"Some guys need to back off!!" Topic

WOW, unbelievable. Some guys need to back off. Seriously.

I have just visited my local Games Workshop to see what new things they have and walked in on two big, unfit, bearded men giving the young GW assistant a hard time over GW products, prices and franchise.

Their conversation was full of expletives but spoken as everyday language and totally ignorant or oblivious of children in the shop. Inappropriate.

I went and stood by the assistant and asked if everything was OK and he said yes, no problem.

Good man.

The men left the shop.

What is wrong with some people that they feel they can gang up on a young person just doing his job. If you don't like the product do the equivalent of the TMP-stifle – don't go in there!!

Aaargh!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry, rant over)

Aaargh!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a normal day in retail in a store a week before Xmas.
One of the hardest job in the world is working in a toy, show or Xmas deco department in a department store some days before Xmas…

Merry Xmas and remember to be nice to the sales staff…

Some people just ainīt got no upbringing. But really, it was good of you to stick up for the poor assistant, who of course, is solely responsible for the products and policies of GW

I was afraid at first this was another of those threads about TMPers!

Wow. Some folks take the littlest things so seriously. It's just a game. And GW is just a business. No need to get nasty over it. Glad you stuck up for the guy.

Sadly it's evolution in the Age of Entitlement. They've moved on from expecting everything for free to loudly and obnoxiously complaining about everything with which they disagree. If you don't like GW, don't buy their products, stay in your parent's basement and out of the stores. Let the rest of us live in peace.

DM

Will never shop GW again, after I was abused verbally by a member of staff there a very long time ago.

Fortunately, the figures got less attractive to me with every iteration. Some of their products used to have no decent alternative, but when their flesh wash went away my need to send in someone else to shop for things vanished.

I don't waste my time visiting, since time is a,precious commodity.

Don't agree with their policies to customers, as it burns out a proportion of the hobby at a young age who could and should be nurtured.

And endless codex creep in other games inspired by the GW business model is not attractive.

So . . . you are in favour of the guys yelling at the GW employee?

I agree Scott. I don't believe anyone should condone treating someone with disrespect even though you may have had a bad experience with one employee or a company for that matter. These types of comments on threads are becoming far too common. Have we become to thinned skinned with not getting what we want?

The problem here is the guy behind the counter at Games Workshop is just trying to get a paycheck, he doesn't set the prices. When I have been frustrated at a price with or something at a "Corporate Storefront" I usually lead with, "I know you have no control over this…" Expressing an opinion is one thing, but being ignorant or abusive (in either direction Customer or Clerk) is uncalled for.

…..all that yelling, a uniform AND minimum wage! Where do is sign up?

Sadly it is the way of things Uther.

When i worked at GW, i wouldn't be able to print my answer here as i would get DH ed. but i wouldnt have put up with that. They were probably "Moreheads", regardless they just wouldn't have been allowed to continue, especially if there were children in the store at the time.
They should have "come to the internet" and beefed off. But there are plenty of people already on the internet who need to sound off about trivial things to make their life complete.

Their conversation was full of expletives but spoken as everyday language and totally ignorant or oblivious of children in the shop. Inappropriate.

From my experiences, my relatives who are educators, and the experiences of my college-aged children, this is pretty much normal language and behavior from most teens through 30-somethings. Scary stuff. Thankfully, my kids do not act or talk that way.

BTW this is also another reason why I and my kids do not socialize at game stores or other places where we do not know people personally.

We live in a rude and vulgar society full of retribution where no one is accountable for anything, and everyone lives in fear of "the crazies." All comes down to bad parenting or lack of parenting. The chickens have come home to roost. Don't get me started.

I agree very sad. Especially about the use of foul language
and how it is becoming so common. I am so surprised to hear profanity even in commercials now. As for them being concerned about them swearing in front of children, some apologize if you point it out to them many just say it is my "right".

We are starting to pay the price of 30 years of individualism, in which a growing part of the population are increasingly selfish.

