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 Grimtuff wrote:
WTF is a "Sammael jetbike smashfether"?

Sammael with the DA icons filed off, holding a TH/SS, swapped head.

My GW store owner here is unreal, he's passionate an while he wears a face at work when customers are around he's a very passionate and strong willed man. He has kept me in this hobby tbh I would probably have stopped and had my hobby block execute my passion for 40k totally. My store owner even lets us play legacy games or with legacy rules in stores as long as everything is on the official.

He even supports local events and goes down to hobby conventions on his days off to hand out hobby flyers and business cards. He even supports our local tournaments. He doesn't let them take place in his store or give them supplies from the store but he has his own private supply of scenery and realm of battle tables that he supplies from his own home.


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 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:
WTF is a "Sammael jetbike smashfether"?

Sammael with the DA icons filed off, holding a TH/SS, swapped head.

itt: way to murder a beautiful model, sammael was amazing as is

As others have stated, file a complaint about him to GW. As much as we can bash GW for their questionable decisions regarding business and game balance, their service is usually amazing. Hell, I can honestly say I've made lasting friendships with a couple of the red shirts from their passion for the hobby and friendly demeanour, if not for them I wouldn't have my Eldar, Dark Eldar, Imperial Knight, Ultramarine and Harlequin armies and for one of their number to act this way is sickening.

Tropic Thunder wrote:
My local GW store's staff is great. Easy going, friendly, all inclusive and non-judgmental. But the staff at your GW is completely different from one to another. I heard stories of the manager at a store 25 minutes away, stories that aren't flattering. That particular manager promotes hard core list building and a very competitive enviornment. In contrast my preferred store's manager is all about everyone having fun. People from my store come back from trips to the other store very annoyed with the clientele at the latter, as well as with the manager there.

You're not going to get the same treatment from one store to the next. Hopefully there's another one nearby you can try out, instead.

Well, here's the thing about people; we're incredibly community oriented animals, and we will find communities where we can fit in, and then we fit in there. Migrating to another community can be jarring, especially when it's a "day trip."

Here you have two communities next to each other, and as a social experiment, they're very interesting as they share a clear way of interacting (the game of 40k) and in how they choose to interact through what are essentially the same means, you can see a very stark difference.
One community has decided that the most fun you can have is to see if you can outsmart and outplay your opponent, and get challenged to wring out victory from another person doing the same thing. They'll try to outmaneuver you already in building their army, either to be the best all comers, or from knowing your tendencies they'll list build specifically to face you. They enjoy it.

The other community has a more relaxed approach. The game isn't about wrangling a win, it's about showing off miniatures, it's about seeing two fully painted armies across from each other, and mostly it's about the social aspect of a relaxed hang out with people that have become your friends, often as a result of your shared interest.

Some people will gravitate to one or the other. Others will be more on the fence, but after a while in either group, they will settle into it and expect it as much as anyone that went looking for it from the start. Going to the other store will be an absolutely typical culture clash, something you might not expect in stores 25 minutes from each other.

All I'm saying is there is nothing wrong with either store in what you describe. They're just populated by humans, and we will adapt to any climate but be shocked by a big change in climate. (See research around the Stanford Prison Experiment and pay special attention to the notes on how the researches let the experiment run longer than it should, because they were desensitised to the results, and it took a person that hadn't followed the procedure from the start to come in and tell them it had gone too far.

Personally, I'd go to your store and leave the competitive one a wide berth.

SOunds like he is just a crappy employee/store owner.

The guy at my local GW store is freaking boss. He busts out his own paints for us to use in the store, loves having people come in and do conversions, is down for using house rules.

Granted of course he is going to try to sell me stuff, thats his job so i dont fault him there. Even says this other company makes a better/technical paint GW does not.

Honestly just sounds like you got a gakky owner there mate :/

Still waiting for OP to tell me what GW store it is...

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:
Blackshirt/Redshirt are the guys who work there (Mostly one man stores like this one)


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Also I dont want to talk about the exact location just for privacy reasons, hope thats ok.

Report this to GW, a bit more calmly than your first post and with more details of exactly what was said.

GW does care about this sort of thing. He will most likely be sorted out or talked to harshly.

uk.custserv@gwplc.com


Edit: I see this has already been posted.

Best of luck. don't put up with that gak, next time.

