EB Games is the Devil!

highwaypatrolman

highwaypatrolman

CAGiversary!
check out this new form they are requiring employees to sign:

-----

Hey traders,

Please print this out and make sure EVERY associate signs it and then place it inside of their performance binders!

Today, ___/___/_____ , I ______________ ________________ , commit myself and my team to the Pre-Played Culture at EBGames.

Going forward, from this day on:

- I will address all customers that enter my store with the following greeting:

"Welcome to EBGames! Did you bring your trades?"

- I will make a point to talk about our Trade Program and the "EB STORY" during every customer's shopping experience.

- I will ask for Trades a second time, when concluding ALL sales, reminding customers that we take "Broken Systems".

- When a customer calls on the phone, it is my responsibility and commitment to work a Pre-Played Trade message into the phone greeting AND into the conversation that ensues.

Signature:

_______________ __________________


DATE ___/___/_____

-----

i feel sad. any cag eb employees been subjected to this bullshit yet?
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']If it makes you feel any better, I went into ebgames tonite and not a single employee even spoke to me.[/QUOTE]

yup same here nor did they even greet me haha
 
That will be awkward.
Me feeling uncomfortable hearing someone say that to me and the guy who is forced by contract to say it.
* Must remember not to make eye contact in order to save a bit of self respect for both of us when it happens.
Any EB employees have my preemptive condolences.
 
*sniff* and here all along i thought i was always just special when the eb games clerks tried to start up conversations...
 
[quote name='Gycot']*sniff* and here all along i thought i was always just special when the eb games clerks tried to start up conversations...[/QUOTE]

XD.
 
'the fuck is the "EB Story"? Good fucking god.

Arlie Hochshield. Emotional Labor. Look it up.

I had to point out to the guy working at GS today that I only want to say "no thanks" *one* time during a transaction when asked if I want to preorder anything. I think they're pulling the same shit at GS, as I'm always asked if I have tradeins.

Oh well, dealing with a putz is worth it for mint complete copies of Bust a Groove and Breath of Fire IV; OTOH, I didn't buy the complete Suikoden II they had b/c the manual and disk were only about a 6 or 7 out of 10. Not for $60, mon ami.
 
HAHA it would be funny if this turned into a Best Buy situation.

Manager: "You missed the last three customers...none of them sold anything to us."
Employee: "But they didn't bring anything to sell. I asked them twice. I can't help it."
Manager: "Grow some boobies and show them to me or you're fired."
 
[quote name='highwaypatrolman']
"Welcome to EBGames! Did you bring your trades?"

[/QUOTE]

Why yes, I did!

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Do I have enough for my Xbox 360 yet?
 
That is good shit. Thanks for sharing it. Oh man if I worked at EB I doubt I'd really stick to that lame script. I can really see all EB employees talking about the EB Story to every customer that has an 'experience'. :roll: (And WTF is the EB Story anyway :rofl: )

Low level employees are associates and managers are 'traders' or what?

I should see if EB needs secret shoppers to make sure associates are sticking to the new guidelines. "I'm sorry you asked if I brought any games with me to trade in, not if I had brought my trades. You're supposed to just call them trades as market research has shown using that term is hip and way cool."
 
For those of you wondering what the EB story is, I can't tell you the whole thing (priviledged information, even though I don't work for EB, its protected), but here's the intro:

"When EB was a little boy, he had only one wish... and that wish was to sucker people into giving him all their old games for far less than they were worth. Fast forward 10 years..."
 
We need shirts made. "Trade This!"
"No Trades, No Preorders, No Problem"
"If you can read this shirt, you're too close!"
"Point me to the penny guides!"
"What's the hot manager's number?"

Etcetera.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']If it makes you feel any better, I went into ebgames tonite and not a single employee even spoke to me.[/QUOTE]

lmao
 
[quote name='Stoneage']We need shirts made. "Trade This!"
"No Trades, No Preorders, No Problem"
"If you can read this shirt, you're too close!"
"Point me to the penny guides!"
"What's the hot manager's number?"

