Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
So this afternoon, I went to my usual FLGS (which is actually a chain hobby store that sells models, RC cars, and scale trains). As soon as I walk in, the employee that is supposed to oversee the designated miniature gaming days walks up to me and says "You need to quit being whiny, Kevin (the owner) is getting really annoyed by it". So I just ignored him, and continued to paint. Well, about 10 minutes later, he walks up to me again and asks if I want to play one last fifth edition game. I told him that I only had my WarmaHordes stuff with me, because I'm more or less done with 40k. He responded by saying "Okay, well you can just get the F*** out of the store". At that point, I was starting to get a bit agitated, as up to that point I was having a pretty good day. Then about 15 minutes go by, and one of the other guys there points out the Stormwall I was currently working on, saying that it's my $130 waste (I only really paid $80 for it), because I "never play, but will sit there and paint". After him going on some more about how PP's prices are crap compared to GW, I finally say "Okay, I get it, you message me on facebook all the time saying the exact same thing, I'm tired of hearing it!". At that point, the employee says "well, not everyone is a whiny rich piece-of-s*** like you". at that point, I just lost it and packed my paint and stormwall up, and left. As I was walking away, I heard the employee say "As long as he still buys from us, I don't give a s*** what he does".
Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated.
Have any of you ever had a similar experience that made you leave your FLGS? Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
I don't blame you for leaving. Interestingly, they're supposed to support all aspects of the hobby, be that painting, modelling, playing, or... whatever else is 'hobby' related. Those guys are just jerks and you should burn them.
Since I only have one FLGS in my whole country, I won't say anything bad. I will say, however, that the looks one gets when one mentions "Warmachine" "Wayland Games" or "Dawn of War" are simply hilarious (and things relating to them).
EDIT: Do e-mail their corporate office, or something in that vein. Their behaviour is definitely customer harassment, and is worth firing them over.
gunslingerpro wrote:I am rather shocked by this series of events, to be honest.
So the employee truly said these things to you unprovoked?
Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:Get revenge.
Sleep with his mum!
God no, I've seen his mom and no amount of alcohol could make that happen.
Frozen Ocean wrote:I don't blame you for leaving. Interestingly, they're supposed to support all aspects of the hobby, be that painting, modelling, playing, or... whatever else is 'hobby' related. Those guys are just jerks and you should burn them.
Since I only have one FLGS in my whole country, I won't say anything bad. I will say, however, that the looks one gets when one mentions "Warmachine" "Wayland Games" or "Dawn of War" are simply hilarious (and things relating to them).
EDIT: Do e-mail their corporate office, or something in that vein. Their behaviour is definitely customer harassment, and is worth firing them over.
Honestly they all get a little mad when I'm not in a playing mood, even though we have had people show up and just sit on their laptops. I probably will send an email tomorrow once I have cooled down and had time to think...
BTW, why do they give you looks? Then again, when one mentions Dark Heresy at the store I posted about, everyone gives you looks.
Because Dawn of War, Privateer Press, and Wayland Games are all reminders that one does not spend their entire income in their store? I don't know. I know that at least several hobbyists actively despise the video games simply because they are video games. I had an argument with one such person that people who enter the hobby due to Dawn of War, Space Marine, or even Firewarrior are not true wargamers. Or some stupid stuff like that. Also, buying stuff from online stores like Wayland is like, cheating on them or something?
As for Privateer Press/Warmachine/Hordes? How dare you like something other than Warhammer!
angel of ecstasy wrote:
d-usa wrote:Complain about it on Dakka.
This. Or torch his house. There's nothing in between.
How is the store owner? If he is a reasonable and generally cool guy, I would lodge a complaint with him about how his employee is speaking to you. I would not stand for any of my employees treating a guest at my restaurant that way, nor would I put up with an employee elsewhere treating me or any other customer the same. If the store owner blows you off then I'd definitely not give any business to the store any more. I'd also probably block people on FB who constantly berate me over how I spend my hobby money.
Frozen Ocean wrote:Because Dawn of War, Privateer Press, and Wayland Games are all reminders that one does not spend their entire income in their store? I don't know. I know that at least several hobbyists actively despise the video games simply because they are video games. I had an argument with one such person that people who enter the hobby due to Dawn of War, Space Marine, or even Firewarrior are not true wargamers. Or some stupid stuff like that. Also, buying stuff from online stores like Wayland is like, cheating on them or something?
As for Privateer Press/Warmachine/Hordes? How dare you like something other than Warhammer!
angel of ecstasy wrote:
d-usa wrote:Complain about it on Dakka.
This. Or torch his house. There's nothing in between.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I see what you mean now. And as for what you said about playing something besides 40k, that's how a lot of people at that FLGS feel.
I whlehertedly hate it when i have to put my bags away when i go into my local hobby town, i go there after school sometimes with all my valuable books/school supply and they want to hold it for me.
I can understand 7-11 doing it because it is literally next to a HS/MS but this is a nice store.
helium42 wrote:How is the store owner? If he is a reasonable and generally cool guy, I would lodge a complaint with him about how his employee is speaking to you. I would not stand for any of my employees treating a guest at my restaurant that way, nor would I put up with an employee elsewhere treating me or any other customer the same. If the store owner blows you off then I'd definitely not give any business to the store any more. I'd also probably block people on FB who constantly berate me over how I spend my hobby money.
The reason I didn't mention this is that I have the feeling that this employee is a friend or relative of the manager. How else could he continue to work there while acting so inappropriately? Unfortunately, this is how these things work. -.-
helium42 wrote:How is the store owner? If he is a reasonable and generally cool guy, I would lodge a complaint with him about how his employee is speaking to you. I would not stand for any of my employees treating a guest at my restaurant that way, nor would I put up with an employee elsewhere treating me or any other customer the same. If the store owner blows you off then I'd definitely not give any business to the store any more. I'd also probably block people on FB who constantly berate me over how I spend my hobby money.
The reason I didn't mention this is that I have the feeling that this employee is a friend or relative of the manager. How else could he continue to work there while acting so inappropriately? Unfortunately, this is how these things work. -.-
He's not a relative, and I guess you could call them friends, but the only reason he was hired is because he was coming into the store and managing to sell $200 worth of 40k stuff at a time. He's also the least professional person there, as he refuses to wear their uniform, and generally looks like he's homeless
G. Whitenbeard wrote:I think that there is a much longer backstory to this particular confrontation that the OP has not shared with us.
Ever had a problem with this employee/store/group of other players before?
No, there isn't. Most of the time he isn't there, because he LARPs quite a bit, and when he is there, I don't really talk to him. As for the rest of the group, I get along fairly well with them, and even help them paint when/if they ask me to.
G. Whitenbeard wrote:I think that there is a much longer backstory to this particular confrontation that the OP has not shared with us.
Ever had a problem with this employee/store/group of other players before?
No, there isn't. Most of the time he isn't there, because he LARPs quite a bit, and when he is there, I don't really talk to him. As for the rest of the group, I get along fairly well with them, and even help them paint when/if they ask me to.
G. Whitenbeard wrote:I think that there is a much longer backstory to this particular confrontation that the OP has not shared with us.
Ever had a problem with this employee/store/group of other players before?
I was thinking the same thing. So you have never become TFG who never really patronizes a store, or just sits and endlessly criticizes games and systems? If you've never provoked him, why would he say he's tired of your whining?
Also, ever stop to think that he may have had an epic bad day himself? Maybe was forced to work when he knew his mother was sick or something similar?
No one blows their top like this unless something triggered it...
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carmachu wrote:Play with your friends in each others basement and order all your needs online.
And this? Ignore this. People who actively want to stores to fail him will always find ways for them to do so.
carmachu wrote:Play with your friends in each others basement and order all your needs online.
And this? Ignore this. People who actively want to stores to fail him will always find ways for them to do so.
This is what I do, anyway. I only really go into the store when I'm already in the city it's in, happen to walk by, and think "Hey, I could get some Macragge Blue for my Alpha Legion" or something. It's cheaper to buy online, my friends are the only people I'm interested in playing with anyway, as well as the fact that games are infrequent in the store and that I'm fully capable of painting in the comfort of my own home.
Well you love in Cincy so I have to presume this is HobbyTown USA. Good news is that there are about 5 better stores all within driving distance.
Epic Loot is by Springbori and is a great store.
YottaQuest is in Mt Healthy and is more of a board game store, but has a great staff.
Art of War is in Anderson and has a fantastic game community.
LOL, sounds like the OP has a attitude problem with people who LARP.
Anyway, there are quite a few reasons why he could have snapped at you, from being chewed out by his boss, to derided by some of the customers. Perhaps it would be worthwhile talking straight to the manager of that store, accentuating the fact that this employee has actually done all those things.
Can't complain about the flags here in Killeen Texas. Great owner, great staff. Just held the league day, big events and prize auction. Also, the local group of players are great and diverse. Any time you walk I there are usually at least three different systems being played from 40k, whfb, wm/h, malicaux, and dystopian wars/ firestorm armada.
Lol he's a LARPer explains a ton he has a lot of pent up nerd rage and no social skills in real life. Tell the owner what happened to you and say you will no longer be spending money there period.
I quit going to my FLGS when they kept coming up and watching my games and saying "Quit playing this crappy game and switch to warmachine" over and over and over again. Then I let a "crap" slip one game at like 9 pm with 4 or 5 adults in the room and one of the employees told me to quit cursing or leave.
Luckily, we have 2 other stores in my area. The aforementioned one went under a year ago. Go figure.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:I was thinking the same thing. So you have never become TFG who never really patronizes a store, or just sits and endlessly criticizes games and systems? If you've never provoked him, why would he say he's tired of your whining?
Some people are just dicks. You don't always have to do anything to "provoke" someone into giving you gak, sometimes they just feel like being an ass to you. And sometimes these people get hired into jobs they shouldn't have.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Also, ever stop to think that he may have had an epic bad day himself? Maybe was forced to work when he knew his mother was sick or something similar?
Doctadeth wrote:LOL, sounds like the OP has a attitude problem with people who LARP.
Anyway, there are quite a few reasons why he could have snapped at you, from being chewed out by his boss, to derided by some of the customers. Perhaps it would be worthwhile talking straight to the manager of that store, accentuating the fact that this employee has actually done all those things.
Has anyone else had him be rude to them.
I don't have a problem with LARPers. While I personally can find better ways to spend my time, I don't have a problem with them or what they do. All I said was that he is supposed to be there to monitor the gaming days, but instead he neglects his duties and goes LARPing.
As for other people having problems, I'd imagine the people who had most of their models run over by his RC car aren't very happy either.
And I thought I got bad treatment at one of the stores in town!
The only thing that has ever made me leave was at a game store in Boston that I won't name at this time. The staff were incompetent but didn't really matter that much to me, but the gaming group was absolutely atrocious. People would ask for my army list, read it, tailor theirs specifically to beat it, then gloat when they won. The group was somewhere between exclusive and downright hostile. Someone I talked to today described it as such: "Everyone was being so macho, you'd think this was a gay bar and they were all trying to pick each other up" or something to that degree. I can't say I disagree with that statement!
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
I left my FLGS today because I was done with the tournament I played there today. After 3 rounds I was beat, so it was time to go home...
I laughed.
I left my FLGS because it was closing time at the shop.
Though I'm not sure if I can call it my friendly LOCAL game store, I go there so rarely that the clerk thought I was completely new to the hobby, was halfway through a starter game with him before I was able to get a word in edgewise and tell him I just haven't been able to get to the shop recently !
Doctadeth wrote:LOL, sounds like the OP has a attitude problem with people who LARP.
Anyway, there are quite a few reasons why he could have snapped at you, from being chewed out by his boss, to derided by some of the customers. Perhaps it would be worthwhile talking straight to the manager of that store, accentuating the fact that this employee has actually done all those things.
Has anyone else had him be rude to them.
I don't have a problem with LARPers. While I personally can find better ways to spend my time, I don't have a problem with them or what they do. All I said was that he is supposed to be there to monitor the gaming days, but instead he neglects his duties and goes LARPing.
As for other people having problems, I'd imagine the people who had most of their models run over by his RC car aren't very happy either.
Uh, wow, what can I actually say here that people will listen to in regards to LARPing..... If you KNOW he's going larping on his gaming days, that suggests very poor relationships with his boss, and also that he has other problems. I'd strongly suggest talking to his manager face to face or over the phone about his conduct to you.
What you are basing this on, I presume, is your own recent experience, and the RC car incident. Again, I'd say talk to the other gamers there, ask them about him and try and get some backup. I strongly suspect that there are related incidents that you aren't talking about to do with this.
My FLGS hired a manager who was a complete tool. One of those veteran gamers who thinks all the old versions of a game are always better.
When MageKnight was big, pushed D&D.
When Mechwarrior Clix was big, pushed the out of Print Battletech, Inner Sphere only, no clan mechs.
When D&D 3rd edition came out, ran weekly D&D 2nd edition campaign.
The store didn't carry OOP product. Half the regulars were driving 45 minutes to another gaming store to get D&D books and Battletech mechs to play in the campaign.
He also talked trash about 40K and didn't have time to paint or assemble a Warhammer Fantasy army, even though those two games were the bread and butter of the store.
carmachu wrote:Play with your friends in each others basement and order all your needs online.