The only time I ever visited a true GW fore was at the woodfield mall (I think that was it) in IL. There was only one employee but I had time to kill while my wife and in laws were shopping, we played a quick game with some store models and then taught a few kids who came by how to play and one bought a starter set. I also picked up a ew gw exclusive models that were hard to get at my flgs like an eldrad and dante.

Many, many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away - well nowhere near where I live now...) I was a red shirt. I had been off for a few days with exams and went back in on the Saturday to find a completely different manager I did not recognise and a couple of other entirely new and unknown part-timers (they had a few in those days). The area manager was in too (never a good sign). I asked him what was going on. He told me he was unhappy with the standards in the shop - staff had been entertaining regulars which was a massive no-no then, you were expected to ignore them and concentrate on new business, since it was perceived that regulars did not spend and just hung around. Upshot was he'd sacked the entire staff on the spot and replaced them but since I was not in when it happened I was "lucky" to have escaped. Didn't stay long after that! Turned out they had secret shoppers in checking up on the staff-customer interaction making sure enough effort went into sales patter and discouraging non-spending regulars.

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:
By 'humped at the door' I mean 'asked to reserve that 30th anniversary beakie' which I am not, I'll order it online to my door just so I dont have to deal with that nob again.

Just out of interest in regards to the 30th anniversary miniature, will you be able to buy it online between the 16th and 17th April? I just took a look and it looks pretty sweet, but I noticed there's no option to buy/reserve it from the website. Is in an in-store/special event mini only?

I may actually get one. According to the video it comes with some cool extras like the old heraldry guides and design notes and scetches for the Marines over the years. There's not included in the pictures or product description, though. Which is making me a little weary. And the £18 price tag seems reasonable (for GW) provided you get everything shown in the video.

Is there a thread on this mini already? Anyone know more about it? What do people think of it? Personally I'd love it if they did a full box/sprue of this design so you could do a whole squad/army of 'em.

EDIT: derp... there is a thread in news and rumors, hidden away at the top of the page!

Isengard wrote:
Many, many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away - well nowhere near where I live now...) I was a red shirt. I had been off for a few days with exams and went back in on the Saturday to find a completely different manager I did not recognise and a couple of other entirely new and unknown part-timers (they had a few in those days). The area manager was in too (never a good sign). I asked him what was going on. He told me he was unhappy with the standards in the shop - staff had been entertaining regulars which was a massive no-no then, you were expected to ignore them and concentrate on new business, since it was perceived that regulars did not spend and just hung around. Upshot was he'd sacked the entire staff on the spot and replaced them but since I was not in when it happened I was "lucky" to have escaped. Didn't stay long after that! Turned out they had secret shoppers in checking up on the staff-customer interaction making sure enough effort went into sales patter and discouraging non-spending regulars.

As a former employee of a Next store, this sounds like a very British way to run very large scale businesses. Hire the staff that will take the least pay, give them no freedom beyond your strict guidelines of interaction and treat the customers like cattle.
While I can totally understand it from the economy standpoint, it is soul sucking to be on either end of that process. Maybe not if you're on the end that receives the trollies full of money, though.

I have yet to have a bad experience going to the local GW store. I just started and let the guy know and he was nothing but helpful and has always been helpful when I stop in and ask for tips or ask if they have a certain model I might be looking to add (if I can't find it on eBay for cheaper first). The guy is always friendly and has yet to really laugh me off on anything. I've yet to stop in to play any games there as I'm still trying to learn all the stuff in the rulebook and paint my army, but on the whole, I've yet to have a bad experience there.

Like others have said, just report the guy to corporate so they can come down on the worker, as that's not a good work ethic whatsoever. Maybe he was just having a bad day overall with customers or stuff before the week started? Who knows. Still inexcusable behavior for a sales rep.

Discouraging "regulars" is not a good idea. It's the regulars that tell their friends about the gaming store. Also if you chase people out of a game store where are they going to play? Not everyone has their own table and terrain can be expensive if you don't know how to craft your own. Not to mention the official GW boards will run you an arm and a leg. I just use a gamemat but some people may not look for something like that right away especially since I imagine a GW store would not have game mats out on the tables.

Seeing as you recently had a thread with around 6 different negative run ins with people when gaming, most of them quite imaginative sounding, I can't help but wonder if you perhaps add a bit of colour to the stories?

A single person suffering from the most outrageous interactions on a continous basis makes it seem a bit dubious, a bit like the same guy getting hit with lightning 4 times in his life.

