so I quit my job.

So today after a summer working at a certain game store, I finally had enough. What did the customer do to push me over the edge you ask. Nothing. It was the manager then right? Wrong. It was the way the company was run. It had been my dream to be that guy selling games to people, the perfect college job, getting to chat about games all day. I started with the fire to please the higher ups and worked my hardest to achieve the goals set by my managers. As I continued my training there I was caught off guard one night when a fellow employee showed me the "correct" way to work a certain deal I had already been setting up for the customer. By buying a certain game with another certain game the man would have saved around 10 dollars, but instead the other attendant told me to ring up a different version of the game which was seemingly cheaper but not part of the deal, thus negating the 10 dollar value and cutting it to around 3 dollars off. This never sat well with me but I shrugged it off. It was when the focus of my job went from selling games and keeping the customers at the store happy to making a quota of pre-sales and membership cards that my disposition at my place of work started to falter. Why pester a customer who has already made a purchase and has said no to the pre-sales to then sign up for something else. I know that it's a business and for the company its all about the bottom line and the money earned, but as a human being and as someone who above all else loves and respects gaming I couldn't become that guy.

You know the ones I'm talking about. The guys that you bring up when you tell your friends about how you'll never shop there again because some clown in a God of War shirt kept asking you why you didn't want money down on Black Ops 2. Another issue I had was more minor. It was that only a few of the people working around me had any knowledge of the games themselves. Now these people could tell you the release date of any game on the market, but ask one of them what the premise of Bioshock Infinite is and they immediately call me over, the season help, to spin the take of Bioshock. Most of them hadn't actually played a game since the ps2 era and would simply repeat information they received via an email every morning verbatim, like some kind of robotic sales clerk. Maybe I'm just old enough to remember a time when the guy behind the counter at the local game store were just as into gaming as the folks on the other side of the counter. Maybe it's that nostalgia that drove me to leave the store. Along with the fact that I had found more gainful employment of course. I had planned to give a 2 weeks, and after expressing my grievances over a repeating lack of hours on my schedule I thought I would at least be given enough days the next week to pay fo the back and forth gas. Keep in mind my hours went down because I refused to pressure the customers into a sell, because I know that after I've given my pitch the customer can decide for themselves whether this product is what they want. I would rather see them leaving with a smile excited to play their new copy of GTA 4 or Katamari Damacy, the cursing me under their breath and vowing to never return again. I was reassured in this method when I discovered no customer had ever complained about me, and in fact most knew me by name and always said they appreciated my help in choosing a game, since I never pressured and only assisted if asked. I always gave my honest opinion, i.e. Duke Nuke Forever in my opinion isn't worth anyone's time, so I would never suggest they buy it if they had it in their hand, nor would I ever try to make them change there mind. Growing up I learned about what games I might want by asking the opinions of those that had already played them, and in turn I was never told not to buy something, instead the seller would simply give his opinion and let me make the decision. I tried to mirror this level of consumer/seller respect and honesty. For doing so I was told I should just let them buy it, and always say every game is fun and a good game.

I left on good terms for a better job and hope that my coworkers feel no resentment in me leaving. I simply won;t work in an environment where the customer is just a means to an end, a dollar sign on a spreadsheet. To me places like that destroy the reputation of gamers and gaming more than they help them. Perhaps it was seeing the horrible truth of the game trades for petty cash, only to sell them for a large profit, minus half the included contents. I feel better now, I guess. But it was never that I hated the place I worked, more just the lack of love for what they were selling and the construction of a consumer/seller barrier that made me feel like a terrible person. Like that moment when you tell a little girl her Wii is worth 30 dollars and the parents tell you off. I wish those I left there who truly do love games and gaming culture nothing but luck, but I know that I will be changing the place I purchase games from now on knowing the things I know, since maybe that extra 20 dollars isn't such pain when I know my money goes to the devs.

