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The manager didn't accuse him of stealing. If you're going to get into an argument, it's a good idea to be careful about your facts.

The manager clearly gave poor customer service, violated company policy on returns, and overstepped himself in a bad way with the email. But we have no reason to believe that the manager accused him of stealing.

Pen≥Sword wrote:At the end of the day I see how a lot of people have pointed out the he is new and probably doesn't know all of GW's policies (the exchange and return policies do seem a bit out there for any other retailer).
I figure I'll go in and maybe talk to him about it just so this whole thing doesn't leave any bad impressions either way.

Indeed GW's own customer service policies are really generous to the customer, possibly to compensate for the rather large premium we pay (or at least they think we pay) for their product. The only other one that comes close is Lego, who offers free replacement pieces for any missing or mis-molded piece, usually with no questions asked, but never does actual exchanges without extensive proof of purchase. Anyone else tend to ask for a receipt and the item in question mailed back to the parent company.

Just Dave wrote:Sorry, but that makes him "worst manager"?

You said yourself he's a nice guy with awesome customer service. He's forgetful to the extreme, yes. But worst manager?

Well.. he does say that is it is for him personally.. so I suspect that the manager Pael is talking about also probably qualifies as the tallest manager, AND the Shortest Manager.. as well as the "manager most likely to play fullback for the Giants" etc...

I figure that he's new, inexperienced, and though might be a really nice guy, but he's just not up to being manager yet. Part-timer? yes. normal employee? yes.

Scott-S6 wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:So you are wrong. I was giving you an opportunity to back up your point but I guess you don't have anything to back it up with?

Other than my own experience that I put forward in this thread and having dealt with GW Nottingham's customer service?
Nope, nothing at all to back it up with.

You didn't say "my experience is" you said "GW policy is". And yet their policy does not include these things.

Also, do you really think "I say this is so" constitutes evidence?

GW don't need one as, of course, they're covered by the laws of the land with this regard.


Which in the case of the Uk is 6 months.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/returning-damaged-or-faulty-goods/?gclid=CIrOq4-2_aYCFcse4QodkQ8rZg

Exactly. GW policy has nothing to say on the subject at all.

porkuslime wrote:

Just Dave wrote:Sorry, but that makes him "worst manager"?

You said yourself he's a nice guy with awesome customer service. He's forgetful to the extreme, yes. But worst manager?

Well.. he does say that is it is for him personally.. so I suspect that the manager Pael is talking about also probably qualifies as the tallest manager, AND the Shortest Manager.. as well as the "manager most likely to play fullback for the Giants" etc...

Exactly, the thread wasn't very specific on the credentials of worst manager so I just named the one I had the most trouble with.

???

Aside from the guys experience, the manager isn't the worst. Not that I'm not enjoying the crazy back and fourth, but the point is being lost that all it was was a bonehead play on the managers part.

Bottom line on it is that the OP just needs to grow up and get used to the idea that people are human, and that in the real world, people do stupid s!@#

He can cowboy up about it, go on about his business, and go on back in to the store, because the manager probibly will not remember him anyway, five minutes later.

Seriously, Kan, the way your going on about it, you'd think that YOU were the manager in question.

DarkCorsair wrote:Hmm. Probably should call customer service and let them know about this guy. I'm sure this isn't a thing with all GW stores, the guy here in Sterling is awesome.

Yup. It also seemed like all the staff in there are pretty cool too (assuming your talking about sterling Virginia)

Wait, there's another shrike?!
NOOOOO!!!!
BTW- It's shadow-captain shrike.

Over the years I've come to know a lot of GW staff in the DC metro area, and from Baltimore down to Richmond. Stores have come and gone, staff and managers have come and gone. For the most part, they have all been fantastic individuals. Only drawback has been that the stores themswelves are way too small for our group, as we need a minimum of 8 tables on club night.
But yes, there's always that one, isn't there. In my case, it was the store manager who told me it didn't matter if I won every game, how well painted my army was, or if all my opponents gave me perfect sportmanship scores, cause I would never ever win a prize in any tournament he ran.

don_mondo wrote:the store manager who told me it didn't matter if I won every game, how well painted my army was, or if all my opponents gave me perfect sportmanship scores, cause I would never ever win a prize in any tournament he ran.

why?!
That guy sounds like a real .

don_mondo wrote:
But yes, there's always that one, isn't there. In my case, it was the store manager who told me it didn't matter if I won every game, how well painted my army was, or if all my opponents gave me perfect sportmanship scores, cause I would never ever win a prize in any tournament he ran.

