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I've seen lots of topics on the tfg(s) at stores, but I never heard any about crappy managers and employees at your local FGLS and GW stores. I'll start with this story.

A few years ago, I used to play at a FLGS in Virginia when I lived there. The place was great, two large rooms, tons of people, and several friendly employees. Unfortunately, the tfg somehow got a part-time job there. Anyways, the place went under renovation, several of the old, crappy tables were removed, and new ones were being built in one of the rooms. The store became a lot more crowded, and some people decided to stop coming to the store until the construction was finished. So one of the guys was talking about leaving to a nearby GW store for the 3 weeks it would take for the renovation, and the that fething employee starts arguing with him about how he should play where he plays, and they argue for a bit before the TFE says "You know what? Just get out". Keep in mind that the guy ran a 2500 point ORK army, and purchased 1500 points of it from the store.

So tell me your stories Dakka.

Also, tell me who do you think is more unfriendly, GW employees, or Gaming store employees.

Ive been going to my local FLGS since I was a tiny little boy. My father, uncle, mother and several family friends have worked there over the years and we have always loved having a place to buy models at a slightly lower price than retail.

Naturally, the store sells many other gaming systems such as Infinity, FOW etc. They recently hired a new cashier that every time I bought a GW product, would bash me for doing so. He would always say how GW is sooo expensive and not worth the money. (While this may be true there is no reason to point it out EVERY single time I buy something.) Then he would continue to say how GW is the worst company on the planet and how I was stupid for buying their product. He would then go on for 15 mintues about how Infinity is the greatest game on Earth and how he built his army for only $75 compared to "wasting" hundreds of dollars on GW product. (I am not bashing Infinity it seems like a great game, I just didn't feel like hearing I was dumb for playing 40k instead of Infinity)

This happened every time I went into the store for about two months, I finally get fed up and told him he could shut it and walked out of the store. Went in there today and now he is gone. Thank the Emperor.

Every GW employee I've ever met has either been

A) A chill stoner-bro

B) A chill Scottsman

I find GW employees too toolbagish about sales.

I was at a GW with Dondrekhan once, discussing buying a fantasy starter set so I could get the rulebook and he could get the models. I didn't have the money, and he didn't either. The manager decided anyway, and he was there for the whole conversation, to try to sell the box to Dondrekhan. First, he tries to make the said after we make our decision. Don says he has no money for it. Then the manager says "Well I'll just put this here if you change your mind. Don says he can't afford it, again. Then the manager scanned it and announced the price.

GW stores have a much more welcoming atmosphere, but the quality of the people there isn't as good. I should point out that some of their family store rules are of benefit. I remember that time when I stood behind nerds with massive BO and who were having really perverted conversations, and the staff wasn't doing anything about it.

If the guy is bashing you for buying expensive GW turn the table on him. Tell him he's too cheap to buy a premium game like 40k.

Inquisitor Ehrenstein wrote:I find GW employees too toolbagish about sales.

I was at a GW with Dondrekhan once, discussing buying a fantasy starter set so I could get the rulebook and he could get the models. I didn't have the money, and he didn't either. The manager decided anyway, and he was there for the whole conversation, to try to sell the box to Dondrekhan. First, he tries to make the said after we make our decision. Don says he has no money for it. Then the manager says "Well I'll just put this here if you change your mind. Don says he can't afford it, again. Then the manager scanned it and announced the price.

GW stores have a much more welcoming atmosphere, but the quality of the people there isn't as good. I should point out that some of their family store rules are of benefit. I remember that time when I stood behind nerds with massive BO and who were having really perverted conversations, and the staff wasn't doing anything about it.

am i missing the part where he was rude? sounds like he was just giving you guys information about the final price and you got mad because he was trying to make a sale? it's not a museum, it's retail. if you don't want to get hassled by employees doing their job, just shop online.

I've only ever had one bad experience with a GW staffer. It was too many years ago now to remember exactly what happened, but my friends and I noticed that things tended to go missing when he was around...

I also remember emailing GWHQ about it, and that staffer disappeared some time later.

As for other gaming stores, while they've always been friendly and polite, I often get a bit of an odd vibe from them. There's usually a good chance that they don't play your game, and that they view 40k as a kids' game. While none I've spoken to have ever said it directly, that's just the feeling I get when I talk to them about it sometimes. It's hard to explain.

So, I didn't vote for either in the poll. Just to be completely useless.