So today after a summer working at a certain game store, I finally had enough. What did the customer do to push me over the edge you ask. Nothing. It was the manager then right? Wrong. It was the way the company was run. It had been my dream to be that guy selling games to people, the perfect college job, getting to chat about games all day. I started with the fire to please the higher ups and worked my hardest to achieve the goals set by my managers. As I continued my training there I was caught off guard one night when a fellow employee showed me the "correct" way to work a certain deal I had already been setting up for the customer. By buying a certain game with another certain game the man would have saved around 10 dollars, but instead the other attendant told me to ring up a different version of the game which was seemingly cheaper but not part of the deal, thus negating the 10 dollar value and cutting it to around 3 dollars off. This never sat well with me but I shrugged it off. It was when the focus of my job went from selling games and keeping the customers at the store happy to making a quota of pre-sales and membership cards that my disposition at my place of work started to falter. Why pester a customer who has already made a purchase and has said no to the pre-sales to then sign up for something else. I know that it's a business and for the company its all about the bottom line and the money earned, but as a human being and as someone who above all else loves and respects gaming I couldn't become that guy.

You know the ones I'm talking about. The guys that you bring up when you tell your friends about how you'll never shop there again because some clown in a God of War shirt kept asking you why you didn't want money down on Black Ops 2. Another issue I had was more minor. It was that only a few of the people working around me had any knowledge of the games themselves. Now these people could tell you the release date of any game on the market, but ask one of them what the premise of Bioshock Infinite is and they immediately call me over, the season help, to spin the take of Bioshock. Most of them hadn't actually played a game since the ps2 era and would simply repeat information they received via an email every morning verbatim, like some kind of robotic sales clerk. Maybe I'm just old enough to remember a time when the guy behind the counter at the local game store were just as into gaming as the folks on the other side of the counter. Maybe it's that nostalgia that drove me to leave the store. Along with the fact that I had found more gainful employment of course. I had planned to give a 2 weeks, and after expressing my grievances over a repeating lack of hours on my schedule I thought I would at least be given enough days the next week to pay fo the back and forth gas. Keep in mind my hours went down because I refused to pressure the customers into a sell, because I know that after I've given my pitch the customer can decide for themselves whether this product is what they want. I would rather see them leaving with a smile excited to play their new copy of GTA 4 or Katamari Damacy, the cursing me under their breath and vowing to never return again. I was reassured in this method when I discovered no customer had ever complained about me, and in fact most knew me by name and always said they appreciated my help in choosing a game, since I never pressured and only assisted if asked. I always gave my honest opinion, i.e. Duke Nuke Forever in my opinion isn't worth anyone's time, so I would never suggest they buy it if they had it in their hand, nor would I ever try to make them change there mind. Growing up I learned about what games I might want by asking the opinions of those that had already played them, and in turn I was never told not to buy something, instead the seller would simply give his opinion and let me make the decision. I tried to mirror this level of consumer/seller respect and honesty. For doing so I was told I should just let them buy it, and always say every game is fun and a good game.

I left on good terms for a better job and hope that my coworkers feel no resentment in me leaving. I simply won;t work in an environment where the customer is just a means to an end, a dollar sign on a spreadsheet. To me places like that destroy the reputation of gamers and gaming more than they help them. Perhaps it was seeing the horrible truth of the game trades for petty cash, only to sell them for a large profit, minus half the included contents. I feel better now, I guess. But it was never that I hated the place I worked, more just the lack of love for what they were selling and the construction of a consumer/seller barrier that made me feel like a terrible person. Like that moment when you tell a little girl her Wii is worth 30 dollars and the parents tell you off. I wish those I left there who truly do love games and gaming culture nothing but luck, but I know that I will be changing the place I purchase games from now on knowing the things I know, since maybe that extra 20 dollars isn't such pain when I know my money goes to the devs.

Fuck those motherfuckers. I went through the same thing at half price books. Let's start our own indie used game store. There's a power vacuum there.

"Would you like a pre-used copy of this game for $10 cheaper"

"No."

"Would you like disk insurance for an extra $2?"

"No."

I will never, for the life of me, understand why people get so upset with two questions. Yes, they're unnecessary, but some people do want that, and it's impossible to tell without asking. Besides, if you shop somewhere long enough, the staff will learn your responses, I'm sure. I shop at an EB and I know the manager. Always very friendly and curtious, excited about games. The retail experience isn't ideal, but I never understood all the vitriol that came about because of, other than "I need something to complain about." Apparently Windows 8, Nickelback, EA Games isn't enough.