Did you run away with his girlfriend or something?

With a reply like that one, maybe you should.

Formosa wrote:The manager at GW norwich was heading that way, he seemed really highly strung and to be honest a bit f a douche, then we all got to know him, yes he is buisness orientated.. but i respect that (buisness before pleasure and all that) the more i spoke to him the more i realised we were quite alike.. so he was a douche lol lol

agreed Formosa, all though he's actually a pretty cool guy. It does depend really.

Pacific wrote:Did you run away with his girlfriend or something?

- or to be politically correct- Did you run away with his girlfriend/boyfriend or something?

shrike wrote: Wait, there's another shrike?!
NOOOOO!!!!
BTW- It's shadow-captain shrike.

I feel hurt...Not really , I dont even play ravens, just liked the character .

Wow, that just really sucks. I'll throw in another assurance that the vast majority of GWs don't suck by saying that management at the GW in Ottawa are awesome.

Captain Shrike wrote:

shrike wrote: Wait, there's another shrike?!
NOOOOO!!!!
BTW- It's shadow-captain shrike.

I feel hurt...Not really , I dont even play ravens, just liked the character .

the fluff for him is pretty darn awesome...just a shame the model's like "catch me as I land, I'm shrike the ballerina", as opposed to "I am leaping out of the shadows towards you to cut off your head and then disappear into the darkness".

ok. Picture going to see the movie "Shrike The Ballerina"

Captain Shrike wrote:ok. Picture going to see the movie "Shrike The Ballerina"

If I had the time, I'd make a photoshopped version of him wearing a tutu.

Stockport manager is good; been in the hobby for a lengthy amount of time and has amassed quite an impressive collection of Imperial Fists amongst other armies from the core games to specialist games.

Unfortunately, his hands are tied by GW HQ when it comes to some decisions; we're in need of a larger store or at least the go-ahead to convert upstairs and more gaming boards (currently using two 4x4 foot boards), but last time I checked GW HQ still said no.

I was very surprised to have a close experience to this (not nearly to the extent of the OP). I brought in an unopened blister of a warhawk rider to a GW, that I'd won as a prize at the 'Ard Boyz qualifier at an independent store. I'd had to make an on-the-spot decision on what I wanted, and had changed my mind... and since it was unopened, I figured it'd be no problem to swap it for store credit at the GW.

They gave me a pretty hard time about it at the register... if I remember right I was picking up a $35 box and just wanted to trade the blister in for credit towards it (i.e. I was giving them business on top of it).

I didn't make a conscience decision to stop going there after this, but as it turns out it was my last purchase at that GW. I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of them in my area, and the one nearest to me has an awesome manager... not sure where the power-trip comes from for others, but it was real surprising, and a major bummer from a customer's perspective who is spending a Lot of money on these products, and giving them a lot of business.

The fact that it occurs multiple places makes me wonder if they're on the lookout for people trading things in they buy at a discount, for full price... however, that doesn't make sense as you can only get store credit, and if you were ordering from a discounter, you could just get what you wanted there and not get in a GW store paying full retail price, anyway.

I think with blisters it's not entirely unreasonable though. Supposedly most of what they have to replace as stolen stock is blisters.

Just last night I get a call from a friend of mine (a manager in the same region) and he tells me he got an email that was sent out from the new manager to all the other GW mangers in the region telling them to be on the look out for a "disgruntled customer trying to exchange bloodletters". Apparently, he thingk I got them from some illicit means and now I'm trying to get something free out of it.

OP - If you know this other manger so well that a) he knows you're trying to exchange some bloodletters, and b) he has your phone number, why don't you just go to his store and do your exchange there?