My experience with GW employees has been the following:

1. Totally annoying.
2. Total douche bags.
3. Limited knowledge of what a customer really wants, vs. what they think a customer SHOULD want.
4. Fake.
5. Outnumber customers in their stores by about 2:1 ratio, so it should give you an idea about how much they are actually selling.
6. Did I mention douche bags? What about fake?

This is probably totally dependent upon where you're gaming. I live in Maryland and the GW douches here had a pretty fat holier than thou attitude when GW's operation was based out of Glen Burnie.

I'm not swearing off GW shops, but I will definitely scope out a FLGS before I try any GW stores.

Did I mention douche bags?

Local game store, by far.

And what if, on the whole of things, you really can't tell which is worse because you've never had a bad experience from either?

The reason I stay away from my local GW store, apart from the nonsense pricing (comparatively speaking), is the customers. I simply don't like noisy (and let's face it; sometimes smelly) lower-teens.

I've constantly heard bad things about GW stores, but my current FLGS is great, though it does have 2 problem players.

My previous FLGS, before I moved, had issues. TBH I was the only reason the 40k players showed up, since I put time aside to simply be down there to play with others. The store owner did nothing. Absolutely nothing. He's also angry that I'm doing so well at this other FLGS. Poor sod.

I think the thing that puts me off about GW stores is the way that the employees immediately latch on to you like leeches the moment you walk in the door. I'm so annoyed by their "sell sell sell" demeanor, over-exuberant dorkiness, and desire to engage in constant chatter that I actually avoid going in there. Unless I'm really in a pinch for some supplies, I go to a mom and pop FLGS almost ten miles away. They ask if I need help finding anything and then they leave me alone, instead of hovering like vultures trying to get me to buy every paint color, hobby knife, and starter kit in the store. I always thought this might be particular to the shop in my town, but I've been to enough in the DC metro area -- and even one in North Carolina -- that were all the same way that I can only assume it's store-wide.

There's one employee in particular that has seen me several times, knows I've got a sizeable army and all the tools and rulebooks, and he STILL tries to sell me the Assault on Black Reach box, saying if I sell the Space Marine's off it's the best bang for my buck to get more Orks. If he's trying to sell it to me, you know he's pushing it on some pre-teen who doesn't know different, and this coming from a guy that probably knows damn well 6th edition is around the corner.

I think most of us can agree that GW is definitely one of the worst, most exploitative companies we've all had to deal with -- but I love Warhammer 40k. I'll buy their products from third parties and online, but in general, I avoid their stores.

My experience with GW employess is mostly negative. Totally fake, trying to sell you useless crap all the time,just to make the sale.

warboss_grimjaw wrote:I think the thing that puts me off about GW stores is the way that the employees immediately latch on to you like leeches the moment you walk in the door. I'm so annoyed by their "sell sell sell" demeanor, over-exuberant dorkiness, and desire to engage in constant chatter that I actually avoid going in there. Unless I'm really in a pinch for some supplies, I go to a mom and pop FLGS almost ten miles away. They ask if I need help finding anything and then they leave me alone, instead of hovering like vultures trying to get me to buy every paint color, hobby knife, and starter kit in the store. I always thought this might be particular to the shop in my town, but I've been to enough in the DC metro area -- and even one in North Carolina -- that were all the same way that I can only assume it's store-wide.

There's one employee in particular that has seen me several times, knows I've got a sizeable army and all the tools and rulebooks, and he STILL tries to sell me the Assault on Black Reach box, saying if I sell the Space Marine's off it's the best bang for my buck to get more Orks. If he's trying to sell it to me, you know he's pushing it on some pre-teen who doesn't know different, and this coming from a guy that probably knows damn well 6th edition is around the corner.

I think most of us can agree that GW is definitely one of the worst, most exploitative companies we've all had to deal with -- but I love Warhammer 40k. I'll buy their products from third parties and online, but in general, I avoid their stores.

Actually, I thought AoBR WAS one of the cheapest ways to get more orks? I've heard that everywhere, not just FLGS employees bug other gamers as well. Heck i've even heard that on dakka. Although if the guy is being a little pushy on it i could see that being annoying.

Sounds like he may have been just trying to help you save cash. Crazy I know

On the subject of rude employees, my only experience with a FLGS was one I worked in several years ago. Of course we were never rude! Actually we were very polite and friendly, just one of the co-owners & one of the employees, who I filled in for until he could start, were useless and let the business die.

