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Employees who are old time gamers who think all the new games are gak.

3rd Edition D&D is out, store runs 2nd edition campaign.

Mechwarrior Clix game doing well, store runs Classic Battletech, when the miniatures were out of print.

Deadzone released, run Necromunda with photocopied rules and converted miniatures

 adamsouza wrote:


Mechwarrior Clix game doing well, store runs Classic Battletech, when the miniatures were out of print.

When was that? Ral Partha stopped making Battletech miniatures in 2001, and Iron Wind Metals took over a year later. Clix and CBT were around at the same time.

 adamsouza wrote:
Employees who are old time gamers who think all the new games are gak.

3rd Edition D&D is out, store runs 2nd edition campaign.

Mechwarrior Clix game doing well, store runs Classic Battletech, when the miniatures were out of print.

Deadzone released, run Necromunda with photocopied rules and converted miniatures

I completely understand the frustration of new players wanting to play new games, but I kind of love the idea of a shop supporting veteran gamers. I'd sign up for a Decromunda campaign before a Deadzone Campaign, and I supported the Deadzone KS.

Elif, there is nothing wrong with playing the older games. It was just frusterating that the store manager was pushing OOP games while the shelves were stocked with the newer versions. There is nothing that makes you feel better about dropping your hard earned money on a new game than the store manager calling it crap, without ever playing it, and run the store league to play the older version, which they don't actually have in stock.

DarkTraveller777, I don't remember the year, but he made the League Inner Sphere only and earliest time frame only, when a lot of the old models were not available. We were driving to another store 45 minutes away that had tons of old Battletech stock to build our forces.

Main issue is the other people. Tonight at NWGC, I heard some witless cretin say to the girl on the bar "scratch your hairy crotch" which is an hilarious way of saying thank you very much, apparently...

My flgs is great. The owner is a great guy super helpful finding anything you need or ordering anything you want.
Kind of wish that he would stock more battalion boxes for fantasy but he stocks a good selection of normal boxes so can't complain.

It does get quite loud when playing tho on a Saturday which I geuss is just the nature of it since its a small store and lots of people.

 adamsouza wrote:

DarkTraveller777, I don't remember the year, but he made the League Inner Sphere only and earliest time frame only, when a lot of the old models were not available. We were driving to another store 45 minutes away that had tons of old Battletech stock to build our forces.

Oh, he likely used 3025 stuff which include the lawsuit `Mechs.

That is pretty douchey.

3025 is the best (BT is better when heat matters), but not if the models aren't available. That's just daft.

By the end of the league one of the players was buying the hard to get mechs off of Ebay and casting them for the rest of the league, including the store manager running the league.

So the store basically made ZERO profit on a league it was running, while new product sat there on the shelf.

The manager was later sacked, and a fully supported Mechwarrior league replaced it.

• Non-Notification of special order status.
• Special order found on shelves with regular stock.
• Can't find special order after they told me it was in. (i called).
• Endless "Backorder" wait times.
• Opinionated Manager can be annoying. Politics.
• I was told GW went out of business. (5 years ago, inquiring about a special order.)
• Screaming children running rampant.
• Treated like outlaw when trying to pay by check. (they know my name, been through it many times)

Actually this is two stores in my area. Both places could do with a bit of improvement.

I don't think I'd ever expect to pay by cheque at a retail outlet. Their response shouldn't have been to treat you like a criminal trying to scam them with a bad cheque, but just a simple statement of "sorry, we don't take cheques."

As for special order problems, wait times, back order issues and stores that lie about companies being out of business or products being no longer available, I've experienced enough of it that I really, really value sellers that have things in stock. Miniature Market and Discount Games Store get lots of money from me because they actually keep reliable stock numbers and ship when they say they will.

I used to be a special order locally only kind of customer, but pretty much all my local stores have let me down when it comes to special orders, so they all lost my business for not in stock items. I still get the occasional thing they have in stock (Infinity, FoW/15mm WW2, etc.,) but no more special orders.

