Anyone worked in a games shop

[butchcvc]

I haven't worked in a games shop myself, but yes, that exact scenario has been related on here countless times by people from GAME, GameStation etc.

Would these parents do the same with a DVD? I doubt it.

mine did and i've been a pacifist and respectable member of society all my life!

[brokeback]

To be fair, the Staff at GAME are put under a lot of pressure to sell. A staff member told me the other day that he had to make sure 75% of his sales were under a loyalty card, or he would get a written warning, or some such punishment - Ultimatly resulting in the sack. He said if someone came in and bought a console and he didn't get them to sign up for a loyalty card at the same time, he would be in real trouble.

Whether this is useless anecdotal evidence, or typical of all staff across GAME i don;t know, if it is typical, then they have my sympathies - It makes customer care almost impossible, how can you advise someone not to buy something when your job is on the line?

That's true. You have to get people to buy reward cards or you are pretty much ****ed. that's sort of the reason I ultimately got sacked. gather round my friends, I shall tell you the tale of my sacking:

It was a few weeks before christmas. there was a general buzz in the shopping centre and the air was crisp outside. families were shopping and the game store, where I worked, was full of shoppers, eager to pick up that last christmas gift. As I stood behind the counter, a suited man approached the counter and I welcomed him in my usual jovial fashion. Upon asking him what he wanted, he declared "10 ps2's please". "10?" I exclaimed, "yes, 10 ps2's" the chap declared. "pray tell, why so many?" I quizzed the gentleman. "They are prizes for a christmas raffle" the man proclaimed. "I see" said I, "and would sir wish to purchase a reward card with these ps2's?" I asked, "No thankyou. I have no need for such things. my wallet is already brimming with cards". ALas, there was no convincing this man of the merits of owning the card and I began to realise that I was going to have the lowest 'swipe rate' of any member of game staff in history.
I didn't know what to do. I knew, through no fault of my own, that I was in a deep trouble and this dilemma required drastic measures. I explained my terrible sittuation to the gent and I queried him to just how far his christmas spirit stretched: "do you suppose" I asked, "that to save my bacon, I might swipe my own card and thus save my self a right bollocking from my manager?" But f course!" said the man, "waste not, want not and all that!" so I swiped away.
All was well for a few months until a strange letter arrived through my letterbox. "what in heavens is this?" I exclaime in suprise. Upon opining the letter, I was greeted with a reward voucher for the sum total of ?100! after my initial joy and excitement it dawned on me that i was utterly ****ed. A few weeks went by and nothing was said until one post christmas morning, I was called to the managers office. That was it. I was out of there. GAME over.
The funniest part of this story was my disciplinary meeting a month later, but I'm bored of writing so I'll save that one for another day.

[eastyy]

great story

i find it very very annoying to find staff under so much pressure to sell games rather than just being a good honest sales person
as i said thats why i love the small independant shops so much

[butchcvc]

great story

but i find it very very annoying to find staff under so much pressure to sell games rather than just being a good honest sales person

yeah! i second both that!

follow-up the story sometime in this thread pretty please!

[eastyy]

i did see a story on teletext about some charts in game and other shops are actually rigged is that true?

[Plisken]

i'd just like to point out working for gamestation sounds about a million times more attractive than working for game, thank god we dont have to worry about any of that loyalty card bull**** or fobbing off ****e games.

If i had worked for game, and if my manager tried to push that card pressure bull**** on me i would simply up and leave.

[PeteBrant]

i did see a story on teletext about some charts in game and other shops are actually rigged is that true?

I would be more astonished at a story that claimed that charts in GAME etc were actually accurate.

ELSPA and the US/Jap equivalents are probably fairly reliable for sales figures, but in-store charts seem to be purely based on the weeks big releases.

