An Adventure in Retail Sloth and Indifference

[WSUCougar]

In the spirit of Best Buy stories, I thought you guys might enjoy this article, which comes from a computer gaming website (www.gonegold.com):

I was hoping to have some Silent Storm impressions tonight. Instead, the game didn't ship (it will be available in the U.S. later this week), and I have a new Adventure in Retail Sloth and Indifference© to share with you.

I called all over town this morning trying to find Silent Storm. Electronics Boutique said they'd have it in the afternoon (they didn't). I called three EB's in town and got the wrong information from two of them. Then I started calling Gamestop. I called every one, and they all referred me to the Gamestop That Dare Not Speak Its Name.

Oh wait, I just did.

This is the Gamestop I talked about several months ago that pulls the discs and manuals from all their PC games, wraps them in little baggies behind the counter, then reconstitutes the product when you actually purchase it, complete with new shrink-wrapping as you watch. This delightful bit of vaudeville even includes using the little hair dryer to size the shrink wrap. It borders on torture, particularly if you bought one more than one game, because the repackaging takes several minutes each, which is apparently your penance for their inability to control theft.

After this dynamite example of management initiative in action, I avoided the store like the plague. However, I was so desperate for this game that I broke down and gave them a call.

"Did you guys get Silent Storm in today?"
"Silent Storm?" Unintelligible yelling in background. "Yeah, we got it."
"Great. Can you hold a copy?"
"Don't need to. It's not on the shelf yet. It's still in the box."
"Okay, I'll be there in forty-five minutes."

I have a bad feeling as I'm driving to the store, which takes about fifteen minutes (I ate lunch before I went, if you're wondering about the forty-five lead time). This store has always been cursed, in my experience. Not 'hampered by bad management.' Cursed.*

The store is empty when I walk in, and the two employees are standing at the counter doing, well, absolutely nothing. This store is dead during the weekdays, so that's no surprise. I ask for the game and they start reluctantly pawing at their shipment boxes, which are still sealed.

I have the worst grasp of retail. I thought that if the home office shipped you product to sell, then you sold it.

This particular Gamestop has always viewed incoming shipments as biohazards. They generally want nothing to do with them, and it can be hours before the boxes get unpacked. I called almost an hour before, and apparently since then they've been standing slack-jawed at the counter, straining to summon up the energy to breathe. I felt like running up to them, attaching a defibrillator, and yelling 'CLEAR!'

After a few minutes of confused mumbling and review of paperwork, minion #1 is sent off to the back room by minion #2. At this point I know that they do not, in fact, have the game, and that I am guaranteed to waste at least another fifteen minutes of my life before they summon up the courage to tell me. #1 stays in the back room for an interminable length of time, then returns and goes through a discussion of mumble with minion #2.

"See," #2 says, actually showing me a page of the shipping paperwork. "They normally blah blah blah blah, but this time they blah blah blah. We're not actually getting this until tomorrow." Apparently, they were victimized by some heinous inconsistency in the paperwork instead of anything relating to their ability to actually read the paperwork.

I don't even think I would have been annoyed if they had just somehow used their last bit of strength to open the boxes before I got there. They could have told me right when I walked in and been profusely apologetic. That would have been okay. Instead, they wasted more of my time, and it's really obvious that they just didn't care. They cared in that they hoped I didn't yell at them, but nothing beyond that. Minion #2 offered me some bonus CD related to the game, which they did have in, but it was done in such a disinterested manner that I declined and just went home.

I've noticed in general that the quality of employees at local gaming stores has just plummeted in the last few years. It used to be that the people who worked at gaming stores were actually gamers. Now most of them know nothing about games--they might as well be working at The Gap. They're McClerks.

There was an Electronics Boutique in Austin about ten years ago that was the last great gaming store in our area. The Manager was John Harwood (he's a good friend of mine now), and he played games. Lots of games. He played everything. When a shipment got delivered to that store, it was open in fifteen seconds, because John wanted to play the new games as much or more than we did. It was great to just hang around and talk about games, and I did. I bought ALL my games there, and I also bought my gaming consoles. Everything I could buy at that store, I did, and it was all because of John. His employees also knew about games, because John wouldn't hire them unless they did. He really took pride in his job, and his employees reflected that. It was just fantastic.

