Bad experience at local retro shop
Hey guys,
I wanted to share a bad experience I recently had at a local retro shop.
I mainly go to this store to get my games resurfaced and occasional they have a deal. Most of the time the retro games are way overpriced.
I found a copy of Power Punch 2 for NES with a torn apart label with a price tag of $4.99. I tell the owner that I'd like the game and he pulls it out of the case and starts to ring me up.
He then pulls up Amazon on his computer and says it sells for $40 and he won't sell it to me for the price marked. I then asked why he won't sell it f the price marked. Then he says that another employee priced this game and he wont do it. I had a 1-2 other games I wanted to buy as well and then said forget it and walked out.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
I wanted to share a bad experience I recently had at a local retro shop.
I mainly go to this store to get my games resurfaced and occasional they have a deal. Most of the time the retro games are way overpriced.
I found a copy of Power Punch 2 for NES with a torn apart label with a price tag of $4.99. I tell the owner that I'd like the game and he pulls it out of the case and starts to ring me up.
He then pulls up Amazon on his computer and says it sells for $40 and he won't sell it to me for the price marked. I then asked why he won't sell it f the price marked. Then he says that another employee priced this game and he wont do it. I had a 1-2 other games I wanted to buy as well and then said forget it and walked out.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Comments
I would just stop giving him my business if that's how he wants to operate. Find another place to do your resurfacing.
Best thing to do is word of mouth like this to stop others from shopping there.
Worst part of this is the label damage which kills the value, and they probably barely considered than when they repriced it after you left.
Better just to leave. Try to get good finds if you can, but now you know buddy might just "check online" when you're at the cash.
There's some stores I go into just to see what the owner will tell me the price is. I've had one guy tell me the price on a SMB3 cart is $30, $45, and "Maybe $60". No price stickers so he literally just gives me a price each time I'm there.
I went in one day and bought four games (SMB3 x2, Kirby, WWF Wrestlemania) for $20 when another clerk was working. Didn't feel bad one bit. The owner isn't fair when I go in, why should I pay MORE than the lady wanted?? That'd be crazy.... so I've sort of won that battle. (He was pissed next time I went in, haha)
Better off to stop shopping there, and leave a negative review on their facebook or google page. Social media has a pretty strong effect on small business.
I believe a couple years ago, walmart.com had some glitch that mispriced tons of items and when the errors were caught the orders were cancelled. The only people who receive their items were those who did rush overnight shipping, or local in store pick up and went ASAP to get the item.
What's the name of this store btw?
Shit, I'd be on their Facebook page typing up a shitty review for all to see!
What's the name of this store btw?
GamePriceSwappers?
but a store has every right to not sell an labelled item if it was mispriced.
They don't, though. In your home state of Texas, for example, such illegal practice in covered under Chapter 13 of the TX Agricultural Code.
but a store has every right to not sell an labelled item if it was mispriced.
They don't, though. In your home state of Texas, for example, such illegal practice in covered under Chapter 13 of the TX Agricultural Code.
I'm pretty sure that's for advertised prices, aka bait-and-switch.
I'd walk away and never go back. I'd also be sure to tell everyone I know to quit giving the scammer any type of business.
This is the best course of action. I wouldn't waste your time trying to get them punished through any official means.
Also, drop the name of the store here please, so they can be ousted.
but a store has every right to not sell an labelled item if it was mispriced.
They don't, though. In your home state of Texas, for example, such illegal practice in covered under Chapter 13 of the TX Agricultural Code.
I'm pretty sure that's for advertised prices, aka bait-and-switch.
Right; in OP's instance it was priced for $4.99, and they switched the price at the register.
but a store has every right to not sell an labelled item if it was mispriced.
They don't, though. In your home state of Texas, for example, such illegal practice in covered under Chapter 13 of the TX Agricultural Code.
I'm pretty sure that's for advertised prices, aka bait-and-switch.
Right; in OP's instance it was priced for $4.99, and they switched the price at the register.
The label on the item inside the retail store isn't advertised; that refers to marketing materials, or signage outside the store.
Meaning, if the price is advertised at $40, then you find a copy labeled in the store for $4.99, they don't have to honor the $4.99. But you can't advertise $4.99, then switch it to $40 either labeled or at the check out.
Once when I was working in retail a guy came into the storeI was working at. Dropped some cash on the counter and walked out, skipping the line. It was close but wasn't enough to cover the item he walked away with so we called the police. They said " what do you want us to do? He paid".
So there is always that approach. If you slapped a $5 on the counter and walked out with the game it would still be a legit sale.
Be sure to buy a few other small bargain things to show your patronage and they won't kick you out/think you are trolling them. The owner will probably say no. But then come in a month later again and repeat until they finally cave. They'll realize the game isn't moving at the price they set it at and hopefully learn their lesson.
Hey guys,
I wanted to share a bad experience I recently had at a local retro shop.
I mainly go to this store to get my games resurfaced and occasional they have a deal. Most of the time the retro games are way overpriced.
I found a copy of Power Punch 2 for NES with a torn apart label with a price tag of $4.99. I tell the owner that I'd like the game and he pulls it out of the case and starts to ring me up.
He then pulls up Amazon on his computer and says it sells for $40 and he won't sell it to me for the price marked. I then asked why he won't sell it f the price marked. Then he says that another employee priced this game and he wont do it. I had a 1-2 other games I wanted to buy as well and then said forget it and walked out.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Stores/sellers who do this are pussies.
Technically you're not stealing, heck you may be paying a little more.
Ended up picking a boxed one up on NA for cheaper Never went back to that store.
Oh I forgot to say, he also mentioned something about not even being sure he wanted to sell the gameboy in the first place...IT WAS THE ONLY THING IN THE STORE WITH A PRICE ON IT.
I could go on all day with stories about that place, but that one was the last straw for me.
anyway, if you're ever in Scarborough, Ontario, Dont go to GameSwap. Unless its just to take a shit on their doorstep.
This happens a lot around here. I hate it. A shop is free to charge whatever they feel like charging, but if you price something "incorrectly" and it makes it into the hands of a customer, you should just take the loss. The negative publicity you can get from pulling this just is not worth it. At our shop we would never pull this. Too many shops now feel the need to try to squeeze every penny they think they can get, and at some point they need to realize that it's better to have a stock that constantly rotates from sales and trade ins than it is to have a bunch of the same things sitting in your store for months at a time until somebody finally says "fine I GUESS I'll pay this". You made a profit off of a customer who probably isn't leaving happy, who most likely won't return.
You're exactly right about how this should have been handled. Honestly, with some of the deals I've seen shops make when buying, I'm surprised that I've never heard of anyplace specifically seeding stuff like this every once in a while. Please don't take this as any sort of veiled criticism toward shop pricing, as it isn't, but when I see a local shop luck into a lot of 10-15 $20-30/ea SNES games at $1-2/ea because the customer named their lot price, they can definitely afford to "mis-mark" a game or two to $5-10 and sort them randomly into existing bulk stock to generate a little buzz due to the "wow" factor of finding such a great deal at their place. Sure, it's a bit manipulative, but so are a lot of sales, advertising gimmicks, etc., so why not this one? The shop's not actually out any money, somebody's guaranteed to leave the shop happy and with the size of the "discount," the chance of positive word of mouth/social media traffic for the shop is that much more likely. Win/win in my book.