It was great that you stick to your morals, sometimes it's better to go with your head height no matter what a job demands you to do. Hopefully you find a job that enjoy and you are proud of (no that you weren't).

Stories like those make me realize how great my local GameStop was. They never do that shit and you could tell they've played a lot of games. I salute you for sticking to your morals.

Stories like those make me realize how great my local GameStop was. They never do that shit and you could tell they've played a lot of games. I salute you for sticking to your morals.

Office Bat don't need no fucking job.

@MAGZine said:

"Would you like a pre-used copy of this game for $10 cheaper"

"No."

"Would you like disk insurance for an extra $2?"

"No."

I will never, for the life of me, understand why people get so upset with two questions. Yes, they're unnecessary, but some people do want that, and it's impossible to tell without asking. Besides, if you shop somewhere long enough, the staff will learn your responses, I'm sure. I shop at an EB and I know the manager. Always very friendly and curtious, excited about games. The retail experience isn't ideal, but I never understood all the vitriol that came about because of, other than "I need something to complain about." Apparently Windows 8, Nickelback, EA Games isn't enough.

For some people working there "No." isn't enough. My friend was forced into getting their card against his will after he said "no" a couple dozen times the clerk still asked him ftor his e-mail and phone number and then gave him the card. It's out of the ordinary to find someone at one of these places who actually values your time enough to only ask you once.

@LD50: haha anytime man! I wish there was a little mom and pop style game store left around here sadly the last one closed about three years ago. Thanks for the read man!

@MAGZine: I wish the place I worked had allowed me to learn the customers responses. Sadly when I'd remember a person and try to chat with them and complete the transactions simply knowing they never did certain pre sales, I would still be called out by the manager for not making a better sale, whether they left with a smile or a grimace. I think this store may be just one of those poor examples out there, since I've shopped at chain game stores before and had wonderful experiences. I appreciate your comment though man, and for real thanks for taking the time to read the post and leave such a well said response.

@MariachiMacabre: For sure. Thanks for the read and the comment!

@Spoonman671: hahaha! his job is to make sure crime file its tps reports on time. Thanks for reading!

@musclerider: sadly many a time I had to be that guy, and that's just not me, I feel bad when I force someone to make a purchase of any kind after being told no.

@The_Laughing_Man: That's how the original manager was for the first weeks I was there, sadly she had to find a better paying job, but I was glad someone so nice is moving up in the world.

I've heard this story a million times. Gamestop's a real bummer.

Whenever I get asked if I want to buy the game used for 10$ cheaper, I like to goof off a bit and just say something snarky like "Why? Do I look like I can't afford something new with my money?" It usually flabbergasts them long enough to avoid the rest of their sales pitch. Luckily I don't shop at those places often enough to be recognized as the bourgeois prick.

I've literally never been asked if I want to buy a cheaper pre owned copy; admittedly I haven't bought a whole lot of new games from gamestop, but still.

Good to hear you have morals, but sad to hear it's not easy to reconcile them with the current world model.

My brother was a sales assistant at Harvey Norman, and I don't think he'll ever be the same after it. He had to sell his soul...

Can't remember the last time I went to an actual store to buy a game. I can always find the best deal online, even for physical discs with shipping.

Good on you for leaving. Best of luck with your next job!

EDIT: Spelling.

@gaminghooligan:

Good on you for sticking to what you believe is right and true!

It's too bad gaming companies in retail these days are pushing this type of customer relation mentality - it's definitely not like the old days anymore.

That said though, you could still probably find a good local/mom-and-pop type of video game store at a local mall or retail streets that offer a more gamer-focused experience. It all comes down to how well supported they are by their regulars.

Ya I hate video game retailers. That's why I don't go to a "video game" store to buy them anymore.

I also hate sales, but I have to tell ya, OP, any sales job is like that. Even if the job is customer first, it's still a requirement to shove products and services down their throat (even if you know what you're selling is shitty). That's just how it is, it's not only in video games but most everything. Honestly the best way to get around that is to create your own product and sell that. Then it's as shitty as you make it.

That's why so many people these days are making their own business. I would wager most, if not all of them, are sick of dealing with other people sales rules and would prefer to work under their own.

I really hate sales, but most of life is nothing but.

