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The guys that worked at the GW that used to be by my house (bar one boring fellow) were amazing. There was one guy who kept starting armies but never finished them (this turned into the Infamous "Dan's stuff" as he left GW but left all his stuff in the store and no one through it out). We had another who brought in his nerf gun (the vulcan) and kept shooting models off of tables (fortunately, nobody cared but he was fired for it)

I am curious if any one else had quirky GW Employees or did I hit the one store that had them?

While I was studying in England, the i met up with the guy who ran the local GW in town. Sadly, I couldn't bring my army, but it was always fun to hang out there. I ended up helping the guy paint terrain. The best part was that after 5:00PM the owner started to blast death metal out of the speakers in the store!

I used to go to a store where the employees let guard players call in deathstrike missiles on games, even if they weren't participating in the game. They just had to call the store and see if anyone was playing. It made for some funny games because you never knew when a missile might land

I used to praise the employees at my local GW as the most pleasant employees in any store I had encountered.

Now there's just one guy left, and he is overburdened. We no longer get to play at the local GW, either, so usually there is not much reason to go there.

I feel sorry for him. I noticed that he really loved things as they were before, and I can no longer see that spark of enthusiasm - of loving his job - in his eyes.

 Ashiraya wrote:
I used to praise the employees at my local GW as the most pleasant employees in any store I had encountered.

Now there's just one guy left, and he is overburdened. We no longer get to play at the local GW, either, so usually there is not much reason to go there.

I feel sorry for him. I noticed that he really loved things as they were before, and I can no longer see that spark of enthusiasm - of loving his job - in his eyes.

Sounds like the last guys who went to my store. For a while, I only came in every couple months but everytime I came in, there was a new employee. My and my buddy kept saying to the guys that I am a bad omen to have in the store. There was one guy (the second to last to work at the store) who laughed at it after I came in a second time and he was still there. Ironically he was fired a week later.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:
We had another who brought in his nerf gun (the vulcan) and kept shooting models off of tables (fortunately, nobody cared but he was fired for it)

That is.. um.. If he did that to one of my models I'd probably want to hit him for that. Even if it weren't my models and the people who's models they were didn't mind I'd still want that guy out of the store because that is really immature, I can't stand GW employees acting like they are selling toys.



I've had a couple of cool managers that ran paint comps and events, didn't mind if I brought in non GW paints to use in store, ect. Then there was one ass who was the kind of guy who would say that every single model is the best model GW has ever released and if you don't agree then you're crazy and would just keep talking over you. You didn't have a conversation with that guy, he spoke his opinion at you as if it were fact and that was that.

I've run into two types: super fake excited, sell you something at any cost types, or genuine friendly guys trying to create an enjoyable environment for gaming in the hopes that you'll like their store and spend money there.

Guy at my local is a champ. I've even seen him politely explain to kids that they don't need another box of figures yet if they haven't even started the previous. I don't know if he's a dad, but he is very good speaking to the kids on their level.
Also very cool and helpful when I go in for help.
I also like the Nottingham crowd, they're hysterically funny, I just very rarely get over there to the town store.

 Jimsolo wrote:
I've run into two types: super fake excited, sell you something at any cost types, or genuine friendly guys trying to create an enjoyable environment for gaming in the hopes that you'll like their store and spend money there.

There was a guy like that (the sell you anything) who worked at my GW. He constantly apologized for doing it because it was part of his job description

The fluctuation rate of the red shirts at the GW Hamburg I store is rather high. Generally, the red shirts are nice. But they are not get paid well. I know two of them who quitted at GW since the income was too low when they got a family with children.

I've seen a GW manager who would only let you play games if he was in-between setting up dioramas for the non-existant newcomers, as that was the only time a table was free. Really annoying.

 Jimsolo wrote:
I've run into two types: super fake excited, sell you something at any cost types, or genuine friendly guys trying to create an enjoyable environment for gaming in the hopes that you'll like their store and spend money there.

