Obnoxious GamesStop employee's

[Krion_Vark]

*SNIP*

I disagree with that bit. Its the guy's job to make sure the parent knows what is in the game that they are buying for their child.

No it isn't. Its the parents job to know what they are buying for their kids.[/quote]
Hm so someone who works in retail isn't allowed to inform someone upon the contents of their purchase? I have no idea where you learned how to work in retail but 90% of the job is informing the consumer on the contents of their purchase.

Also if the ERSB is just GUIDELINES like you said why are AO games banned from being sold in regular stores? They are merely guidelines for the consumer and shouldn't be left out just because of some stupid letter on the box.

Exactly. Its the parents choice, not the store clerks.

And it always went directly to the parents choice. Did the store clerk EVER say no I am not selling that to you for your kid? No he didn't he told her what the game was and still sold it to her. The OPs friend could have told his mom something like this
"Oh hey I want this game all my friends have it and I won't be cool if I don't have it."
"Okay whats the game about?"
"BUT ALL MY FRIENDS HAVE IIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT." "Fine lets go get it."
(MEANWHILE AT GAMESTOP)
*SLAMS PHONE DOWN*
"I am sick and tired of getting parents who call and complain about what they bought for there kids because apparently I am supposed to inform them of everything."
(Kid and Mom walk in. Kid runs over to get BlOps)
"Here it is Mommy."
"Okay lets just pay for it and get out of here."
"Hey did you know that there is a lot of killing people with guns and a lot of blood in this game?"
"No I didn't I was just told all his friends had the game."
"Oh well then I guess you don't know about what they say online then. There are a lot of people that are being racist yelling out the N-Word, and they swear a lot too drop a lot of F-bombs."
"Oh I don't think this game is appropriate for my little Jimmy then. Come on Jimmy we are leaving."
"BUT MMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!"
"Don't give me that you did not tell me what I was buying for you and I do not like it."

Like people have said parents do not really know what they are buying for their kids when it comes to video games. Most people don't even know what the hell they are buying for video games they just buy what their friends have.

 

[moretimethansense]

2. You're not mature at 16. Sorry but you're not.

Some are, obviously this one isn't but qute a few can be mature at 16.
As for myself, I'd hesitate to call myself mature at 16 (hell, I'd hesitate to do it now at damn near 22), but I was at a state where violance in games, no matter how graphic would bother me, neither would nudity for that matter.

While a huge number of folks aren't mature at 16 frankly it bugs me that peo9ple aren't alowed to see gore and sex till 18 because frankly, most kids reaction to an asploded head would be "Awesome!", trying to protect them from this sorta stuff only hinders their mental deveopment, but now I'm ranting so I'll stop here.

 

[Broken Orange]

Funny, there is this one Gamestop in Austin (near the Westgate Movie Theater, if you are in the area) which has this cool employee. I forget his name, but I feel like I can have a nerdy conversation with him. In fact, overhearing him talking about the Bulletstorm demo convenced me to buy the game.

 

[Hosker]

I believe there should not be an apostrophe in "employee's". We do not have Gamestop around here, so I can't really agree or disagree. But he was enforcing the law by not agreeing to let you have a videogame that you are not old enough to play; he could lose his job otherwise.

 

[Wicky_42]

God forbid an employee actually give a shit about what oblivious parents are getting for their kids.

That was my instant reaction. I'm pleased to hear that employees are taking at least some measures to defend gaming, and examples like this can be used against the wailing 'think of the children' hordes imagining 9 year-olds with their rape and murder simulators. That said, I think he went a bit far with going into online insult topics and requiring three confirmations n all that.

At least he tried - you can never be sure of a parent's level of education

 

[Wicky_42]

I work retail, don't try that crap with me. It is not an employees place to tell the customer what they can or can't buy unless its smokes or alcohol.

If a parent decided that their kid was mature enough to play a game, its the guys job to sell it to her and shut up. The age ratings on games are a guideline for parents, the parent decided her son was mature enough even if he wasn't old enough.

Hm so someone who works in retail isn't allowed to inform someone upon the contents of their purchase? I have no idea where you learned how to work in retail but 90% of the job is informing the consumer on the contents of their purchase.

Also if the ERSB is just GUIDELINES like you said why are AO games banned from being sold in regular stores? They are merely guidelines for the consumer and shouldn't be left out just because of some stupid letter on the box.

I agree with you on the guy being in the right to question her decision to purchase the game.

However, what AO games are there that are banned? I didn't think that sort of thing had happened - wasn't the whole Californian thing about trying to do that? Didn't it fail?

 

[Krion_Vark]

I work retail, don't try that crap with me. It is not an employees place to tell the customer what they can or can't buy unless its smokes or alcohol.

If a parent decided that their kid was mature enough to play a game, its the guys job to sell it to her and shut up. The age ratings on games are a guideline for parents, the parent decided her son was mature enough even if he wasn't old enough.

Hm so someone who works in retail isn't allowed to inform someone upon the contents of their purchase? I have no idea where you learned how to work in retail but 90% of the job is informing the consumer on the contents of their purchase.