When I walk into a gaming store now, most of the employees have the same look on their face as that bored cheetah at the zoo who doesn't care if you're ten feet away because he knows he can't eat you.

Where did all the enthusiasm go? Even if I'm pissed off about a game, I'm enthusiastic about being pissed off. I'm enthusiastic about being pissed off at this particular Gamestop right now. If those guys had told me they were ignoring their jobs because they were reading a book for their programming course or studying Zen or freaking doing anything besides NOTHING, I would have been fine with it. It's not just that they had no enthusiasm for their jobs--they had no enthusiasm for breathing.

Blechh

[SirFozzie]

*chuckles*

[Philliesfan980]

Good post. I normally don't advocate *ripping* retail employees, but in this case you have to. I see guys like this all the time when I'm out shopping. Cases like this have pretty much forced me to order everything computer/entertainment related online. Its normally cheaper that way too, including shipping.

More than anything you have to rip the Management of that particular store for hiring those bozos (sp?). On top of that, you have to rip the corporation as a whole for hiring such poor Management. Just for fun, keep an eye on the financial statements for the next few years on gamestop.com (I'm not sure if they are a publicly held corp or not, or a sub of something else), I'm not so sure if they perform that poorly over the next few years. Unfortunately, although many people *HATE* the service they get in these stores, they take the approach of "Well, its close, it has it, I'll just deal with it." Not that many people are willing to make a stand and sacrifice their wants in the process.

[wig]

If they would pay more than $2.50/hr, they might attract better employees.

Hell, if I could get a decent wage and lots of playing time, I'd quit my job to work there.

[oykib]

I feel for you, man.

It's the same crap at video stores. How many Blockbusters have you gone to where it's the same nonsense?

Remember the days of independent video places where the clerks actually knew something about movies.

My favorite thing to do is go to the XXXX recommends section of the local Blockbuster when I'm back home. They're such movie morons that they all recommend crap that everyone's already seen. What the hell is the point of recommending Star Wars?

What's worse is that half the movies that they recommend still manage to be garbage. It's like they're chained to block buster movies or something.

Hmm... I need a fifth and sixth movie for the display shelf... How about Godzilla and Inspector Gadget? That Mathew Broderick... What a character...

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

Unfortunately, although many people *HATE* the service they get in these stores, they take the approach of "Well, its close, it has it, I'll just deal with it." Not that many people are willing to make a stand and sacrifice their wants in the process.

That is what keeps employers hiring crappy employees. Why spend the $$$ on good employees when you will get just as many customers with shitty cheap employees?

[Easy Mac]

See, thats the thing. I gladly would have worked at those places over the summers for the money they pay. But I didn't get the jobs. Instead, they hire the stupidest people who piss people off. oh well. I worked at the movies, so it was at least similar.

[SplitPersonality1]

As a former store manager at a retail store that I won't name, but let's just say that it rhymes with MockMuster, I agree with you guys wholeheartedly.

My particular store was small and rather redundant, since there was another MockMuster two blocks from me. Our store was part of a small local chain that got bought up by the big guys and for some reason, they kept both stores open. Go figure.

Anyway, I made a point of hiring good employees and often went a couple of weeks running short, because I wouldn't hire any schmoe off the street. My district manager didn't like me much because my payroll always ran a bit high. (The cost of hiring good employees). However. amazingly enough, my store always recieved good comments and despite being horribly small. they didn't close us down because we made a decent profit compared to the size of the store.

My employees were hard-working, energetic and actually knew something about movies. Things that are fairly easy to spot in an interview, don't you think?

The other MockMuster manager down the street hired the most incompetant people imaginable. It was no surprise to me when I started getting many of his customers even though he had about three times the amount of movies I did.

Corporate also hated me because I did not always want to tow the company line. Being a small store, I would order many small independant films and many japanimation videos to fill a niche. We were known by many people into these kinds of movies as the only Block...em..Mockmuster in the city that carried them.

The district manager put the kibosh on this and had me get rid of most of these titles despite the fact that people drive across town to rent from my store. Don't you think that the individual store manager would have a good idea of the types of customers that frequent their own store? Idiots.

After two years of this, I left.

