GameStop sued by Louisiana store managers
by Ross Miller 
{ Aug 11th 2006 at 3:25PM }
Six Louisiana GameStop managers have filed a collective law suit against the company, declaring that they have been wrongfully denied overtime pay. The problem derives from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which states that those persons "employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity" do not receive overtime pay. The GameStop employees, whose suit stems from having to work up to 50-60 hours some weeks without overtime pay, claim that they have no manegerial abilities. According to those involved in the suit, GameStop employees are not allowed to:
- Determine how much to pay the store staff
- Make any decisions regarding price
- Make any decisions regarding what and how much to stock
- Decide the location of items on shelves
- Control the hiring and firing of their own employees (such a decision was made by district managers)
[Thanks, Mole]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jay @ Aug 11th 2006 3:34PM
I don't think they're claiming that they don't have "managerial abilities" ... I think they're claiming they don't have "managerial responsibilities" -- lol I'm sure some of them have the ability to be managers :P
Ryan @ Aug 11th 2006 3:35PM
I worked at a PacSun for a year a while back, and I was surprised how much my "manager" worked. I made a comment to her one time about how much overtime she must've been raking in, and she said that she didn't receive compensation for the extra time she was up there. Let's face it, these "managers" are nothing but punching bags mall install companies work to death to save their bottom line. It's a real shame that they really have no rights as laborers.
Z @ Aug 11th 2006 3:38PM
Sure, they have rights. If they don't like it, find another job where they will be respected.
D-6 @ Aug 11th 2006 3:53PM
#3: As if life is as simple as that. I asumme you're still in school and have only had a part-time/summer job.
AK @ Aug 11th 2006 3:53PM
Instead of just quitting and "finding another job", wouldn't you want to stand up and fight for what you deserve? Granted you will lose your job for suing the company, but atleast they didn't just roll over. It's better to stand up and let them know what they are doing is wrong, instead of just quitting and letting them believe they're right.
Jay @ Aug 11th 2006 3:55PM
That's a pretty ignorant statement to "just go find another job" -- people have families to support, need for health care, etc. The reason companies are getting away with treating people poorly is because the job market sucks so bad right now -- after accounting for inflation, people are making less now than they were 10 years ago ... why profits for companies are up. It's ridiculous. This country is headed for an economic disaster because we're losing what supports this country -- the middle class. Suits like this show there are problems in this country ... people shouldn't work a 60 hour week at still be at the poverty level. I take it you haven't had a mortgage or and major responsibilities in your life yet ... that or you've been spoiled by mom and dad.
Todd @ Aug 11th 2006 3:56PM
I think the courts will look at what GameStop "views" as being a manager according to the company guidelines and will determine if the title of "manager" is merely cosmetic or if these punks are just trying to scre the system. To be honest, I think a settlement will happen. Companies need to fine tune what they consider company guidelines and stick to that instead of screwing over the unexperienced shmoe. Ahem, I'm looking at you Blockbuster!
Nmaster @ Aug 11th 2006 3:56PM
GameStop is notorious for having one of the worst management hierarchies in all of business. It's one of the worst managed retailers I've ever seen. It's sad really. They don't even have computer inventory, they have to do it by hand, and the manager doesn't have the right to upgrade the systems. It's sad really.
Kenny @ Aug 11th 2006 3:57PM
GameStop, more like GameStapo
Jay @ Aug 11th 2006 3:59PM
GameStapo lmao ... that deserves a star.
D-6 @ Aug 11th 2006 4:02PM
Two things about "suing" your company for more rights.
1) It's most likely an expensive process, especially if you're hiring an attorney. I think the worker would need money for himself/herself and the family.
2) You'll most likely be known as a difficult employee and employers will shy away from you.
It's a shame many are not treated equally, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride just to make ends meet.
Jay @ Aug 11th 2006 4:08PM
Lawsuits such as this are filed where the lawyers only get paid if they win. The law protects people that bring legitimate suits from retaliation from the company.
