your worst 40k seller or shopkeeper

[Hoa]

mine was this guy who not only tries to sell you all this sh*t you don't even need and when you're beginning talks all this nonsense like this
ME: hey can i grab a box of firewarriors?
HIM: yeah, you know the new tau codex is coming out? oh and are you just beginning? we have boxed set of space marines everywhere here. oh and would you like the starter set? theres one for $150 or $85, there both very good, or would you like the rulebook instead? or how about the eye of terror codex? oh yeah and hey do you want to start collecting fantasy? we have a large range of fantasy minitures here as well. oh and we're doing a deal
where we'll give you the whole paint set and a box of tactical marines for $340! would you like any of these?
ME: umm, no i'll just go with the firewarriors
and when i walk out the door im like "what the hell was that guy talking about?!?!

[Waterbizkit]

It's called retail. I worked in the "field" for about four years or so, and so there isn't much a retailer can say to me that's ever surprising.

It's all part of the job, it's all about pushing sales. I ran an aquatics department in a large national chain petstore, and you end up doing things that might seem, well, underhanded to the untrained eye. For example, when setting someone up with a new fish tank set-up, especially larger ones greater than say 50 gallons, I could tell them about the $80 filters that I use on my own tanks, or I could push sales and get them to buy the $120 filter that doesn't do much more than the $80 one.

Sounds like this guy was doing the typical shopkeeper type of thing. Assume you're new to the hobby, easy if you're not a regular in his shop, and so push sales of just about everything they have. Happens to me whenever I walk into a GW I'm not a regular at, and all I need to do is tell them I already play and then they simmer down. Have to say though it does happen infrequently though. Most of the GW staff I end up meeting are laid back enough, but there's almost always undertones of trying to push sales on something or other.

Like I said, that's retail though.

~Bizkit

[poblycwm]

I was in retail myself once, on a training day we were told, you have to appeal to customers wants not their needs.
Plus we were on commission so every sale was a few bob in our pockets.

[Akranadas]

Mine would have to be went I went to buy the rule book, how to paint space marines and codex.

Him - So....you starting a Space Marine Army?
Me - Yeah, just something to keep me busy for a while
Him - As if you would play space marines, everyone plays them. There so boring. I know, Buy some Dark eldar, their the best army,
Me- No, Im fine.
Him - No really, you should, thier the strongest army, nothing can beat them
Me - I Know how warhammer 40k works.
Him - Do? Will that be all?

[TGVoid]

I've never had a "Bad seller" Infact when I first started the guy I was bying off threw in a Librarian for free! He's awsome...

[Akranadas]

Oh mine wasnt at a GW store, it was a local hobby store.

[TGVoid]

Same here

[Question]

Ever had a salesman lie through his teeth just to sell something?Hope not, but little comes worse than those.

[omega the end]

I have never had a bad retailer, although the guy I talk to most of the time about my Tau keeps trying to get me to pre-order the new units coming out but I don't mind, I know hes just doing his job.

[Invictus]

I once was in my local GW store:

Employee: Hi there! What are you looking for?
Me: Just some paint for my army.
Employee: Which army do you have?
Me: Imperial Guard.
Employee: I bet you don't have a Baneblade.
Me: No I don't.
Employee: No Guard army should be without one! A Baneblade owns everything!
Me: So does it's price.

The guy shut right up. I've never seen anyone go from talkative to utter silence as quickly as that guy. I suppose it didn't help his case that there were two other employees sniggering behind the guy's back after my last comment.

[commisar antoni]

my storeworker who is the best, is named jhon, is really nice. he holds raffles and stuff and though he pushes you to buy glue and paints and stuff he has to, hes manager. but if you say i dont need anything hell understand. and tells you how to convert expensive things and pushes you to not get forgeworld and convert instead but the wrost was a guy named mike. he didnt let you use nonGW stuff and didnt like you converting stuff to make a cheaper version of something. he worked there when i started and ignored me. he didnt listen to my questions and made me build a land raider wrong and so i had to cut it open to fix it. he pushed me to buy stuff after i said no and i hated him. lukily, he quit soon after he started

[NeoHunter]

I think this is perfectly normal. This is part of their marketing strategy to earn more money froom you. So, in the case of the threadstater, he wanted Fire Warriors only but as the store owner / manager, I want to make more money from you so I try to remind you that we have special deals or new stocks or recommend nice stuff for you to buy because I think it will benefit you and me. You can of course say no and you only want the Fire Warriors. There is nothing wrong there besides being a little irritating.

