I try...and I try...and I try...and I still hate retail...

[-Bridget-]

I agree with this topic: Gamestop sucks.


I also agree that so many of the employees just dont KNOW much.

*I*, personally, if I walk into a game store, expect that the employees will know alot about games. And by "games" I dont mean "FPS / GTA only"

I used to work for EB Games, before Gamestop ate them.


Before Gamestop ate them, it was a fun place. The job was nice, I had a good manager, and I know EVERYTHING about the many games we sell; there arent many questions I *cant* answer. I was the one my boss came to when there was a question from a customer that he wasnt sure of the answer to.


And then, Gamestop did their thing.

Suddenly, the store changed, the hours changed, and everything got GREEDY.... we had to start trying to sell those #(%&-ing "buyer protection plans" or whatever the hell they're called with every freaking product sold.

Anyone that actually works for or has worked for Gamestop, or even just buys enough games, knows perfectly well that those are absolutely WORTHLESS; they dont DO anything, nobody ever comes back with the receipts in need of a replacement game (receipts tend to get lost.... how conventient for Gamestop), and are nothing more than the company trying to suck extra money out of their customers like some hideous vampire.


Their stupid greedy evil, and the nonsensical things they made us do in their quest to control all made me quit.


And NOW where do I work? At the blasted Toys R Us.


Selling the games again, except this time my customers are all confused parents who cant research things on their own.


I COULD have kept on with my entertaining job for quite awhile had it not been for Gamestop's evil. But nooooooooooo.



Making things MORE annoying is the fact that Im still forced into their blasted stores way too often; they're usually the only place TO go, since they nearly have a monopoly on games in this area.



But I never, ever ask a Gamestop employee specific questions about the games...... cause I know that all too often, the answer isnt quite right. Fortunately though I rarely HAVE any questions, being that I know the genre and everything in it perhaps a bit too well.





And what's worse, they never even know what the "shmup" genre even IS. Isnt that just awful?

[Ed Oscuro]

(receipts tend to get lost.... how conventient for Gamestop),

How convenient for every retail chain in the world that has computerized inventory sales and tracking!

[dave4shmups]

Well, as I mentioned before (I think) I have never held a job for longer then a year, and I'm about 2 months away from that point. I need this for my resume, and our boss has fought for us to get more hours, which I will get next week. And he is the best boss that I've ever worked under, by far. He's very much a realist, but he's also down to earth, and has a great sense of humor that has made me laugh quite a bit.

The sales pressure has never been high. That's not to say that it isn't important; the people who move up the fastest are the ones who get the most Edge card/Game Informer subscriptions, and the most reserves.

I usually offer people PRP's, but if they don't want one, there's no penalty on my part; same with everyone else who works at my store. Heh, I think I've sold about one or two on the Wii.

As far as shopping goes, I have heard of a new place called "Play 'N Trade", but other then that, my only other options are GameCrazy and Gameforce, and their stock is terrible compared to ours. The first time I walked into my store, last fall, I just about peed myself over the number of games.

So I will stick with it for at least a year, I need it, and the people are at least fun to work with.

Oh yeah, we are taking PRP's on 360's again, so that gives me a little more confidence in the durability of that console.

[Jockel]

This might sound quite stupid, but reading this thread kinda wants to make me work for gamestop.
Because i'd like to make a difference to the usual employees.
Imagine, you'd walk into a gamestop and the people there actually knew what they were talking about. oO
Insane utopia, i know

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I recall when EB used to sell those cool JPN Saturn imports along with the required ProAction Replay cart (to properly back it on a USA region Saturn console) in the mid-late 1990's. I did see a JPN Saturn port of Thunderforce V on the retail shelf but it was selling for $79.99 USD. I thought that was a bit too much and passed on it.

American franchised game stores such as Gamestop, Gamecrazy, etc. don't carry/sell such new imported game titles nowdays. Is there not money to be made in dealing with such specialized gaming niche as that?

