GameStop Responds to "GTA V Midnight Release Video" Controversy

[Yopaz]

Honestly I don't think GameStop should ever bother with investigating this. Yes, it wasn't very professional of her, but it's hardly like it's such a big deal. He was clearly overreacting a little. However I guess given the circumstances it's understandable. People working on these midnight launches are stressed, some of those who go there to buy games are stressed, some are in a bad mood because of the time and the crowd. Really, there's a reason I prefer digital distribution.

If you manage Gamestop you definitely want to investigate this. It is a black eye for them from a PR standpoint and if you an employee, looks like a manager actually, willing to be openly condescending to customers that is going to cost you and your business in the long run. She is either going to get her ass chewed out, deservedly so, or she is going to get fired.

I don't disagree with you. What she did was unprofessional and she shouldn't have done it. However it is understandable that this happened. A stressful midnight shift, underpaid worker, stressed customers probably being ruder than they would have been on a normal day. Then there's that one especially difficult customer who can't abide the terms of his pre-order and refuses to shown his identification.

It's not an excuse, but an explanation. She shouldn't have said what she said and he shouldn't have made such a fuzz about having to show his ID or reacting that strongly to a joke. I do think she did a mistake with that high five at the end though. Mainly because it seemed to show pride in her comment and how she had made fun of a customer. I still think it's a waste of time to actually investigate it. Low paying worker gets annoyed at a difficult customer, makes a JOKE and the customer gets mad.

I also don't appreciate being carded for buying a game. I expect it when buying cigarettes or alcohol. Do you get carded when you buy an R Rated Blu-Ray? Do you think you should be?

I don't think this is about the rating of the game, but about the fact that it's a pre-order where they need to know he's the one who's supposed to have it. Imagine someone coming to pick up a game s/he has already paid for only to realize someone else have done it. How do we prevent this from happening? Photo ID.

 

[Snotnarok]

"...We regret that this happened, as we strive to ensure all customers receive a great experience when visiting our stores"
Yes so good that when the PS3 was 600 bucks new they tried to sell my friend a used PS3 for new, dusty, scratches, things wrapped in rubberbands, no plastic and tried to refuse a refund.
Their stores are always filled with quality employees.
I have no idea how they stay in business sometimes.

 

[Icehearted]

She was very unprofessional and very disrespectful. Being a big business doesn't give it's employees the right to shit on their customers, and her little parting shot was uncalled for.

Speaking as someone who works for a large company it gives you something of a negative right when it comes to shitting on people. I said I like a customer's choice of movie and they said I 'Scoffed' at them and keyed their car. I still get shit for that.

That's pretty unfortunate. Some people just have a chip on their shoulder and there's no winning. Your polite smalltalk doesn't sound anything like what this woman did. I get that customers can be rude and stupid, a large chunk of our species is exactly that, but it's on her, as an employee and more so as a manager, to mind her conduct.

This whole thing reminded me of this video.

This officer is the epitome of poise and professional conduct.

 

[GAunderrated]

The customer was a perfect example of an angry and lonely nerd who is inconvenienced for 2 seconds because they needed to follow the law and he felt that justified his shit attitude.

The Manager made the mistake of the "threat" or just a bad comment. Many years of retail suggest that you say those types of things after the customer has left. Hell if she would have waited 5 more seconds I bet she could of had a nice laugh with all those in line, taken her shots at him, and pressed on without issue.

She will probably get written up at the very least or possibly fired depending on how deep the shitstorm goes. At the same time that person is revealed online (name or not) as being an angry prick to people doing their jobs.

Both sides are reaping what they sow. My point is where is the controversy? Usually controversy implies an issue that is unresolved.

What law?

Well since you did nothing but just ask a simple question here is a simple answer. I should have replaced law with policy. The employees were following policy since they could lose their job if they don't.

http://www.destructoid.com/gamestop-sell-an-m-rated-game-to-a-minor-enjoy-unemployment-29690.phtml


However, seeing as how hostile you were to other posters I would venture a guess that you have no retail experience and that is why you cannot empathize with the manager of that video.

Also your little tirade about why you should not be inconvenienced to take 10 seconds and show your ID is probably the best example of the phrase "first world problems".

Normally that saying is washed out and not used properly but you actually embody the real meaning of that phrase. Someone who is living such a comfortable life that they start to make big deals out of any little small inconvenience.

I love how people who don't defend the manager are assumed to have no retail experience. I do but I am sure you don't believe that and I really don't care what you believe, you who think that laws and policies are the same.

You know what the best part of this sentence is? The fact that I DIDN'T DEFEND THE MANAGER IN MY POST YOU QUOTED BUT DIDN'T READ.

I actually said they were both at fault if you bothered the read but that would take too much time away from your blind attacks. The saddest part is you couldn't even be bothered to read the post you were arguing against. You are just a sad person arguing for the sake of it. Sorry if that hits a bit too close to home for you but it needed to be said.

