Topic: Are you smarter than your local game-store retailer

Had an odd and quite funny situation to with local game retailer. I went in  to pre order my 3G PS Vita with them cause they were offering 25% extra trade-in value for my games. Went up and asked assistant to check total trade in value and said I was putting it towards a 3G pre order. This is when things kicked off

He then said you should invest in the wi-fi model it will save me more. I said I know its a cheaper system but I want to try out the 3G and see if it's any good. He then went on to say "ya but you have to go on a contract for a year with Vodafone,  and even if you don't use it you still get charged". I looked at him. He had a dead serious look on his face. I asked how many people have came in looking for 3G models and changed there minds.

About 50 or so. When they heard of the contract they changed there minds then and there. I shock my head and I then explained to him that it's a pay as you go scheme that you can pay it monthly and when your done you can unsubscribe when you like. He then turned to his co worker he said "is that true?" she replied I hope not that's €50 extra we could of got on everyone of them 50 pre-orders. Then I said "I'm glad your manager isn't in". The guy then went out loud. "She is the shop manager" out loud.

I left the store stunned. I know we are a layed back country but damn. If your selling and promoting a product. You learn the product. Then I tought to myself that was quite a funny encounter. Anyone else school people on there Vita knowledge today?

It's kinda weird seeing people who work in game retail stores that aren't actually familiar with this kind of stuff, but unfortunately, it happens. I wonder why that guy thought that it required a contact though. So far I have seen a range of things, like people claiming you can install the physical games to the memory, and even someone saying something similar. It's sad to see

When I went to cancel my pre-order at GameStop (no tax on Amazon), there was a person looking at the display model and they asked the in store representative "does it play videos?" and he said that it wouldn't play videos because it only takes Sony memory cards. I explained to the person that it can in fact play videos stored on the memory card and even stream Netflix in the future.

It boggles my mind as to why places like Best Buy and GameStop seem to have little or no expectations for technical knowledge. Could you imagine how different GameStop would be if it were only staffed with knowledgeable people who actually care about games?

On a related note, a few days ago someone posted a picture on Reddit of Final Fantasy XIII-2 for PS3 for only $11 used because the store employee thought it was Final Fantasy XII. I tried to find the picture for you guys but it's long lost

It bothers me how, especially a manager at GameStop, hasn't heard of a lot of newer games. It happens all the time as my experiences. Also, If you ask them what games are coming out in the future, they typically respond, "here's the release binder."

I went to my local GameStop last week, their display cases had Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for $29 and the actual game case for $39, so they honored the $10 difference.

This pretty much sums up every experience I've ever had at a car dealership.  KNOW YOUR FREAKING PRODUCT!  heh  I typically walk into Best Buys and Gamestops with zero expectation of help and I already make sure I know what I need.  I also hate how I'm always stalked by the resident Direct TV guys.  But now I've learned to play hide-and-seek with them.  (I'm a ninja)

This is really funny actually, i work at a gamestop and the only people who keeps up with all the new things is me and my manager.  every one else who works there knows hardly anything.  I end up turning around and telling my co-worker "thats wrong dude" and i have to explain to the customer whats really up.  So working at a game retail store, the manager should "assign" homework, like tell them to go home and keep up with the news on games, whats new, how stuff works. cause people are stupid

Yeah that's awesome you work at a GameStop and know your stuff (along with your manager). I used to work at a GameStop a long time ago but pay is too low along with little hours. At my local bestbuy a lot of sales team is pretty knowledgable compared to GameStop.

I have to agree, bestbuy employees know a lot more than most people.  whenever i go into the bestbuy store and have a question about a game or laptop, i always ask them "do you know a lot about {insert game or brand} or do you have someone who knows  a lot about this".  they either say yes or yeah ill be back in a sec with some one to help you.   if you just  ask you can usually find someone who knows a lot about the product

Yes. Is that even a question? I can't stand how ignorant the local GameStop employees are >:[

I have way too many stories, and I've shared most of them on NLife

Maybe the reason they don't know every single little detail about every single little item is because they actually have a job that they have to go to instead of staying at home surfing the web for more info on the newest gadgets?