Fear is a ridiculous reason not to stand up for yourself. If someone doesn't have the backbone to stand up to injustice, they deserve what they get ... it's quite possible they'll lose and there will be repercusions, but I think they're doing the right thing.
dvnt @ Aug 11th 2006 4:20PM
Yeah, I worked at a Suncoast during my college years. The manager was there all the time and never got OT pay since he was salaried and not paid hourly. It's like this for almost all retail management positions. Not just game stores.
Moral of the story... Retail sucks ass. Which is why I giggle at the guys who say "My job is awesome, I work at EB! I'm around games all day!" It might be cool as a temporary part-time job but definately not as a career. One more reason to stay in school kids!
db @ Aug 11th 2006 4:24PM
My uncle was part of a lawsuit very similar to this except in the insurance industry. After many years being on salary with no overtime pay and he was technically not a "manager" he received over $300k in settlement.
AK @ Aug 11th 2006 4:24PM
Yeah, but there is a difference between swallowing your pride, and not being paid for your work.
joe @ Aug 11th 2006 4:39PM
yes GameStop/EBGames is getting more and more annoying, before i had my wife go and try to get me dead rising, they told her they only had copies available for people that reserved it, (as if they didnt get 50 copies of the game) and they refused to sell her a retail copy.
But after she hung up, they called her back and conviently someone had just called to cancel their so she had to run over to get it.
so basicly if you DONT PRE_ORDER your game you can't buy it in the store for alteast a week.
what happend to the days of walking in on a games release date and purchasing it.
its like all these bullshit idea to create a article supple and demand, it probly so they can drive up the cost of the used verison of that game.
its total underhanded bullshit.
so from now on i will be getting all my zero day titles from my local computer store retailer or Best buy.
where these asshole tactics won't affect me anymore.
sue gamestop and knock them off there smug high horse.
crono141 @ Aug 11th 2006 4:47PM
The only sell preorders because its a mall store with a 50 sq ft backroom. There is no room for inventory. So they take preorders (so they know how many definite sells they have), get 3 or 4 more copies than said pre-orders, and then they don't have to worry about where their going to keep theri 25 extra games that aren't going to sell immediatly.
It still sucks, but there is good reason for it.
Ryan @ Aug 11th 2006 4:59PM
@dvnt
Yes, retail sucks. You're basically the bottom rung of the company, whether you're a worker drone or lowly "manager." Crap like this happens all the time, and I'm surprised no one has alerted the labor force.
lord madux @ Aug 11th 2006 5:01PM
As a EB employee for 2 years(2 years ago)in manhattan, the difference between gamestop and eb was incredible- gamestop has the worst inventory tracking I have ever seen. Easy pre-orders and anything else you can do in EB was a damn chore in gamestop- thier computer tracked nothing, not even credit for trading in games. My manager at an EB in manhattan told me that gamestop wanted EB because people actually liked EB(customers loved us) and they wanted to get thier hands on EB's relatvively accurate inventory system.
On the same note, the EB managers control who works in thier stores- exept, of course, for assistant managers.
Usually I held down the register all day while the managers killed themselves re-arranging the store(sometimes back to front) by themselves because short staffing. The the dick-strict manager would waltz in and say "flip the store backwards" and then waltz out. My manager wasnt no damn saint but i felt bad for them.
As it stands, the managers are the punching bags for punk ass, short, well-to-do, protected by the title "district managers"- IM TALKING ABOUT YOU "ROGER BLANKMAN" FROM THE NEW YORK AREA. YOU SUCK. YOU ARE NOTORIOUS FOR BEING A REAL C*CK.
Everyone hates your guts. What a nice place to learn that, huh?
EB rocks, dsitrict managers dont. period. i wear my EB battle scars proud!
ps- sorry to the dude who was crying on new years because we closed the door in his face- we justed to go home, dude- lol.
