GameStop is only closed 3 days a year: Easter, Thanksgiving day and Christmas Day.
It's open all the other days.
Holiday hours vary by store so call ahead! As a general rule stores start opening an hour early and close an hour later during holidays.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Crazy Holiday Hours
I've been working like crazy for the past couple of weeks which is why I haven't been posting as much. Though something happened and I feel like I need to let the world know: Please clean your games before you trade them in. I don't want your dusty, dirty, crusty used up playstation 2s as well. And if I ever find another dead bug in a game case again I will throw it in your face. That is all :)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Black Friday
Next week is going to be insane. I'm working 40 hours a week including the early morning shift at 6 am on Black Friday. I never got the appeal of Black Friday. I hate shopping in general and the idea of having to park in our ridiculous small parking lot and standing in line for hours for what? Maybe save $20 on a Wii? I have no idea what our sales are going to be but I can almost guarantee you they will not be that great. We'll probably have one or two good deals that will be gone by 8 am. Anyway, I'll be crazy busy but I will try to post as much as I can.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood/Need 4 Speed: Hot Pursuit
I got stuck working the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood midnight yesterday. I had about 4 hours of sleep the night before and class all day so when I showed up to work at 5, I instantly wanted to go home. Throw in hunger and boredom and it was one of my worst days at work. My SM, Mac, was pretty much the same as me. Though he had a longer drive home AND he had to open this morning. We only had about five people pick up their game and two dudes who left their trades in the store after telling us they'd be right back. I hope they come back tomorrow or there's gonna be some POSITIVE SHRINK YAY. It was pretty sad. Both Mac and I were sitting on the floor, half passing out while the Ass Creed video kept replaying itself on the TV. I swear to god if I hear ASSASSINO! one more time...
And then of course it was raining and foggy on my drive home. You know, on those roads that are one lane wide, in the forest, filled with retarded deers that jump in front of your car? Fun times.
And then of course it was raining and foggy on my drive home. You know, on those roads that are one lane wide, in the forest, filled with retarded deers that jump in front of your car? Fun times.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Everything I Need to Know About Working at GameStop
I get asked these questions ALL THE TIME
How old do you have to be to work at GameStop?
In my area it's 17, you sell M rated games, you gotta be 17. I know some store managers who don't hire minors though.
How much will I earn working at GameStop?
If you're going to be a GA, you're going to make minimum wage! Whatever that may be in your state/province. SGAs usually make about $2 more per hour in my area, ASMs make about $3 more than SGAs and SMs don't get paid hourly, they make an annual salary.
What discounts do you get working at GameStop?
You can get a 15% discount on everything EXCEPT new game consoles. Used are fine but not new. Add the 10% you get off on used games and accessories with the Edge/Power Up card that adds up to %25. Not very much I know. I used to get 40% off working at American Eagle :/
How many hours can I expect to get working at GameStop?
Again, this changes depending on what store you are at. I've worked at stores and only got 6 hours a week, other stores want to give me 30. Most GAs will not get more than 12 hours a week except for around Christmas time, that can go up slightly.
I applied at GameStop, why didn't I get hired??
Look guys, we get about 3 applications a day. Most likely the store isn't hiring at the moment.
How can I increase my chances of getting hired at GameStop?
When you fill out the application please write neatly, in pen, don't make spelling errors, take your time. I know this sounds really basic but I see so many applications that are impossible to read, that have weird food stains on them and I've even seen someone misspell their high school's name. Also, when it says expected salary, don't write $9.00 an hour or something like that if you're applying to be a GA (Unless that's what minimum wage is where you live). Starting off, ALL GAs MAKE MINIMUM WAGE. If you want to make the big bucks, don't apply at GameStop. Also, where it says availability, don't put that you can only work 3-6 during the week. Most GAs will work from 5 to 9:30 on weekdays (depending on when the store actually closes, some close at 10 so then you stay until 10:30) and on weekends you will either get a 4-5 hour opening shift, midday shift or closing shift. Also, don't bring drugs to work. I can't believe I have to say that.
What can I expect working at GameStop?
As a GA, you will most likely start off by organizing the walls (MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR ALPHABET GUYS SRSLY). Then when you get the hang of where everything is they might show you how to gut new and used games, how to print stickers and how to look up inventory. Eventually you'll start learning how the registers work, how to do trades, returns etc. You'll answer the phone occasionally. That's about all GAs do. SGAs will have to learn how to open and close the store, all the different counts that have to be done, how to do shipment, how to do marketing etc. ASMs do all that and work even more hours and they have a weekly conference call. SMs do all that as well and work even more hours than the ASMs. They also have to do inventory counts at different stores in the region.
What's the overtime pay look like?
Nonexistent since no one is allowed to go into overtime. SMs are salary so they can work as many hours as they want/are forced to. I've seen my SM work 70 hour weeks before.
What's the commission look like?
Again, nonexistent. We don't get paid commission though I wish we would, I know I'd try way harder to sell stuff.
Are there any health benefits stuff like that?
There's basic health, dental insurance and the like. I don't know too much about it since I'm still under my dad's excellent health care plan. GameStop's is very bare-bones I would avoid it. Also once you turn 21 they will hound you to get life insurance. HINT GAMESTOP STOP CALLING MY HOUSE
Wow, working at GameStop doesn't sound like very much fun, why should I work there?
If you can put up with the dumb customers and pushy corporate people, working here isn't too bad. I've met some of my best friends working at GameStop. You get to check out used games for four days. Small as it is, you do get a discount. You can also join retail loyalty websites: SONY, MICROSOFT, NINTENDO. I've only joined Sony's but I'm really happy with it. You take quizzes on upcoming titles to earn points which you can spend on games and accessories. I've gotten LittleBigPlanet GOTY, Uncharted and a new controller from them so far and I still have 30,000 points saved up. I've also gotten a bunch of freebies like the LittleBigPlanet Pirate pack and the water pack, all the extra Uncharted 2 GOTY content, extra God Of War: Ghost of Sparta content, Modnation Racers stuff etc. They also have insane quarterly giveaways: one time they gave away a PS3, a 46 inch Bravia TV and a mini fridge filled with Red Bull. Another time they gave away a PS3, a Move bundle pack, extra move and navigation controllers, a charging station and all the Move launch games. The best one was a PS3 and about 30 exclusive PS3 games, I can't remember all of them but I'm pretty sure it was every single exclusive that was out at the time, insane.
Any other questions? Let me know in the comments and I will answer them!
How old do you have to be to work at GameStop?
In my area it's 17, you sell M rated games, you gotta be 17. I know some store managers who don't hire minors though.
How much will I earn working at GameStop?
