Ten minutes before closing time last night we had a couple come in. They were in a rush (I think their kids where outside in the car). The wife quickly demanded "I need the Mario brothers Wii!" I let her know we were sold out. "Why." Because there are none left, we sold out our inventory this week. Twice. "That's BULLSH*!@, you want me to bring my kids in here so you can tell them Christmas isn't coming this year?" Her husband then chided in and told me to give us the used one then. I told him we didn't have any used in, we actually hadn't got one at all. "Yeah, right. I'm sure you guys are hiding like six in the back for your workers or some crap. Call your other stores and ship us one, we need it by Christmas." I explained that all the stores in our district were sold on it, and a quick check in our district inventory reflected as much. I asked what other local retailers they had tried, apparently nothing but us. I recommended a few that might have the game.
"F!(@# that, if you guys don't have it it's just going to be your fault. Thanks for killing Santa !#@%^^%$."
They left.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
This game has SWEARS
Many of our customers are those people that drive while eating lunch and twitter about how pastrami is delicious going eighty on the freeway while driving with your legs. These same people make similar fantastic choices in their store purchases.
1. We had a lady come in with her little multi-cultural family. She allowed her little boy to pick up a copy of "True Crime: Streets of L.A.", she asked what was in the game to give it an M rating. I explained the rating reasons on the back of the case which included things like "Extreme violence, blood, language, rap, etc". She said no problem and purchased it. An hour or two later, her little eight year old son comes back and wants a full refund. I explained our policy (which his mother had previously been given leniency with) and that I could only give him the trade-in credit since nothing is wrong with the game.
Well. In comes Mom.
"I DEMAND THIS GAME GETS REFUNDED FOR THE FULL AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY."
--Mam, our policy has been stated and bent for you a couple times before so I am unable to do so again and unfortunately the game is not the problem, but the content is.
"THIS GAME HAS SWEARS! IT SAYS NI****! I HAVE A BLACK CHILD, AND THIS IS COMPLETELY OFFENSIVE"
--Mam, I explained to you this game has extremely harsh language
"BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY IT HAD THAT WORD IN IT! I DEMAND TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER BECAUSE YOU SOLD ME THIS GAME, OR I WONT SHOP HERE EVER AGAIN"
--I'm sorry again 'mam, my manager will be in about an hour, I will express your concerns and perhaps she can work something out with you. Other than the language, did your son enjoy the violence, gore, sex and nudity?
She left. She never came to talk to the manager. She has indeed come back and bought more games since, though none with an M rating. ZING.
2. People like to cheat us and compare our policies to other stores more than they should. For example, we had this kid come in to try and refund a game he didn't like. Our policy clearly states, all used sales final unless defect found in the game, then we take care of you. I explained this to him and he told me how Gamestop refunds after 7 days regardless. I told him we don't share that policy or we would be more of a rental company than game sales. Ordinarily, I would offer him a one-time bend in the rules and refund it for credit or another game, but he tried to pull BS on me.
"The game is broken actually. It's defective, doesn't work. I forgot to tell you, so I need a refund."
--That seems difficult to believe...it's a blu-ray disk.
"So what?! What does that mean?"
--Blu-ray disks are actually extremely hard to damage. That said, I have seen one come back, let me try it on our PS3
"Uh...never mind, screw this, screw you, I will shop at Gamestop, this store sucks, you are dumb..."
--You have a fantastic day sir.
I was about ready to refund it until he decided to lie and trash talk me. I also saw him back a few weeks later to buy.
3. "I'm looking for a racing game with good graphics!" --Great! Did you want something that is like track racing, or street racing, or how about offroad?
We talk and discuss his needs for nearly an hour (slow day) and also about differences in the types of racing, the best and most popular games. I showed him Forza 3.
"Naw, doesn't seem to have enough racing in it...what else"
I showed him every single racing game on the 360, but he was convinced he needed a game with more racing. I have no idea what that means. He stumbled upon Excite Truck for the Wii.
"AH HA! I knew you were hiding one like this from me! I want this one."
--It is an ok game, not as good as the other and not high definition...doesn't look or play as good as some of the others...
"Nah, this one does look high defined. Also- look at that. RACING game. Yep. This one."
I think I went into the backroom and screamed after that transaction.
4. People seem to judge everything about a game based on something an ill-informed friend or personality might say. Even when they play it they seem to fall heavy on others opinions. For example, we had someone come into the store and say Fable II was possibly the worst game on the 360 based on a friend's experience. I was taken aback since I consider it one of my favorites! I asked him if he would give it a try, so I popped it in for a minute and went through the opening cinematic and had him play on a leveled character for a bit.