Judd @ Aug 11th 2006 5:22PM
I work at Gamestop and maybe I should not be saying this in case someone I work with reads this, but lucky for me I just handed in my two weeks notice :). Joe you are completely right last time I worked was Wednesday, and my manager told me not to sell any Dead Rising copies until the next day, to customers who did not reserve it. I asked him if he was fucking kidding, and he said no because apparently he told a customer to reserve it and the customer decided against it and then on the day it came out my manager would not sell it. He went on to tell me that he has the right to decide what customers he wants to serve. I told him that although that is technically true(any manager can refuse service to anybody), its still rude. He then told me that I can sell a copy of Dead Rising to a customer who didnt reserve it, only if I get another reserve from the customer. Basically thats blackmail, and luckily I didnt have any non-reserve customers looking for Dead Rising that day because I would have completely undermined my manager.
I was really pissed off at my manager for a while after that, until my district manager came in. He basically told us that everything he told us to rearange in our store the week before meant nothing, and we need to move everything around again. Then I realized its not my managers fault. Im not sure this is exclusive to Gamestop, it might be like this for tons of companies or organizations(like the army), in that the tougher you are, the tougher your superiors get. My manager told me that if I go a week( I usually only work 1-3 days a week) without a sub or reserve he is supposed to write me up, but he let it slide. When they judge your stores performance, they dont care about overall sales because thats a small profit from Gamestop. They care about Used, Trades, Reserves, Subscribtions, or "The Gamestop Circle of Life". My store can get ten times less business than the store in the nearby mall, but it doesnt if we have a higher percentage of reserves per transaction. Then our store gets ranked. He told me that if out of the 128 stores in my region, if someone a manager of a store not in the top 100 for two weeks(not in a row, but at any time) that manager is fired. This is the way the regional managers keep the district managers in line, who keep the managers in line, who keep me in line. You get fired if you arent tough on the people under you. And every one of those things that the lawsuit says managers arent allowed to do is completely true. The managers are the only employees in the store who makes a salary(I think mine makes under 30,000), so they always work 50+ hours a week since they are not paid by the hour.
My store has three "Game Advisors"(including me), two keyholders, and a manager. Recently we realized that all three of us advisors are quiting within the next month due to college, and other reason. The newest keyholder got fired from my district manager because he didnt put on his resume an arrest which was dropped. Im pretty sure you need to be convicted to be required to put that on your resume, meaning my district manager might have done something illegal. My other keyholder has another job plus goes to college, and has said that he wants to quit so he can focus on his other job which looks better on his resume than a job at Gamestop. And my manager is so pissed at my district manager because he works his ass off to be the number #1 store in the district(out of 13) and #2 in the region(out of 128), that hes considering quiting. Ever since the merger with EB Games, Gamestop has fucking sucked.
BklynKid @ Aug 11th 2006 5:47PM
I'm an assistant manager at a Regal theatre. I *insisted* on staying hourly, even if that meant not getting vacation and sick days. I'm glad I did, the other assistant managers I work with push 50 hours sometimes and get jack shit for it. I get paid for what I work, and if I go into overtime I will get paid for it. That's how I like it.
airpolgas @ Aug 11th 2006 6:37PM
This is referencing the "get another job" comments above. Although I believe that getting another job is not an easy step, I also believe that you are the only person to blame if your job sucks.
This is the reason I hate unions. If I don't like my job, I will tolerate it until I am in the position of replacing it. Once I'm gone, then I can bitch about it - not while I have it. I, however, will not let some union, or any other entity (lawyers, etc.) try to convince the company I work with, to make it better for me. You reap what you sow. If you do not believe in your skills, and you don't have the self-esteem to go out and find something that fits you, then you deserve that low-paying, headache inducing job that you have. Regarding the family comment - if you are not secure financially, you should not be even thinking of a family. If you do have one, that it's your fault for not using protection, not any other institution.
