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 Easy E wrote:
I hate LGS owners/empoyees who don't try to even make a sale because they are too busy playing their own games. That is just stupid!

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

We do have special ordered items be made and picked up, but we make it that day just for them. We don't put that in the case. If these people don't show up, we sell or donate their stuff and then they go on the "Pre-Pay Only List". I.E, no baking until money has been exchanged.

Holds and Pre-orders can be a risky thing.

Agreed , holding stock is way to risky especially when it is perishable. Even when it isn't perishable that is still money taken out of the business that could be put somewhere more valuable. Where I work I get people asking me to hold livestock for a week. A week? it's a living thing people, it cannot be put on hold because your schedule is busy!
/end rant

 Easy E wrote:

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

Yeah, but, boxes of plastic minis don't tend to go stale and have their cream topping go off.

(I can appreciate the frustration, tho)

Edit: dammit Bullockist, hiding behind a page break...

 Ruberu wrote:
The owner at my LGS is horrible with stock. If you want something special in 40k he will either have 20 boxes in stock or none for months. Same goes for Flames of War, if its something that is fairly common to a lot of lists he will never order it, but if its uncommon there will be piles of them.

My FLGS owner likes to order 1 item and if it sells, maybe, maybe he'll order another the next month. It'd be happy to see him order 20 of any one popular item.

Flames of War:
From what I have seen at my FLGS regarding Battlefront and their products; if it's popular it's going to be hard to get. My FLGS owner shows customers who ask the packing sheets and clearly Battlefront's "Fill Rate" is frankly pathetic. That's pathetic in a pathetic industry regarding fill rates. Battlefront is one of the worst at filing product orders from what he's shown. Warlord Games is getting to be one of the best. Games Workshop used to always be the best with fill rates on special orders but in the last year they've gotten worse on many levels with lack of stock and lots going "direct only." He hates Battlefoam, btw. Says they're not "retailer friendly."

Special Orders: he will take special orders and you don't have to pay up front but when it comes in you have two weeks to pick it up. Granted that's usually not a problem. Where my FLGS owner goes wrong is...he doesn't tell people his hold duration so if someone is for example; TDY so can't get in there to buy the order and it's ticked a day past the two weeks since the order was received, like a machine the owner will put the product out for sale. Remember, he never told you he was going to do that. If you call the day before he puts it out he'll tell you it's still being held and he'll even ask you when you are going to pick it up he never offers to ship it and one might not ask if they'll be back the next week. Doesn't matter what your answer is though the next day it's on the floor. Note he works alone usually so it's not someone else causing the problem.

 Easy E wrote:
I hate LGS owners/empoyees who don't try to even make a sale because they are too busy playing their own games. That is just stupid!

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

If thats your policy I can understand that. However these are more durable items and holding an item for 24 hours, should not set you back. More importantly, if a store says they will hold something, they should hold something-or even let you buy it over the phone.

My old store that I used to work at (got fired for standing up to the boss) used to take prepay orders, then tell customers "it's not available. I can't get it". Customer would look it up online themselves, show it was available, and get told "oh, I don't want to order it from them. I want to use this vendor instead", despite ordering from both venders on a regular basis. They held my friend's money for a year before getting a Wood Elf lord in for him. He requested a refund and told them to just put it on the shelf-he sold the army and had no use for it anymore. Another time held a tournament circuit, and a guy the owner was friends with won the first two. Then couldn't be around, and a guy the owner didnt like won the rest of the tournaments in that circuit. Owner announces a $100 store credit voucher to the overall winner-his buddy who only won two tournaments, who admitted he didn't deserve the prize and it was crap. The owner said "oh, I'm not counting those other tournaments". It was a joke. There's more, but I'm running out of time to type.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
There's more, but I'm running out of time to type.

Who are you, the Jumping Jack Flash of Dakka posts? Hahaha.

I think the only negative thing that I can say about the FLGS in town is that they don't allow .pdfs (at all), dataslates, or FW stuff for tournaments. There's a reason for it, obviously: they can't sell it. It makes sense from a business perspective, but it's still frustrating.
Luckily, the owner is working with us and may be willing to allow a FW tournament as long as you own the required books and can produce them on game day.

 Vermis wrote:

 Easy E wrote:

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

Yeah, but, boxes of plastic minis don't tend to go stale and have their cream topping go off.

But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

Saldiven wrote:

 Vermis wrote:

 Easy E wrote:

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

Yeah, but, boxes of plastic minis don't tend to go stale and have their cream topping go off.