Etcetera.[/QUOTE]
new_rofl.gif
 
what a load of crap, lol.

Asking people "Did you bring your trades" right when they walk in seems more like something that druggies do. Next thing you know, they'll come up next to you wearing trenchcoats and beanies, asking if you wanna 'score' some pre-order stuff.
 
[quote name='Bezerker']Next thing you know, they'll come up next to you wearing trenchcoats and beanies, asking if you wanna 'score' some pre-order stuff. [/QUOTE]

lmao!!!1
 
I'm glad I don't shop at EB anymore. I would seriously rail on an employee for mentioning pre-played games that much in one conversation. They have to tell you as soon as you walk in they want your games, and then again at the end? Not only that, but sometime during your visit there will be a THIRD conversation about the "trade program" and the "EB story".

They have to work it in TWICE on a phone conversation? You've got to be shitting me. Whatever happened to just going in, getting what you want, and leaving? If I call up for something specific, or go into the store to buy a game and I know exactly what I want, I don't want to listen to some douche tell me about trading for ten minutes.

This is what is known as over agressive selling, and it will drive more customers away then it will make them want to trade.
 
[quote name='varsitygamer']well fuck that.

i'm not signing that. i wonder if they'll fire me if i refuse to sign that.[/QUOTE]

I have not seen or heard anything about this at my store, I am willing to bet we probably wont... Even so, if it comes I will scribble some letters on it, and totally ignore it. Our store does fine (even by store rankings and all that other BS) without this stupid shit.
 
[quote name='Sycowulf']I have not seen or heard anything about this at my store, I am willing to bet we probably wont... Even so, if it comes I will scribble some letters on it, and totally ignore it. Our store does fine (even by store rankings and all that other BS) without this stupid shit.[/QUOTE]

seriously. the precise reason we have regulars at our location, and a number of people who prefer us to the nearby gamestop, is that we don't bombard people with stupid shit. for the most part anyway, our assistant manager is a little bit of a stickler about asking that stuff, but thats only cause he got ZEROWNED on a secret shop recently.
 
Hmm.....now I'm gonna have to remember to ridicule every EB employee who tries to pull this crap on me. Points to mention: They actually are following the "script", They're obeying the man for 7 bucks an hour and something about their mother.
 
They keep telling us we're getting secret shopped, but I never hear any results. I'm going to keep doing the things I've been doing...I mention trades, pre-orders, and pre-owned but don't jam them down people's throats. Using that strategy I'm one of (if not the) best sales people numbers-wise in my store and have people coming back specifically when I'm working so they can ask me things and buy things from me. Let people know the deals and that they can save money or insure they'll get something they want if they pre-order, but don't jam it down their throat or they run off somewhere else like the Wal-Mart right behind us. My DM saw my numbers and was talking like he was going to try to get me a promotion to ASM somewhere sometime soon...if it doesn't happen in the next few months though I'm probably going to just go back to school.
 
I think I will apply to work at the pet store this summer, because of all the horror stories I don't even want to try and get a retail job, even with the discount.

Maybe I can get a discount on that green tree python, I've wanted one since I was five but they cost well over hundred dollars. Worth every penny, though, if you have that many pennies.
 
Also, fuck you people who talk about ridiculing EB employees for "following the script." Jobs are a bit hard to come by right now in case you haven't noticed, and sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do to keep one. It's unfortunate, but you have to have a job to be able to pay for food and a place to live and other things. Don't jump down the employees throat for this kind of thing, they probably want to pitch this stuff just as little as you want to hear it.
 
