Game store happy fun time!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Oh there was so much I missed about this job....

EWWW

Guy comes into trade in a couple of consoles he has in a box. Fair enough. My CW opens the box...and ROACHES come out!

CW: Sir you need to take this box out of here now!

Thankfully the guy did and we then had to kill the roaches that got out and take extra measures to make sure we didn't miss any.

The truly sad part of this is that this incident is NOT the first time my CW has had to deal with this.

I believe him, since I've encountered the following "surprises" when taking trade ins:

- Stuff that reeks of smoke/perfume/marijuana/bug spray/ some other awful stench

- Games/consoles/accessories with various food or beverages spilled on them/caked on them.

- Consoles with various pieces missing/badly damaged/completely ripped off

- Power or AV cords chewed up by dog/cat/rodent/other household critters ("Does that mean you can't take it in?" Well gee, let me think about that one a moment...)

- A nude picture of someone's ugly girlfriend as a PSP background

- Porno DVDs in the console (some consoles play DVDs as well as games)

What joy, what joy!

Surely you can't be serious...

(A cookie for the easy reference)

Dude comes up to me with a game disc that is in two pieces. Yes it's BROKEN into two pieces. Our winner for today also had no case or manual for this broken game.
SC: I want to trade this in.
Me: You're joking right?
SC: No, how much can I get for it?
Me: Sir, I can't take back a game that is in multiple pieces.
SC: Why not? Don't you guys take back almost anything?
Me: Not exactly sir, we have minimum standards of what we can take.
SC: So I can't get anything for this?
Me: No, nothing, zip, zilch. Understand?
SC: Yeah. You can like throw it out or whatever. (to his buddy) This sucks, what a waste of time. (to me) Thanks for nothing man.

That was NOT in the job description

You might remember my previous post where I mentioned that guy who has nothing better to do than spend over an hour hanging around a games store talking the associates ears off about all kinds of silly stuff relating to video games.

Well, he also has a few cousins of sorts. I haven't quite figured out why but some people assume that since we are into video games so much we must also be heavily interested in other elements of Japanese culture, namely Anime and/or Manga.

Now while I do know what both of those things are and understand the basics of them, I am not really into either of them...

SC: (As I am ringing him up) What do you think of <insert random anime show here>?
Me: Sorry I've never seen it.
SC: WHAT?! But you work in a games store, you guys usually watch that stuff all the time.
Me: Others who work here might be into it but I'm not. Sorry.
SC: Why don't you like it?
Me: That's not really any of your business.
SC: I can't believe you got hired here and you have NO CLUE about this stuff.
Me: Look, I sell games, consoles and accessories. Japanese cartoons and graphic novels are another industry entirely.
SC: Well you should really watch some of <random anime show> and <other random anime show> you might like it.
Me: Somehow I don't think I would. Here's your change. Have a good day.
SC: *scoffs at me and then saunters off*

I have no explanation. I really truly don't.

Details are my friend...

You know those stores from members who work at bookstores and have to deal with people who come in looking for a book knowingly only the vaguest information possible? (i.e. the cover is reddish) Well, game stores get those too.

Sometimes I can figure out what the customer is after, if for example they tell me little johnny would like "that new Sonic game", I can easily determine what title they are referring to.

HOWEVER, there are other inquiries that will get you nowhere with me, such as:

"He was looking for a Mario game, show me your Mario games."
"It was something with (Dragonball Z or Naruto or Pokemon or <some other thing that can be found in no less than 50 games)"
"It had a guy with a gun on the cover" (Ok, understand you have pretty much just described EVERY SHOOTER KNOWN TO MAN)
"It was some kind of racing game" (Ridge Racer? Need for Speed? Gran Tursimo? Project Gotham Racing? Midnight Club? Forza? Oy this could be awhile)
"He wants something where you can jump around" (Well gee that eliminates about 50 games we carry, as for the other 612...)

