Interesting game store encounters

Hybrid

I've had many stories in the past regarding odd customers or just interesting occurences at Gamestop. I figured, why not make a thread for it? You can also post from the customer's perspective about employees or just other customers doing weird shit.

Today my fellow coworkers were price checking by scanning all the games and reading off prices. These 2 kids were in the store and one started saying random numbers, then the other one started doing it. He thought he was being a real badass, but I just wanted to punch him in the mouth. "Look, I have TWO of your teeth in my fist." I had to get a memory card for someone in a low glass cabinet and the younger kid kneels right next to me and I said:

"Oh look, it's black...just like you!" The kid was white.
He's like "WHAT? NO IM NOT!"
Me: Oh sorry, I'm blind...where'd you go? *reaching around for the memory card*

The kid then asked the other employees if I was blind, but they said no...damnit. Later on the kids wanted to buy candy but I didn't believe them that their parents said they could have it. So when I was talking to another customer, the kid says

"can I have it, can i have it, can I..."
Me: If you say that one more time, you're not getting it.
"can I..."
"THATS IT, you're not getting it!"

I put the candy on the back counter. More stupid crap happens and the kid says to my coworker with a psp box in hand, "Can I get this? It's only $2.50!" Then he comes to me and asks and I say he's going to grow up to be the greatest used car salesman in the country some day.

The best part of all this was that they were incredibly loud and annoying the whole time, but the parents never really said a thing to them.

Reminds me of that time when three kids were punching and kicking a display near the door and hiding between our gate and the door. I walk over and say "Guys get out of there, where's your parents?" One kid points to the PS2 demo kiosk like 6 feet away and the guy doesn't even turn around. Good parenting.

bonesquad · Master Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 1993 Location: Petoria

I'm sure you saw that story (and letters) in EGM about game store clerks... Bottom line I think is people are people. Some stores (of the same name) will have well informed, nice employees, and others won't. It's not as simple GameStop vs. EB as it seems to imply. Though I wouldn't expect TRU to be well informed...

I forget what store it was, but I can't forget the guy who told a customer that the Xbox (which wasn't out yet) was Sega's next console. Or the guy at Game Crazy who acted like I was nuts when I asked about a BBA for GC. "GC isn't online!" (Well, it's an easy mistake...) Or the guy at TRU when I bought my GC launch day when I asked for the purple one, he replied one blue GC coming up... "Sure looks purple to me." "No its the lighting." WTF?

It's not all bad. I remember right after Xbox came out I spent over an hour playing Halo with some guy who worked at Software Ect.

TheGreatThomasio · atkins friendly Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 135

I'm remember someone trying to tell me to reserve The "Dolphin", Nintendo Next-gen system...oy..

Or how a friend I were talking about DOOM 3 and the clerked asked us...

"Do you believe everything you read??"

Then he told us he had never even heard of Gitaroo Man! Gosh! What a jackass! Man, how I want that game...then again, thats a really big niche game, and most game clerks that work for gamestores are just graphic whores of Halo 2 fans.

Hybrid

torkworld · almost honorary Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 453

When I want to buy video games I got to Best Buy/Circuit City or a Gamestop/EB/etc. at least 15 minutes away because I can't stand the employees at the local Gamestop. It's been that way for years. I'll give you four experiances that come to mind.

It all started in the late 90's when GS was the convenient spot to pick up the latest N64 games. Problem is, like 99% of the gaming public, the employees didn't know that there was another system in existence besides the PSone.

Me: Do you have the new Madden on N64?
Dumbass: Madden is a Playstation game
Me: It's on N64 too, that's the one I want.
DA: OK [grabs the PSone version and rings it up]

or how about...

Me: Do you have Jet Grind Radio?
DA: What?
Me: Jet Grind Radio.
DA: Do we have what?
Me: Jet Grind Radio, on Dreamcast
DA: Hold on, Jet who?
Me: Jet Grind Radio
DA: [calls for manager] He wants something, I don't know what he's talking about...
Manager: What is it that you're looking for sir?
Me: Jet Grind Radio on Dreamcast
Manager: Radi....What's that, on Playstation right?
Me: [pointing to it on the shelf] That right there
Manager: Hmm, how did that get there?