If you had an incompetent doctor, would you write the hospital and ask them to give your doctor additional training? Or would you find a competent one yourself?
I feel for the guys/gals in those kinds of jobs. I've been there (waiter, tech support, clerk). Think of these jobs as stepping stones, not a career.
n8dogg @ Aug 11th 2006 6:37PM
I am currently an associate at GameStop. I approve of this lawsuit. I approve of any and all criticism thrown at the state GameStop has been since the EB merger.
Does working 22 hours a week sound like a fulltime job to you? It sure doesn't to me, but that's about how many my managers have gotten recently. No overtime pay, and we're SERIOUSLY underworked. Not underemployeed, mind you. We have enough associates to run the store properly.... if only we got the hours!
Only two people in the store at a time to take care of organizing shelves, cleaning the store, processing shipment, taking in trades... oh yeah, and I guess serving the customers should be somewhere in there, too...
Fuck you GameStop.
n8dogg @ Aug 11th 2006 6:45PM
Ok, I just realized the idiocy of complaining about low hours, then saying there isn't any overtime pay.
But my post still stands!
obo @ Aug 11th 2006 7:00PM
"what happend to the days of walking in on a games release date and purchasing it"
My GameStop was the only place in town to have DS Lites in stock for sale to customers. Target sold all theirs to employees before customers had a chance, and Wal-Mart and Circuit City both didn't receive their shipments.
That said, tons of people got to the store before I did and bought out the stocks at all three of the GameStops/EBs/Funcolands within 15 miles of where I live. At the last one, the manager sold me their open-box demo unit that they hadn't yet set up, at a 20% discount, and _his own personal copy of New SMB_, save game and all.
I can't honestly say anything bad about GameStop managers. And yes, I live in Louisiana, I need to call that store up and ask if that manager is still around. >_
Darkness @ Aug 11th 2006 8:40PM
Welcome to the wonderful world of Babbage's/Planet X/Software Etc/Funcoland/GameStop or any other of the multiple retail names this shitstorm of a company has bought out, or gone by. This lawsuit is a 110% true, and completely justified. This was a morally corrupt organization when it was under NeoStar, it only got worse when Barnes&Nobles took over. Mandatory UNPAID overtime for managers, especially during the 'key periods' (new console releases), absolutely unrealistic sales and performance expectations, insulting pay, and multiple other ridiculous policies still abound throughout the company. You didn't have the right to view your own stock levels, order stock at any level, and at any time, some slimy fuck-twit of a district manager could come in and tell you to change everything that works for you, in your own store to what some other dipshit was doing across the country. You know what's the best part? No one really cares, they've been conducting business this way for years, and now that they have devoured the soul of EBGames, they will have even more cannon fodder to ride on till their backs break. An old Chinese curse: Paul, Andy, and the rest of the dumb-fuck team - may you all have interesting lives.
soma @ Aug 12th 2006 12:21AM
I'm a keyholder at an EB Games and I'm laughing at some of these statements people have posted. People like n8dogg who obviously can't stand the company but CONTINUES (diligently I'm sure) to be employed by them. I've heard all these same complaints at most retail chains I've worked at in the past. These are low-end jobs. You don't deserve to be treated like a king. My manager is the one who hired each and every one of his employees. We are consistently rated high in our region and are constantly patted on the back and shown love from the guys upstairs.
If you do your job and work hard, you won't be treated poorly. What gets me are people like a co-worker of mine, who never does shit during his hours and yet thinks the company is out to get him because he gets repremanded for his poor performance. Get real.
I love Joe's comments about how we're a horrible company for being short-handed new releases...as if there was a place to store dozens of extra games or like we're actually going to be magically allotted more. How about you simply put five freaking dollars down ahead of time, grab yourself the limited Dead Rising t-shirt, and waltz in and pick the game up (and pay $5 less since you had already paid it with the pre-order) on the day it is available (heck, we'll even CALL you the night before to remind your sorry ass). This is too much trouble though, I understand.