Damn that's unfortunate. I think for the first time a couple of days ago, I wasn't assaulted by flyers and events and Dark Vengeance boxes. The guy at the cash register didn't even offer me a flyer or ask me to buy more paint after I walked out with only one Abbadon Black. Plus, I was watching these two guys play a game, and no one spoke to me! Not once! Ok... now I'm not sure what to think about this.

I went to the Denver Games Workshop around 2 years ago. The guy working there was polite, but I could not for the life of me spark his enthusiasm over anything. I tried talking about 40k, and then when that didn't work I tried talking about Fantasy. I figured that maybe since I wasn't really involved with Fantasy he might be more interested in talking about it since he could actually maybe sell it to me as a game. Not a big problem, but I really do prefer the conversationalists...

 Imateria wrote:
GW Birmingham is pretty cool as well. Staff in there are all a great bunch of guys to hang around, laugh and chat with.

Dean's a nice chap, used to know him when he worked in the Northampton store.

I had a bad experience years ago in the Reading store, guy was a right tit. But I've been back to there many times now and I cannot fault it. All the guys are great and easy to talk to. I feel guilty sometimes when I go in there and don't buy anything after the guys have been so good

Over the past few years I've gamed in Northampton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Burton and Leamington Spa and all have been tiptop.

I feel sorry for the OP, sounds like you got a bad un there. Don't give up on GW yet. Best thing to do would be to contact that email address you were provided with and express your concern, don't go off on a rant though.

 Xerics wrote:
Discouraging "regulars" is not a good idea. It's the regulars that tell their friends about the gaming store. Also if you chase people out of a game store where are they going to play? Not everyone has their own table and terrain can be expensive if you don't know how to craft your own. Not to mention the official GW boards will run you an arm and a leg. I just use a gamemat but some people may not look for something like that right away especially since I imagine a GW store would not have game mats out on the tables.

I always thought that at the time. It seemed crazy to deliberately drive away people you had built up a relationship with and who were a steady stream of income. The logic (as it was explained to us, which was very much in 'do as you are told' way) was that new customers tend to spend more per visit, while regulars often come in just to chew the fat and often buy nothing, which deprives the firm of income and also means the staff are distracted from selling to new customers by the demands of chatting to non-spending regulars. The policy was strictly enforced when the shop came under the spotlight, i.e. when the secret shopper came in and then the area manager would appear with dire complaints about sales going a-begging and regulars hogging our time. The solution was to actively discourage regulars and attempt to drive them away, hoping instead for a constant stream of new intake who would spend heavily then drift away since they were not encouraged to become regulars and once their spending tailed off they would be subtly driven off. It was not a fun place to be once the new policy came into effect. I don't think they operate that way now. It would be very hard for a one-man store to work in that manner.

 Torus wrote:
As others have stated, file a complaint about him to GW. As much as we can bash GW for their questionable decisions regarding business and game balance, their service is usually amazing. Hell, I can honestly say I've made lasting friendships with a couple of the red shirts from their passion for the hobby and friendly demeanour, if not for them I wouldn't have my Eldar, Dark Eldar, Imperial Knight, Ultramarine and Harlequin armies and for one of their number to act this way is sickening.

fething THIS!

GW hands down the best customer service i have ever dealt with, once had a miscast fine crap model, Big freaking suprise there am i right? , called them up told them what part was messed up, asked for my address, told me it was on the way.

File an official complaint about that useless manager. Tell them about why you no longer use that store.

I have three local GW's I visit "one being Warhammer World" and the staff at all have been really good. When I first started getting back into 40k I had very little money and was between jobs but the staff were accommodating had no problem ordering in single poverty packs of 3 space marines or single bikes at a time.

Back in the nineties.. Yes I'm that old! I found the Wolverhampton and Birmingham GW stores were great places. Always full of regulars and part-timers like myself back then.

Fast forward 15 years and now that I have reemerged from the atomic wastes. I have found myself wanting to get back to modelling and painting again.

Luckily, Brighton GW has been really good and the blackshirt there was really helpful.

The tottenham court road Warhammer store was good but it was earlyish (11am) on a saturday morning and I was the only customer. Swings and roundabouts I guess

So you went to GW, used their painting tables (for free), played two games on their boards (for free) using models you bought in eBay? Sounds to me like pretty self-entitled behaviour.

Why do GW provide painting tables, gaming tables and free rules and figures if they don't want people to paint and play?

