Wherein I Dissuade My Customers From a Very Bad Decision

[Mike Taylor]

... and make a few bucks all the same.

I had a young couple come in to buy a stove. They were in an emergency situation and money was tight, but they were going to load the stove... into a car. We're not talking a microwave or a small convection oven, but a full-blown stove! Thankfully, they saw the wisdom of why it was a bad idea (load & unloading, weight on the car's rear suspension, numerous other safety issues). We found them a nice stove in their price range (a clearanced floor model, no less), got them approved for financing and got them 2-year protection coverage in case there was a problem. We put the floor model aside for them and they came to pick it up the very next day with a small SUV that could hold the stove securely.

[Pixilated]

And they will remember you, and your store, forever for it!

[MadMike]

Nice! Too bad you weren't around to stop this from happening.

[katzklaw]

oh i dunno. i hauled a full sized stove home in the back of an old ford escort once. those things had acres of space if you put the rear seat down. lol

[EricKei]

While we never had to deal with product quite that heavy at GameStop, our SM made it a point to allow us to dissuade people from buying games that just plain sucked and/or inappropriate games for little kiddles (read: M-Rated) -- among the best parental excuses for buying said games anyway (read: Grand Theft Auto series, mostly) were "It keeps him quiet" or "It's OK, I just turn down the volume so he won't hear any dirty words!". O_O

[Arcus]

Nice! Too bad you weren't around to stop this from happening.

That story reminds me of something I saw one day as I was driving. The police stopped a Honda Civic with two refrigerators strapped to it as it was trying to get on the freeway. One was on the trunk and the other was on the rear window. The back of the car looked like it was dragging on the ground. I wish I had a camera ready when I saw that.

[Mer-Mer]

among the best parental excuses for buying said games anyway (read: Grand Theft Auto series, mostly) were "It keeps him quiet" or "It's OK, I just turn down the volume so he won't hear any dirty words!". O_O

Our family is usually pretty strict about staying true to the games rating. We have kids ranging from 7 - 21 (counting myself as a kid). The only instances I have been able to convince my mom to let my 15 year old brother play an M-rated game, I had to craft an argument with my favourite video game store employees. Usually it was based on how the game compared to games in the teen rating in terms of things that Mom didn't want him to see. Other times it was based on the fact my brother only wanted to play one part of it that wasn't that bad. But the 7-year old and the 10-year old get a little bit more leeway, since they're supervised while playing video games and they read books above their reading level. Like Harry Potter. But the video games usually spark conversations on why they shouldn't do something in real life vs why it's okay to do it in a video game.

[Teskeria]

But the video games usually spark conversations on why they shouldn't do something in real life vs why it's okay to do it in a video game.

And if you (generic you) are going to let them play those kinds of games, that kind of discussion is vital. Also vital is knowing the kid. some kids have no problem distinguishing between reality and fantasy at young ages. Most don't start to seriously develop that skill until they are older than 6-7 and it is still developing, so if you don't help them with understanding the differences between games/movies and real life, they could think it is ok to go steal cars or shoot people in real life.

[XCashier]

While we never had to deal with product quite that heavy at GameStop, our SM made it a point to allow us to dissuade people from buying games that just plain sucked and/or inappropriate games for little kiddles (read: M-Rated)

I've had to dissuade customers from bad choices, too, more than once. Sometimes you have to, to prevent it from coming back and biting you in the arse. Better to lose a sale than receive a lawsuit.