What's the most annoying thing a GW worker has ever said to you?

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**VictorVonTzeentch**

I like most the guys at my local GW, they are rather helpful and at least one is actually trying to get me to paint my army by offering to some me so different painting techniques, to help me get over my if its not up to my ridiculous standard its not being fielded ways.

Which brings me to the most annoying thing they used to ask.

Them-"When are ya gonna come in and play a game?"

Me-"When my army is done."

To my credit I got around to playing in the store, with an unpainted Tau Rapid Insertion Force. Not the army I would have like to debut with but it worked.

**mussie76**

Foda_Bett wrote:I've got a few so I'll start with my most recent.
For Black Friday last year I drove all the way to the local GW store (45 minute drive) I'd called the night before to ask when they opened, they respond 7am.
I show up at 7am when they open and I see that they must have been open for about an hour already so I'm a little upset.
I start asking about the day exclusive merchandise and RS - "Well we have this button here you can have one."
Me - "Uh thanks, what about the special chaos shirt."
RS - "Oh well that's going to be given away."
Me - "But the website says they're for sale."
RS - "Yeah we're different here."
Me - "WHAT?! I drove 45 minutes for a button?"
RS - *Disappears in back* "Here's a poster."
Me - "Uh thanks..."

6 Years ago I used to hang out a lot at the same GW store as my friends worked in the arcade a few doors down.
Well I show up for the Ogre Kingdoms promotion day, its a conversion contest, you're given an Ogre and a box of bits and you get to convert what you want. So I make a sentinel legged Ogre with a bunch of bionic parts. Some people like it, one staffer HATES IT.

So a week later, Tuesday, it's painting time, and I come back with all my paints and I had a few non GW paints. I start painting using the GW paint and the same GW employee starts talking about his rocky immigration to America and how he's been discriminated against because of his accent and other stuff. Well he's going on and on so I keep painting nodding and smiling at the right times.
I start painting with some non GW paints, and he goes crazy. He starts yelling about how dare I paint with tis crap and to close it up right now.

Well I came in again that weekend with my folks as they wanted to clear up the fight. I notice they're having a sale so I start picking out some boxes. After picking up the second box my father asks what we had fought about, and the second I mentioned non GW paint he starts yelling at my father about how he's a horrible parent and it's my father's fault I've become such a horrible person, how all the employees hate me and they have tons of complaints every week against me. So I decide to put back the boxes I've been holding as I don't feel like buying stuff from someone who's yelling at my father, and the GW employee starts yelling about how I'm now being rude and huffy.
The ironic part was the sale was for customer appreciation.

Man I hope they sacked the gakker

**jackinthetank**

Maybe he just had mental problems...... you know... so into wargamming that he's become affected by the warp.

**LuciusAR**

H.B.M.C. wrote:

You and that other loon are the only people who've come in here decrying what is otherwise a fun thread, trying to apologise for or explain away the examples - right to the point of calling everyone liers by saying that they're exaggerating.

I'll assume the 'loon' you are referring to is me.

I've got nothing against silly stories per say and I could quite happily write pages and pages about the stupidity, bitterness and downright cretinous behaviour I observed from my fellow hobbyists during my time as a red shirt so its quid pro quo really.

My objection was founded on the fact that it had diverted from being a place to recant amusing tales to, in some cases, outright abuse. The person who called a redshirt a dill weed from refusing to sell him glue without ID (Which I'll remind everyone again is the LAW in the uk, there is no get out clause that its ok to sell solvents to minors as long as they have bought models) was bang out of order.

Incidently calling me a 'loon' is a personal attack, which is a violation of forum rules. If you disagree with me then feel free to argue back but I'll thank you not to resort to name calling. If anything such behaviour devalues your own arguments.

Going back to the non GW paints incident, yes the redshirt may have delbt with the situation in a questionable manner (assuming its literally true, this is the intwebs after all!) but the policy is sound. I'll admit I use allot of Valejo and Coat d'arms paints at home but I wouldn't use them in a GW store. It's the same reason that pubs and cinemas tell you that you can't consume food purchased off the premises, it hurts their business!