TL;DR. Yeah, I worked at a certain game store for 3 years or so. Man, fuck that noise.

Sounds like you are way too good of an employee to be working at a shitty Gamestop. That place is terrible. I have vowed to never step foot inside one ever again.

I work at a movie theater and just like Gamestop, it's all about corporate decisions and getting the money.

However, everyone I work with is very cool, including the managers. If you're not a rude, snobby fucker about the prices, we'll usually help you and go out of our way to explain a way to save. Our specific building (more than one in the area) isn't as strict thankfully, so the managers aren't flipping shit over everything.

I haven't stepped foot in an EB games for at least 2 years now.. Mine wasn't even that bad in retrospect to be honest, I was always asked if I wanted to buy a pre-owned version instead or if I wanted disk insurance.. But never once did anyone there ask me if I wanted to pre-order something, and if I said "No" that was it.. I wasn't badgered on about it.

It's just that I'm buying less new games in stores now ( By "new" I mean current generation).. I pretty much just go to the independent retro game store near me and look for Gamcube games. Oh and WoW is taking up a lot of my game time too.

Stories like this make me glad that retail is dying.

It's biggest advantage over the convenience of online shopping is that human element, but every big retailer seems keen to strip that away.

I have to side with CornBREDX here. It sounds more than anything like you were simply naive about what sales jobs really entail. Actually, the fact that they cut your hours rather than just firing you when you refused to upsell customers indicates to me that they were being pretty lenient. A lot of places would have just kicked you to the curb for displaying such "morality." Look, sales jobs are what they are, and I can certainly sympathize with the disillusionment of realizing that your new job is not what you thought it would be, but you also seem to be under the impression that building rapport with a customer and trying to sell them a product are mutually exclusive things, which isn't really the case. It's just really hard.

well that is great that you are nice to not ask a bunch of questions. i went to gamestop to get ghost recon future soldier and the guy asked me if i wanted to preorder the map. for some reason i had said yes. i usually don't as i don't like DLC. he kept on asking me questions if i wanted to upgrade to power up, preorder this, preorder that, preorder the map pack.

the thing is that i haven't really touched the game for a while. i haven't downloaded, redeemed the code to get the map pack.

Once, when I was getting a copy of Mass Effect 3, the cashier(who was being a dick to begin with.) asked me if I wanted a used copy, I said no and he grabbed a copy from under the desk and promptly shoved it in the bag. Since I was using a gift card(which was pretty much the only reason I was there.) I didn't notice the total. Angrily, I took the bag and receipt and went home. When I came home I noticed that there was no shrink wrap on the case. I checked the receipt and to my dismay it said "congratulations! you saved 5.00 buying used!"

The guy had sold me a used copy without my consent. I went back immediately and asked for a new copy but apparently, that was the only copy they had. I was very excited to play ME3 and since it was practically free with the gift card I received, I didn't want to cause a fuss. The moral of the story is that gamestop is a very shady company. I really miss mom and pop shops. The only ones that I know of are hours away, why is it such a hassle to get quality service these days?

Anyway, just wanted to say good on you OP, working at a company like that sounds soul crushing. Good luck to you and your future career endeavors.

I applaud you for sticking to your guns. I'd feel extremely dirty shilling shitty games, especially if the customer is a kid or is buying a gift. I don't have a problem with trying to suggest a used copy or a membership, since that's just how GameStop survives (and as a member, the special deals really aren't half bad), but that's just my view.

I wish I had the business sense and money to open a grassroots game shop myself, with the bottom line of honesty towards the customers. I've been lucky with local GameStops, but everybody likes having alternatives, and the only other game shop in the area is an (amazing) vintage place.

Went with my hometown GameStop employees to a Wii U Experience event, got to play a whole bunch of games for the system that I'm super-excited for. They don't really harass me about pre-orders, especially because I just remind them that I'll be at school anyways.

The people at the GameStop in Madison (where I attend UW) are literally jonesing for the chance to sell me another game when I come in asking for something that's not very good. They don't harass me about pre-orders because they know they're working with a college student and they know I'll probably buy anything I really want in my good time anyways. If I asked to hang a poster for my podcast on their window, I bet they'd let me do just that.

