Don't display it if you don't have it!

[repsac]

I'm putting this in sightings since I'm not entirely sure where it belongs. I didn't see it happen but I know the people involved and the store so I hope I got this right.



About a month or so ago, my cousin (you know the guy who got his butt banned from a Freds store over a 10 dollar PS2 game) came down with his wife and son. (Note: I'm not sure if this was before, around, or after the banning.) While they were here, his son C was going on and on about how his father was going to get him a Wii. Now that struck me as being rather cool, but I remembered at the time that the Wii would be hard to come by. Nintendo had stopped production for a while to retroactively add DVD players into the systems. Meaning that stores which had the Wii were very few and far between. Turning to C, I said "Be hard to find one sport, but I wish you the best of luck." Well, about that time his father came in and said to me smugly "Gamestop has LOADS of them on display."

since when? Blinking some I realised the mistake he had made.

You see, Gamestop and EB have this rather curious style of displaying what they carry. Scattered through out the store are series of boxes for each system. PS3, Wii, PS2, Xbox, Xbox360...you get the idea. Now these boxes are empty. According to R, the manager of the local store, it doesn't make sense to display like that. Curiously they have only had a handful of problems, since most customers ASK the employees "Do you have a <whatever>?"

T did not.

Story goes that T and Ca (his wife and C's mom) head into the local Gamestop. Walking right over to one of the display Wii boxes, he picks it up and walks over to the counter. Putting the thing down he says snippishly to the cashier that he wants to buy one. Now i'm guessing here, but I think the exchange went something like:

T: (drops box on counter) I want this.
E: *cashier* Uh, we don't have any of those in stock sir. I'm sorry, that's just a display box.
T: I know you've got them in the back. Get me one. You can't display something if you don't have it. (drumroll) It's the LAW!"
E: I'm sorry sir, but Gamestop's policy states that we have to have the boxes displayed. It's empty. There is no back room to the store either. I'm really sorry, if you want I can see if....
Ca: (raises her voice) I see other boxes here. Are you trying to tell me there's nothing in them too? What, just because I'm from Ohio makes me stupid?
E: Well, the boxes are empty ma'am, that's true. As I said, Gamestop's policy...
T: I'm not leaving until I get my (expelitive) Wii.
E: Sir, please don't use that language, there are children in the store...

From then it got progressively worse until T finally gave up and left. A little later he came home and was telling the story to my mum and dad. Now, you know I didn't know that but I caught the part where he said something about the boxes. Without really thinking I said

"Yeah. I know the manager and DM. They were telling me that at least three times a day some idiot goes in and grabs one of those boxes trying to buy it. It's funny really since the things are empty."

T didn't talk to me again after that.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ca: (raises her voice) I see other boxes here. Are you trying to tell me there's nothing in them too? What, just because I'm from Ohio makes me stupid?

"No, just because you're trying to buy an empty box for $300, apparently unaware that it weighs much less than the actual console does, makes you stupid."

We use a similar system of putting an empty display box out for each game console we sell. However, the real consoles are kept in the cash office and there are pull tags next to the display boxes that customers grab and present to the cashiers. Then one of the service desk people goes into the cash office and gets out the console for the customer.

No pull tags=console all gone. I've yet to hear of somebody taking the display box thinking it's an actual console, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear of somebody doing that at my store.

[BunnyJas]

T and Ca were definately sucky in the way they handled this. I don't think any store I know displays the boxes with the product in them- makes it too easy to steal. However I cannot see the reason why the store would display a product they don't have.

In my mind, this is just inviting trouble especially if they are advertising a very desireable product (ex. Wii) and cannot produce the goods. It could be against the law if this is in the US (false advertising and all that). Unless of course they just ran out of them and can put it on order for the customer.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

In my mind, this is just inviting trouble especially if they are advertising a very desireable product (ex. Wii) and cannot produce the goods. It could be against the law if this is in the US (false advertising and all that). Unless of course they just ran out of them and can put it on order for the customer.

I don't buy that.

For example, at my store we build displays of each furniture item we carry. Under that standard it would be "false advertising" if we ever ran out of something, because we're advertising something we don't have. Granted an entertainment center or a kitchen table is not going to be as "high demand" as a new game console will be, but how do you define what is and isn't "high demand"?

