the retailer called Game thread

Moojuice

thanks monument.

Attol

Another reason why it's impossible to be able to give the amount for whatever game it is that you want to trade in is that staff at game shops don't know the code for every single game. If you found a display box for the game that you wanted to trade in that would make it a lot easier. Also I've had people come in asking me how much they would get for a PS2 and 5 or 6 games. I can give them the amount for the PS2 but not all games trade for the same price and if they don't know what games they're trading in then how am I going to guess?

And do Irish game shops not accept PC games for trade ins? If you have a few games you want to trade in (that aren't like Half Life 2 or something else that will be useless once the code has been used once) then bring them with you to the UK next time you're over.

projectmayhem

LadyLotts wrote:

And do Irish game shops not accept PC games for trade ins? If you have a few games you want to trade in (that aren't like Half Life 2 or something else that will be useless once the code has been used once) then bring them with you to the UK next time you're over.

irish stores don't accept PC trade ins. the reason is like you said, some games like HL2 only allow the regkey to be used once, and only once. other then that, PC games are easier to copy, so fraud could be an issue if you allow trading in

sprinkles

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

I've only been working there last few months =/

But its written in our store policy thing the only place we dont price match is Argos, and the shop that has the price must be in the area and must be the exact same deal and currently in stock.

But I think the staff are ok, wel i know the floor staff (not managers or security) are really sound,funny and know an absolute rake load bout games.......

I don't think anyone is accusing the general staff of being prícks...but the way GAME approaches customer service is the issue. Some managers in GAME have been heard or seen being arogant and pushing crap games to increase sales of it due to a deal GAME have with the distributors. IMO GAME staff in general have been very nice and helpful. It's the attitude of the shop, displayed through the manager and some staff that gets the place a bad name. That and the stupid prices.

TheDoc

TBH Game is pretty much the lowest price for game stuff, I went into gamestop, hmv and smyths to check out your complaints and found they charge the same if not more, and all you have to do is tell us you found the game cheaper in another store and we will sort you out with a refund difference or something....

RobertFoster

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

TBH Game is pretty much the lowest price for game stuff, I went into gamestop, hmv and smyths to check out your complaints and found they charge the same if not more, and all you have to do is tell us you found the game cheaper in another store and we will sort you out with a refund difference or something....

Me to Blanch GAME employee with the dreads a few years ago: "If I find this game cheaper elsewhere do I get refunded the difference?"
GAME employee: *shiftily* "Have you found it cheaper?"
Me: "Not yet..."
GAME employee: "No."

Dont be at yourself

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

TBH Game is pretty much the lowest price for game stuff, I went into gamestop, hmv and smyths to check out your complaints and found they charge the same if not more, and all you have to do is tell us you found the game cheaper in another store and we will sort you out with a refund difference or something....

The issue isn't with price. [Though on that note, from my experience, Game tend to be, on average, slightly more expensive than Smyths and Gamestop. It's hard to beat HMV in terms of high prices though! And while they do price-match, it's like getting blood out of a stone.]

The issue is with awful customer service - not neccessarily from a counter-jockey level, but from a management level. Their policies are basically to do the bare minimum it takes it get the money from the consumer, and then quibble and refuse when it comes to refunds and exchanges.

I used to work in Gamestop on Henry St, across from Game. [I say used to because I don't any more, and I don't have any allegiance to high street retailers, former employers or not]. Every single week, we'd get irate mothers, fathers and whathaveyou coming in with games they couldn't return to Game - for one reason or another - and asking to trade them in with us. Or customers just chatting with us, swapping stories of mistreatment from Game. On top of that, we'd often get phonecalls put through from 11811 (the operators patching them through to us, thinking Game was the same company) and get torrents of abuse before explaining that, no, this isn't the number you're looking for.

I'll say again that the store was on Henry St, within walking distance of a Smyths, HMV, Peats, Tower Records and, at the time, Virgin. Game was the only shop we'd consistantly hear customers complain about.

chrislad

To be honest, and this is not a slight against anyone here, from my retail experience (in Game for 2 years), customers aren't happy unless you're on your knees licking their arse, and catering to their every, often unreasonable need. You need to work in retail to be a decent retail shopper. For example, I refuse to go into Dunnes or any other shop close to the closing hour as I hated people doing it to me.

I worked for GAME. I was damn good at my job. I knew the majority about every console and PC. There are people who don't care, as at the end of the day, it is just a job to them. The best GAME sales-people are gamers themselves.

madrab

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

thinking Game was the same company) and get torrents of abuse before explaining that, no, this isn't the number you're looking for.

so all that jedi training wasnt for nothing eh?