And what if I can't play at home? I mean, I've got a table and a decent amount of terrain, but I don't have the space where I live now to actually utilize it. My friend has so little space we have to play in his carport (and it's winter right now, and freezing). My brothers place is really too small for gaming as well, and my other friend that plays lives about 2 hours away (and lives with room mates, who while being gamers, likely won't appreciate us taking over their terrain and table for the whole day).
Some people simply don't have any option but to play at a store. I know you like spouting off the virtues of at home gaming - and I agree with them, since I used to be an avid home gamer - some people simply can't.
I am not inclined to believe there is nothing more to this story than what we are told here.
People will not suddenly come out of the blue to tell you to quit whining, etc, especially when a customer (aka their income) is concerned. Something has to be up.
Ha. I like how people are blaiming the OP. Working in a customer facing roll i would never accept my staff acting like that, if it is true, no matter what the customer did. Got a problem with the way a customer is acting? Politly but clearly ask them to stop. They carry on? Ask your manager to deal with it and he can ban them if needs be, but never speek to them in that way or act like jerk.
I do have to say I have never found any mamber of staff in a GW store to be anything but helpfull and friendly. A little overbearing at times, yes, but never a jerk, and if there are any i'm sure that GW would do something if they were are told. To many people are worried about complaining incase they get somone in to trouble. Treating a customer with basic respect is not difficult, I have been doing it for longer than i care to remember, and with far more difficult customers than a few kids hopped up on sugar.
Steve steveson wrote:Ha. I like how people are blaiming the OP. Working in a customer facing roll i would never accept my staff acting like that, if it is true, no matter what the customer did. Got a problem with the way a customer is acting? Politly but clearly ask them to stop. They carry on? Ask your manager to deal with it and he can ban them if needs be, but never speek to them in that way or act like jerk.
As usual with this kind of thread we simply do not know the whole story.
Maybe the staff has already done all that, and this is a last resort. Maybe they haven't and they really have been jerks. Maybe the OP really is a whiny person and people got sick of him. Maybe he isn't and a great injustice has been done upon him.
Like I said, IF what the OP said they did is true then there is never any excuse no matter what the OP had done.
Treating a customer like that is not on no matter what they have done. The last resort is to ban someone from the store, not treating them like crap and being rude.
TBD wrote:I am not inclined to believe there is nothing more to this story than what we are told here.
People will not suddenly come out of the blue to tell you to quit whining, etc, especially when a customer (aka their income) is concerned. Something has to be up.
I agree, something doesn't quite smell right as far as that goes. That said, no matter how the OP was acting there's no excuse for store employees to treat him that way. If there were a problem with him they should have politely discussed them with him rather than being a jerk about it.
I can't say I've ever had a problem in any game store at all, apart from the usual annoying sales pitch on the rare occasion I wander into an actual GW store. My current gaming group was a bit less than cordial with me when I first showed up but they've since apologized for allowing themselves to be prejudiced by outlandship stereotypes of Americans.
The only store I've ever refused to purchase from is the one that is ridiculously close and convienent for me currently. The store owner screwed up multiple special orders (including stringing me along for almost a month on a preorder 40k codex before admitting he never bothered to order it) and berated me for playing a game at a table that was empty for 45 minutes while I waited for my delinquent opponent because it wasn't "minis" day (yet he never ever said a thing to card gamers who did the same during the minis day). This was after I organized the local 40k league for mini-campaign tournies (which collected money and gave out store credit as prizes), organized terrain days, and was the guy who promoted group orders through him. Now I game alot less frequently as the next store is 25 miles away but the owner is very nice, the terrain is great, and the atmosphere is the great. Thanks Treefort and screw you Heroes!
I've never left a FLGS willingly. Some have gone out of business - the level of competition in gaming stors here in St. Louis has to be seen to be believed! - but the majority of the stores I've left behind, I left behind because they stopped being FLGS'.
If you don't carry product I want, you won't become my FLGS in the first place. If you can't handle basic customer service, you won't get me to come back anymore!
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Well, to answer this troll for anti-FLGS sentiments...
I left my FLGS today because I was done with the tournament I played there today. After 3 rounds I was beat, so it was time to go home...
I'm not trolling, I actually support the other stores in the city. It's just that this had me so upset yesterday, because I have dropped at least $3k there in the last 8 or so months. If you're going to treat a customer that has dropped that much money in such a short time, don't expect them to return.
TBD wrote:I am not inclined to believe there is nothing more to this story than what we are told here.
People will not suddenly come out of the blue to tell you to quit whining, etc, especially when a customer (aka their income) is concerned. Something has to be up.
There is nothing more to this story. I have always been fairly nice to him, excluding the RC car incident. I only go there 1-2 days a week depending on my work schedule, and even then I have only seen him three times in the last two months because of how much he LARPs.
Informing the corporate office/owner is a good thing to do. No owner wants to hear about how thier employee or manager or whatever is treating customers poorly.
In this economy, it is all about keeping the existing customers you have, and hoping to occassionally get new ones. Certainly can not afford to lose any, except for extreme circumstances.
Starting about a year or so ago, my LGS was starting to do events to try and re-invigorate the Warhammer 40,000 scene. The events went alright for the most part; however, there were a few hiccups here and there that frustrated the individual who worked at the store that was making the effort for jump starting enthusiasm. With that being said, as time went on he became more and more unapproachable about 40K and began offering bargains on Privateer Press items as it was the game system he had moved to and wanted to build up more. Whenever anyone would be playing a game of 40K while he was working, he would come over and make off hand comments and such. Sometimes, he would make personal verbal attacks and say that he was just kidding. Eventually, he began to focus more and more on pointing out the flaws in the 40K gaming system or in someones modeling and/or painting. After some time with that, he lost interest for lack of a better term and became consumed with Heroclix.
Eventually, the product wall that contained Miniature Games became barren of just about everything but Heroclix. This really didn't bother me so much as I could still order items that I wanted but it was disheartening to see new players of any system other than Heroclix walk in and find the same product month after month and be forced to order if they wanted anything in particular. As time went on, the individual that was in charge of gaming began asking for payment up front for orders as the budget for miniature gaming was decreasing due to lack of purchases. This didn't really sit right with most customers as placing orders had never required payment, but they begrudgingly complied. About a month or two of this happening, instances of orders being placed in advance not showing up became an issue. Some individuals would ask for a model and after a month be informed that the model was never ordered. Even still, if you asked and did not have a receipt, you were told that without proof of the order there was nothing to be done.
As time has gone on, sales dropped even more and the atmosphere could be described as hostile at best. No new items are ordered unless paid for and the only events schedule by the store in terms of miniatures are Heroclix. The Warmahordes players have taken the initiative to start their own campaigns and tournaments and that has been alright for the most part. With respect to 40K, many of the players refuse to come to the store because of how they were treated and talked to. The few that still come to the store do so for the off game at the behest of the manager as he feels our presence is good advertising (and he misses our faces and jovial nature).
Overall it is extremely disappointing and now I have almost no desire to go to my store for gaming, shopping or anything for that matter and that is rather unfortunate. I just hope that the owner and manager see what this individual has done and make some effort to change things up. As a community we have spoken up and done what we can so now it is up to them to make the changes.
So it was a single employee who did that or the manager?
God i am so hapy we have our FLGS that has a strong community of almost everything(except wfb)
A good FLGS is like a girl who is up for anything, you gotta make sure you treat it right and it will continue to perform great.
Usually what stops me going to a FLGS regularly is that it is no longer "local" because I moved.
I still managed to find a way to get to it when I was in town though.
I stopped going to the local GW BB because one of the other stores closed, and the munchkins descended upon ours - all of the older vets left at that point, too.
I don't mind kids - if they can behave, NOT screech endlessly, ASK before touching stuff and put stuff away when they were done with it. Shame none of them could manage any of those.
baritowned wrote:Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
So this afternoon, I went to my usual FLGS (which is actually a chain hobby store that sells models, RC cars, and scale trains). As soon as I walk in, the employee that is supposed to oversee the designated miniature gaming days walks up to me and says "You need to quit being whiny, Kevin (the owner) is getting really annoyed by it". So I just ignored him, and continued to paint. Well, about 10 minutes later, he walks up to me again and asks if I want to play one last fifth edition game. I told him that I only had my WarmaHordes stuff with me, because I'm more or less done with 40k. He responded by saying "Okay, well you can just get the F*** out of the store". At that point, I was starting to get a bit agitated, as up to that point I was having a pretty good day. Then about 15 minutes go by, and one of the other guys there points out the Stormwall I was currently working on, saying that it's my $130 waste (I only really paid $80 for it), because I "never play, but will sit there and paint". After him going on some more about how PP's prices are crap compared to GW, I finally say "Okay, I get it, you message me on facebook all the time saying the exact same thing, I'm tired of hearing it!". At that point, the employee says "well, not everyone is a whiny rich piece-of-s*** like you". at that point, I just lost it and packed my paint and stormwall up, and left. As I was walking away, I heard the employee say "As long as he still buys from us, I don't give a s*** what he does".
Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated.
Have any of you ever had a similar experience that made you leave your FLGS? Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
Wow.
Never had an experience like this. Sounds like a store full of D bags, good riddence to !#@$tards. As to the chonebook, if they do that, Whats really going on in there?
A shining example of a FLGS, or a Den of the fabled Assclownasurous Rex?
In my 15 months or so war gaming, I have removed myself from 2 flgs communities. The first was mainly a comic store with warmahordes. They refused to carry GW and the community kinda scorned gw converts like myself. After a while of not feeling welcome I decided it wasn't worth the 45 min drive.
The second was closer. The paint bar here was Nonexhistant to say the least. I never really felt comfortable coming in and painting while waiting for a game cause I felt hidden in the back and couldn't socialize. If I wanted that I could have stayed home. Anyways they still had my patronage for a while. Even after one of the community members threatened me with violence. I put it past us and tried to forgive and forget. Then their first fantasy tournament happened. Before the final round I was in 5th place. The people in contention for 3rd were battling out. One of which was the community member mentioned above. After my massive victory, and receiving 5 battle points for being completely painted I was in contention for third. If either the 3rd or 4th player won, they'd take second and I'd drop to 4th. Game time ended but our to let them continue due to how close the spread was. A full hour after everyone elses games end it was clear the game was a draw. This was when the community member mentioned above tried to quickly withdraw after the end of bottom turn 6. The to ruled he wasn't allowed to because they forced people to wait around so long. I was a rather vocal proponent for this decision. 10 minutes after telling the TO it was a draw, he again tried to retroactively change the victory points. When it wouldn't fly, he just got louder (that's the kind of guy he is). Ultimately it ended with him threatening to kick my ass and the 2nd place winner. Right Infront of the owner. Prizes got given out. I left 30 min later without hearing a word from the owner. I came back a week later and sold my magic cards to the owner, redeemed my prize and made my last purchase. He never said a word to me even when i told him that im selling them because "I no longer feel like inhave a healthy environment to play in." The dude who did threaten me pulled me aside and apologized. I understood but instressed that it had been the third time since I've met him that he's done this. Second at this shop. I can't just forget.
He has begun patroning my current flg, who knows of the previous issues. Theyve assured me he has one chance. I've told them I'll be a patron until it no longer is a positive, healthy place for me to spend my time. And for the past 2 months or so it has been.
If a flgs isn't a positive, healthy place I don't need it in my life.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Well, to answer this troll for anti-FLGS sentiments...
Wow,
He gets treated badly by the staff and you call him a troll? seriously?
You're suck a LFGS suck up.
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-Loki- wrote:
Some people simply don't have any option but to play at a store. I know you like spouting off the virtues of at home gaming - and I agree with them, since I used to be an avid home gamer - some people simply can't.
And some people simply cant play at stores- in the US geography some places its over an hour just to FIND one. Thats not to say find a good one.
TBH, if you cant play at home and you dont have a store or cant find a good one....do what we did from 2004 to 2011ish- get together with a bunch of good folks, form a club, rent your own space.
CAN'T isnt exactly something you accept if you dont want to. You have options.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Well, to answer this troll for anti-FLGS sentiments...
Wow,
He gets treated badly by the staff and you call him a troll? seriously?
You're suck a LFGS suck up.
I think some people feel that the OP is not posting part of this story to try and get dakka to side with him over a matter that may or may not have been unprovoked or exaggerated or the dozen other things stories can be on the internet. We can't confirm anything anyone says.
One of my FLGSs made two warhammer players move all of their stuff to a different table during the middle of a tournament so the store owners could play pathfinder. The only two things that are really supported there are RPGs and Magic. Fortunately, the other FLGS is fantastic.
op, I'm sorry to hear that :( the guy sounds like a royal ass
me and a few mates have stopped going to our local GW as the owner has made a numder of decisions that pretty much made it impossible for any of use to play games there. we are now working on getting our own place and gaming there and also buying online as opposed to paying GW prices for crap customer service
cincydooley wrote:Well you love in Cincy so I have to presume this is HobbyTown USA. Good news is that there are about 5 better stores all within driving distance.
Epic Loot is by Springbori and is a great store.
My experiences with this particular store have been less than stellar.
The staff tends to be unfriendly, unhelpful and acts like you are bothering them even when you walk up to purchase something.