As far as GW stores go? The problem with the GW stores is the same problem with most retail stores that have the same demands of their staff as GW does. GW gives their stores targets to meet. Fair enough, nothing wrong with that, gives an indication on how well the store is doing and whether trade is good or bad, whether the staff are slacking or not. What GW do, however, is hike up the targets each year by a percentage, even if it was a bad month. So if the store has a target one year of £3000 for June, GW will next year expect them to reach £3300 for that month (random numbers) - if they have a bad month then warnings will be issued to staff, to managers and to area managers. GW staff, eager to keep ahold of their jobs (because getting a job is really difficult at the moment) have to make sure they are getting sales through the tills otherwise they get it in the neck from their manager who in turn is getting shouted at by their area manager. And each year GW increases the targets further and further. So that instead of it being a way to get a rough idea of how the store is doing it becomes an impossible challenge for the staff.

This is why in several of the GW stores I've been into the staff leap on you immediately and try to upsell as much as possible whilst trying to tack on add on sales. If they don't and the store fails its targets (I don't know if they have 'personal targets' for their staff) then they'll get it in the neck. Compare it to over 10 years ago, when I got back into the hobby, when I could go into the store and chat with the staff for 30 minutes of my lunchbreak whilst they were indulging in their 'hobby hour' (a paid hour each day to do hobby stuff - even I got it when I worked for GW in 2002/2003. Wonder if they still get it) and could come and go without them trying to sell me anything, it feels crazy. I don't like going into GW stores anymore. It's not that the staff are rude but are being treated poorly by the company* and this has a knock-on effect on the customers who don't want to go back to that shop because the staff are obviously just interested in getting their money in the till.

*I worked in retail for 10 years in the UK and I can tell you from first hand knowledge that the companies I've worked for will squeeze as much out of you as they can without paying you more for the stress. One chap I worked with, the Assistant-Manager, had a breakdown over the stress of everything they piled on top of us constantly day after day, ringing up if we failed targets, demanding new proceedures that they'd change the following week, making us change the store around often and repeatedly - poor fellow went home thinking of work, woke up during the night thinking of work and dreaded going to work the next day. Ironically the manager of the store had a alcohol-related breakdown two weeks prior, as he'd almost put himself into the grave by trying to cope with the stress by drinking heavily each and every night - this was a manager who had for years smashed targets in two seperate stores, who was the best manager they had in the area, yet he was treated like dirt because he didn't suck up to his superiors. Point is I've seen the evils of retail, I know the pressures companies place on employees without recompense, and I truly feel sorry for the staff of any shop who has to go through that sort of thing.

Back in 2005 the manager of my local GW store changed, the new manager was someone i knew well and was friends with outside the hobby, but when he took over things soon went down hill.

First we were not allowed to play specialist games like gothic and inquisitor, didnt go down that well but no one left, then the veteran gamers started to be given the vibe that we were no longer as valued as we once were.

The final straw was when he canceled veteran night all together, he said it was so the staff could go home safe but the truth was he flipped a coin and the veterans lost out. (my friend dave worked there at the time and saw it)

Well i had no where else to play so i stopped buying GW completely as there was no point buying stuff i couldent use and i know i wasnt the only one.

Two members of staff one still a very good friend quit over it, and his sales slumped badly because his precious new gamers didnt have the cash the vetrans had to spend.

I got back into the hobby last year at the urging of my friends i dusted off my old stuff but i'll never spend the same kinf of money on the hobby i once did, and i'm not using their stores any more either.

This is not a 40k discussion...

MrMoustaffa wrote:

warboss_grimjaw wrote:I think the thing that puts me off about GW stores is the way that the employees immediately latch on to you like leeches the moment you walk in the door. I'm so annoyed by their "sell sell sell" demeanor, over-exuberant dorkiness, and desire to engage in constant chatter that I actually avoid going in there. Unless I'm really in a pinch for some supplies, I go to a mom and pop FLGS almost ten miles away. They ask if I need help finding anything and then they leave me alone, instead of hovering like vultures trying to get me to buy every paint color, hobby knife, and starter kit in the store. I always thought this might be particular to the shop in my town, but I've been to enough in the DC metro area -- and even one in North Carolina -- that were all the same way that I can only assume it's store-wide.

There's one employee in particular that has seen me several times, knows I've got a sizeable army and all the tools and rulebooks, and he STILL tries to sell me the Assault on Black Reach box, saying if I sell the Space Marine's off it's the best bang for my buck to get more Orks. If he's trying to sell it to me, you know he's pushing it on some pre-teen who doesn't know different, and this coming from a guy that probably knows damn well 6th edition is around the corner.