Most GameStops aren't generally as awesome as those, and there's at least one rotten apple at both of those stores who seems disinterested or uninformed. But I fucking love my local GameStops, an experience that makes the vitriol towards the corporation a bit weird.

I'm glad you made a decision you're happy with, though!

thanks for the interesting read, duder. One day I'll quit my shitty retail job too. Until then, I'll just keep poking my coworkers on Facebook.

"Video Game Knowledge" isn't a requirement to work at GameStop. It probably should be, but it isn't. The people that work there are glorified cashiers, and anyone who does know anything about games have learned to stay clear of GameStop (in terms of working there). GameStop has ruined the idea that working at a game store would be cool. They might as well be a fast food restaurant or a grocery store in terms of employees.

@gaminghooligan:Good on ya!

@MAGZine said:

"Would you like a pre-used copy of this game for $10 cheaper"

"No."

"Would you like disk insurance for an extra $2?"

"No."

I will never, for the life of me, understand why people get so upset with two questions. Yes, they're unnecessary, but some people do want that, and it's impossible to tell without asking.

Because it's fucking annoying answering dumb questions like this every time you go into a store. If I wanted a used copy I'd be stood there with a used copy in my hand; if I wanted disk insurance I'd ask if you offered disk insurance. It's not (or at least shouldn't be) a retail assistant's job to verbally offer me every product and service they have available.

Everytime I venture out in our world, which has been built mostly by base and servile work, I wonder why anybody bothers to show up. So much time wasted on hollow competition and cutting a profit for the handful of 'winners', or even simply being a good little slave uplifting and idolizing the rich, our betters, and standing on attention to happily do derogatory services of all kinds with a docile smile - why?  Such a waste of time and effort.
 
Modern communications and networking would allow us to only work on commission, to do what's needed and wanted and asked for. Why not facilitate efficiency, instead of heedless growth amidst boundless winning and way too much failure and loss? I certainly will never stand around waiting to please some elusive customer, or work my ass off for a fraction of the returns my clientele gets for their work, which in all likelyhood isn't even productive work to begin with. And if somebody wants more, than they can stand for, without winning it in a competition - fuck those insolent assholes, and string them up on the next fucking tree, for demanding to live a lifestyle nobody sane would want to support out of free will.
 
The entire fucking economy is shitty design, and makes for shitty company policies and for shitty people. Enjoy the unemployed lifestyle. Eventually you'll get sucked back into the joys of servility though, because I'm sure you want to live a 'good life', and be one of the people - instead of a pariah and outcast.

@gaminghooligan said:

So today after a summer working at a certain game store, I finally had enough. What did the customer do to push me over the edge you ask. Nothing. It was the manager then right? Wrong. It was the way the company was run. It had been my dream to be that guy selling games to people, the perfect college job, getting to chat about games all day. I started with the fire to please the higher ups and worked my hardest to achieve the goals set by my managers. As I continued my training there I was caught off guard one night when a fellow employee showed me the "correct" way to work a certain deal I had already been setting up for the customer. By buying a certain game with another certain game the man would have saved around 10 dollars, but instead the other attendant told me to ring up a different version of the game which was seemingly cheaper but not part of the deal, thus negating the 10 dollar value and cutting it to around 3 dollars off. This never sat well with me but I shrugged it off. It was when the focus of my job went from selling games and keeping the customers at the store happy to making a quota of pre-sales and membership cards that my disposition at my place of work started to falter. Why pester a customer who has already made a purchase and has said no to the pre-sales to then sign up for something else. I know that it's a business and for the company its all about the bottom line and the money earned, but as a human being and as someone who above all else loves and respects gaming I couldn't become that guy.