In addition a large part of the 40k community is so insular that even trying to play a game in the store is a chore. On the off chance that you do get one you'll generally have half a dozen people standing around the table telling you and your opponent everything you're doing wrong and pointing out the horrendous choices you've made with your army building skills.
baritowned wrote:Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
So this afternoon, I went to my usual FLGS (which is actually a chain hobby store that sells models, RC cars, and scale trains). As soon as I walk in, the employee that is supposed to oversee the designated miniature gaming days walks up to me and says "You need to quit being whiny, Kevin (the owner) is getting really annoyed by it". So I just ignored him, and continued to paint. Well, about 10 minutes later, he walks up to me again and asks if I want to play one last fifth edition game. I told him that I only had my WarmaHordes stuff with me, because I'm more or less done with 40k. He responded by saying "Okay, well you can just get the F*** out of the store". At that point, I was starting to get a bit agitated, as up to that point I was having a pretty good day. Then about 15 minutes go by, and one of the other guys there points out the Stormwall I was currently working on, saying that it's my $130 waste (I only really paid $80 for it), because I "never play, but will sit there and paint". After him going on some more about how PP's prices are crap compared to GW, I finally say "Okay, I get it, you message me on facebook all the time saying the exact same thing, I'm tired of hearing it!". At that point, the employee says "well, not everyone is a whiny rich piece-of-s*** like you". at that point, I just lost it and packed my paint and stormwall up, and left. As I was walking away, I heard the employee say "As long as he still buys from us, I don't give a s*** what he does".
Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated.
Have any of you ever had a similar experience that made you leave your FLGS? Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
Man, the nasty Natti! I know that place all too well!
Look, to be honest, I feel that if you were to stop going and spending your money their that would be a big enough action to take.You could waste your time writing an email to Hobbytown or whoever has control right now but why bother. Why sit down when $$$ speaks louder than an email? I am sorry that someone was a serious dillhole to you but I see a good bit of patience in your personality if this was unprovoked.
Exactly. We probably never will, and it's the internet. Thus, we have no choice but to trust his word. We can remain sceptical, sure, but calling him a troll is just unnecessary.
I hate to turn into a White Knight paragon of thread justice here (I posted a similar response in another thread), but people really shouldn't post if all they're going to do is deride the OP out of nothing but their own doubts. There's no evidence to support that his story is anything but true - therefore, there's no basis for responding so negatively. -.-
My reason for not leaving is simple not the LFGS, but the Community.
As for Store Owners and I have seen a lot, I’ve started to see a trend. At first they are friendly courteous and generally talkative for the first 3-4 years. Then they start to change, usually they get colder to all of the customers. I have seen some bad ones, but generally I cant say I’ve ran into a hostile one. The LFGS I am talking about a $2 use the table for the day policy that did actually did not bother me, after all I am using their AC and Space. That and occasionally if you bought a bunch of stuff they would not charge you the $2.
However the Local Gaming Community [at least the one at the LFGS] is Clickish. More than once I would go to their “Open Gaming Saturday” to just play. This would be great, but after two month and getting to play 2 or 3 games it was not worth it.
First there the Axis and Allies Group: Even though I had a large collection and came ready to play they could not break away form there sitting around and chatting for hours to actually play anything especially with someone else.
Then there was the 40k Community.
>I went there to try out my Terminators, now I had not played Terminators since 2nd edition and after asking a half dozen people I finally got an Eldar player to play. I told him mi just anted to play a simple little game so I can see how it works now in 4th. So I deploy my army in cover and put my two Terminator Squads in Reserve. He gets the first turn and uses some Eldar Power that denied me my Cover Saves and feeds me his entire army of AP3 weapons into my Marines, whipping me of the board off the table by the top of turn 2 before even get a chance to have my Terminators come in. when I asked him for a rematch he just replied “I don’t play armatures and he does not play for fun games” then packed up his stuff and walked away.
>The one that got to go “I’m Done” I get there at 1:00 and started try to get a game. Most had already started playing but one who had staked out a table. He said when I asked him if wanted to play a quick game he relied “Sorry, but I am waiting for a friend to show up”. Thinking maybe I could get at least and hour worth of gaming in asked so when is he supposed to be here. “About 5:00”. That’s when I just packed up and went home.
That was the last time I tried to play there. I still by single items here and there, but I found another about 20 miles farther away that give the 20% discount, so I go there for big orders or use the internet.
I think until we get a new store in the area I am done with game stores and am just going to keep playing at home.
Your first mistake is frequenting hobbytown for the clientel, those stores are chone havens, through and through. partly because of the "Kool Kidz" feel, and also partly because they are a bonified McDonalds of the gaming world. Your talking corperation assclowns at thier most stripped down version. I'll throw it out there that they can even give GW a run for thier money in the way they corperation package the "Hobby"."Hanging out" in a hobbytown is not very good, because of the inbreeding that the little skitz that do it in there, do.
Had one or two in my fair cities, not to the points of having inhouse painting and gaming all the time, but they had thier "Gayme Nights" so to speak. Was like walking into hostle and coming out a severed head. Yeah, I do agree with the other caller who said- get in touch with corperate head and report this.
Report this on the internet on thier website, as well. give them something to think about when they do it to the next guy, and it gets reported a few other times. THEN the "Secret Shoppers" come in and have a go.
Needless to say, Your gaming in an industrial mass production gaming company, so you get the good with the bad. Once again, I didn't always have bad experiences, just the ones and twos a few years back in the fair city of Richmond, VA. I'm sure it's changed now... really...
ME? I go to different stores, so I takes them and leaves them. My advice? Seriously to branch out and go look around your area. You seem to have some shiznit for stores theres, so I'd branch out and check them out.
and... hit up these steller corpses on chonebook, and the twit shpere for some extra love. Social Media loves stories like yours, they make good 6 O'clock news fun.
The only reason I went there is because it's the closest store to my house, and at the time they had fairly good deals on 40k stuff (a few examples being land raiders for $50, tac squads for $25, etc), but over the last few months, the "sales" on GW products have disappeared. Now all the kits are a dollar off, minus the metal blisters.
I actually haven't bought anything but paint there in almost two months...
And as for other stores, the closest one besides Hobbytown is almost half an hour away. While they do have a larger amount of players there, people mainly go there for Magic and 40k/WFB. Next to that, I'd have to drive almost an hour for another FLGS.
I think tomorrow after I get up, I might either call or drive over there to talk to the owner... If he is belligerent, then I'll take this to their corporate site.
Also, yesterday I had a talk with the guy that was messaging me over facebook. Apparently he is extremely jealous that I have a job and can buy my own stuff, instead of mooching off my parents like him.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Well, to answer this troll for anti-FLGS sentiments...
Wow,
He gets treated badly by the staff and you call him a troll? seriously?
You're suck a LFGS suck up.
carmachu, are we going to have this discussion again?
The people aren't complaining about FRIENDLY LGS. They are complaining about disticntly UNfreindly LGS.
Okay, most of them haven't been terribly precise in their use of 'FLGS' and 'LGS'. But it's pretty clear from the context that many of the stores complained about haven't earned - or lost somewhere along the way - the right to be called 'Friendly'.
Someday you will find a FLGS, as opposed to the bad LGS that have been your experience. When you do, you will see the difference.
I've never had a problem with a hobbytown. That said...I've only been to one, and it is really nice. They price below retail and have sales as well as a redonculously huge selection of everything. Their game night is nice, two game rooms. On the same day they have RC races.
I've never had a problem with a hobbytown. That said...I've only been to one, and it is really nice. They price below retail and have sales as well as a redonculously huge selection of everything. Their game night is nice, two game rooms. On the same day they have RC races.
baritowned wrote:
And as for other stores, the closest one besides Hobbytown is almost half an hour away. While they do have a larger amount of players there, people mainly go there for Magic and 40k/WFB.
A full half hour? Awe you poor baby.
Half hour is the minimum distance for me to go to. The closest I won't go to anymore from the story I posted before was 25 minutes without traffic. My current is 35 minutes if I295 S is not backed up. The other 3 options I have are 45 min away with a anti gw community. Or I can go an hour and cross a bridge with a toll for showcase comics. Or deal with the AC expressway for an hour and 15 (if I'm lucky and not going when everyone tries to go to the shore... So more in the summer).
I know people who drive 45 min and cross a bridge to come to a flgs. A good flgs is worth a long drive or even a toll.
I've never had a problem with a hobbytown. That said...I've only been to one, and it is really nice. They price below retail and have sales as well as a redonculously huge selection of everything. Their game night is nice, two game rooms. On the same day they have RC races.
Maybe best not to stereotype stores?
Good on you. but my post stands.
and as the rest of my post already said, YMMV.
...
Those words have no value. All they do is give you something to fall back on when someone disagrees with you. You give them no value, because you offer nothing to back up an alternative to "all hobbytowns suck".
Also, nice edit.
Ultimately, I have my opinion and you have yours. And there is absolutely nothing that is going to change that. You can get the last word in though, I'm okay with that.
For me, it was lack of gaming tables and how rude one of the employees was.
Think the straw that broke the camels back was when I asked the dude behind the counter what they had in consignment for Space Wolves...showed me some scouts and a rune priest, I said "Eh, I have all the scouts and rune priests I think I need"...he responded "WELL, I GUESS YOU JUST HAVE EVERYTHING THEN!!!" and stormed off. It was kind of funny, but kind of rude.
my GW store, if nothing else, has great customer service and the manager is nice. I've never seen him be rude and seems like he likes to be there, same can't be said of many hobby store employees making minimum wage and such.
I've been pretty well treated by the Chicago FLGS "Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo". Still, I recently stopped going there often, for a few reasons.
1) Being all the way across town, -a 40 minute drive in the evening- they're not as "local" as I'd like. I had more impetus to drive there when my friend lived nearby, but since he moved, there's not much reason to go.
2) They have a very limited selection of figs outside of GW and PP. I always try to buy at least something from the used bin or dice, or a reaper fig when I game there, but the selection just isn't meant for the kind of gaming that I do.
3) They only have about a 50-70% success rate with special orders for our club members. I realize we don't order common stuff, but it's all been in their distributor catalog, and as a club we agreed that they don't seem to make much of an effort on our special orders. We wanted to give them our support, but it didn't seem like they were well equipped for it.
4)Specific Game nights. Due to a members schedule, our club had to change the night we game on and it ended up on their "Board Game Night". We were told that if we took a table (they have about 20+) we'd have to give it up for any board gamer who showed up. Understandable, and they do have well attended minis wargaming nights but not on a night that works for us.
Sum it up, we all really feel that there is great value in supporting your local FLGS and have always wanted to do our part by shopping and gaming there. We really tried, but it didn't work for us. I still highly recommend the shop to players who are in the area as they really are a friendly bunch of folks. The shop is doing very good, and we wish them well, but it just didn't meet our needs.
We now are back to happily playing at club members houses, and doing most of our buying online, at conventions and occasionally at the extremely well stocked "Games Plus" which is about 45 minutes outside the city.
There were two local gaming shops.
The first 5 minutes away, with the better gaming setup.
The second, disorganized, but offering a 20% discount.
I wanted to patronize the closer of the two, and usually bought models there, but buying an entire army at one time I wanted a discount.
Me: Hey, I want to buy an enitre army, can I get a discount ? <hands him army shopping list>
Him: I have about 3 of those items. I can ring up the entire army now, and they'll get ordered when I meet a $500 (wholesale) minimum order. Shouldn't take more than a week or two to rder them and they'll be in the next week or two after that.
Me: Discount ?
Him: No, we don't do discounts. If we did we would have to sell twice as much to make the same money. Will that be cash or credit ?
Me: What ?
Him: Do you want to pay for it with cash or credit ? We don't accept Mastercard or Discover.
Me: So let me get this straight. You want me to pay now, full retail, plus sales tax, so in a week or two you can order my army that will show up a week or two later?
Him: <nods and looks confused>
Me: You realise that I can drive to <other shop> and get most of this stuff for 20% off tonight ?
Him: They can sell it that cheap if they want, but they would have to sell twice as much product to make money.
Me: He would be making significantly more profit than you.
Him: How could he ? He'd have to sell TWICE AS MUCH !!
Me: You're about to sell me NOTHING, and he's going to sell me everything he has off my list.
Him: You don't have to be a jerk about it.
Me: I'm not being a jerk. That's a lot of stuff I want and 20% is worth a 30 minute drive.
Him: <getting angry> Then why did you even bother me ?
Me: I figured you would give me 20% off and I wouldn't have to drive. Plus your my local store and I wanted to give you the buissiness.
Him: If you wanted to give me the buissiness then why would you go there ?
Me: To save 20%
Him: We don't do discounts. We'd have to sell twice as much product to make up the difference.
Me: So you would rather make ZERO profit than 20% less profit on a $300+ sale ?
Him: That's it. I'm done talking to you. <walks away>
I went home and ordered the entire army online and had it the next week.
Valhallan42nd wrote:Point the first: LARP is awesome, and y'all can take a flying fornication at a rolling fried confection if you can't understand that.
Regardless of what you think about toy soldiers vs beating people with sticks, this is how most people see us anyway:
You are my hero.
I never practiced LARP (except for some Vampire, wich i dont liked), but it is more due to lack of interested community...
About the OP: man, contact the store owner/manager. And dont ever place a foot on that store again... Or better, got a new interest for 40k, order your things all online, and start to apear for games day with only shine new things you never bought on that store.
I i dont know, in USA, but in my country public harassment is a crime...
gunslingerpro wrote:I am rather shocked by this series of events, to be honest.
So the employee truly said these things to you unprovoked?
Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
A couple of things in your story just don't add up, and it would be nice to hear from the other side to get clearer picture of things.