I'm not saying that they shouldn't know about the newest gadgets btw, especially if that's their job or something like that, but just a thought

I see what you are saying and I too agree to a degree.

The problem is that their job is essentially that of a sales person. In order to be a proper sales person, one should know the products they are selling by the back of their hand as society expects that of them.

My main problem with places like BestBuy and GameStop isn't lack of overall knowledge, it's the inability to simply say "I don't know" as well as keep opinions and truth separate. Instead a lot of employees will ramble off something that they either think is correct or what they want the consumers to hear. It's nothing new in economics, but it shouldn't be accepted as morally correct because it's becoming the norm in my opinion.

That is why we have the internet

I completely agree with this. It's happened to me too many times.

Usually I just nod and smile since I know enough myself, but I can imagine what would happen to the unwary video game shopper in the same instance.

Edit: Oh and about this

Not sure if it's related at all, but that reminded me that when I preordered (and picked up) the collector's edition of FFXIII-2, it said 'FFXII' on the receipt. I'm not sure if it's something to do with the way it was printed out by the computer or if it was actually inserted into the system exactly like that, but it still kinda made me mad for some reason

The bros at my local GameStop are actually know a lot. And when they don't know or when they're not sure of something, they look it up.

The people at my Gamestop leave me alone unless I ask for their help. And I never need to. It's a nice relationship. ^__^ Then again they might just be incapacitated by my charm. Either way they leave me alone.

Truth is I could point and laugh at their inadequate knowledge, but they have jobs while I have way too much free time on my hands to learn all this useless knowledge, so...

I'm with you Zephren. I too work at Gamestop and my team(manager, myself,and everyone else) Try very hard to give the best information we can. I constantly hear customers talking about there awful experiences at other Gamestops and I see a lot of blog's like this of people who's local Gamestops are apparently filled with morons. Which is probably why my Manager hires only un-biased and passionate gamers like myself. I too find myself correcting co-workers on occasion but we try our best to keep informed and help each other to help the customers. On another thought though people like to complain so if its not gamestop their about it's best buy or walmart etc. As far as tech goes we get calls and people every day looking for tech support from us while were on the floor helping customers and having to rely on experience and memory alone that's usually when i ask people to call the actual tech support for whichever product their using. I cant even count how many times I've had someone who needs to do something very technical with there system and I have to remember when I did it myself 6-8 months before and remember exactly what screens to be on and what settings to change and what not. lol sorry for the rant its just people expect alot out of the gamestop employees when most only own 1 system themselves if at all.

The guys at my store are more annoying than dumb. They always go by the book: WANNA PREORDER? WANNA POWERUPS PRO CARD? WANNA PREORDER AGAIN? And then they ramble on about how they're trying to be achievement hunters and what-not. They know some of their stuff about gaming though, but not enough to be outstanding.

However, there was this one guy that tried getting me to preorder Zelda: Skyward Sword because it would have DLC dungeons.

-_-

I promptly preordered only because I didn't want to deal with any possible shortages of the game.

sucks to be that shop manager. hopefully they can rebound from that loss okay :/

that said, it's not hard to be 'smarter' than someone else in a retail situation -- you're there for one or two products, you've done a bit of research. for the most part, they're just there to make sure the product is on the shelves, work the register, and deal with the general public -- you might find one or two who know their stuff, but most of them are just there to pay the bills. moral of the story: always do your own homework.

I used to work for Gamestop, and the team i worked with were fairly knowledgeable about every game, at least, it seems. Only worked there for 3 days in a 1 1/2 month span because they were lame and not giving me any hours much at all, as you can see. But I do consider myself far more knowledgeable than any Gamestop associate I have come across. And because most of the associates I've met are bias and ignorant, it's a shame that game stores have people like this behind the counter and pass up on people who LOVE video games and know a helluva lot about it.

I would never consider working for Gamestop ever again, though. Their practices are contradictory and goes against my own personal morals. When things are inconsistent in terms of policies, I bounce right out of there because I would not want to be associated with it at all.

Lol my local gamestop has the most knowledgeable employees.  Once I had a few questions about a couple games and she knew so much I started testing her for like 20 minutes and she knew EVERYTHING.  On the topic of gamestop my local gamestop employees are 66% female.  Weird.