But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

I agree, but what bugged me in my OP was the fact that I would order something and never get notified that it even came in so I could go down there to buy it, only to later find it on the shelf or that someone else had bought it not knowing that I had ordered it. Couple that with things often taking 2+ weeks to get in because the distributor is out of stock and I'm not going to bother the store every day asking if it came in, I'd expect courtesy to let me know either that week when I'm down there to game or call me or whatever (we have a Facebook group to communicate too) that my thing came in so I can buy it. If you told me it came in and I don't go there to get it then yes that's on me, but if it arrives, you never told me it arrived and just put it out on the floor?

Stuff like that just reinforces the idea to me that I should order it online instead. Very little wait, save money, and don't have to wonder if it ever arrived or if someone else bought it.

 House Griffith wrote:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
There's more, but I'm running out of time to type.

Who are you, the Jumping Jack Flash of Dakka posts? Hahaha.

I think the only negative thing that I can say about the FLGS in town is that they don't allow .pdfs (at all), dataslates, or FW stuff for tournaments. There's a reason for it, obviously: they can't sell it. It makes sense from a business perspective, but it's still frustrating.
Luckily, the owner is working with us and may be willing to allow a FW tournament as long as you own the required books and can produce them on game day.

Nope, just Dakking from the john. Had to get ready to go to work.

I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
When store owners get pissy about you going to other FLGS. You don't own me or my business, good sir.

Agreed.
Has a different spin if they host gaming there and the competitor does not.
I have that difficult decision: spend as much as 30% less at the other store or support your gaming night store.
I tend to buy lots of little stuff at the game store and big expensive items at the cheaper place.

WayneTheGame wrote:

Saldiven wrote:

 Vermis wrote:

 Easy E wrote:

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

Yeah, but, boxes of plastic minis don't tend to go stale and have their cream topping go off.

But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

I agree, but what bugged me in my OP was the fact that I would order something and never get notified that it even came in so I could go down there to buy it, only to later find it on the shelf or that someone else had bought it not knowing that I had ordered it. Couple that with things often taking 2+ weeks to get in because the distributor is out of stock and I'm not going to bother the store every day asking if it came in, I'd expect courtesy to let me know either that week when I'm down there to game or call me or whatever (we have a Facebook group to communicate too) that my thing came in so I can buy it. If you told me it came in and I don't go there to get it then yes that's on me, but if it arrives, you never told me it arrived and just put it out on the floor?

Stuff like that just reinforces the idea to me that I should order it online instead. Very little wait, save money, and don't have to wonder if it ever arrived or if someone else bought it.

I agree that your situation was just plain poor customer service.

Our FLGS has a very active Facebook page. Whenever he gets in new merchandise, he'll set it all up on a couple of tables, and post pictures of everything so people can see what's come in. If people have something they've ordered, he sends Facebook messages to let people know their order is in. Using social media like this is super simple and takes next to no effort. It's kind of sad if someone can't do at least a Facebook message or an e-mail to let you know your order is in.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
When store owners get pissy about you going to other FLGS. You don't own me or my business, good sir.

That and when they sit there and bad mouth other stores. Its a really good way to get me to not come back if you sit there and talk about how "bad" this or that store is or how their employees are, ect

Saldiven wrote:


But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

If you can't stick one wee box of minis behind a counter for a customer who's been waiting for weeks if not months; who regularly comes in to check for it; who's willing to give the money to you, the local shop, rather than to the internets; who buys other stuff too; in a shop where regular stock sits on the shelves for weeks if not months, you shouldn't offer an order service. Maybe you shouldn't even be in business if customer service and orders are such a harassment to you.

robam45 wrote:Having a terrible website.

Swan-of-War wrote:Places that don't have prices on their boxes bug the heck out of me.

Ah yes, my FLGS was guilty of these too. To be fair on the website, though, it was mainly there to announce events and stuff. But they could list product ranges that they didn't even carry anymore, which could be problematic for all involved parties if someone would try to order these.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

Spot on. Every time I've gone to a GW store, some redshirt is on my ass the minute I walk in the door, trying to sell me something I don't want or need.
At the Seattle Bunker, I'd tell them immediately: "I'll buy something if you leave me alone. No, I don't want any Ogryns".

 House Griffith wrote:


I think the only negative thing that I can say about the FLGS in town is that they don't allow .pdfs (at all), dataslates, or FW stuff for tournaments. There's a reason for it, obviously: they can't sell it. It makes sense from a business perspective, but it's still frustrating.
Luckily, the owner is working with us and may be willing to allow a FW tournament as long as you own the required books and can produce them on game day.