The ZeroCorpse @ Aug 12th 2006 12:35AM
Lord Madux--
I have stopped patronizing GameStop since they acquired EB and started doing things the EB way. Every EB I've ever been to had lousy inventory, lousy prices, and clueless employees who would probably be more comfortable in The Gap than a game store.
Of course, I managed a pre-Babbage's FuncoLand in the early 90s, and they were pretty screwed-up, too. But that was because they were a smaller company at the time, and the owner was kind of a jerk.
Anyway, EB Games has NEVER impressed me. Now that GameStop is adopting EB Games policies in almost every way, I DESPISE shopping there. The customer service SUCKS, and the stores are so much more conservative with their inventory that they never have anything I want. They get mad when you trade in things on a regular basis. They don't honor their return policy. They PUSH AND PUSH for people to pre-order things. They ignore customers to chat with each other. They changed the way they display items to the EB style, which is obnoxious and ugly. They removed demo kiosks, except for those put in stores by company reps. No more trying out games means no more knowing if something sucks before buying it... The main point of being in a used game store.
I won't shop at EB GameStop. They've become a rude, incompetent mess. I'd rather take my money online and patronize someone who doesn't take me for granted as a customer.
joe @ Aug 12th 2006 1:07AM
Hmmm well I agree with almost nothing you've stated, Zero. Let's see...you're being treated rudely? They're getting mad when you trade in too much? They don't honor the return policy? "They removed demo kiosks, except for those put in stores by company reps." They're an incompitent mess.
It sounds like your obvious hatred for the company stems from some of the employees who have been hired in your area. EB Games WANTS trades. The more trades the better. We're partially graded on the amount of trades that traffic the store, so naturally the MORE the better. What the hell do you mean they only have kiosks from company reps? Of course that's all they have. Why would they have other systems Are the employees supposed to provide demo kiosks for you themselves, or is the store supposed to build some sort of make-shift display? Which systems should they have for you to demo? We currently have a 360, PS2, GC, 2xDS Lites, and a PSP. So are you saying there should be an XBox out there, a system Microsoft has basically stopped releasing content for? What other systems do you want? I'm confused. Also, if they aren't "honoring the return policy" then you've clearly ran into bad workers. This isn't the case as far as EB Games goes on the whole. We have a 1-day period where you can try out any game, new or used (as long as it isn't a computer game for obvious reasons), we have a 7-day defective return policy on any used items, and a 30-day defective period on any new items.
Customers actually enjoy shopping at my store. They know they have a friend in the gaming business. Honestly. We know many of them by name and they know we're more than happy to facilitate their needs and we'll use our system flexibly to do so. They are constantly asking for our recommendations, they get the scoop on what has been selling strongly and is in demand, and they feel satisfied that we've done everything in our power to sell them the correct game for what they are looking for. I'd say being rude to a customer could only create friction resulting in a loss of reserves and sales. This isn't the goal of the company. So the stores in your area suck. Okay. I'm sure they feed off eachother and the standard is set so low that they are used to it. This isn't the case in a majority of the regions, however.
Wow @ Aug 12th 2006 2:12AM
Hooo boy. I'm staying WAY the hell out of this one.
Let's just say that a lot of this stuff is very fabricated.
Your whining is only making it harder for everyone else in the company that matters.
Matt @ Aug 12th 2006 3:18AM
I was a keyholder at an EB, until they shut us down a few weeks back. The reasoning? Gamestop thought it lovely in their infinate wisdom to keep the Funcoland and Software Ete stores open they bought out years back, then open 2 EBs and a Gamestop, all within 2 blocks.