As for the painted armies, I think the 'work in progress' rule is acceptable. In other words its ok to see and unpainted or half painted model on the board as long as work continues and it has more progress next time you bring it in. I'm the first to admit that painting can sometimes be a chore but with dry brushing and quick shade (seriously brilliant stuff!) bashing out core units can be done be even the laziest painter.

**Osbad**

asugradinwa wrote:
Roze wrote:"do you need a starter paint brush set since your buying fantasy?"

I wanted to punch his gimp face in....*rages once again*

Please don't call people gimps. I have cerebral palsey and take offence to it when people who do not have that or a simular disorder are called gimps. Call them Morons, lame brains, stupid, ugly, whatever. But please do not use the word Gimp.

Fair enough. Although I had never really understood "gimp" in this context. Personally my experience had been towards the lower end of the list of definitions on Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimp

**Osbad**

LuciusAR wrote:I've got nothing against silly stories per say and I could quite happily write pages and pages about the stupidity, bitterness and downright cretinous behaviour I observed from my fellow hobbyists during my time as a red shirt so its quid pro quo really.

That sounds like fun! I for one would love to read a thread about the idiotic behaviours exhibited by some gaming store customers! Even though I am one (occasionally) its still fun to read about the doings of my fellow morons!

**JD21290**

1: HBMC did not break any forum rules.
he simply called the "other person" a loon, if you feel you should rise up and claim that title then by all means do so, but he did not direct that to anyone, it was a free ball that you picked up.

2: maybe not everyone wants to quickly paint models.
i love getting the time to spend 2-3 hours painting a single tactical marine.
i dont feel the need to rush and paint them all to a stupidly low standard so i can be accepted and play at a store.

3: you wont let my comment drop will you?

now, he has asked me for ID 3 times in a row now, 3 other staff members have told him to stop asking me since they know me well, and at one point i went there twice a week, sometimes more.
i was simply bringing up my point (which you seem to miss for some reason) that if i wanted to be sniffing glue i wouldnt spend loads of money to do so.
also, just a thought here, but i also buy blades from there, yet they do not ID me for those (which also you have to be 18 to buy)
i have never been asked to show ID for buying spray from there either.
so he is a dill weed, he just seems to be on his glue rampage.

while im here with that i let my girl buy the glue last time, needless to say she did not get asked to prove her age (she is 18), so he now also has double standards.

and HBMC is right in what he says, as are alot of people here.
this is a thread about a certain subject, if you dont like it, leave it.
even a MOD has said that the thread is fine, and now since you cannot get your own way you start to moan about everything said.

**Roze**

Osbad wrote:
asugradinwa wrote:
Roze wrote:"do you need a starter paint brush set since your buying fantasy?"

I wanted to punch his gimp face in....*rages once again*

Please don't call people gimps. I have cerebral palsey and take offence to it when people who do not have that or a simular disorder are called gimps. Call them Morons, lame brains, stupid, ugly, whatever. But please do not use the word Gimp.

Fair enough. Although I had never really understood "gimp" in this context. Personally my experience had been towards the lower end of the list of definitions on Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimp

well my definition of gimp was a submissive person in full "Gimp" waer which is the marketed name for it. and i'm actually rather offended that you would assume i ment otherwise.

**Frazzled**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Which is why they also offer free painting lessons to encourage it.

Doesn't take long to get the models table ready after all. Three Colours and Base is a cinch.

Very few Stores will allow completely unpainted armies. Works in progress? As long as there is genuine week on week progress, then fair enough (still showing off the Hobby)

But bare metal models? Play at home.

1. Plenty of GW stores do here. I've never had that as an issue. At worse I've seen them have the requirement of some progress. Myself-it takes years to do an army. We'll show up with half painted armies, bits from different armies, even paper stand ins. Of course GW employees don't harass Pappy gramps-I remind them too much of their insane great grandfather.

