Is Gamestop Evil? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[isiolia]

Don't employees also get some kind of credit for convincing a customer to sign up for the powerup rewards card or pre-order an item? I seem to remember reading this somewhere but I may be wrong.

In the sense that the system doesn't auto-fire them for not reaching set goals per hours worked...sure...they get a bonus.


I worked at a Software Etc for a bit when I was in college. The manager then still manages the Gamestop it turned into...I don't tend to shop there either. About the only thing is the occasional checking for cheap used games.

[Balasubbie]

My local Gamestop is gone out of business, Huzzah. There's no economic repercussions either, as their staff just absorbed into another branch.

Was it in a shopping mall? I noticed Gamestop have shut down at a couple of mega malls and kept another Gamestop open a block away at a strip mall. Maybe because the rent is cheaper and they still get the cliental.

Nope, it was on a main street in the middle of a borough. Their penetration has gotten to ridiculous levels, so it speaks well of them that they're not oblivious the this fact. However,
it's still Gamestop. I know it's trite at this stage, but Ireland's a small country, and Dublin's not the biggest city in the world, population near 2 million give or take, on a good day, but the devastation Gamestop has wreaked on the small, independent store here is unbelievable. I find it depressing the lengths I have to go to get some variety in my shopping pursuits. There's a few indy stores just about making a run of it at the moment, but they're few and sometimes desperately overpriced to compete.

[Hazerd]

Don't employees also get some kind of credit for convincing a customer to sign up for the powerup rewards card or pre-order an item? I seem to remember reading this somewhere but I may be wrong.

Also remember the vast majority of people that go to gamestop aren't as plugged in as the majority of the members on this forum. They might not be aware of upcoming titles and the employee asking if they want to preorder something might open a conversation in which the consumer learns about a new game that they wish to preorder. Personally, if I want to preorder something I know ahead of time before I go to GS since I rarely buy games new, so it does get tiring after a while.

-Ben

im unplugged, people that dont go online are plugged in geez didnt you see the matrix?

[Hazerd]

It's not the employees fault that they have to ask you that. The company makes them. I worked at Blockbuster and it was the same way. If you don't ask those things, you get in trouble.

is big brother watching them or something? i dont see anyone with a gun to their neck.

[Ack]

It's not the employees fault that they have to ask you that. The company makes them. I worked at Blockbuster and it was the same way. If you don't ask those things, you get in trouble.

is big brother watching them or something? i dont see anyone with a gun to their neck.

Depends on whether their manager is listening in. Many of those stores also have a sell rate for their cards that they track via their computers. If a certain employee isn't selling enough, they'll fire him in a heartbeat.

To add to it, the sales figures are viewed by corporate, and if a store consistently performs below expectations on the numbers of cards sold, they'll sometimes can the management staff or force them to change stores.

[Jamisonia]

A lot of retailers do an effective auto fire thing with their schedule. The hours you are scheduled are based on certain metrics. With Gamestop is based on the number of power up cards you sell. Victoria's Secret is similar with the number of credit card apps you get. If you don't get enough the computer puts you on the schedule less until it doesn't put you on at all, until you get mad a quit. Many retailers have gone to this type of scheduling system where the manager can then blame their lack of hours on the computer, or "the system". This forces employees to push whatever it is they're supposed to push.

[o.pwuaioc]

It's not the employees fault that they have to ask you that. The company makes them. I worked at Blockbuster and it was the same way. If you don't ask those things, you get in trouble.

is big brother watching them or something? i dont see anyone with a gun to their neck.

Actually, many companies, including Blockbuster (I too worked there), have secret shoppers who evaluate your job performance, including saying the right things.

[weaponepsilon]

They have their ways. When I worked there, I was burdened with the task of regularly calling other stores and pretending I was a customer and asking them all kinds of questions and rating all their responses. Also I had to tally up all the sales for each employee and report it in an email to corporate. Literally what has been said here is true. You would get fired for under performing.

[ZenErik]

I'm getting back into current gen consoles so I have been by GameStop a few times recently. No major complaints. I know how the retail life is. Been there, done that.

[Michi]

It's not the employees fault that they have to ask you that. The company makes them. I worked at Blockbuster and it was the same way. If you don't ask those things, you get in trouble.

is big brother watching them or something? i dont see anyone with a gun to their neck.

I don't have to worry about those annoying questions at my local store. They're all familiar with me and know my answer. They do still card me though, but I'm sure that's a legal issue.

Of course, when I go to other stores I usually have to cut them off. "Do you want to upgrade to-", "No. -_- ". The one exception was when I was on vacation and the clerk was alone in the store. We had a very nice chat about the difficulty of finding some used games complete.