First you say that after dropping a few thousand dollars over a short course of time, you are told out of the blue, and for no good reason, that you are a whiner, and then get harrassed and sworn at to the point you leave the store.
The statement that really gets me is the one where this guy runs the RC car all over people's armies as they are in the middle of their games.
Did no one complain to the owner about this? There is a lot missing in your story, because in any FLGS I know of, this wouldn't fly and the employee would have been long ago fired after a stunt like that.
I've run into my share of socially slowed game store employees and customers, but this story, as you tell it, seems definitely to be missing some aspects.
adamsouza wrote:There were two local gaming shops.
The first 5 minutes away, with the better gaming setup.
The second, disorganized, but offering a 20% discount.
I wanted to patronize the closer of the two, and usually bought models there, but buying an entire army at one time I wanted a discount.
Me: Hey, I want to buy an enitre army, can I get a discount ? <hands him army shopping list>
Him: I have about 3 of those items. I can ring up the entire army now, and they'll get ordered when I meet a $500 (wholesale) minimum order. Shouldn't take more than a week or two to rder them and they'll be in the next week or two after that.
Me: Discount ?
Him: No, we don't do discounts. If we did we would have to sell twice as much to make the same money. Will that be cash or credit ?
Me: What ?
Him: Do you want to pay for it with cash or credit ? We don't accept Mastercard or Discover.
Me: So let me get this straight. You want me to pay now, full retail, plus sales tax, so in a week or two you can order my army that will show up a week or two later?
Him: <nods and looks confused>
Me: You realise that I can drive to <other shop> and get most of this stuff for 20% off tonight ?
Him: They can sell it that cheap if they want, but they would have to sell twice as much product to make money.
Me: He would be making significantly more profit than you.
Him: How could he ? He'd have to sell TWICE AS MUCH !!
Me: You're about to sell me NOTHING, and he's going to sell me everything he has off my list.
Him: You don't have to be a jerk about it.
Me: I'm not being a jerk. That's a lot of stuff I want and 20% is worth a 30 minute drive.
Him: <getting angry> Then why did you even bother me ?
Me: I figured you would give me 20% off and I wouldn't have to drive. Plus your my local store and I wanted to give you the buissiness.
Him: If you wanted to give me the buissiness then why would you go there ?
Me: To save 20%
Him: We don't do discounts. We'd have to sell twice as much product to make up the difference.
Me: So you would rather make ZERO profit than 20% less profit on a $300+ sale ?
Him: That's it. I'm done talking to you. <walks away>
I went home and ordered the entire army online and had it the next week.
And I assume this store with the better gaming setup is the one you play in? Someone needs to educate you on the finer points of haggling, my friend. You don't walk into a car dealership and while the papers are being drawn up ask "discount?" For a moment there it sounds like its the only word in your vocabulary. A discount is not an obligation of any business to offer. My guess is that you have never worked retail before.
Why is the 20% discount seen as a right, rather than a privilege?
adamsouza wrote:There were two local gaming shops.
The first 5 minutes away, with the better gaming setup.
The second, disorganized, but offering a 20% discount.
I wanted to patronize the closer of the two, and usually bought models there, but buying an entire army at one time I wanted a discount.
Me: Hey, I want to buy an enitre army, can I get a discount ? <hands him army shopping list>
Him: I have about 3 of those items. I can ring up the entire army now, and they'll get ordered when I meet a $500 (wholesale) minimum order. Shouldn't take more than a week or two to rder them and they'll be in the next week or two after that.
Me: Discount ?
Him: No, we don't do discounts. If we did we would have to sell twice as much to make the same money. Will that be cash or credit ?
Me: What ?
Him: Do you want to pay for it with cash or credit ? We don't accept Mastercard or Discover.
Me: So let me get this straight. You want me to pay now, full retail, plus sales tax, so in a week or two you can order my army that will show up a week or two later?
Him: <nods and looks confused>
Me: You realise that I can drive to <other shop> and get most of this stuff for 20% off tonight ?
Him: They can sell it that cheap if they want, but they would have to sell twice as much product to make money.
Me: He would be making significantly more profit than you.
Him: How could he ? He'd have to sell TWICE AS MUCH !!
Me: You're about to sell me NOTHING, and he's going to sell me everything he has off my list.
Him: You don't have to be a jerk about it.
Me: I'm not being a jerk. That's a lot of stuff I want and 20% is worth a 30 minute drive.
Him: <getting angry> Then why did you even bother me ?
Me: I figured you would give me 20% off and I wouldn't have to drive. Plus your my local store and I wanted to give you the buissiness.
Him: If you wanted to give me the buissiness then why would you go there ?
Me: To save 20%
Him: We don't do discounts. We'd have to sell twice as much product to make up the difference.
Me: So you would rather make ZERO profit than 20% less profit on a $300+ sale ?
Him: That's it. I'm done talking to you. <walks away>
I went home and ordered the entire army online and had it the next week.
And I assume this store with the better gaming setup is the one you play in? Someone needs to educate you on the finer points of haggling, my friend. You don't walk into a car dealership and while the papers are being drawn up ask "discount?" For a moment there it sounds like its the only word in your vocabulary. A discount is not an obligation of any business to offer. My guess is that you have never worked retail before.
Why is the 20% discount seen as a right, rather than a privilege?
Wait what, I did just that when I bought my last car. 3800$ cheeper I signed the paper, people seem to forget USA is a barter based system, I know a 70+ old lady that haggles for her grocery still, no coupons just haggles until the say yes. It his RIGHT to pay what he fells is fair or to not buy at all, which he did. Plus 20% less is still more then 0% total, and the store dosen't seem to know how buisness work. You dodn't need to sell twice as much to make there money back, they pay 10$ for the model, then sell it for 20$ (yes model have only a 100% make up on average). They give 20% off and sell if for 18$ a loss of 2$ out of 10$.
I have worked retail. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail is just that, a suggestion. My experience in retail was that we would concede and give the customer a discount if they asked for it and they were buying any significant amount, usually 20% off.
If he told me he couldn't afford to give me discount, I would have dropped it at that. He didn't. He basically kept insisting that offering ANY discount was stupid since he would have to sell "twice as much" top make up the profit margin, and then got pissy with me while I remained polite
On a related note EVERY other Local Gaming Store,. at the time, within 50 miles would give you a discount as long as you purchased a certain minimum amount..
I would say the flaw on the script was the delivery. Blurting out "discount?" may not have been a strategic move...
And I ask again, why does everyone believe that a discount is required for any dealer? Ever think some of these guys would like to be able to pay for the place that you loiter in? Discounts are a reward, and they are on the owner to offer. If you know how to haggle, you might be able to deal, but seriously, stop whining because you can't arm-wrestle a discount out of someone. Be happy that they are open and willing to order your stuff. We all know its expensive, its like pointing out the weather, everyone knows it.
adamsouza wrote:There were two local gaming shops.
The first 5 minutes away, with the better gaming setup.
The second, disorganized, but offering a 20% discount.
I wanted to patronize the closer of the two, and usually bought models there, but buying an entire army at one time I wanted a discount.
Me: Hey, I want to buy an enitre army, can I get a discount ? <hands him army shopping list>
Him: I have about 3 of those items. I can ring up the entire army now, and they'll get ordered when I meet a $500 (wholesale) minimum order. Shouldn't take more than a week or two to rder them and they'll be in the next week or two after that.
Me: Discount ?
Him: No, we don't do discounts. If we did we would have to sell twice as much to make the same money. Will that be cash or credit ?
Me: What ?
Him: Do you want to pay for it with cash or credit ? We don't accept Mastercard or Discover.
Me: So let me get this straight. You want me to pay now, full retail, plus sales tax, so in a week or two you can order my army that will show up a week or two later?
Him: <nods and looks confused>
Me: You realise that I can drive to <other shop> and get most of this stuff for 20% off tonight ?
Him: They can sell it that cheap if they want, but they would have to sell twice as much product to make money.
Me: He would be making significantly more profit than you.
Him: How could he ? He'd have to sell TWICE AS MUCH !!
Me: You're about to sell me NOTHING, and he's going to sell me everything he has off my list.
Him: You don't have to be a jerk about it.
Me: I'm not being a jerk. That's a lot of stuff I want and 20% is worth a 30 minute drive.
Him: <getting angry> Then why did you even bother me ?
Me: I figured you would give me 20% off and I wouldn't have to drive. Plus your my local store and I wanted to give you the buissiness.
Him: If you wanted to give me the buissiness then why would you go there ?
Me: To save 20%
Him: We don't do discounts. We'd have to sell twice as much product to make up the difference.
Me: So you would rather make ZERO profit than 20% less profit on a $300+ sale ?
Him: That's it. I'm done talking to you. <walks away>
I went home and ordered the entire army online and had it the next week.
Economics is so hard to understand sometimes... I'm not entirely sure how he thought he'd have to move as much product to make up the difference, or if he even understands the profit he is already making on GW stuff.
A few things:
1) No company ever sells their own employees their own product at a loss, unless their profit is capable of covering that loss by quite a bit. GW sells it's models at 50% off to employees, and though I'm sure their profits could cover if it were a loss, the fact that GW really likes money makes that hard to believe. Furthermore, every single website that carries GW products sells them for at least 10% off, and I know for a fact they do not sell those at a loss.
2) Selling $500 worth of stuff at 20% discount is $400. Saying he'd have to sell twice as much product is ridiculous, unless the upkeep on the business is expensive.
3) Like GW, they could sell more at a cheaper price, and cover the profit that way.
Really, the guy sounds like he has the exact same mindset as Games-Workshop currently does, basically ignoring basic economics in favor or maintaining status quo.
Anyway, on topic, there are two FLGSs that I have been to. First, Game Parlor, seems pretty much. The staff is usually helpful, though a couple guys are a tad lax in their customer service-ness. They do have a loyalty program, though, which is how I got my 6th ed rulebook for $65 instead of $75.. The second I have only been to once, Hobby Works, and that place is pretty fly because if you play a game there, they give you 20% off of whatever army you played with (I think).
There's a GW in my local mall. Since I now work at said mall, it's really convenient, except for the whole "full price" and "they probably think I'm an idiot" things. Long story short, as my friend and I were leaving GW after playing half of a game, instead of saying "take it easy" or "take care" I simply yelled TAKE IT!"
I've never had a problem with a hobbytown. That said...I've only been to one, and it is really nice. They price below retail and have sales as well as a redonculously huge selection of everything. Their game night is nice, two game rooms. On the same day they have RC races.
Maybe best not to stereotype stores?
Actually, the only really negative experience I've ever had at an LGS was a Hobbytown.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:I would say the flaw on the script was the delivery. Blurting out "discount?" may not have been a strategic move...
And I ask again, why does everyone believe that a discount is required for any dealer? Ever think some of these guys would like to be able to pay for the place that you loiter in? Discounts are a reward, and they are on the owner to offer. If you know how to haggle, you might be able to deal, but seriously, stop whining because you can't arm-wrestle a discount out of someone. Be happy that they are open and willing to order your stuff. We all know its expensive, its like pointing out the weather, everyone knows it.
I understand your having a knee jerk reaction to my post, but your starting to piss me off with your assumptions about me.
It wasn't the lack of a discount, but his idiotic logic and childish behavior that followed that upset me.
Customer service is important. I've gladly payed full retail on weekly basis when the staff was friendly and made me feel I was more than a mark to be separated from my hard earned cash.
Being competitive is also important in retail. When your the only place in town, you control the market. When your one of three and the other two offer better service and a discount, you shouldn't get your panties in a bunch when people start to expect similar service and pricing.
adamsouza wrote:There were two local gaming shops.
rant that he didn't get a discount
Economics is so hard to understand sometimes... I'm not entirely sure how he thought he'd have to move as much product to make up the difference, or if he even understands the profit he is already making on GW stuff.
Here's the short of it:
Independent stores buy GW product at about 40% off retail*
So they buy X product for $60 and can sell it to you for the retail price of $100, making $40 profit.
If they sell it to you for 20% off retail, thats $80 and they make $20 profit.
Thus, they need to sell twice as much to keep the same profit levels if they do a 20% discount.
Similarly, a 10% discount must translate into 33% increased sales, a 15% discount into 60% increased sales...
For a small store this is often not an option, as they simply don't have the potential customer base to support this. In addition, handling twice as much stock as before incurs additional overheads in staff time, storage and shelving space, meaning you need to *at least double* your sales volume in order to just break even from giving a 20% discount.
Some stores make this work. Some don't, because they think they're doing well with 50% increased traffic when they really need 100%. Some try a 10% discount and it doesn't work, but a 20% discount does.
However it seems to me that demanding a 20% discount and being angry when he doesn't give you one is a bit childish. What happens if the (theoretical) customer behind you sees that this behaviour pays off, and asks for a discount?
* someone feel free to correct me if this number is off. it might be 50%...
For me, the thing that made me leave my FLGS is that it is badly managed. The people are friendly, but the store is just lacking in so many ways (decor, gaming tables, stock levels, community events, stock range) that I know it is going to go down within the next few months and I don't want to assist in prolonging the inevitable for them. It might seem harsh, but other than being nice people, they do nothing to garner my loyalty and buying anything from the store is just painful compared to the online experience - its always more expensive and nearly always slower due to never having anything in stock.
However, according to you, the place with all the discounts is "disorganized" and the place that is closer with a better gaming area does not offer discounts. So, where does ot sound like you spend more time? And you are arguing with a clerk in a store because you blurt out discount and he says no? Ever think he may not have the ability to discount merchandise? Maybe he wasn't given a script to counter people going "discount?", so he had to make it up on the spot?