Dr. Bizarre wrote:
So you went to GW, used their painting tables (for free), played two games on their boards (for free) using models you bought in eBay? Sounds to me like pretty self-entitled behaviour.

You mean he show cased fully built and painted GW models (for free), provided passers by a look at how the game actually plays (As a customer I would never invest in a game I've never seen played) and advertised the action, fun and epic visuals of 2 fully modeled and painted GW armies fighting? Sounds like if GW is dsicouraging this kinda behaviour seems pretty self-destructive. NO! We don't want your free advertisement!

Dr. Bizarre wrote:
So you went to GW, used their painting tables (for free), played two games on their boards (for free) using models you bought in eBay? Sounds to me like pretty self-entitled behaviour.

They got their money when the models were bought the first time.

Customers do not owe companies their money it's up to GW to set their prices at a level where stock will sell, GW prices are ridiculous so people buy second hand.

I'm sure if in store prices were reasonable he'd of bought from GW instead of eBay.

There aren't any GW stores nearby, but I have two private stores, one a FLGS and the other just a LGS sadly.

I started going to the one store first and got started on 40k there, the owner is a great guy, but it's becoming progressively more apparent that he's not the best. He used to act super friendly towards me and have a lot of chit chat, but now that I'm not buying as much from him (my DA are pretty fleshed out), and I got most of my fantasy stuff for cheap off a friend he suddenly doesn't like me anymore. Doesn't have any time in the world to talk all of a sudden, for the past several months actually. I used to buy everything off him since he was a good friend, but after messing up a ton of orders, lying about ordering stuff, not having simple things like glue in stock because the truck was mysteriously delayed for 2 months... I'll admit I no longer buy anything from him if I can get it elsewhere. He even went so far as to try and give me the super outdated empire starter box when I specifically asked for the new one, then tried to tell me that I couldn't return it since I had opened it. I only go out there when I know a friend will be there for a game, and even that's hard since he started getting rid of his tables to "replace them with new ones", but a month later and he hasn't even started. It sadly seems all he cares about these days is magic since it's his main money maker.

The other store, luckily, is an awesome place where there are 4 guys with other jobs that co-own the place. No pressure to buy anything, totally fine with anything you get online, They're always great about keeping the place well stocked and quickly processing orders, the 6 tables are amazingly done and maintained, etc. etc. it's an awesome store.

hobojebus wrote:

Dr. Bizarre wrote:
So you went to GW, used their painting tables (for free), played two games on their boards (for free) using models you bought in eBay? Sounds to me like pretty self-entitled behaviour.

They got their money when the models were bought the first time.

Customers do not owe companies their money it's up to GW to set their prices at a level where stock will sell, GW prices are ridiculous so people buy second hand.

I'm sure if in store prices were reasonable he'd of bought from GW instead of eBay.

QFT!!!

I bought my wife a bunch of KDK pieces for her army over the last 2 weeks and got every piece including the codex and an old armorcast reaver titan 2nd hand. I also happen to pick up 15 wraithguard for $60.09...

Maybe if GW made their game a little more affordable and got rid of that finecast crap people would buy again. I used to think that paying that price for metal models was ok but then they went to using a cheaper material and kept charging the same price for practically non existent quality? I don't think so. I haven't bought a new model at full price since the Eldar codex came out and that's only because I needed a 3rd crimson hunter in a flash.

I've found the issues with my local store are actually very specific to the Manager running the store.

Some managers have realised, very quickly that a store in a city that does NOT have the footfall of the more popular tourist cities, also being located in an out of the way spot cannot afford to try to force sales and has to actually cater to the regulars and hobby vets...

Because the regulars and hobby veterans are the ones who will bring in new people, who will talk up the store and who will encourage growth.

The past run of managers have all about the Hard Sell. I don't know if training at GW has changed but the approach of pushing for a constant sale is actually succeeding in making the store shrink, driving people away to other FLGS and clubs.

And let's be fair - the idea we 'owe' the store is ridiculous at times. Because you then have to ask how much some of us have put into the store in the past. Just because I'm not pouring the money in during your time as manager does not mean I've effectively paid my fair due. If anything that could be seen more as a comment on the style of management.

That sucks man. GW needs to get a grip on their employees and make them more friendly. Being an ass doesn't sell models. Friendly employees do. I'm fortunate enough to have a very friendly employee at my local GW, so it's never been a problem there. I remember at another GW I went to the redshirts were always trying to force a new box on me, glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.