And of course inquiries from truly naive gamers:

"Do you have Halo for Playstation 3?"
"Do you have any Mario Games for Xbox 360?"
"Can I get God of War for Gamecube?"

Sometimes, I just want to

Sorry, you missed the boat!

We did a midnight launch for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King last week.
Now it's reasonable to assume that since we can't actually give the game out until 12:01 am that we will be open a bit past midnight.

HOWEVER

DO NOT expect us to be very accommodating if you saunter up to our doors at nearly 1:15 am, when our gates are down and lights are off and we've closed the registers. Bonus points if you shake the door even though the GATES are clearly down.

We don't care this is the earliest you could get here after work. Verbally abusing the manager will also get you no favors. Unfortunately you, yes you Mr. Doucehwaffle, will have to wait just a few more hours to get your precious WoW fix.

Also tearing out of the parking lot like a bitch and squealing your tires will not make us feel guilty in any way, shape or form.

[marty]

I found jelly in a Gamecube disc tray once....well, it looked like jelly...

[fireheart]

I found jelly in a Gamecube disc tray once....well, it looked like jelly...

Was it white and gluggy?

And why do people assume that if you are hired at a game store that you are an anime/manga fan?

[LingualMonkey]

Surely you can't be serious...

(A cookie for the easy reference)

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

[sms001]

Don't know why, but edited for my amusement sprang up several times during your post:


SC: (to his buddy) This sucks, what a waste of time. (to me) Thanks for nothing man.

You: My pleasure!

&

SC: Why don't you like it? (random anime shows)

You: (At full volume.) 'cause a 'toon killed my mother!!!!!!!

Though I liked your real answer too.

Side note - a buddy of mine who worked for ma Bell pre-breakup, when phones themselves were serviced by the company, said roaches were one of the leading causes of malfunctioning phones. yuck.

[Ghengis51]

You know those stores from members who work at bookstores and have to deal with people who come in looking for a book knowingly only the vaguest information possible? (i.e. the cover is reddish) Well, game stores get those too.

Sometimes I can figure out what the customer is after, if for example they tell me little johnny would like "that new Sonic game", I can easily determine what title they are referring to.

HOWEVER, there are other inquiries that will get you nowhere with me, such as:

"He was looking for a Mario game, show me your Mario games."
"It was something with (Dragonball Z or Naruto or Pokemon or <some other thing that can be found in no less than 50 games)"
"It had a guy with a gun on the cover" (Ok, understand you have pretty much just described EVERY SHOOTER KNOWN TO MAN)
"It was some kind of racing game" (Ridge Racer? Need for Speed? Gran Tursimo? Project Gotham Racing? Midnight Club? Forza? Oy this could be awhile)
"He wants something where you can jump around" (Well gee that eliminates about 50 games we carry, as for the other 612...)

And of course inquiries from truly naive gamers:

"Do you have Halo for Playstation 3?"
"Do you have any Mario Games for Xbox 360?"
"Can I get God of War for Gamecube?"

Sometimes, I just want to

I feel your pain man. Over a decade ago I used to work at Media Play in the games section and we always got that crap, especially this time of year. Parents and grandparents buying presents for someone with no idea what they already have or even what systems they have. (my parent's wondered why my list was organized alphabetically and by system for their convenience)

Parent: I wanna by insert game title available on all 3 systems
Me: What system do you need that for? It's available on playstation2, xbox or gamecube.
Parent: uhm I'm not sure. . .
Me: (great here we go again) Is the system they have cube-shaped with a handle, long black/dark blue and flat-topped or black and rather bulky?
Parent: I think it's square shaped
Me: K here's what you need right over here.

Computer games were the worst though. I was pretty good at figuring out what game's they could run from where/when they got it, but I always made sure they kept the receipt just in case.

[Apathy]

This is really the whole "Lowes situation:" sending people who don't know the first thing about hardware in to buy hardware.

Parents need to know what the hell they're doing before they leave the house. And what with the net and all, there's no excuse for not knowing.