 

[GAunderrated]

This is why we can't have nice things. No one in that video behaved the way they should have. The original customer shouldn't have kicked up such a fuss over being asked for ID, by the store employee shouldn't have acted the way she did.



And I get the feeling that the other customers supporting her might not have been on her side if it was a male employee that had said that. The comments from the other customers in the video are the sort of thing you would expect idiots to say on the internet. The whole video is an example of why gamers have such a bad reputation, acting like a bunch of children.

Ok you were fine in the first few sentences but then you just went off into left field here. There was no indication that her gender had to do with their support. Most likely it would have been because they knew he was acting like a douche and didn't want him to hold up the line. None of their comments even hinted at her gender. And no offense to her it wasn't like she was young and beautiful.

Most of their comments I heard to the angry douche was something along the lines of "just go home bro and kill some people (referring to GTAV)". If it was really like the internet it would have been much less coherent and more vulgar.

 

[Doom972]

I hope that manager gets fired and fast. Threatening to share his personal information is out of line, and so is the way she tried to get him angrier by insulting him as he was about to leave. This could have been over in 2 minutes max instead of 10 if she had acted professionally instead of just being a troll.

Also, why a photo ID? Why not a receipt with a unique order number? How backwards can a major retailer be.

 

[Strazdas]

I blame poor audio quality if im wrong but it seemt that he came for a game, the employee treatened him for... why exactly? and then he came back asking for her name to complain, and she even refused to give him that. the way i see it the employee treated it like a pissing contest when it wasnt, she was just being an asshole.

This officer is the epitome of poise and professional conduct.

This trooper is awesome. reminds me of how i used to deal with annoying costumers. stand there and ignore thier rambling.

 

[Bat Vader]

I hope that manager gets fired and fast. Threatening to share his personal information is out of line, and so is the way she tried to get him angrier by insulting him as he was about to leave. This could have been over in 2 minutes max instead of 10 if she had acted professionally instead of just being a troll.

Also, why a photo ID? Why not a receipt with a unique order number? How backwards can a major retailer be.

It could have been over even faster if the guy had not been rude and just taken the two seconds to show her his ID. She is just a manger. She has to follow the rules that the higher ups make. If they want their employees to ask for ID than the employees have to follow what the higher ups say.

Hardly anyone is going to hold onto a receipt for a long period of time. I pre-order my games usually six months in advance. In that amount of time I could either throw them out by accident, lose them, or the ink on it will fade. Showing ID is much easier.

Plus, they also have to ask for ID to make sure that the person is of age to legally purchase the game.

 

[Doom972]

I hope that manager gets fired and fast. Threatening to share his personal information is out of line, and so is the way she tried to get him angrier by insulting him as he was about to leave. This could have been over in 2 minutes max instead of 10 if she had acted professionally instead of just being a troll.

Also, why a photo ID? Why not a receipt with a unique order number? How backwards can a major retailer be.

It could have been over even faster if the guy had not been rude and just taken the two seconds to show her his ID. She is just a manger. She has to follow the rules that the higher ups make. If they want their employees to ask for ID than the employees have to follow what the higher ups say.

Hardly anyone is going to hold onto a receipt for a long period of time. I pre-order my games usually six months in advance. In that amount of time I could either throw them out by accident, lose them, or the ink on it will fade. Showing ID is much easier.

Plus, they also have to ask for ID to make sure that the person is of age to legally purchase the game.

He could've known about having to show ID, and he could've not known. If it bothered him that much, then he probably didn't know. Personally, I don't show my ID to anyone who asks. Also, shouldn't they have verified his age when he made the pre-order? Receipts aren't that hard to keep, and I'm guessing he had one if he didn't know that he had to show his ID.

You claim that the customer was a jackass? Fine, it doesn't matter anyway - the customer isn't the issue here. The manager is supposed to be a professional about when dealing with customers (especially if they're jerks), and definitely not insult and threaten him, which is jerk behavior by itself, and what caused many people to wait in line needlessly.

 

[theApoc]

Unless she has a history of this, "don't do it again" should suffice. We all have bad days, and considering she's working at GameStop I'd say she's been punished enough.

LOL

 

[theApoc]

To the people white-knighting, how do you defend her slinging insults when he's walking away?

They both had a trade by the cash-register, okay.

Why is this guy suddenly a gigantic ass (have you ever met people who are gigantic asses?) when she's trying to further agitate him after the situation's over?

Good point, it was done, he was leaving, she decided to keep it going.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I hope that manager gets fired and fast. Threatening to share his personal information is out of line, and so is the way she tried to get him angrier by insulting him as he was about to leave. This could have been over in 2 minutes max instead of 10 if she had acted professionally instead of just being a troll.

Also, why a photo ID? Why not a receipt with a unique order number? How backwards can a major retailer be.

It could have been over even faster if the guy had not been rude and just taken the two seconds to show her his ID. She is just a manger. She has to follow the rules that the higher ups make. If they want their employees to ask for ID than the employees have to follow what the higher ups say.