"Just like he said. Boring. Slow. Bad Graphics. Worse than the original."
--Did you play the original?!
"No. But he did."
--How much of this game did your friend play?
"Like a half hour. It was so bad he brought it back"
5. We have one customer, who claims to be 19(he doesn't have a valid license and couldn't purchase M rated games on his own) who seems to LIVE at our store some days. He literally comes in for 3 hours at a time and watches us. Or stands around. Or tries a demo. Or leans ACROSS the counter. Eventually we start to ignore him or become agitated, but the problem comes when he pretends to be an employee or tries to give his advice, which is POOR.
For example: I was helping a customer find some DS games for his 7 year old daughter. Having talked and successfully helped other customers do the same, we seemed to be making progress, until this kid stepped in.
"Oh yeah man, this one is good for little girls, this one is the best."
--Oh! You have a sister?
"Nope."
--A cousin...?
"Not any girls no."
--Then are you dating a 7 year old girl??
He would give bad advice based on complete guesses, irritating the customer. We selected a few and went to the register. This kid leaned clear over the counter to watch the screen. I told him to stay behind it. The customer and I started talking cars while we rang him up. I know the customer from past visits, and we were talking Subarus and BMWs. Kid steps in again. The replies are the customers as well as my own.
"Nah, Subarus suck. I would rather have a Mustang, they totally waste STIs"
--Have you ever actually driven either of those cars? How old are you?
"No but I know for a fact, I'm 19."
--How many cars have you even owned?
"Three, a toyota, Honda, and a sports car"
--Uh...ok...I have owned more Subs than you have owned anything. Maybe a Roush or Saleen, but I don't see an standard or GT...
"No way man, automatic is the way to go, normal could beat it easy. I would take a Lambo or Porche though, they are the best cars"
--Why would you bother to have a sports car that is automatic, an auto Lambo?! You play too many video games.
By this time the customer was getting irate, and I was about ready to take the hammer in the backroom to 'kid's skull. He left after, but next time he comes in I will ask him not to loiter, bug the customers, pretend to be an employee, and to get himself a job.
END RANT ON 'KID'
1. We had a lady come in with her little multi-cultural family. She allowed her little boy to pick up a copy of "True Crime: Streets of L.A.", she asked what was in the game to give it an M rating. I explained the rating reasons on the back of the case which included things like "Extreme violence, blood, language, rap, etc". She said no problem and purchased it. An hour or two later, her little eight year old son comes back and wants a full refund. I explained our policy (which his mother had previously been given leniency with) and that I could only give him the trade-in credit since nothing is wrong with the game.
Well. In comes Mom.
"I DEMAND THIS GAME GETS REFUNDED FOR THE FULL AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY."
--Mam, our policy has been stated and bent for you a couple times before so I am unable to do so again and unfortunately the game is not the problem, but the content is.
"THIS GAME HAS SWEARS! IT SAYS NI****! I HAVE A BLACK CHILD, AND THIS IS COMPLETELY OFFENSIVE"
--Mam, I explained to you this game has extremely harsh language
"BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY IT HAD THAT WORD IN IT! I DEMAND TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER BECAUSE YOU SOLD ME THIS GAME, OR I WONT SHOP HERE EVER AGAIN"
--I'm sorry again 'mam, my manager will be in about an hour, I will express your concerns and perhaps she can work something out with you. Other than the language, did your son enjoy the violence, gore, sex and nudity?
She left. She never came to talk to the manager. She has indeed come back and bought more games since, though none with an M rating. ZING.
2. People like to cheat us and compare our policies to other stores more than they should. For example, we had this kid come in to try and refund a game he didn't like. Our policy clearly states, all used sales final unless defect found in the game, then we take care of you. I explained this to him and he told me how Gamestop refunds after 7 days regardless. I told him we don't share that policy or we would be more of a rental company than game sales. Ordinarily, I would offer him a one-time bend in the rules and refund it for credit or another game, but he tried to pull BS on me.
"The game is broken actually. It's defective, doesn't work. I forgot to tell you, so I need a refund."
--That seems difficult to believe...it's a blu-ray disk.
"So what?! What does that mean?"
--Blu-ray disks are actually extremely hard to damage. That said, I have seen one come back, let me try it on our PS3
"Uh...never mind, screw this, screw you, I will shop at Gamestop, this store sucks, you are dumb..."