If you're going to be a GA, you're going to make minimum wage! Whatever that may be in your state/province. SGAs usually make about $2 more per hour in my area, ASMs make about $3 more than SGAs and SMs don't get paid hourly, they make an annual salary.
What discounts do you get working at GameStop?
You can get a 15% discount on everything EXCEPT new game consoles. Used are fine but not new. Add the 10% you get off on used games and accessories with the Edge/Power Up card that adds up to %25. Not very much I know. I used to get 40% off working at American Eagle :/
How many hours can I expect to get working at GameStop?
Again, this changes depending on what store you are at. I've worked at stores and only got 6 hours a week, other stores want to give me 30. Most GAs will not get more than 12 hours a week except for around Christmas time, that can go up slightly.
I applied at GameStop, why didn't I get hired??
Look guys, we get about 3 applications a day. Most likely the store isn't hiring at the moment.
How can I increase my chances of getting hired at GameStop?
When you fill out the application please write neatly, in pen, don't make spelling errors, take your time. I know this sounds really basic but I see so many applications that are impossible to read, that have weird food stains on them and I've even seen someone misspell their high school's name. Also, when it says expected salary, don't write $9.00 an hour or something like that if you're applying to be a GA (Unless that's what minimum wage is where you live). Starting off, ALL GAs MAKE MINIMUM WAGE. If you want to make the big bucks, don't apply at GameStop. Also, where it says availability, don't put that you can only work 3-6 during the week. Most GAs will work from 5 to 9:30 on weekdays (depending on when the store actually closes, some close at 10 so then you stay until 10:30) and on weekends you will either get a 4-5 hour opening shift, midday shift or closing shift. Also, don't bring drugs to work. I can't believe I have to say that.
What can I expect working at GameStop?
As a GA, you will most likely start off by organizing the walls (MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR ALPHABET GUYS SRSLY). Then when you get the hang of where everything is they might show you how to gut new and used games, how to print stickers and how to look up inventory. Eventually you'll start learning how the registers work, how to do trades, returns etc. You'll answer the phone occasionally. That's about all GAs do. SGAs will have to learn how to open and close the store, all the different counts that have to be done, how to do shipment, how to do marketing etc. ASMs do all that and work even more hours and they have a weekly conference call. SMs do all that as well and work even more hours than the ASMs. They also have to do inventory counts at different stores in the region.
What's the overtime pay look like?
Nonexistent since no one is allowed to go into overtime. SMs are salary so they can work as many hours as they want/are forced to. I've seen my SM work 70 hour weeks before.
What's the commission look like?
Again, nonexistent. We don't get paid commission though I wish we would, I know I'd try way harder to sell stuff.
Are there any health benefits stuff like that?
There's basic health, dental insurance and the like. I don't know too much about it since I'm still under my dad's excellent health care plan. GameStop's is very bare-bones I would avoid it. Also once you turn 21 they will hound you to get life insurance. HINT GAMESTOP STOP CALLING MY HOUSE
Wow, working at GameStop doesn't sound like very much fun, why should I work there?
If you can put up with the dumb customers and pushy corporate people, working here isn't too bad. I've met some of my best friends working at GameStop. You get to check out used games for four days. Small as it is, you do get a discount. You can also join retail loyalty websites: SONY, MICROSOFT, NINTENDO. I've only joined Sony's but I'm really happy with it. You take quizzes on upcoming titles to earn points which you can spend on games and accessories. I've gotten LittleBigPlanet GOTY, Uncharted and a new controller from them so far and I still have 30,000 points saved up. I've also gotten a bunch of freebies like the LittleBigPlanet Pirate pack and the water pack, all the extra Uncharted 2 GOTY content, extra God Of War: Ghost of Sparta content, Modnation Racers stuff etc. They also have insane quarterly giveaways: one time they gave away a PS3, a 46 inch Bravia TV and a mini fridge filled with Red Bull. Another time they gave away a PS3, a Move bundle pack, extra move and navigation controllers, a charging station and all the Move launch games. The best one was a PS3 and about 30 exclusive PS3 games, I can't remember all of them but I'm pretty sure it was every single exclusive that was out at the time, insane.
Any other questions? Let me know in the comments and I will answer them!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Random Customer Comment
Me: "Hi what can I do for you today?"
Customer: "I need to get Call of Duty: Black Ops."
Me: "Ok, did you reserve it?"
Customer: *Laughs* "...oh no."
Me: "What system did you want it for?"
Customer: "360, WHAT OTHER SYSTEMS ARE THERE?!" *laughs at his own fanboy comment*
Me: "Actually Black Ops is out for the PS3, PC, Wii and DS as well. The Xbox is not the center of the universe. That'll be $62.99."
Customer: *pays, grabs game and runs off*
Customer: "I need to get Call of Duty: Black Ops."
Me: "Ok, did you reserve it?"
Customer: *Laughs* "...oh no."
Me: "What system did you want it for?"
Customer: "360, WHAT OTHER SYSTEMS ARE THERE?!" *laughs at his own fanboy comment*
Me: "Actually Black Ops is out for the PS3, PC, Wii and DS as well. The Xbox is not the center of the universe. That'll be $62.99."
Customer: *pays, grabs game and runs off*
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Stop Robbing Us Goddamn
From Kotaku:
Fox News reports that Adrian Tyrone Snow walked into the store in the middle of a robbery, with suspects Giovannte Maddox and Demarkus Williams having already tied up an employee of the store. It was when they tried to restrain Snow, who resisted, that he was shot twice, later dying in an Atlanta hospital.
They're just video games -__-
Fox News reports that Adrian Tyrone Snow walked into the store in the middle of a robbery, with suspects Giovannte Maddox and Demarkus Williams having already tied up an employee of the store. It was when they tried to restrain Snow, who resisted, that he was shot twice, later dying in an Atlanta hospital.
They're just video games -__-
Call of Duty: Black Ops
I love love love it when a big game is about to be released. It allows me to have numbers like this:
To put that into perspective, normally a 20%-25% reserve percentage is considered very good. And to be fair I ended the day at 242% but 350% was the high point.
I clocked out around 10 o'clock and headed over to my other store to pick up my copy. There were a bunch of people dressed up, there was even a guy in a ghillie suit. He got to cut to the front of the line (after me :D). I really regret not getting any pictures.
So far I'm at level 38 online and I really like it. It's a VERY nice change from Modern Warfare 2, which to me has gotten stale lately. I love that you can do splitscreen online, the COD points/wager system, zombies and pretty much all the little things they've added like the ability to create your own emblem and to carve your clan tag and emblem into your weapons. You can even give your guy face paint. I'm a total sucker for customization.
