Gamestop Complaints

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Crystal] It is never ending you have goals to achieve, 10% when I left, in edge card sales as well as a unit per sale goal and a $$ amount goal. and each year you have to beat the previous day for the past years sales and every night track and write each of theses figures...[/QUOTE]

This is the part of what you said that sticks out to me.  I think this is a very weak long term play by any company.  Growth is great and all, but making people aim to outdo their sales every day of every year is brainless.  You can increase sales by bringing in new customers, and bringing in new customers means doing something better.  Putting all of that on the employees with no solid direction will lead to high pressure sales and low morale.  These things will actually, in the long term, decrease the number of people in your store. 

It'd be better to aim for overall increases over the entire year or quarter and make it a company wide effort (more or better advertising, PD days with customer service training for employees, guaranteed weekends every three weeks for employees, etc.).  Keep your employees happy and teach them to keep customers happy and your sales will increase.

Locally there is a KFC that did "business as usual" for years (minimum wage, bad schedules, etc.), while the local McDonalds raised wages, offered better incentives, and put a massive push on recruitment and retention (and of course the national level has been doing the free coffee promotions, etc.).  The results?  The McDonalds has extended its hours of operations just fine and has taken a good deal of the drive thru coffee business in the area.  The KFC had to bring in employees from other KFCs just to stay open for awhile, and now is open 4 hours less a day, every day due to understaffing.  That's four hours less profit every day, forever. 

Push employees too hard, and it will eat your bottom line.     

[m0zart1]

[QUOTE=Atarifever]Push employees too hard, and it will eat your bottom line.[/QUOTE]

It's the treatment of their employees that keeps me from going to Gamestop, well... at least it's one of the main reasons.  At one time I would buy games from them regularly, on a nearly weekly basis.  I especially used to reserve a lot of games there and see them through.

The turning point for me was when I had made several reservations after really being hounded by a particular employee.  He was pushing me hard to reserve three games I had mentioned but was not convinced I would buy, on the insistence that if my mind changed I could just cancel.

So I thought "Aww hell, why not?"

About three weeks later I realized that I did indeed have no real interest in those games, so I went back in to cancel.  This time a different person was behind the counter, and she was really trying to convince me not to cancel those preorders.

I did anyway and she looked really bothered about it, like personally.  So I just asked, "Why does it bother you so much?  I'm not literally buying them from you."  She said that any cancellations she has to process count against her.

Now I have to say, that seemed incredibly unfair to me.  When I go into Gamespot to cancel a game, the person who processes that order literally had nothing to do with it -- I had my mind made up well in advance or I wouldn't have come in to cancel in the first place.  It just seemed extremely counter productive to me to count it against a person behind the counter who couldn't have convinced me to change my mind outside of persuading me that her life literally depended on it.

That was the point when I decided to stop giving them my business, at least most of the time.  I bought two games there last week, but that was the first time in quite a while, representing a big drop off from previous buying habits.  I especially don't feel right about making preorders there anymore -- it used to feel like a casual service that I could use at my leisure.  Now it feels more like I am taking on a responsibility for an affected employee.

Granted, this wasn't the only reason I stopped buying there.  Another reason, as I've mentioned before, is the fact that they kept insisting on selling me new games which had already been opened and even played by employees.  But this reason was the one that finally stopped me from even going in to browse so regularly, let alone buying.

[gleebergloben1]

what atarifever said. actually, i have no problems pushing employees to improve, and in the end, it is the bottom line that counts. but when companies are not "fair" to their employees, like m0zart succinctly explained, then companies end up building a pyramid scheme that will eventually crash to the ground due to low morale and resentment toward the company.

that's why i think companies like "google" are so successful. they may push their employees, but google also tries to treat employees fairly and offers a ton of perks. and perks don't need to cost much at all. i got a $25 buck gift card and two movie tickets for being at the top in my office one week, and i thought "cool", even though it wasn't that much in terms of expense.

treating your employees and your customers like fecal matter....not good business.

[VideoGameCritic]

I think the problem with many companies is that they live for the current quarter earnings report without regard for the future.  It's short-sightedness on the part of management, and I feel sorry for the employees who are forced to do things the wrong way.

This is why respectable companies like Blockbusters and Circuit City had to file for bankruptcy.  It all starts at the top.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=gleebergloben]treating your employees and your customers like fecal matter....not good business.

[/QUOTE]

The grocery store my wife used to work for had a workbook you had to finish before you could start working there (the workbook was, of course, unpaid work time).  Anyway, there were questions you had to answer in there to make sure you understood store policy.  One of them was "What is the employee discount at this store?"  It was a trick question.  The answer was "there isn't one."  Not only did they not offer so much as an employee discount to encourage employees to shop there, but they then highlighted that fact with a trick question.  My wife looked all through the book for that answer before realizing that there was no actual answer in the book!

