I hope this is the right part of the forum for ask such a thing and not the OT one.
Anyway I was wondering if any of you had some bad experiences with the GW employee or similar.
I’m writing this because as some of you might know, I’m really hyped with Blood Bowl and this is what happened to me 2 days ago.
It was my anniversary with my gf and we were in the town where i’m able to play once in a while warhammer, it isnt a GW store but a Game Academy (if someone doesnt know what that is, it is a sub gw franchise. selling warhammer + boardgames and cards)
I told to the guy there to keep for me a skaven team, and once I was there we started talking, I asked some info for the tournaments and leagues that they will have on regular base now when he dropped the bomb on me.
“Yeah but if you wanna do league here you need to buy from us the new box + deathzone book” I just told him that I have the old one and I dont need the new box, the rules are the same and the pitch is just in a bigger scale.
He added that i needed to be a customer of that store for being able to play tournaments there, thing that i never been able to do because on whfb i already had my models, you are surely not selling my chaos dwarves anyway.
So as the thing went on the guy cut me off “sorry but if you dont buy here the box you cant play, everyone need to have the new material”
I let him notice “yeah but if the other guy has the field aswell, what can i do with mine?” the answer was plan stupid “yea he could forget it”
After telling him that i wont buy a 85euro box that i already own + 20 euro book of something that should be just in the rulebook, for stuff I already have I asked him “what if 2 people buy here your box?Only one can play the tournament accordin to your rules” empty stupid face of his, after few seconds he said “yeah, or they could play together” what the hell for answer is this?
I lost my patience and left the store in an horrible mood after i waited 8 years for play this stupid game (and almost ruined my anniversary)
I left there the skaven team telling them “i’ll buy it in GW, there is no use for me to buy it here if you wont let me play”
he added “but even in gw you need the new box” “i dont care, i’m not gonna let you earn money on me” then i left.
The day after I started even to think more about this and it came to my mind: what if some friends would make me a present and give me the box? i still wouldnt be able to play in that stupid store? and what if i have all my new material already but moved from another town to that one? Still didnt buy from there so cant play? WOW. amazing.
After this i called GW milano asking info about this thing, they said that aside for not having tournaments in future, if i wanna go there and play i can just bring my own material, if i have a field and teams all is fine.
I’m so pissed and demoralized about this. This GA was the closest place for me to play, already 25 minutes driving from home, the one in Milano is somethign like 45 minutes if not more with changing trains and subway + tickets and all…
So i guess my gaming life died for good. Because some morons just wont let me play because i dont buy what they want, even if i was already spending money in their F store.
sorry for the complaint and all, but i’m pissed and I wanna know if anyone else had some bad experience aswell, because i cant still believe it.
Any bad GW experience? Of course! They killed Warhammer Fantasy and brought us AOS!
Beside this “bagatelle” everything’s good.
Oh and sorry about your troubles.
And a little anecdote from my past. I once worked for a GW retailer. We had four gaming tables there and many guys just came there to play. They didn’t had to buy anything but we charged 3,50�,� per person who wanted to play there. They could play whatever tabletop game they wanted. In the beginning times of the store we charged nothing. But it took not that long when people started to mess up the room. And various riffraffs came just to hang around. As we began to charge a bit of money people came there with a better behaviour.
Years ago, just before GW released the mass combat system for LotR, the GW store I frequented put on a big game of regular LotR with me and a couple of kids on one side and the two till monkeys and another kid (who’d never played before) on the other.
One of the till monkeys charged in with his cavalry into my Boromir and some other troops. Because Boromir was outnumbered I declared I was using his special rule and the tm snapped at me not to be s rules lawyer and when I told him I wasn’t being a rules lawyer just using one of Boromir’s abilities he huffily went “fine I’m dead” and started taking his minis off until I told him, no his guys weren’t dead they just had to take a test or lose that round of combat.
A couple minutes go buy and other customers come in so one tm goes to serve them (fair enough), but when he was done didn’t come back and took a seat down the front of the store about as far as you could get from the game without leaving the store. A few more minutes go by and the other tm goes to serve customers, and again doesn’t come back. So I’m left essentially running a game with me and two kids on one side and a kid who didn’t know how to play on the other. We play a couple more turns and it’s clear the tms aren’t coming back, so I turned to the kids and said let’s stop here as it’s obvious the guys who should be running the game aren’t coming back and it’s not fair on the kid they’d left in the lurch to be playing three people especially when he’s never played before.
First till monkey in that story generally was an unpleasant guy as far as I was concerned and he generally made me feel like he resented me for stepping in the store so after a while I started avoiding going in if I knew he was on duty unless I really needed something. I never bothered complaining because he was popular with most of the other customers and he never did anything overtly rude so it would have been my word against his and it wouldn’t have been worth the hassle to complain.
We have a store (chain) here in Manila that isn�?Tt even a GW but they would not let you play with none GW miniatures. So far so good but what really makes this part interesting is that some of their employees are like 20 years old and have no clue what is GW and what is not if it was released more than 5 years ago. At the beginning that was funny but it ended up being quite annoying, having to explain them every of my miniatures.
In the end I had to accept that it�?Ts their house so it�?Ts their rules and I�?Tm playing somewhere else now ordering my things online.
Apart from that and since they are not GW (although they behave like they are) I really got to say that I didn�?Tt have bad experience with GW staff with any of their employees in the stores. They were always very friendly and helpful in the GW stores.