I played three levels of the campaign and while I'm a little confused as to what's going on, it's super high energy and frantic and ridiculously fun. I'm playing on the easiest difficulty level to run through the game recklessly and I'll replay later for all the rest of the trophies.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Armed Robbers Snatch 100 Copies Of Black Ops In GameStop Heist
From Kotaku:
The Harford County, Md. sheriff's office said the heist happened Saturday evening, and the robbers waited until closing time to hold up the GameStop in the Festival at Bel Air shopping center in Bel Air, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.
This is why Maryland stores have to check up on every single game they get traded in. Because half the time they are stolen.
The Harford County, Md. sheriff's office said the heist happened Saturday evening, and the robbers waited until closing time to hold up the GameStop in the Festival at Bel Air shopping center in Bel Air, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.
This is why Maryland stores have to check up on every single game they get traded in. Because half the time they are stolen.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
A Rundown of My GameStop History - Part I
I started working at GameStop when I was 18 and a sophmore in college. My mother kept pushing me to get a summer job and I started jobhunting. And by jobhunting I mean driving around, hanging out with my friends and NOT filling out any applications. Eventually she wised up to my plan and I had to actually get a real job. I had worked before so holding a job wasn't a completely foreign idea. In high school, I worked at American Eagle for about three months and I also interned on Capitol Hill for a Congressman (Can you guess which one? XD). So I headed to the only place I'd seriously considered working at.
I'll be honest, I'd been in GameStop twice in my life before applying. I usually bought my games at Best Buy instead but I didn't want to work at a big store. I walked in to XX41, my first store, and met Pierce and Vinny. Pierce is gigantic and covered in tattoos. He is also the nicest person I have ever met. He is about 6 years older than me. Pierce was our ASM. He'd started at GameStop as a GA and worked his way up. Vinny was the SGA at the time. I call him Vinny here because he looks EXACTLY like Vinny from the Jersey Shore. He's nice enough though we butted heads at times. I filled out an application on the spot and hung out for a bit. When I left, I figured they wouldn't call me and that would be that.
Later that night I got a phone call from Barney, the store manager. He asked me to come down to the store later that week. Barney is about three years older than me. He's tall, super skinny with glasses and is totally awesome. I met him at the store to do an interview. The interview was pretty basic. He asked me questions about my work history and what kinds of games I played. He had me sell him some stuff (I hate roleplaying with a passion -__-).
He called me back the next week to offer me the job with a starting pay rate of $6.55 an hour! At the time minimum wage was $6.50 in my state and the only reason I got an extra 5 cents was because I asked. I didn't care, I finally had a job! I could get my mother off my back!
I worked at Store XX41 for a year and a half. I met some of the best people working there. And the worst. My coworkers included the GAs: Harold, the biggest stoner I have ever met. One of my favorite people, Harold is super chill and funny. I love working with him. Also he would totally hook me up with weed if I asked. Harold worked at GameStop as a second job to pay for his gaming needs though he was eventually let go and he's now back in school (with me XD). Harold and I were the main GAs at the store along with Jen, a former ASM who demoted herself down to GA when she got another job. She's around Pierce's age with bushy straw colored hair and pale pale PALE skin. We got along at first until I got promoted to SGA and she turned into a raging b*tch. She was always commenting about what I wore and what I did. But that's for another day :) Other GAs included: Ash, a chubby asian kid a couple years younger than me who loves everything from Pokemon to Twilight, and Cappie and Beaver, two typical college freshmen who love sports games and shooters. Their only defining characteristic was that Cappie had short brown hair and Beaver had long-ish blond hair.
This post is already super long and I'm pretty tired. I'll continue this in another post :)
I'll be honest, I'd been in GameStop twice in my life before applying. I usually bought my games at Best Buy instead but I didn't want to work at a big store. I walked in to XX41, my first store, and met Pierce and Vinny. Pierce is gigantic and covered in tattoos. He is also the nicest person I have ever met. He is about 6 years older than me. Pierce was our ASM. He'd started at GameStop as a GA and worked his way up. Vinny was the SGA at the time. I call him Vinny here because he looks EXACTLY like Vinny from the Jersey Shore. He's nice enough though we butted heads at times. I filled out an application on the spot and hung out for a bit. When I left, I figured they wouldn't call me and that would be that.
Later that night I got a phone call from Barney, the store manager. He asked me to come down to the store later that week. Barney is about three years older than me. He's tall, super skinny with glasses and is totally awesome. I met him at the store to do an interview. The interview was pretty basic. He asked me questions about my work history and what kinds of games I played. He had me sell him some stuff (I hate roleplaying with a passion -__-).
He called me back the next week to offer me the job with a starting pay rate of $6.55 an hour! At the time minimum wage was $6.50 in my state and the only reason I got an extra 5 cents was because I asked. I didn't care, I finally had a job! I could get my mother off my back!
I worked at Store XX41 for a year and a half. I met some of the best people working there. And the worst. My coworkers included the GAs: Harold, the biggest stoner I have ever met. One of my favorite people, Harold is super chill and funny. I love working with him. Also he would totally hook me up with weed if I asked. Harold worked at GameStop as a second job to pay for his gaming needs though he was eventually let go and he's now back in school (with me XD). Harold and I were the main GAs at the store along with Jen, a former ASM who demoted herself down to GA when she got another job. She's around Pierce's age with bushy straw colored hair and pale pale PALE skin. We got along at first until I got promoted to SGA and she turned into a raging b*tch. She was always commenting about what I wore and what I did. But that's for another day :) Other GAs included: Ash, a chubby asian kid a couple years younger than me who loves everything from Pokemon to Twilight, and Cappie and Beaver, two typical college freshmen who love sports games and shooters. Their only defining characteristic was that Cappie had short brown hair and Beaver had long-ish blond hair.
This post is already super long and I'm pretty tired. I'll continue this in another post :)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Copypasted from my facebook status:
I'm tired of giving 110% to a company who couldn't care less about its employees
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Contests and Kitties
CONTEST
I received this package the other day.
Hmm what could it be?
Interesting...
Why, it looks like an autographed Castle Crashers King Figure!
TA DAAA
Thank you Destructoid. It is lovely :)
and just because...
KTTIES
"What could this be?"
"Hey you! Stop moving!"
STOP MOVING I SAID!"
I received this package the other day.
Hmm what could it be?
Interesting...
Why, it looks like an autographed Castle Crashers King Figure!
TA DAAA
Thank you Destructoid. It is lovely :)
and just because...
KTTIES
"What could this be?"
"Hey you! Stop moving!"
STOP MOVING I SAID!"
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Racism? Not sexy.
