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[Calamari41]

I agree, especially if they are lecturing the informed.

But in this case, I think it's very important for retail employees to explain the new, and often odd-ball policies MS has in place with the Xbox One. There is no need to urge them to get the PS4 instead, but sometimes a consumer expects a person in the know (i.,e a gamestop employee) to make an effort to explain them with their purchasing.

Imagine a sweet grandma coming in thinking she's going to get the Xbox One (aka, the new "nintendo" in her eyes) for a grandsons 15th birthday. She won't know all the bullshit that comes with the Xbox One and it's important for her to know that so she doesn't give her a grandson a gift that may not even work especially if that family doesn't have reliable broadband internet access.

These concepts are important, and it's important for the consumer to know these things. Especially to avoid customer service nightmares post-release.

This is exactly right.

When a mom comes to the register with a Playstation 4 and a copy of Super Mario 3D World, it is right to ask if she is aware that they do not work together.

When I go to the register with a Playstation 4 and Killzone, it is not right for the guy to ask if I am aware that Nintendo roolz and Sony droolz.

 

[razgriz417]

Informing customers should be part of their job, if not for the customer's sake, but for their own sake to minimize the amount of angry complaints/returns in November. That being said, employees should never berate or be condescending to customers about their purchase. I sold computers for Staples a while back and being informative and giving customers options is the way to sell shit, trying to shove your own personal opinion down someone's throat is the easiest way to lose a sale and a customer forever. Give them the facts and let them make their own decision

 

[Green Yoshi]

Speaking as someone who worked retail for years, employees should only give buying advice when asked. That Gamestop employee was mega obnoxious.

He's not stupid. You can't sell used games to Xbox One owners. ;-)
It's like selling a PSP Go instead of the normal PSP. Not good for Gamestop.

 

[razgriz417]

Yeah.

These people aren't going to just call MS though. They're going to go back to Gamestop and start demanding refunds, they're going to want to know why certain games can't be traded in, why they need the internet to use the system, why the physical disc copy of their game they bought doesn't work at their friends place.

Nobody working at retail honestly wants to deal with that shit. It makes sense why managers would want to push people on the fence to go towards the PS4 given all of that and everything else going on with XB1.

That said I don't think berating people who have already their minds made up is the way to go.

Totally agree, the last thing you want to do as a retail employee is deal with angry customers, its takes up so much time and effort to placate these people and is just a pain in the ass. Hence why informing consumers is so important, it can be used to cover your ass when that same guy comes in later angry about this or that

 

[Dark Octave]

I've had GS employees push used games on me and laugh at me because I thought it was messed up to buy a used game as a gift. I'm really not surprised by the OP's story.

But I understand the customer. Why would you uproot from what you are familiar with for over a decade? He's familiar with the controller, the interface, the exclusives, the general culture of the system and he probably has long time friends he plays with every day for the last 13 years. Going PS4 for him would probably be like moving to another country.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

I've had GS employees push used games on me and laugh at me because I thought it was messed up to buy a used game as a gift. I'm really not surprised by the OP's story.

But I understand the customer. Why would you uproot from what you are familiar with for over a decade? He's familiar with the controller, the interface, the exclusives, the general culture of the system and he probably has long time friends he plays with every day for the last 13 years. Going PS4 for him would probably be like moving to another country.

Why would they laugh? Seems reasonable enough not to buy used if it's a gift. Did they think their laughing at you would push you to buy the used copy?

 

[Jobbs]

Anyone else appreciating the irony of gamestop employees badgering a customer to NOT preorder something?

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

This is exactly right.

When a mom comes to the register with a Playstation 4 and a copy of Super Mario 3D World, it is right to ask if she is aware that they do not work together.

When I go to the register with a Playstation 4 and Killzone, it is not right for the guy to ask if I am aware that Nintendo roolz and Sony droolz.

But they aren't doing that.

