
"no"
"Are you calling me a pig?"
"its the name of a band" and then i proceed to ignore him.

As soon as i left the store i looked at my girlfriend and said "That guy was a damn dork."

Some things are better left unsaid, Mr. Smarmy EB guy.





This is the first time I've spoken of this incident.

You deserve a cookie for experiencing that.

[-hellvin-]

Werdest thing for me was walking in to a E/B with Hellvin, and the guy behind the desk said to me: " Hey Angel"

This was by far one of the weirdest moments in a gamestore ever for me. I walk in with Nez and this guy fucking says that and I almost tripped after hearing it. It was just so fucking random, then the guy got pissed when Mike just walked by him, lol.

Anyhow, my weirdest story ever happened in a pawn shop. I was down in a shitty area of AZ (27th & Bethany Home) and I'm in this pawn shop that I hadn't been in for a long time. I walk in and I'm the only one in there with all these moron pawn employees behind the counter and then all of a sudden I hear:

"Fucken white boy!"

I look up and this jamaican is staring RIGHT AT ME muttering shit. I kinda then turned around and got the FUCK out of there. I had no idea what I did to piss him off, if he was even pissed with me at all, I couldn't tell. This jamaican comes outside, lights a smoke and stands right in front of my car as I'm getting in. Right before I'm about to close the door this mechanic from a car place nearby comes over and asks me if I can do him a favor, then he says, "oh nevermind, you'll do." He grabs the jamaican guy and brings him to their garage and I get the hell outta there.

No idea what I did. Although I think I was wearing one of my morbid angel shirts that day which has a huge demon stomping on a cross so perhaps I finally offended someone with that shirt. Always had a feeling some one would get pissed over something so stupid.

[qbertandernie]

thyis typwe of thing occurs EVERY time i go to a certain store. i frequented there quite a bit in my younger days, but now only go about every couple of weeks. anyway, every time i got here i get yelled at, YELLED at, and the owner guy gets pissed because last time i bought a game for $5 that was worth $40- "Sells on eBay for $40".

he proceeds to be nice when i walk in, then you can feel his tension rising until he confronts me, and by the time i leave he is red faced and pissed.

now i do i lot to keep this guy in business. ive bought displays he no longer wants(tails 3' display, etc.) and loads of games over the years, sometimes just because he says hes broke...

the most recent example: i went there last week and bought NCAA basketball 2003 for gamecube. $5.99. another customer jumped across the store and said 'do you have any more of those?!!'.... the owner said that was his last...
i arrived this week because i was in the neighborhood, and he starts as usual. ends with 'thanks for telling me that game is worth $40'. like im supposed to keep this guy up on current values...i go there to buy games cheaply..not to say'hey, this is mispriced, ill give you 80% of value' then hed take it and sell it on ebay...
i have had a conscience in the past because i know hes broke, i told him bumper bash was worth way more than id pay him for it(though i shouldnt have, due to what he says to me)..and he got something like $80.

sorry for the rant, i just cant understand why this guy wants me to go to his store only to tell him the value of his crap. why do i still go? cuz i consistently find rare games for cheap..ill take some abuse for the advancement of my collection!

if anyones on his side, i gave him my number and said to call me or give it out if theres ever product that he turns down because he cant afford it...i said whatever i dont keep ill split the profits with him(he cant afford to give out cash ever) just for the potential to increase my collection... he said 'yeah right...'

and one time a guy called him asking what hed give for 'video light' for the 2600...(which was actually video life, apparently boxed). this guy said hed give him 25 CENTS....didnt give out my number or anything... i guess the guy was looking for $300...
i guess hes gotta make a living too, but im basically offering free money and he turns it down. i feel its kind of a 'ill scratch your back' thing...maybe ill open a store near him ...

[Iron Draggon]

Funny stuff :)

IN regards to not allowing other customers to outbid you, it's a very simple explanation.

The corporate types can only see immediate numbers- Somebody outbidding your store = you losing trade numbrs, sales numbers, and the large profit margin.

They have no way of tracking the long term numbers- Customer gets pissed that you threw out the other guy, never comes back, and the guy you threw out never comes back.

The managers and workers understand and can see these things, but the corporate morons only see numbers...

Same thing with giving away things for free that aren't in inventory or are supposed to be field destroyed. Corporates see that as really bad because then they don't buy it if they know they can wait a few months and get it free. We managers see that as really good because it builds customer loyalty and FFS they werent' going to pay $15 for that stupid hint book.

So in general, when I can get away with it, I have no problem with somebody getting a better deal than we offer because then they trust us, and I have no problem with giving away a freebie to a good customer. Just yesterday somebody gave the store a broken Genesis, and somebody came in wanting to know if we had a Genesis power adapter. I could have sold it to the guy but I just gave it to him.