I have a 360. I asked for some games for Christmas. Mom, thankfully, knows I have an Xbox, and buys the appropriate games. On a side note, I think Mom used to be kinda rude to people in retail. After being the retail drone for a number of years, I went with her a couple times when she was returning something/getting something fixed, just to make sure the whole thing went smoothly.

[looney_librarian]

Been there done that man. Never had the roach incident at my store, but plenty of parents asking for games that simply did not exist on the system they are wanting and then getting upset when I explain to them that the game they're looking for won't appear on the system that they want it to.

[Wenchie]

And why do people assume that if you are hired at a game store that you are an anime/manga fan?

And the opposite... why do people assume that you're a gamer if you're an anime/manga fan? I get that a lot... I help run anime conventions. I like some anime and some manga.... but just because I like SOME doesn't mean that I like ALL...

and definitely doesn't mean that I'm a gamer! I have a PS2 and a handful of games, but they're mostly puzzle games or old fun games like frogger or the old sega-genesis sonic games. But I don't play WoW and don't have any desire to, or to play most of any other type of game out there, for most systems.

And I get the "But how can you like anime if you don't like gaming?"

[Mike Taylor]

It's assumed by some of these clods that being a fan of one geeky thing makes you a fan of ALL of it.

I like role-playing games, some anime, and various sci-fi movies and TV shows, but I realize not everyone else does. Sadly, some of my previous coworkers seemed not to have come to the same conclusion as me.

[Hyndis]

My family is a perfect example of the gaming/anime thing.

I love gaming, but I think anime generally sucks. I have no idea why people are so fascinated about it. Even the stuff involving tentacles is usually censored into oblivion.

My sister, on the other hand, loves anime, but isn't a gamer at all.

[Broomjockey]

But I don't play WoW

Playing WoW doesn't make you a gamer. And I have a wide variety of geeky interests, but it doesn't extend much to anime. Just some nostalgic stuff like Robotech.

[Wenchie]

Playing WoW doesn't make you a gamer. And I have a wide variety of geeky interests, but it doesn't extend much to anime. Just some nostalgic stuff like Robotech.

True, I know that playing WoW doesn't make you a gamer... which is why I also said "or to play most of any other type of game out there." Wow just ends up as the bane of my existence because that's the first thing out of everyone's mouth.... "Do you play WoW?" *sigh*

I used to RP... AD&D (2nd ed), Deadlands, Blue Planet. But I don't have time for that anymore (and my favorite GM was in Korea for a couple of years and is now a 3 hr drive away from me, so I still can't game with him) and I've never been interested in PC or console gaming.

[cheshirephoenix]

- Porno DVDs in the console (some consoles play DVDs as well as games)

SCORE!

SC: (As I am ringing him up) What do you think of <insert random anime show here>?
Me: Sorry I've never seen it.
SC: WHAT?! But you work in a games store, you guys usually watch that stuff all the time.
Me: Others who work here might be into it but I'm not. Sorry.
SC: Why don't you like it?
Me: That's not really any of your business.
SC: I can't believe you got hired here and you have NO CLUE about this stuff.
Me: Look, I sell games, consoles and accessories. Japanese cartoons and graphic novels are another industry entirely.
SC: Well you should really watch some of <random anime show> and <other random anime show> you might like it.
Me: Somehow I don't think I would. Here's your change. Have a good day.
SC: *scoffs at me and then saunters off*

You know, I am actually really grateful that most game store employees aren't like that. I feared on my first adventures into the local gaming chains that I would say "Hey, where are the games with big guns and making baddies go splat?" and they would go "OH @*)&$ U SHOULD TOTALLY GET <insert random obscure Japanese RPG involving people with funny lookin' hair>!!!!"

Thankfully, my fears were not realized.

[KhirasHY]

"But how can you like anime if you don't like gaming?"

"It's kind of like living, and you asking me this question. How could you be asking me this question if you want to keep living?"

/gamer AND anime guy, so I'm one of the hybrids I guess...
//Wouldn't talk about them unless someone asked though