You know the ones I'm talking about. The guys that you bring up when you tell your friends about how you'll never shop there again because some clown in a God of War shirt kept asking you why you didn't want money down on Black Ops 2. Another issue I had was more minor. It was that only a few of the people working around me had any knowledge of the games themselves. Now these people could tell you the release date of any game on the market, but ask one of them what the premise of Bioshock Infinite is and they immediately call me over, the season help, to spin the take of Bioshock. Most of them hadn't actually played a game since the ps2 era and would simply repeat information they received via an email every morning verbatim, like some kind of robotic sales clerk. Maybe I'm just old enough to remember a time when the guy behind the counter at the local game store were just as into gaming as the folks on the other side of the counter. Maybe it's that nostalgia that drove me to leave the store. Along with the fact that I had found more gainful employment of course. I had planned to give a 2 weeks, and after expressing my grievances over a repeating lack of hours on my schedule I thought I would at least be given enough days the next week to pay fo the back and forth gas. Keep in mind my hours went down because I refused to pressure the customers into a sell, because I know that after I've given my pitch the customer can decide for themselves whether this product is what they want. I would rather see them leaving with a smile excited to play their new copy of GTA 4 or Katamari Damacy, the cursing me under their breath and vowing to never return again. I was reassured in this method when I discovered no customer had ever complained about me, and in fact most knew me by name and always said they appreciated my help in choosing a game, since I never pressured and only assisted if asked. I always gave my honest opinion, i.e. Duke Nuke Forever in my opinion isn't worth anyone's time, so I would never suggest they buy it if they had it in their hand, nor would I ever try to make them change there mind. Growing up I learned about what games I might want by asking the opinions of those that had already played them, and in turn I was never told not to buy something, instead the seller would simply give his opinion and let me make the decision. I tried to mirror this level of consumer/seller respect and honesty. For doing so I was told I should just let them buy it, and always say every game is fun and a good game.

I left on good terms for a better job and hope that my coworkers feel no resentment in me leaving. I simply won;t work in an environment where the customer is just a means to an end, a dollar sign on a spreadsheet. To me places like that destroy the reputation of gamers and gaming more than they help them. Perhaps it was seeing the horrible truth of the game trades for petty cash, only to sell them for a large profit, minus half the included contents. I feel better now, I guess. But it was never that I hated the place I worked, more just the lack of love for what they were selling and the construction of a consumer/seller barrier that made me feel like a terrible person. Like that moment when you tell a little girl her Wii is worth 30 dollars and the parents tell you off. I wish those I left there who truly do love games and gaming culture nothing but luck, but I know that I will be changing the place I purchase games from now on knowing the things I know, since maybe that extra 20 dollars isn't such pain when I know my money goes to the devs.

You made the right choice. Rather then shit on the company or doing a half-ass job, you left. TBH we're all used to stores asking 1 or 2 questions related to promotions or up selling, so I don't mind being asked that stuff, unless the employee is a dick about it. I say no, they drop it. Secondly, while knowledge about current games certainly helps when working at a game store, you can't expect them to know everything about their games. Maybe your colleagues were waiting to buy a 360/PS3 after the next gen came out, cause there's like 100000000000000 PS2 games. Clerks should know where stuff is, but I don't expect them to have played the game/watched trailers. The customer should know what he wants coming in. Do you walk into a grocery store and ask the cashier whether an onion or tomato is better for the food you're making? I hope not.

I'm going through something similar at my current job.

I just started work at a comic shop and all the other employees do (theres 5 of us total) is sit on their ass and play WOW all day or some dark aged board game. They ignore the very few customers we get and I catch them being super rude to them at times just for being bothered. I LOVE comics and talking about comics and just overall sharing my ideas and opinions on them. They even make fun of me simply because I smile and shake their hands and interact with the customers. Maybe it's because i'm younger and have more energy, but I find it odd that the highlight of my day is actually working! They annoy the hell out of me.

Man, this kind reminded me of my past job in a big way. I used to work in Consumer Collections, the ones who call for unpaid deb for credit cards specifically. I was just a fresh faced, eighteen year old, right out of high school when I started and thought it would be a better idea to get some pocket money for starting Uni and boy that was a mistake. I worked as a 3rd party (not directly employed by the bank but an agency hired to do the work) for a certain bank that went under recently but when was so bad that when bought it almost brought the buyers of the bank with it. I approached the work like the OP did, I figured these people already had enough problems already there is really no point on me making it worse. But, due to the fact that we where really never given proper information on what anything was i.e. if you pay x amount this happens or if you do this program y happens after, and sometimes even when we knew those questions we where supposed to "skirt" the subject or give very VERY vague descriptions of what anything does. Example: There was a "past due" amount that if the person payed the card would be "up-to-date" only problem was the credit card was closed, and we where not supposed to tell them that or the fact that they have to pay on it again that same month or it would go back into collections.