This is how you sell things and make money.

[Hodgeh MkII]

Except he sucks at pushing stock. The seller ought to have taken the hint when he asked for Firewarriros and gone down the Tau trail and suggest pre-orders for the new codex and units.

[Hoa]

the first time i went to that shop was like akranadas time. he asked me if i was just starting and i said necrons and he goes the suck balls.

[Mrcrabby]

Yeah one time not too long ago I was at the local GW shop/arcade ("Thefront") and asked the guy if they still did special orders from the UK. He said, "Yes we do. What would you like to order?" I replied, "Ten tactical marine squads of Lefion of the damned." He went to look at me like I was a total noob and that I obviously didn't know what I was talking about. I told him that they still sell them in the UK. We got into a heated argument for about 2-3 hours about who knows more about 40k and such. Then he said that he would prove to me that they (LOTD models) were no longer in exsistance or sold by GW. And to further his argument he would pay two squads and shiping if he was wrong. When the manager/owner (Eric Soto) came back he informed the dude that GW still sells them. Anyways the guy went back on his word and was fired for it.

[Aces_High]

I work at a local games retailer. We sell TT Wargames, D&D or D20 source material, RPGs, Boardgames, Collectible Card Games, Collectible Minis games, and a huge assortment of just about any other selfcontained niche games; we sell just about every kind of non electronic game out there, except for real big mass market stuff.

The behavior demonstrated by the examples in this thread are so far absolutely appalling. I couldn't imagine being such a douchebag to a customer, and my manager and employer would balk at that kind of approach.

Now we are in retail so we are trying to get your money. No illusions there. But honestly, we are gamers too, and cheap bastards to boot. So we know it sucks to part with your hard earned cash, and will not push you if you are not interested. We'll even help you find cheaper alternatives if possible, and maybe you might get a 10 or even 20% discount if you are buying a good chunk of stuff.

The best way to make money in the gaming business is to get regular customers. Without them, stores like ours are doomed so we have to do everything in our power to make sure you are getting what you want not what we think you should or would like you to get.

As for myself; I think the worst store I ever went to was this place in Santa Barbara. The manager was the biggest bastard in the world. He followed me and my friend all around the store and kept giving us nasty looks, I assume he thought we were trying to steal. When we asked for help finding some 40k stuff he gave us shit and acted like it was too much trouble for him. Then when we brought our purchases to the register he snidely said, "That's all your getting?!" Not suprisingly, the store went out of business several years ago. The owner/manager just didn't appreciate his customers.

[ChanImmortal]

Well I never ran into trouble for me. But my friend is an amazing painter and he wanted to paint some of the Phoenix Lords for Eldar. So I decided to buy him a couple, including Magan Raa I think it was?

Him - Oooh Magan raa! Good choice, In fact I think you should use him in your next gazme
Me- Um, its not for me, its for my friend. *Hands over the ten dollars*
Him- Oh cmon just keep it for youself! I mean magaan raa is so freaking awesome!.....(goes into 3 minutes story of Phoenix Lords)
Me- just ring up the freaking model.
Him- someones not happy today.

I just thought it was funny. And he was a bit homo too I suppose

[NeoHunter]

Anyways the guy went back on his word and was fired for it.
Woot! Nice one!!! But too bad you didn't get two squads of whatever it was you wanted and the free shipping.

[Brother Wolf]

WORST: GW's Online Store. MSRP price. High shipping until $100. Slow navigation.

BEST MAIL ORDER: The War Store (20% discount. 5% extra on $350+. Free shipping $75+)
MAIL ORDER-Honrable Mention: Chaos Mail Order (20% discount, Free Shipping $75+. 10% off Specialist games)

BEST BRICK & MORTAR: The Game Depot, Tempe, AZ. (10% off ALL minis all the time. Decent stock. Quality tournaments. Best damn owners & staff anywhere.)