--You have a fantastic day sir.
I was about ready to refund it until he decided to lie and trash talk me. I also saw him back a few weeks later to buy.
3. "I'm looking for a racing game with good graphics!" --Great! Did you want something that is like track racing, or street racing, or how about offroad?
We talk and discuss his needs for nearly an hour (slow day) and also about differences in the types of racing, the best and most popular games. I showed him Forza 3.
"Naw, doesn't seem to have enough racing in it...what else"
I showed him every single racing game on the 360, but he was convinced he needed a game with more racing. I have no idea what that means. He stumbled upon Excite Truck for the Wii.
"AH HA! I knew you were hiding one like this from me! I want this one."
--It is an ok game, not as good as the other and not high definition...doesn't look or play as good as some of the others...
"Nah, this one does look high defined. Also- look at that. RACING game. Yep. This one."
I think I went into the backroom and screamed after that transaction.
4. People seem to judge everything about a game based on something an ill-informed friend or personality might say. Even when they play it they seem to fall heavy on others opinions. For example, we had someone come into the store and say Fable II was possibly the worst game on the 360 based on a friend's experience. I was taken aback since I consider it one of my favorites! I asked him if he would give it a try, so I popped it in for a minute and went through the opening cinematic and had him play on a leveled character for a bit.
"Just like he said. Boring. Slow. Bad Graphics. Worse than the original."
--Did you play the original?!
"No. But he did."
--How much of this game did your friend play?
"Like a half hour. It was so bad he brought it back"
5. We have one customer, who claims to be 19(he doesn't have a valid license and couldn't purchase M rated games on his own) who seems to LIVE at our store some days. He literally comes in for 3 hours at a time and watches us. Or stands around. Or tries a demo. Or leans ACROSS the counter. Eventually we start to ignore him or become agitated, but the problem comes when he pretends to be an employee or tries to give his advice, which is POOR.
For example: I was helping a customer find some DS games for his 7 year old daughter. Having talked and successfully helped other customers do the same, we seemed to be making progress, until this kid stepped in.
"Oh yeah man, this one is good for little girls, this one is the best."
--Oh! You have a sister?
"Nope."
--A cousin...?
"Not any girls no."
--Then are you dating a 7 year old girl??
He would give bad advice based on complete guesses, irritating the customer. We selected a few and went to the register. This kid leaned clear over the counter to watch the screen. I told him to stay behind it. The customer and I started talking cars while we rang him up. I know the customer from past visits, and we were talking Subarus and BMWs. Kid steps in again. The replies are the customers as well as my own.
"Nah, Subarus suck. I would rather have a Mustang, they totally waste STIs"
--Have you ever actually driven either of those cars? How old are you?
"No but I know for a fact, I'm 19."
--How many cars have you even owned?
"Three, a toyota, Honda, and a sports car"
--Uh...ok...I have owned more Subs than you have owned anything. Maybe a Roush or Saleen, but I don't see an standard or GT...
"No way man, automatic is the way to go, normal could beat it easy. I would take a Lambo or Porche though, they are the best cars"
--Why would you bother to have a sports car that is automatic, an auto Lambo?! You play too many video games.
By this time the customer was getting irate, and I was about ready to take the hammer in the backroom to 'kid's skull. He left after, but next time he comes in I will ask him not to loiter, bug the customers, pretend to be an employee, and to get himself a job.
END RANT ON 'KID'
!@#%^ Kids!
I'm trying to backup and add a lot of things I have missed. I am working more and just got out of school since getting laid off the 'money' job, so this has fallen behind on priority list. I will try to update while school is out though. Don't expect all my stories to be from one day...
1. I called an employee at another store today to ask about a game. Now, this game may not be known to every customer, but as 'avid gamers' I basically expect every hard core gamer or employee to have heard of some of the biggest and best games ever. Case in point... "Shadow of the Colossus? What is that about, I've never heard of it..."
2. Customer phone calls are some of the best. ""I need the Nintendo Double Screen. Not the DC or DS or whatever the hell it is. Not the DSI, not the dual screen, sp, advance or that sh**, the DOUBLE SCREEN."
3. Not always game related, but relevant to discussion or interest. We were talking Christmas songs, namely ones that aren't technically 'Christmas' songs. I was talking about how War is Over (Merry Xmas) by Yoko and John was actually a protest against Vietnam, and basically glazed in Christmas as a dig. This customer's reply:
"He just wants us to bring our troops home from Iraq with Christmas spirit in it too."