It is reflected in how people use the road etc. The shop assistant who generally lives by the code of 'the customer is always right' is prevented from arguing back and so is an easy target for such people.

I'm from the UK, I wonder how universally this perception of increasing rudeness is?

I don't think anyone even talks of manners now.

There are still plenty of nice people around, but the ones who are 'positively' polite seem to stick out for being so and that's a real shame, because it wasn't always so.

>>>Have we become so thinned skinned with not getting what we want?

Sadly, yes due to Mommy and Daddy continually telling them they're the best, brightest and most important individual in the whole wide world. Everything and everyone else is secondary to their deserved and guaranteed happiness.

OK, I'm finished.

DM

Words cannot express how angry that made me feel. Some people should take their heads out of their ar**s before they spout off, especially in front of children. I expect it made them feel all "big" (instead of looking like total jerks, which is what I'm sure everyone was thinking)

Well done heyjoe for watching out for the employee.

That is pretty sad.

I worked at a toy shop in a mall in the late '80s for a couple of years and found most ppl were a bit stressed, but OK. The thing that got to me the most were the drunk businessmen who'd be asking us to open the store up after we had closed because they hadn't bought their kids anything and wanted the hottest toy that would not stay on the shelf.

Don Manser +1 to what you said….

I don't think anyone even talks of manners now.

My wife and I took my 4 year old daughter to Peppa Pig world and after each ride she says thank you to the operator.

One operator (he was about 20 or so) said thank you and that he had not heard manners all day (the park had been open for about 4 hours at this point…)

Just goes to show how ungrateful so many people are.

Sadly, yes due to Mommy and Daddy continually telling them they're the best, brightest and most important individual in the whole wide world.

We tell our daughter that, yet at 4 she has more manners than most parents we encounter.
You can instill confidence and self worth and manners at the same time.

My first professional job was a store manager for the now defunct Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby chain. My first Christmas just happened to coincide with the releases of Transformers, Cabbage Patch Kids, He-Man, and My Little Pony, which were some of the most popular toys of all time. I was threatened, offered cash bribes, offered sex, attacked, and more by various parents all for the sake of getting their little brat the hot holiday toy. Not something I want to live through ever again!

"I'm from the UK, I wonder how universally this perception of increasing rudeness is?"

Last week was the first week in a while which contained no day in which I was pushed out of someone's way while travelling through the tube. Usually it's being pushed on or off an escalator. Sometimes it's the actual train.

I'm chalking it up to the fact I was only at work three days reducing the opportunities and for two of the days, I did the tube part of the commute with a friend[1]. He WAS pushed out of the way by someone at Victoria for being slow.

(Because he was walking at my pace)

Yes. Rudeness is getting reasonably universal.

I'm blaming a popular culture which celebrates loutishness; everyone thinks they're as important as Alan Sugar and hence entitled to act like he does when he's television[2].

[1] He scowls at the people who are trying to barge into me…

[2] Although acquaintances who work for him have informed me that he's like that the rest of the time as well.

I suppose I should say that I do not approve of the use of foul language in the presence of children, but based on what I hear in the local street from some of the parents (and children) it is unlikely that we can turn back the clock to how it was.

There is a generation of people that have no knowledge, no education, no manners, no diplomacy, no tact, are boorish, talk loudly, ignore people, and generally have a problem with socialization.

The entitlement culture…. is troubling. It seems to get worse year on year.

What benefit do the weirdos who harrass the staff get.

You'll never find as many unwashed overweight past-their-prime grumpy old men as in the wargames hobby :D
On the other hand, I've never been to a model railroad convention!

I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words… When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint.

So one little half-anecdote with few details turns into a huge tale of doom and woe about the younger generation?

What generation doesn't moan about it's children? Their job is to rebel and offend those who went before, find their own way.
Even then, most all of the kids I'm around are quite polite and act like… kids.
If you want to see only the 'entitled' ones that's your choice.

