GW Store Staff

Lainey · Post by **Lainey** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:45 pm

I know that possibly the worst thing to say when entering the store is " I am looking to start my first army and I like Dark Elves" but has anyone else found the staff to be really pushy and annoying trying to convince you to buy a load of stuff you probably don't need along with 40K kits you can 'modify to make some really uber hags' - then drool slightly and then make other comments about how suited you are for a DE army??

And if you have how the hell do you deal with them?

Silic · Post by **Silic** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:14 pm

Well I don't have any GW-run stores around me, but if GW is struggling as much as is perceived, I would have no doubt the message that was given to those employees in-store was "sell, sell, sell!"

Smiler666 · Post by **Smiler666** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:43 pm

smile, nod and inch closer towards the till :lol:

Diablo · Post by **Diablo** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:21 pm

I dont think one sellers attitude doesnt have anything to say about GW strugling or not. There are simply sellers who are too ..... lets say active.

As for the main topic, well I think he might be right about 40k stuff you can 'modify to make some really uber hags'. I myself would like to use succubus for death hag, lelith for hag, archon for dreadlord + wyches and kabalites have some awesome bits i would like to get my hands on. :twisted:

And actually what do you except he should do after you say "I am looking to start my first army and I like Dark Elves"? Telling you that "theres some stuff over there, take a look and stop bugging him"?

And if you actually walked into shop, says such a thing and being unlucky meeting such *cough* annoying and pushy *cough* guy, theres imho nothing easier than: "Thank you but i have to give it some more thought." , turn around and walk away

Raneth · Post by **Raneth** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:43 pm

Look [pushy salesman] straight in the eyes, smile wordlessly, then continue doing whatever it was you were doing! :twisted:

Ataroth · Post by **Ataroth** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:06 pm

They are trying to sell you something at the end of the day, that is their job. It happens in an awful lot of shops, especially if you show interest in their merchandise.

I will admit some of the staff around me in the past have been a bit overly eager, particularly when it comes to the unnecessary items GW provide (I see you already have dice but look at these new Limited Edition dice!). I tend to follow the aforementioned advice of smile and nod.

Post by **Dalamar** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:13 am

I never had an issue like that with GW staff, mainly because I knew what I wanted when I walked in.

Here's your problem, you said "I am looking to start my first army and I like Dark Elves" emphasis on start and first.

You basically gave them a cue to start their sales talk on you. Next time do your research online and go to the store with knowledge.

Lainey · Post by **Lainey** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:15 am

I had knowledge of what I wanted when I went in, and said exactly what I wanted when they asked in a (failed) attempt at getting them to leave me to look at the stuff on my own. I even tried to use diversionary tactics of talking to someone else. I know it is their job, but to some of the kids that were in there it seems unfair that because they don't know what they do or don't need they get fleeced!

Online is so much easier though I have decided, buy what I want, have it shipped direct and dont have to deal with the hygebically challenged, Perfect!!

Thank you for the advice though - smile nod and creep, I can use those tactics

Noble korhedron · Post by **Noble korhedron** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:41 pm

Hmm, I don't find my local (GW Dublin) store guys to be this way, but it could be because they know I'm too experienced to be browbeaten/spoon-fed about stuff - opinions?

Sisstros · Post by **Sisstros** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 2:09 am

Something I have considered in the past is that many of the individuals who work in the Games Workshop stores are by nature more inclined towards a comic-book guy from the Simpsons type personality. When this collides with the necessity to put the hard sell on people the result is that the staff behaving in a manner that is often off-puttingly chipper.

Meteor · Post by **Meteor** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:31 pm

I don't personally get pressed that hard by staff, mainly because like Korhedron, I'm known to be an experienced person within the store so they can't really harass me with new stuff, and when they do, I simply give them a piece of my mind about that particular item they're trying to shovel at me. (because a lot of the ideas/models GW design, I despise)

That being said, it's not the same for other customers that walk in. Countless times I'd be present and shaking my head in embarassment or giving the customer a 'poor you' sympathetic kind of look as they get shoved with expensive items to buy. Like "collecting space marines?" shoves the battleforce box into their hands and a Chaplain model and if they're feeling sassy, the army book into their hands. We don't get staff discounts, $200 literally means we have to cough up $200, not $100. Might seem like nothing to some people, but it's quite a heavy amount for many.