At my EBgames they have a script taped to the counter that they read each and every time someone calls their store. I feel bad for the guy asking for their store hours that has to listen to a 30 second message. Actually, I feel worse for the guy reading that 30 second message every freakin' time someone calls!
 
it appears that VERY few people here understand business, marketing, corporations, or much of anything to do with sales. EB makes most of their money from trades, and do every possible thing to increase them whenever possible. putting up a sign/contract like that doesn't do anything except make the people upstairs think that they're contributing to more trades. and that's fine. i'm an ASM, and i enjoy my job quite a bit. will i badger people or do anything that makes me feel uncomfortable? no. will i sign the piece of paper and continue to have good numbers regardless because i'm knowledgeable, a nice guy and want my store to do well? of course. i would much rather write my name on a piece of paper than have a morning excitement rally like some Best Buy folk. think this through before you just make fun of it because it's a foreign thing to you. anyone who works retail understands that this is such a miniscule thing compared to other issues it's not even worth discussing.
 
My EB does this. They mae sure I 'm aware that they take used games 3 to 4 times when ringing me out. I mean I never knew they took trades til they told me.
 
[quote name='botticus']For those of you wondering what the EB story is, I can't tell you the whole thing (priviledged information, even though I don't work for EB, its protected), but here's the intro:

"When EB was a little boy, he had only one wish... and that wish was to sucker people into giving him all their old games for far less than they were worth. Fast forward 10 years..."[/QUOTE]

I just burst out laughing when I read this.

My EB is super cool. I really envy the manager. I was talking to him today and last week he was flown out to Vegas for their product demo/pep rally. But it sounds like he had a good time playing the 360.
 
I'm so glad the worst thing I have to push on people at CC is the City Advantage (extended warranty) plan. But at least all I have to do is offer it. If a customer says no then no big deal, move on from it and everyone lives happily ever after regardless. I do feel bad for EB employees having to shove such stupidity on customers... makes me feel so much better to rarely do business with EB (outside of an occasional online order).
 
I think the story refers to the fact that it was called Electronics Boutique. You could by Commodore 64 games and get your perm done at the same time. Then, the two owners had a falling out (!), and the gaymer guy kept the stores but got rid of the hair part. He kept the "boutique" for a while to remember his old pal, but then he found a new partner (!) and just changed it to EB.

Or so I hear.

It also partly explains why they give special discounts to Cheap Ass Gamers!!
 
Don't forget the rest of the story.

We tried to buy out Gamestop, but we couldn't cause we didn't have the cash. And once Gamestop management knew we didn't have shit, they bought us out!

Welcome to EBGameStop. And we don't take PC game trades, jack.
 
[quote name='froinlaven']At my EBgames they have a script taped to the counter that they read each and every time someone calls their store. I feel bad for the guy asking for their store hours that has to listen to a 30 second message. Actually, I feel worse for the guy reading that 30 second message every freakin' time someone calls![/QUOTE]

The sad part is that its true. The message can almost be 30 seconds long. :\

Anyways, some employee's being told to say this.

Customer: How much is Madden 06?
employee: Depends on what you trade in.

They kind of push the phone and trade thing a bit too far.
 
I've been calling EB a lot the past few days, and the employees picking up the phone are pretty good, they can do the whole message in like 5 seconds.

"Hi welcome to EB games, where you can preorder Socom 3, my name is Kenny, how can I help you?" And I'm like do you have this preowned game, he's like yeah, so I say I'll be down in a bit, and he'll say mention that I can bring some games to trade in as the conversation ends. It's not too bad, IMO.

But it's kind of annoying to keep getting offered that warranty, especially for like a DS game. Those things are virtually indestructible.

There's a Gamestop I browsed a couple times recently and the lady there is pretty good, "Hi, did you bring me any games to trade in?" Always sounds like she's asking an old friend (like a postal carrier or someone) if he has anything for her.

On the topic, does any CAG here work for an EB in Dallas or somewhere nearby?
 