Given that the empty display boxes are not a problem for the 99.9% of people who realize they are just displays, or would instantly recognize that the console is not inside if they were to pick it up, I see no reason why it should be a problem.

If I had to guess, I'd say the reason stores put out the display boxes is to show they do carry that item.

[CSR Kim]

You know, we are in Gamestop/EB Games all the time. I've never looked at the display boxes and thought, "Look at all the Wii's they have in stock!" I don't think I ever even had to ask. If I recall, they even had the "boxes" up before the Wii was released, as advertising. They do the same thing for games.

[Becks]

T didn't talk to me again after that.

Doesn't sound like a problem to me.

[BunnyJas]

For example, at my store we build displays of each furniture item we carry. Under that standard it would be "false advertising" if we ever ran out of something, because we're advertising something we don't have.

No, because the last sentence of my post said that if the store is simply out of the item they can put it on order for the customer. All they have to do is tell the customer they are out, when the product will possibly be back in or offer to order one for the customer since they don't carry the product in the store. This was not mentioned in the OP.

Granted an entertainment center or a kitchen table is not going to be as "high demand" as a new game console will be, but how do you define what is and isn't "high demand"?

The stores can easily figure this out by calculating the volume of sales of each item and the time it takes to run out of them. Most corporate offices do this all the time. Supply and demand.

Given that the empty display boxes are not a problem for the 99.9% of people who realize they are just displays, or would instantly recognize that the console is not inside if they were to pick it up, I see no reason why it should be a problem.

As stated in my last post, I agree. I think this just makes it less likely for the product to be stolen. However in the OP there was no mention that this store actually carried the product, when it would be back in stock, or if the customer could order it/ put one on hold. Also if you know the Wii is not going to be in stock for long time, then the box should be removed from the display.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Perhaps a better way to deal with game consoles being out of stock would be to put a sign on the box reading "This unit is out of stock until further notice" or some such thing.

I respectfully disagree that having the box out when the console is out of stock is false advertising. Stating that it would be false advertising strikes me as an SC-ish kind of move, especially when 99.9% of people understand that it's just a display and know to expect limited supply when the console is first released for sale. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[justZu]

Perhaps a better way to deal with game consoles being out of stock would be to put a sign on the box reading "This unit is out of stock until further notice" or some such thing.

Ah, but we all know that SCs never read the signs in a store.

[Emrld]

Ok I am going to sound really stupid . . . .
Gamestop is not a store that I typically go to . . . in fact this past weekend was only I think the thrid time in my life to be in one.
And yes, my point in going in was to purchase a Wii. Not being familiar with the store I was upset that they had the boxes out and no units to sell. I saw it as false advertising but didn't say anything about it.
Instead I was told they don't have them in stock and good luck finding one as most stores sell out about 2 hrs after a shipment arrives. And yes, I did blush at this point as people were looking at us. I understand that clerks have bad days . .. but if you are annoyed by people like me who don't know any better . . .put a flippin sign up. If there had been a sign with the boxes or at the front counter . . about order your Wii - or currently out of stock check back I wouldn't have bothered the clerk at all.
I wasn't rude but I was treated poorly. I honestly didn't know that it was still a challange to locate a unit . . .I thought I had waited long enough after Christmas to be able to find one in a store.
I do know that I will be keeping my eyes open for one - but I won't be going back to that Gamestop for anything.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ah, but we all know that SCs never read the signs in a store.

I know. But at least we can say we tried to tell them.

[Banrion]

And yes, my point in going in was to purchase a Wii. Not being familiar with the store I was upset that they had the boxes out and no units to sell. I saw it as false advertising but didn't say anything about it.

A display INSIDE a store cannot be false advertising. To be false advertising, a store had to lure you there based on promises they never intended to keep. Be it a flyer, a billboard, a radio ad then it can be considered false advertising. If you are already in the store for the purpose of buying a Wii, and they don't have it, what difference does a box on the shelf make?

Of course there is no reason for an employee to be rude about it, I'm sure they hear the same question 100's of times a day, but they still must remain cordial on first contact with a prospective customer.