Hardly anyone is going to hold onto a receipt for a long period of time. I pre-order my games usually six months in advance. In that amount of time I could either throw them out by accident, lose them, or the ink on it will fade. Showing ID is much easier.

Plus, they also have to ask for ID to make sure that the person is of age to legally purchase the game.

He could've known about having to show ID, and he could've not known. If it bothered him that much, then he probably didn't know. Personally, I don't show my ID to anyone who asks. Also, shouldn't they have verified his age when he made the pre-order? Receipts aren't that hard to keep, and I'm guessing he had one if he didn't know that he had to show his ID.

You claim that the customer was a jackass? Fine, it doesn't matter anyway - the customer isn't the issue here. The manager is supposed to be a professional about when dealing with customers (especially if they're jerks), and definitely not insult and threaten him, which is jerk behavior by itself, and what caused many people to wait in line needlessly.

its more to make sure "john" is "john", and david didn't find or take his receipt and is claiming to be him, i've had to show my ID tons of times for random items i've purchased or pre-purchased, it is seriously not that hard to take 5 seconds to pull your ID out, that is what it is for, for identifying yourself.

the customer is the issue, they did start the whole scuffle because they did not pay attention in the slightest when pre-ordering the game or simply knowing very basicstore policies, and he continued to do so for 10 minutes when he could've been out of there in less than a minute if he would've just pulled out his ID to get his game.

you didn't like her sarcastic joke about his business card? fine, i won't argue sarcasm

 

[Areloch]

As another person who as worked customer service/retail, here's the short version:

Your job is to diffuse the situation, and do it with a smile. Sometimes that's hard, and you may get snarky with an exceptionally problematic customer. Oftentimes, your superiors will even agree and side with you.

But you never.

EVER.

Threaten a customer. That's just offensively stupid and I would full well expect repercussions for her doing it, even if it was under the pretense of a 'joke'.

 

[Church185]

I posted this earlier, but I guess you missed it. Here, I'll post it for you, and others, again.

This falls easily under the heading of Criminal Harassment. Criminal harassment is defined as behavior that the harasser knows would cause undue fear, intimidation or persecution, and adversely affects the victim's safety and security. A victim may receive threatening or obscene phone calls, unwanted gifts, notes and text messages, or observe the harasser loitering outside home or work. Depending on the actions a perpetrator commits, criminal harassment can bring gross misdemeanor or felony charges.

This is usually handled at the state level, with laws varying from state-to-state. As I am unaware of which state this took place in, I cannot go into further depth.

Here is an example from Massachusets GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Section43A:
Section 43A. (a) Whoever willfully and maliciously engages in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts directed at a specific person, which seriously alarms that person and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, shall be guilty of the crime of criminal harassment and shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 21/2 years or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The conduct or acts described in this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, conduct or acts conducted by mail or by use of a telephonic or telecommunication device or electronic communication device including, but not limited to, any device that transfers signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system, including, but not limited to, electronic mail, internet communications, instant messages or facsimile communications.

(b) Whoever, after having been convicted of the crime of criminal harassment, commits a second or subsequent such crime, or whoever commits the crime of criminal harassment having previously been convicted of a violation of section 43, shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years.

If you actually read what you posted, what she did doesn't constitute criminal harassment.

"Whoever willfully and maliciously engages in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts directed at a specific person" isn't what happened. It was an isolated incident of elevated frustration that is clearly shown in the video which could be submitted as evidence. Sure, she shouldn't have overreacted, but this "threat" wasn't a breech of the law as you have laid it out.

Please try again.

 

[redknightalex]

I honestly thought that there was a lot more malice and craziness from the reports but after seeing the video it's a lot better than I thought. I don't really think the manager did anything illegal (the business card does seem to have been left in plain view for anyone to see) but she definitely was not right. Nor was the customer right when he could have just shown his id and be done with it.

Frankly, I was more surprised that the manager did as well as she did, her voice was level the entire time, and she was trying to handle a ton of guys at a late hour. I put more blame on the customer because retail is a horror place for me and I think too much responsibility relies on the employee and not the customer, regardless of "they're being paid for it" idea (why does civility only come when people are paid for it?). I don't think the manager should be fired but some punishment may be a decent idea from a PR POV.

Hope the customer is happy: pretty sure they're doing worse things in the game virtually then getting mad at a manager.

Seriously, why do people do stupid things like give out a business card as "id" and joke about revealing personal info? No winners here.

 

[MammothBlade]

What a silly reason for a "controversy". Entitled little shit should have just shown his ID.

Can't blame the manager for losing her cool there.

 

[Caiphus]

Eh, reading the article made her actions seem a bit better than they were. I worked in a retail in an electronics store for a year and a half and I wished I could've snapped at the nastier of customers. Yelling at the guy as he was leaving the store isn't smart, though, frankly.

Whatever, he should've just shut up and handed over his photo ID, and been flattered that someone could think that he might have been under 18. That's the best way to look at that kind of thing.