I'm not talking about the usual complaints. This is not a rant about hard selling strategy guides, or trying to fleece the ignorant into spending twenty pounds on an HDMI cable. What has me worked up right now is the incredibly poor service these places offer, and the abysmal standard of their staff.
I was in Game in Leicester yesterday. They have a huge poster up plugging the collectors edition of Mass Effect 2, a game I will be buying at some point, and I was curious about the price difference between it and the standard edition. So I asked the girl working the checkout how much the collectors edition was going to cost.
She turned round and scanned the games in the glass cabinet behind her, obviously looking for Mass Effect 2. Then she turned back to me and asked "is it out yet?". After a moments stunned silence, I explained it was due out at the end of month. The rest of the exchange is too tedious and painful to go over again. Suffice to say that she had clearly never heard of Mass Effect.
OK, so what? Surely one ignorant till monkey is no big deal. Well actually, it is, because it reveals an awful lot about their hiring practices. It is impossible for anyone who reads a single video game blog, news site or magazine, to have not heard of Mass Effect, so clearly this girl has little to no real interest in video games. Actually, given that the place she works in has a poster up advertising Mass Effect 2, maybe she can't read.
Obviously, Game do not consider knowledge about video games a prerequisite for those working in their video game stores. And hell, it seems to be working. Profits have been going up for the last few years, largely, it seems, due to used game sales. But with publishers increasingly looking for ways to restrict used game sales, from one use only download codes, to full on digital distribution, the second hand market might well have peaked. The pawn shop business model of Game and Gamestation might be a shrinking market.
If so, you will need to find a new way to entice customers into your stores. Friendly, knowledgeable staff might be a good start.
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Anyway I think this is the case anywhere you go in general. There's always gonna be those people who know nothing and are hired anyway. That's why I find a place I like with people I know know their shit and stick with them. If you're going into a specialty shop that's always gonna be the case. It's the same when I buy vinyl and when I buy hair products. If they're a specialty store it's always hit or miss. Even trained people like AT&T and Verizon stores.
The only place I've ever been where no matter where the shop was I knew they were on top of their game were Mac stores.
But seriously if she was attractive that explains it.
Well, yes and no. The Gamebuzz I go to there's A) : the guy that knows his shit with an assistant who doesn't know shit. They have nice plushies and shirts which is nice.
I agree that just reading a blog about it, it's enough to know your stuff. Really.
I was looking for a preowned copy of Rock Band for the 360 and he called me an idiot and told me that game was a sony exclusive. I've never set foot in that store again.
I think that certain stores like gamestop in the U.S., Game Planet here in Mexico and apparently GAME in the UK have such a hold on the market that they just feel like they don't have to try anymore.
"The rest of the exchange is too tedious and painful to go over again."
STFUAJPG.
Except Cataract. He's cool.
I returned to the store later to look for something else to ease my superpowered butthurt, and I found the asshole who denied selling me the game purchasing the last copy for himself. My rage was atomic when I saw that.
I knew a guy that would trash the Metal Gear games in front his store's customers, making them think it was a bad series. See, not all customers are hardcore gamers and just looking to try something they heard about.
Hardcore gamers actually tend to be really bad about being inclusive to the more mainstream or casual gamer, they come on too strong and shoot some great things down because of their tastes rather than temper their opinions.
When I did retail at a music store, I went about it like this - rather than disapprove of something a customer was buying, I used my knowledge of music and artists to find other things they might like. It wasn't so much about what I liked or disliked about a band or artist, but what that customer liked and the closest things I could connect to what they were looking for.
Like there was this lady that loved celtic music and wanted her daughter to get into it, too. So when we went over those options, I pointed out The Corrs to her. They have a strong celtic influence, but are also rather poppy and inviting to a younger listener. They also do some classical stuff with a more modern edge.
They loved it. And I could do it for the heavy metal fan, christian contemporary, blugrass fans and more. It probably helps that I grew up in a diverse musical environment with a appreciation for every genre, but that's really what the hardcore gamer as a salesman needs to be like.
They shouldn't sit there and be about what they like, but what they games they can take to nudge the customer to becoming a fan of something else.
But boobs and a pretty face obviously get repeat customers, too.
Aside from not having credit or check cards I've learned that som people, no matter what you do, just prefer spending more money at wherever they're comfortable shopping.
I don't like shopping for clothes, but one thing I really enjoy is manipulating the boxes of new releases in a video game store, have a chat with the clerk about a game, etc. It's a bit of an experience in addition to being just "a place you can buy games". It's like going into a bookstore and browse through the shelves, it's much more satisfying then e-shopping, IMO.
@The Silent Protagonist:
Your last comment rings very true... I guess it depends hugely on the clerk's personality. Talking on this blog made me remember when I bought my PS3. The clerk mentionned that I would have a better experience on the 360, that he and his friends had one and that it was a lot of fun and was always looking for more buddies to play online, etc. He continued with the usual "better games" (probably refering to shooters but he didn't precise), "less costy", etc.
I just told him I wasn't interested in FPSes and wanted to get MGS4 and was looking forward to the JRPG releases during the next years, and that kindof shut him up since I showed I knew what I wanted. But I didn't really appreciate the very partial opinions he expressed... are some of these clerks missionaries hired by Sony/Microsoft? Seriously...
1) Friendly greeting and draws your attention.
2) BOOBS.
3) Coherent gaming convers-
4) BOOBS.
5) ation. Would you like to reserve something?
6) BOOBS.
7) Well that's great. My fiance is really looking forward to that game, too.Bye!
Diabolical.
It's very effective!
FatherChesz faints!
Female clerk uses BOOBS on Piellar!
It's not very effective...
Hee-hee ^^
It was really the only negative experience I've had there but it was pretty ridiculous. I found a used copy of BG&E for GameCube on sale for $10 so I picked it up and brought it over to the cashier. I payed and walked out and as I left the store I opened the game case to discover that the disc was missing.
I went back to the store and gave them my receipt and they took the game case from me and went into the backroom to find the disc. I left the store, opened the game disc and what did I find it in ? A PS2 version of BG&E. Once again, I went back into the store and told the employee the problem. Once again, he took the game case and went into the backroom. He came out and said that they didn't have any used copies for GC version left in stock. So he gave me a refund and as I began to walk out of the store, the employee said that he found one last copy of the game that was misplaced underneath the store's cashier's counter. I walked back up to the employee and I took out my money to pay for the game.
Then another problem. It turns out that the game was a new copy so the employee said he couldn't sell me it at the same price. Then he looked underneath the cashier's counter top and found the right used copy.
You're permanently forgiven for your La Roux loving.
They do go for looks in the Game stores too.
There are a couple of girls in my local Game who I would fuck hard and long.
They're dumb as a post though. I'd probably get sacked from my local Game for not pushing games on to people, for knowing about and having a passion for games, and for being fucking ugly.
Anyway, I'm working at a GameStop now, and I can tell you that even though I am fairly on-the-ball... there is a cardboard stand for Metro 2033. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT METRO 2033 IS. NONE.
Of course, this is pretty different from not knowing Mass Effect 2, but still.
Funny, when I walk in, one of the store clerks automatically gives me the "No, we still don't have any copies of Persona 3 or 4, and no used copies of Sonic Unleashed, " look.
Dai iz mah homiez...I think...
The only bad experience I've had was when I picked up Brawl at the midnight gig. The dude (who I'm sure inhaled 5 grande lattes with 5 shots of cocaine each) started spitting random pre-orders of Wii games in my face with the excited qualities of a toddler doing the damn pee-pee dance. I just said no and left; haven't seen him since.