I've only been in a few GW stores, but the former was the case in those instances.

Fortunately, most of the FLGS stores I've visited were in the latter case.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Guy at my local is a champ. I've even seen him politely explain to kids that they don't need another box of figures yet if they haven't even started the previous. I don't know if he's a dad, but he is very good speaking to the kids on their level.
Also very cool and helpful when I go in for help.
I also like the Nottingham crowd, they're hysterically funny, I just very rarely get over there to the town store.

I go into the Nottingham store quite frequently. Games Night always ends in tears of laughter, and the store staff are the best there's ever been. They never try to sell you anything at any cost, and are always genuinely happy to help or just chit chat.

Myc wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Guy at my local is a champ. I've even seen him politely explain to kids that they don't need another box of figures yet if they haven't even started the previous. I don't know if he's a dad, but he is very good speaking to the kids on their level.
Also very cool and helpful when I go in for help.
I also like the Nottingham crowd, they're hysterically funny, I just very rarely get over there to the town store.

I go into the Nottingham store quite frequently. Games Night always ends in tears of laughter, and the store staff are the best there's ever been. They never try to sell you anything at any cost, and are always genuinely happy to help or just chit chat.

I'm probably going to the Nottingham store in February because I'll be visiting England. Is it easy to get a pick-up game there or should I just leave my army at home?

TheNewBlood wrote:While I was studying in England, the i met up with the guy who ran the local GW in town. Sadly, I couldn't bring my army, but it was always fun to hang out there. I ended up helping the guy paint terrain. The best part was that after 5:00PM the owner started to blast death metal out of the speakers in the store!

Brutal.

War Kitten wrote:I used to go to a store where the employees let guard players call in deathstrike missiles on games, even if they weren't participating in the game. They just had to call the store and see if anyone was playing. It made for some funny games because you never knew when a missile might land

That's amazing! I have a similar story when both GWs in Amsterdam (we have one in the south of the city and one in the east) were hosting an Apocalypse tournament at the same time. I don't know the exact details, but there were some weapons in play that had unlimited range, so the managers of both stores allowed players to attack players in the other store.
It was amazing.

 wuestenfux wrote:
The fluctuation rate of the red shirts at the GW Hamburg I store is rather high.

I wonder why...

Okay to the relevant stuff, I've got two different local GWs since I stay away from home during term-time weekdays since I study at Leicester.

Been twice to the [CRASH'S HOMETOWN EXPUNGED] GW, both times had some questionable experiences:
First time the guy was nice and cool like 90%+ of the time, but there was this one point where I was talking to my friend about various things and got onto the topic of my Dark Vengeance starter kit and how much it cost. I mentioned both the real GW price and the discounted Gifts For Geeks price (I bought it from the latter). I wasn't whispering but I wasn't exactly loud either, I was using the "talking to one particular person" tone/volume and thought that would be enough for nobody else to butt in. I was wrong because the store guy immediately burst into an angry rant about how horrible and evil GFG are and all the people who buy from them bringing stuff in to build/paint and how he'd throw them out if they then asked to use his brushes and so on. Genuinely terrifying experience. I know the dude's on commission but yeesh, not the way to get people to buy from your store... I should know because I'm really nervous about going back and worry about it each time. After that outburst he seemed fine whenever I spoke to him again. Glad he didn't yell at me more or grill me on where I bought Dark Vengeance or whatever, but kinda made him seem a bit bipolar.
Other time there was some sort of temp guy there instead when I wanted to ask about one of my Biker models. He had a gap that I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be there or not. He said he didn't really know much about models and just likes painting or something like that (yet he still landed this job. ), he didn't know whether the gap was supposed to be there or not but still tried to sell me Liquid Green Stuff to fill it. (For the record, it turns out the gap WAS supposed to be there)

The guy at the Leicester GW has been nothing but friendly and all-around cool about everything, along with being no more shill-y than someone working for GeeDubs has to be. That said, he has said some rather questionable things to me.
One that I now look back on and at would be back in January or February or so when I mentioned my worries about Unbound when it came up:
Younger Crash The Clueless Noob: I heard they would make a list of all "Riptides" or something, I don't know how I'd cope with that...*
Leicester Games Workshop Dude: Well if they do that, you can bring Belial and all his mates!
*Might be paraphrasing my issue, but it was along those lines (and I definitely remember that I didn't actually know what a Riptide was other than it being apparently OP), I quite strongly remember his response.