You want a discount? Be a good customer who is known by name to the owner to be a good customer. As I have said before, discounts are not an obligation. Don't demean amd embarass a person trying to work because he may or may not be able to discount something.
If the discount was so important, why did you not go to the disorganized store across town?
carmachu wrote:TBH, if you cant play at home and you dont have a store or cant find a good one....do what we did from 2004 to 2011ish- get together with a bunch of good folks, form a club, rent your own space.
Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
carmachu wrote:CAN'T isnt exactly something you accept if you dont want to. You have options.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:You want a discount? Be a good customer who is known by name to the owner to be a good customer. As I have said before, discounts are not an obligation. Don't demean amd embarass a person trying to work because he may or may not be able to discount something.
If the discount was so important, why did you not go to the disorganized store across town?
He alredy said it: because he liked the store. But not the point of spending 20% more on a big purchase, who would arrive at double the time.
And meanwhile, if you want a discount, you can be a "good costumer", or you go to the other store who sell things at 20% discount. It is not an obligation of the costumer to keep the business working.
He was a good costumer, he was a GREAT costumer indeed. Instead of just going online and buying his stuff at discount, he gone the store and asked to the owner for the discount, instead of giving nothing to the store, he choose to tell he get a better place to buy, but he wanted to buy with them if they covered the propose...
The owner used a bad excuse, and offered a bad service, and instead of "lose" half his profit and keep a good client, he choose to lose the client and all the profit. Man, he could have offered 10% discount, and some minor extra (a free pot of paint, or cheap brush), and it would probably have sold it (i think so at least).
Valhallan42nd wrote:Point the first: LARP is awesome, and y'all can take a flying fornication at a rolling fried confection if you can't understand that.
Regardless of what you think about toy soldiers vs beating people with sticks, this is how most people see us anyway:
You are my hero.
I never practiced LARP (except for some Vampire, wich i dont liked), but it is more due to lack of interested community...
About the OP: man, contact the store owner/manager. And dont ever place a foot on that store again... Or better, got a new interest for 40k, order your things all online, and start to apear for games day with only shine new things you never bought on that store.
I i dont know, in USA, but in my country public harassment is a crime...
baritowned wrote:Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
See, you do sound a teeny bit whiny...
baritowned wrote: Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated
And a bit more...
baritowned wrote:Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
Ok I agree with Kevin.
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Frozen Ocean wrote: There's no basis for responding so negatively. -.-
There is when a bloke makes such a ridiculously bigoted and rude statement as shown above.
GW employ 10,000 people but 99% of them are scum bags because a kid who has been accused of being whiny says so?
feth me.. you dont think maybe that is a good piece of logic to lead people to the conclusion that maybe the OP is the one with the bloody attitude problem!?
Scott-S6 wrote:Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
A lot of people have the assumption that the USA is a barter based system. This is simply incorrect. The vast majority of retailers have prices set in stone with no control over those prices whatsoever. The amount of control each retailer has varies by retailer. Mom and Pop Stores usually have more lee-way with their product, but are still under no obligation to discount product, but the vast majority of corporation run stores have zero control. Sure, it may well be within someone's ABILITY to give discounted product, but usually their jobs are forfeit if they do, and people get fired for this stuff all the time.
Side note: Car dealerships are often used as a 'but I bartered' example, but the fact is, you didn't. You can think you did, but the 'barter' prices are built into the sticker cost of the car and are designed to be removed by the salesman to meet the individual 'needs' of the customer, so like it or not you're still paying what the dealership wants you to pay. This is a simple fact.
I worked at GameStop for many moons. The product prices are set. You (as an employee) can't even use your own Power Up Rewards card to give others a 10% discount on used games/stuff. They find out you're doing that, you're gone. It works the same EVERYWHERE else I've worked. For the little old lady haggling for groceries example, I can promise you that if the fact that the store manager was giving her regular discounted goods ever came to a higher ups attention, at the very least that manager would be given a negative review, which in turn negatively impacts his/her career. Why would you expect someone to put their own jobs in limbo just so you don't have to pay retail? That makes no sense, and is incredibly selfish of you to recommend that they do.
Scott-S6 wrote:Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
A lot of people have the assumption that the USA is a barter based system.
I've no idea why you thought I was talking about bartering...
Scott-S6 wrote:
carmachu wrote:TBH, if you cant play at home and you dont have a store or cant find a good one....do what we did from 2004 to 2011ish- get together with a bunch of good folks, form a club, rent your own space.
Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
carmachu wrote:TBH, if you cant play at home and you dont have a store or cant find a good one....do what we did from 2004 to 2011ish- get together with a bunch of good folks, form a club, rent your own space.
Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
I wont lie. It is not easy. It takes work and dedication. We shopped around for space, and found a nice little place with 2 rooms and a storage area for bits and stuff. Nice landlady of the building actually had a kid who played D&D and knew what we were using the space for. We set up as a non-profit and had a pres thru secretary.
But if you dont put the time and effort in, it will fail. The next generation that took over eventually didnt put in the effort and it closed down. Its not impossible, but its not easy by any regards either.
And I ask again, why does everyone believe that a discount is required for any dealer?.
I don't think anyone mentioned anything about a requirement at all. I just bought a motorcycle. They had a price and I offered less. They accepted and I saved $650. They were not required to do that just as I wasn't required to actually buy the motorcycle. We both have the freedom to do as we please. Now having said that if I was going to buy an entire army at once, say for around $500 or maybe even more, and a store owner didn't offer me a discount I would go and buy it somewhere else. Simple as that. I don't mind paying full price on something here and there but if I am spending a lot of money I will spend it where it gets me the most for my money (especially if I am going to have to wait a month to get my items!).
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godswildcard wrote:
Scott-S6 wrote:Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
A lot of people have the assumption that the USA is a barter based system. This is simply incorrect. The vast majority of retailers have prices set in stone with no control over those prices whatsoever. .
Sorry you are incorrect. Having worked in retail for waaaaayyyyyy too long I can assure you that any store manage can and will discount an item for a customer if pushed hard enough or in the correct manner.
Scott-S6 wrote:Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
A lot of people have the assumption that the USA is a barter based system.
I've no idea why you thought I was talking about bartering...
Scott-S6 wrote:
carmachu wrote:TBH, if you cant play at home and you dont have a store or cant find a good one....do what we did from 2004 to 2011ish- get together with a bunch of good folks, form a club, rent your own space.
Whenever I suggest that to someone in the states they tell me that it's impossible over there....
Whoops! My mistake then! I think was reading and got mixed up! Apologies!
@Brettz
I've also worked retail for quite some time. Ability is not the question, legitimacy is. Of course a manager has the ability to go in and change a price. All POS systems are set to allow this for unique situations that occur (such as a gift certificate or coupon that should work not working, items that have been opened/damaged in the store, etc...). I'm not even saying that certain situations like that aren't up to the manager's discrection. What I'm saying is that its an illegitimate practice to change a company established price simply because a customer wants you to. Thats why when District or Regional managers discover things like this occuring, they fire the managers that practice this. Customer service issues are one thing, while giving discounts out for no reason are quite another. I have been a store manager in multiple retail locations, and this is how it works in all of them.
I'd also like to point out that walking into a retail store and demanding a discount until the manager either gives it to you or calls security is, while technically haggling, a pretty lousy thing to do.
bar·ter
[bahr-ter]
verb (used without object)
1.
to trade by exchange of commodities rather than by the use of money.
But hey, don't take my word for it. If you think its a barter-based system, go take a goat into the mall and try and trade it for some jeans at Belk. Let me know how that turns out for you!
SoloFalcon1138 wrote: However, according to you, the place with all the discounts is "disorganized" and the place that is closer with a better gaming area does not offer discounts. So, where does ot sound like you spend more time?
The one that didn't offer a discount was 5 minutes away from my house. Distance was the key reason I went there.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote: And you are arguing with a clerk in a store because you blurt out discount and he says no?
I had a discussion with the Store Owner, not a clerk.
I asked if he would give a a discount for buying a whole army at one time. He ignored my question and attempted to ring up an entire army worth of models.
He didn't have most of it in stock, or even my consent to do so.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
Ever think he may not have the ability to discount merchandise? Maybe he wasn't given a script to counter people going "discount?", so he had to make it up on the spot?
That thought never crossed my mind. The whole previous history of items going on sale kind of lulled me into a false sense of security where the store owner could sell items at a discount.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
You want a discount?
Yes. I thought that was completely obvious right after the point where I asked nicely for one.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
Be a good customer who is known by name to the owner to be a good customer.
I know the guys wife and kid, and frequented the store on a weekly basis. I also dropped thousands of dollars there between 40K, Heroclix, D&D Miniatures, Mechwarrior, Superfigs, Reaper Miniatures, Paint, Modelling accessories, snacks, board games, Battletech, RPG books, etc....
Don't confuse me with some petulant child blindly walking into a place and demanding a discount.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
As I have said before, discounts are not an obligation.
They often a good business practice, like customer service, both of which were absent on this occasion.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
Don't demean amd embarass a person trying to work because he may or may not be able to discount something.
Don't attempt to demean amd embarass me for something you're only imagining I did..
SoloFalcon1138 wrote: If the discount was so important, why did you not go to the disorganized store across town?
It was across town. Going to the local establishment first seemed logical.
If I go to ANY business and make a reasonable request and they get gakky with me because I had the audacity to ask for something, THEY are in the wrong, not me.
I work in a customer service related field. It's just not done that way. If you want to stay employed and in business you do not alienate your customer base.
I understand he didn't agree with me, but even as a customer, I was not rude or belligerent and he was.
On the whole discount or not, I don't think the owner's point of view is being completely understood.
At a FLGS, the owner has complete discretion about what kind of deals he makes. While his logic was pretty weak in failing to recognize that half profit is better than no profit, remember that there's also 'customer expectations' to think about.
The owner may decide that giving you the discount is not worth it because other customers will want a similar discount. He may not want to hassle with having to deny other folks a discount, especially if they ask him
"why can't I have a discount when that other guy did?".
You might say "it's just between us" but let's be realistic, word gets around.
Further, if he sets a policy that sales over $xx.xx dollars get a discount, he may have to extend that discount to all the gamers who presently buy armies and don't expect a discount.
If I was the FLGS owner, I would probably have cut you the deal. However, it's not hard to see why an owner would not like to create the environment where a discount (even for bulk purchase) becomes a customer expectation.
Just personal opinion after reading your story dude, I think both of you were in the wrong.
You asking for a discount (granted for a large order) does make you bit of a jerk in this case, tis a bit like going into Burger King and asking for a discount because you've just brought 50 super-sized Whopper meals. Perhaps if you had presented say a voucher that gave you a discount then perhaps there wouldn't have been an issue, over here in Britland we usually have to produce something like a student union card for example to get a discount in some of the LGS.
As for the store owner himself, this attitude and trying to ring up the order before saying half the stuff wasn't in stock really takes the biscuit. He should've just said "I'm sorry but I don't do discounts here, plus I'm going to have to order in half this stuff on next week's delivery. Do you still want to place the order?" Thats customer service, but at the end of the day he still holds the right to refuse service.
I don't see anything wrong with asking for a deal if the intention is to place a rather large purchase like an entire army. The exact wording of the request and tactfulness of the buyer goes a long way in those requests though. You can easily get denied if you don't approach it just right.
I don't play in stores. My group plays in each others homes. However, if I want to browse, or pick up a birthday gift for someone, I have two nearby that I can choose from. Neither are GW stores, just FLGS that carry GW games + some other stuff.
The one closest to me has a big range of products and offers 10% off and will order anything I want, also 10% off. The guy is knowledgible, enjoys the hobby, and has a nice store with good terrain and friendly patrons.
The other store doesn't offer any discount, but 10% really just offsets tax, so it's not a major selling point. However, the store is cramped, I've been there twice when they had no Air Conditioning running (Houston Texas in the summer is freaking hot, guys), and the owner didn't know anything about 40k, and wasn't willing to order anything for me. To top it off, a few of the patrons kept staring at my GF's chest the whole time. She was about to ask for the car key so she could go wait in the car when I had decided to just leave in frustration.
The first store I still visit from time to time. I've picked up paints, birthday presents, and a few impulse buys. I have no plans to return to the second store.
At my FLGS they have set up a custumer loyalty price and i joined a warhammer 40k group. They liked a other store just down the road. However, i have a 25% discount at my current FLGS because i only buy from them, and they are well staffed and well orginised. The other store has a bunch of old mean gamers who all in all after a few beers are swell folks. The other store dude said one day "Comrade Panda, why don't you buy from me?" I looked at him and smiled and said "Because Mr. Owner i have a discount at my other store i been going to for 4 years." The owner looked at me and while i purchase snacks and things from him he said "How large is your discount?" I told him " it's 25%" he shortly after told me he woud happily match it and throw in some tid bits and shineys if i purchased in bulk which i have been known to do. I faced him and said "would this be some kind of loyalty deal?" the owner nodded. "Sadly then i wouldn't be loyal to my other store...and i could potentially be swindeled by another store owner who does more than you and even tho you are doing more than my other store, i must be loyal to them." He both laughed and agreed i had the morle high ground and i still like you support him when i can and he still says i have that discount.
SoloFalcon1138 wrote:I would say the flaw on the script was the delivery. Blurting out "discount?" may not have been a strategic move...