They are instead engaging in conversation with the customer who may be in the process of pre-ordering the Xbox One that the Xbox One has some new features that are distinct to this generation of gaming, such as: A B and C. It's important for people to know that or they'll find out the hard way when Timmy wants to lend his school buddy Billy a game but it won't work on Billy's console. Timmy's mom then goes back to the gamestop and yells at the employee for 10 minutes for no damn reason.

I haven't worked retail, but I'd imagine I'd start off by saying are you aware of the new features and restrictions in place with the new xbox - if they response is yes, I shutup. If their response is no, I inform them. Simple as that.

 

[Calamari41]

But they aren't doing that.

They are instead engaging in conversation with the customer who may be in the process of pre-ordering the Xbox One that the Xbox One has some new features that are distinct to this generation of gaming, such as: A B and C. It's important for people to know that or they'll find out the hard way when Timmy wants to lend his school buddy Billy a game but it won't work on Billy's console. Timmy's mom then goes back to the gamestop and yells at the employee for 10 minutes for no damn reason.

I haven't worked retail, but I'd imagine I'd start off by saying are you aware of the new features and restrictions in place with the new xbox - if they response is yes, I shutup. If their response is no, I inform them. Simple as that.

Except the OP didn't describe an enlightened exchange of ideas, but rather a customer saying "yeah I know, and I don't care" to everything the cashier said, and the cashier calling him an idiot. I used the "Mario on Playstation" as an example of engaging in a conversation to inform the customer. The guy in the OP was the equivalent of someone calling you a baby for buying Mario.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

Except the OP didn't describe an enlightened exchange of ideas, but rather a customer saying "yeah I know, and I don't care" to everything the cashier said, and the cashier calling him an idiot. I used the "Mario on Playstation" as an example of engaging in a conversation to inform the customer. The guy in the OP was the equivalent of someone calling you a baby for buying Mario.

Well I'm just speaking in general, not in that specific instance. Some people here think that retail employees should just be like an automated factory and ring the purchase up. I necessarily don't subscribe to that logic - especially with new hardware that has new features that people wouldn't normally assume them to have. I.e, DRM, Trading Restrictions etc. Features and Restrictions not in place last generation.

 

[Tonguer]

I don't really like shopping at GameStop for the same reason the OP is pointing out - many of the employees in many of the stores seem to treat customers in a condescending way. Not all, not every store - but a high percentage in my limited personal experience.

You know what I like? Target.
"I'd like that Game"
"Yes, sir. This game?"
"Nope, two to the left. Yes, that one."
"Here you are, sir. Have a great day, sir."

I'm not going to GameStop to do research, I'm going there to buy something - or maybe just look around and buy something on a whim, or on sale.

I think it's all well and good to be helpful and give information to the customer. The minute someone starts prescribing what I should do, let alone mocking a purchase choice, fuck that employee, they should be fired on the spot.

Kids these days. No respect, I tell ya, no respect.

 

[Skiptastic]

Informing customers should be part of their job, if not for the customer's sake, but for their own sake to minimize the amount of angry complaints/returns in November. That being said, employees should never berate or be condescending to customers about their purchase. I sold computers for Staples a while back and being informative and giving customers options is the way to sell shit, trying to shove your own personal opinion down someone's throat is the easiest way to lose a sale and a customer forever. Give them the facts and let them make their own decision

Bingo. There's a right way and a wrong way. Letting them know pertinent information and letting them decide ("Do you have a broadband connection? Does it have any major running issues? There is a 24 hour requirement for online.") is the right way. Laughing/arguing/condescending ("Oh, good luck with letting your friend borrow the game!") is the wrong way.

 

[Madness]

Since when has the vocal minority on Internet gaming forums ever extended to the real world?

I know at least 3 family members who want XbOne simply because they were kids when they had Xbox 360 and don't care about the policies.

Same reason so many folks buy Apple products I guess.

 

[AppleSmack]

Since when has the vocal minority on Internet gaming forums ever extended to the real world?

I know at least 3 family members who want XbOne simply because they were kids when they had Xbox 360 and don't care about the policies.

Same reason so many folks buy Apple products I guess.

In gaming? Almost always. Controversy on the internet is very representative of what is going on in the market. Just look at the PS3 and Wii U.