--You know John Lennon is dead...right?--
"Who's that? The guy who did this song?! Sad! When did that happen?"
4. Our favorite story of the week came about today. This is as close as I remember but the other employee who was their might be able to fill in the holes or cut additions. We had a very 'redneck' customer come in today. He had an interesting way of sarcasm. I think we heard him threaten divorce to his wife over Christmas presents, and being very straightforward about what we were charging him. He related this story that had us busting a gut.
"So the damn kids dumped my cologne down the drain and then lied about it for months! So they finally fessed up after I threatened my belt, and I told them lying is wrong. You know what the little sh*** did next? They said, Dad, if lying is bad, then who is the real Santa Claus...So now my damn kids don't believe in Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and probably Jesus! D*** kids.
5. "SO I don't want to run a cable downstairs, and can't connect my xbox to the computer screen upstairs. Now what."
--You could plug the box into a tv upstairs?
"Too much work. Can I download it from your store?"
--We don't have the internet actually
"!@#% Can I borrow your wireless thing then?"
--A wireless adapter? You could buy one...
"No, I just want to borrow yours, can you open it and I will borrow it?"
--Uh no, way against company policy
"!@#%, then I will just have to buy a new internet"
6. This is from one of our regulars I may or may not have mentioned before...
"So I have to download my downloadable content from the internet? Don't I just type this code while I play the game and the stuff comes in my mailbox or something?"
--No, you need the internet.
"D***. Guess I will have to buy another game that includes it."
---The only way to get it is by downloading it...
1. I called an employee at another store today to ask about a game. Now, this game may not be known to every customer, but as 'avid gamers' I basically expect every hard core gamer or employee to have heard of some of the biggest and best games ever. Case in point... "Shadow of the Colossus? What is that about, I've never heard of it..."
2. Customer phone calls are some of the best. ""I need the Nintendo Double Screen. Not the DC or DS or whatever the hell it is. Not the DSI, not the dual screen, sp, advance or that sh**, the DOUBLE SCREEN."
3. Not always game related, but relevant to discussion or interest. We were talking Christmas songs, namely ones that aren't technically 'Christmas' songs. I was talking about how War is Over (Merry Xmas) by Yoko and John was actually a protest against Vietnam, and basically glazed in Christmas as a dig. This customer's reply:
"He just wants us to bring our troops home from Iraq with Christmas spirit in it too."
--You know John Lennon is dead...right?--
"Who's that? The guy who did this song?! Sad! When did that happen?"
4. Our favorite story of the week came about today. This is as close as I remember but the other employee who was their might be able to fill in the holes or cut additions. We had a very 'redneck' customer come in today. He had an interesting way of sarcasm. I think we heard him threaten divorce to his wife over Christmas presents, and being very straightforward about what we were charging him. He related this story that had us busting a gut.
"So the damn kids dumped my cologne down the drain and then lied about it for months! So they finally fessed up after I threatened my belt, and I told them lying is wrong. You know what the little sh*** did next? They said, Dad, if lying is bad, then who is the real Santa Claus...So now my damn kids don't believe in Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and probably Jesus! D*** kids.
5. "SO I don't want to run a cable downstairs, and can't connect my xbox to the computer screen upstairs. Now what."
--You could plug the box into a tv upstairs?
"Too much work. Can I download it from your store?"
--We don't have the internet actually
"!@#% Can I borrow your wireless thing then?"
--A wireless adapter? You could buy one...
"No, I just want to borrow yours, can you open it and I will borrow it?"
--Uh no, way against company policy
"!@#%, then I will just have to buy a new internet"
6. This is from one of our regulars I may or may not have mentioned before...
"So I have to download my downloadable content from the internet? Don't I just type this code while I play the game and the stuff comes in my mailbox or something?"
--No, you need the internet.
"D***. Guess I will have to buy another game that includes it."
---The only way to get it is by downloading it...
Mario is not a First Person Shooter
1. We had a fantastic customer come in recently who didn't know much about video games. She told me her son really liked Halo and Call of Duty, and that she wanted something like that. I suggested the latest Call of Duty; Modern Warfare 2. She asked me if it was like Mario. I told her no. I described First Person Shooters to her and explained how it was different. She asked about ODST and I described how it was similar to Halo 3...she asked again if it was a lot like Mario, I said no and asked if she was looking for something like Mario and she said no, but that was how she knew what it would be like...she asked about Left 4 Dead 2 next...