[albionmoonlight]

Interesting story about MockMuster. I had a friend who worked at BlockBuster, and it seems that it was the exact same story there. The employees and managers were actively prevented from showing individual initiative. I'm amazed that MockMuster gave you any control over your store's payroll.

I have another friend who worked at Borders, and, being a bit of a tree hugger, he was very annoyed that they would throw away all of their old magazines at the end of the month instead of recycling them. The manager told him that Borders was working on getting a national contract for all of their stores with some recycling firm, but until they did, they had to throw everything away. He volunteered to load all of the old magazines up himself and take them to the recycling place on his own time, but they would not let him because that was "against Borders policy."

Now, as an attorney I can see why a corporation may be reluctant to allow such a practice (if he were to get in a fender bender on his way to the recycling place, then the person he hit may get to sue Borders. In addition, there is the chance that he could get rich reselling 500 old copies of Maxim.). However, you have a situation where an employee is showing enough interest in what is going on to make a request like that (I will pick up your garbage for free)--and you squelch it. Does that really help you attract and retain the best and brightest and most motivated employees in the long run? He no longer works at Borders.

Most people claim to hate their jobs, but will not rock the boat in any way because they are afraid of losing their jobs. I really don't get it at all.

[StormcloudCreations]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Most people claim to hate their jobs, but will not rock the boat in any way because they are afraid of losing their jobs. I really don't get it at all.

Well, to be fair, some people need these jobs to pay their bills, and creditors don't get paid with "stands" you take against perceived job injustices.

And with the job shortages in some areas, another job isn't always around the corner.

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by Chubby

That is what keeps employers hiring crappy employees. Why spend the $$$ on good employees when you will get just as many customers with shitty cheap employees?

Oh yeah, I never said I disagree with it. Lets face it, they're smart (The Companies). They know that we really don't give a shit about the employees there. As far as most of us are concerned, they could place "Self Checkout" isles there and we'd be happy. They know that we go there for the product, not the service.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

As far as most of us are concerned, they could place "Self Checkout" isles there and we'd be happy.

I hadn't thought of it in exactly those terms before, but now that you mention it ... I can think of some places I'd be happier with self-checkout than be forced to deal with the current staff.

[Schmidty]

The American consumer is like a helpless baby chick: Mouth widely agape, eyes closed tightly, pathetically whining for it's food to be chewed and deposited into it's gullet. That's all we do anymore - Consume. We've become walking receptacles.

I am a firm believer in customer service, but we in America have taken it to the extreme. In fact, we've become a bunch of pussy-ass crybabies when it comes to getting our way.

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. The guy in the article had a right to be annoyed, but if you think about it, he's probably being a hypocrite. How many of you non-service/retail types (including the guy who wrote the article) slack off at work? How many of you that are complaining about this stuff are slacking off on this board right now? I think that, in it's own way, makes you just as bad as the people you complain about.

[WSUCougar]

Somebody get a paper bag, Schmidty’s hyperventilating again.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Somebody get a paper bag, Schmidty’s hyperventilating again.

I'm just thankful you didn't ask for a plastic bag.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I'm just thankful you didn't ask for a plastic bag.

Hey, anyone with a breakfast item in their sig gets a mulligan.

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I hadn't thought of it in exactly those terms before, but now that you mention it ... I can think of some places I'd be happier with self-checkout than be forced to deal with the current staff.

I use it all the time at the Grocery Store. They are pretty common around here

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

The American consumer is like a helpless baby chick: Mouth widely agape, eyes closed tightly, pathetically whining for it's food to be chewed and deposited into it's gullet. That's all we do anymore - Consume. We've become walking receptacles.

I am a firm believer in customer service, but we in America have taken it to the extreme. In fact, we've become a bunch of pussy-ass crybabies when it comes to getting our way.

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. The guy in the article had a right to be annoyed, but if you think about it, he's probably being a hypocrite. How many of you non-service/retail types (including the guy who wrote the article) slack off at work? How many of you that are complaining about this stuff are slacking off on this board right now? I think that, in it's own way, makes you just as bad as the people you complain about.

I'm just going to talk about the whole "Well, you're slacking off at work, so you're part of the problem too".