So, already I wasn't really going with this whole vagueness of answer to questions that, in all honestly, we should to have told people paying on these cards what was happening and why. So that kind of hit moral a bit when I HAD to do it how my superiors wanted it i.e. "stretch the true" and "avoid questions". But, I still tried to remain polite as possible then the next chapter began. You see, when some people owe money of any description, they don't really want to pay it back and of course me not really nothing of "real life" yet being only 18-19 at that point, I tended to take everything at face value. That's when I ran into people who would try and lie their way out of it, or flip it back on me like it was my problem they owed close to $10,000 and I am the dickhead because I had to remind them. Of course, the worst came when you had people threatening legal on you, now this one is pretty messed up, there is a law in the United States that a Collection Representative is responsible for everything they do up to and including being able to be SUED PERSONALLY. Yeah, luckily I never had too much problems with that since I was pretty mannered but others I worked around wasn't so careful and of course people would just call in, get the name of the person they are talking to (me for example), and then threaten legal.

So at the end of my "career" my fresh faced naive eighteen year old was gone, transformed into a bitter, cynical, twenty something year old that hates to deal with other people for obvious reasons. I guess my take away was, I did mature extremely fast in the span of like 3-4 years and it convinced me to finally go back to Uni after I was laid off when the bank I worked for went under.

I say good on you for leaving when you did, and leaving with all your morals and what not intact.

Good post, and classy.

I'm proud of you brother, you a man now!

I've heard some of your complaints about a certain game store before specifically the lack of hours and the quota system. I've always wondered how they're able to function with such high employee turnover in a business that requires some product knowledge. Then again fast food restaurants cycle through employees pretty fast, too so I guess it's like that. There's not much of a difference between "would you like to buy a pre-owned copy?" and "do you want fries with that?" in the end.

I applaud you for sticking to your ethics while you can. I don't need to tell you that as you grow older, your personal responsibilities might require you to sacrifice some of your morals for their benefit. At this point in life, however, you can enjoy being noble. Of course, it helps that you already had another job lined up to embolden your courage. It's not as if you were a complete martyr for justice.

I remember the names of employees at Gamestop who don't bother me. I can understand asking about the card and pre-orders, but this one kid [he was maybe...17 or 18?] kept asking me if I wanted to pre-order a $60 game to save $5 on my purchase. I said no, he asked again, and I still said no. He then went into a monologue about how I wasn't saving money. I said "Yeah, well..." and left. I wanted to punch him in the face. Never saw him again after that.

@MAGZine said:

"Would you like a pre-used copy of this game for $10 cheaper"

"No."

"Would you like disk insurance for an extra $2?"

"No."

I will never, for the life of me, understand why people get so upset with two questions. Yes, they're unnecessary, but some people do want that, and it's impossible to tell without asking. Besides, if you shop somewhere long enough, the staff will learn your responses, I'm sure. I shop at an EB and I know the manager. Always very friendly and curtious, excited about games. The retail experience isn't ideal, but I never understood all the vitriol that came about because of, other than "I need something to complain about." Apparently Windows 8, Nickelback, EA Games isn't enough.

"Any games you looking forward to? Anything you want to put a pre order on?"

"No."

"Are you sure? They just announced a map pack if you pre order Call of Duty..."

"No."

"Its only 5 bucks man and you get extra stuff for free-"

"NO"

"If you pre order Borderlands 2 you get a new class-"

"FUCKING NO JUST LET ME BUY CRACKDOWN FOR 5 BUCKS SO I CAN PLAY COOP WITH MY FRIEND"

@MAGZine said:

"Would you like a pre-used copy of this game for $10 cheaper"

"No."

"Would you like disk insurance for an extra $2?"

"No."

I will never, for the life of me, understand why people get so upset with two questions. Yes, they're unnecessary, but some people do want that, and it's impossible to tell without asking. Besides, if you shop somewhere long enough, the staff will learn your responses, I'm sure. I shop at an EB and I know the manager. Always very friendly and curtious, excited about games. The retail experience isn't ideal, but I never understood all the vitriol that came about because of, other than "I need something to complain about." Apparently Windows 8, Nickelback, EA Games isn't enough.

Because they sometimes ask more than once.