And I ask again, why does everyone believe that a discount is required for any dealer? Ever think some of these guys would like to be able to pay for the place that you loiter in? Discounts are a reward, and they are on the owner to offer. If you know how to haggle, you might be able to deal, but seriously, stop whining because you can't arm-wrestle a discount out of someone. Be happy that they are open and willing to order your stuff. We all know its expensive, its like pointing out the weather, everyone knows it.
He has already replied and explained that he was well known to the store, but i am going to make this an extreme case a total stranger walking through the door:
He came (a assumed stranger) and offered to buy you a significant amount of product and adopt your shop as his supplier from here on at an introductory discount rate, for product which you do not have but he will gladly wait until it is convenient for you to order it. You decided you would be better off not making any profit at all and loosing a potential customer. To me it is obvious this was the wrong call. I have worked the Car industry for a while and we would often pay for loyal customers repairs even outside warranty to keep them in the family, its an investment, exceptions of all kinds are made for track record or valuable customers and this is exactly the kind of relationship the poster was trying to start. Lol even druggdealers know better than that store owner...
I honestly dont get where you got this idea that LGS are the end all be all object of your devotion. May be you are still dependent on your parents income or have a difficult time getting it organized, but let me tell you there is nothing better than a gaming club much better than a LGS which´s single and only goal is for you to buy stuff. I remember when i was in high-school we came to an agreement with a bar owner for Saturdays afternoons, the bar(which did not have much business at those times, it picked up at night) would be closed for us on the condition we consumed something there, we moved the tables for wargaming or RPGs, it was all bears/burgers mixed and war gaming all afternoon long.
haendas wrote:I don't see anything wrong with asking for a deal if the intention is to place a rather large purchase like an entire army. The exact wording of the request and tactfulness of the buyer goes a long way in those requests though. You can easily get denied if you don't approach it just right.
This, exactly. "Hey, I was looking at possibly buying a large collection of Blood Angels today, and I'd really like to give you the business for it. What kind of offer can you make me on the following? I'd like the SM battleforce, the BA battleforce, two landraiders, a stormraven, two boxes of Death Company, Astorath, 2 Furioso Dreadnaught kits and 4 boxes of terminators, plus the codex (around $6-700). I agree that any owner who doesn't offer at 20% discount on such a purchase with that tone of voice doesn't deserve the business. The word "possibly" suggests I might get it, I might not, followed by "what kind of offer can you make," which is a friendly way of saying my purchase depends on your offer being sufficient. Ten percent off? I'll go online. 15%? Getting better, but not enough. 20%? Now we're talking. Here's my credit card. Yes, I picked a fairly straightforward list of stuff that they should have fully in stock, only questionable part is them having 4 boxes of terminators (2 of each kind is possible, not a guarantee).
timetowaste85 wrote: Ten percent off? I'll go online. 15%? Getting better, but not enough. 20%? Now we're talking. Here's my credit card. Yes, I picked a fairly straightforward list of stuff that they should have fully in stock, only questionable part is them having 4 boxes of terminators (2 of each kind is possible, not a guarantee).
So what you are saying is that there is no value in the FLGS for you. You are asking for a 20% off price which is roughly the same as most online dealers. Except that the online dealer has much less overhead, while the FLGS owner has a storefront and bills. Also, the FLGS gets it to you right away, probably supplies you with gaming tables and is likely a focal point for the local gaming community.
You're entitled to hold out for whatever price you want, and shop where you want, but to assume that the FLGS should match online prices is just not realistic.
timetowaste85 wrote: 15%? Getting better, but not enough.
Really? You won't pay 5% more than online for the convenience of buying it in person and having a place to play? That seems a bit unreasonable.
My FLGS gives me a discount that basically cancels out the tax. I can get better at an online shop, my usual go to place is The Warstore, and I do utilize the online guys. But I also use the local place and always purchase something whenever I play there.
For me the extra money I spend by not having a discount is basically my rent for having a good place to play. I don't ever purchase an entire army at once, but the $10 extra I spend when I pick up a box of terminators (which would be closer to a normal purchase for me) is okay for me since I can't really meet people to play with at the Warstore.
timetowaste85 wrote: Ten percent off? I'll go online. 15%? Getting better, but not enough. 20%? Now we're talking. Here's my credit card. Yes, I picked a fairly straightforward list of stuff that they should have fully in stock, only questionable part is them having 4 boxes of terminators (2 of each kind is possible, not a guarantee).
So what you are saying is that there is no value in the FLGS for you. You are asking for a 20% off price which is roughly the same as most online dealers. Except that the online dealer has much less overhead, while the FLGS owner has a storefront and bills. Also, the FLGS gets it to you right away, probably supplies you with gaming tables and is likely a focal point for the local gaming community.
You're entitled to hold out for whatever price you want, and shop where you want, but to assume that the FLGS should match online prices is just not realistic.
timetowaste85 wrote: 15%? Getting better, but not enough.
Really? You won't pay 5% more than online for the convenience of buying it in person and having a place to play? That seems a bit unreasonable.
Look at the value of what I'm putting out there-around $650 worth of stuff. I make $100 purchases at the game store that I like all the time. They ALSO do 25% off coupons a couple times a month-I buy at 25% off AND at regular store price, back and forth. I buy something every time I play there. Thursday I played a game of Battletech and left with paying full price for the 6th edition rulebook, psyker cards, plus two packs of Warhammer Invasion. All I got off was $10 from having already spent over $100 on non-discount days. I've spent over $1000 in that store, and I've only started seriously buying there in the past year. So yes, I find it fair to request a 20% discount off of a $600 purchase. Of course, I know that I can get 25% off that same $600 purchase on one of the days I have a coupon.
If you use the gaming tables of a store and like the store, then you should buy your products at the store.
Discount or no discount.
People who use a gaming store as a club but refuse to buy anything from said gaming store because they can get it online often end up with a non-existent gaming store that has gone out of business.
Remember, an independent gaming club will often have to charge £2-£5 per meetup because that's what they need to pay the rent on the place. If you're getting a free, high-quality gaming space from your LGS, you owe them.
I agree that you should financially support your LGS if you game there regularly, but you don't "owe" them. That gaming space is there is entice you to play, provide them with free advertising for their product, keep you in the store longer so you'll be likely to buy more, and build good will and rapport with the customers. If they want to be a "gaming" store they need to create an environment and have space for people to meet and play with the product they sell. That gaming space isn't there out of the goodness of their heart, it's a business move.
I dont see the problem with asking for a discount anywhere tbh, apart from maybe a supermarket, and it does not make you a jerk because you ask for some money off.
If you dont ask you dont get, there is no harm in trying, i would not however, storm out and go elsewhere when my suggestion was turned down, that seems childish to me.
Well for me I am in between a rock and a hard place, my local FLGS offers to order 40k, but I have yet to see them do it. Yet I have tried to do so many times, but they never get in and I have given up going there considering they pretty much cater to only warmachine and MTG. The other problem is that the second closest FLGS is located 150(240 km) miles away. But the other one has a great staff and from what I have seen friendly and not a bunch of greedy arses(I was actually told that for some stuff I am better off going to some certain websites). Now first time I went there I only spent around 200$ but suprisingly they gave me a 10% discount, but that may have been because they thought I was stoned off my ass, reasonable considering I bought 2 squads of marines, 3 squads of Imperial guard, and an ork codex.
As to the whole aspect of locations to game. I completely agree it can be a complete pain in the ass to find a place to game. My place is quite frankly too small to do it in. And the nearest FLGS that I will patronize is 150 miles away. I am lucky and a friend of mine has alot of space to play warhammer in, but frankly if he left it would be much harder to arrange games.
P.S. I think the word you all are looking for is Haggle not barter
Edit: Just to alleviate some of the WTFs I purchased the marines for deathwatch, Imperial Guard for my own uses, and Ork Codex for a friend
kronk wrote:I don't play in stores. My group plays in each others homes. However, if I want to browse, or pick up a birthday gift for someone, I have two nearby that I can choose from. Neither are GW stores, just FLGS that carry GW games + some other stuff.
The one closest to me has a big range of products and offers 10% off and will order anything I want, also 10% off. The guy is knowledgible, enjoys the hobby, and has a nice store with good terrain and friendly patrons.
The other store doesn't offer any discount, but 10% really just offsets tax, so it's not a major selling point. However, the store is cramped, I've been there twice when they had no Air Conditioning running (Houston Texas in the summer is freaking hot, guys), and the owner didn't know anything about 40k, and wasn't willing to order anything for me. To top it off, a few of the patrons kept staring at my GF's chest the whole time. She was about to ask for the car key so she could go wait in the car when I had decided to just leave in frustration.
The first store I still visit from time to time. I've picked up paints, birthday presents, and a few impulse buys. I have no plans to return to the second store.
I'm not sure if we can truely pass judgement on the quality of the second store until you post a pic of your girlfriend...
I haven't left my FLGS because I quite like the store itself but some of the people in the community make the gaming less fun. My FLGS runs everything from 40k to WarmaHordes to Malifaux to other things like TCGS, D&D, to board games and various video games and such. The store is full of very nice people and I have been going there for about 9 years even though it is 60miles from my house. I enjoy going there and I buy some models from them and they even sell used models and they have a box full of random bits as well (which is nice when you need certain heads or weapons). As for the community it is full of very nice people but there are 2 people who only play cheese lists and make the game less fun. No matter whether it is 40k or WHFB they only play to win and never for the fun of the game. Whenever I have to play them it makes me kinda sad and makes me want to never play again but I just have to think that when I play them to expect a nonfun game and just get on with it. If more people were like them I would probally leave the FLGS as a place to play but I will always buy from them.
I don't see anything wrong for asking for a discount. I regularly do, but generally I try to do it in a way thats not puting them on the spot. I'd just look around ask some questions and ask what the stores discount policy was on large bulk orders. I try to buy local when i can but to be honest at least for around were i live its impossible.
I understand the whole overhead argument an all that it makes since. You have to look at it from the customers perspective though. My wife and I work hard and we have a lot of bills and responsiblities. I only have around $60 a month to spend on games or whatever so I'd like to get as much for my dollar as possible. I dont mind spending a little more to support local but not large amounts.
Wether you have to much overhead or anything else isnt really the customers problem. We can get the product elsewhere if we have to but I prefer to do business in person within my community. I will go outside of it if I must though.
Our local stores used the same arguments as the overhead and everything under the sun to exuse there high prices, their all out of business now. So who does that hurt the customer or the business. I as the custmor can go online or to another location thats more oriented on the customer.
wowsmash wrote:I don't see anything wrong for asking for a discount. I regularly do, but generally I try to do it in a way thats not puting them on the spot. I'd just look around ask some questions and ask what the stores discount policy was on large bulk orders. I try to buy local when i can but to be honest at least for around were i live its impossible.
I understand the whole overhead argument an all that it makes since. You have to look at it from the customers perspective though. My wife and I work hard and we have a lot of bills and responsiblities. I only have around $60 a month to spend on games or whatever so I'd like to get as much for my dollar as possible. I dont mind spending a little more to support local but not large amounts.
Wether you have to much overhead or anything else isnt really the customers problem. We can get the product elsewhere if we have to but I prefer to do business in person within my community. I will go outside of it if I must though.
Our local stores used the same arguments as the overhead and everything under the sun to exuse there high prices, their all out of business now. So who does that hurt the customer or the business. I as the custmor can go online or to another location thats more oriented on the customer.
I agree that the overhead of running a store is the store owner's problem. You don't need to help out the store owner with his overhead.
But If you prefer to support community businesses in person, that is *your* problem, and the store doesn't need to help you do it.
Online sellers have much much lower overhead than brick+mortar stores, and thus can still make a profit moving products at lower prices. The b+m store can't. No matter how much you want a discount and feel that you deserve one, or threaten to take your business elsewhere, there is a point below which the store *cannot* make a profit. These stores that you say went out of business; it was far better for them (the owners) to shut their doors than to stay open by operating at a loss.
My local gaming store for example, simply cannot operate by selling GW stuff at a 15% discount. They tried for a limited period and did not get the 100% increase in turnover they needed to make it profitable. The owner plans to buy his meals for the night on that 15%. Its a problem with the store for multiple reasons, but its no use me getting angry at them and saying 'you should be happy I want to give you any money at all'.
wowsmash wrote:I don't see anything wrong for asking for a discount. I regularly do, but generally I try to do it in a way thats not puting them on the spot. I'd just look around ask some questions and ask what the stores discount policy was on large bulk orders. I try to buy local when i can but to be honest at least for around were i live its impossible.
I understand the whole overhead argument an all that it makes since. You have to look at it from the customers perspective though. My wife and I work hard and we have a lot of bills and responsiblities. I only have around $60 a month to spend on games or whatever so I'd like to get as much for my dollar as possible. I dont mind spending a little more to support local but not large amounts.
Wether you have to much overhead or anything else isnt really the customers problem. We can get the product elsewhere if we have to but I prefer to do business in person within my community. I will go outside of it if I must though.
Our local stores used the same arguments as the overhead and everything under the sun to exuse there high prices, their all out of business now. So who does that hurt the customer or the business. I as the custmor can go online or to another location thats more oriented on the customer.
I agree that the overhead of running a store is the store owner's problem. You don't need to help out the store owner with his overhead.
But If you prefer to support community businesses in person, that is *your* problem, and the store doesn't need to help you do it.
