That's right, folks. It's time for another GameStop rant! And while I'm well aware that anything I say can and may get me fired, I'll begin with this...If this corporation has nothing better to do than read this, find out who I am, at which store I work, and terminate my employment, it will only prove that they're spending money on all the wrong things. I'm not representing or misrepresenting the company; I'm speaking my mind. If I'm honestly viewed as a threat...well, that's just plain sad.
But, hey. They're already enjoying their primary witch hunt, so it'll only be a matter of time before they turn to weeding us out on the Internet.
Pretty much, what's been going on in the last month is a series of secret shoppings designed to scare employees into using better selling tactics. Needless to say, it's not working. I've seen the best associates get the lowest scores, and all that this is accomplishing is setting everyone on edge.
Let's start from the beginning.
From what I understand, GameStop had a good year last year. While other businesses were floundering about in this economic turmoil and closing stores due to lack of sales, GameStop was making money and buying up European game retailers to add to their chain. For the winter holidays, every store (there are at least 3,000 stores, people...I'll let you do the math) was given a one hundred dollar gift card meant to go to a party for all associates in celebration for doing so well during one of the worst holiday recessions. Heck, GameStop wouldn't even fire people, they'd 'coach' them. If you did something wrong, you got 'coached' up to so many times before you were given verbal warnings. After that, you could be written up several times before true disciplinary action would take place.
In the last few months, however, things began to change. Corners were eventually cut to save money here and there, because even GameStop was starting to feel the pinch of people's wallets, but that was to be expected. This past month, though, has been outrageous.
Every company does secret shopping, I'm sure. Hire outside people, have them go in and ask the employees things, buy stuff, and rate them on their knowledge of the products, helpfulness, etc. It helps businesses make sure their people are doing the right things and treating the customers right, and I understand why this is done. The scores in our area, though, have been exceptionally low, and we're starting to feel uneasy about our positions. I feel like I have to watch my back, that every customer that comes in will be a secret shopper; it's borderline harassment, because I feel like I can't do my job right anymore.
We've had at least five in the last couple of weeks. One of these was a manager from another store (tell me that that's not conflict of interest). We get rated on if we greet the customer within 60 seconds of their entering the store, mention to them trade ins, ask about the magazine subscription/discount card that the stores offer, question about if they have reservation interests on upcoming games, talk about benefits of the product, point out that we have an online survey, and we must thank each customer for coming into the store (telling them to have a good day doesn't work, I found out).
On paper, this sounds like a good idea; we're having associates talk about all the things that the store offers. In practice, it's annoying. Greeting customers is something I regularly do, but I don't enjoy pestering every one of them with endless prattle about how the Edge could have saved them x amount of money, or telling them that they really should reserve such-and-such game that's coming out because it'll be popular and hard to get their hands on. Some people, yes. Others, no. Some people are genuinely interested in saving the 10% on used games via the card and getting the magazine subscription along with it. Some people are not. You tend to annoy those who aren't interested, who are there to buy their game and get out. Having a sales clerk harp on about how they should really reconsider the magazine and the card because over time it saves them so much money pushes some people away.
It just doesn't work. In large stores that are constantly busy, it's near impossible to greet everyone who comes in through the door. When there are lines of people at the register waiting to check out, you're ticking off people by giving a practiced speech about discounts and reserves. In mall stores, most people just wander in and look around. They may see a game that catches their eye, but most aren't interested in upcoming titles or they aren't in the store enough to care about buying the discount card.
Let me break this down.
The magazine subscription costs 14.99 and comes with a discount card that saves the customer 10% off of every used game or accessory that they buy. Do the math, and that comes to you spending $150 dollars in a year on used games to make up for the cost of the initial subscription. Most people do not buy that many games.
And I'll be honest here...reserves don't really matter. For more obscure titles, it guarantees that we get a copy into our stores, but even when it's something big (take the GTA4 launch for example), the company sends out e-mails that say to sell every copy of the game we have to the general public, and to not hold onto reserved copies. That's right. We badger customers to reserve the games they want, then we're told to sell them. Someone explain to me how fair that is.
And GameStop expects us to reach a certain percentage in our reserve and subscription numbers every week. They don't offer anything like commission for the numbers that we get; my pay is the same if one week I get one reserve and the next week I get fifty. But they're trying to scare me into getting these numbers by sending in a secret shopper every other day.
I'm nice to everyone who comes into my store. I help people find things, answer questions to the best of my ability, and tell people I appreciate them coming in and to have a good day. When people are going to be saving themselves some money on used games, I bring up the discount card. Others I ask about upcoming games they may want to reserve. And I've failed these secret shopper surveys.
I think GameStop needs to stop trying to weed out "bad" employees this way. Get rid of the ones who show no interest in the customers. Get rid of the ones who don't know anything about games or systems. Get rid of the ones who don't try. Don't harass the ones who are decent and knowledgeable.
Witch hunts, I say.
On top of all this, we had to watch a training video showing us how to behave to customers. I viewed most of it as a joke, because the video instructed us to tell customers on the phone to wait while we greeted customers in the store. We're also supposed to stop waiting on customers at the register to ask if incoming customers need help with anything. I'd be pretty miffed if I was waiting in line and a sales rep turned their attention to someone else while I was checking out.
It also portrayed stores as if there is only one customer at a time, with their own personal associate to follow them around and answer all their questions. The people who run our corporate office do not know how the stores really work. Most of them have never worked in a store; they're upper management, they're the people who make all the decisions, and they've more than likely never set foot into one of the stores, much less worked behind the register. If they had, I can bet that things would be run much differently.
Moving on, a bit...
After my 360 took a dive into the world of the red-rings, I've been playing my original Xbox a lot. I never got into the Xbox, primarily because I bought it last year, and have had the 360 much longer. But, Jade Empire is one of the best games I've ever touched, and Knights of the Old Republic is a lot of fun. Both are developed by BioWare, bless their creative souls. I've also been spending time with my PS2, enjoying Ar Tonelico, despite the fact that it's a little slower-paced than I'd like.
Jade Empire is set in a world that appeals to me, I suppose. It has Chinese mythology, creatures, and lore. The characters are all interesting, the overall design is breath-taking, and I've generally been having a blast with it. My character's name is Sweet Malingshu. Malingshu is...Chinese for potato, and a bit of a nickname my boyfriend has given me.
Drawing various anatomical studies for my life drawing class has been keeping me busy. I do miss my game development class, but my teacher gave me her e-mail address so that I may keep in touch with her. The life drawing class is very interesting, and I'm learning a lot, but it's not quite as enjoyable. In a few weeks I'll have a bit of a summer vacation from school, then I'll be taking a digital image maniulation course, to which I'm greatly looking forward.
Perhaps during my break, I'll be able to draw more...but then again, I always say that.
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