Also,
The OP came late to the altercation, no info on what might have started the bad feelings… what might have come out of the employee's mouth to start things off. It's not a given that the two men just walked into the store and started yelling for no reason. We've all heard stories or witnessed what chuckleheads some GW store employees can be. Not that they deserve to get yelled at, but not knowing what came before I'm inclined to hold back my sympathy for lack of information.
Then again, maybe the guys were just jerks.

The main concern in this article is the throwing about of bad language with children around. Just what this hobby needs…. more bad exposure…..

Don Manser – spot on…sadly.

You'll never find as many unwashed overweight past-their-prime grumpy old men as in the wargames hobby :D
On the other hand, I've never been to a model railroad convention!

We model railroaders wash.

No, we don't know what set the two men off but one thing is certain: Two men who hate Games Workshop went into a GW shop…which marks them out as weird time wasters for a start. They then decided their cause was so strong, that respect for minors was pushed to one side in order to press home their point.

It seems a case of that bizarre gamer evangelism: A game is hated so much it's not enough not to play it…you have to try and force others not to play it as well by whatever means necessary.

My club is running a popular, but divisive, game at a show next Spring. We're already preparing ourselves for dealing with haters of that game coming over to our table just to give us grief.

Everyone is entitled to complain if they don't like something and as employees in the shop front of a store they are the face of the company. Being the representatives of the company to the public it is right that complaints should be addressed to them.
However there is never any excuse for bad language in that situation. Whilst I might swear like a trooper when on my own or with close adult friends I, like most people should, have a 'filter' which means I am able to moderate my language when amongst those who wouldn't or shouldn't appreciate it!
Unfortunately there are a number of wargames forums where fairly severe profanity is accepted and any attempt to counter it is met with more abuse. Whilst we are generally a laid back and tolerant bunch perhaps we need to address others perception of our quirky hobby and bad, threatening, language on open forums or in high street shops does little to encourage new blood.

I was an Army brat in the 60s and 70s I was taught respect and to be polite unlike some of the youth today and in the last 25 years. I worked retail for a few years including in one of the local hobby shops here.I did notice a decline in polite behaviour.Upbringing is a factor.Robert

If you've been sold a shoddy product, ripped off or been subjected to bad service you're entitled to complain. However, going into a shop with the specific purpose of complaining about the company in general is…weird. What was the endgame of their rant? Were they returning a defective item? Were they complaining about poor service over a transaction? Or were they trying to convince a young man not to work for GW or instead make him feel bad for working there? If the latter then that's really, really sad.

well done heyjoe

if you don't like a store, it's products or prices then go elsewhere! you can buy lots of discounted GW stuff on eBay for heaven's sake.

I just got out of retail. The y customers could really ruin your day. Like I had control over the price of milk….

From my experiences, my relatives who are educators, and the experiences of my college-aged children, this is pretty much normal language and behavior from most teens through 30-somethings.

Actually it can be younger than that. I know several of my 3rd graders cuss like sailors when there are no adults around. It's everywhere in society now-a-days. Sign of the times.

It's just up to us educators to teach the kids that this kind of language might be acceptable at home, but it usually doesn't wash in "polite society" like in school and at the work place. You start cussing there and no one will take you seriously and it could even cost you your job.

Oh, and kudos to the OP for standing up for the GW working stiff. I have my own issues with GW's pricing, but I've never had a problem with a GW staffer. Most of them are nice guys who know a lot about the hobby and just want to help gamers, have some fun, and earn a reasonable check. Tearing into them doesn't do any good and just makes a person look like a real boor and a total rube.

I was threatened, offered cash bribes, offered sex, attacked

Man, you guys were the rock stars of the 1980's, weren't you? Especially with the Cabbage Patch Kids. That was total lunacy! You guys are heroes for living through that.

Everyone needs to move to Edinburgh, where good manners are innate.

The few "big, unfit, bearded men/boys" (and smelly, I might add) as described here that I have talked much with were not at all the children of over-indulging parents. Quite the opposite, they didn't seem to like their parents, and their parents didn't have much to do with them. And it seemed to me that as a consequence their hobbies took on an unhealthy level of importance in their lives.

