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And I now hate it. I was immediately humped at the door, I sat down to paint, was criticised for my Sammael/Jetbike Smashfether conversion by blackshirt, played two games against Tau (Tau deserve all the hate they get) rolled crap the whole time, was criticised by the blackshirt yet again, decided to paint my useless Terminator Squad all different chapters for variety, was given quizzical looks for that. Was asked 'where those Terminators came from' (Knowing full well where they came from) and when I said AoBR on eBay I was ridiculed by the blackshirt again for that. (Yo i dont have a job, how can I pay out the ass for models on my pittance?). He ridicules a kid with damn near 'Eavy Metal standard dark angels from DV because he uses Vallejo.

And you know something? People (blackshirt guilty) who give advice to either player during a game, take a running leap into a train; You do not help, you just sit back, criticise, pretend you're hot gak about my army and look all smug. He felt the need to point out every. tiny. goddamn. rules. mistake when that kinda ruins the spirit of the game. Crazy gak happens in the 41st Millenium, so we can laugh about it, and have fun

then i go to my 'games only' club and everyone is laughing and joking because we're there to have a good time and all messing up the same stuff, we take unorthodox lists (Full army of Stormboyz, BT rhino rush, dreadnought centric lists... etc.) and this stuff just isn't possible at the GW. it is at this point i wonder why I even go to my local gw anymore.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
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.

Jesus, what an asshat. What's a blackshirt again? Isn't it just one-man stores nowadays? Which one was it, out of interest? It's very rare I go into any stores myself, unless I'm after a new BL book or something, but there's a few I pop into now and again.

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


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I dont want to talk about the exact location just for privacy reasons, hope thats ok.

Damn bro thats sucks. Theres no GW store anywhere nearby my place, and the FLGS turned into a pretty much card game only place since 40k and fantasy got all shat on by GW and nobody rly plays it anymore.

Report him to corporate. Tell them that he made your experience very unpleasant.

Stories like this make me happy to know that the guy who runs my local GW is really cool about not pressuring you into buying things. Instead he runs different store scenarios that make you want to buy product (I needed Executioners for Path to Glory and am SO happy I grabbed them. He made extended lists for non-chaos armies)

He also buys me coffee on occasion

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Report him to corporate. Tell them that he made your experience very unpleasant.

Is there an email for this?

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Report him to corporate. Tell them that he made your experience very unpleasant.

Is there an email for this?

uk.custserv@gwplc.com

Two of my mates went to the stoke store the other day as soon as they walked in the heavy selling of AoS started, this did not go down well with one who's an ex red shirt himself.

Apparently the manager got very irate when he was told they had no interest which led to them just walking out and going elsewhere to spend their money.

The non ex red shirt was thinking of buying the 30k set but this experience has convinced him not to get back into GW games ever again.

The last GW store I went into was actually awesome, the Black shirt was knowledgeable, friendly and polite. Once I became a regular there he became friendlier and more profane (the way I am) and I am now friends with him even though I had to move away for my job. Overall I haven't had any problems with GW yet....well at least the store staff.

I've been to three gw stores in my life.

First time in pool as a 13 year old, staff and people were amazing (17 years ago)

In Amsterdam, in early 00s was horrible. Red shirts were great but the manager (Aiko if anyone remembers) was... TFG.

Last shop I went to was in Wolverhampton, in which staff was absolutely amazing! They moved on from the shop hut still at company. Really cool guys and I wish I was still gaming with them.

EDIT: I guess I've been lucky because every GW employer except for that Adam manager was awesome! The only thing I really dislike about GW is their sloppy rules writing.

 Fruzzle wrote:

Last shop I went to was in Wolverhampton, in which staff was absolutely amazing! They moved on from the shop hut still at company. Really cool guys and I wish I was still gaming with them.

EDIT: I guess I've been lucky because every GW employer except for that Adam manager was awesome! The only thing I really dislike about GW is their sloppy rules writing.

Which shop in Wolverhampton was that? I remember there were 2 for a time about 12-14 years ago. I used to go in the one round the corner from KFC for the tutorials when I was a little nipper with my guardsmen. I remember it being really friendly. Though my only gripe was they eagerly sold me the 3rd edition book not long before 4th dropped...

As for now my local is WHW and this is most likely a totally different experience to smaller shops.