I recall that the Fry's Superstores chain used to sell such JPN region PSP game UMDs with a sticker placed on the outer packing saying that it is playable on U.S. region PSPs but the language will be displayed in Japanese. Duh, I don't need a sticker saying that when I already know that my PSP is capable of playing any region game UMD from the get-go. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Zebra Airforce]

Gameforce

Actually, when my father and brother lived in Colorado we spent alot of time going around to the many different Gameforce stores, and they have always had a better selection of games than a typical retail place. Obviously they don't have as much shelf space, but I've never seen an EB or Gamestop that carried import games/soundtracks, boxed NES games, TurboGrafx carts, NeoGeo Pockets (+ games), etc.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Gameforce

Actually, when my father and brother lived in Colorado we spent alot of time going around to the many different Gameforce stores, and they have always had a better selection of games than a typical retail place. Obviously they don't have as much shelf space, but I've never seen an EB or Gamestop that carried import games/soundtracks, boxed NES games, TurboGrafx carts, NeoGeo Pockets (+ games), etc.

EB was trying an experiment to see if USA Saturn gamers would be interested in buying a handful of Japanese Saturn game imports if they made them available in the USA. They didn't do it for very long, that much I do recall.

An independant video game store would be more apt to cater to the import console gamer -- whatever it takes to please the customer and keep the money rolling in. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dave4shmups]

Gameforce

Actually, when my father and brother lived in Colorado we spent alot of time going around to the many different Gameforce stores, and they have always had a better selection of games than a typical retail place. Obviously they don't have as much shelf space, but I've never seen an EB or Gamestop that carried import games/soundtracks, boxed NES games, TurboGrafx carts, NeoGeo Pockets (+ games), etc.

That's interesting, because I know that there is a Gameforce up in Boulder that sells import Saturn games. I've never gotten up there to check it out.

I love the fact that they sell 2600 games and NES games; I've gotten some really good ones there. They had an Intellivision for sale last time I was in there!

[Lordstar]

I recall trying to buy an 360 the christmas just gone. I was asking about the different packages. He told me I should avoid the "black one" (his words i may add. I asked why and he replied well unless your going to buy every game on the system I would never need the hard disc size. When I said i was thinking of linking it to stream movies he looked at my blankly and said oh you mean play DVDs? yeah it plays DVDs. I just cold not believe how little they guy knew about the console.

I mean fair play you can know everything about every game. But surley you should at least have some average info on the consoles.

[dave4shmups]

I do love this new ad that we have running:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4MLdNeaTJ4

[Zebra Airforce]

i really like dis ecspecially when da lil bunny finds all those coins!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

FIFTEN DOLlAHZ

woe...WOEA

[Pixel_Outlaw]

People who resell games to GameStop are idiots. The whole reason they have these commercials is a vain attempt to draw people into the farce that is reselling games. I've seen games resell for as little as 78 cents.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd buy that for a dollar

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Well, it is really a two way street with selling your games. Since GameStop does not really care to get many niche genre games I depend on people selling their used games to this company. I do love the occasional idiot who got Ikaruga from a relative and sold it to GameStop. They got screwed yes but it did provide an opportunity for me.

Selling games is really stupid but it does occasionally provide shmup fodder for real game players.

[dave4shmups]

Ugh, another week with no hours. This is costing me mentally; I just have WAY too much time to think about my anxiety (and now heartburn as well). I'd really like to make it to one year-which, again, would be either late September or early October (I was hired after the Halo 3 launch), but I can't take much more of this no hours and no money nonsense.

I just don't know where else to go but more retail, since that (and grocery) are all I have on my resume. I've thought about Best Buy, but as insane as our small store gets during the holidays, I don't know. Health Care, and a job where I can advance, are both very important to me.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Right now, you should be thinking about how to train yourself to get a better job. Seriously, if you're having free weeks, spend the time you would be working to learn something. It's aggressive out there, so you outta be aggressive. Nobody will tell you, "hey here's a 50 an hour job" out of the blue.