I was closing with Sonic the other night when these two dudes came in. Typical geeks but hey there's nothing wrong with that. One of them has a giant beard that looks like it hasn't been shaved in years. The other keeps inserting the fact that he's married into every single sentence. Sonic steers clear of them which should have been the first tip off that there's something majorly wrong about them because Sonic is nice to everyone. I humor them for a bit but after about five minutes I slowly distance myself and start doing busy work until these two other guys came in. They had been in earlier trying to trade in a fat PS2 without a controller. They were pretty funny and had promised to come back with a controller. They came back with a PS1 controller. We (the two of them, Sonic and I, not the two annoying guys from earlier who were STILL here 20 minutes later) are all talking and joking around. The cool dudes leave once the annoying guys start talking about JRPG is the best. Sonic jokingly whispers to me, "We should have asked those guys earlier to punch those two in the face." I nod at him and whisper back knowingly, "they totally would have done it too."
Now we were both totally kidding up until the point where the annoying married one tries to show us (me) a magic "twin towers" trick with a $20 bill. I'm literally completely ignoring him until the bearded one loudly says, "HE'S TRYING TO IMPRESS YOU LOOOOK." I inwardly roll my eyes and glance in his direction, "that's cool" and return to what I was doing. Since I wasn't paying attention all I gathered was that by folding the $20 he somehow made the Twin Towers appear and then fall down. I have no patience for 9/11 jokes. I'm not super patriotic in the slightest but at least have some respect. Apparently Sonic felt the same way because he responded with a feeble, "wow cool"and gave me a look that said: Goddamn I really wish we'd get a big trade right about now. I agree with a nod. THEN it seems married boy wasn't getting the attention he wanted because he goes, "Yeah 9/11 is Christmas to Muslims. It's like a holiday. They love it.
I stand straight up and look at Sonic. Our mouths just drop open slightly. Did we just hear him correctly? Yes. He really said that.
"Yeah you know what? That's not cool. We don't tolerate racism in here buddy." I tell him.
"You guys need to leave now" adds Sonic.
The bearded friend knew a line had been crossed and he grabbed his friend and they left.
Man, they were so lucky our SM Leeroy wasn't in. He would have flipped out on them. He does not care about customer service bullshit. You cross a line and he will let you have it. "Get the fuck out of my store," I can see him now. Oh man *shakes head*
Now we were both totally kidding up until the point where the annoying married one tries to show us (me) a magic "twin towers" trick with a $20 bill. I'm literally completely ignoring him until the bearded one loudly says, "HE'S TRYING TO IMPRESS YOU LOOOOK." I inwardly roll my eyes and glance in his direction, "that's cool" and return to what I was doing. Since I wasn't paying attention all I gathered was that by folding the $20 he somehow made the Twin Towers appear and then fall down. I have no patience for 9/11 jokes. I'm not super patriotic in the slightest but at least have some respect. Apparently Sonic felt the same way because he responded with a feeble, "wow cool"and gave me a look that said: Goddamn I really wish we'd get a big trade right about now. I agree with a nod. THEN it seems married boy wasn't getting the attention he wanted because he goes, "Yeah 9/11 is Christmas to Muslims. It's like a holiday. They love it.
I stand straight up and look at Sonic. Our mouths just drop open slightly. Did we just hear him correctly? Yes. He really said that.
"Yeah you know what? That's not cool. We don't tolerate racism in here buddy." I tell him.
"You guys need to leave now" adds Sonic.
The bearded friend knew a line had been crossed and he grabbed his friend and they left.
Man, they were so lucky our SM Leeroy wasn't in. He would have flipped out on them. He does not care about customer service bullshit. You cross a line and he will let you have it. "Get the fuck out of my store," I can see him now. Oh man *shakes head*
Monday, October 11, 2010
Damnit..
I had this gigantic post written up about my GameStop history and all the people I'd be talking about and I lost all of it.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Check the return policy!
I was working a short shift with Neko Saturday night and it's going pretty well. I'm getting a lot of subs and reserves while Neko was fixing the walls. One lady comes up to me holding a brand new (though opened) Madden 11 for the Wii. She goes off into this complicated story as to why she wants to return it (it doesn't matter why you want to return it, we don't care). I politely explain to her that since the game has been opened, we can't sell it to someone else as new therefore we can't allow a return. I then flip over her receipt and point to the return policy on the back. Again she says she wants to return it. Apparently I've been speaking Chinese without noticing!
So I go over to Neko and explain the situation so she can decide what to do. She tells me to let her return it and give her store credit. Now this is more than fair. We are going to have to sell it as 10% off and we're breaking store policy to do you a favor. We both clearly stated it would be for store credit only. I start doing the return and the lady keeps thanking us to the point of annoyance. Finally I tell she'd be getting back $52.49. She says that's fine andthankyousomuch!!!
Right after the transaction is finalized and I go to hand her the gift card, she looks at it and says, "I wanted to get cash back".
ARE YOU FOREAL??? I resist the urge to roll my eyes and state we can only do store credit and we're not even supposed to let her return it period. Again, "I want cash." I finally lose my cool a bit and I just state, "We cannot do cash."
She snatches the receipt and the game out of my hand and says, "Well I'm just going to call someone else" and promptly marches out of the store. I then have the pleasure of post voiding the transaction which hurts my percentages.
I don't understand, was she a total idiot? Or was she trying to play us? Honestly it could be either.
So I go over to Neko and explain the situation so she can decide what to do. She tells me to let her return it and give her store credit. Now this is more than fair. We are going to have to sell it as 10% off and we're breaking store policy to do you a favor. We both clearly stated it would be for store credit only. I start doing the return and the lady keeps thanking us to the point of annoyance. Finally I tell she'd be getting back $52.49. She says that's fine andthankyousomuch!!!
Right after the transaction is finalized and I go to hand her the gift card, she looks at it and says, "I wanted to get cash back".
ARE YOU FOREAL??? I resist the urge to roll my eyes and state we can only do store credit and we're not even supposed to let her return it period. Again, "I want cash." I finally lose my cool a bit and I just state, "We cannot do cash."
She snatches the receipt and the game out of my hand and says, "Well I'm just going to call someone else" and promptly marches out of the store. I then have the pleasure of post voiding the transaction which hurts my percentages.
I don't understand, was she a total idiot? Or was she trying to play us? Honestly it could be either.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
New games...
I've just added:
to my game collection.
And I checked out:
so we will see how it is.
I've also been playing the beta for:
AND IT IS EXCELLENT.
to my game collection.
And I checked out:
I've also been playing the beta for:
Friday, October 1, 2010
How much can I get for...
We constantly have people calling us to find out the trade value of a game. At my old store I didn't really mind doing it because we weren't very busy but at my new store, we are ALWAYS busy and there's ALWAYS someone who needs help. So it's really annoying when people call in wanting to know the trade value for 10 games. We usually just tell people to bring it in because the computer won't let us look it up unless it's in front of us. This is all lies. When I look up a used game, it tells me the current trade-in value. Usually I will say, "You're going to have to bring it in so we can look at the quality of the disc(s)" and if I can, I will look it up anyway and add, "but you're looking at around 10 dollars."