Now I'm not an expert but I don't think HQ spam is the way to handle that issue.
Can't hold it against him though, he's a cool dude and never had any problems with him!

On a tangent the staff at Gifts For Geeks/Tabletop Tyrant in Leicester seem cool but since they're just the "stand behind the counter" types instead of GW-style (at least when I've been) I haven't interacted with them as much.

GW staff don't work on commission. I don't know where you got that idea from.

Actually, I do, as some of them bloody well act like they are.

They don't work on commissions, they work on quotas that are nearly impossible to meet. They are given no advertising budget, their stores are tucked away in the cheapest rent locations possible, and they are asked to expand the bottom line.

Those that do succeed based on pure enthusiam and charisma, and bless them for it. Just about everyone i knew personally who left there was bitter about the experience qnd their treatment by management.

Alright, well I stand corrected.
But I'll also stand by what I originally said, ranting into somebody else's conversation like that is no way to meet your quota.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Guy at my local is a champ. I've even seen him politely explain to kids that they don't need another box of figures yet if they haven't even started the previous. I don't know if he's a dad, but he is very good speaking to the kids on their level.
Also very cool and helpful when I go in for help.
I also like the Nottingham crowd, they're hysterically funny, I just very rarely get over there to the town store.

There was a super nice guy there at the start of the year too, working as a temp while the manager was away or something like that...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
How is the Leicester store these days? Is it still the spacious location on Silver Street (a very busy retail area right in the heart of the city)?

Its the store I grew up near and didn't realise most stores were considerably smaller!

 Jimsolo wrote:
I've run into two types: super fake excited, sell you something at any cost types, or genuine friendly guys trying to create an enjoyable environment for gaming in the hopes that you'll like their store and spend money there.

I have no problem with someone trying to sell their products at their store. It's a business after all. But I do like it when they understand the connection between sales and environment. The GW store I go to is great. The guy who runs the store is enthusiastic and always promotes the game in an authentic way. He wants to sell stuff but it's somewhat of a social contract. You treat me well and I will buy from you to support your store.

nareik wrote:

How is the Leicester store these days? Is it still the spacious location on Silver Street (a very busy retail area right in the heart of the city)?

Its the store I grew up near and didn't realise most stores were considerably smaller!

Don't know street names but it's a big place so I suppose it's gotta be the same one..

DaPino wrote:

Myc wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Guy at my local is a champ. I've even seen him politely explain to kids that they don't need another box of figures yet if they haven't even started the previous. I don't know if he's a dad, but he is very good speaking to the kids on their level.
Also very cool and helpful when I go in for help.
I also like the Nottingham crowd, they're hysterically funny, I just very rarely get over there to the town store.

I go into the Nottingham store quite frequently. Games Night always ends in tears of laughter, and the store staff are the best there's ever been. They never try to sell you anything at any cost, and are always genuinely happy to help or just chit chat.

I'm probably going to the Nottingham store in February because I'll be visiting England. Is it easy to get a pick-up game there or should I just leave my army at home?

It's easy enough to pick up a game, dude. You can come to Games Night on Thursday, or just ask if anyone's up for a game on the store's Facebook page.

Its worth noting there are a couple of stores in Nottingham; one in the City Centre and one at Warhammer World. These two are not the same store, The city center store is really nice though.

Very often there are people in there gaming, but obviously it can never be guaranteed.