Airblazer

looks like all the dickhead managers work in dublin...here in limerick they're all dead on and I've always found them pleasant to deal with..by the looks of it Mick should be complained to head office and see how long he lasts then..actually no...better not..they might transfer him to limerick

chrislad

I was in Limerick myself. I was under 4 managers. One was a bitch, one was thick, one was full of himself and one was lovely. The current manager seems lovely though.

stormkeeper

projectmayhem wrote:

irish stores don't accept PC trade ins. the reason is like you said, some games like HL2 only allow the regkey to be used once, and only once. other then that, PC games are easier to copy, so fraud could be an issue if you allow trading in

Nor do the UK stores, or at least the UK Game stores... Gamestop in the UK seem to accept them, however. I've never had any problems with the Game I live near... the staff in Barking are brilliant... I'm practically recognised by all of them at this point, and I can chat about games to each of them, which is cool. GameStop just up the road are pretty cool as well. Never had any problems with either at all.

demonphate

ok, so i dotn post here alot, but im always lurking around, i said to myself id wait until everyone stopped ranting about managment......I've givin game a good 3 years of my life, i love working there (i work in Dawson St.) i love the product, i love my Associates and as a company, apart from minor **** ups, there not all bad. The manager in henry St. your all talkin bout, yea, he can b a dick sometimes, but hes a real nice guy when hes not in managment mode, ive been out for beers with him on more then one occasion, and get on well with him. You all only have the ability to pass comment when u have delt with the level of idiots that shop in this city! How about the multitudes that walk into a store called Game and ask "hi, do you sell video games here?" Seriosuly WTF....its hard working for with the general public, all of u folk hiding behind a desk, infront of a monitor are real quick to fire abuse at retail staff, Try it, and when the shoes on the other foot u wont feel the same......and yes blah blah, "We've all worked in retail", Whatever doodes, In an industry where growth is averaging 25% per year we dont have time to scratch are arse, and yea, 360 launch time was a fuggin tough day, most of us did midnights the night b4, so we had every reason to b grumpy and obnoxious, but screw it, Think what u will of us, anyone who actually takes time to talk to us will know MOST of us, well in dawson St. (Hi evad **waves**) anyway know what we sell, and know it well, so shop there, look for me and evad, and well help u the best we can, if not, fine, go shop somewhere else, i honestly don't care, Gamestop, smyths and argos all have poor product knowledge, but if u want to be lied to, shop there, by all means, if you want blunt, honest opinions, come shop in dawson st.
/rant off

PS Sorry for the Rant (CRY MORE n00b)

Dont be at yourself

Deep breath.

demonphate wrote:

oThe manager in henry St. your all talkin bout, yea, he can b a dick sometimes, but hes a real nice guy when hes not in managment mode, ive been out for beers with him on more then one occasion, and get on well with him.

Oh, that's ok then. He's a great laugh when in the pub. Unfortunately for the paying customers, they don't interact with these people in the pub. They interact with these people in the Game stores, where it doesn't matter how nice the people are outside 'management mode'. Should we excuse their shoddy treatment of customers because they're actually nice blokes outside work? Should we hell!

You all only have the ability to pass comment when u have delt with the level of idiots that shop in this city! How about the multitudes that walk into a store called Game and ask "hi, do you sell video games here?" Seriosuly WTF....

Well I guess I have the ability to pass comment then. When I was in GameStop, we had all sorts coming in the stores. We'd have junkies coming in on the demo pods, what seemed like thousands of little auld fellas coming in for weekend competitions, clueless mammies and daddies coming in to buy their little darlings the latest Playstation, mulchheads up from the country looking for "sliotars for the young fella", OAPs coming in looking for traditional irish music cassette tapes, the whole shebang. And you know what? Not once in my memory, did I, or my co-workers (management included), ever treat the customer with anything other than respect and courtesy. This goes for midnight launches, the day after midnight launches, or even when we managed to stumble in a mere three or four hours after our christmas party. If you're friendly with the customer, they'll generally be friendly back, and they'll return again, and acknowledge your service.

If you can't muster the enthusiasm to deal with the above kind of people, you really shouldn't be working in retail. The challenge of working in a game shop isn't communicating with other nerds - they know what they want - it's communicating with the clueless mothers, fathers, sisters and little kids.

its hard working for with the general public, all of u folk hiding behind a desk, infront of a monitor are real quick to fire abuse at retail staff

Honest question, do you guys get much abuse? I rarely got any. I wonder, is that because there's more of an emphasis on customer relations with the likes of Gamestop and Smyths etc? Mick Neary, one of the founders of GamesWorld (currently GameStop) always used to remark that as prices were similar across all the shops, and Game had a lot bigger marketing budget and brand awareness than his shops, the way to get the edge over the competitors was to offer better customer service. Something that's been carried through to today, I feel.