I had this one guy call in and ask me about the trade value of Halo Reach. I tell him he's looking around $20. The actual trade value was $23 but I rounded. The guy gives me the customary freak out about how we are robbing people bla bla bla. Then he goes, "well how much would I get for the Legendary Edition?" OK, maybe you're new at this trading in thing but we don't sell collector's editions used. We sell GOTY editions but that's it. So I tell him he'd get the same amount. The guys starts yelling and cussing at me. I just tell him, "Look I don't set the prices, if you would like our customer service number I can give that to you but otherwise there's nothing I can do." Dude hangs up on me.
Did I mention this was three days after the release of Halo Reach?
I had this one guy call in and ask me about the trade value of Halo Reach. I tell him he's looking around $20. The actual trade value was $23 but I rounded. The guy gives me the customary freak out about how we are robbing people bla bla bla. Then he goes, "well how much would I get for the Legendary Edition?" OK, maybe you're new at this trading in thing but we don't sell collector's editions used. We sell GOTY editions but that's it. So I tell him he'd get the same amount. The guys starts yelling and cussing at me. I just tell him, "Look I don't set the prices, if you would like our customer service number I can give that to you but otherwise there's nothing I can do." Dude hangs up on me.
Did I mention this was three days after the release of Halo Reach?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Other Stores
I recently visited a different store while shopping the other day. It's not in our district (though it is closer to my house than my actual store but w/e) so I don't know anyone working there personally. The only interaction I've had with them is when we sent an RSB to them. An RSB is a box of shipment, usually games, that we send to other stores. So say we have 56 Madden NFL 2011 and they have none, we will send them 10 or so. RSBs suck and take forever to do. You have to find 95% of the games and reprice everything correctly (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who does this though but one day I will get a beautiful RSB).
Anyway, when we print the shipment info sticker to put on the outside of the box, it prints out all our information like on all the receipts. If you look at any receipt, you will see they each say something different at the top, depending on what store you went to. My (super-awesome-back-in-the-day) SM made it say, "Make Your Gameplay Legendary!" which is a reference to How I Met Your Mother (aka the best show ever). Well, we are both working one day and we get a phone call from the store I was talking about earlier. The SM there goes, "You guys know what it says at the top of your receipts?!" Yes, obviously, we've noticed. "Well...you guys know you can change it right...?" Yes, thank you Mr. Passive Aggressive for your wise comments. We will make sure to change it to something Corporate-y as to not offend you next month when you get our next RSB.
I find it impressive they have so much time on their hands they can call up random stores (not even in their district!!) and b*tch about insignificant stuff. I can understand if we sent you 200 DS games without boxes but we didn't. Because we are awesome.
Back to my visit last week, I walk in and no one greets me (-10 points). I head over to the used PS3 wall to see if they had a used Dead Space. I instantly notice the organization of the wall. As in there is none. It's all random.
At my store I am the most OCD person about walls. If I could spend all day making sure they are perfectly alphabetized and priced I would do it in a heartbeat. When I see a someone putting a game back where it belongs, I will drop what I'm doing and snatch it out of his hands and make a big show of putting it back where it goes. I can understand if it's a kid, they don't know better (but their parents should!) but when it's a perfectly competent adult it really ticks me off.
So you can probably understand how shocked I was to find the entire store unorganized. I promptly gave up looking at the walls and went next to the registers. I stand there patiently for about 5 minutes until the only employee comes to talk to me (I know better than to annoy you when you're finishing something). I end up buying Left 4 Dead 2 instead and I had to give them my Edge Card since they didn't even ask me for it (-10 points again).
Overall, it seems like a crappy store to work but considering it was in a mall and by definition mall stores are shitholes, I'm not surprised. Thank god, they're not in our district.
Anyway, when we print the shipment info sticker to put on the outside of the box, it prints out all our information like on all the receipts. If you look at any receipt, you will see they each say something different at the top, depending on what store you went to. My (super-awesome-back-in-the-day) SM made it say, "Make Your Gameplay Legendary!" which is a reference to How I Met Your Mother (aka the best show ever). Well, we are both working one day and we get a phone call from the store I was talking about earlier. The SM there goes, "You guys know what it says at the top of your receipts?!" Yes, obviously, we've noticed. "Well...you guys know you can change it right...?" Yes, thank you Mr. Passive Aggressive for your wise comments. We will make sure to change it to something Corporate-y as to not offend you next month when you get our next RSB.
I find it impressive they have so much time on their hands they can call up random stores (not even in their district!!) and b*tch about insignificant stuff. I can understand if we sent you 200 DS games without boxes but we didn't. Because we are awesome.
Back to my visit last week, I walk in and no one greets me (-10 points). I head over to the used PS3 wall to see if they had a used Dead Space. I instantly notice the organization of the wall. As in there is none. It's all random.
At my store I am the most OCD person about walls. If I could spend all day making sure they are perfectly alphabetized and priced I would do it in a heartbeat. When I see a someone putting a game back where it belongs, I will drop what I'm doing and snatch it out of his hands and make a big show of putting it back where it goes. I can understand if it's a kid, they don't know better (but their parents should!) but when it's a perfectly competent adult it really ticks me off.
So you can probably understand how shocked I was to find the entire store unorganized. I promptly gave up looking at the walls and went next to the registers. I stand there patiently for about 5 minutes until the only employee comes to talk to me (I know better than to annoy you when you're finishing something). I end up buying Left 4 Dead 2 instead and I had to give them my Edge Card since they didn't even ask me for it (-10 points again).
Overall, it seems like a crappy store to work but considering it was in a mall and by definition mall stores are shitholes, I'm not surprised. Thank god, they're not in our district.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Updates....
I've been super stressed lately, no time for blogging. I had two exams in the past week and the results I got have really kicked my ass in gear for school because up until this point I was not giving a shit. I've also been sick for what seems like the past two weeks, but good news, I'm pretty much all better now.
Also good news, I've finally gotten a nuke in Modern Warfare 2. Domination, Skidrow. It started off as 2 v 2 until one guy on the other team left (they were winning and I only had 3 kills but whatever). I pretty much stayed holed up in the building near the C flag with claymores and a silenced weapon. Honestly, I was just playing for fun to let off some steam before going to bed and I got into a groove once a bunch of people joined the game. Got my harrier strike which got me exactly 0 kills but my Chopper Gunner was golden, I must have gotten at least 8 right there. Near the end I was sure I'd get killed but I managed to move around and get some lucky melee kills. When I was at 23, I couldn't find anyone for a really long time and the game was about to end when some unlucky bastard walked out into the courtyard. Easy kill. Afterwards the other team were b*tching (of course) but I really didn't care. They had just gotten owned and they knew it.