Online sellers have much much lower overhead than brick+mortar stores, and thus can still make a profit moving products at lower prices. The b+m store can't. No matter how much you want a discount and feel that you deserve one, or threaten to take your business elsewhere, there is a point below which the store *cannot* make a profit. These stores that you say went out of business; it was far better for them (the owners) to shut their doors than to stay open by operating at a loss.
My local gaming store for example, simply cannot operate by selling GW stuff at a 15% discount. They tried for a limited period and did not get the 100% increase in turnover they needed to make it profitable. The owner plans to buy his meals for the night on that 15%. Its a problem with the store for multiple reasons, but its no use me getting angry at them and saying 'you should be happy I want to give you any money at all'.
QFT, Brick and Mortar business' have enough issues just paying bills, its a different story if the person has the money to just run the store as a distraction.(Local comic book store is like that I think).
I agree, I don't require a discount for everything and I don't ever threat to take my business elsewhere. That's just rude, but I don't see anything wrong with asking business owners what their discount Policys are if they have any, nor do I throw a fit if they don't have on. If you don't ask you never know and could possibly miss out on good deals. And I don't mind paying full price for a product within reason. Example being I wouldn't pay 45 dollars for a captain Braduck for my orks when the company who makes him only charges 25 for him. "true story".
Another example being I talked one shop in my town into carrying the complete Vallejo line of product just by having a discussion with him that no other stores in our area carried it. When discussed the different stores in our area and their policy's and what I'm looking for in a store. This store is a modeling store, they don't even sell war gaming minis, but they do sell modeling tools and terrain things for model trains, plains and tanks. So this is we're I take my business to. For everything but the minis since he doesn't sell them.
If you make doing business with your store a hassle or more difficult then the next store over why would I bother to use your business. My only lgs makes it impossible to do business with them, they carry a random assortment of minis, some of which don't makes since so most of what you need they don't have in stock and if they do it's usually only 1 box. They have rule books and codexs but the majority are 2 editions out of date. You can't special order anything unless it's over 500 dollars. And for some reason they never can get anything until 3 weeks after the release date. A problem they say is for every non GW store. So I don't feel bad when I drive to the next town over on the release date of say o 6th edition and buy it from another store that doesn't seem to have a problem keeping stock on hand, making orders, having product on release date, and generally not lying to my face.
baritowned wrote:
Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
no offense here,but you are kinda hypocritical there.
you generalize all the people that run gw stores and you probably havent been in more than 5 gw stores.
maybe they think you are a jerk too?
I was actually making a joke there. I mainly put that in so people wouldn't start posting "Oh I hate GW stores" and then go on about how the employees suck. Probably should have clarified that.
As for saying I haven't been in more than five GW stores, you would be correct. I have only been in one, and the guy there doesn't know the game at all. He didn't even know how to play until after he was hired. He's friendly as hell, but not the right person to be running that store.
I left my FLGS because I got a new job that required me to move. There are no gaming stores nearby, and I certainly miss my old one due to the fun and friendly gamers there. The store staff was mostly grumpy old guys, though, and didn't give two turds about you.
baritowned wrote:Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
So this afternoon, I went to my usual FLGS (which is actually a chain hobby store that sells models, RC cars, and scale trains). As soon as I walk in, the employee that is supposed to oversee the designated miniature gaming days walks up to me and says "You need to quit being whiny, Kevin (the owner) is getting really annoyed by it". So I just ignored him, and continued to paint. Well, about 10 minutes later, he walks up to me again and asks if I want to play one last fifth edition game. I told him that I only had my WarmaHordes stuff with me, because I'm more or less done with 40k. He responded by saying "Okay, well you can just get the F*** out of the store". At that point, I was starting to get a bit agitated, as up to that point I was having a pretty good day. Then about 15 minutes go by, and one of the other guys there points out the Stormwall I was currently working on, saying that it's my $130 waste (I only really paid $80 for it), because I "never play, but will sit there and paint". After him going on some more about how PP's prices are crap compared to GW, I finally say "Okay, I get it, you message me on facebook all the time saying the exact same thing, I'm tired of hearing it!". At that point, the employee says "well, not everyone is a whiny rich piece-of-s*** like you". at that point, I just lost it and packed my paint and stormwall up, and left. As I was walking away, I heard the employee say "As long as he still buys from us, I don't give a s*** what he does".
Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated.
Have any of you ever had a similar experience that made you leave your FLGS? Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
I don't believe for one second that anyone would ever claim someone a whiner when the accused person has literally never said/whined one word to the accuser.
This story literally makes no sense, what-so-ever. Unless the person who snapped at you was on anti-psychotic medication or of some other inherent mental inhibition, nobody would merely act that way without any sort of provocation.
I don't believe the OP is telling the full and complete truth. I can't sit here and read someone telling me "he snapped at me and cursed and said I was whining when all I did was sit there and not a single word came from my mouth; and he just up and said all these things out of thin air! He's so rude and mean and I didn't do anything wrong, cross my wittol heart."
You probably did whine. You probably caused a lot of trouble for them both as a business and as a general FLGS. You probably caused a stir with more than one person there, too, not just the owner or any employee. You also probably talked back a lot, cursed a few, even if rare times, argued back a lot, acted sarcastic and still claimed none of it your fault.
Something exactly like this happened at my FLGS, almost to the dot. Some little snot always got involved in other people's conversations rudely and abruptly; he never played a single (full) game in the last year I had been religiously going to this place to game and he always took up as much space as possible (and has had numerous complaints thereof) for his own models/paints; and also never once shared anything, even water or paper towels, claiming " I got here first, get your own tools." He tried to steal things, constantly, both from the store and other hobbyists (poorly and always unsuccessfully, I might add..). In the end, was inevitably kicked out because of all the same reasons and thereafter tried to bring his parents into it.
Before instigating the nonsense with his parents, the store owner got fed up enough to tell him -- not before the owner had repeatedly told him to "stop complaining" and "if you can't play with the big boys, then stop whining and find another place to play" (the latter comment made after a little bout brought on by none other than the little gretchin himself, whining about how he thinks "everyone is a sh**ty cheater" and "nobody knows how to play right" because "[you] all measure like fu**ing idiots" and the like): while he broke down from enough complaints, cursing at the kid "I've had enough of you and all the complaints, I'm not going to tolerate in my store. If you can't play right or play well with others, then you need to get the hell out."
He claimed the same crap: he did nothing wrong, he was innocent, they yelled at him out of nowhere, everybody else (conveniently) was trying to steal *his* things. His dad got into it with the owner too and from what I heard at the time they were arguing, it sounded like after the kid's claims of other people attempting to still his things, the dad was trying to essentially get free GW product to "replace" his "stolen" items -- to no avail. We haven't seen hide nor tail of them since. Good riddance.
My point is, this story sounds awfully familiar and even more so, it sounds one sided, regarding how it's written here on Dakka. I've heard similar stories of the one I've been through, too. The one most upset in every situation is always the one most innocent, evidently - which is absolutely false and 100% of every case I've heard.
It's almost as though, as it were written here, that he (the guy yelling at the OP) could have just as easily yelled at an inanimate table to stop being so loud. Otherwise, where's the motive for his anger? You seem to have left that part out and also therein seem to just be looking for any kind of positive reinforcement for something you know you're wrong about, but are too damn arrogant/selfish to admit.
I have two FLGS almost literally right next to each other where I stay. The first is tidy and well organised, but the staff are prone to forgetting about you if you're not buying Magic or Yu Gi Oh cards. I've had my stuff going through the till and someone has came and asked about Magic singles and my transaction goes on hold for 15 to 20 minutes whilst they blather on. The staff are also prone to bitching about purchases. "You're not buying those are you? They suck!" "Who in their right mind would buy x when y is available?" etc etc. Despite a discount, I usually only stop in to see what's new out.
The other store is older, a bit shabbier and more specialised towards RPGs which are my first love anyway. The owner is friendly, know him by name and he's even arranged lunches and stuff. He knows my gaming tastes and usually has a bunch of recommendations when I walk in the door. He's also happy to order stuff in although it takes forever.
Before I left and before everything in my LGS got awkward and such, me and my (now ex) girlfriend would go in and paint models and play a few games at least 3 times a week.
Which was okay until... The manager started hitting on my girlfriend.
And not just a little bit here and there.
Both in store and out of store via text messages, on facebook and as far as inviting us over for drinks/getting drunk and making inappropriate remarks while I was around.
Which as much as it somewhat bothered me, I played it off as he was just being overly friendly at the beginning. Though after a little while I began to notice it more and more and it became overly apparent as to what he was doing, with her getting more and more texts about "his feelings" toward the end and such. After a few weeks he stopped outwardly flirting with her because I'm pretty sure he knew I knew what he was doing.
After he had realised that I had caught on, nearly all the staff in the store (bar one, who still treated me as he had since I started going) would ignore me completely while I was in the store or if I was asking for help with painting/questions about the game. But would still go to great lengths to ask why she wasn't around/how she was doing if I went in by myself.
Which, also didn't really bother me since while I painted I didn't mind not talking to anyone while I concentrated on what I was doing, and I just blew the questions about her off.
I did decide to leave however, after a second employee started doing the same thing and I was still ignored at lengths by the manager to the point where I couldn't get an answer out of him about anything in the store, even when I was spending hundreds of dollars at a time in there.
There are plenty of industries where you can still make out with a decent discount by shopping around and knowing what you can pay elsewhere, and generally offering to make the purchase in cash can get you some consideration too. I generally don't play much at the LGS anymore though, maybe a tournament here and there, but I spent the majority of the last four years organizing events more than playing in them. When I put all the work in organizing and running an event, and my gaming group fronts the expenses for events (mission sheets, a judge for the day, terrain, etc) other than the actual table space, plus take in all the money for the tournament in exchange for store credit, I really don't feel obligated to pay full retail to a store.
We had one store. It was pretty good. Cramped, but was a nice place... played lots of games there, bought all my stuff there. There was barley an internet. Life was good for all.
Store moved... New location! Fantastic everything. Bigger, more stuff, lots room to play. Good guys. Good friends. Well run events! Life was good for all.
*something* happened where one of the employees from the store and started a second store. Not sure the whats or hows or whys but it happened. The new store was walking distance from my house. Both stores seemed nice, well run, happy.
But then the politics happened. Half the gamers went with the person to the new store. The other half refused to go to the new store for any reason. It was as if war were declared and you had to pick a side.
I couldn't go to either store without being harassed for not being loyal to 'THEIR' store or 'THEIR' club.
All the ass-hats basically formed a wargamer 'gang' at each location basically runing casual play. All the people of interest like the professional painters, the traveling wargamers and such simply moved on into the sunset and stopped going to these locations. Many decided this was the time for life to take over and they quit wargaming.
This is when I stopped going to both FLGS for gaming and focused on regional gaming. I went to the GW battle bunker more, Traveled to stores an hour away for full day tourneys, began attending larger tourneys. I transformed to less FLGS time but I decided to make that time count via tourneys.
Now I am almost exclusively an EVENT wargamer. You have a mega battle or a tourney, I am there. And when I am there, I will patronize your store. Run more and better events, you get more of my focus and money. Hell, when I go to Indy tourneys I try to buy something from the sponsors who helped make the event happen.
Eventually the new FLGS near my house went under... Not sure why, don't care. The old FLGS still around, I buy stuff there but the gaming is not what it used to be. It is hard to go on a Thursday night and play with someones empty bases as terminators and fight about idiotic rules when I am used to playing at grand events with clear FAQs and fully painted armies.
I am now a Gaming Nomad. I have no home and well-run FLGS will attract me in to play in their stores.
Like alot of other people have stated earlier in this thread, I strongly suspect that the OP is leaving some vital details out of his story of being "mistreated". That's not to say that game store employees can't be unprofessional and rude at times. They certainly can. But alot of what he states simply does not add up or make sense upon reflection.
But that's how some people are, right? Making themselves out to be the victim in a story by omiting or manipulating the facts to fit the image they are trying to project. It's similar to how a good percenatge of people who claim they were mistreated by the police are leaving some vital detail out. Allow me a quick off-topic example of what I'm talking about. My first wife's eldest son was a punk. He was in his mid 20s at the time of my marriage to his mother, had been arrested about five times and actually had a felonly assault conviction he was on probation for. He did illegal drugs, had anger "issues" and was one of these swaggering bullies who got into martial arts for all the wrong reasons. In short, a real peice of work. Well one day he comes home and is griping about how the police had pulled him over at a traffic stop and treated him very badly. He told of how he was detained at the side of the road for over an hour, was talked badly to, had his vehicle searched, and finally sent on his way with several citations. Of course he was the blameless victim in this drama to hear him tell it. After a little questioning I finally coaxed the one important fact that the punk had left out of the narative. Apparently when the police officer aproached my step son's car after pulling him over, he was met by the boy rolling down the window and yelling "What the f--- do YOU want???!!". Needless to say, that set the tone for the rest of the encounter.
So yeah. The OP is probably leaving out a little tibit as to how his bad behavior led to his negative interaction with his FLGS.
baritowned wrote:Hey everyone, I want to apologize ahead of time if my post comes off as a bit angry or short, but after today's events, I'm not in the greatest of moods.
