Game store stupidity aka "What do you mean you have no Wiis?"

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

This time of the year is always thrilling at a games store...

Stupidity 1

I took this call at 10 PM tonight. Ten PM. Keep that in mind.

SC: (in a voice that made her sound like a lost little child) Do you have any Wiis?
Me: No.
SC: Oh...do you know where I can get one?
Me: I know all the stores in our chain across four states are currently sold out.
SC: Will you have any in tomorrow?
Me: Possible but unlikely. '
SC: Ok...so much for Christmas (apparently nearly crying by the sounds of it)

With this woman it wasn't only she expected to get a Wii this late on Dec. 23, but that her whiny tone of voice was seemingly meant to get me to take pity on her and magically make a Wii appear.

If you snooze, you lose.

Stupidity 2

CW: Hey crazedclerk, this guy here is looking for a special keyboard, he says he called and we are supposed to be holding it for him.
Me: I didn't talk to him. (To other CW) Did you talk to this guy? No? Ok. (To first CW) I don't know man.
CW: He says he called and spoke to the manager and had it set aside.
SC: I called about 15 minutes ago and spoke to the manager.
Me: Well sir the manager left for the day about an hour ago. I'm the MOD.
SC: I must have been talking to you then.
Me: I don't think so sir, I haven't taken a phone call today where I identified myself as the manager.
SC: Well do you have the keyboard?
Me: No sir, we have none in stock.
SC: So I drove all this way for nothing?
Me: I apologize sir but no one here seems to recall talking to you.
SC: This is bullshit, I called up and spoke to a manager to get that keyboard held and now you don't have the damned thing.
Me and CW:
SC: My wife told me she called the <store> right by the Wal-Mart.
Me: Well sir, are you aware that we have more than one store located by a Wal-Mart in this area?
SC: *cat butt face*

You can guess what happened here. Mr. Genius was IN THE WRONG STORE. I want that 10 minutes of my life back, seriously.

Stupidity 3

SC: I want to trade these in.
Me: Ok they will get you $30 store credit or $22 cash.
SC: I'll take the cash.
Me: Ok I'll need to see your ID.
SC: Oh I need an ID for that?
Me: Yes.
SC: Crap, well just give me the store credit then.
Me: I need ID for that too.
SC: What? Aw damn. You can't do anything without an ID?
Me: Nooo, it's like selling to a pawnshop, you NEED ID.
SC: Crap, I'ma have to come back.

Now he actually did come back and successfully do the trade but why on earth he felt he didn't need ID is beyond me.

The phone must DIE

Me: Thank you for calling <store> how may I help you?
SC: Yeah I need to ask about your PS3s
(Note: I had 8 people in line, this gets important later)
Me: what about them?
SC: How much are they new?
Me: $xxx for just the console or $xxx for the bundle pack with the game.
SC: Ok what about used?
Me: Well that would depend on the hard drive size. They go from $xxx to $xxx
SC: The what size?
Me: The hard drive size?
SC: I don't understand.
Me: The consoles come with different size drives. Depending on what size you want, the prices are different.
SC: Well do they play PS2 games?
Me: Some do, some don't.
SC: I don't understand.
Me: (urge to kill rising) Some consoles are backwards compatible, others are not.
SC: Well which ones are and which ones aren't.
Me:(Ok, this ends NOW) Look sir it's extremely busy in here and I have a long line, if you have more questions you will have to come in to ask them. *click*

My cool manager backed me up on that one and even told me straight up to NOT answer the phone until the line let up. I love my manager.

Why people do this, WHY?

Playing a video game requires two main elements: a gaming console/system and a game. This is a very basic concept...or so you'd think.

Unfortunately I have NUMEROUS people calling or coming in every day asking me about a Wii game" or "DS game" or "PSP game" in which the customer is looking not for a GAME but for the SYSTEM that plays it...and it confuses me EVERY single time.

I wish it would stop, really I do.

You just had to have that latte...

SC: Hey do you have <game>?
Me: Let me check...Sorry. Sold out.
SC: What, I called like 45 minutes ago and you said you had it.
Me: Did you ask us to hold it?
SC: No, I didn't.
Me: Well I'd venture a guess it probably got sold.
SC: But my daughter really wanted it.
Me: I apologize sir, unfortunately I have no more copies of that title.
SC: I guess I shouldn't have stopped at Starbucks on my way here.
Me: Probably not. Things sell fast this time of year.

I expect more thrilling moments tomorrow....

[deafcat24]

My sister told me on Sunday that she wanted a Wii for my niece and nephew for this Christmas

1) If I find one, I must order it right away, confirm you want it, now, I can't call and confirm.

2) Pay $20-30 for expedited shipping because last day for cheap shipping was Friday.

My other sister got a Wii in June for this Christmas, has tried it to see if it works.

I accidentally almost let my nephew know about it, when I came over to see if I left my copy of Mario Kart Wii there by accident when they used my Wii stuff there to test. (Turned out it was at my place, wanted some practice in case he got it for Christmas. Couldn't play, the power cord's frayed, not my cat's fault, unlike my DS Power Cord)

[derangedperson]

SC: I want to trade these in.
Me: Ok they will get you $30 store credit or $22 cash.
SC: I'll take the cash.
Me: Ok I'll need to see your ID.
SC: Oh I need an ID for that?
Me: Yes.
SC: Crap, well just give me the store credit then.
Me: I need ID for that too.
SC: What? Aw damn. You can't do anything without an ID?
Me: Nooo, it's like selling to a pawnshop, you NEED ID.
SC: Crap, I'ma have to come back.

At least he didn't go batshit on you and demand your firing.

[VComps]

Why people do this, WHY?

Playing a video game requires two main elements: a gaming console/system and a game. This is a very basic concept...or so you'd think.