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

Pen≥Sword wrote:At the end of the day I see how a lot of people have pointed out the he is new and probably doesn't know all of GW's policies (the exchange and return policies do seem a bit out there for any other retailer).
I figure I'll go in and maybe talk to him about it just so this whole thing doesn't leave any bad impressions either way.

Indeed GW's own customer service policies are really generous to the customer, possibly to compensate for the rather large premium we pay (or at least they think we pay) for their product. The only other one that comes close is Lego, who offers free replacement pieces for any missing or mis-molded piece, usually with no questions asked, but never does actual exchanges without extensive proof of purchase. Anyone else tend to ask for a receipt and the item in question mailed back to the parent company.

Replacing defective parts is a requirement of law. Anything sold to someone has to be 'fit for purpose'. If an item is damaged/defective it has to be replaced or you are offered your money back. You shouldn't ever have to send anything back to a parent company, the store that sold it to you is responsible. If you buy a defective GW model from an independent shop then that shop should deal with the problem, you shouldn't need to go to GW direct. Some shops like GW offer to swap goods of equal value or offer store credit on unwanted items that are not defective, no one is required to do this by law, but GW usually do and a lot of clothing shops and the like do as well. But when it comes to replacing defective models GW are obliged to do so, the number of people on this forum who think we pay a premium for GW for offering services that are actually required under consumer law surprises me.

Kanluwen wrote:I think with blisters it's not entirely unreasonable though. Supposedly most of what they have to replace as stolen stock is blisters.

Except that the staff knows me, and are usually on friendly terms, and I spend a fair amount at GW stores in the area. Admittedly, that is not one I frequent as often... but as the staff gets moved around in the area, I knew the person checking me out, which made it even more surprising... and makes me wonder if there's some kind of policy on them challenging customers on this kind of thing (since it seemed rather out of character).

RiTides wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:I think with blisters it's not entirely unreasonable though. Supposedly most of what they have to replace as stolen stock is blisters.

Except that the staff knows me, and are usually on friendly terms, and I spend a fair amount at GW stores in the area. Admittedly, that is not one I frequent as often... but as the staff gets moved around in the area, I knew the person checking me out, which made it even more surprising... and makes me wonder if there's some kind of policy on them challenging customers on this kind of thing (since it seemed rather out of character).

*shrug* Maybe.

Maybe they have a new, effective security chip installed in their drones' heads?

Or hell. Maybe they were expecting an evaluation that day.

Howard A Treesong wrote:

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

Pen≥Sword wrote:At the end of the day I see how a lot of people have pointed out the he is new and probably doesn't know all of GW's policies (the exchange and return policies do seem a bit out there for any other retailer).
I figure I'll go in and maybe talk to him about it just so this whole thing doesn't leave any bad impressions either way.

Indeed GW's own customer service policies are really generous to the customer, possibly to compensate for the rather large premium we pay (or at least they think we pay) for their product. The only other one that comes close is Lego, who offers free replacement pieces for any missing or mis-molded piece, usually with no questions asked, but never does actual exchanges without extensive proof of purchase. Anyone else tend to ask for a receipt and the item in question mailed back to the parent company.

Replacing defective parts is a requirement of law. Anything sold to someone has to be 'fit for purpose'. If an item is damaged/defective it has to be replaced or you are offered your money back. You shouldn't ever have to send anything back to a parent company, the store that sold it to you is responsible. If you buy a defective GW model from an independent shop then that shop should deal with the problem, you shouldn't need to go to GW direct. Some shops like GW offer to swap goods of equal value or offer store credit on unwanted items that are not defective, no one is required to do this by law, but GW usually do and a lot of clothing shops and the like do as well. But when it comes to replacing defective models GW are obliged to do so, the number of people on this forum who think we pay a premium for GW for offering services that are actually required under consumer law surprises me.

It's required by law yes, but most places give you quite a hassel for it (or maybe it's just the dealers here). Other companies tend to send only the parts missing. On two out of the 4 occasions something came to me bad, they sent me a whole new set (even though the piece in question was separate from the sprue).