I can't read - Give me FREE stuff!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I work at a games store.

Wii Fit is one of our most popular items this Christmas and is extremely hard to find.

As a promotional thing, Nintendo sent us some Wii Fit promotional DVDs that sit on our counter. They are free and say on them clearly "DVD".

I wasn't working when the following incident happened, but a coworker told me about it the next day. Basically a woman had excitedly picked up one of the promotional DVDs one day and then came back in a fit the next day because...

...you guessed it...

The FREE disc she had gotten WAS NOT the Wii Fit game!

Yes she actually thought we were giving away Wii Fit games (minus the balance board) for FREE! Why on EARTH would we do that? We can't even keep enough in stock for PAYING customers!

So she pulled the false advertising card and just flipped out on us for apparently "deceiving" her and causing her undue stress. She demanded a manager and told him in no uncertain terms that she wanted, for all her agony and frustration, you guessed it: A free Wii Fit (with the balance board!)

Manager pointed out the packaging on the promotional discs clearly says "DVD". SC claimed that despite this someone that worked here claimed it was actually the game. Now none of the people who worked the day before were on shift at this particular time, so I can see what might made the SC try and use that excuse.

But the manager calmly told her that no one working here was dumb enough to make a mistake like that.

She got more upset, demanded a free Wii Fit again and claimed the manager could "kiss his job goodbye" if she didn't get what she wanted.

Manager gave her the corporate number and told her to take it up with them. She stormed out, yelling that all of us "better start looking for new work" and that she's going to get what she wants.

Now I posted before about how spineless corporate can be, but even they have limits. I doubt they are going to comp a Wii Fit for this woman due to her own stupidity. If they actually do it, I just might consider "looking for new work" but I suspect that isn't going to happen.

[reimero]

In my (admittedly limted) experience, corporate will comp a bunch of stuff to keep customers happy, but they will almost never give away high-value, high-demand items with extremely short shelf lives unless it's a contest. There's practically no way she gets a Wii Fit unless she gets a gift card (also unlikely) and then manages to show up when you have them in stock.

[Nurian]

I work at a games store.

Oh, you poor, sad soul. I pity you.

This is not sarcasm, by the way. I go into my local games store all the time and see some of the most idiotic customers in the world.

I.E:
Fanboys
Uninformed Consumers
Social Rejects with an attitude (think Comic Book Guy)

If you can survive there, I give glory unto you!

[raije]

We've got customers that call our corporate offices every week to get free $25 gift cards. For the littlest things. Including people who don't read. Ugh. (X item is on clearance, half way around the store and Y companion item is not, cashiers did not greet him upon his arrival into the store, some one left shampoo in our checkout candy where the gum is 1.29+tax and they want it for that price etc)

Our corporate flags these people...but continues to send them gift cards (and if they did this every week for a year, it would amount to $1300 just given away to one person alone).
But hey. Keep them happy and spending our money. Not theirs.

---------------

On the flip side, one of my employees is a part timer at Game Stop and hearing all the stories that come out of there for his two days a week..especially right now...holy crap.
You rock.

[powerboy]

Whenever I go into my local game shop, I am nice to them. Only once I had an attitude about something. That was because they sold my copy of a game that I had reserved. They gave me a free game along with the one that I reserved, when it came in.

[otakuneko]

I don't go to game shops much because GameStop and the like tend to have only a crappy selection of PC games. (besides that many games suck, so I find...other ways...to try them before purchasing)

At times, I had thought working at such a place might be a good idea, if only for some "easy" income.

Not so much anymore!
(Besides, I hate consoles and console gaming. Consoles are why many PC games suck, IMO: half-assed ports from console versions!)

[Soulstealer]

I hate it when things get comped because of idiot SCs. I had a girl on the phone the other day going on about how she had a $20 dollar fine about a book she checked out 2 days before. This was one of our reserve items, basically professors would put something on hold for their class and students can only check it out for 2/3 hours at a time.

Now I asked this girl if the item had a reserve sticker on it, it did. She claimed no one had told her, I suspect she didn't listen when whoever checked it out to her told her when it was due.

Unfortunatly I have no control over fines and managers will usually cave in and remove fines if you give them a sob story.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I say no way she gets the Wii Fit either.

At best, she'll get a gift card, which is still much more than she deserves, but no way corporate will cough up an expensive, high-demand item such as a Wii Fit to that imbecile just because she complained.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Oh, you poor, sad soul. I pity you.

This is not sarcasm, by the way. I go into my local games store all the time and see some of the most idiotic customers in the world.

I.E:
Fanboys
Uninformed Consumers
Social Rejects with an attitude (think Comic Book Guy)

If you can survive there, I give glory unto you!

We do have this types of idiots/SCs but for the most part our customers are pretty good. I quite like my work usually.

[The Grim Shipper]

I suspect the story will change for corporate, from "I thought this was a free Wii Fit" to something more like "I asked for a Wii Fit and they gave me this DVD".