As for performance expectations, they vary. The entire company has a set policy (which, if you should know, is 10 Game Informer Subscriptions per week, and 20 Reservations per week, per store), which is a novel idea, however this does not always work. In areas where there is an over-abundance of stores, such as mine, we should not be expected to sell to a city of 70,000 people 50 Game Informer subscriptions and 100 Reserves a week. This is not Chicago or Ney York City. Over-saturation does exist and is rampant. Performance tracking simply needs to fluctuate with a given situation: less goals for stores that are overcrowded with competition (from within the same company, for Christ sake) and increased goals for stores in large markets on their lonesome.
As for District Managers, ours was at our store for two hours of one day of the entire week (five days) of our store closing, and the only reason he stayed for two hours was to host a conference call. Spineless fuck.
As far as Managerial hours are concerned, it is in their contract when they sign up, the expected hourly work-week, and they *are* salaried, making the presence of typically 44 hour weeks (which is what most managers work, not the 50-60 "every week" as claimed in this lawsuit) not all that terrible, and 100% legal. With that being said, I've seen my manager put in 55-60 hour work weeks, but seldom, and he is used to it. Most General or Locational Managers of any kind of store, retail or otherwise, should understand that a) being a Store Manager requires dedication and many hours of work, and b) salaried is not a limitation on hours worked. It's common sense.
And yes, managers all the way from Third Key (keyholder, below assistant manager, shares job duties but not pay), Assistant Manager, and Store Manager are all treated like supervisors. It is increasingly harder for stores to do any kind of hiring (the only kind of which allowed is for part-time employees) on their lonesome, and even then, every hire (understandably) has to be signed off by the District Manager.
When our District was in EB, we were always in the black, but ever since the merger, all we see is red red red. Gamestop wastes so much money on shipping alone. EB used to send us one box with all new releases on a given day. Gamestop seperates each title to it's own box, even if there are only, say, 3 copies shipping to a store. This must cost them tons in UPS fees, the careless dicks.
Kasumi-Astra @ Aug 12th 2006 3:28AM
Retail has become as less viable place to work steadily over the last decade as online shopping has slowly eaten away at their market. Sadly, there's nothing game shops can offer over online retailers apart from the chance to try out your games and checking out the pre-owned range.
As the market has become tighter, retail has become increasinly more competitive to the point where they are working their front-line staff to breaking point to make a profit. I've seen this happen in stores everywhere, less staff working harder and harder. It's a real shame because it's the dedication and the hard work put in by your staff in the shops that make that money.
The sad thing is that if you're unwilling to do the work, you're easily replaced by another sucker who desperately wants a job working with games. I guess this goes to show how meaningless customer service, product knowledge and personality is to game shops today. The only important thing is subordination.
There's no wonder that retail is going downhill if managers continue to pursue profit margins as guages of performance. In reality, customers are looking for good customer service and product knowledge. This is something that online stores can never offer.
The only problem I can see here is with the inability to hire & fire their own staff and the compulsory overtime without pay.
As a chain of stores, having a uniform layout, range and price is very important. It allows customers to pick out what they want to buy easily because they've been to another branch before. The price uniformity means that customers are more likely to shop at their local store more often than saving their purchases up to visit a prefered store.
However, the inability to control their own staff and compulsory overtime is an insult to shop manager's inteligence. The responsibilities are becoming increasingly top heavy as area managers take more credit and get paid more. Many of the area managers I've met in my time don't deserve half the money they're paid considering the amount of credit they take for working their subordinates to unrealistic levels.
Every time I visit a retail store I'm met with increasingly stiff customer service and little enthusiasm. There's little wonder given the way they are treated when actually they are the most important people in the company. It's made even worse when you get an opportunity to talk to a genuinely interested shop assistant, who is truely passionate about introducing you to the games they love. It makes you realise how many people have the capability and the intelligence to make a difference when they're being stifled by greedy middle management. They're being exploited, and I expect there are many that don't have the opportunity to get a better job, and many that don't want another job that just want to earn a reasonable wage and be treated like human beings. You know who you are, the industry needs more people like you.