Xbone won't fail, but it is going to take a severe pounding by the PS4. All signs point to this.

 

[Takuya]

I've been seeing this a lot too, I'm all for informing the customers.

 

[Not]

You saw one of these inside of a Gamestop?

Yay for smart people on forums. This is why NeoGAF is so tolerable

 

[Sentenza]

Informing customers should be part of their job, if not for the customer's sake, but for their own sake to minimize the amount of angry complaints/returns in November. That being said, employees should never berate or be condescending to customers about their purchase. I sold computers for Staples a while back and being informative and giving customers options is the way to sell shit, trying to shove your own personal opinion down someone's throat is the easiest way to lose a sale and a customer forever. Give them the facts and let them make their own decision

Yeah, but let's get real, this wasn't an attempt to inform the customer as much as it was an attempt to condition his purchase to fit a very deliberate agenda.

Which while not exactly ethical is something I can understand: Gamestop executives have any reason to favor and push PS4 above XB1.
The issue here for me it's not if those employees were being the very model of useful consultants; my issue is that their approach was just obnoxious and ineffective at the very goal they hoped to achieve.

You don't talk to your customer as if he was a clueless illiterate cretin, not even if that's obviously the truth.
You point facts to him (maybe even with a certain amount of bias, if that floats your boat) and then you step back and let him have the final word in it.

 

[Takuya]

Yeah, but let's get real, this wasn't an attempt to inform the customer as much as it was an attempt to condition his purchase to fit a very deliberate agenda.

Which while not exactly ethical is something I can understand: Gamestop executives have any reason to favor and push PS4 above XB1.
The issue here for me it's not if those employees were being the very model of useful consultants; my issue is that their approach was just obnoxious and ineffective at the very goal they hoped to achieve.

You don't talk to your customer as if he was a clueless illiterate cretin, not even if that's obviously the truth.
You point facts to him (maybe even with a certain amount of bias, if that floats your boat) and then you step back and let him have the final word in it.

They were facts.

 

[polyh3dron]

 

[Krusenstern]

Amazing what blind brand loyalty can do to people. Holy shit, that was gold.
Gamestop is doing the right thing by informing its customers.

 

[gaming_noob]

Do people really hang out at Gamestop that much? If I want something I go in, pay, and leave. Internet has rendered the art of browsing games in a shop useless.

 

[neither]

It's a serious problem. Xbox fans don't know what the issues are :/

But some do and they still want an Xbone.
At the end of the day, it's about the games people want to play and

Spoiler

brand loyalty too unfortunately

.

 

[jonscrambler]

And Plenty of ps4 owners will be surprised they will need to pay to play online

 

[Leucrota]

Just turned in all my games for store credit. Got 60 bucks total with my mostly old, jank ass collection.

My console was a little dirty under the face plate so the guy said he was barely going to give me anything, like thirty bucks, so advised me to sell it on Craig's list.

Best experience so far at the old Game Stop.

 

[neither]

Since when has the vocal minority on Internet gaming forums ever extended to the real world?

The #PS4NoDRM campaign says hello.

 

[Sleeplessnights]

Sony are gonna have to get a big FPS exclusive to win over Merica.

 

[TheMink]

Do people really hang out at Gamestop that much? If I want something I go in, pay, and leave. Internet has rendered the art of browsing games in a shop useless.

I almost never spend time in there, it just happened to be next door to the place i ordered takeout at.

 

[jooey]

The GameStop employee starts basically saying hes an idiot for showing loyalty to a multi million dollar company,

The GameStop employee. The employee who works for...

 

[PanicFreak]

The ignorance of the potential Xbox One customer is an interesting point. There are undoubtedly going to be millions of people who are shocked to find out their games don't work in all manner of situations who subsequently flood Microsoft's customer service with complaints. If Microsoft doesn't reform their policies before launch, they may be compelled to soon after.

How would they know to go and preorder it if they hadn't done at least a little research on the net. There is no reason to assume that your customers are dumb.