More GameStop updates later this week, we just had a district meeting about the new power up cards (fun fun fun).
Also good news, I've finally gotten a nuke in Modern Warfare 2. Domination, Skidrow. It started off as 2 v 2 until one guy on the other team left (they were winning and I only had 3 kills but whatever). I pretty much stayed holed up in the building near the C flag with claymores and a silenced weapon. Honestly, I was just playing for fun to let off some steam before going to bed and I got into a groove once a bunch of people joined the game. Got my harrier strike which got me exactly 0 kills but my Chopper Gunner was golden, I must have gotten at least 8 right there. Near the end I was sure I'd get killed but I managed to move around and get some lucky melee kills. When I was at 23, I couldn't find anyone for a really long time and the game was about to end when some unlucky bastard walked out into the courtyard. Easy kill. Afterwards the other team were b*tching (of course) but I really didn't care. They had just gotten owned and they knew it.
More GameStop updates later this week, we just had a district meeting about the new power up cards (fun fun fun).
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Why are some people such assholes?
Let me start this post off by saying there's nothing that irritates me more than when I greet someone only to be met with stony silence.
So tonight I was closing with Neko, one of our assistance managers. I love working with Neko, she is so badass. I don't know what it was about tonight but we just had the most wonderful customers. First we had this regular who comes in every now and then with his daughter. He's nice enough but he constantly talks about whatever PC beta he's in at the moment. Tonight it was WOW and the Final Fantasy XIV betas. There's something kind of off about him and he creeps me out a little bit. Neko started doing a CAT count so it was up to me to ring people up. Now most people stand by Register 1 since it's the closest to the door. It's also the only register with a bluetooth scanner thing so of course Neko was using it and I'd have to tell people, "Oh I'll help you down here". And most people who are not rude assholes will just walk two steps and come to register 2.
Well we had this one guy who not only interrupted Neko during her count to have her throw his Burger King away instead of throwing it away outside, but when I asked him to move down he goes, "I guess I HAVE TO MOVE" in this tone like I was asking for his kidney. It's like yes, if you want your game you'll move your ass. Then of course he insisted on giving me exact change even after the register had opened. Whatever, we deal with these kinds of people every day.
Then these two girls came in. I greeted them with a loud and friendly hello. They gave me a cold stare and ignored me entirely. Like I said earlier, nothing pisses me off more so I turned to Neko and rolled my eyes. The two girls were just standing at the register holding out some games, without saying a word. I ask them what I can help them with and it turns out they are doing a trade. For cash. Did I mention one of them must have been eight months pregnant (at least). As I'm processing their trade this other guy comes in and starts talking about our remodel and how we must have used the profits off Halo: Reach to pay for a new remodel. Neko and I looked at each and tried not to burst out laughing. I finish up the girls' trades and let them know their four defective PS2 games would net them $7.41. They look at me like I just spit in their face. I stare back until they give in and accept. As I hand them their cash and tell to have a good day they (what else?) ignore me entirely. In a not so quiet voice I mutter, "or be rude and ignore me completely". And as they are about to walk out the door, the pregnant one yells, "WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T LAUGH AT YOUR CUSTOMERS!!"
Wow, I'm so impressed you had the guts to be a complete asshole the entire time and then yell something right as you walk out to make sure I can't respond. Neko and I agreed we both hoped they never came back since they looked ready to shank us.
To be honest, we laugh at our customers all the time but the majority are so oblivious it makes it even funnier. But we never laughed at those girls! We didn't even laugh in their presence, we just looked at each other and smiled. Afterward, Neko told me about the time she was helping a guy with trades and his fiancee came in and just said, "I hope you know you're ugly". WTF, who says that to someone you've never spoken to in your life? Neko's just doing her job (and she is not at all one of those girls who flirts constantly) and this insecure woman feels the need to call her ugly.
And don't even get me started on the two teenage boys who were too embarrassed to answer me when I greeted them and asked how they were doing. I guess they weren't expecting two girls to be working at GameStop.
So tonight I was closing with Neko, one of our assistance managers. I love working with Neko, she is so badass. I don't know what it was about tonight but we just had the most wonderful customers. First we had this regular who comes in every now and then with his daughter. He's nice enough but he constantly talks about whatever PC beta he's in at the moment. Tonight it was WOW and the Final Fantasy XIV betas. There's something kind of off about him and he creeps me out a little bit. Neko started doing a CAT count so it was up to me to ring people up. Now most people stand by Register 1 since it's the closest to the door. It's also the only register with a bluetooth scanner thing so of course Neko was using it and I'd have to tell people, "Oh I'll help you down here". And most people who are not rude assholes will just walk two steps and come to register 2.
Well we had this one guy who not only interrupted Neko during her count to have her throw his Burger King away instead of throwing it away outside, but when I asked him to move down he goes, "I guess I HAVE TO MOVE" in this tone like I was asking for his kidney. It's like yes, if you want your game you'll move your ass. Then of course he insisted on giving me exact change even after the register had opened. Whatever, we deal with these kinds of people every day.
Then these two girls came in. I greeted them with a loud and friendly hello. They gave me a cold stare and ignored me entirely. Like I said earlier, nothing pisses me off more so I turned to Neko and rolled my eyes. The two girls were just standing at the register holding out some games, without saying a word. I ask them what I can help them with and it turns out they are doing a trade. For cash. Did I mention one of them must have been eight months pregnant (at least). As I'm processing their trade this other guy comes in and starts talking about our remodel and how we must have used the profits off Halo: Reach to pay for a new remodel. Neko and I looked at each and tried not to burst out laughing. I finish up the girls' trades and let them know their four defective PS2 games would net them $7.41. They look at me like I just spit in their face. I stare back until they give in and accept. As I hand them their cash and tell to have a good day they (what else?) ignore me entirely. In a not so quiet voice I mutter, "or be rude and ignore me completely". And as they are about to walk out the door, the pregnant one yells, "WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T LAUGH AT YOUR CUSTOMERS!!"
Wow, I'm so impressed you had the guts to be a complete asshole the entire time and then yell something right as you walk out to make sure I can't respond. Neko and I agreed we both hoped they never came back since they looked ready to shank us.
To be honest, we laugh at our customers all the time but the majority are so oblivious it makes it even funnier. But we never laughed at those girls! We didn't even laugh in their presence, we just looked at each other and smiled. Afterward, Neko told me about the time she was helping a guy with trades and his fiancee came in and just said, "I hope you know you're ugly". WTF, who says that to someone you've never spoken to in your life? Neko's just doing her job (and she is not at all one of those girls who flirts constantly) and this insecure woman feels the need to call her ugly.