Unfortunately I have NUMEROUS people calling or coming in every day asking me about a Wii game" or "DS game" or "PSP game" in which the customer is looking not for a GAME but for the SYSTEM that plays it...and it confuses me EVERY single time.

I wish it would stop, really I do.

Ooooh, I so feel your pain there. Over on the home theatre side, we have a similar issue, particularly with older customers.

Customer: "I'm looking for a DVD."
Me: (Leads them over to the racks) "Which title?"
Customer: (Looks at me like I'm an idiot) "No, the machine!"
Me: (Internal Sigh Of The Ages) "Oh, a DVD player!"
Customer: "Yeah, a DVD."
Me:

[HawaiianShirts]

Customer: "I'm looking for a DVD."
Me: (Leads them over to the racks) "Which title?"
Customer: (Looks at me like I'm an idiot) "No, the machine!"

Whew! For a while, I thought I was the only one who had that. Apparently, none of my co-workers get that question--just me. I've gotten the same question about Blu-ray.

And, for me, working in the computer section of retail electronics, the statement, "I'm looking for a DVD," can actually mean a DVD player, a DVD movie, blank DVDs, a DVD burner, and in one case, a cable for a mini-DVD camcorder.

[Chromatix]

People do seem to forget that the purpose of language is to convey meaning. Use the wrong words, people get the wrong idea.

[zymry]

The phone must DIE


SC: Well do they play PS2 games?
Me: Some do, some don't.
SC: I don't understand.
Me: (urge to kill rising) Some consoles are backwards compatible, others are not.
SC: Well which ones are and which ones aren't.

My apologies for the derail but can anyone explain to me why sony decided to make some PS3s backwards compatible and others not ? Did they want to create confusion and angst regarding their products ?

[crazylegs]

My apologies for the derail but can anyone explain to me why sony decided to make some PS3s backwards compatible and others not ? Did they want to create confusion and angst regarding their products ?

Microsoft have done exactly the same...

[Chromatix]

My apologies for the derail but can anyone explain to me why sony decided to make some PS3s backwards compatible and others not ? Did they want to create confusion and angst regarding their products ?

I honestly don't know, actually. I thought it was basically software anyway, unlike the PS2-to-PS1 compatibility which was to have a miniaturised PS1 as part of the circuitry.

The one plausible explanation I can come up with is that there is some licencing fee attached to some of the software, which they found they had to pay per-unit for. So they're cheaping out by omitting the software on low-end units, and thus avoiding the royalties.

[Kusanagi]

The first PS3s that shipped were backwards compatible via software emulation with the Emotion graphics engine. When the new ones were released, they ended up scrapping it in favor of dropping the price and adding in a bigger hard drive, if I remember correctly.

The emotion engine also had alot of problems in it and had to be patched constantly to run several different games including backwards compatibility with original Playstation titles.

Another line of logic they used was that almost everyone who owns a PS3 also owns a PS2, so Sony dropped it altogether.

[ditchdj]

My cool manager backed me up on that one and even told me straight up to NOT answer the phone until the line let up. I love my manager.

Tell your manager I said he's a smart guy for telling you that. It really irritates me when I'm getting rung up for something and the cashier's phone rings and they take the call, leaving me to stand there with a thumb up my butt until they get done with their call.

[persephone]

With this woman it wasn't only she expected to get a Wii this late on Dec. 23, but that her whiny tone of voice was seemingly meant to get me to take pity on her and magically make a Wii appear.

If you snooze, you lose.

A friend of ours from growing up is the Store Manager of the local GameStop up here where mine and Hubby's parents live. Both sets of grandparents were taking Daughter and Son ice skating at a local outdoor rink and out for lunch today as a treat, so Hubby, Sister, Brother and I went down to see our buddy and take him and his coworker lunch (he and his Assistant Manager are working today so all the other employees can have the day off and they're closed tomorrow).

So we show up with lots of yummy goodies for them for lunch. The store is pretty busy (to be expected) but actually not as bad as it could have been. Buddy says it's been steady, but nothing so overwhelming they couldn't handle it. While we're there, we get to see this gem of a lady come in and DEMAND a Wii. It takes my Buddy ten minutes to convince her they don't have any and she rants and raves and screams about them ruining her children's Christmas.

I mean really -- who waits until Christmas Eve to do Christmas shopping? And if you don't, you must realize you can't be picky!

[Danno]

No kidding. Wait 'til Christmas Eve to shop and you ain't getting nothing but a Chia Pet.

And not a good Chia Pet, mind you. No, you're going home with the Chia Hippo.

[marty]

My apologies for the derail but can anyone explain to me why sony decided to make some PS3s backwards compatible and others not ? Did they want to create confusion and angst regarding their products ?

Sony hates money.

[Jetfire]

The first PS3s that shipped were backwards compatible via software emulation with the Emotion graphics engine. When the new ones were released, they ended up scrapping it in favor of dropping the price and adding in a bigger hard drive, if I remember correctly.

The emotion engine also had alot of problems in it and had to be patched constantly to run several different games including backwards compatibility with original Playstation titles.

Another line of logic they used was that almost everyone who owns a PS3 also owns a PS2, so Sony dropped it altogether.

Actually the original PS3's emulated the PS2 in hardware; there was basically PS2 chips in the PS3 hardware to handle PS2 games. In later versions, the PS2 hardware was changed to software emulation, which doesn't have full PS2 game coverage, but it saved money (fewer chips, fewer failure points).

And you're 4 hours too late now, but the Superstore in my home town, I saw they had 6 Wii's and 4 WiiFit's in stock on the counter looking for someone to buy this afternoon. (Last XMas they seemed to have Wii's available surprisingly near XMas as well)