2. We have two guys that come in occasionally to check out games and talk the industry. I don't think these guys know anything about the industry. Some of my favorite gems from their conversation: (about Uncharted) "You can see how they used the textrualization to exemplify their vision of the game. Yeah definitely. They seem to have sacrificed frame rates by cross sectionilizing their rendering though. (about Batman) Yeah, they seemed to sacrifice gameplay by stylizing the art direction. Probably using memory locks to manage their cpu seperation, pretty boring game.
3. One of our customers, Darby, likes to call and talk for hours. I mean HOURS. He doesn't have the internet and doesn't like buying strategy guides, so he resorts to calling us to walk him through his difficult game parts. Many of us are tolerant if there isn't a rush and help for a bit if we can, but some days it is impossible and frustrating. Darby seems a little...slow...especially for a late-middle-aged man who seems to live in the basement of a relative.
"Is there a glitch at this part of the game? I can't seem to do this."
--You are on the hardest difficulty? You just have to be extremely fast in the order you do the puzzle---
"No, it's definitely a glitch, can you guys refund this game?"
"I can't seem to get past the giant spider...he kills me."
--Have you used any health potions?---
"No. I should be able to kill him without them."
"Now I'm at this part, where this happens, what next?"
--I've never actually played that game...---
"Well it's like this...so what should I do now"
--...I've never played that game--
I think I heard him repeat the last one everyday for a week.
It has boiled down to the point that many of us won't admit we have played a game. Luckily he has started buying strategy guides. Also- it turns out he has internet, but doesn't want to take his xbox upstairs, or run a cable to plug it in...
4. "Nah, that Batman game completely sucked. It was almost as boring and ugly as...what do you call it...that Drake game. Hell no man, Madden 10 is game of the year! F*** GAME OF THE YEAR!" ---I really hate people like this...
5. "My game is really badly scratched and won't play, can you guys refund it since it was just purchased?" --Did you game guard it? "No, I bought it from Game Stop..."
6. "When is corporate sending you some used games?" --Our used games actually come from customers who trade stuff in here, the only time it comes from corporate is special orders, or closed stores usually... "So you guys are getting shipments from them next week?"
2. We have two guys that come in occasionally to check out games and talk the industry. I don't think these guys know anything about the industry. Some of my favorite gems from their conversation: (about Uncharted) "You can see how they used the textrualization to exemplify their vision of the game. Yeah definitely. They seem to have sacrificed frame rates by cross sectionilizing their rendering though. (about Batman) Yeah, they seemed to sacrifice gameplay by stylizing the art direction. Probably using memory locks to manage their cpu seperation, pretty boring game.
3. One of our customers, Darby, likes to call and talk for hours. I mean HOURS. He doesn't have the internet and doesn't like buying strategy guides, so he resorts to calling us to walk him through his difficult game parts. Many of us are tolerant if there isn't a rush and help for a bit if we can, but some days it is impossible and frustrating. Darby seems a little...slow...especially for a late-middle-aged man who seems to live in the basement of a relative.
"Is there a glitch at this part of the game? I can't seem to do this."
--You are on the hardest difficulty? You just have to be extremely fast in the order you do the puzzle---
"No, it's definitely a glitch, can you guys refund this game?"
"I can't seem to get past the giant spider...he kills me."
--Have you used any health potions?---
"No. I should be able to kill him without them."
"Now I'm at this part, where this happens, what next?"
--I've never actually played that game...---
"Well it's like this...so what should I do now"
--...I've never played that game--
I think I heard him repeat the last one everyday for a week.
It has boiled down to the point that many of us won't admit we have played a game. Luckily he has started buying strategy guides. Also- it turns out he has internet, but doesn't want to take his xbox upstairs, or run a cable to plug it in...
4. "Nah, that Batman game completely sucked. It was almost as boring and ugly as...what do you call it...that Drake game. Hell no man, Madden 10 is game of the year! F*** GAME OF THE YEAR!" ---I really hate people like this...
5. "My game is really badly scratched and won't play, can you guys refund it since it was just purchased?" --Did you game guard it? "No, I bought it from Game Stop..."
6. "When is corporate sending you some used games?" --Our used games actually come from customers who trade stuff in here, the only time it comes from corporate is special orders, or closed stores usually... "So you guys are getting shipments from them next week?"
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sonic Kid is Disappointed
Sorry for lack of posts, rough week, not a good way to start off a new blog eh? Regardless, here I am again. So we had Sonic kid call back the next day. It turns out that he really hates his paintball game (I knew he would), he asked what our return policy was, and I explained it to him. He sounded disappointed but understood. I think I heard his dad laughing in the background...