And don't even get me started on the two teenage boys who were too embarrassed to answer me when I greeted them and asked how they were doing. I guess they weren't expecting two girls to be working at GameStop.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
GameStop Lingo
In case you need to brush up on your GameStop vocabulary.
02/909 - System Count, meaning every morning whoever opens the store has to to a CAT Count on all the systems and if you forget, you're in deep doo-doo.
ASM - Assistant Store Manager. Pretty self explanatory.
CAT Count - Category Count, meaning we have to scan EVERY SINGLE copy of ALL the games in a certain section like used 360 or new DS. Everyone hates these.
DM - District Manager
Edge Card - The discount card that comes with the Game Informer magazine. Saves 10% off used games, 20% off strategy guides when purchased with the game and gives an extra 10% more on trades.
F10 - Named for the F key used on the computer to pull up the search box. It usually means printing out a list of all the games in a particular section to organize it properly, usually before a TOH.
GA - Game Advisor, Gamestop-speak for Sales Associates. Does all the crap work like vacuuming and alphabetizing bins.
Game Informer - The magazine Gamestop owns and pushes like crazy. It's pretty cheap for a magazine subscription ($14.99).
Return - A return =/= a trade-in! They are very different. And you can't return an opened new game unless it's defective. And even then we will only switch it out for the same game. Why you ask? Because then we would have to take a hit and sell it for a discount (which Gamestop never does because it would lose them money) or sell it as brand new (which would piss people off).
SGA - Senior Game Advisor, one step above a GA, SGAs have keys and are considered "managers". Being an SGA is the best because you get a pay raise, keys and managing power without most of the responsibilities ASMs and SMs have.
SM - Store Manager
TOH - Title On Hand count, meaning we have to scan all the games that are currently on the floor to make sure we have EVERY game out there. I LOVE theses because it usually means I can F10 a wall and make it all organized. Others hate them because they will most likely forget to scan that Popstar guitar WITH game or the old Brothers In Arms collector's edition lying forgotten in a corner of the back room.
Trade In - When you sell your games back to us. Pretty self-explanatory.
02/909 - System Count, meaning every morning whoever opens the store has to to a CAT Count on all the systems and if you forget, you're in deep doo-doo.
ASM - Assistant Store Manager. Pretty self explanatory.
CAT Count - Category Count, meaning we have to scan EVERY SINGLE copy of ALL the games in a certain section like used 360 or new DS. Everyone hates these.
DM - District Manager
Edge Card - The discount card that comes with the Game Informer magazine. Saves 10% off used games, 20% off strategy guides when purchased with the game and gives an extra 10% more on trades.
F10 - Named for the F key used on the computer to pull up the search box. It usually means printing out a list of all the games in a particular section to organize it properly, usually before a TOH.
GA - Game Advisor, Gamestop-speak for Sales Associates. Does all the crap work like vacuuming and alphabetizing bins.
Game Informer - The magazine Gamestop owns and pushes like crazy. It's pretty cheap for a magazine subscription ($14.99).
Return - A return =/= a trade-in! They are very different. And you can't return an opened new game unless it's defective. And even then we will only switch it out for the same game. Why you ask? Because then we would have to take a hit and sell it for a discount (which Gamestop never does because it would lose them money) or sell it as brand new (which would piss people off).
SGA - Senior Game Advisor, one step above a GA, SGAs have keys and are considered "managers". Being an SGA is the best because you get a pay raise, keys and managing power without most of the responsibilities ASMs and SMs have.
SM - Store Manager
TOH - Title On Hand count, meaning we have to scan all the games that are currently on the floor to make sure we have EVERY game out there. I LOVE theses because it usually means I can F10 a wall and make it all organized. Others hate them because they will most likely forget to scan that Popstar guitar WITH game or the old Brothers In Arms collector's edition lying forgotten in a corner of the back room.
Trade In - When you sell your games back to us. Pretty self-explanatory.
Things You Shouldn't Say to a Gamestop Employee
"So do you really play video games or do you just work here?"
I get asked this question every other day, usually by some older guy being creepy. First off, why would you care? And second, do you go around asking everyone you see if they "just work here". No you probably don't so I'm guessing you asked me because you still think video games are for boys so what the hell is a girl doing here?! It must be because of the awesome pay and the great work conditions. Yeah, that's it.
I will usually roll my eyes a little (just enough that you notice) and say: Trust me if I didn't like video games, I would not work here (because I have to deal with idiots like you all day!!). Most people get the hint and shut up and if they don't I will usually walk away.
I get asked this question every other day, usually by some older guy being creepy. First off, why would you care? And second, do you go around asking everyone you see if they "just work here". No you probably don't so I'm guessing you asked me because you still think video games are for boys so what the hell is a girl doing here?! It must be because of the awesome pay and the great work conditions. Yeah, that's it.
I will usually roll my eyes a little (just enough that you notice) and say: Trust me if I didn't like video games, I would not work here (because I have to deal with idiots like you all day!!). Most people get the hint and shut up and if they don't I will usually walk away.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Turtle Beach Headsets
So ever since I transferred to my new store I've been hearing all about the spiffy Turtle Beach headsets that run $70+. Now bear with me if these have been around for forever, I don't use mics very often (if ever) in online play so all I had was a normal Sony bluetooth headset.
Well tonight we had a guy trade in his PS3, all his games and his accessories. I do the trade and it's only when I'm putting stuff away do I notice the wired headset says Turtle Beach on it. This was the first pair I'd ever had traded-in in my two years of Gamestop employment. As it turns out, technically the Turtle Beach headsets are considered "wired headsets" at Gamestop, which means you will get a cool $3.50 for them. In return we will sell them for $15. That's right. It's possible to get those spiffy headsets for $65 cheaper than brand new. Of course once I noticed these were Turtle Beaches I stuck them in a corner and purchased them at the end of my shift. With my employee discount and edge card, it totaled $12.
The difference is unbelievable. It's like having a surround sound system in your head. You can even jack up the "bass" which makes footsteps and explosions stand out more in games like Call of Duty.
We've also just done a remodel of our store to transform it from EB Games to full fledged Gamestop. FINALLY we now have drawers to store games instead of cubbies. All the other stores I have worked with before had these and they are much, much better.
Well tonight we had a guy trade in his PS3, all his games and his accessories. I do the trade and it's only when I'm putting stuff away do I notice the wired headset says Turtle Beach on it. This was the first pair I'd ever had traded-in in my two years of Gamestop employment. As it turns out, technically the Turtle Beach headsets are considered "wired headsets" at Gamestop, which means you will get a cool $3.50 for them. In return we will sell them for $15. That's right. It's possible to get those spiffy headsets for $65 cheaper than brand new. Of course once I noticed these were Turtle Beaches I stuck them in a corner and purchased them at the end of my shift. With my employee discount and edge card, it totaled $12.