2. Your competing FLGS definitely don't.

**jackinthetank**

LuciusAR wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:

You and that other loon are the only people who've come in here decrying what is otherwise a fun thread, trying to apologise for or explain away the examples - right to the point of calling everyone liers by saying that they're exaggerating.

I'll assume the 'loon' you are referring to is me.

I've got nothing against silly stories per say and I could quite happily write pages and pages about the stupidity, bitterness and downright cretinous behaviour I observed from my fellow hobbyists during my time as a red shirt so its quid pro quo really.

My objection was founded on the fact that it had diverted from being a place to recant amusing tales to, in some cases, outright abuse. The person who called a redshirt a dill weed from refusing to sell him glue without ID (Which I'll remind everyone again is the LAW in the uk, there is no get out clause that its ok to sell solvents to minors as long as they have bought models) was bang out of order.

Incidently calling me a 'loon' is a personal attack, which is a violation of forum rules. If you disagree with me then feel free to argue back but I'll thank you not to resort to name calling. If anything such behaviour devalues your own arguments.

Going back to the non GW paints incident, yes the redshirt may have delbt with the situation in a questionable manner (assuming its literally true, this is the intwebs after all!) but the policy is sound. I'll admit I use allot of Valejo and Coat d'arms paints at home but I wouldn't use them in a GW store. It's the same reason that pubs and cinemas tell you that you can't consume food purchased off the premises, it hurts their business!

As for the painted armies, I think the 'work in progress' rule is acceptable. In other words its ok to see and unpainted or half painted model on the board as long as work continues and it has more progress next time you bring it in. I'm the first to admit that painting can sometimes be a chore but with dry brushing and quick shade (seriously brilliant stuff!) bashing out core units can be done be even the laziest painter.

Just shut up and stop posting on this thread.

The more you talk clap-trap the more fun we'll have.

I'm 13 years old and I can assure you I have bought super glue alone ( nobody else was with me ). So either the store you worked at was run by a member of parliament or they're just being over cautious.

And I can tell you for free, if I intended to get high on glue, I would not buy a 25ml bottle for £5. I can think of much cheaper places to buy it.

Many thanks,
Jack.

**Frazzled**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Meh. At least 90% of the tales in this thread are exaggerated in my opinion.

Good to see Dakka's moral compass (and soon-to-be GW employee) has chosen to grace us with his presence.

be nice HBMC. MDG is a cool hard drinking Scot soccer hooligan, when not sucked in by the Man.

how we're bad people, or lying, or exaggerating,

Wait, we're not? That sounds like your average Texan to me.

**reds8n**

I'm 13 years old and I can assure you I have bought super glue alone ( nobody else was with me ). So either the store you worked at was run by a member of parliament or they're just being over cautious.

You've been lucky or look older then, they can get fined thousands of £s or even shut down for selling glue to under 16s.

Meanwhile....

He's long gone now, but there used to be a member of staff who used to drink the paints. Initially he did it, I believe as a bet or forfeit, but then, oddly, he seemed to get quite addicted to drinking them. Most bizarre, especially when he used to smile at you !

**VictorVonTzeentch**

reds8n wrote:

I'm 13 years old and I can assure you I have bought super glue alone ( nobody else was with me ). So either the store you worked at was run by a member of parliament or they're just being over cautious.

You've been lucky or look older then, they can get fined thousands of £s or even shut down for selling glue to under 16s.

Meanwhile....

He's long gone now, but there used to be a member of staff who used to drink the paints. Initially he did it, I believe as a bet or forfeit, but then, oddly, he seemed to get quite addicted to drinking them. Most bizarre, especially when he used to smile at you !

Well have you ever tasted the paint on accident by going to make a fine point on the brush with your lips and tasted the paint? Regal Blue tasted like some kinda berry, and bleached bone like bananas... Taught me to clean the brushes more thoroughly.