So this afternoon, I went to my usual FLGS (which is actually a chain hobby store that sells models, RC cars, and scale trains). As soon as I walk in, the employee that is supposed to oversee the designated miniature gaming days walks up to me and says "You need to quit being whiny, Kevin (the owner) is getting really annoyed by it". So I just ignored him, and continued to paint. Well, about 10 minutes later, he walks up to me again and asks if I want to play one last fifth edition game. I told him that I only had my WarmaHordes stuff with me, because I'm more or less done with 40k. He responded by saying "Okay, well you can just get the F*** out of the store". At that point, I was starting to get a bit agitated, as up to that point I was having a pretty good day. Then about 15 minutes go by, and one of the other guys there points out the Stormwall I was currently working on, saying that it's my $130 waste (I only really paid $80 for it), because I "never play, but will sit there and paint". After him going on some more about how PP's prices are crap compared to GW, I finally say "Okay, I get it, you message me on facebook all the time saying the exact same thing, I'm tired of hearing it!". At that point, the employee says "well, not everyone is a whiny rich piece-of-s*** like you". at that point, I just lost it and packed my paint and stormwall up, and left. As I was walking away, I heard the employee say "As long as he still buys from us, I don't give a s*** what he does".
Well, little do they know that I'm not coming back, and I'm probably going to be emailing their corporate office about how I was treated.
Have any of you ever had a similar experience that made you leave your FLGS? Not counting GW stores, because we all know that 99% of them are run by jerks anyway.
I NEVER GO TO THAT STORE! Ughhhh they make me soooooo angry! THe guys who work there are jerks and the people who play their are not to friendly either. I'm in the Cincy area, I know this store very well
Despite being smack in the middle of a theme park inside a mall (this is the Philippines: we have mini-themeparks inside malls), our tables are just under one loop of the mini rollercoaster ride. There was also a karaoke machine nearby (also part of same themepark) and there was this guy who keeps on singing the same songs in the same off-key voice. We only had a few tables, and the store itself only holds very little product.
Still, Neutral Grounds Fairview was the best FLGS I ever went to. We had a solid community tied not only in our common hobby of playing the same games, but also friendship. MLP is right: friendship IS magic (and coincidentally, I was more of a competitive M:tG player back then). Sure, we have our share of cheaters, oddballs, unhealthily competitive gamers, thieves, socially awkward people, people hitting on other people's girlfriends, but the community as a whole is a good and supportive one. Sadly, it was not meant to last. Turns out that putting a store branch on the top floor of a mall smack in the middle of a fething themepark where a lot of passersby are not interested in gaming and putting little product makes the store unsustainable: we can't even buy stuff from the store because it holds little stuff and most of those are not what we need. We tried keeping it afloat by organizing weekly FNM tournaments AND daily trashdraft games, but it was only a matter of time before it closed. We tried opening clubs on other venues but they were all open at inconvenient times, or they were in inconvenient places. I'm still in contact with the friends I made there, but as a gaming community it was not the same.
I've been looking HARD for a new Friendly LGS ever since.
Steve steveson wrote:Ha. I like how people are blaiming the OP. Working in a customer facing roll i would never accept my staff acting like that, if it is true, no matter what the customer did. Got a problem with the way a customer is acting? Politly but clearly ask them to stop. They carry on? Ask your manager to deal with it and he can ban them if needs be, but never speek to them in that way or act like jerk.
Most store owners won't tolerate that crap, The problem is so few gamers are wiling to rat out another gamer so they put up with bad customer service meekly.
livingdeadkid wrote:That sad moment when your flgs Doesnt offer any sort of discount off of retail at all
And it begins again... why do people whine that stores are required to give discounts for everything? Do you make this complaint while you drink a soda you brought in while you loiter?
The story gets better with each post in the first pages of this thread. The OP claims the same employee ran a large RV car down the middle of everyone's gaming tables, knocking their stuff around. If that story is remotely true, the employee talked about would most likely have been fired by an agitated boss.
The story gets better with each post in the first pages of this thread. The OP claims the same employee ran a large RV car down the middle of everyone's gaming tables, knocking their stuff around. If that story is remotely true, the employee talked about would most likely have been fired by an agitated boss.
Yeah, i saw that one. I tend to disbelieve that. It might just be that we've all bought into a troll thread and it's run for five pages!
What got me to leave the "FLGS" I used to visit in Cardiff was a combination of two things, My partner got groped and some little arse tried to push me through a glass display cabinet.
livingdeadkid wrote:That sad moment when your flgs Doesnt offer any sort of discount off of retail at all
And it begins again... why do people whine that stores are required to give discounts for everything? Do you make this complaint while you drink a soda you brought in while you loiter?
What is it with you and misstating peoples positions. He didn't say he requires them to do anything he said that he choses (as a free human being has the right to do) that he shops in stores that offer a discount. How is that in any way hard to understand? Millions of people do it every day when they go to outlet malls, dollar stores, and amazon.
Sorry, but I have to disagree about GW staff. I've only ever met good staff in GWs, and they've always been friendly and helpful. GW doesn't get a lot of things right, but their staff are generally great.
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
The guy's story sounded like a load of BS in the first place, but that just put what he was writing an over the top obvious line of gak.
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
The guy's story sounded like a load of BS in the first place, but that just put what he was writing an over the top obvious line of gak.
Got to agree.
Regardless of the quality of the OP, it is a good topic of conversation.
According to my FLGS owner, the markup on GW product is only 33% anyway, so less 20% of that, would only be 13%. Why would taking up $300 of his $500 minimum order at a rate of 13% profit, instead of the normal 33% be a good move for him?
Your Hobbytown actually has game tables and miniature support? The one nearby still has Warmachine MK1 books (no WarmaHordes miniatures) and 3rd edition Codexes at full price.
That said, there are two other gaming stores here in town. one of which is Discount Games Incs brick-and-mortar shop. They don't sell GW product anymore, so if I want 40K I have to go to ... the ... other store. My experience with them was really poor. Being ignored for five minutes (standing at the register with product in hand no less) while who I think was the owner and the dude who finally rang me up played Magic. And no discounts at all, not even 6% to take the sting out of also paying sales tax.
I don't mind supporting local stores, but any owner that thinks I'm going to pay full retail + sales tax is smoking something good. All I could justify to my wallet there was picking up Kruellagh the Vile at full MSRP (it's a funny looking model, don't judge!) Haven't been back since.
"Taking one for the team" to support local business doesn't hold much water when they don't offer any services that offset the cost issue -- especially in today's economy. Even if Discount Games didn't offer a great discount (30% is hard to beat though) I would still buy from them because they have tables, the store is clean and orderly, the patrons are friendly, they organize games, the staff is knowledgeable, they run a great podcast, etc. I'll happily pay a bit more for that - but don't put me in a room with a bunch of apparently homeless and unemployed Magic players and expect me to care about your business success.
liquidjoshi wrote:Sorry, but I have to disagree about GW staff. I've only ever met good staff in GWs, and they've always been friendly and helpful. GW doesn't get a lot of things right, but their staff are generally great.
Yes, generally. I've met some right stinkers in my time, many of them letting the "Lord of all the little Timmys" and the cult of personality that comes with it go to their heads.
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
The guy's story sounded like a load of BS in the first place, but that just put what he was writing an over the top obvious line of gak.
Got to agree.
Regardless of the quality of the OP, it is a good topic of conversation.
I wasn't making any of this up. I don't feel the need to lie on the internet to make myself sound cool or to make a story sound better. I highly doubt you will, but you can ask anyone who games there about how much of an annoyance this employee is.
When he first started LARPing, he would get extremely mad if people didn't want to go with him, to the point of telling them to leave, and insulting them.
On the rare ocurrance of him playing a 40k game, if he gets two turns in and is "losing", he will grab all of his minis off the table, throw a fit, and leave the store.
One night, he brought in a dozen D&D players and took up most of our tables the entire night (which Karmakanik, one of the guys that goes there wrote about here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/415996.page), and even tried to get us to leave because they "needed the tables"
liquidjoshi wrote:Sorry, but I have to disagree about GW staff. I've only ever met good staff in GWs, and they've always been friendly and helpful. GW doesn't get a lot of things right, but their staff are generally great.
Yes, generally. I've met some right stinkers in my time, many of them letting the "Lord of all the little Timmys" and the cult of personality that comes with it go to their heads.
Perhaps in your region you might get decent GW staff, but I can say the opposite as well. The pressure sales have really increased over past 6 years.
There was a time when the GW staff in my region were more than just people over the counter trying to sell me things. They knew how much I was going to spend and that time it was 200+ per month. I helped with the terrain creation and even helped out in with beginners in showing them how to use a air brush. I brought my own in for the staff to use plus a full tool box of tools for display. They were good times as they were friends than GW employees.
People have forgotten certain aspects of common decency. I do this again to any store GW or LFGS, but people have changed, so several thousands of dollars of tools and painting equipment, bin parts and terrain are lock in storage.
I still support my LFGS as I buy most of my gaming products there, but at the GW stores in my region?
$24.00 a month, because of the ever rotation of staff every 3 or so years.
High_Marshal_Helbrecht wrote:What got me to leave the "FLGS" I used to visit in Cardiff was a combination of two things, My partner got groped and some little arse tried to push me through a glass display cabinet.
That sounds like Cardiff.
Did you end up in Chip Alley? Most Cardiff stories do...
liquidjoshi wrote:Sorry, but I have to disagree about GW staff. I've only ever met good staff in GWs, and they've always been friendly and helpful. GW doesn't get a lot of things right, but their staff are generally great.
Yes, generally. I've met some right stinkers in my time, many of them letting the "Lord of all the little Timmys" and the cult of personality that comes with it go to their heads.
Perhaps in your region you might get decent GW staff, but I can say the opposite as well. The pressure sales have really increased over past 6 years.
There was a time when the GW staff in my region were more than just people over the counter trying to sell me things. They knew how much I was going to spend and that time it was 200+ per month. I helped with the terrain creation and even helped out in with beginners in showing them how to use a air brush. I brought my own in for the staff to use plus a full tool box of tools for display. They were good times as they were friends than GW employees.
Indeed, but this is yet another example of GS US being different to elsewhere.
I can honestly say I have never had the hard sell treatment in the UK... occasionally I've had the upsell.. glue. paint, WD, but I just say 'no thanks' and that is the end of the matter.... The techniques they employ are more designed to stop shoplifting - meeting and greeting, asking what army they play etc... I'm sure the management think these techniques work differently but all they really achieve is to make the customer know they are being watched, and that you suspect they are a thief.
And from what I can see there are people who go to GW stores that have that friendly relationship with the staff that you describe. I used to go in a particular shop, the manager and I just used to chat about the ECW.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
baritowned wrote:
ProtoClone wrote:
Relapse wrote:
Zathras wrote:
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
The guy's story sounded like a load of BS in the first place, but that just put what he was writing an over the top obvious line of gak.
Got to agree.
Regardless of the quality of the OP, it is a good topic of conversation.
I wasn't making any of this up. I don't feel the need to lie on the internet to make myself sound cool or to make a story sound better. I highly doubt you will, but you can ask anyone who games there about how much of an annoyance this employee is.
When he first started LARPing, he would get extremely mad if people didn't want to go with him, to the point of telling them to leave, and insulting them.
On the rare ocurrance of him playing a 40k game, if he gets two turns in and is "losing", he will grab all of his minis off the table, throw a fit, and leave the store.
One night, he brought in a dozen D&D players and took up most of our tables the entire night (which Karmakanik, one of the guys that goes there wrote about here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/415996.page), and even tried to get us to leave because they "needed the tables"
Still don't believe me?
Your problem is that you are trying to convince people who don't care.
You probably are telling the truth, but you are confusing men and women. If this forum were mainly women you would get sympathy, people would understand because they had been in a similar situation, etc. But as this is a forum of mainly men, so you are on a hiding to nothing.
Give it a couple of years and you start getting into women and beer. All the problems with this guy will fall into perspective. Besides, the chances are he will commit suicide in time due to world not realizing his genius, and then you don't need to worry about him ever again.
baritowned wrote:Yes, I've been going there for almost a year, and he has always been somewhat rude to everyone (even at one point putting a full-size RC car on the table and running over people's stuff, interrupting four games in the process), but this was completely unprovoked.
Wow, if someone did that to my stuff, I would be testing the durability of the material the R/C car is made from using the bottom of my shoe and then test the balistic characteristics of what was left from the front door of the store to out into the street or parking lot.
The guy's story sounded like a load of BS in the first place, but that just put what he was writing an over the top obvious line of gak.
Got to agree.
Regardless of the quality of the OP, it is a good topic of conversation.
I wasn't making any of this up. I don't feel the need to lie on the internet to make myself sound cool or to make a story sound better. I highly doubt you will, but you can ask anyone who games there about how much of an annoyance this employee is.
When he first started LARPing, he would get extremely mad if people didn't want to go with him, to the point of telling them to leave, and insulting them.
On the rare ocurrance of him playing a 40k game, if he gets two turns in and is "losing", he will grab all of his minis off the table, throw a fit, and leave the store.
One night, he brought in a dozen D&D players and took up most of our tables the entire night (which Karmakanik, one of the guys that goes there wrote about here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/415996.page), and even tried to get us to leave because they "needed the tables"
The fact that no one is actually working at my LGS has made me want to leave. But it's the only place in town where I can make small purchases (besides the GW store where I don't want to go). So I keep going there. I do have to wait 15 minutes to buy a brush because the staff is busy playing Magic, but I prefer that over GW.
And I can't get angry with them, because they're these shy geeky guys. And I mean, what's more adorable than that?