The third was funny, I went there on the day before Gamecube's launch day trying to get my hands on Wave Race. The guy behind the counter is putting them on the shelf from a box of games. I ask him when GC games would be available for sale and the retard looks me dead inthe eyes and says they neither have Gamecubes nor GC games, and they don't know when they'll get any in! So I took a 10 minute drive to Toys R Us and bought it there lol

OK final story and this is the most fucked up one that some of you already know:

Late Summer 1999:
After playing the shit out of Ready 2 Rumble and Power Stone in the store, I get my name on the reserve list for a Dreamcast, name NUMBER THREE woohoo!!!! I asked the guy that put me on the list how much the deposit was and he told me there wasn't one! Every time I came in for the next month I asked different people on duty the same question and I got the same answer.

I was so excited over Dreamcast's launch, I took 9.9.99 off from work and was at the door when it opened. I go to pick up my Dreamcast and the fucks tell me there never was a free reserve list, everyone on THIS list has paid $10 to get one reserved and I was out of luck!

I then spent the rest of the morning & part of the afternoon tracking down a Dreamcast (which I did at about 2 pm at a KB Toys 15 miles away, next to last one!)

BUT HERE'S THE KICKER!!!! I'm at home playing my freshly unpacked Dreamcast and at about 3:30 I get a call from none other than... GAMESTOP asking me why I didn't come to pick up my Dreamcast this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hybrid

Sweet christ, maybe they just really hated you. I mean, sure we have our fun with the more...interesting customers, but I've never screwed a customer like that before.

Shikamaru · has shiny marbles Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Posts: 95

I have...many times but only if I did hate them

Hybrid

The worst things I do are give away autistic children's hats, that's it!

Shikamaru · has shiny marbles Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Posts: 95

Today this kid we call Star Fox kid wanted some yoyo gum we sell and he asked what kind of gum it was to which we replied "ummm chewing gum" he then got this sparkly glow in his eyes and said "ALRIGHT CHEWING GUM"

Hybrid

awe man I can picture his face and everything.

Shikamaru · has shiny marbles Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Posts: 95

Today this guy called my store and said he really wanted some more rollercoaster games for his ps2 and when I told him theme park rollercoaster was it he got visibly upset. He then went on for about ten minutes about how if we made some cool rollercoaster games we could probably make tons of money selling them, after we told him we don't make games he replied "well you should this could launch you guys to the top of the gamestop ladder" among other things today was one of the funniest days ever. The only thing missing was a certain employees sarcastic wit.

bonesquad · Master Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 1993 Location: Petoria

Is there really a big market for Rollar Coaster sim games?

Beware the fine line between sarcastic wit and being a complete ass...

Hybrid

Yeah bone, that steve really is a complete ass.

I've also gotten a customer asking me "when are you guys making the PS3?" "w....we don't make the games."

Yesterday this guy called and asked what he could get for an n64 in trade for cash. Originally he said he had 2, but I guess he meant controllers, so I said $8 for each, you'll get 16 plus whatever games you have.

Guy: Ok, so 16 plus the system is...
Me: No, it's 16 for the 2 systems, plus whatever games you have.
Guy: I only have one system.
Me: Ok so then it's 8.
Guy: and for the n64?
Me: ...It's 8 dollars cash for the system.
Guy: I thought it was 16?
Me: I thought you had 2, it's 8 per system.
Guy: So then how much with all the wires and a controller?
Me: We take that with the system.
Guy: So with the system it's...
Me: ...
Guy: Oh, 8 bucks for the system.
Me: Yes.

There was more dialogue but this is the jist of it. He later came in to trade the stuff in and got 24 bucks for all his games and system. He then asked me THREE TIMES if it was 24 for everything, memory cards included. "Memory cards are worth 25 cents each." Then he spent literally 2 minutes staring at the counter while his friend beat the shit out of the DK Jungle Beat saying "I wouldn't do it man!" Finally he did it while his friend stayed in the store and continued to beat the shit out of the bongos.

bonesquad · Master Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 1993 Location: Petoria

There's a good retail thread store thread at GAF. I could see Hy doing this...

Hybrid

Well, we could probably use that idiot thing, but it would just have a "0" plastered on it with no extra numbers. Hell, you could make it number of MINUTES not having to deal with an idiot. There have been some great store encounters in the past couple weeks, but they're too long to type and I don't remember half the details. Though I will say that yesterday this one kid did not understand the concept of "buy 2 get 1 free." He kept holding up 2 games and saying "can i get both?" and he needed more money. He must have asked the same question literally 20 times.