[dave4shmups]

Right now, you should be thinking about how to train yourself to get a better job. Seriously, if you're having free weeks, spend the time you would be working to learn something. It's aggressive out there, so you outta be aggressive. Nobody will tell you, "hey here's a 50 an hour job" out of the blue.

Good point UFO, I would like to take some classes in Excel, and there are two computer learning centers that are pretty close to where I live. What about Best Buy, though? Radio Shack would be nice, were it not commission-based.

[kozo]

Gameforce

Holy crap. I remember that place when I lived in Denver. I bought a lot of stuff from the Littleton shop, including Front Mission 2 and some Saturn goodies. Thought it was great.

We used to say the name like the singer of the "G Force" anime theme song... "Game FORCE!"

[Lordstar]

This may come across sexist but i dont really care. I see a lot more girls working in games stores these days. My game store local to me has about three girls with a total of 8 staff. The girls know fuck all too I was asking general questions and they knew very little. When i aksed what they were playing right now two of them said the sims . The other is a manager and I suspect shes just a bog standard retail manager but then you dont have to know fuck all about games just enough to do paper work keep staff in line and any company policies and thats pretty much it.

[dave4shmups]

People who resell games to GameStop are idiots. The whole reason they have these commercials is a vain attempt to draw people into the farce that is reselling games. I've seen games resell for as little as 78 cents.

Well, we do always tell people that they are getting less for cash then they are for trade. With some games, we have to charge a refurb. fee, and some are in such bad shape that the fee would be more money then the person's getting back-and we don't even take those games.

Trade-in credit is always better anyway.

[bay]

this is the reason i hate gamestop.

august 26th 2008 - disgaea 3 for ps3 released

i goto gamestop.

"sorry, we only have that if you preordered."

[The n00b]

Right now, you should be thinking about how to train yourself to get a better job. Seriously, if you're having free weeks, spend the time you would be working to learn something. It's aggressive out there, so you outta be aggressive. Nobody will tell you, "hey here's a 50 an hour job" out of the blue.

Good point UFO, I would like to take some classes in Excel, and there are two computer learning centers that are pretty close to where I live. What about Best Buy, though? Radio Shack would be nice, were it not commission-based.

Think bigger. Ie. If you think about taking excel classes, take programming classes. Hell you could try taking MCP classes. Microsoft Certified Professionals seem to be the new "casual" IT people.

[dave4shmups]

Right now, you should be thinking about how to train yourself to get a better job. Seriously, if you're having free weeks, spend the time you would be working to learn something. It's aggressive out there, so you outta be aggressive. Nobody will tell you, "hey here's a 50 an hour job" out of the blue.

Good point UFO, I would like to take some classes in Excel, and there are two computer learning centers that are pretty close to where I live. What about Best Buy, though? Radio Shack would be nice, were it not commission-based.

Think bigger. Ie. If you think about taking excel classes, take programming classes. Hell you could try taking MCP classes. Microsoft Certified Professionals seem to be the new "casual" IT people.

Programming, AFIK, involves higher math that is simply beyond me. That's not me knocking myself, it's just me being honest about my capabilities. If I'm wrong about the programming, then please say so-I'm serious.

[The n00b]

Good point UFO, I would like to take some classes in Excel, and there are two computer learning centers that are pretty close to where I live. What about Best Buy, though? Radio Shack would be nice, were it not commission-based.

Think bigger. Ie. If you think about taking excel classes, take programming classes. Hell you could try taking MCP classes. Microsoft Certified Professionals seem to be the new "casual" IT people.

Programming, AFIK, involves higher math that is simply beyond me. That's not me knocking myself, it's just me being honest about my capabilities. If I'm wrong about the programming, then please say so-I'm serious.

Dave I present to you...PYTHON!

http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide

Go ahead and try it. It's a great little language and people will pay you to develop in it. It's also a great way to figure out if you actually "like" programming because python does not take years and years to master. You don't need to be a math whiz or have a phd in computer science to use it either.

