Game & Gamestation: GAME credit woes

[FelixofMars]

Sadly the higher ups think this hard sell method is good practice though else other stores wouldn't do it. Back in the day I did a brief stint for MS where we where sited instore for Xbox sales at a certain toy megastore. Before we went out MS did a day induction going through all the do's and don't s and giving us a bit more background on the console. One of the things was that we didn't hard sell and just advised as needed. But the store had other ideas and seemed narked off I would not follow the customers and hard sell them.

I bet that the higher ups at Game have implemented this as their tactic, whenever I go into Game or indeed Gamestation now its like I am being friking ghosted by about 3 sales clerks. Most of which seem completely clueless about games and/or hardware in any shape or form. Its always really funny to listen to the ****e they come out with when talking to other customers. That said a few months ago I went into Gamestation because I needed some banana points and had a good chat with the manager of that particular store.

Ay, that's all I do. They come over, ask if I need anything, and I say 'no thanks, I'm fine'. And that's it. They might ask if I have a reward card when I buy something, but I don't think anyone has ever tried to hard sell me anything in GAME.

[Dogg Thang]

And yet people still bitch about us trying to do our jobs. A polite "no thanks" is all that's required.

I guess tolerance depends on how much you have been hit with a hard sell in a given time period. It's like those charities on the streets. Sure, all you need to do is say 'no' and keep walking but when you've had to do that seven times in quick succession patience wears thin. If I'm wandering around Game looking lost, sure, I'd love some pointers but when I'm very clear on what I want, well, I just want what I want. Sometimes patience levels vary.

That said, here in Dublin, I've generally encountered nothing but great staff in Game through several staff generations. I very rarely get any hard sell and yet have had some pleasant positive gaming chat at the till.

[nakamura]

That situation I described was not me and to be honest i'm not sure how I would have reacted. I certainly wouldn't have been rude, they are just doing their job but to suggest selling a unit you are buying a game for at the time is pure idiocy. Nothing wrong with hotlinking items to a pre order etc.

I would say 80-90% of staff in my area are ok. There was a girl in gamestation last week who spent ages talking to me, showing me the Vita (no games this time) and chatting about games. I would go back there just to chat to her and it would increase my chance of picking an item up like I did in fact on that day (Chrono Trigger DS). My friend already works in the store and I go in to chat to him and often impulse buy because of that.

[speedlolita]

Aren't you married?

[nakamura]

Yes, but she talked to me about games so I want to put my willy in her.

[Grapple Convoy]

Of course if I'm asked for help I politely decline but I don't take well to situations described by Nakamura. I was asking for a certain pad in CeX the other week to be asked "are you serious?" I was like, is that your business?

I got that sort of response when trying to buy a Wii Fit set for my girlfriend. Some tirade about the Wii being "for women" and how I should buy an Xbox. Then another time, when my girlfriend went to buy me Wii Sport Resort as a birthday present, they tried to up-sell her a Wii Motion Plus, telling her the game wouldn't work otherwise (even though she knew full well there was one supplied already in the game packaging). Then last week, I asked after 3DS eShop cards, to use up my Game loyalty card credit, and was told that I should buy a new 3DS if I'd lost the supplied AR cards(!).

[ETC]

This happened to me today. I was buying a ?25 psn card. "Do you have a loyalty card they are only ?3" I do have one anyways so fine, "do you know final fantasy was released this week it's ?42.99 or ?57.99 with the guide, would you like one?" no thanks, "would you like to pre order any games today", no thanks would you like to trade in any consoles or games today? No thanks. "would you like to pre order a playstation vita for ?25, you can also trade in your 3ds for one for ?99.99" never mentioned I had one, "no thanks" are you sure I can demo you one to see "I have an import one already". "would you like to pre order any of the uk launch games" by now I am getting ticked off quite a bit as you can imagine but again I know its not this guys fault (the manager is standing next to him) so I just say politely "I'll just pay for this please I do not want anything else" I dont mind being offered a couple of things but 7 different things at the till that would push anyone's patience, I don't know how you guys that work for Game, GS can put up with being made to do it, I was nice today as you could tell the guy had no choice but likewise I can see why people just walk, that's pretty much borderline harassment

[mr_sockochris]

I work for Lidl and I'm SO glad that we don't have a list of generic things to ask before each transaction. It feels like you can't buy anything these days without being asked if you want Cashback, a phone top up, etc. If I wanted any of these things I would ask for them!

[Matt]

I've never had more than a "Are you interested in anything else?" type of thing, which is fair enough. Some of you fellas need to work on your **** Off scowl.

[EvilBoris]

I bought a 3DS today (4th store until I found actual stock) and they were all very pleasent, I just let them say what they have to say and say no thanks.

Although I was slightly annoyed to find a save on my "new" copy of Starfox 3DS. I believe I paid a slight premium to have it untouched by human hands.

[teddymeow]

See, trying to shoehorn everything into one conversation is pointless as it just pisses off the customer you're with. I pick & choose what questions to ask. Reward Card & pre-order are always asked but there's no point offering a Vita pre-order if its a 60-something buying a budget PC game.

Also, I never bull**** any customers as lying isn't what I'd consider good customer service.

[nakamura]

It needs to be relative to what the customer is buying/asking for the first place. Are they buying a Wii game? Mention The Last Story is the next big hit. You could also pop it in if they are buying FFXIII-2 if they have a Wii.
It has to be smart, concise and to the point.

[ETC]

I was nearly that bamboozled I was going to just walk out so god knows what someone with a bad temper would do, your shop sounds similar to the GS I normally go in Chris good crack with informed extras offered I don't mind that at all it's how I picked up on Nis games but GS in general still seems a lot better for that than game I would go as far as to say if Game had followed what the GS style of shopping was they wouldn't be in the mess they are now in

[teddymeow]

That's the thing. I was GS for 8 years and only moved across to GAME last May. I'm tring to bring the good from GS into the store I work in now.

[huxley]

Yes, but she talked to me about games so I want to put my willy in her.

Lol coffee escaped from my nostrils.