I hear what you're saying, and to an extent its true. Its different in that the "slacking" by the people at the gamestop store effected the consumer directly, and that "slacking" at work by being on FOFC doesn't ALWAYS (depends on the situation I guess) effect the consumer in the final outcome.

I mean its not like the customer (a client) is sitting there waiting for his product, and I'm on here talking away. If I have real work to do, I make sure it gets done. If I'm done a little early, I might post a message or two, but I don't sacrifice my work in the process.

[Sporkimata]

I really hate the "if they payed more they would be better employees" What happened in having a little personal pride in ones work. Sheesh. Im a manager of Game Store and I tell you It's a nightmare finding employees worth a damn.
grumble grumble

[Sporkimata]

Originally Posted by Schmidty
The American consumer is like a helpless baby chick: Mouth widely agape, eyes closed tightly, pathetically whining for it's food to be chewed and deposited into it's gullet. That's all we do anymore - Consume. We've become walking receptacles.

I am a firm believer in customer service, but we in America have taken it to the extreme. In fact, we've become a bunch of pussy-ass crybabies when it comes to getting our way.

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. The guy in the article had a right to be annoyed, but if you think about it, he's probably being a hypocrite. How many of you non-service/retail types (including the guy who wrote the article) slack off at work? How many of you that are complaining about this stuff are slacking off on this board right now? I think that, in it's own way, makes you just as bad as the people you complain about.

Retail is a service oriented Job though. You can slack off at a retail store, look busy, be doing nothing and still give good customer service. Half the time all you have to do is "appear" concerened. I deal with customers I loathe all the time and yet I always give them quality service. I just wait tillt there gone to roll my eyes...lol

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by oykib

I feel for you, man.

It's the same crap at video stores. How many Blockbusters have you gone to where it's the same nonsense?

Remember the days of independent video places where the clerks actually knew something about movies.

My favorite thing to do is go to the XXXX recommends section of the local Blockbuster when I'm back home. They're such movie morons that they all recommend crap that everyone's already seen. What the hell is the point of recommending Star Wars?

What's worse is that half the movies that they recommend still manage to be garbage. It's like they're chained to block buster movies or something.

Hmm... I need a fifth and sixth movie for the display shelf... How about Godzilla and Inspector Gadget? That Mathew Broderick... What a character...

[Elaine's Apartment]

Elaine sits up in bed, watching her video. She's not enjoying it.

ELAINE: (at TV screen) Bernie is dead, you moron! (frustration) Just because
he's wearing sunglasses he looks alive?! (picks up video box) Ugh, how long
is this weekend, anyway? (reads from label) Ugh!

The phone rings, and Elaine picks up, glad of the interruption.

ELAINE: Hello.

VINCENT (O.C.): (accusing) How's the movie. Elaine?

ELAINE: Vincent?

VINCENT (O.C.): (betrayed) The Gene pick. How could you? I thought we had
something special.

ELAINE: (defensive) No, it doesn't mean anything. I'm not even gonna rewind
it.

There is a click as Vincent hangs up.

ELAINE: Vincent?

[Desnudo]

If you understand the economics of low wage jobs, then it becomes apparent that it's incredibly difficult to keep, or even hire, quality employees in the first place. Since you're basically hiring teenagers and college kids who have no expectation of a long term future and aren't being paid enough to care, you have to find another way to motivate them. Often times there simply isn't a way, and employee turnover can be so high that you don't even have time to try.

[SplitPersonality1]

High turnover was a problem for me as a store manager at Blockbuster. Not because my employees were bad. Quite the contrary. My best people were transferred to weaker stores and/or were promoted and moved on.

Sportimaka,
I agree with people needing to show some pride in their work despite the pay. Howver, I also believe that good employees should benefit from being good. The best way that I could help them out was a starting salary a bit higher than average for a beginning associate. Usually between 25cents to 1 dollar more than minimum worked for me.

cuervo,
I had forgotton about that Seinfeld episode. One of my favorites.