**reds8n**

To the best of my recollection I don't think I've tasted the paint in said manner. neither have I accidentally drank the water pot instead of beverage or dipped my brushes into my drink.

Clearly I fail as a hobbyist.

**JD21290**

thats what i allways do stynier, and i can say that flesh wash may smell like chocolate, but it dont taste like it

inks are pure evil, and the old smelly primer is like acid.

**jackinthetank**

Yes I do look older as I am quite mature and tall for my age (5ft 10) and the workers often respect me.

I have tasted bleached bone paint by accident and I am afraid I didn't think it tasted like bananas.... it tasted of paint. Those of you (brotherstynier) who think it does, need to check into the nearest mental home.

I haven't drank out of my water pot.... although I must admit that I have dunked my brush into my coffee.

**VictorVonTzeentch**

Well it smelt like em, so my brain went "mmm... bananas.." then "OH GOD thats paint.

JD21290 wrote:thats what i allways do stynier, and i can say that flesh wash may smell like chocolate, but it dont taste like it
inks are pure evil, and the old smelly primer is like acid.

I made the I wash mistake once, never again... Never tasted the inks or the primer so I'll trust your judgment on them.

reds8n wrote:Clearly I fail as a hobbyist.

No you're just one of those careful hobbyists.

**Konrad Carstein**

Not an annoying story - not in the slightest - but I post this with fond regards of the staff of one particular GW store.

Back when I was at uni, me and my friends would spend much of our time hanging out in the local GW store. We were quite well-known for it (and often used to get asked questions by more casual visitors to the shop, but that's besides the point).

I'm also going back to a time when almost all models were metal and were in blister packs; about the time when GW sold Bolt Thrower and Wraith vinyl.

Sometimes, those blisters would get delivered in a damaged state. The GW manager told us that the correct policy was to send them back, but he never did. All the split blisters, plus bits left over from the shops own collection, got put in a great big box. This we'd happily rummage through, searching out all the parts of a snotling pump wagon or giant, for example. I once got an entire Orc blood bowl team for a £1, including the utterly useless kicker! I still have this team now (some 15 years later).

Some months later, after (nearly) daily visits to the shop, the manager knew what we all collected and pretty much what we had for our armies. He also knew what we didn't have. Lo and behold, split or broken blisters of those items turned up in the box. *Dreams wistfully of such things happening again*

I guess the only annoying bit would have been the times when you'd find all of a model except one part. Damn we were fussy!

**jackinthetank**

Fussy!

Call yourself fussy you ungrateful git!

Nah I'm joking- I know the frustration.

**Konrad Carstein**

Looking back on it, if I was the GW manager, I'd have banned our asses...

**jackinthetank**

I'm proud of this thread.

It's rapidly becoming one of the most popular threads with 200answers now!

Well done guys!

**JD21290**

watch out though jack, luna's pube thread was on a roll yesterday

**Konrad Carstein**

BrotherStynier wrote:Well it smelt like em, so my brain went "mmm... bananas.." then "OH GOD thats paint.

JD21290 wrote:thats what i allways do stynier, and i can say that flesh wash may smell like chocolate, but it dont taste like it
inks are pure evil, and the old smelly primer is like acid.

I made the I wash mistake once, never again... Never tasted the inks or the primer so I'll trust your judgment on them.

reds8n wrote:Clearly I fail as a hobbyist.

No you're just one of those careful hobbyists.

Try getting the taste of ink out of your mouth....

Or the stain from your tongue...

*shudders with distant memories*

**JD21290**

good tip here that works well

if you do have ink on your tongue simple eat a polo (you have them where ever you are right?)
it absorbs the paint / ink, spit it out after a few mins and its gone

and since its a mint, it also kills of the bad taste (allthough it does nothing to boybands :()

**LuciusAR**

Ok I appear to have touched a nerve here.