I think most of us can agree that GW is definitely one of the worst, most exploitative companies we've all had to deal with -- but I love Warhammer 40k. I'll buy their products from third parties and online, but in general, I avoid their stores.

Actually, I thought AoBR WAS one of the cheapest ways to get more orks? I've heard that everywhere, not just FLGS employees bug other gamers as well. Heck i've even heard that on dakka. Although if the guy is being a little pushy on it i could see that being annoying.

Sounds like he may have been just trying to help you save cash. Crazy I know

I've had a GW employee advise me to get the Skyray kit over the Hammerhead as it gets you all the Hammerhead pieces plus the Skyray stuff and costs the same, so it's a win-win purchase. So not all of them are upselling corporate stooges, some of them do actually think about what is best for the customer.

My local GW manager is pretty cool. He'll do the whole starter set selling thing for the kid and his parents but once he gets to know you and you're set up then he'll make sure to try and give you advice which is actually helpful, rather than just selling you the most expensive kits he can. When I go in he'll ask me what I'm looking for, say his ideas for what will help then leave me to make up my mind.

FLGS staffers have a higher likelyhood of being a choad, by far.

The main reason for this is simply because GW, for whatever else you want to think about them, has a very solid and steady employee training program. They hire people based on their sales ability, not necessarily an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. They train into the game knowledge after hiring.

FLGS on the other hand are going to be pretty rare if they have a bona fide retail training program (obviously this differs store by store) and generally a person is a lot more likely going to get hired through their knowledge of the product. But what falls short in this set up is that there is no follow up training on retail customer service. Some FLGS employees are a good natural talent for it, or at the very least have enough common sense to cobble something together, but without the training there is a lot higher chance of a douche getting into the position. Couple that with the fact that an FLGS simply don't get a lot of traffic, a douche employee can fester for a long time.

What I do greatly admire in GW stores is the staff's focus on keeping things 'clean' both in terms of taking care of the shop and making it a pleasant experience for people to play at. I've never been in a GW that was disorganized or poorly maintained, and (this is big for me) poor sportsmanship or really foul language are usually talked down on in a big hurry. Call me old fashion, but I do like a bit of class there. Now, before folks jump on, this is not to say that FLGSs do NOT do this, but it is rarely a guarantee if they will or not. At a GW, I can count on it.

As far as latch-y GW employees, my experience is pretty mild. The guy at my GW will generally ask me if I need glue or paint whenever I buy something on a reliable rate. It isn't really too bad of a deal, though I certainly wouldn't mind if it was gone. That really is only at the GW I go to most, the others in my area that I go to for variety/tournaments/whatever are much more laid back about that and they'll generally ask only things like "you got everything you need" when I'm buying. Hardly pushy, but definitely indicative of a training regimen that is well-trod and experienced.

Assault on Black Reach box, saying if I sell the Space Marine's off it's the best bang for my buck to get more Orks.

Actually, for Orks, it is pretty much the best way to grow an army. At least the very basics. And yeah, you get the other stuff to sell or trade off for more. So...dickish? Come on.

I think most of us can agree that GW is definitely one of the worst, most exploitative companies we've all had to deal with -- but I love Warhammer 40k. I'll buy their products from third parties and online, but in general, I avoid their stores.

Don't let your experience speak for me, kthx.

Last time I went into a GW store the employee asked me if I was looking for something in particular. I told him what I was looking for and he directed me right to it

He talked to me a bit about it, and rang me though the till. It took all of 5 minutes and I got zero vibes of anything other than someone trying to help a customer.

My FLGS they usually chat me up a bit more but I go there fairly regularly so that's to be expected.

I guess I feel this is like saying "Which is worse people from X or Y". You'll get some crazy stories about this or that but in the end its really about what the person is like... and what they had for breakfast.. and if someone ran over their dog that morning...

I have never been to a GW store, the closest one is like 5 hours away.

The one gw I've stopped into has 1 great guy, who will take the time to help you with what you need, not offer you stuff you don't need with the up sell and seems like he's there because he loves the hobby that much. He even gave me a free pot of liquid green stuff for some fine cast stuff that had bubble issues and they were out of replacements(honestly didn't mind). The other 2, one I think hates his life and the other is a g.w. tyrant and the only 3 things your allowed to talk about in the store is 40k, fantasy or l.o.t.r. , Blood Bowl questions will be met with scorn and contempt.