[LORD HORUS]

All the guys in my local store are gr8. they never push sales down your neck and are always helpfull.
they dont need to push you anyway you normaly know what you want before you get there dont you?
one of the guys at my local store chris always spends loads of time chating about tactics and different ways to make my chaos army work best against my friend phills I'Guard army and just makes sugestions about what additions might make the most difference.
the last time this was done he noticed i had 'basilisk envy' and made e few sugestions..... i ended up leaving the shop with
The eye of terror codex
1 Box of catachan j fighters
1 Basilisk
1 I'Guard heavy wepons box
2 catachan special wepons (1 melta, 1 g'lancher)
& a few pots of paint.
so i could convert this all to traitor guard.
I ONLY WANTED A SMALL DRY BRUSH WHEN I WENT IN!!!
Thats good marketing you dont need to be forced to make the purchase when you want the stuff anyway! :blah:

[commisar antoni]

im just wondering, can you specail order stuff from uk throught the store? does it cost shipping?

[LORD HORUS]

Yes you can.
no costs if you want it deliverd to your local store
Im not sure if you have to pay if you want it to come to your door but would only have to pay local post costs which would only be cheep depending on weight :turtle:

[GKG14]

Does this work at Rogue Trader stores as well? Can I get bitz too?

[blaesa]

Yes indeedy. I regularly order bitz through the Fantasy Shop (a gaming store in St. Louis), especially with the lack of shipping. Of course, the wait can be longer, as they usually wait until they make their next stock order to make yours.

[bushmins]

The worst GW 40k seller gave me alot of great, well thought out advice on how to start a SM army.
Closely followed by the guy who gave me, totally free, a whole squads worth of Terminator weapons.

Yeh, they were the worst!

[blaesa]

The worst I've met? Specifically told me he didn't play 40K and not to listen to him, but he thought such-and-such a model was cool. As it was indeed a cool model, I was inclined to agree.

Not many bad shopkeeps around here, really. Heck, I can have a nice conversation about what may or may not be coming soon, who plays what and why and exactly how annoying they are, or just about GW having silly rules about selling shit online.

[falcon command]

mine is gr8 he answers all my questions and has not once put a order or anything suggested he only sggests what i need for example i was starting chaos as a noob and he told me i shouldnt get such and such models i had

[Dooks Dizzo]

I just wish there was some way to stamp 'Veteran' on my forehead when I walked through the door.

I hate these kids coming up to me trying to sell me brushes, paints and starter sets no matter how many times I tell them that I have 2 complete armies and have won several tournament IN THEIR STORE!.

[Popsumpot]

And i would love to stamp a sign that says "not a n00b SM player" on my forehead.

When i put my army on the board, my oppoenent rolls his eyes, and looks at me as if i'm a circus freak, than claim i have cheated after i had won the game.

I'm spamming this thread aren't i...

[Carni45]

And i want to open up a store that sells GW products, i hope i don't become idiots like the people described, lucky for you i am in england.

[AridMonk]

I have been to at least 80% of GW stores, from exeter, the furthest away UK store possible to me, on the very south coast of England, to Aberdeen, my local, on the east coast of Scotland.

Every store i have been to, the staff have been very helpful and considerate, and yes, of course they have pushed me to buy stuff, its their job, but i have never been forced to buy something. Can you honestly say that the staff there have made you take your cash out, and forced you to buy something you dont want? No, didnt think so.

Have some backbones people, just tell them, politely, 'Nah, im only interested in buying <insert object here>. Thanks for all the good advice though!'. That way, you wont have bought an unnecessary model, and they dont feel put off. Easy.

[NathrakH]

i think people sell more in the long run by being friendly and talking to their customers about what they want to talk about.

retail stores would do well to remember that. if a shop owner/clerk tries to push sells down your throat every time you come in you're less likely to buy anything because it pisses you off - hell, you might even cease to come to that store.

if they are helpful and friendly than over the years you're more likely to buy just what you want.

sure, they might stack some sales on a rube once and awhile - but a loyal customer is always going to be worth more.