The EB closest to my house where I used to shop at ALL THE TIME, as in literally EVERY DAY, back when 16BIT was still all the rage and I was in my element used to give me every issue of every gaming magazine for free. The first time they did this, I came running back into the store, because I wasn't really paying attention to what they were doing when they stuffed a stack of them into my bag with the games I had bought that day. I said hey, I think y'all made a big mistake, because I have about $25 worth of magazines in here that I didn't buy and y'all didn't charge me for. They all busted out laughing and said no, that was no mistake, that's the store mascot bonus!

So I was like huh? And they were like look, you spend at least $100 in here every day, and we always end up throwing away several issues of all those magazines at the end of the month anyhow, so why should you have to pay for them? Just take them all and read them, and whenever you want any magazines just drop 'em in your bag and forget about it, you're our best customer! So I was like COOL! You guys ROCK! And they were like dude, just don't ever move away or something, because if this store loses it's mascot, then we're not gonna get our performance bonuses anymore!

But I still always felt really weird about it anyhow, but that crew was so good to me and made it so much fun to shop there that I just went with the flow and enjoyed my red carpet VIP treatment for all it was worth. Then about the same time that 16BIT "died", and 32BIT was pretty much over and done with too, those guys slowly started moving on to other jobs in other places and faded away, much in the same manner that my daily visits to the store became fewer and fewer until I hardly ever went there anymore.

So I totally agree with what you're saying, because it really did make me want to shop there even more, and I often bought stuff there even when I knew that I could get it cheaper somewhere else. Besides, I really got into my mascot role. One time a Sega sales rep happened to be in the store at the same time that I was, and she was trying to give them a bunch of free promo stuff, but they just pointed her in my direction and said whatever you've got, give it to him, he's our mascot! So I was like OMG, what's this? I got 3 Saturn Tshirts (which I still have) and I forget what else, but it was really weird because as I was talking to her we quickly learned that I knew way more about Sega games than she did! So we were all laughing about that, and the guys were like see? What did we tell you? He's our mascot!

Oh, and as for customers outbidding the store, that was never a problem at this EB. More often than not, it was the employees themselves outbidding the store. They'd just pull you and your games off to the side and lead you outside the store, where they would explain to you that as long as they did it outside the store they could offer you way more than the store itself could, but they didn't feel right about letting you give your games away for nothing when they were worth alot more than that to collectors like them. So the employees at that store really rocked, and I gave them as much business as I could as a result. But if they hadn't been so cool to me, then I would've spent alot more money in Babbage's, which was only a few doors down, so that kinda stuff really does do alot to increase customer loyalty.

[spoon]

thyis typwe of thing occurs EVERY time i go to a certain store. i frequented there quite a bit in my younger days, but now only go about every couple of weeks. anyway, every time i got here i get yelled at, YELLED at, and the owner guy gets pissed because last time i bought a game for $5 that was worth $40- "Sells on eBay for $40".

he proceeds to be nice when i walk in, then you can feel his tension rising until he confronts me, and by the time i leave he is red faced and pissed.

now i do i lot to keep this guy in business. ive bought displays he no longer wants(tails 3' display, etc.) and loads of games over the years, sometimes just because he says hes broke...

the most recent example: i went there last week and bought NCAA basketball 2003 for gamecube. $5.99. another customer jumped across the store and said 'do you have any more of those?!!'.... the owner said that was his last...
i arrived this week because i was in the neighborhood, and he starts as usual. ends with 'thanks for telling me that game is worth $40'. like im supposed to keep this guy up on current values...i go there to buy games cheaply..not to say'hey, this is mispriced, ill give you 80% of value' then hed take it and sell it on ebay...
i have had a conscience in the past because i know hes broke, i told him bumper bash was worth way more than id pay him for it(though i shouldnt have, due to what he says to me)..and he got something like $80.

sorry for the rant, i just cant understand why this guy wants me to go to his store only to tell him the value of his crap. why do i still go? cuz i consistently find rare games for cheap..ill take some abuse for the advancement of my collection!

if anyones on his side, i gave him my number and said to call me or give it out if theres ever product that he turns down because he cant afford it...i said whatever i dont keep ill split the profits with him(he cant afford to give out cash ever) just for the potential to increase my collection... he said 'yeah right...'

and one time a guy called him asking what hed give for 'video light' for the 2600...(which was actually video life, apparently boxed). this guy said hed give him 25 CENTS....didnt give out my number or anything... i guess the guy was looking for $300...
i guess hes gotta make a living too, but im basically offering free money and he turns it down. i feel its kind of a 'ill scratch your back' thing...maybe ill open a store near him ...