GW suffers from employing too many young guys without adequate training or supervision. Then they put huge amounts of pressure on them to sell loads. So you end up with a lot of idiots who will tell you that your older models (even less than 10 years old!) are crap (in much less pleasant terms than that) and try to get you to replace them. So many of the good guys just got fed up of the system, might be a few left in the odd place.
When it comes to Blood Bowl, look up the NAF, loads of independent leagues and tournaments run by people who are used to GW not caring about their game and will happily let you use whichever pitch and models you like.
GW suffers from employing too many young guys without adequate training or supervision. Then they put huge amounts of pressure on them to sell loads. So you end up with a lot of idiots who will tell you that your older models (even less than 10 years old!) are crap (in much less pleasant terms than that) and try to get you to replace them. So many of the good guys just got fed up of the system, might be a few left in the odd place.
When it comes to Blood Bowl, look up the NAF, loads of independent leagues and tournaments run by people who are used to GW not caring about their game and will happily let you use whichever pitch and models you like.
cornixt
I still remember last year at GW Milano, i went there with a friend for a painting contest. Basically i got scoffed at by one of the 2 guys there because i had and i played CD, he told me some thing like "ugh, really cd? why dont you just replace them? they are most useless anyway" only because i wasnt going to spend money on your new dumb models.
Print some big hats and i'll sell even a kidney (not mine) for them. Otherwhise cya.
It seems I found a league in Milano that is keep playing BB for many years already, i contacted them and i'll get more info tomorrow, but mainly he said "bring your stuff, whatever it is, custom field, old one, new one, we dont care until it is legal" It is a bit far from my place, 30 mins driving, but i rather drive 10 mins more and go to those ppl that even step foot again in that Games Academy.
AND in 2 days i'll buy my skaven team from GW milano aswell.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF Everything. Might see the light again.
My experience with GW staff isn’t as bad, but I always know what I need before entering. I understand why they are so desperate to sell me shit, but they usually back down after a quick small talk where I say that I’m not interested in new AOS or anything not Chaos Dwarfs. Then I can get my brush, paints or glue without the sales speak.
But when I see unsuspecting grandmas and parents buying christmass gifts I get slightly mad. Around 2003 i saw a tired and confused mom leave GW with 3 boxes for her son. The metal Wyvern, 16 Warriors of Chaos and 8 Silverhelms. That is just mean. At least get her to understand what her son is playing and then keep it within that army.
In Gothenburg, sweden, its ok I guess but I usually try to avoid the store. One of the staffers are really good to talk to, the maneger not so much. Its like talking to a politician always trying to convince you they are right and that you need X, she talks at a customer not to them. But anyway, the most annoying about the store in general is the lack of knowledge in their own stuff. In town we have another retailer which is alot more customer friendly, so I always go there first…
Anyway, about the league thing just organize your own. All you need is 4+ coaches! I assume Italy should have a strong Blood Bowl community since the last World Cup was held there.
My local GW was taken over as a one man store by a great guy - hobbyist through and through, can’t do enough to help you. Makes it feel like an independent, I buy from there as I want to support him, and see him and the store do well, even if I can get it cheaper on line. And I’ve spent quite a bit in the last year…
He’s been a breath of fresh air from some in the past who were just sell, sell, sell - they made me not to want to set foot in the door.
My area has only ever had two GW stores (that I’m aware of at least).
Both are long gone out of business.
The first one, many years ago in San Francisco, was full of great showcase models, and little of anything else. The staff were condescending, not much help and actually teased a kid who was buying some Dogs of War box sets. They told him it was a sucky army and to go buy something else. No wonder they are out of business.
The second was a very small GW store I saw about three years ago (also now gone)…and it was staffed by some teenage girls. They were great painters, knew the product and very outgoing and helpful. No pressure sales, just honest customer service.
Neither one of them had ever heard of Chaos Dwarfs, but hey, nobody is perfect.
I’ve only been in my local GW store a few times, tiny place with (once again) allot of cool display models and a disappointing selection. The shop keep seemed ok, but the tiny place was crowded with people who were clearly just his gaming buddies hanging out. Kind of weird but it’s as good a place as any to pick up made to order minatures for free shipping.
My experience with GW staff isn't as bad, but I always know what I need before entering. I understand why they are so desperate to sell me shit, but they usually back down after a quick small talk where I say that I'm not interested in new AOS or anything not Chaos Dwarfs. Then I can get my brush, paints or glue without the sales speak.
But when I see unsuspecting grandmas and parents buying christmass gifts I get slightly mad. Around 2003 i saw a tired and confused mom leave GW with 3 boxes for her son. The metal Wyvern, 16 Warriors of Chaos and 8 Silverhelms. That is just mean. At least get her to understand what her son is playing and then keep it within that army.
Malorndk
Maybe her son collected Orcs, Chaos, and High Elves? Ya never know.
My experience with GW staff isn't as bad, but I always know what I need before entering. I understand why they are so desperate to sell me shit, but they usually back down after a quick small talk where I say that I'm not interested in new AOS or anything not Chaos Dwarfs. Then I can get my brush, paints or glue without the sales speak.
But when I see unsuspecting grandmas and parents buying christmass gifts I get slightly mad. Around 2003 i saw a tired and confused mom leave GW with 3 boxes for her son. The metal Wyvern, 16 Warriors of Chaos and 8 Silverhelms. That is just mean. At least get her to understand what her son is playing and then keep it within that army.
Malorndk
Maybe her son collected Orcs, Chaos, and High Elves? Ya never know.
Tertius
I suspect he collected Dwarves or Empire or Space Marines :hat off