Definitely the other people. People want to crap-talk. I'm there to let my dice do the talking and it just creates a hostile environment. And yes, I usually roll 1s

 frozenwastes wrote:
As for special order problems, wait times, back order issues and stores that lie about companies being out of business or products being no longer available, I've experienced enough of it that I really, really value sellers that have things in stock. Miniature Market and Discount Games Store get lots of money from me because they actually keep reliable stock numbers and ship when they say they will.

This is the biggest thing for me right now. I'm all for supporting the local store, but when every time I want to order something the distributor has 0 in stock or even if they do have it in stock it can take 2+ weeks to arrive, and on top of that there's a chance it won't be held for me so someone else can buy it, why the hell would I want to do that rather than go online, order it from a shop that gives me a large discount, has virtually everything guaranteed in stock, and I can get it in a week? I've started to just order small things that I don't really need but are nice to have from the local store, and anything important order online where I know for sure I'll get it, and get a nicer discount to boot. Loyalty only goes so far.

Ordered Aegis Defense Line in mid August, told it should be there in 1-2 weeks.
1 Week later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
2 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
3 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week, and that I should stop asking about it, they will give me a call when it arrives.
Last week of November I get a phone call telling me my Aeigs Defense Line arrived.

My biggest issue with the FLGS is the customers. They whine and groan about everything and expect the store owner to give them everything and provide them with a plush playhouse.

 crazyredpraetorian wrote:
My biggest issue with the FLGS is the customers. They whine and groan about everything and expect the store owner to give them everything and provide them with a plush playhouse.

To be fair though, most game stores don't seem to do it because they want to make money, it's to provide a place to play. And in the day and age of internet discounts, they have a lot of competition for people's money. "I have gaming tables" isn't always enough to cut it.

 frozenwastes wrote:
I don't think I'd ever expect to pay by cheque at a retail outlet. Their response shouldn't have been to treat you like a criminal trying to scam them with a bad cheque, but just a simple statement of "sorry, we don't take cheques."

Checks have been used in many places all over the US for a while. They've been in decline recently because of the prevalence of debit cards, but still accepted by most retail outlets.

 adamsouza wrote:
Ordered Aegis Defense Line in mid August, told it should be there in 1-2 weeks.
1 Week later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
2 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
3 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week, and that I should stop asking about it, they will give me a call when it arrives.
Last week of November I get a phone call telling me my Aeigs Defense Line arrived.

Had a similar experience at the LGS which was one of the 3 strikes I gave them before I stopped going. I preordered the IG codex with them a month in advance when it came out in 5th edition. I used to game at the store weekly and stopped by another day each week to make a scheduled purchase (I allowed myself 1 prepainted minis box like DDM or SWM each week on weekends just for the hell of it). I inquired twice a week for 4 weeks after it was released and was told every time that they hadn't gotten it in yet. On my second trip during the fourth week post release, I got fed up with the same excuse and called from the parking lot the next closest store (unfortunately 25 miles further) who had one copy in stock. I told the other store to hold it for me and cancelled my preorder after I walked back in. The manager's response? "That's ok. I never ordered it." Tim at Heroes... you were a world class douche and the reason I never came back to the store. This was actually the third special order they screwed up (out of 4) but it was particularly brazen and I'm only counting this one order as one of the three strikes I mentioned (the other two "strikes" were just as ridiculous). You shouldn't have to try so hard to get a store to take your money in exchange for goods. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I thought that was their primary purpose!

WayneTheGame wrote:

 crazyredpraetorian wrote:
My biggest issue with the FLGS is the customers. They whine and groan about everything and expect the store owner to give them everything and provide them with a plush playhouse.

To be fair though, most game stores don't seem to do it because they want to make money, it's to provide a place to play. And in the day and age of internet discounts, they have a lot of competition for people's money. "I have gaming tables" isn't always enough to cut it.

People will spend their money where they want to, nothing can change that. However, I really get tired of hearing gamers whine about this cool store or that cool store and how it sucks that they closed. Does mismanagement happen? Sure, in most cases. But, if the consumers want a local shop with play space they have to be willing to pay a premium. Otherwise, their local hang out will go out of business, too.