Gamestop, smyths and argos all have poor product knowledge, but if u want to be lied to, shop there, by all means, if you want blunt, honest opinions, come shop in dawson st.

Care to offer some clarification?

Any of my experiences with GameStop and Smyths have been fine - I haven't been misinformed or lied to on any occasion. In my experience, the GameStop staff know their stuff. There's always a stack of game magazines in the canteen, regular gaming nights amongst the staff, regular information sessions with the likes of Microsoft etc etc. One of the first questions in the interview is "What are you playing now? What do you think of it?" You won't get the job unless you're enthusiastic about games.

Blunt, honest opinions? From the company that bases its charts on how much the publishers are willing to pay? That encourages staff to promote one game over another?

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that the Game staff are clueless about games (I know from reading this forum that evad and rainbow know their stuff), but the company policy seems to override this - at least at a management level.

go shop somewhere else, i honestly don't care

I think that sums up everything that's wrong with Game today.

RobertFoster

Ah, but you're providing a service. You're the contact personnel in the front stage of the servuction system (service + production). You represent the company to the customers. If you provide a bad service, the customer will think twice before utilising the service again. Your "minor **** ups" can build up to a major **** up tbh.

You say "its hard working for with the general public". Providing a quality service is not harder than providing a quality product, it's just different.

Why would anyone want to take the time to talk to a "grumpy and obnoxious" person?

demonphate

1st things 1st, working in retail today is a pain, but it has to be done, and i love nothing more then helping the clueless mothers and fathers picking out what they want, all im saying is that yes, sometimes its a boll@x to work there, and yes, higher up managment, im talking regional here, are the ones that **** it up for the rest of us, their the ones who make us push products/loyalty card, because at the end of the day, its all about figures to them, not to me, to me its all about customer satisfaction, and yes, ive had really bad experiences with gamestop, i was laughed at, in the shop, on a busy saturday, for askking if they had a copy of steel battalion, I, personally, would never laugh at someone, asking a simple question, it all seems to be about looks more then anything in there, over product knowledge, but thats just my view, there are more then a dozen stopries i can tell you right now bout the amount of satasfied customers that leave our shop happy, and its down to the retail team we have, we hear it everyday that customers dont like to shop in gamestop, they say they feel uncomfortable, i know i do, and yes, over the last month i have gotten alot of abuse of customers doode, and its tough, and i have every reason to b grumpy at the end of a 9 hour shift on 5 hours sleep, we all have bad days.

Listen, all i was saying was dont b judging people that u dont know, yea, some people give off a really bad first impression, but if ur not short with them, they gonna do something to help you, well i know our managment in dawson st will, i dont want to get on anyones nerves, i just think you shouldnt pass judgment on people u dont know is all, seeing u lot rant on about friends of mine just gets my collar up, and i think u shud consider this, im sure everyone u deal with on a day to day basis in ur job arnt ur biggest fans

Gummy Panda

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If you can't muster the enthusiasm to deal with the above kind of people, you really shouldn't be working in retail. The challenge of working in a game shop isn't communicating with other nerds - they know what they want - it's communicating with the clueless mothers, fathers, sisters and little kids.

Well said!!

I work in retail for a phone company. Granted, the public can be taxing at times but easiest way to deal with an irate customer is to kill them with kindness.

rainbow kirby

and yes, ive had really bad experiences with gamestop, i was laughed at, in the shop, on a busy saturday, for askking if they had a copy of steel battalion,

lol... I got a similar reaction when I went into Gamestop looking for Ikaruga (just on the off-chance). It probably seemed a little absurd, a blonde girl in a floor-length tie-dye skirt looking for a Treasure shooter...

steviec

demonphate wrote:

and yes, higher up managment, im talking regional here, are the ones that **** it up for the rest of us

So you agree then, I don't think anyone is trying to insult you or evad or any of the regular staff, but the philosophy of the company in general, which you just said you have to battle with in order to provide good customer satisfaction.

falipo

game in newrys alrite any way nc staff but the gamestops are nicer really in to games even telling me about jobs coming up sound folks and in my expierence gamestop give more money for trade ins then game do

RuggieBear

demonphate wrote:

i have every reason to b grumpy at the end of a 9 hour shift on 5 hours sleep, we all have bad days.

erm...you might have a reason to be grumpy but the customer should never ever know that.