[captpain]

Programming, AFIK, involves higher math that is simply beyond me. That's not me knocking myself, it's just me being honest about my capabilities. If I'm wrong about the programming, then please say so-I'm serious.

Programming doesn't require higher math unless you're writing a program that uses it. It's almost all based on fairly intuitive logic. It's not easy to learn for some people, but most languages are honestly not that big of a deal. You'll have the syntax down much more quickly than you'd think -- learning to construct good programs is a different story, but experience helps.

Just give it a shot.

[Koa Zo]

Ugh, another week with no hours.

quit your crying and do something about it.
First step: get on the internet and file for Unemployment Compensation.

I doubt you even looked into it after last time I mentioned it, but I'll say it again: most states have protection for workers who experience a significant decrease in earnings. It may not matter that you were never employed as a "Full Time" employee.

It doesn't matter that you are still employed, nor does it prevent you from working in the future when hours become available. Filing with your state should also act to penalize the employer for cutting your earnings, and encourages them to provide more hours - at least that's how it works in Pennsylvania.

Second step: on all these days off you need to be out applying for work. Forget this "one year" bullshit. What does: "I stuck with this crappy job for one year" really say on your resume? If you are a worthwhile employee you will be a go-getter. Get up every morning and be determined to sell yourself to every grocery store and retail outlet within your travel radius. Scour the wanted ads in the newspaper every Sunday. This will give you an idea of what sort of jobs are available, and what sort of jobs you may be interested in or capable of.

[crithit5000]

Programming, AFIK, involves higher math that is simply beyond me.

No. My college made me take trig for my programming classes, and it really didn't have any actual factor in any programming I've done. No, as stated above it's all logic and syntax. As I stated in your last thread, you just learn it, do it, and get better at it.

[dave4shmups]

Ugh, another week with no hours.

quit your crying and do something about it.
First step: get on the internet and file for Unemployment Compensation.

I doubt you even looked into it after last time I mentioned it, but I'll say it again: most states have protection for workers who experience a significant decrease in earnings. It may not matter that you were never employed as a "Full Time" employee.

It doesn't matter that you are still employed, nor does it prevent you from working in the future when hours become available. Filing with your state should also act to penalize the employer for cutting your earnings, and encourages them to provide more hours - at least that's how it works in Pennsylvania.

Second step: on all these days off you need to be out applying for work. Forget this "one year" bullshit. What does: "I stuck with this crappy job for one year" really say on your resume? If you are a worthwhile employee you will be a go-getter. Get up every morning and be determined to sell yourself to every grocery store and retail outlet within your travel radius. Scour the wanted ads in the newspaper every Sunday. This will give you an idea of what sort of jobs are available, and what sort of jobs you may be interested in or capable of.

First off, don't be so harsh. As for filing for unemployment, there's no way that I can claim that they have un-fairly cut my hours, when ever other Game Advisor in my position, in our district, is going through the same thing. My boss did, in fact, give me a raise early in the summer. It ticks me off that he then hired another Game Adviser, whose hours I could really use, but I can't prove anything about that without souring good references that I really need.

Which comes to the one-year deal, which isn't "bullshit". How many employers do you really think will even consider hiring someone who has NEVER worked at the same job for one year or more? And do you really think, that when I want good references from the people I work with, that I'm going to endlessly complain about it to whomever I apply with, or get them a bad rap by complaining to the State of Colorado??

The only reason my boss hired me last fall is because I've had a lot of customer service experience and I have a very flexible schedule-but the other GS managers I interviewed with didn't hire me.

I am a go getter, but I want to do as much research as possible about my next employer, and not jump into something that's going to go absolutely nowhere again.

[dave4shmups]

Koa Zo, forgive me for going off like that, and others as well. I know that you guys care or you wouldn't respond and I do appreciate that.

Thanks for the programming info as well, that does do it for me in this thread, thanks everyone for your input.