It's probably too much to hope for, but alot of FLGS's could probably learn something by looking at this thread. There's already been quite a few folks that have clearly stopped using their FLGS for egregious things that aren't even that hard for a retail store to take care of, and a few of us have publicly named the stores we won't go to anymore.

 adamsouza wrote:
Ordered Aegis Defense Line in mid August, told it should be there in 1-2 weeks.
1 Week later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
2 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
3 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week, and that I should stop asking about it, they will give me a call when it arrives.
Last week of November I get a phone call telling me my Aeigs Defense Line arrived.

You are a more patient man than I. My order would have been canceled by the first of October.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I see some people citing the lack of customer service as a pet peeve. One of mine is too much customer service. I stopped going into GW stores years ago because, as soon I walked in, they were trying to get into my pants. Acknowledge my presence, offer to help if I need it, and then please back the hell off.

This. I try to go into GW when the manager is busy with someone else, grab what I want and then wait at the checkout, fully ready to tell them I don't need paints and glue. I hate it when they're free, walk up behind me when I'm browsing and stand rooted to the spot suggesting everything under the sun.

My brother could never understand why I was so preoccupied with 40K and loved looking at the stuff in the window but never go in, so I sent him in with clear instruction. Buy 1 Chaos Terminator Lord. I kid you not, I waited outside across the street for 30 minutes before he came out and said "they don't have one". They had suggested AOBR, a baneblade, Chaos Terminators etc. before telling him they could order what he wanted in. He understands now.

That was GW Winchester. I've had them scream 'Hello' at me as I walked in while they were demoing a game and also seen them prevent a lady from actually going in by standing in the doorway with an arm across it. Bizarre company, GW.

I've been contemplating opening a store in my hometown when I retire in about six years. Posts like these give me great insight and I hope to not make the same mistakes if I do end up opening a store. Thanks Dakka Dakka.


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Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've been contemplating opening a store in my hometown when I retire in about six years. Posts like these give me great insight and I hope to not make the same mistakes if I do end up opening a store. Thanks Dakka Dakka.

 Eilif wrote:
It'

 adamsouza wrote:
Ordered Aegis Defense Line in mid August, told it should be there in 1-2 weeks.
1 Week later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
2 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week.
3 Weeks later asked about it, told it should be there in a week, and that I should stop asking about it, they will give me a call when it arrives.
Last week of November I get a phone call telling me my Aeigs Defense Line arrived.

You are a more patient man than I. My order would have been canceled by the first of October.

It was just around the release of 6th edition when that happened. I didn't return there until 7th edition was released.

I had one special order that took from June to February. I didn't cancel it, I just completely forgot about it and some time in between had bought the item somewhere else when I happened to see it in stock. In this case I was able to send a very clear email as to why I bought the item online instead and why I won't be using their store for special orders again until I hear things are different from others in the local community.

 Eilif wrote:

 Easy E wrote:

Regarding Holds. I own a bakery business and get calls to "hold" items in our case all the time. Our policy is "First Come, First Serve" for anything in our baked case. The reason is, if we hold it and you forget to come by an dpick it up or get too busy... we just lost money.

We do have special ordered items be made and picked up, but we make it that day just for them. We don't put that in the case. If these people don't show up, we sell or donate their stuff and then they go on the "Pre-Pay Only List". I.E, no baking until money has been exchanged.

Holds and Pre-orders can be a risky thing.

They're not risky if the FLGS makes the effort to do it right. It's pretty simple.
-Get Name and Number
-Set a solid date for how long it will be held (A couple days should be enough)
-Hold it that long then put it back out.

FLGS's need to be willing to accommodate gamers in this kind of way if they want to compete with online shopping.

Oh yeah. I'm not disagree with any of your points, but I'm just trying to add a bit of perspective from a Business Owners point of view. Advanced Orders and Special Orders are tricky logistically and very easy to screw up, especially if you are doing a lot of them. You need a good, documented, and sustainable process/system in place PRIOR to starting to take these types of orders or you could be setting yourself up to be in a very bad position. No matter how good the system, human error can also be a factor. That said, if a store doesn't have a well-thought out process in place it is their fault, not the customers for placing the order.

I can think of the few times when an order slipped through our system due to workload, fatigue, mishandling, and other normal everyday process errors. It is not fun to be on the receiving end of the customer's rightful anger, and then trying to scramble to make it right.