I've only ever been to two GW stores, one in Edinburgh and one in London. The employees seemed friendly enough to me.
On the other hand, my FLGS back home has had some definite problems with hiring TFGs. Luckily the worst of them got arrested and sent to Angola for the foreseeable future.

I don't really get problems with GW managers, though that may be because the only GW store in a reasonable distance is the Chicago Battle bunker. I used to go to a general gaming store, but an employee there was both too open, and too rude with his opinions for me to feel comfortable.

I've had both good and bad experiences in both GW and FLGSs. In the area a live now (within a reasonable distance), I have 2 FLGSs and 1 GW.

As for GW stores: Since I started back in the tail end of third, I've had mixed experiences with the 3 GW stores I've lived near over the years.
One of the worst was a guy who worked there who seemed to know every rule for all the systems, and knew the games very well, but made me wonder if he ever played. I have a C:SM / DA army, and every time I asked for advice as to what to get next, he would tell me some other army. I remember my friend started playing necrons around the same time, and I asked for help beating necrons and his honest to God advice was "Cause more wounds". He had no details as to how to do such, and to this day it's still a running joke in our gaming group. Every time I would be talking to my friends about some strategy or unit I was thinking of trying, he would walk up and list off all the ways it could go bad, and all the units that could counter it, and not in a helpful "be wary of..." way, but more in a "pfff, this is a list of the reasons your dumb" way.
On the other hand, at my current GW store, there are some great guys! A few years ago I started building my bike list, and I came in and picked up a bunch of boxes of bikes. I brought them to the counter, and the guy was so helpful. He mentioned he remembered I had gotten a land speeder from my wife for my recent birthday, and asked how I liked it so far, and also recalled my hatred for metal models. He told me not to buy all the individual vanilla bikes, but to wait until the following week when they got more raven wing kits in, and get two of those, I would save money, get more bikes, and two more land speeders. He even remembered that I also had a dark angels army, even though I had never played it there, and had only mentioned it once. All the employees there are equally friendly, helpful, and nice to have a good chat with.

As for FLGS: at one of my FLGS(which I now only go to for their magnet selection) I have had no end of problems. I used to go there for MtG tournaments a while back, and for that they weren't too bad. Whenever I go there for 40k stuff, they always hassle me about it. Saying I should play this game or that game (depending on the employee at the time), or telling me I should use other paints instead of the GW paints simply because they hate GW products. I went in once on a day they had cleared the floor for a MtG pre release (and by clear the floor I mean only moved the GW products to the back), and asked where the GW products were only to be met with a sigh. Then I asked if they had any of *insert whatever model I was looking for* and was met with another sigh and was told to come back some other time when they were out because he didn't feel like going to the back to check. My last time there was just after the recent GW paint change. I am colour blind, and have painted my army Dark Angels green. I brought about $50 of magnets, as well as 3 paint brushed, and two other colours up to the cash and asked if he knew which color was the new replacement for DA green as they didn't have the color chart out. He was so over the top rude about it. I asked if he could look it up online, and he said it wasn't his job and to just pick whichever I thought was closest. I told him I was colour blind and he literally said "well that's not my problem". It took all I had not to tell him where to go as I calmly left everything on the counter and just walked out.
My other FLGS is pure nerd heaven. The owner is an avid 40k himself with many armies, and they have a wide selection of other merchandise. The owner has had some recent problems stocking GW products, so he only has bare bones stuff. But I get all my paints,brushes and misc modeling supplies there and they are always friendly, helpful and not pushy. Also, he is always more than happy to order stuff for me (as I don't have a credit card to order it myself) and only charges me his cost for any of my 40k orders saying "heck, I make enough on you from paints and cards, its no problem".

tl;dr. In short, it depends on who and where for any retail store as to what kind of service you'll get. My advice is find a place you like, support it, and enjoy.

Firstly I didn't vote because there are little to no local gaming stores near where I live, so my only real experience is with GW stores.
That being said, I've found that most GW employees I've met range from annoying and overzealous to damn right arrogant thunder....s!
I remember one time back in '03 I visited a store and bought many CSM boxsets as I was just getting back into the game and as a great lover of the ruinous powers, Chaos was for me.
Anyway, once I was at the counter the 'waste of oxygen' standing behind it asked me what my plans were as I had squads bearing different marks. Being back in the 3rd ed. codex, you couldn't have a mixed army UNLESS lead by a Black Legion commander.
Well, the staffer completely patronised me by exclaiming angrily that my mixed army was illegal and went on to mention how frustrated he was that many players made this 'mistake'.
I wanted to slap the jerk, but I calmly replied, "I bought Abaddon a few weeks back".
Good times heh!
Not the first time a GW employee has pointed out their lack of knowledge in my presence.
These days, I usually just have to put with over-eagerness for he most part, haven't met any real asshats for many years.
However, as much as I love 40K, I still find it unbearable to walk into a GW store, so if I can, I drag my GF along so she can distract the many neckbeards with her womenly assets and I can the feth outta there ASAP!
Anyway, that's my story of GW douchebaggery!