JD21290 to be fair It’s only the 2nd time I mentioned it and it wasn’t your comment exclusively that I was attacking, it just sprung to mind as an example. I apologise if you feel I have singled you out for criticism.

Now regardless of what a customer buys, how old that customer looks or whether you knew damn well that the customer intends to use the glue legitimately or not is, quite frankly, neither here nor there. It's illegal to sell a minor Glue, end of. Silly law? Maybe. That doesn’t mean the staffer wasn’t in the right for refusing the sale and it ok to referring to him in an abusive way for doing so.

Like I said, no objection to the basic premises of the thread. All I objected to was the fact that some comments had crossed the line from amusing recollections to abuse and name calling. That I objected to. That and the fact that many of the comments had an air of smug superiority.

It's not just a case of don't like it, don’t read it. I took allot of flak in my time as a redshirt so yes I'll admit to being on the defensive when a threat arises which invites people to berate those doing a job which brings a surprising amount of stress (seriously no day in a 'real job' has ever left me as tired as an average beginners day!) and less money than a McDonalds toilet cleaner. I'll admit the constant targets regarding Into Games and Boxed set sales where a real pain in the proverbial and constant pressure to up sell and push new releases to all and sundry is annoying. It is however the nature of sales and Redshirts are essentially salesmen. Veterans with a superiority complex are amongst the worst customers you have to deal with, I'm sure many will agree with me.

My point is if you want to berate people for following policies and laws, which generally are in place with good reason, your going to annoy people. Attacking the rules and laws is one thing but taking it out on the people who enforce them is crossing a line. Especially when the attacks incorporate name calling.

Again sorry if I've seemed flamey. That wasn’t my intention but I still stand by my initial points.

**Konrad Carstein**

LuciusAR wrote:Ok I appear to have touched a nerve here.

JD21290 to be fair It’s only the 2nd time I mentioned it and it wasn’t your comment exclusively that I was attacking, it just sprung to mind as an example. I apologise if you feel I have singled you out for criticism.

Now regardless of what a customer buys, how old that customer looks or whether you knew damn well that the customer intends to use the glue legitimately or not is, quite frankly, neither here nor there. It's illegal to sell a minor Glue, end of. Silly law? Maybe. That doesn’t mean the staffer wasn’t in the right for refusing the sale and it ok to referring to him in an abusive way for doing so.

Like I said, no objection to the basic premises of the thread. All I objected to was the fact that some comments had crossed the line from amusing recollections to abuse and name calling. That I objected to. That and the fact that many of the comments had an air of smug superiority.

It's not just a case of don't like it, don’t read it. I took allot of flak in my time as a redshirt so yes I'll admit to being on the defensive when a threat arises which invites people to berate those doing a job which brings a surprising amount of stress (seriously no day in a 'real job' has ever left me as tired as an average beginners day!) and less money than a McDonalds toilet cleaner. I'll admit the constant targets regarding Into Games and Boxed set sales where a real pain in the proverbial and constant pressure to up sell and push new releases to all and sundry is annoying. It is however the nature of sales and Redshirts are essentially salesmen. Veterans with a superiority complex are amongst the worst customers you have to deal with, I'm sure many will agree with me.

My point is if you want to berate people for following policies and laws, which generally are in place with good reason, your going to annoy people. Attacking the rules and laws is one thing but taking it out on the people who enforce them is crossing a line. Especially when the attacks incorporate name calling.

Again sorry if I've seemed flamey. That wasn’t my intention but I still stand by my initial points.

Can we summarise this then?

Both GW customers and GW staff are capable of being completely abusive and neither should be tolerated.

Both GW customers and GW staff are occassionally prone to saying something daft / ridiculous / stupid / funny / annoying (all without the intention of malice).

We all agree the first type are basically idiots and want nothing more to do with them.
We want to hear about the latter. Seem reasonable? Can we all shake hands and move back OT?