[Tekneek]

People at the top want to make as much money as they can. To this end, they slash the budgets of everyone under them. When the pay goes down, as well as perhaps other draconian rules/procedures that usually come with that, the good people eventually go somewhere else...it is only a matter of time. These companies want to rip the customer (and the employees) as much as they can before it burns them. However, they fail to recognize the fact that once they piss you off enough you will never give them another chance. You can find examples with nearly every big corporation in the United States today where they are only thinking and planning in the short term, with no long term vision or goal. Only thing you can do is stick to your guns and NEVER give them business if it really bothers you.

Hollywood Video is (or at least was) ran a lot better than Blockbuster was. They encouraged the employees to order movies they liked, and would often carry very unique items (at least a lot of things you would never see in a Blockbuster). Beyond that, at least in my area, they were always cheaper, nicer, and and knew a lot more about movies. They were a chain of stores that tried hard to not act like one.

As far as all of that goes, we get our movies through Netflix now. No going to the video store. No late fees. No hassles. We create a queue of 500 DVDs and let Netflix start pulling from the top. $20/month whether we get 15 or 20 DVDs, or just the 3 you're allowed at one time for the entire month.

[Mac Howard]

Customers have to take some blame for this because they don't support the good service.

An excellent example was a few years back with a hi-fi shop in north London. The staff were excellent, were technically knowledgable, set up a system where you could listen to different speakers, amplifiers etc. Further down the road was a discount, take-it-or-leave-it store.

You know what happened without my telling you. Customers used to go to the first store, spend half an hour listening to all the options and the advice of the staff and then move on down to the discount store and buy.

Eventually the discount store bought out the first store and opened up as another discount store.

Service costs money and customers will take the cheap option every time.

[sabotai]

Service costs money and customers will take the cheap option every time.

Exactly. Business slash employee pay not so much that they are tryign to squeeze every dime for themselves, but moreso because they know they can get away with it and still sell just as much serivce/product than if they put the resources in to hire quality staff.

I hate how people just push off the blame to the "Big Business" and go about their day. The blame is with the customers who give their money to the poor service to begin with. If people didn't buy it, the "Big Business" would then have to hire quality people, or go bankrupt.

[Draft Dodger]

well, I for one HATE bad customer service...and I put my money where my mouth is.

If I get bad service at a store, and it's not an isolated thing (we ALL have bad days), I simply make a point to shop elsewhere. After a couple years away, I may give them another chance, except for Nicks Restaurant (that's right - if I order a drink and it's bad, and the bartender comes out to tell me it's probably because I don't know how it's supposed to taste and I'll have to pay for it...I'm NEVER coming back, jackass). There's a few restaurants in town we don't eat at (Uno's, for example), and several stores we don't frequent because of miserable service we've gotten in the past.

It's just like the Primary I'm going to vote in tomorrow - it's just one vote, but unless I do my duty, I don't really have any right to complain.

[Draft Dodger]

dola -
I was a department manager in a grocery stores for a number of years. It was definitely a challenge to succeed with a ridiculously tight payroll, and wages that really didn't attract an overabundance of quality help. But it wasn't impossible - there are good people out there willing to work the low-wage retail jobs. If you go somewhere and get lousy service, blame the management...not the low-wage atmosphere.

[Bubba Wheels]

I feel the same way about any bad product or service. Years ago I bought a Toshiba TV at Meijers with a 3 month warranty on it. You know what happened next. The fourth or fith month (mind gets foggy!) the TV goes on the blink and I take it in to the authorized service place. After going round and round with the customer service lady at Toshiba (splitting the cost of repair sounded reasonable to me, the TV wasn't even 6 months old!), she tells me that Toshiba will pay for parts, but I get to pay for the labor. Of course, the problem was during the soldering wash (see, modern TV circuit boards go through a bath process instead of individually soldering them like the old days) the connections did not stick and the expansion/contraction caused by the heat of turning the set on and off caused them to seperate. Conclusion to the story is I get socked with a bill of half the original cost of the set ($150) for labor, no parts needed, and wouldn't waste my spit on any Toshiba product to this day/

[Tekneek]

It is not all about "big business", but these days you have to admit that "big business" and short term planning is part of it. Everything is about the next quarter, not 5 years down the road. If your profits come in one cent under an analyst's prediction, your stock gets hammered, which makes all those options/shares the upper executives have less valuable than they were the day before. Customers, in their shortsighted ways, have helped create the situation, but now other things are driving these moves.