Uesugi Kenshin | 16 Dec 2021 12:46 p.m. PST |
Should Veterans who can prove their status be entitled to a year round discounts from miniature chain stores or is this too taxing on an industry that already has enough trouble making ends meat? |
McWong73 | 16 Dec 2021 1:00 p.m. PST |
The only chain store is GW afaik? |
Saber6 | 16 Dec 2021 1:05 p.m. PST |
I'll take any discount offered. I also don't push if it is 'forgotten' (Like at Great Clips) |
machinehead | 16 Dec 2021 1:54 p.m. PST |
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Stryderg | 16 Dec 2021 1:59 p.m. PST |
No one should be "entitled" to squat. (No, not THE Squats, squat as in "nothing".) Now, if a vendor wished to offer such a discount, they are free to do so. But each vendor needs to weigh the risk/reward ratio for themselves. That's part of operating a business. |
d88mm1940 | 16 Dec 2021 2:36 p.m. PST |
This question leads me to another: What percentage of wargamers are veterans? |
Bob Hume | 16 Dec 2021 2:46 p.m. PST |
I would suspect a lot. Of the 10 or so guys and 1 girl that I play with only one guy and the girl are not veterans. |
Stryderg | 16 Dec 2021 3:22 p.m. PST |
From the few conventions I've been to, I would say it's a lot, too. Yes, that's very anecdotal. |
Joes Shop | 16 Dec 2021 3:45 p.m. PST |
Retired in 2000 (28 year veteran). Personally, this is a hobby and I dont look for discounts. If one is offered I'll take it. |
Uesugi Kenshin | 16 Dec 2021 4:27 p.m. PST |
I'm not a Vet but my father was. I ertainly wouldn't have any problems with businesses making it a practice. If I owned a Hobby Business I would absolutely give a discount to Vets. I've read numerous accounts of how wargaming has helped Vets transition from military to civilian lifestyles. I'd do anything I could to help them out and show my appreciation. Certainly your bigger businesses like Games Workshop have few excuses not to. They could certainly use the good Press these days. Cheers. |
robert piepenbrink | 16 Dec 2021 7:34 p.m. PST |
Nah. Yes, of course I'd take it if offered, and yes, I have my VA ID. But margins are too thin, and we are too many. (Think briefly of Slaughterhouse in Killeen, TX, smack on top Fort Hood. But it wouldn't have been that different in Eagle & Empire, just down the road from Fort Belvoir.) A bottle of cammo paint on Veterans Day would be a sufficient token. |
Dye4minis | 16 Dec 2021 9:21 p.m. PST |
I am a retired USAF (20 Years) and retired US Army Civil Servant (11 years) and 4 years contractor to the State Dept. I did not do those years for a hobby discount. When Bill and I had Attactix, we gave a 10% discount. It's nice to be recognized for doing something good for our country, but not at the expense of risking another hobby related outlet. If the economy was better then it would be cheap advertising. These days, I'd rather see the shops make it so I can have a place to look forward to visiting. Am I alone in this? |
The Last Conformist | 17 Dec 2021 3:07 a.m. PST |
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HMS Exeter | 17 Dec 2021 3:40 a.m. PST |
I can't find the story thru Google, so it may be apocryphal, but I remember hearing a story on some media, that went something like this. One morning, in a US high school, the class shuffles in like always, but the teacher tells them not to sit down, but rather stand up against the walls and windows instead. The teacher says that any student can sit down if they can say why they have the right to a seat. Students suggest the obvious answers,…I'm a citizen,…my parents pay taxes,…the county insists I come here, but the teacher rejects their answers. After a little while, the teacher goes to the door and ushers in about a half dozen adults. The teacher asks them to identify themselves. One by one they say their name, their service branch and dates in. In the case of combat veterans, where they deployed. In a few cases wounds received. The teacher explains that the students have the right to those seats because these adults, these veterans, and many more like them, and some others who surrendered their lives, bought them that right, We might want to reflect on the difference between "entitled" and "earned." If some or another vendor decides to offer a veteran or active service discount I know that, at the end of the day, the price I pay is incrementally higher. So be it. I didn't mean to go all Lee Greenwood, but the story seemed kinda pertinent to the op topic. |
Stryderg | 17 Dec 2021 6:51 a.m. PST |
That's a great story, true or not. |
Tortorella | 17 Dec 2021 7:08 a.m. PST |
It should be up to each business. It is a well deserved gesture of gratitude and respect, but in our hobby, I have the impression that making a living on supplying our goodies is a challenge for many. |
etotheipi | 17 Dec 2021 8:00 a.m. PST |
With Strydberg. Most veterans I know wouldn't say they are entitled to anything. Every one of them I know earned the benefits they get. |
Oddball | 17 Dec 2021 8:23 a.m. PST |
HMS Exeter, Nice story, but I don't believe it. Not with the current crop of "educators" we have in the US public school system today. Vets and discounts? I don't have a problem with a private business giving a discount or with vets getting a boost for public employment (ie: Post Office). My former employer gave a 2% increase to veterans on entry exams. LOTS of veterans in my class (1st Gulf War type) and subsequently hired after me. My complaint is that once the vet was hired, they continued to get the 2% increase within the organization for all exams. I could not understand why a guy who did a 4 year stint, was out working side by side with me for 10 years doing the same job, gets a 2% kick on his Sgt/Lt exam. How does his/her former service from a decade ago make that person more qualified than me who has been doing the same job with them for 10 years for the next rank up? Am I not a veteran at this service now? 2% on an exam might not seem as much, but remember that we are talking about ranking that are based upon 10s or 100s of a percent point. An extra 2% is huge and you see very unqualified people promoted based upon that and other factors that do not relate to their skills. |
Raynman | 17 Dec 2021 9:13 a.m. PST |
Retired 2014, Army, 34 years of duty. Met and worked some great folks. If a discount is offered, I'd take it, but I don't expect discounts just because I'm a vet. |
HMS Exeter | 17 Dec 2021 9:41 a.m. PST |
@Tortorella You've probably heard the one about how easy it is to make a small fortune doing business in miniatures gaming. You just need to start out with a large fortune. |
Frederick | 17 Dec 2021 10:15 a.m. PST |
I would say yes Again an anecdote, but when I visit a gun range on vacation in Florida and show my badge I get a law enforcement discount – seems to me veterans are entitled to the same |
Buck215 | 18 Dec 2021 3:34 p.m. PST |
If offered, I would take the discount. Demand or expect it? No. Many years ago, while recovering at home after a 4-week hospital stay at the V.A. Hospital which resulted in the removal of most of my intestines and rectum (yes, I am gutless and have no opinion like everyone else has) i was wearing an ostomy bag and still sporting bandages and stitches from my abdominal surgery. I went into a new game store to check out the Britannia merchandise when the store clerk approached me and told me to pull up my shirt. When I asked why, he said kids were stealing from him and the bulge on the front of my abdomen looked like a pack of miniatures. I pulled up my shirt, showed him my bandages, ostomy bag and stitches, told him I just had surgery at the V.A. Hospital. His face turned white, he apologized, I loudly told him to go Eff himself and walked out the store. Months later, after I calmed down, I went back to the store (maybe the clerk was gone by now, but he wasn't.) and purchased some Britannia packs. He gave me a 5 percent discount, telling me I qualified for some miniatures organization discount. After that, each time I went back there, I got a 5 percent discount. Didn't even have to show my Veteran ID card or V.A. Hospital card, either. It was still insulting and embarrassing that he equated me, a disabled veteran with a good-paying job and ten-thousand dollar credit card as some punk kid stealing from him. I think it was he who was more embarrassed. |