 

[ohhthegore]

Just turned in all my games for store credit. Got 60 bucks total with my mostly old, jank ass collection.

My console was a little dirty under the face plate so the guy said he was barely going to give me anything, like thirty bucks, so advised me to sell it on Craig's list.

Best experience so far at the old Game Stop.

man did you not have many games, with the extra $10 for 3, $20 for 5, $35 for 7 games credit on trading in games I was able to pull off $127 on 13 games at Gamestop yesterday

 

[Leucrota]

man did you not have many games, with the extra $10 for 3, $20 for 5, $35 for 7 games credit on trading in games I was able to pull off $127 on 13 games at Gamestop yesterday

Maybe they aren't running that promotion anymore.

 

[Hotsuma]

But some do and they still want an Xbone.
At the end of the day, it's about the games people want to play and

Spoiler

brand loyalty too unfortunately

.

Some of you guys act as if there is no way for gamers to honestly be interested in the Xbox One. Some people do have different opinions on games and might actually be interested in Forza 5, Sunset Overdrive, Killer Instinct, etc. I'm not THAT irked by the DRM issues (they obviously have them because you can share your games digitally) and I do think they should find a better way to handle the offline verification that is needed.

What surprised me more is that MS compromised the design of the system by not thinking games first, expanded features second. I think a lot of the obstacles they're facing (not being able to launch in certain countries, mixed messages, needing regulations for this, that and the other) really come down to them underestimating the headaches that creating an all in one box would cause.

Their approach should have been to build on what they did with the 360 (easier for developers to make games, good set of features, games first approach) and maybe offer an all in one box separately for people that really want that kind of experience.

The DRM issue is not a huge worry for me when it comes to the Xbox One, I'm more concerned how the quality of games will be. The 360 usually got the better version of multiplatform titles, but that may not be the case now. Will having such a seemingly US focused system keep the console from getting a wide variety of games? Will the quality of games be far behind those of PS4 due to the design that MS went with? These are the things I wonder about, not so much the DRM issues. DRM is a big concern, but I'm more concerned about the quality of the games because those are something that can't easily be overcome. They can adjust their terms of service for DRM...game quality, not so much.

 

[Gaius Cassius]

I actually had a similar exchange at a Gamestop earlier this week while preordering a PS4. In my case, it was the employee. She mentioned something about 'I'm going to wait a year before I purchase an xbox one'. The reason she gave? "Because by then they'll remove all the big brother stuff".

 

[kitsuneyo]

If he's pre-ordering a sustem months in advance, I'd call that an enthusiast.

 

[Wickerbasket]

I'm not really sure counting on consumer ignorance is a good sales plan.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Since when has the vocal minority on Internet gaming forums ever extended to the real world?

I know at least 3 family members who want XbOne simply because they were kids when they had Xbox 360 and don't care about the policies.

Same reason so many folks buy Apple products I guess.

Since when do your anectodal examples have any bearing on the real world?

And people buy apple because it's a fashion accessory: like a pair of ray ban sunglasses or those shitty beats audio headphones or those lame-ass concert wristbands college kids wear.
If apple took the logo off their phones and laptops their sales would plummet.

xbox isn't exactly a fashion accessory, never seen an xbro lug a 360 around like an 80s beat box.

 

[DBT85]

Considering a lot of the stuff that gets posted is shit then yeah, you probably are misinformed.

And why isn't that a good enough reason?

I can see how people in certain situations would be upset, but I'm not buying an Xbox One for them. I'm buying it for myself.

My opinion is the only one that matters.

You are right, your opinion IS the only one that matters. To you.

So don't go calling people who don't agree with your opinion misinformed.

 

[Zeth]

This kind of thing is why people avoid stepping foot inside the store.

 

[Ramirez]

Meanwhile im just standing there with the other customer who had come in earlier, and im trying to conceal my face because i was laughing so hard at this interchange. I hope ive painted the picture well enough it was simply amazing.

You must be easily amused.

As someone else said, sell the console to them & shut the fuck up.

 

[Bgamer90]

Xbone won't fail, but it is going to take a severe pounding by the PS4. All signs point to this.