I was in my FLGS the other day to buy some paint. When I came the owner was helping a new gamer who was just starting 40K. When discussing what rulebooks to buy the customer said that he already had the codex and rulebook on his computer. The owner said something in the effect of: "Great! Then you don't need to spend any more money on that! What you should get in the beginning is more cool miniatures, come take a look at this shiny box!" One of the things he bought was a Citadel Hobby starter kit. When standing at the counter the owner also offered him to switch paints in the box set for paints more suitable for his chapter.

What I want to say with this is that if you want to run a shop in these times you have to accept the fact that people use digital material. You also have to offer good service that makes people want to shop there.

Oh, and also, there are three games shops in my town. I have brought my girlfriend to all three. After one of them she said: "I will never ever go that place again." To the one in the story she brought her sister to shop for boardgames.

 House Griffith wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

Spot on. Every time I've gone to a GW store, some redshirt is on my ass the minute I walk in the door, trying to sell me something I don't want or need.
At the Seattle Bunker, I'd tell them immediately: "I'll buy something if you leave me alone. No, I don't want any Ogryns".

Well, they're just doing their job, so I can't really blame them for sneaking up on you. I think it's more annoying if the owner or employee of a LGS simply ignores you, or doesn't seem to help you in any way.

 House Griffith wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

Spot on. Every time I've gone to a GW store, some redshirt is on my ass the minute I walk in the door, trying to sell me something I don't want or need.
At the Seattle Bunker, I'd tell them immediately: "I'll buy something if you leave me alone. No, I don't want any Ogryns".

See thats just annoying especially if they know you. When the chicago bunker was up and running after they saw me a few times when i first started going that ended really quick. They knew if i was going to spend money i was going to spend it. If i was just there to hang out, play a game, or paint they left me alone and we would bs about whatever.

 House Griffith wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

Spot on. Every time I've gone to a GW store, some redshirt is on my ass the minute I walk in the door, trying to sell me something I don't want or need.
At the Seattle Bunker, I'd tell them immediately: "I'll buy something if you leave me alone. No, I don't want any Ogryns".

I here ya on the Seattle Bunker. They had some high-pressure knob managers and a few that were actually pretty cool.

One pretty cool manager warned my playing group that they'd have to sell to us when we came in to play - which was fine, we were using their tables and we did buy product. But it wasn't so high-pressure. He got promoted up as I recall. Feel bad for the last solo-manager Arik before they closed down, he's a nice guy.

One local store keeps trying to start up gaming nights for different games and if the sales are insufficient after two weeks, it gets cancelled.

And in order for the owner to be convinced the event is working, the game in question needs to be purchased that very night. Special orders and off the shelf purchases for that game that people pay for on a different day of the week "don't count." So if the game night is on Tuesday and on Thursday the week before I pop in I buy a squad and paint it up for Tuesday, it won't count when he evaluates the numbers for the game night.

You need to actually take the time to build a community and you need to look at your overall sales for the product. Now the guy is fighting against the current because no one will go to the new game nights because they know they'll just be cancelled after two weeks and replaced with something else.

Never had a problem like this with my FLGS's regarding special orders. Sometimes it took a while to come in, but they always called me the moment an item came in. I had things not show up for weeks, but that was because I ordered Battlefront models, so that should be no surprise.

My big pett peeves are nerd drama and when you can only find people for a game on certain nights, especially weeknights. I've always lived an hour or more away from my store. I can't afford to drive an hour there, try to get a game in the moment I get there, pack up immediately, drive home, and get in bed for work the next day. And when that's the only day people for that system will be there, it means I'll almost never get a game in.

Also, if I had a nickel for everytime I had to deal with drama thanks to FLGS related things, I'd own a 3,000 pt DKoK army by now. Its the main reason I didn't get to go to Adepticon a couple years ago (my team tore itself apart arguing with each other)

Staff at a local store would make fun of 40k to an unnecessary extent. Like yeah, I get it the rules are bad but I have fun playing this and I'm giving you money so shut up for like five seconds about Warmahordes. That store changed location and I moved further downtown and closer to a better store so it's not really an issue anymore.

The thing present in nearly every FLGS I've been to though is absolutely terrible music. I never want to hear another Dream Theater or Combichrist song again. I know that's really subjective but some variety would be nice every now and then.

 Vermis wrote:

Saldiven wrote:


But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

If you can't stick one wee box of minis behind a counter for a customer who's been waiting for weeks if not months; who regularly comes in to check for it; who's willing to give the money to you, the local shop, rather than to the internets; who buys other stuff too; in a shop where regular stock sits on the shelves for weeks if not months, you shouldn't offer an order service. Maybe you shouldn't even be in business if customer service and orders are such a harassment to you.