Frontline staff should give the same level of service to the last person who walks in the door as they would the first.

Dont be at yourself

demonphate wrote:

1st things 1st, working in retail today is a pain, but it has to be done, and i love nothing more then helping the clueless mothers and fathers picking out what they want, all im saying is that yes, sometimes its a boll@x to work there, and yes, higher up managment, im talking regional here, are the ones that **** it up for the rest of us

The reasons why there's poor customer service doesn't matter to the customer, the only thing that matters is the fact that the customer service is poor. So saying "oh, he's a good laugh on a night out", or "oh, I had 5 hours sleep the nigh before" or "oh, the regional managers make us do it", doesn't change the fact that it's done. I'm not going to walk away from a bad experience in Game thinking "oh, well it's ok because they're being made do it by the company". I just won't return.

ive had really bad experiences with gamestop, i was laughed at, in the shop, on a busy saturday, for askking if they had a copy of steel battalion, I, personally, would never laugh at someone, asking a simple question

You know, that could have been me who was laughing. If a customer comes in, looking for something so cult and rare as that, that's generally the reaction they'd get. Not a "haha, you stupid idiot" laugh, but "haha, good luck!". We'd frequently slag people off if they came in looking for the ICO + art cards pack, or Ikaruga, or whathaveyou. Having a bit of a laugh with (as opposed to at) the customer is a great way to pass the time. It's better than a blunt "Sorry, the system says it's not in stock", if you ask me! Obviously, mammies and daddies would get a different response from us, but generally the people looking for that kind of thing are very obviously gamers and know how unlikely it is to be in stock.

there are more then a dozen stopries i can tell you right now bout the amount of satasfied customers that leave our shop happy

Good lord, more than a dozen satisfied customers? Are you employee of the month?

Listen, all i was saying was dont b judging people that u dont know, yea, some people give off a really bad first impression, but if ur not short with them, they gonna do something to help you, well i know our managment in dawson st will, i dont want to get on anyones nerves, i just think you shouldnt pass judgment on people u dont know is all, seeing u lot rant on about friends of mine just gets my collar up, and i think u shud consider this, im sure everyone u deal with on a day to day basis in ur job arnt ur biggest fans

Nobody's judging people, and I hope you're not taking this as a personal attack. What is being judged in this thread is the level of customer service in Game. It's about highlighting flaws in the company, and discussing people's experiences with Game. I don't understand why you're taking it as a personal insult that the company you work for is being attacked. There's plenty wrong with GameStop too, and I never got offended when people would raise these points with me.

I will say though, that your attitude of excusing poor customer service becaue of X, Y and Z does suggest that you don't have the mindset for retail.

super_furry

The one thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thread here complaining about Gamestop, Xtra-Vision or Smyths.

I’ve seen dozens complaining about Game.

BlitzKrieg

The one thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thread here complaining about Gamestop, Xtra-Vision or Smyths.

i think thats because of those 3, one is generally new (Gamestop) and the other two are not specifically game stores.

Stores like Xtra Vision, HMV and Smyths there is an automatic assumption that they will charge the customer more, because they sell many different products to the general masses.

Cake Fiend

demonphate wrote:

The manager in henry St. your all talkin bout, yea, he can b a dick sometimes, but hes a real nice guy when hes not in managment mode, ive been out for beers with him on more then one occasion, and get on well with him. You all only have the ability to pass comment when u have delt with the level of idiots that shop in this city!

If he's a manager, a constant level of professionalism is required from him - if he can't deal with that, he shouldn't have accepted the job. He can't pick and choose when he's going to be polite, regardless of whatever crap he has had to put up with over the course of the day. He must have known that this comes with the territory. All of us (particularly in a public-facing position) have to put up with crap; none of us have the right to take it out on some innocent third party. It's immoral, irresponsible and completely unprofessional.

demonphate wrote:

i have every reason to b grumpy at the end of a 9 hour shift on 5 hours sleep, we all have bad days.

Again, you don't have the right to take this out on any customer. It's not their fault.

hairball

to be honest, all of the above 'excuses' given are ridiculous.
And yes, i am going to say it...I worked in retail in a specialist store, not games,
comic books, and to say we had some difficult customers is putting it mildly, the fact is, you deal with that and, if you want the business to be a sucessful
one, you deliver nothing but professionalism back as a response, also we had many , many days were we all had been out til the wee hours and turned in for work with exploding heads, but the customers never caught the blunt end of it.
Why should they, its not their fault i decided to get pissed.
And if all this doesn't make any sense then how about a simple, if it wasn't for your customers, you wouldn't have a job.?