For some odd reason, I think I know what you are talking about. ;)

[Queen Of The Felines]

Regarding the "Angel" thing: Do you look anything like David Boreanaz? LOL

The other day I was browsing in a Gamestop and the guy behind the counter asked if he could help me with anything. I said no, just looking and he said "Ok, if you need anything let me know." Real nice guy. Another lady comes in and he helps her figure out what PS2 games to buy for her 11 year-old. ("No, you don't want Grand Theft Auto Vice City, it's not for kids.") The woman thanked him for being a good salesman and I was thinking "Wow, that guy really is a good salesman, not too pushy and extremely helpful." I take a good look at the guy and he looks like he's barely sixteen, with some facial hair starting to grow in and I couldn't help but be amazed that he really knew his stuff.

Then I get up to the counter and see that his nametag reads "Amanda." :eek 2: I felt horrible that the other woman and I both thought she was a guy! :embarrassed:

Kristine

[SoulBlazer]

A girl with facial hair? X_x

Eeeh...

[Nez]

Regarding the "Angel" thing: Do you look anything like David Boreanaz? LOL

Kristine

:pimp:

I guess. I've also goten Jim Carey? J Leno ( I guess becouse of my slightly large chin.)

[jezt]

I dont know if this qualifies, but the looks I get everytime I go thrifting at the sal, or value village. I hate that.

[GamblinMonkey]

We have a pretty nice used games store here in town. It's got a wider range of console games than any other store I've ever actually been to but I get the feeling that I'm one of the few who actually buy the games for their non-mainstream systems.

I always get a few stares and strange looks when I'm carrying a stack of SMS, TG-16, and Atari 5200 games to the counter. Then I get dumb questions and blank stares to any questions that I ask.
"Ooo, how much for the Turbo Booster?"
"..."
"Right there, on the middle shelf."
"..."
"...The little black box-thing with the colored ports on the back of it."

Although the last time I was in there, the cute girl who was working the checkout thought it was cool that I was buying retro games. *grin*

[Kepone]

I'm pretty well known at the shop I go to. I just ask 'em if they got more Atari games and they pull out a shoebox usually.

Whenever I need to sell games to make money, I can sell boxed and loose NES games at a local shop. I brought home $40 total the last 2 times I went to sell things.

[Nz17]

At the local used game store I was buying some NES games and the lady behind the counter said, "You must be in an old school mood today." I felt like saying, "Baby, I am always in an old school mood." But instead I just smiled and nodded.

Okay, now I had to laugh out loud at that one... sometimes, you just can't resist. LOL

[Nz17]

A girl with facial hair? X_x

Eeeh...

Hey, what's wrong with a girl having facial hair? It is just uncommon. It's similiar to where people get grossed out because of armpit hair -- everyone's got them. What's next: guys getting creeped out because they have mammory glands just like women? Oh wait, that's not an externally noticable feature... on most men. ;)

[soniko_karuto]

A girl with facial hair? X_x

Eeeh...

Hey, what's wrong with a girl having facial hair? It is just uncommon. It's similiar to where people get grossed out because of armpit hair -- everyone's got them. What's next: guys getting creeped out because they have mammory glands just like women? Oh wait, that's not an externally noticable feature... on most men. ;)

oh shit, hairy armpits are the suxors :S

the mamaray glands, hell, i have manboobs and sure as hell i don't like them :S

[Push Upstairs]

What's next: guys getting creeped out because they have mammory glands just like women?

Wait till they find out that every fetus starts out as a *female*.


Thats going to shock some guys.

[FantasiaWHT]

What's next: guys getting creeped out because they have mammory glands just like women?

Wait till they find out that every fetus starts out as a *female*.


Thats going to shock some guys.

Were you reading Jurassic Park again? :P

[Iron Draggon]

Even more shocking is that two females can reproduce without a male, and the only catch is that all the babies will be females, it's called parthenogenesis.

[stuffedmonkey]

I'n not quite sure about reproducing, but two females together can't be a bad thing.

Unless of course they are really hairy....

[studvicious]

This isn't a really "weird" story or anything, but I was at my local Gamestop about a week ago checking out the Gamecube games and I turn around and Maven from the WWE was at the counter asking about a game :) The employees asked him if he was in the new Smackdown game and he said that he wasn't, he's still hurt. I thought that was pretty cool, I had totally forgot that he lived around here.

[Overbite]

last saturday a kid ran into the EB near here screeching about how "VICE CITY IS OUT VICE CITY IS OUT!"

he lookd around 8. he was so happy that vice city was out.

most of my game store crazy moments involve kids. They run around and scream and knock things over and shout out names of games and go I WANT THIS I WANT THIS and they fart and smell and make noise.

There was one kid who was a bit slow. He would run right into displays and people while making WHOOP WHOOP noises. He ran into my damn leg. I shot him a glare and he ran off into a halo 2 standup and broke it.

Then I bought a game and I was happy.

[Push Upstairs]

Were you reading Jurassic Park again? :P

Haven't read the book in years. LOL