My peeve with game stores is them allowing the obscenity. I know there's lots of young games around who haven't learned to control themselves, but I just won't take my kids into the shop with me anymore because of hearing the F bomb thrown around by one or two people at the top of their lungs thinking they are so cool because they are fighting "the man" and because they are the customer and their money will leave when they are told to use polite words.

rigeld2 wrote:

 frozenwastes wrote:
I don't think I'd ever expect to pay by cheque at a retail outlet. Their response shouldn't have been to treat you like a criminal trying to scam them with a bad cheque, but just a simple statement of "sorry, we don't take cheques."

Checks have been used in many places all over the US for a while. They've been in decline recently because of the prevalence of debit cards, but still accepted by most retail outlets.

Checks are very risky for retailers to take and lack the protections of major lable debit cards. I know we don't take checks because if they bounce you are out the money, have to try to collect it, and get fees from your bank (which makes no sense, but is a great source of revenue for the yank). Meanwhile a debit/credit card with a major lable (visa, MasterCard, etc) is backed up and supported by the card networks coffers. They need vendors to accept their cards so try to make easy for a vendor to do so.

Edit: I wonder how many of these long delayed special orders are the fault of the distributors and not the store itself?

 Easy E wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:

 frozenwastes wrote:
I don't think I'd ever expect to pay by cheque at a retail outlet. Their response shouldn't have been to treat you like a criminal trying to scam them with a bad cheque, but just a simple statement of "sorry, we don't take cheques."

Checks have been used in many places all over the US for a while. They've been in decline recently because of the prevalence of debit cards, but still accepted by most retail outlets.

Checks are very risky for retailers to take and lack the protections of major lable debit cards. I know we don't take checks because if they bounce you are out the money, have to try to collect it, and get fees from your bank (which makes no sense, but is a great source of revenue for the yank). Meanwhile a debit/credit card with a major lable (visa, MasterCard, etc) is backed up and supported by the card networks coffers. They need vendors to accept their cards so try to make easy for a vendor to do so.

Edit: I wonder how many of these long delayed special orders are the fault of the distributors and not the store itself?

I'm well aware that checks are more risky, but that doesn't change my statement at all.

Overall I am thrilled with my new FLGS, with only one minor fault. The owners occasionally make verbal agreements regarding special orders that are forgotten later. I have come to accept it, and still give them the first shot at nearly any planned purchase, but if it is a quantity-limited item I make other plans. That aside, Chronocade is top notch!

Back when the Chicago Battle Bunker carried Forge World models they occasionally took forever to get in, I'd ordered a set of missiles and a pair of heavy bolters that I was going to use for a scratch built thunderhawk. Placed the order in January and paid for them at the time I placed the order, they didn't show up November. Normally I would have cancelled the order after 30 days of no show, but I forgot I'd ordered them and was like wtf? when they finally showed up.

I also loved when they had holes on the shelf of core items/units for months on end, it was supposed to be a flag ship store for the region yet would have to stretch other products across the shelves to hide how much stuff they didn't have. I'd go up there when I wanted things then and there, not to use their web portal to order stuff I'd get in a week or two, I can do that from home and at a discount. Why would I want to drive to their store just to web order everything? I can't buy something you don't have on the shelf, drove me nuts.


The store we use to frequent out in IN for ccgs had a small store front which had stuff piled floor to ceiling to the point you could barely move and the larger game room was in the rear of the store. The second floor of the building was the owners house and they had a laundry/storage room that separated the store front and the game room which you'd have to pass through. If it were well kept it wouldn't have been an issue but in addition to stinky clothes he also kept a pair of ferrets in cages in that room, and they have a terrible oily stench that follows them everywhere and their cages weren't cleaned often enough so they also reeked of ferret piss which is even worse than the smell of cat piss. It was so bad we'd all try and hold our breath while passing through there and even then the smell would cling to you for a bit after you walked through. It was pretty horrible and the major reason why we eventually stopped going there. It wouldn't have taken much effort to relocate the ferrets and clean on occasion but he preferred to keep his place a pit ultimately at the expense of his customers.