I swear they'd make more sales if they got customers to buy the 'smaller' $50 items instead for a beginner.

Malus99 · Post by **Malus99** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:49 pm

I've never found my local GW staff to be very pushy even when I was just starting out, in fact, most of the time they'd just give me advice on hobby or we'd talk about upcoming releases and ideas for conversions and things. The staff in my store (I've learned now, I didn't realise when I was 12 or 13 and first walked in) are actually quite subtle with their sales pitches and getting people to buy extra things, they don't try and heap loads of useless rubbish on your order or things like that, rather they'll talk to you a little bit and find out some (inexpensive and small) things which they can add onto your orders which look cool and will be (marginally) useful but you would have never thought of, because you didn't really need it. An example being when I got talking to one of the staff about my dislike of the current black dragon model which morphed into a 'you can try this or this', but it wasn't pushy in any way, very cunning of them and I can respect that, its their job after all. I suppose it really depends on who you run into, at my local store they will try and sell, but they're not over-eager because they know that pushes people away.

As to getting out of someone trying to sell you something, I usually just say it would go over my budget and if I bought that I'd have to drop one of my other (more expensive) items, but thankfully this doesn't happen to me much as I said in my local GW so this is not a well-tried approach, but it's worked the few times I've needed it.

Ataroth · Post by **Ataroth** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:50 pm

For those that don't get hassled in their local store, have you ever had it when walking into a store in a different town? Their is 4 fairly close to where I live and the first time walking in all 4 I got hassled. Also as the staff turnover rate is so high you can walk in there a month later to a totally different store manager.

Agree entirely with Meteor when they try to force an entire starter set on those who have only started to show interest in the hobby, (Battleforce, Random Hero, Army Case and Army Book/Codex, not to mention all the modelling/painting/gaming essentials after that).

Gnosis · Post by **Gnosis** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:50 pm

I have nothing but good to say about my local one-man-store blackshirt in Ghent. He's been doing a sterling job at creating and maintaining a community since around October last year when the store openen. His style of sales is very, very laid back, built around getting you interested in a product through inviting you to start a conversation with him about it. He enhances your positive opinions and curbs your negative critiques. It's brilliant how he does it - he's actually brilliant himself: he's got two university diplomas on the wall (not literally of course) and still he chooses to run a GW store through his sheer love of the hobby.

Avaer · Post by **Avaer** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:09 pm

I have to say most GW staff i have met are genuinely nice people who just love the hobby but its the new staff that are under pressure to sell/ dont know you that bug you for stuff. I go into my local store very regularly and usually im fine unless i specifically ask a staff member for something like advice on what to get for... etc etc but every time there is a new staff there is always the whole push push push at you and it really does annoy me to the point that the times it happens i usually dont buy anything even if i had the intention of previously getting a couple of boxes.

Post by **Tarbo** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:20 pm

Gnosis wrote:I have nothing but good to say about my local one-man-store blackshirt in Ghent. He's been doing a sterling job at creating and maintaining a community since around October last year when the store openen.

I always had a good impression of the Lonely Mountain and later the Red Dragon; I haven't actually been to this one, yet. It seems to be walking distance from where I work (isn't everything walking distance in Ghent?). Maybe I should check it out.

Perhaps the one-man stores tend to be more pleasant because they are privately run, and the managers do it for a love of the hobby and tend to be more outgoing about it?

Flash29 · Post by **Flash29** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 4:51 pm

on of the longbeards of my club has a small shop with a small stock of gw suplies you just order in with him and he'll have it (orders it) by the next club meeting (usually a week apart) with a discount, it's great.

Noble korhedron · Post by **Noble korhedron** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 5:38 pm

Tarbo wrote:
Gnosis wrote:I have nothing but good to say about my local one-man-store blackshirt in Ghent. He's been doing a sterling job at creating and maintaining a community since around October last year when the store openen.
I always had a good impression of the Lonely Mountain and later the Red Dragon; I haven't actually been to this one, yet. It seems to be walking distance from where I work (isn't everything walking distance in Ghent?). Maybe I should check it out.