They also offered no guaranteed weekends (a lot of minimum wage places offer every second or third weekend off, which costs them nothing), one 15 minute break in a six hour shift (so they scheduled a lot of those lengths of shifts because, I think it's 2 breaks on a longer shift), and a "buy your own uniform" policy.  You had to wear a uniform, but you had to buy it. 

Anyway, that quickly became the place she didn't work at anymore. 

I'm not saying minimum wage employees deserve huge perks.  I'm just saying that there are really cheap ways to keep employees happy (and thus to keep customers happy).  Give them a weekend off every three or so.  Have a decent, all expense paid Christmas party.  Give out small gift certificates on their birthdays.  Give employees a small discount if they shop in the store they work in.  These things are really small, but are the difference between happy employees treating customers well and on edge employees who hate their job and the customer.     

[Viper821]

I worked for a once highly respected local chain. My fellow teenagers were the brightest and best and I made many friendships. I frequently bend over backwards to help customers on my own time (as a 16 year old!) because we were given a large amount of responsibility and trust. In short, I loved that job and look forward to Saturdays for that reason. When I got responsibility for my own area at age 19 I increased sales over 25% almost overnight.

Then, we gradually got a few corporate idiots who never set foot in a store who made up new rules and it all came crashing down. Nobody cared anymore because increased sales meant increased expectations next period. One by one all the highly skilled employees left and the place has never been the same. As a business, it's important to know your 'numbers' (and I am highly skilled at data management and interpretation myself) but you can't forget the people that exist behind those numbers. The company is still successful, but has lost a fair amount of market share since I quit 6 years ago.

I've seen the exact same thing happening to EB Games over the past decade and this is why Gamestop is going to eventually go down the drain! Challenging incentives are great but when they make employees want to avoid sales something is seriously wrong. The golden rule of business that Gamestop is missing: don't get in the way of a sale! With all my complaints about other retails, at least they don't try to make me feel guilty for buying only new, shrinked wrapped titles.

[quote=The Video Game Critic]I think the problem with many companies is that they live for the current quarter earnings report without regard for the future.  It's short-sightedness on the part of management, and I feel sorry for the employees who are forced to do things the wrong way.[/quote]

That's the problem in every organization I've worked for. The people in charge are complete $#@$#@$ morons and have zero concept of the future. Yes, Gamestop is still growing like weeds but like all idiotic companies, they won't be around long term unless they smarten up.

[TedE.Bear]

The U.S. Constitution needs an amendment that requires EVERY CITIZEN to work a MANDATORY six months at a retail store.  I would bet that half of you on this thread haven't worked a day at a fast-food restaurant or a store. 

I worked at OfficeMax for nearly a year in 1995.  That was it.  That experience will last me a lifetime in how I deal with retail store employees.

Low pay, the thrill of a salaried-manager telling you that they need to cut payroll for the week (by telling you that you need to leave your shift early).  Dealing with restrictive corporate/company policies.  Having some shoppers who automatically assume that you are somewhat stupid since you work in retail.   And equally important......the occasional a-hole customer with a God complex that needs to make themselves feel superior by acting out in a store.  Do you really think a person making minimum wage wants to hear a lecture about how corporate policy is causing a business to lose a customer?  Send the company an e-mail if you feel so strongly about it.  Or don't shop there again.  Pretty simple, eh?

Give these people a break at Gamestop (or anywhere else).  Your venom should be aimed at those responsible - the money-grubbing corporate suits.

[Viper821]

[quote]The U.S. Constitution needs an amendment that requires EVERY CITIZEN to work a MANDATORY six months at a retail store.  I would bet that half of you on this thread haven't worked a day at a fast-food restaurant or a store. [/quote]

Now there's a political statement that I can agree with! I may be moody, hot headed person to some people who annoy me but I treat all retail/food service with the highest amount of respect no matter what. I've been on the front lines and have seen it all so I know how that type of work can destroy your spirit.

That's why I always smile and say "no thank you" to all those annoying questions. I understand the employees hate asking more than I hate answering and they just want to sell games. You have no idea how soul crushing a job that like is until you do it and when I hear someone who's never had such a job snap "find another job if you don't like it" then I want to scream. Judging by the employees at my local Gamestop, they would probably do an amazing job if corporate left them alone. People who work in retail are the salt of the earth and I was honoured to work with them for so long.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=TedE.Bear]The U.S. Constitution needs an amendment that requires EVERY CITIZEN to work a MANDATORY six months at a retail store.  [/QUOTE]

I'd support the same thing in Canada.  I never understand what is wrong with so many people that they get their jollies bashing front line staff.  If you have to wait three minutes at a busy McDonald's, big deal.  Why attack someone with no control over staffing, store policies, or anything else?

[VideoGameCritic]

As somebody who put six years of my high school/college life into working food service and retail, I concur.

Most of the time the people working at the counter are very pleasant.  The people messing up the industry are the big wigs sitting behind their desks who have no clue about video games.  Unfortunately there is a large disconnect between them and the workers (they prefer to keep the common people at arm's length), so they never get the message.