I've had nothing but good experiences with my FLGS. They staff there have always been very friendly and lots of fun, and since I started going there (about 3 years now) me and the owner have started playing games every week or two.

As for a GW store, I've only been to the nearest one (an hour's drive away) once or twice. When I was there one of the times there was an employee having a game with a costumer (probably a demo game, he seemed pretty young). On both occasions none of the employees really said anything to me, but the stores were pretty busy, so it's definitely excusable. They must be ok, because it seems like they're doing well, though they pretty much have a monopoly as far as I know.

warboss_grimjaw wrote:I think the thing that puts me off about GW stores is the way that the employees immediately latch on to you like leeches the moment you walk in the door. I'm so annoyed by their "sell sell sell" demeanor, over-exuberant dorkiness, and desire to engage in constant chatter that I actually avoid going in there. Unless I'm really in a pinch for some supplies, I go to a mom and pop FLGS almost ten miles away. They ask if I need help finding anything and then they leave me alone, instead of hovering like vultures trying to get me to buy every paint color, hobby knife, and starter kit in the store. I always thought this might be particular to the shop in my town, but I've been to enough in the DC metro area -- and even one in North Carolina -- that were all the same way that I can only assume it's store-wide.

There's one employee in particular that has seen me several times, knows I've got a sizeable army and all the tools and rulebooks, and he STILL tries to sell me the Assault on Black Reach box, saying if I sell the Space Marine's off it's the best bang for my buck to get more Orks. If he's trying to sell it to me, you know he's pushing it on some pre-teen who doesn't know different, and this coming from a guy that probably knows damn well 6th edition is around the corner.

I think most of us can agree that GW is definitely one of the worst, most exploitative companies we've all had to deal with -- but I love Warhammer 40k. I'll buy their products from third parties and online, but in general, I avoid their stores.

umm, i don't know about orks but the AOBR IS ABSOLUTELY THE BEST value in all of 40k. i may be a noob but a little simple math will show you the light.

AOBR $99
- $37 tac. squad
- $50 term squad
- $44 dreadnaught
- $10-20 Captain
that's a $50 savings in just marines not to mention the rulebook and templates and dice and orks that can be sold on ebay. i know you were looking for orks but i don't play them and i don't feel like looking the prices up. even with the new edition coming, the models will still be valid and the templates and dice are still good to go i'm sure.

methinks the lady doth protest too much.

AOBR is even better for orks. All our models are based on nobz or boyz, so you can basically cut off their arms and tack any excess equipment from other boxes on them to get whatever model you want.

I have three GWs and one FLGS in my area, the FLGS pretty much stopped their 40k business after GW opened a store right across the street though (literally less than one minute apart). That GW store is pretty bad when it comes to employees jumping on you, but only as long as you are looking at any shelf at all. Sadly, the store manager is pretty bad when it comes to getting useful units, so he would advice random crap to everyone, with the talent of getting people to buy the least useful box in the army. He is an awesome painter though (I'm not), so I tell him how I want my models to look like, and he tells me how to do it He sometimes gets to sell me paints and washes in the process, so it's win-win for both of us.

The other two GW are pretty ok though. Once any employee sees you unpacking four battlewagons, they usually leave you alone with sales, and/or come over to chat about whatever. I really like going to those shops, though the two smaller ones tend to be overcrowded.

ive seen it both ways... ive seen GW shops where employees are too focused on what they think i should buy instead of what i would like to buy. they also tend to burn down all the other companies that produce tabletop gaming related products such as that vallejo paint isnt as good as citadel, especially when i use an airbrush ^)

and ive seen local hobby stores where they go crazy when i buy something elsewhere. even when im like "but you didnt have it on stock and you said you where not gonna order until next month" they still think i should have waited so they could order it for me.

nowadays i have found a new store. where employees seem to be friendly and there are a lot of nice people in there. they even have a permanent 15% discount on GW kits F you GW price hike!