Way too soon to say.

Online is going to play a huge role next gen with systems probably getting frequent updates/changes (possibly monthly). Then, MS is (seemingly) doing more things with sharing games digitally than Sony will do since the PS4 is opened in physical sharing.

Just overall, when you add in different future SKUs, plans, constant updates, etc., I don't see how anyone could say what system will "win" yet.

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

How would they know to go and preorder it if they hadn't done at least a little research on the net. There is no reason to assume that your customers are dumb.

It's not really assuming your customers are dumb. It's more like knowing that a least a small handful of them aren't tech-savvy, and either haven't researched, or don't understand the larger implications of what they have read.

 

[TheMink]

You must be easily amused.

As someone else said, sell the console to them & shut the fuck up.

No im quite sure it was really funny.

 

[ozfunghi]

LOL, I dont get how people can be so loyal to some things. Football teams, Tech Companies, Auto makers, etc...



Off topic.

Does any other country have highways like this? I only see them in the USA.

No man, the rest of the world still uses horse and chariot on dirt roads. Over here in Europe, the situation has improved since the Romans though. Some roads now are paved with cobblestones.

 

[Tallshortman]

The GameStop employee. The employee who works for...

Yeah he's getting paid by gamestop, employment and brand loyalty are not the same thing. Do you consider yourself to be an apple employee if you own an iphone?

 

[B.O.O.M]

The initial 'what' moment was unprofessional. But absolutely no harm in letting the customers know of the new policies. In this situation he does sound rather clueless about some of the new bits of info.

Like that other story from a different thread, they should have a handout with the info. No need to argue. Present the information and let the consumers decide.

 

[ohhthegore]

Maybe they aren't running that promotion anymore.

no its still going till the 23rd

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/...t-extra-102035-credit-kindle-cards-come-back/

the trade in for your game has to be at least worth over $3 to be eligible though :-/

 

[SymbolicGamer]

You are right, your opinion IS the only one that matters. To you.

So don't go calling people who don't agree with your opinion misinformed.

Were you misinformed about the definition of misinformed?

It has absolutely nothing to do with agreeing with my opinion, and I don't care if you don't agree with the policy.

Misinform means giving inaccurate or misleading information.


Here's an example:

He's not stupid. You can't sell used games to Xbox One owners. ;-)
It's like selling a PSP Go instead of the normal PSP. Not good for Gamestop.

 

[squidyj]

How would they know to go and preorder it if they hadn't done at least a little research on the net. There is no reason to assume that your customers are dumb.

really?

 

[DBT85]

The haters are the ones misinformed.

The Xbox One policies are not that bad. Yes, people who don't have a reliable internet connection should probably reconsider, but the 24 hour check-in is trivial for those of us who are always online.

And I don't lend my games out to anyone, so that's another thing that had zero influence on my decision to buy an Xbox One.

I preordered because I'm interested in the games. That's all that matters to me.

If some prick gamestop employee called me an idiot, I'd do everything I could to get him fired.

Plenty of us have read the same shit you have (possibly more) and don't like it. We are misinformed?

Considering a lot of the stuff that gets posted is shit then yeah, you probably are misinformed.

But you aren't?

Were you misinformed about the definition of misinformed?

It has absolutely nothing to do with agreeing with my opinion, and I don't care if you don't agree with the policy.

Misinform means giving inaccurate or misleading information.


Here's an example:

Either I've read it all wrong, or you claimed that haters were the ones that were misinformed, implying that people that don't like the policy are misinformed about it. I asked if those of us who have spent the time to read about it all are misinformed, you say yes, problably.

Am I missing something?

To misinform does indeed mean to give inaccurate or misleading information about the policy. To be misinformed is to not be fully informed about the policy.

You said that I probably am misinformed.

 

[KingFire]

How do you think Apple is surviving? Most of the idiots have no idea what the competitors offer. They follow Apple due to brand loyalty.

To build that loyalty is very difficult, and the X360, MS has made some loyal customers. Many of these will blindly buy the Xbone.