1. We had two customers leave their cellphones in the store today. One had a little junker phone that closer resembled a fossil than a phone. The other was a fairly new phone. It sat on top of our X360 display and I commented to the group of guys about it. They shrugged it off. Sure enough they forgot it. What makes the story was the first phone call that came on the phone. I figured it was a friend of his looking for the phone. It was definitely a friend...the picture on his phone that showed calling was a girl, probably mid twenties,...and completely topless. The kid came back a few hours later and got the phone...I didn't have the guts to tell him I saw his significant others carnal parts.
2. We have run out of shipping supplies. That means we are kind of back ordered on transfers to other stores. One of these transfers is a strategy guide. I guess the kid got impatient because he called me and asked to come pick it up. No problem. I gave him directions and all seemed well. He called three times asking how to get my store. When he finally got there he bought the SG and sat there glancing over it and started telling us stories about smart cars and how they will kill people if they get in wrecks. He emphasized his point by holding his hands up to show us how small a small car is in a wreck. He really wanted to show it off to my female coworker who was busy filling out paper work, but when she didn't notice he clenched his hands harder, flailed them about a little and got louder and louder until she glanced up. He smiled crookedly and left the store about five seconds later.
3. We have a "regular" who calls all the time. When he has trouble with a game he calls and expects us to walk him through that part since he doesn't have the internet. He is also somewhat...slow...literally handicapped a bit. Most of us have learned not to say we have even heard of a game, much less played it when he comes in or calls, just be friendly and quick. He talks and stays for hours and hours. He called today in the middle of a rush, and I really didn't care to tell him for the fourteenth time where to find the hidden item he has been looking for (in deja vu world?) for months and months, so I told him I had never heard of Batman Arkham Asylum. He asked my name recognizing my voice. I told him I was new and my name was Tim. He said he would call again for another employee and that I needed to play Batman. *whew*
4. We understand that kids can be destructive to discs. We really do. But you can't expect us not to hate you a little when you bring in a stack of discs for buffing that look like they were used as your kid's concrete roller skates. If my two year old can learn that touching discs and not putting them away is "badbad", then I'm sure your twelve year old contains such a capacity. Also- I will try to fix all discs that come our way if I think it is a possibility. That said, if you have "questionable" content discs expect us to chuckle about it to each other. We had an elderly guy come in today asking for a disc buff, and if there was a sequel to this racy softcore pirates ripoff and if we could buff his old one. This has actually happened before with another older guy. He leaned in close and whispered this in my ear. I told him I think there is a sequel next door, and yes, I would buff his naughty disc and be discreet.
Modern Warfare is released in a few days, expect some hilarity out of this week...
1. We had two customers leave their cellphones in the store today. One had a little junker phone that closer resembled a fossil than a phone. The other was a fairly new phone. It sat on top of our X360 display and I commented to the group of guys about it. They shrugged it off. Sure enough they forgot it. What makes the story was the first phone call that came on the phone. I figured it was a friend of his looking for the phone. It was definitely a friend...the picture on his phone that showed calling was a girl, probably mid twenties,...and completely topless. The kid came back a few hours later and got the phone...I didn't have the guts to tell him I saw his significant others carnal parts.
2. We have run out of shipping supplies. That means we are kind of back ordered on transfers to other stores. One of these transfers is a strategy guide. I guess the kid got impatient because he called me and asked to come pick it up. No problem. I gave him directions and all seemed well. He called three times asking how to get my store. When he finally got there he bought the SG and sat there glancing over it and started telling us stories about smart cars and how they will kill people if they get in wrecks. He emphasized his point by holding his hands up to show us how small a small car is in a wreck. He really wanted to show it off to my female coworker who was busy filling out paper work, but when she didn't notice he clenched his hands harder, flailed them about a little and got louder and louder until she glanced up. He smiled crookedly and left the store about five seconds later.