I think I need a counter-contract, to just hand the clerk when I go in:

"I, , offically absolve any and all EB Games employees from the responsibility of informing me of EB games trade-in system. I confirm that I am indeed aware that EB Games will accept my pre-played games, as well as functional and non-functional pre-played systems. I am aware my trade-ins are worth more for store credit, and I am aware I can apply that credit to purchasing a new title immedately.

I confirm that I am also aware of EB games pre-order system. I am aware that I may place a $5 deposit on the soon-to-be-released title of my choosing to secure a copy on release day. I am aware I can pay in part or full for this pre-order at at any time that I wish. I am aware I cannot recieve my game until it paid in full.

I hearby proclaim that, as a collector of multiple and older systems, I do NOT have any games to trade on this or any subsequent visits, as I keep them in my private collection. I also do NOT wish to place any pre-orders, as I prefer to wait for price drops to occur late in the game's life cycle. I proclaim that, if at any point during my shopping experience, I am asked for my trades or to pre-order a game, I will immedately leave the store without making a purchase.

Should any higher-up in the company attempt discpline against an employee who does not offer me a pre-order or ask for my trade-in, I offically authorize this notice to be presented as undeniable proof that I have demanded to not be asked these things. Said higher up may contact me at to confirm. Thank you.

~date, signature~'
 
[quote name='Jeoff']HAHA it would be funny if this turned into a Best Buy situation.

Manager: "You missed the last three customers...none of them sold anything to us."
Employee: "But they didn't bring anything to sell. I asked them twice. I can't help it."
Manager: "Grow some boobies and show them to me or you're fired."[/QUOTE]

made me laugh.. especially after reading all the bestbuysucks.org stuff...
 
I love my local EB mostly because they do that around 90% of the time rather than 100% of the time, but it's always done in the proper situation. When they notice a customer is looking at used games they'll ask if they need any help and casually work in trade-ins, recent trade-in deals (both for purchasing and credit purposes), and work with you to get the most out of your dollar.

Strange, because they don't just hammer you with the deals and the possibilities of trade-ins and making money and the importance of preorders. Rather than the pitches being pushed towards everyone in an automatic fashion they pitch as per appropriate. It may also be why they tend to have a sickening amount of used games coming in and coming out of the store, not to mention why they seem to be doing really well in their district.
 
shit! these sort of district-manager-breathing-down-the back-of-my-neck horror stories make me thank god i don't work for a mega-retail corporation anymore. i used to work for a privately owned electronics store and while the district managers could be complete assholes, they were usually bearable/ignorable. after a couple of years working for them, the same company/shareholders or whatever that owns best buy swooped in and bought it up. shortly thereafter, i left to go back to school, but i remember they made all sorts of promises about how nothing was going to change. now, though, 5 years later, i just talked to my old department manager (a really cool guy) and apparently they're firing/demoting people left and right when they think the store isn't living upto its potential. so glad i don't have to deal with that shit.
now i work at an independently owned record store (i'm the asst. manager), and while i'm not getting rich from working there, at least the owner doesn't make me feel like a prostitute. any sort of "meet & greet" bullshit is up to us to do if we please.
employees of big biz, you have my deepest sympathies. i will never tell you to fawk off for asking for trades 3 times or 20 times. instead, i will shed a single tear for you each and every night.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']I think I need a counter-contract, to just hand the clerk when I go in:

"I, , offically absolve any and all EB Games employees from the responsibility of informing me of EB games trade-in system. I confirm that I am indeed aware that EB Games will accept my pre-played games, as well as functional and non-functional pre-played systems. I am aware my trade-ins are worth more for store credit, and I am aware I can apply that credit to purchasing a new title immedately.

I confirm that I am also aware of EB games pre-order system. I am aware that I may place a $5 deposit on the soon-to-be-released title of my choosing to secure a copy on release day. I am aware I can pay in part or full for this pre-order at at any time that I wish. I am aware I cannot recieve my game until it paid in full.