Also if the ERSB is just GUIDELINES like you said why are AO games banned from being sold in regular stores? They are merely guidelines for the consumer and shouldn't be left out just because of some stupid letter on the box.

I agree with you on the guy being in the right to question her decision to purchase the game.

However, what AO games are there that are banned? I didn't think that sort of thing had happened - wasn't the whole Californian thing about trying to do that? Didn't it fail?

Pretty much AO is considered the Kiss of Death because a lot of STORES ban the sale of them in their stores which is why you do not see any in places like Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

 

[Wicky_42]

I work retail, don't try that crap with me. It is not an employees place to tell the customer what they can or can't buy unless its smokes or alcohol.

If a parent decided that their kid was mature enough to play a game, its the guys job to sell it to her and shut up. The age ratings on games are a guideline for parents, the parent decided her son was mature enough even if he wasn't old enough.

Hm so someone who works in retail isn't allowed to inform someone upon the contents of their purchase? I have no idea where you learned how to work in retail but 90% of the job is informing the consumer on the contents of their purchase.

Also if the ERSB is just GUIDELINES like you said why are AO games banned from being sold in regular stores? They are merely guidelines for the consumer and shouldn't be left out just because of some stupid letter on the box.

I agree with you on the guy being in the right to question her decision to purchase the game.

However, what AO games are there that are banned? I didn't think that sort of thing had happened - wasn't the whole Californian thing about trying to do that? Didn't it fail?

Pretty much AO is considered the Kiss of Death because a lot of STORES ban the sale of them in their stores which is why you do not see any in places like Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

Interesting. What games were considered too extreme for an R18+ category though? Are we talking smut games or something? Or Postal?

 

[vashthblackseed]

I'm sorry to inform you OP, but it is GameStop's policy to try to convince parents not to buy M rated games for under aged children. An employee caught NOT making such an attempt can be subject anything from disciplinary action to termination.

 

[Krion_Vark]

I work retail, don't try that crap with me. It is not an employees place to tell the customer what they can or can't buy unless its smokes or alcohol.

If a parent decided that their kid was mature enough to play a game, its the guys job to sell it to her and shut up. The age ratings on games are a guideline for parents, the parent decided her son was mature enough even if he wasn't old enough.

Hm so someone who works in retail isn't allowed to inform someone upon the contents of their purchase? I have no idea where you learned how to work in retail but 90% of the job is informing the consumer on the contents of their purchase.

Also if the ERSB is just GUIDELINES like you said why are AO games banned from being sold in regular stores? They are merely guidelines for the consumer and shouldn't be left out just because of some stupid letter on the box.

I agree with you on the guy being in the right to question her decision to purchase the game.

However, what AO games are there that are banned? I didn't think that sort of thing had happened - wasn't the whole Californian thing about trying to do that? Didn't it fail?

Pretty much AO is considered the Kiss of Death because a lot of STORES ban the sale of them in their stores which is why you do not see any in places like Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

Interesting. What games were considered too extreme for an R18+ category though? Are we talking smut games or something? Or Postal?

They are pretty much porn games but there are a few that have been different than that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AO-rated_products

 

[jhlip]

Good for that employee. He was doing his job, it doesn't matter if you disagree.

 

[RicoADF]

God forbid an employee actually give a shit about what oblivious parents are getting for their kids.

The employee has no right say anything about what the parent decides is appropriate for their kids.

The employee does have a right to inform the parent as to the nature of what their buying, especially since alot of parent's don't realise games aren't just kids games. Stupid to us because we're use to it, but most of said parent's didn't have any of this nor understands it.

As much as I hate the lack of R-18 in Australia for games, its rating system is probably the best I've seen (as in how they display the ratings etc).They use colour codes and have games/movies/music all the same so that a parent can easily identify and know exactly what the rating is. Colour code also makes it quick and easy to see what its rated, you dont even need to read it as from a distance the colour alone tells you what it is.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

It's better than living in England and trying to buy from GAME.

"Hey uh, you got Tales of Vesperia?"

"I don't think so (doesn't even look), can I interest you in Fifa?"

No. Stuff your football games up your arse. I've not asked for it, nor will I ever ask for it. Stop trying to get me to buy the damn thing! Do I look sporty? No, I'm a chubby indie kid! LEAVE ME ALONE.

Still, that GameStop employee sounds like a dick. He was right to ask once, but not to keep trying to make his point. Oh, and to further my point about you being lucky:

"Can I buy this please?"

*Hands copy of Naruto: The Broken Bond*

The desk guy looked at the age, looked at me (a 15 year old), then at my Dad, and said:

"Is it okay if he buys this?"

Fuck you GAME. Fuck you.

 

[JeanLuc761]

its the guys job to sell it to her and shut up

I disagree with that bit. Its the guy's job to make sure the parent knows what is in the game that they are buying for their child.

No it isn't. Its the parents job to know what they are buying for their kids.