3. We have a "regular" who calls all the time. When he has trouble with a game he calls and expects us to walk him through that part since he doesn't have the internet. He is also somewhat...slow...literally handicapped a bit. Most of us have learned not to say we have even heard of a game, much less played it when he comes in or calls, just be friendly and quick. He talks and stays for hours and hours. He called today in the middle of a rush, and I really didn't care to tell him for the fourteenth time where to find the hidden item he has been looking for (in deja vu world?) for months and months, so I told him I had never heard of Batman Arkham Asylum. He asked my name recognizing my voice. I told him I was new and my name was Tim. He said he would call again for another employee and that I needed to play Batman. *whew*
4. We understand that kids can be destructive to discs. We really do. But you can't expect us not to hate you a little when you bring in a stack of discs for buffing that look like they were used as your kid's concrete roller skates. If my two year old can learn that touching discs and not putting them away is "badbad", then I'm sure your twelve year old contains such a capacity. Also- I will try to fix all discs that come our way if I think it is a possibility. That said, if you have "questionable" content discs expect us to chuckle about it to each other. We had an elderly guy come in today asking for a disc buff, and if there was a sequel to this racy softcore pirates ripoff and if we could buff his old one. This has actually happened before with another older guy. He leaned in close and whispered this in my ear. I told him I think there is a sequel next door, and yes, I would buff his naughty disc and be discreet.
Modern Warfare is released in a few days, expect some hilarity out of this week...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday 10/29 - Sonic Kid THE RETURN
Weird stuff seems to gravitate towards our store whenever I punch in. Today was no exception.
1. We had this kid call and immediately spout "how much can I get for sonicthissonicthatsonictheothersonicagainsonicfourteensonicfiftysonicmeetsmariosoniccriesatsegasgrave?" (He named off 9 games, 7 of which were sonic games). The employee who answered simply said "what? uh...one sec...one at a time", and being the good guy he is, took the time to give it all to the kid, who couldn't have been much older than eight.
Five minutes later the kid called again, this time on my pickup and said "do you have nppaworldchampionshippaintball2002forps2 and how much?" "uh...one second...".
Apparently the kid spaced it and forgot or lost what he wrote down, so he called again about ten minutes after that, this time passing the phone off to his friend or sibling who repeated "how much can I get for sonicthissonicthatsonictheothersonicagainsonicfourteensonicfiftysonicmeetsmariosoniccriesatsegasgrave?" Again, this cool employee went through and did it all again. Honestly I would have told him to come in the store.
The kid said he would be in shortly to trade in for the game. Instead he called in at 8 and asked what time we close, always a bad omen. Sure enough, the kid showed up five minutes to close with 9 games looking to trade. I am so happy they were in good condition, especially the game he bought.
2. This guy was insane. He came in and asked if we had used PS3 controllers. We were out and I told him so, so he asked what we had new. I pointed him to Sony's controllers, and the only third party controller we still carried. He asked me what I know about them. I told him they were twenty five dollars cheaper, but felt flimsy and uncomfortable, and that they were pretty unreliable (we have 2/3 come back for breaking within a day or two). He asked to see one and immediately started opening the box! He asked what our return policy was and I told him if he opened it he bought it, and that we have a 7 day return policy on new items if they are unopened or defective. "Well what if I just don't like it?" "Sales final other than those conditions" Meanwhile, he is juggling this thing in his hands, all the packaging everywhere. He tries to pack it up and instead tosses it in front of the register. He pays and stands there for a moment staring down this controller before leaving. I left a note on his account. "this guy is insane...-RQ"
3. We had someone call looking for Borderlands on the 360. I told him that we hadn't received any more shipments yet and were sold out. He answered with "I'll kill that fucking freak." "Wait..what? who?" "The freak who bought my Borderlands!" "No need to kill anybody...want me to wishlist one so we will call you when we get a copy in?" "Rather kill that guy..." and he hung up. I thought I should call the police...but I tend to get calls like this more often than I should...
4. For whatever reason, probably the fact that we keep our 360 well insulated and abused by customers, Forza 3 absolutely kills our Xbox. The Xbox always locks up after a few turns, sometimes before the race, at the start screen, whatever. The fan spins up, it smells like plastic is melting, and the whole thing either locks up, shuts down, or the screen goes black and the poor controller vibrates until the customer is shaking like an epileptic in an earthquake. It is bad enough that our employees take bets on how many corners a customer will drive before the xbox kills itself. I put a post-it note on the monitor for the demo that says "FORZA 3 TRACK RECORD! 5 Corners!" We had three customers try a couple times each to beat it. The xbox always won.