Perhaps the one-man stores tend to be more pleasant because they are privately run, and the managers do it for a love of the hobby and tend to be more outgoing about it?

Hmmm, one-man stores? I didn't think GW ran anything that small...? Also, what happened to the 'Lonely Mountain' stores in Ghent, Leuven, et al.? Did he suddenly retire or was he bought out?

Ataroth · Post by **Ataroth** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 6:33 pm

Most of the stores around me are now one man stores. Also I've recently applied for a job at GW and have now made it through to the interview stage. Hopefully I should eventually become a pushy sales man!

Gnosis · Post by **Gnosis** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:49 am

Noble Korhedron wrote:Hmmm, one-man stores? I didn't think GW ran anything that small...? Also, what happened to the 'Lonely Mountain' stores in Ghent, Leuven, et al.? Did he suddenly retire or was he bought out?

And yet, the store in Ghent currently has just the manager. It's a good thing he can, well, manage the store so well, hopping between new customers, painting lessons, answering rule queries etc., but ideally he needs a blueshirt to help him out (which actually should happen in the near future).

As for the Red Dragon stores, I don't know. In Ghent they did a big sale, then the shop was closed and the place has been vacant since. It was an okay place to be in, but for all the GW products they sold there (about 75% of the shelves) they never managed to create a community, at least not in Ghent.

The thing is, the local Thunderbolts club really doesn't cater to my needs in terms of mentality towards the hobby and games, it"s too rulehammery for me. What that manager of ours has done is to give players with a more relaxed, less competitive streak a community to form into. I'd advise Tarbo and the other Flemish guys here, as well as the rest of you who might be visiting Ghent, to pop in sometime. I'm practically always there on Thursdays, when it's battle night and the store is open to about 10pm.

Flash29 · Post by **Flash29** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:00 pm

i've been to ghent, and it is indeed a nice store, but it's a bit far to go there for evening activities. There use to be a independant retailer in bruges, but it closed down and allot of players have found the answer is to turn to the internet. Online shopping is easy if you have a club, since you can discuss stuff with them about the hobby.

Lainey · Post by **Lainey** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:20 pm

I went into Plymouth GW this weekend and such a different experience, ended up buying more than I intended - clever sales man! but didn't feel creeped out or hassled or perved over.

Guess it is just a case of which store you end up in.

(although he did openly mock DE, guess I will have to go back and enact bloody revenge :twisted:

)

Avaer · Post by **Avaer** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:03 pm

I generally find when i go into my local store that theres one or two staff members that dont know me so well and they push products that i really dont want so i just walk away and talk to the other staff members and manager that ive known for years and just have a normal chat about the hobby! which then of course leads into advice and me buying something which is actually useful for me and my army!

Nightcall · Post by **Nightcall** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:24 am

I refer to their hard sell as a "geek attack" and deal with it with a counter attack, drawing them into a lore discussion and/or debate. By the time I am done with them they even forget to ask me if I need any glue when I get to the till (with the items I went in to specifically buy, no more). You should try it, it's great fun.

Kaseliegth · Post by **Kaseliegth** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:57 pm

My mate used to work in the GW in Bath and he said that they have a policy that every customer has to be greeted.

By that when you walk in one member of staff will come up to you and say hi then ask.

What game do you play?
What army do you collect?
What are looking for?
Do you need any help?

On replying cool to my answers to questions 1-3 and then on the answer No to the 4th question they then procced to start telling me what games they play, which armies they collect and what they want to get.

All of this by they way is in the exact tone and phrase which they were just talking to a 5 year old just getting into the hobby.

I feel that most (not all) GW staff members can't / don't know how to deal with the more expericenced gamer or older (you pick). The members of staff which know me say "Hi" and leave me to it. The other ones which have to make childish talk to me leave me with the disire to ram their head into the till untill they stop.

I do now look to see if a mate is working then ill enter the shop if not ill pop back at a later date when one is. This then leaves myself not all raged up and their till still working.

On reading this back i might have a problem unless anyone else gets this.