**JD21290**

fair enough there, just wondered why it was what i said that kept comming up.

silly? not really, it does make sense.
me buying spray paint fine, then asking for glue and getting asked for ID, that is stupid, if he has allready sold me a solvent then why ask for ID to sell me more?

you may object to it, but your the 2nd person so far, how many people here have nothing against this thread?

congratulations, you just described what its like to work

there will allways be problems no matter where you work, these range from pissy little children to getting shot at (a slightly larger problem)
if you dislike a job for whatever reason to the point where it is effecting you, find a new job, dont kill yourself through stress.
veterans are in your opinion the worsed to deal with simply because they know what they want, they cannot be swayed into buying random crap they dont need like most kids.

your now telling me about attacking the rules and laws, which is fine in most cases, but read what i have written regarding the spray, thats hardly the law is it?
also, you must honour the laws and rules, yet you still find it ok to lie to parents to make your own life a little easier?

i dont plan on moving with what i have said either, i stick to what i say.

**Konrad Carstein**

JD21290 wrote:fair enough there, just wondered why it was what i said that kept comming up.

silly? not really, it does make sense.
me buying spray paint fine, then asking for glue and getting asked for ID, that is stupid, if he has allready sold me a solvent then why ask for ID to sell me more?

you may object to it, but your the 2nd person so far, how many people here have nothing against this thread?

congratulations, you just described what its like to work
there will allways be problems no matter where you work, these range from pissy little children to getting shot at (a slightly larger problem)
if you dislike a job for whatever reason to the point where it is effecting you, find a new job, dont kill yourself through stress.
veterans are in your opinion the worsed to deal with simply because they know what they want, they cannot be swayed into buying random crap they dont need like most kids.

your now telling me about attacking the rules and laws, which is fine in most cases, but read what i have written regarding the spray, thats hardly the law is it?
also, you must honour the laws and rules, yet you still find it ok to lie to parents to make your own life a little easier?

i dont plan on moving with what i have said either, i stick to what i say.

So what you are saying is that we all have a social responsibility, and that if we are prepare to judge others, we must accept judgment ourselves.

It's all very well people crowing about how they've been sold glue at 13 or whatever but that doesn't mean that people aged 13 should try to do it? I remember being 15 or so trying to buy alcohol and getting irate because I got turned down. Looking back, I wasn't exactly helping matters. Its the same principle with glue.

**Wannabe Writer**

The most annoying thing a staff member has said to me was after a game I had against Grey Knights. I had my rear end handed to me in no short order, mostly due to a Grey Knight Grand Master with some bit of wargear which lowered his opponents WS and I (or one or the other I can't remember exactly). After the game I recounted my tale to my mate Rob (the staff member) and he then said:
"the wargear only works on daemons, not any other race."
Aargh!!!!

. I know it wasn't his fault, but it was so annoying to hear that after the point of it being of any use to me.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

krusty wrote:you know, all this talk of kicking kids out of stores for not having a fully painted army is becoming less and less stunning...

i mean think of it from a gw POV...
if kids want to have fun games at home, theyre gunna need a table...

"!

lets make a $290 set of plastic squares that fit together in a table shape so they have to either paint to play here or buy that...!
$40 plastic buildings? sounds good!
hmm...theyll need theyre own dice and tape measures if theyre not borrowing ours..."

just another one of theyre endless ruthless salesmen tactics...

Actually? No. Promoting home play is a good way of keeping a gamer gaming. A Veteran cannot be a Veteran if they depend entirely upon their local store for a venue. See my thread about how I hope to improve my local store should I get the job. Yes, the Realm of Battle Board is expensive. Exceedingly so. Which is why I would point out the alternatives of building your own board. Store I'll hopefully be working in has mainly hand made boards with a pretty simple construction. Big that up the Dad, and you promote father/son bonding time, and might just entice Dad into collecting an army as well. Home play, you can do whatever you damn well please, and I intend to see that the Community round my way is solid enough that the shop becomes a venue for specific events, with the gamers going to clubs and houses for the mainstay gaming.