Still, I cant imagine anyone ever getting irate. Im not quite sure how well Id react to that either.

My local GW is a good place. There is 2-3 friendly workers in Helsinki.

OP, May i ask what GW it was?

Only been to an "official" GW shop once, in Berlin.
The redshirt in there was cool, nice and answered every tiny question (and ran demo games for interested people like myself) despite me making clear I'm not planning to buy anything that day.
Actually, I bought my first kit almost a year after that.

I've found most GW staff to be pretty great. In recent years, I found the staff at the Plaza in Oxford Street all pretty decent, and not pushy at Covent Garden. Now, the new one that replaced them has been okay too. Lakeside has closed there, but the manager was great. I went in there as a thirty-two year old and he remembered me from when I was a sixteen year old occasional visitor at Maidstone! I thought at first he was trying it on to look good, but he remembered the best mate I went with pretty clearly too. Impressive, as I had long hair then, and a shaved head now!

The customer service at GW Putney is absolutely shocking though.

Well I posted a comment on pitty points and people said you should destroy your enemy over and over and never give them a chance because it is fun lol.

But I would not take it to personal sounds like you where grumpy and had a bad say so things tend to feel alot worse then they might have been.

With all the bad stories I hear about GW stores I hope I never see one.

OP's experience is the exact opposite of mine. I have interacted with two different black shirts at my GW, and they have both been fantastic. One taught me some painting techniques that I didn't know and the other gave me some pointers on stuff for my army. They both did try to sell me stuff, but I fully expect them to, that is their job (the second guy very nearly got me started on Skitarii/Ad Mech before I told him he had to stop because I am weak and my wife would kill me). Next time I go I am bringing my army though.

That said, OP's experience is unacceptable and should be reported to corporate.

My last visit to the GW store in NYC was horrid. No greeting while walking in the door, funny looks from the black shirt(who only looked up from his painting project when I was reaching for a product off the shelves), and the gentleman in the back who were getting a game in were some what stand offish when I asked if I could watch. Once I decided on my purchase it was like pulling teeth to get the black shirt's attention away from his painting project to cash me out. I'll probably never step foot into another GW store again

Our local store (Basingstoke) has two staff that I know of (don't go in much) and everyone is really friendly and knowledgeable.

They will offer you items as you walk in and do the usual "did you get everything you need", which is totally expected from any company rep. But they never push anything on you.

I'd say it's a shame that a lot of stores seem to be operating as a one man I it as when they are busy the guys don't seem to have enough time to get round to everyone as much as I'm sure they'd like.

Sorry to hear the OP had a bad experience!

The staff in GW Chester are the best people I've ever met who work in retail. They are knowledgeable, not brainwashed (They don't defend GW stupid decisions if you bring them up), regularly hold painting competitions and events that attract lots of people and incredibly easy to talk to.

The manager there supports Ninth Age, a community driven fantasy successor, puts loads of work into making beautiful boards and it's just a great environment. You must've had a bum deal because I've only ever had good experiences in GW (except that one time with a temporary staff member, but never saw him again).

Most blackshirts I've met have been really nice. Sure, they can be a little intense on the sales aspect, but I mean it is their job to sell toy soldiers. I don't blame them.

Of the 3 I've met only one was unpleasant and the other two were/are lovely.

Shop in Salisbury, UK has had great guys running the shop for the last.... 5-6 years maybe?

very nice dudes. Love their jobs & the hobby. I don't think you should put a bad name on a brand just because one guy is a bell. report him for sure though!

WTF is a "Sammael jetbike smashfether"?

The two redshirts in my area are great. Both run inviting stores, will help out players in an instant, provide great advice and won't go hard on the sell if there is no interest, but will definitely help out if there is possible interest. The main one I go to is a guy who loves to shoot the gak with the regulars but has been toning down the language used in the store, I'm not normally in there but it seems that some of the regulars have a bit of a mouth that has caused a few potential sales walk out.

The other store I went to was getting prepped before I headed to Adepticon and needed a base for an objective. The guy handed us two single packs of sigmarines and said here, use the bases.

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

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
The staff in GW Chester are the best people I've ever met who work in retail (...) The manager there supports Ninth Age

Careful with that, because it's one of the things that may get someone fired.

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.