The Confused Gamecube lady at TRU

[kainemaxwell]

I was telling Achi a bit of this story the other day:

Back Friday I got sent to the R-Zone section to grab sodas to restock the fridge (the soda stockroom was in that dept.). So a lady asked me to help her out. Seeing I knew alot of video games and the crowds were massing (and it was my job) I helped her out.

She asked me about Gamecube controllers and if he had any other ones. i told her what we had on the shelves and pegs was what we had- the simple grey ones, peach ones and a 3rd party controller. I told her there wasn't any diff between the Nintendo GC controllers except the color when I noticed the 3rd party one and handed it to her. I tried explaining to her it is for the GC even though it's not by Nintendo and she kept asking me about the Turbo button.

So I told her that button will help her son (the gamer) run faster and shoot faster and she kept asking would it work on any game. i told her sure it would. She took the controller and thanked me.

On my 2nd or 3rd trip back to getting more soda to restock the lady was still there looking at the controllers! So I explained to her calmly the differences, Turbo, etc and she thanked me. She also asked me about the Memory Cards.

So after grabbing my last soda load to refill the lady asked someone in the R-Zone about the controllers...she told the lady get the Nintendo based one. She put the other controller back, bought the Intendo GC one and got in line.

[digitalpress]

Yep. The wonderful world of RETAIL. Dealing with stupidity on a whole new level. I remember it well. And I don't miss it a bit.

[Raedon]

I would rather sell my ass for money then work in retail agian..

And not all GC controllers are the same.. When I got my GC it came with 1 Nintendo controller and 1 Intec Controller.. The Intec controller is junk, I push all the way forward on the stick and my guy should run, but he walks for a bit, then runs for a bit, then walks for a bit. etc.

Somewhere around the N64 3rd party controllers started just not working as they should. You can't go wrong with a genesis or snes 3rd party but get a n64/gc 3rd party and your bound to be cussing within 5 minutes.

[kainemaxwell]

I also love the fact I may know more on video games then most the R-Zone section associates know....

[Sylentwulf]

I've never used or seen a 3rd party controller that didn't suck.

[Lady Jaye]

I've had a third-party SNES controller and it works fine. However, my friends have told me stories about problems they've had with the third-party N64 controllers. They just don't last as long as the official Nintendo ones.

And that lady really seems clueless. It's a wonder she didn't end up buying a Dual Shock for her son's GameCube.

Last week at the Canadian Tire I work in, a couple was shopping for a car vacuum cleaner (I work in the auto parts department). After looking at the different models (and opening different boxes), the lady decided to go for the bigger model because it has add-on tools. Anyway, she insisted on getting one that was "unused" (read in an unopened box). Thing is, she's the one who opened the box! Of course, I'm the one who was stuck trying to get the vacuum cleaners to fit in the boxes!!!

[NE146]

I don't get what's the big deal about the story. Sounds like she was just scoping out the Gamecube controllers, you told her about the 3rd party ones, but she debated for a while (which anyone is entitled to do as long as they want), then decided upon the Nintendo controllers. And??? :roll: Is it because she didn't buy the ones you gave her initially?

[YoshiM]

She wasn't debating, she was waffling.

I think from the original post it looks like she had no idea which one to get, even after all of the options were explained. She didn't want to decide. She wanted to be told what to get. When it comes to "people in general" and things they don't/won't understand, the decision making process seems to shut down. Which is understandable, but still somewhat frustrating to the sales associate who spends the time to go over the options and give the customer the ultimate choice. Basically, she should have done a little research (looked in magazines, checked the Net, asked her kid, asked her kid's friends' parents, etc.) before venturing out into the unknown.

Kaine, I know where you are coming from on this, and I have known the frustration.

[Six Switch]

I would rather sell my ass for money then work in retail agian..



Yea,it sucks hard.As for 3rd party controllers,they do suck.Big time.I will never buy one again.Damn things,accept for some of the 2600 ones,and the good 5200 ones are not all that bad. >:( :-D x_x

[Nature Boy]

I certainly wouldn't think of doing research just to pick up a $30 controller even if I knew nothing about video games. How hard could it be?

Just last year I went with my boss to purchase a Gamecube for his son. It's a real eye opener when you go shopping with somebody who knows only what they hear from their kids. And who can blame them really?

[Anonymous]

I think that the lady was probably acting in such a way as to imply that Kaine's advice wasn't "good enough" for her. It's one thing to get advice from several people and make an informed decision, it's another to let someone talk and then dismiss their opinion out of hand. And too many people do the latter thinking they can hide it under the guise of the former, especially in retail.

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke's right actually. I had some Chinese lady have myself and 2 other associates in the Boys Section explain to her the Rumble Robots today.