Given it's fully possible for me to get FIRED for selling an M-Rated game to a minor without parental consent, I'd say I'm doing my job just fine, thank you very much.

When I have parents coming into the store to buy their five year old son Grand Theft Auto 4, I am not going to just hand them the game without explaining, in detail, how violent the game is. Even if it's not in my job description, it's the decent thing to do.

 

[karloss01]

the pokemon bit sounded rude but the rest was just him doing his job. here in the UK if a store gets caught selling a mature title to a "minor" they can get a huge fine (up to £5000.00 and in some cases a prison sentance (max six months) so i can see why a store worker would make sure the game is being played by it's intended audience.

 

[drwow]

FUCK YOU INFORMATIONAL EMPLOYEES, YOU AND YOUR GODDAMN HELPFULNESS.

I wish more people were willing to say stuff like to customers, I'd rather have my employees be honest then make a sale and have a pissy parent come back later.

 

[thelastgentleman]

Dear Op,

Im sorry that your feelings were hurt by the employee who was doing his job. Unfortunately there is a thing called reality and in here there are rules and regulations that must be followed even if you dont agree with them. You'll learn later in life this practice, but if you so choose to you may complain and join your fellow comrades along the picket line. Although I would better suggest that you right to your legislature about lowering the age limit on games, but lets be realistic thats not going to happen...is it? I didnt think so. You see maturity lies in accumulation of wisdom and wisdom well comes with experience, henceforth age. Your post just further justifies why there are laws against minors buying mature games and your sole lack of knowledge in the business world cries of a whimpering kid who was almost turned down his lollipop because his parents might of found out that is contains liquor in it. Yes it is indeed your parents choice, but they must be fully aware of their purchase before they can make a choice. I would not allow my son/daughter buy book if I knew that a crazy drunken Mr. Miyagi would pop out of the pages and have brunch with their squishy insides, but even I did know the consequences....well that just makes me a horribly God awful parent.

Sincerely,

Gent

 

[Phagin]

Ok, for the sake of argument here I am going to count all game stores (Gamestop, GAME, EB, HMV, etc) as similar because from what I hear they are, I'm probably going to refer to GAME because thats where I work.

I had a woman come in and buy GTA on the PSP for a 7 year old a few weeks ago, a 7 year old! Did I think 'This may not be suitable for this child but its not my responsibility to comment, the parent must have done their research on the game.' Did I hell, I did everything in my power to try and talk her out of it I spent a few minutes calmly explaining the content and one of my co-workers even joined in and advised her against buying it and she got said it was fine and walked off with her son clutching his new game. A few days later I got a call from head office, a complaint had been put in about me from the very same woman because when she saw her son playing the game and kicked off when he saw him running people over indiscriminately. Now I'll admit thats a pretty extreme case but does that not give you some idea of how some people don't research the game and don't even listen when they are told what it is like. Also you'd be surprised how many people say, 'oh it's fine' a few times but then when you get the point across suddenly change their mind thats happened to me many times. The amount of sway a kid has when they want something is staggering and parents sometimes need a kick up the arse to say no, even if they want to.

Also the standard line from some of the younger people in this thread seems to be 'Some people my age may not be mature enough to play this game but I am.' But how does the shop assistant know that? How is he meant to tell the difference between one 16 year old and another and the intricacies of their personalities just by looking at them. I know it's not terribly fair, but when dealing with age ratings you have to treat everyone like they are the slowest, least developed members of society, because the fact is, when you do come up against someone who is 16, trying to buy a 17 game and aren't developed enough to handle it and you think its ok because 'their only one year off' you can get into serious shit for it, the aforementioned £5000 fine, loosing your job and possibly even jail time.

The assistant you dealt with was a bit of a douche, sure but he was doing his job, informing parents of the age ratings on a game, not deciding you couldn't buy the game, but informing your mum about the content, I don't really see how it hurt and I say good on him. Also as I understand it, the reason you Americans (or it may just be California, forgive me for not being sure) are all up in arms about game ratings is because other forms of media like say films, are self regulated by the industries and games are not, leading to all the trouble about making them legally binding (which they already are over here and it is a great system, but thats a different issue.) But as soon as someone does make a step towards trying to regulate, everyone bitches about it. After all, if you went into a video shop with your mum at 17 and got her to try and buy Hostel or Alien for you, the answer would be a resounding no.

One last thing you also have to remember, which yes, is completely hypocritical considering what I just said and yes, I am ok with that is this. People that work in retail do not like you and yes I ID people all the time just because I can, and yes I'll make a customers life as difficult as possible if their shitty with me. So a lot of it will have been dependent on how you guys acted as well, did you walk up and smile and say hi or did you guys just slam it down on the desk and start talking amongst yourselves, when he tried to explain the content, did your mum say 'yes thanks I'm aware of the content and I'm ok with it' or did she go 'it's fine' in a really annoyed voice as so many people do. Because I come in here and see every other person moaning about and belittling people that work in shops but then also expecting their tongue up your arse, you can't have the best of both worlds you know.