I hearby proclaim that, as a collector of multiple and older systems, I do NOT have any games to trade on this or any subsequent visits, as I keep them in my private collection. I also do NOT wish to place any pre-orders, as I prefer to wait for price drops to occur late in the game's life cycle. I proclaim that, if at any point during my shopping experience, I am asked for my trades or to pre-order a game, I will immedately leave the store without making a purchase.

Should any higher-up in the company attempt discpline against an employee who does not offer me a pre-order or ask for my trade-in, I offically authorize this notice to be presented as undeniable proof that I have demanded to not be asked these things. Said higher up may contact me at to confirm. Thank you.

~date, signature~'[/QUOTE]


I like it. Something tells me you might make a wall in the backroom or under the counter of an EB with this...
 
[quote name='rocksolidaudio']it appears that VERY few people here understand business, marketing, corporations, or much of anything to do with sales. EB makes most of their money from trades, and do every possible thing to increase them whenever possible. putting up a sign/contract like that doesn't do anything except make the people upstairs think that they're contributing to more trades. and that's fine. i'm an ASM, and i enjoy my job quite a bit. will i badger people or do anything that makes me feel uncomfortable? no. will i sign the piece of paper and continue to have good numbers regardless because i'm knowledgeable, a nice guy and want my store to do well? of course. i would much rather write my name on a piece of paper than have a morning excitement rally like some Best Buy folk. think this through before you just make fun of it because it's a foreign thing to you. anyone who works retail understands that this is such a miniscule thing compared to other issues it's not even worth discussing.[/QUOTE]


Amen.
 
I don't work at EB, I will never work at EB, and I don't give a shit about understanding the inner workings of business.

All I know is that I don't want to get harrassed when I enter a store, any store!

Recently when I was calling EB to see if my preorder was in I had to endure that stupid 10 second garbage intro, and yes it lasted the whole 10 seconds. All it did was make me want to hang up the phone and regret ever giving them by business. At one point I was SO close to screaming at the guy to shut up cause I didn't want whatever the hell he was talking about.

Thank God that I rarely go into EB, but even so around 90% of my visits have been bad experiences because of stupid employees trying to pressure me into something - and that was without this form that will only make things A LOT worse.

All I can say is that I am VERY glad that EB has an online store where I don't have to put up with stupid ass sales pitches and pressure tactics meant to sucker you. I will never forget the time I went in to pick up Culdecept and the girl behind the counter asked me like 20 times (literally!), if I was sure I didn't want to buy anything else.
 
[quote name='Scrubking']I don't work at EB, I will never work at EB, and I don't give a shit about understanding the inner workings of business.

All I know is that I don't want to get harrassed when I enter a store, any store!

Recently when I was calling EB to see if my preorder was in I had to endure that stupid 10 second garbage intro, and yes it lasted the whole 10 seconds. All it did was make me want to hang up the phone and regret ever giving them by business. At one point I was SO close to screaming at the guy to shut up cause I didn't want whatever the hell he was talking about.

Thank God that I rarely go into EB, but even so around 90% of my visits have been bad experiences because of stupid employees trying to pressure me into something - and that was without this form that will only make things A LOT worse.

All I can say is that I am VERY glad that EB has an online store where I don't have to put up with stupid ass sales pitches and pressure tactics meant to sucker you. I will never forget the time I went in to pick up Culdecept and the girl behind the counter asked me like 20 times (literally!), if I was sure I didn't want to buy anything else.[/QUOTE]

if you're going to fly off the handle whenever you hear a slightly longer phone greeting than you're used to, you're probably better off ordering online anyhow, and letting patient, sensible folk do the whole human interaction thing. and if you feel badgered by an employee i would strongly suggest speaking with their supervisor, or letting them know that you're uncomfortable with it.
 
Here's the deal, I havent seen the form...but I'll sign it and do what I always do. I help customers, I don't badger them and I certainly don't conform to ridiculous notions such as this form. I know how it is to come in a store and just shop...you gotta relate to people not sell to them.
 
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