Judd @ Aug 12th 2006 3:54AM
"How about you simply put five freaking dollars down ahead of time, grab yourself the limited Dead Rising t-shirt, and waltz in and pick the game up (and pay $5 less since you had already paid it with the pre-order) on the day it is available (heck, we'll even CALL you the night before to remind your sorry ass)."-Soma
See, that's exactly the pitch I'm supposed to give customers, and Gamestop has done such a good job of forcing it onto you that you've actually been brainwashed into believing it yourself. What if someone doesn't care about the t-shirt, and isn't sure about the game. What if he doesn't have five bucks on him, or isn't even sure he'll come back in the store. Reserving should be a convenience to the customer, which can be very convenient for popular games. But it remains a choice and you can't blame the customer for choosing otherwise.
Matt, the way it is in your Gamestop/EB Games isn't the same throughout. I'm telling you my manager has done 60+ weeks, as he has been working 6 days a week since my third keyholder got fired. The other day my store opened at 10, but he got at the store at 8 a.m. to take care of a lot of things. He left the store at 9:30 p.m. Also the standards in my town are higher, even though just like you we have an over-abundance of stores since the merge.My town has about 30,000 people and a mall. The mall had a Gamestop, and two EB's, so now there are three of our stores in the mall, plus my store less than an hour away from the mall. Even still, instead of 10 subs 20 reserves, we are expected to make about 30-40 reserves 15-25 subs in my store a week. Not kidding.
Also joe, did you just go from anti-Gamestop(#16), to pro-Gamestop(#29)? I'm not saying one has to pick sides as even I like certain aspects of the store. I'm just saying you confused me, or were those two different joes?
Leto @ Aug 12th 2006 5:18AM
Judd, those are clearly two different joes. The first one caps his paragraphs at two sentences, while the second one uses long paragraphs.
soma @ Aug 12th 2006 5:55AM
Yeah Judd sorry about that. The second Joe is me, soma.
Okay, just a couple more things...
Our district (or region, not sure) asks us to get a reserve in 15% of our transactions and 6% with a sub. Lately our store has been top 10 in the region week after week with subs. Two weeks ago we were number one in the region and I was personally averaging 7 subs a day (this was large in part to the buy 2 get 1 free used promo). I've never felt like our required goals, although fairly high considering we have another 3 stores in the same vicinity, have been too high.
My manager RARELY ever goes over his required 44 hours a week. There is no need for him to. He's allowed to hire and fire as he chooses and only needs DM approval when promoting someone to assistant manager or third key. Because of this, he has built up a willing and able staff to meet those goals set and to run the store efficiently while he's away. He has hired a group of smart salespeople, not necessarily your typical hardcore gamers. Any one of us would be able to run the store by ourselves for any amount of time needed in case something came up.
Judd, I get what you're saying about the reserve thing, and you're right about not blaming the customer if he/she chooses otherwise. I'm not brainwashed into believing in reserves, I simply know many people out there would love a freebie for pre-ordering a game. Many more also take comfort in knowing they won't have to scurry back and forth between stores to make sure they get a particular game at launch. If they're in the store and they know they'll be back later to buy a game, I don't think it should be considered a bad thing to offer someone this convenience. They aren't paying extra for this service. I'm well aware of how pushy some associates can be, trust me. But if done the right way, reserves are another step in building that coveted relationship with the consumer. All these numbers, these deals and such...they're all double-edged swords. It depends how you're willing to use them.
I know I know, I sound like some lame ass PR guy for EB Games. But with the success of my store as of late, my eyes are more aware of the opportunity to succeed if you have the correct mindset.
Ciaran Gallagher @ Aug 12th 2006 1:35PM
woweeee that gamestop pictures in my city thats pure class!!!