The difference is unbelievable. It's like having a surround sound system in your head. You can even jack up the "bass" which makes footsteps and explosions stand out more in games like Call of Duty.
We've also just done a remodel of our store to transform it from EB Games to full fledged Gamestop. FINALLY we now have drawers to store games instead of cubbies. All the other stores I have worked with before had these and they are much, much better.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The DOs and DON'Ts of Shopping at GameStop
(I posted this on another website as well but I feel it bears repeating.)
I've worked at Gamestop for the past two years. I've definitely had my fair share of good and bad experiences. Some coworkers and I were swapping customer stories and we decided someone should make a list of DOs and DON'Ts when shopping at Gamestop. This is my version.
DO respond when we greet you. There's nothing more irritating than looking someone directly in the eyes and saying hello and having that person ignore you entirely. We know you heard us, don't be a douchebag.
DON'T sit there for an hour talking about how awesome you think Elder Scrolls is or how WOW is the best game ever. We really don't care and we have stuff to do.
DO reserve games. We know you're going to get Halo Reach at some point. So just reserve it. It doesn't cost you extra money, you'll probably get extra stuff with it and you'll make our day. Seriously.
DON'T b*tch and moan about trade-in prices or used game prices. We get the same deals as you do and we completely agree trade-in prices are too low and used game prices are too high. At the same time, realize no other store is going to take in your used up Madden 2004 on PS2 without the case. And no one is forcing you to sell your games or to buy used ones. I can't stress this enough.
DO buy used games. If you don't know whether you'll like it, buy it used. You can bring it back within seven days and buy it new if you like it or get something else if you don't.
DON'T ask the female employees if they really play video games. Don't start quizzing us about what games we're playing or what consoles we have. Yes we play games. That's why we work here. Trust me, if we didn't, we wouldn't be putting up with all the crap we put up with.
DO read the return policy. You buy a game new and you don't like it, well too bad for you. You should have gotten it used.
DON'T ask out female employees, don't ask for our phone numbers. And don't make disgusting comments to the male employees about us. They will tell us.
DO understand we don't "sit around and play video games". There's constantly CAT counts, TOHs, RSBs and marketing to do along with processing trades/returns, doing trade/refund verifications and generally keeping the store clean and organized. Oh and you know, helping customers.
DON'T leave your kids in the store when you go shopping. Unless your kids are completely quiet and extremely well-behaved, we don't want them in the store for an hour and a half. WE ARE NOT A BABYSITTING SERVICE. This applies to teenagers as well. We don't want to listen to you play the same song in Guitar Hero over and over.
DO understand we don't enjoy asking (begging) for game informer subscriptions or reservations. We need good numbers to keep our jobs.
DON'T yell and scream at us when we refuse to accept trades without a government ID. Don't call us names. Grow up. We're not going to break the law and lose our jobs for some idiot who left his driver's license at home.
DO put game cases back where you found them. It's really annoying to have to alphabetize 500 Wii games every other hour.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my job. There's definitely upsides to working there: employee discounts, preorder freebies, swag and other things. I'm also extremely lucky because the store I worked at (before it closed) was probably one of the best GameStops around. All the managers were very nice and laid-back.
I just wish people would stop hating on Gamestop so much. Most of the things people complain about are decided at the corporate level. Bitch at them, not us, the sales people. We just do what we're told.
I've worked at Gamestop for the past two years. I've definitely had my fair share of good and bad experiences. Some coworkers and I were swapping customer stories and we decided someone should make a list of DOs and DON'Ts when shopping at Gamestop. This is my version.
DO respond when we greet you. There's nothing more irritating than looking someone directly in the eyes and saying hello and having that person ignore you entirely. We know you heard us, don't be a douchebag.
DON'T sit there for an hour talking about how awesome you think Elder Scrolls is or how WOW is the best game ever. We really don't care and we have stuff to do.
DO reserve games. We know you're going to get Halo Reach at some point. So just reserve it. It doesn't cost you extra money, you'll probably get extra stuff with it and you'll make our day. Seriously.
DON'T b*tch and moan about trade-in prices or used game prices. We get the same deals as you do and we completely agree trade-in prices are too low and used game prices are too high. At the same time, realize no other store is going to take in your used up Madden 2004 on PS2 without the case. And no one is forcing you to sell your games or to buy used ones. I can't stress this enough.
DO buy used games. If you don't know whether you'll like it, buy it used. You can bring it back within seven days and buy it new if you like it or get something else if you don't.
DON'T ask the female employees if they really play video games. Don't start quizzing us about what games we're playing or what consoles we have. Yes we play games. That's why we work here. Trust me, if we didn't, we wouldn't be putting up with all the crap we put up with.
DO read the return policy. You buy a game new and you don't like it, well too bad for you. You should have gotten it used.
DON'T ask out female employees, don't ask for our phone numbers. And don't make disgusting comments to the male employees about us. They will tell us.
DO understand we don't "sit around and play video games". There's constantly CAT counts, TOHs, RSBs and marketing to do along with processing trades/returns, doing trade/refund verifications and generally keeping the store clean and organized. Oh and you know, helping customers.
DON'T leave your kids in the store when you go shopping. Unless your kids are completely quiet and extremely well-behaved, we don't want them in the store for an hour and a half. WE ARE NOT A BABYSITTING SERVICE. This applies to teenagers as well. We don't want to listen to you play the same song in Guitar Hero over and over.
DO understand we don't enjoy asking (begging) for game informer subscriptions or reservations. We need good numbers to keep our jobs.
DON'T yell and scream at us when we refuse to accept trades without a government ID. Don't call us names. Grow up. We're not going to break the law and lose our jobs for some idiot who left his driver's license at home.
DO put game cases back where you found them. It's really annoying to have to alphabetize 500 Wii games every other hour.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my job. There's definitely upsides to working there: employee discounts, preorder freebies, swag and other things. I'm also extremely lucky because the store I worked at (before it closed) was probably one of the best GameStops around. All the managers were very nice and laid-back.
I just wish people would stop hating on Gamestop so much. Most of the things people complain about are decided at the corporate level. Bitch at them, not us, the sales people. We just do what we're told.
Mandatory intro post.
I love blogs. A lot. Especially blogs from people who work in the service industry or in retail. I've looked around but I've never found a blog about my place of work: GameStop. I've been there two years now, the longest I've stayed at one job. And over the past two years I have amassed some crazy stories and I can't wait to actually put them out there.
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