[chopemon]

i used to work in GAME and when i left my girlfriend (not at the time) took over my position and still works there

i really enjoyed my time there, it was good fun but i hated the lack of knowledge and enthusiasm for games in my fellow staff. i also hated and felt dirty pushing all the loyalty cards and deals of the week on people, it makes you feel really cheap.

i would rather work in GAME than gamestation though. i couldn't stand dealing with all the annoying little kids, chavs and crack junkies you get in gamestation.

also the stores never seem to be as clean or well presented as a GAME store

they both have their good and bad points but i think i'd prefer to work for game rather than gamestation (perhaps tainted by the fact that the gamestation in derby has one of the BIGGEST pr*cks ever working there)

[TonyDA]

Do GameStation have any Area Managers? If so, It'd be great if the one for Sussex told the staff in GameStation Brighton and Worthing to turn their ****ing music down. It's not even good music, just VERY VERY LOUD.

Funnily enough, that makes me walk out and go to Game to make my purchases. Even Virgin and HMV play their music at a lower volume - surely that can't be right?

[dnabstract]

I've heard staff in GAME try to "encourage" the customer to buy a new PS2 memcard with GTA : SA, because apparently the game has a "really big save file".

[Ratso]

Do GameStation have any Area Managers? If so, It'd be great if the one for Sussex told the staff in GameStation Brighton and Worthing to turn their ****ing music down. It's not even good music, just VERY VERY LOUD.

Funnily enough, that makes me walk out and go to Game to make my purchases. Even Virgin and HMV play their music at a lower volume - surely that can't be right?

Yep, I was in GameStation Brighton after work today and as usual it was some really loud, really crap kidz drum'n'bass followed by some even louder and even crappier kidz metal.

[StanBush]

Do GameStation have any Area Managers? If so, It'd be great if the one for Sussex told the staff in GameStation Brighton and Worthing to turn their ****ing music down. It's not even good music, just VERY VERY LOUD.

Funnily enough, that makes me walk out and go to Game to make my purchases. Even Virgin and HMV play their music at a lower volume - surely that can't be right?

Amen to that mate the you feel like you have walked into the download festival in the worthing store.

[MJR_UK]

yeah, it happens loads. Im a games buyer currently at hmv.

Next week itll be loads of young kids getting their parents to get them God of War on the ps2; "oh theyve seen it all before..."

[Big Seany]

I always get patronised in mainstream game shops. I went in Gamestation a few months ago, and asked if they had Wave Race on the N64. The guy said no, so I presented a copy of Actraiser on the SNES I was going to buy anyway. He looked at me as though I was someone with special needs, and said: "You do know that game is for the Super Nintendo - it won't work on an N64". I felt like saying: "Oh - I'm terribly sorry. My stupid mistake. I really must remember to bring my care assistant with me next time I go games shopping."

Yesterday I was in a branch of GAME, and I must have confused the assistant when I presented him with two PS1 games and a GC RGB lead I wanted to buy. First he said, gesturing at the lead, then the games: "That won't work with one of them" (implying that there was no possible way I could own two different consoles!) and then pointed at the lead and said: "That is for the Gamecube. You do realise?". I then baffled him even further when I said I was buying the lead as it is backwards compatible with the SNES and N64. "I wouldn't know about any of that, Sir" was his helpful, ignorant reply.

[brokeback]

one funny thing about game is the stupid ****ing blurb you have to recite every time you answer the phone. I got constant bollockings for not doing and just answering the phone with "hello, game"... What i should have said was:

"hello, this is game where you can preorder metal gear solid five for the ps4, luke speaking, how may I help you today?"

What a mouth full. One of my favourite tricks was to do this:

me: "hello..."

Customer "hi have you got"

me: "this is game..."

customer: "erm, yeah,, hi, have you"

me: "where you can preorder the latest metal gear solid game for the ps2..."

customer: "ok... right, have you got"

me: "luke speaking..."

customer: "what the **** is this!!!"

me: "how may I help you?"

customer: "Bye!"



a little bit cockish, maybe, but I was 'just doing my job'.