5. This last one a lot of people might think cute. I had some ten year old boys come in, one of them in a little dress shirt, tie, and slacks. He held a resume in his hands. I couldn't help but grin, the whole thing was pretty comical. He asked how old he had to be to work here, and how many hours per shift we got to play games, perks, etc. I explained that he had to be 18, and that we didn't usually get to play games at all. He looked like I just kicked him in the stomach so I asked if I could see his resume and keep it for our records when he was old enough. He gave me this sour look and said "I'm going to try Gamestop first." He and his little friends sat in the store for another hour, playing demos and asking how to do everything from pause to reverse...oh that was horrible...one of them tried racing in Forza 3, he succeeded in crushing his gorgeous Audi R8 into the wall and proceeded to try and ram his way through it...I heard the whine of the poor car for fifteen minutes straight "WREEEEEE EEEE EEE EEE WWHHRREEEEEEE" I thought they were finally going to leave after this, but got to relive the poor car's demise since he figured out how to restart the race... "WREEEEEE"
1. We had this kid call and immediately spout "how much can I get for sonicthissonicthatsonictheothersonicagainsonicfourteensonicfiftysonicmeetsmariosoniccriesatsegasgrave?" (He named off 9 games, 7 of which were sonic games). The employee who answered simply said "what? uh...one sec...one at a time", and being the good guy he is, took the time to give it all to the kid, who couldn't have been much older than eight.
Five minutes later the kid called again, this time on my pickup and said "do you have nppaworldchampionshippaintball2002forps2 and how much?" "uh...one second...".
Apparently the kid spaced it and forgot or lost what he wrote down, so he called again about ten minutes after that, this time passing the phone off to his friend or sibling who repeated "how much can I get for sonicthissonicthatsonictheothersonicagainsonicfourteensonicfiftysonicmeetsmariosoniccriesatsegasgrave?" Again, this cool employee went through and did it all again. Honestly I would have told him to come in the store.
The kid said he would be in shortly to trade in for the game. Instead he called in at 8 and asked what time we close, always a bad omen. Sure enough, the kid showed up five minutes to close with 9 games looking to trade. I am so happy they were in good condition, especially the game he bought.
2. This guy was insane. He came in and asked if we had used PS3 controllers. We were out and I told him so, so he asked what we had new. I pointed him to Sony's controllers, and the only third party controller we still carried. He asked me what I know about them. I told him they were twenty five dollars cheaper, but felt flimsy and uncomfortable, and that they were pretty unreliable (we have 2/3 come back for breaking within a day or two). He asked to see one and immediately started opening the box! He asked what our return policy was and I told him if he opened it he bought it, and that we have a 7 day return policy on new items if they are unopened or defective. "Well what if I just don't like it?" "Sales final other than those conditions" Meanwhile, he is juggling this thing in his hands, all the packaging everywhere. He tries to pack it up and instead tosses it in front of the register. He pays and stands there for a moment staring down this controller before leaving. I left a note on his account. "this guy is insane...-RQ"
3. We had someone call looking for Borderlands on the 360. I told him that we hadn't received any more shipments yet and were sold out. He answered with "I'll kill that fucking freak." "Wait..what? who?" "The freak who bought my Borderlands!" "No need to kill anybody...want me to wishlist one so we will call you when we get a copy in?" "Rather kill that guy..." and he hung up. I thought I should call the police...but I tend to get calls like this more often than I should...
4. For whatever reason, probably the fact that we keep our 360 well insulated and abused by customers, Forza 3 absolutely kills our Xbox. The Xbox always locks up after a few turns, sometimes before the race, at the start screen, whatever. The fan spins up, it smells like plastic is melting, and the whole thing either locks up, shuts down, or the screen goes black and the poor controller vibrates until the customer is shaking like an epileptic in an earthquake. It is bad enough that our employees take bets on how many corners a customer will drive before the xbox kills itself. I put a post-it note on the monitor for the demo that says "FORZA 3 TRACK RECORD! 5 Corners!" We had three customers try a couple times each to beat it. The xbox always won.
5. This last one a lot of people might think cute. I had some ten year old boys come in, one of them in a little dress shirt, tie, and slacks. He held a resume in his hands. I couldn't help but grin, the whole thing was pretty comical. He asked how old he had to be to work here, and how many hours per shift we got to play games, perks, etc. I explained that he had to be 18, and that we didn't usually get to play games at all. He looked like I just kicked him in the stomach so I asked if I could see his resume and keep it for our records when he was old enough. He gave me this sour look and said "I'm going to try Gamestop first." He and his little friends sat in the store for another hour, playing demos and asking how to do everything from pause to reverse...oh that was horrible...one of them tried racing in Forza 3, he succeeded in crushing his gorgeous Audi R8 into the wall and proceeded to try and ram his way through it...I heard the whine of the poor car for fifteen minutes straight "WREEEEEE EEEE EEE EEE WWHHRREEEEEEE" I thought they were finally going to leave after this, but got to relive the poor car's demise since he figured out how to restart the race... "WREEEEEE"
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