When I was in retail (over 30 years worth, from junior to manager, and a customer wanted to rant about policy or prices, I would politely point out that both were beyond my control but I'd bring their concerns to the attention of head office, in the meantime the address was displayed behind the till if they wanted to take the matter further. Very rarely did we get to hear anything more about whatever troubled them. Oh, and this was before the current predeliction for using abusive language as part of the conversation. As my dad used to say, if you have to start swearing, you've already lost the argument.

Yeah love it when the 'customer' talks to staff like e but when the staff member (me) replies in same tone they go running off to my boss like a whinny girl to complain!!!!! GRRRRRR Problem is not the 'customer' but the BOSS for not supporting his staff member. And NO the customer is NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!

Sounds like shooting the Indians rather than the Chiefs.

If I'm ever tempted to do it, I always make it clear that I'm having/ing a go at the capitalist thieving producpts of unmarried parents who run the show.

Ah, yes. The difference between complaint and abuse!

When I worked in retail, if people complained I would do my best to sort the problem out for them. If people became abusive to me or my staff I threw them out. Simple!

I think the rise of bad manners is partly due to the time-deficient overcrowded nature of today's world. People get stressed and short tempered. As a friend of mine said "wherever you go and whatever you are trying to do, there is ALWAYS some arse in your way!"

I have to agree that the general standard of manners is not what it used to be

We always got compliments on how well mannered our boys were – mostly because we were on their tail all the time to make sure they used words like "please, thank you, you're welcome" rather than some bad ones

I was in the drycleaning shop a few months ago and this 40-something guy was berating the 20-something girl behind the counter – who was I am sure making minimum wage – about how his drycleaning was late. After about 10 minutes of his going on and on, I asked him – politely – if he was done and where this was going. He looked at me, full of attitude, and asked "Who the Hell are you?" I said, "someone with police dispatch on his speed-dial who knows all the dispatch sergeants by their first name – what to know more?"

He shut up and left – benefit of working closely with law enforcement

Never be rude to shop staff or wait staff. Never.

As you said, good on the young man for not rising to the bait. Very easy to loose it in those situations, especially if goes on for long.

When I worked in retail, if people complained I would do my best to sort the problem out for them. If people became abusive to me or my staff I threw them out. Simple!

This.
Done it and it made the offender so ashamed/little that he left and sent his wife back who was not rude.
I solved her issue as best I could.
Though to be fair, I did wonder if she had not sorted the problem for him, what he may do to her…

Couple of things spring to mind, how do we know these two were wargamers and not just a couple of local idiots ranting around the neighbourhood they may have walked out of the nearest bar and into the shop just to have a go at the grown ups playing with toys.
Also in my experience (on the right side of the law I hasten to add), sometimes people cause a scene so that other members of their group can shoplift to their hearts content. Distraction thefts are quite common.
Just a thought that's all, merry Xmas everyone.

I think the rot started to set in when they took all forms of corporal punishment away from teachers.
The oiks needed to have someone slap em round the back of the head and learn em some respect as a teenager.

On a slightly different note. Verbal assault which puts someone in fear of their well being is a criminal offence.
Arresting officers are much less likely to beat the snot out the oiks in the back of the police van nowadays.
Things have changed since grandads day.
I vividly recall him ranting on how standards had dropped and they used to make certain offenders run the gauntlet.

Times have changed.

We need to finally band together in this country and just kick out all the bearded fat guys. They all walk around this country as if it belongs to them. They all use foul language in public. They have a weird culture that doesn't fit with that of the general population ( I mean, GW, for cryin' out loud. My God!). They smell. They take all the jobs – everywhere I go, there's a fat bearded guy getting paid the big bucks. And every day, the media is full of stories about fat bearded guys committing crimes. It's time someone put their foot down.

Altius, are you including that fat, bearded guy whose modus operandi is breaking and entering people's houses by coming down the chimney at this time of year?