But, conversely, how long do you expect them to hold it behind the counter waiting for you to show up and actually make the purchase? If you haven't come in to pick up the item a week after you were notified, should they keep holding it? Two weeks? A month? At what point is it fair game to be purchased by someone who is actually in the store with cash-in-hand?

Saldiven wrote:

 Vermis wrote:

Saldiven wrote:


But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

If you can't stick one wee box of minis behind a counter for a customer who's been waiting for weeks if not months; who regularly comes in to check for it; who's willing to give the money to you, the local shop, rather than to the internets; who buys other stuff too; in a shop where regular stock sits on the shelves for weeks if not months, you shouldn't offer an order service. Maybe you shouldn't even be in business if customer service and orders are such a harassment to you.

But, conversely, how long do you expect them to hold it behind the counter waiting for you to show up and actually make the purchase? If you haven't come in to pick up the item a week after you were notified, should they keep holding it? Two weeks? A month? At what point is it fair game to be purchased by someone who is actually in the store with cash-in-hand?

Personally I'd say at least a week, maybe two once they've been notified barring things that you can't control (e.g. if you call and the person is on vacation out of state for a week, you should hold it an extra week until they get back since they can't reasonably go pick it up).

WayneTheGame wrote:

Saldiven wrote:

 Vermis wrote:

Saldiven wrote:


But, they are still inventory upon which the store has already spent money. The longer it sits behind a counter not being sold, the longer the store is stuck with non-performing assets.

As a consumer, I wouldn't ever expect an LGS to hold an item more than a couple of days. If a customer wants something held for them on a special order, it would behoove that customer to get to the store to make the purchase in a timely manner after the delivery arrives. I personally believe that anything more than a week is totally unreasonable (I actually think a week is too long, but trying to be lenient). If you weren't in a position to pick it up sooner than that, you shouldn't have ordered it.

If you can't stick one wee box of minis behind a counter for a customer who's been waiting for weeks if not months; who regularly comes in to check for it; who's willing to give the money to you, the local shop, rather than to the internets; who buys other stuff too; in a shop where regular stock sits on the shelves for weeks if not months, you shouldn't offer an order service. Maybe you shouldn't even be in business if customer service and orders are such a harassment to you.

But, conversely, how long do you expect them to hold it behind the counter waiting for you to show up and actually make the purchase? If you haven't come in to pick up the item a week after you were notified, should they keep holding it? Two weeks? A month? At what point is it fair game to be purchased by someone who is actually in the store with cash-in-hand?

Personally I'd say at least a week, maybe two once they've been notified barring things that you can't control (e.g. if you call and the person is on vacation out of state for a week, you should hold it an extra week until they get back since they can't reasonably go pick it up).

I think it's fair for the store to set a clear policy on how long they'll hold preorders. This way the consumer is partially responsible to uphold their end of the purchase, and if they don't, the store can put it on the shelf for general sale and be covered.

The dastardly villain that runs my FLGS does not allow me to freebase naked on the empty tables during my opponents turn, and frankly I have no idea why I frequent the fething place.

Well, except for the great people, tables, and choice of terrain on offer obviously.

 mattyrm wrote:
The dastardly villain that runs my FLGS does not allow me to freebase naked on the empty tables during my opponents turn

This is a lie, and I have the therapy bills to prove it!

 House Griffith wrote:

I think it's fair for the store to set a clear policy on how long they'll hold preorders. This way the consumer is partially responsible to uphold their end of the purchase, and if they don't, the store can put it on the shelf for general sale and be covered.

Of course it is and any shop with any sense will have a clearly defined policy for this kind of thing stating.

-Whether or not you have to put any money down
-How they will contact you when it comes in
-How long you have to come pick it up.

It's these kind of procedural practices that it seems many FLGS's can't seem to manage. Of course based on some of the stories here, if they can't even hire employees who understand that their job is to work rather than play, then special order practices might be the lesser of their shortcomings.

Clearly this thread is showing what many of us already know and have experienced in the past. That is, many game stores are run by hobbyists who don't have the business acumen necessary to run a successful retail operation. Not that a hobbyist can't run a game store, but their sole qualification for doing so can't be simply a love of gaming.

Our store has a policy of "Game Nights", so Fantasy on Wednesday, 40k on Friday. The rule is, you can play on a table if it's open, but if its full and someone comes in to play that game, you have to give up your table if you're not playing the game that's on that night.

I understand it, and to be honest it's never happened to me, mostly because the only time I've seens the tables FULL is for 40k nights, so that's what I'm playing, but its frustrating when they keep telling us that we'd have to give up our table. Most of us know the employees and they're pretty decent guys, but FFS I know there is an Infinity tourney this Saturday. Either I'll play when its done or not come in.