Rockshandy

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Deep breath.



Oh, that's ok then. He's a great laugh when in the pub. Unfortunately for the paying customers, they don't interact with these people in the pub. They interact with these people in the Game stores, where it doesn't matter how nice the people are outside 'management mode'. Should we excuse their shoddy treatment of customers because they're actually nice blokes outside work? Should we hell!



Well I guess I have the ability to pass comment then. When I was in GameStop, we had all sorts coming in the stores. We'd have junkies coming in on the demo pods, what seemed like thousands of little auld fellas coming in for weekend competitions, clueless mammies and daddies coming in to buy their little darlings the latest Playstation, mulchheads up from the country looking for "sliotars for the young fella", OAPs coming in looking for traditional irish music cassette tapes, the whole shebang. And you know what? Not once in my memory, did I, or my co-workers (management included), ever treat the customer with anything other than respect and courtesy. This goes for midnight launches, the day after midnight launches, or even when we managed to stumble in a mere three or four hours after our christmas party. If you're friendly with the customer, they'll generally be friendly back, and they'll return again, and acknowledge your service.

If you can't muster the enthusiasm to deal with the above kind of people, you really shouldn't be working in retail. The challenge of working in a game shop isn't communicating with other nerds - they know what they want - it's communicating with the clueless mothers, fathers, sisters and little kids.



Honest question, do you guys get much abuse? I rarely got any. I wonder, is that because there's more of an emphasis on customer relations with the likes of Gamestop and Smyths etc? Mick Neary, one of the founders of GamesWorld (currently GameStop) always used to remark that as prices were similar across all the shops, and Game had a lot bigger marketing budget and brand awareness than his shops, the way to get the edge over the competitors was to offer better customer service. Something that's been carried through to today, I feel.



Care to offer some clarification?

Any of my experiences with GameStop and Smyths have been fine - I haven't been misinformed or lied to on any occasion. In my experience, the GameStop staff know their stuff. There's always a stack of game magazines in the canteen, regular gaming nights amongst the staff, regular information sessions with the likes of Microsoft etc etc. One of the first questions in the interview is "What are you playing now? What do you think of it?" You won't get the job unless you're enthusiastic about games.

Blunt, honest opinions? From the company that bases its charts on how much the publishers are willing to pay? That encourages staff to promote one game over another?

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that the Game staff are clueless about games (I know from reading this forum that evad and rainbow know their stuff), but the company policy seems to override this - at least at a management level.



I think that sums up everything that's wrong with Game today.

Brendan.......... i Love you.

Shanno

CiDeRmAn

When I worked for Gamestop, or Gamesworld as it was known then, I too was responsible for laughing at quite a no. of customers, but believe me, everyone of them deserved it.
I remember one guy getting into a snot.
He came in one Christmas looking for a games machine for his son. I came from behind the counter and attended to the gentleman, enquiring about his likes and dislikes, what he had played and at what sort of level he could play at, I then asked his age and was told "3 years".
At this point I offered the suggestion that the child was too young to play video games and that I honestly couldn't recommend a single game for him, he was well insulted and stormed out of the store.
I still to this day reckon I did him a favour, instead of selling him a console and games that would be totally inappropriate for anyone that age, as a nurse in my day job perhaps my caring side was disgusted at plonking a child down in front of a telly and handed a joypad.

Other things included people coming into the store on Christmas eve looking for Ocarina of Time/Goldeneye/Majoras Mask/PS2s etc, the having sold out some weeks before, its all you can do not to break down on the spot.

If a gamer is so well read up on his/her games to seek out Steel Battalion/Ico/Castlevania SOTN/Ikaruga/TV adaptor for a GameGear etc. then they also realise how rare the thing is, its an indicator of the gaming knowledge of the staff member in question that they scoff a bit at the likelyhood of you finding such a thing, a typical Game employee will scratch his head, check his computer and say some coment of it being out of stock and to check back in a week. At least Gamestop employees are , by and large, human.

With more than one brain cell.

evad_lhorg

ive got more customer service in one pube than gamestop has as a company! yes i am aware that makes no sense

steviec

CiDeRmAn wrote:

its an indicator of the gaming knowledge of the staff member in question that they scoff a bit at the likelyhood of you finding such a thing, a typical Game employee will scratch his head, check his computer and say some coment of it being out of stock and to check back in a week.

You know, that's *exactly* what happened a while back when I was looking for a copy of Alien Crossfire(expansion pack for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri which is fairly rare), blank look in Game, and a 'good luck finding it' in Gamesworld, as they were at the time.