Why Do People Hate Shopping at GameStop Again? Oh Yeah.

It’s still Speak Up on Kotaku, we’re just taking the posts from TAY now, like God Hand BrynnFlynn‘s story about why a trip to GameStop is so damn entertaining.

Alright, so I know there are plenty of “OMG I HATEZ GAMESTOP” stories out there, but my experience this weekend was truly… exemplar.

I was in GS on a whim looking for Heavenly Sword. I know it’s an ancient game by most standards these days, but I wanted a hack and slasher for when I’m on the bike. I went into the GS, and a guy who hits every damn negative stereotype about a GameStop employee walks over.

Employee: “Hey, can I help you look for anything?”

Me: *holding Heavenly Sword in hand, looking at Demon’s Souls with my boyfriend, he’s holding a ME2 Collector’s Edition* “Nope, I’m good.”

Employee: “Sure, great! Just let me know if you need any help. By the way, Madden 13’s coming out, we’re doing a launch event you should think about!”

Now, if he had made any attempt to actually upsell me on something I’d be interested in, I’d give him a pass. But come on, if you try to upsell someone holding an RPG hack and slash, looking at another RPG hack and slash, with their boyfriend holding a space opera RPG, DO NOT TRY TO SELL ME ON MADDEN. It’s simple probability. If I seem to be interested in RPG’s, I could perhaps be interested in another RPG. I am most likely not interested in Madden.

So he heads on back behind the counter, chatting to his coworker about another launch event he completely botched. Yeah, that’s comforting. After wandering the store for a bit looking for other games, I took the case to the front.

Now, the case I’d grabbed was used, but was one of those miraculously intact copies with the art, box, manual, and presumably a disc. I’d turned down a copy at the GS across the street because it had their crappy replacement cases just a few minutes earlier, in fact. I knew the drill—the disc would be behind the counter, kept safely hidden away to make sure no one just walked out with it.

In addition, I’ve worked at GS before. I know how they try to manipulate their sales by trying to sell ‘bad’ copies before the good ones, or by resealing the games they use as employee demo discs if the game is new. What I didn’t know was that they’ve started a new way of displaying their used games. They store ‘full’ copies in the drawer, with only one shelf copy to sell folks on the item. All of the ‘bad’ copies (no manual, no cover art, replacement box, etc.) are hidden in the drawers to swap out with the display copy.

He took the full copy I’d held and went into the drawer, gesturing at a bin of sleeves for upcoming games.

Employee: “Take a look at that pile right there of games, and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to preorder.”

Me: “I’m good, thanks.” *makes no move towards the little bin*

He took the perfect case, turned around, and rummaged in the drawer for a disc. As he did so, we both saw there was a case with the horrific fake insert. They’d clearly set this up to do a bait and switch if at all possible—if the person making the purchase doesn’t care, he was obviously supposed to sell me the ‘bad’ copy.

Employee: “Do you mind—”

Me: “I’d like the full copy, please.”

I think he might have refused to sell me the nice copy if it weren’t clear he’d lose the sale entirely if he did. He scanned it, and did some weird shuffle with the cases—it looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to sell me the nice copy or not. Thankfully, he did not try to do this. Then came the pitches.

Employee: “I see your card’s expired; do you want to renew it for a discount today and the magazine? It’ll pay for itself over the course of the year and save you a lot of money.”

Me: “No thanks, I hardly ever shop at GameStop these days.” *HINT HINT*

Employee: “Alright then. Did you see anything you’re interested in preordering from GameStop? Just five dollars down gets you a copy of the game the day it comes out, for no extra charge.”

Me: “No thanks, like I said, I’m hardly ever in here, and I use Steam.”

Employee: “You sure? You could preorder…” (he trails off, trying to think of something)

Me: “No really, I’m not interested.”

Employee: “Alright. Do you want a protection plan on this game? One dollar protects it against scratches or damage and gets you a replacement.

Me: “I’m fine, I’m just interested in the game.”

Employee: “It’s only a dollar you know…”

Me: “I’m just here for the game. Thanks.”

This is exactly why I ran to Steam as soon as I realized what a wonderful thing it is. This is exactly why I now speak of GameStop in such disgusted tones. I quit just before the indoctrination really got going (thank God), because if this is what resulted from it, I’m glad I got out when I did. This is not customer service. This is harassment. This is a complete denial of the customer’s desires or reasons for being in the store.

If he had for just one moment actually cared about me as a customer, had paid attention to why I was in the store, or considered ways to actually be helpful, I might not have left GameStop vowing never to set foot in there again. However, throughout my entire encounter with this employee he continually ignored big, blinking cues on how to treat me as a customer, and failed to use any tactics that might have induced me to help his numbers. I know how important they are to keeping your job, I really do—been there, done that. But you will not get the numbers that will save your skin by continuously ignoring the cues I’m giving you, or by regurgitating a script you’ve learned by rote.

About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That’s why we have a forum on Kotaku called TAY. That’s the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we’ll pull one of the best TAY posts we can find and highlight it here.