RK @ Aug 12th 2006 1:57PM
I happen to know quite a bit about how the GameStop system here works. In our district most of this is true, except:
"Control the hiring and firing of their own employees (such a decision was made by district managers)"
The SM (store manager) has control of hiring/firing new Game Advisors/Senior Game Advisors.
Also, GameStop has a policy stating that you are not allowed to speak in a negative fashion (if not at all) about work related topics on the internet, so keep that in mind.
marty @ Aug 12th 2006 11:41PM
They shouldn't get any overtime, they should be happy with what they get paid. Gamestop and EB employees (especially managers) have less mental capabilities than my sister who is mentally retarded. She doesn't get paid shit so why should they!!!
VGM @ Aug 13th 2006 12:08AM
37. Gamestop and EB employees (especially managers) have less mental capabilities than my sister who is mentally retarded. She doesn't get paid shit so why should they!!!
EXCUSE ME?
I work for GameStop, sir, and you are calling me retarded? I'm simply a sixteeen year old looking for some cash. So, are you calling me an idiot? Huh? Tell me. Your being rather closed minded and idiotic yourself, wouldn't you say?
And at Judd #20
I can see where you're coming from! My GameStop store is desperate as well, as everyone has been quitting lately, and the manager has even went ahead and asked one customer (who apparently comes in often) if he wants to join the staff.
I was like..."You're joking, right? You really aren't desperate enough to actually ASK someone if you can hire them, are you!?"
It seems to me these next few years are going to be very interesting to see what GameStop pulls off next ;)
Dave @ Aug 13th 2006 9:00AM
I worked for the company 'back in the day' when it was Software Etc. The stores have no real control over much of anything, they receive shipments of games that are allocated to them from the central offices, they don't get to choose. A box shows up every morning, the games inside get stuck on the wall (or they did, in the golden days of trust when the actual software was put on the shelves rather than empty boxes), and that's it. We could put in a request for an individual game to be sent to us for special order, but general inventory was out of our hands. True to the claim, the managers had no real authority past setting the weekly schedules of the part-timers.
And then the store was shut down and all of us were laid off, because in their infinite wisdom the store was built into the back of a Barnes & Noble with a larger mall store right across the street.
joe(the real joe) @ Aug 13th 2006 6:45PM
"I love Joe's comments about how we're a horrible company for being short-handed new releases...as if there was a place to store dozens of extra games or like we're actually going to be magically allotted more. How about you simply put five freaking dollars down ahead of time, grab yourself the limited Dead Rising t-shirt, and waltz in and pick the game up (and pay $5 less since you had already paid it with the pre-order) on the day it is available (heck, we'll even CALL you the night before to remind your sorry ass). This is too much trouble though, I understand.
"
there are so many things wrong with this statement, ok first the most obvious.
FIRST,
the store I went to isn’t some non-name BS store, this is IN NYC, at 34th street, I would think you consider that a MAJOR retail store. I would think they would get the most allotment don’t you think?
NEXT,
-the dimension of a retail Xbox 360 can are. 5inches wide 7 inches long and .5 inches deep.
That means it occupies 17.5 cubic inches of retail space, the draws in which you keep your games are what 2 ft deep by 4ft wide and maybe 12 inches tall. That means that’s 13,824 cubic inches of space, that means you can fit roughly 790 copies of the retail box in that same space, Now consider that dead rising is the only new XBOX 360 I would think that they would send you at least 50-100 copies of the game that’s less then 1/7 of the space within that draw and you have at least 4-8 draws there. PLUS the back room.
Your bullshit excuse that there isn’t enough retail space is just that bullshit were talking about a DVD case here not a TV.
How about instead of instituting some bullshit Orwellian tactic of requiring me to give you $5 without receiving anything other then the concept of ownership, not even ownership, but the idea of “Hey well you have it later. Just give me $5 now”.
Do I have to do this a target or a walmart or even toy’r’us no I don’t, because unlike those companies you asshole decided to use some bullshit corporate model for taking advantages of consumers, because its not like that $5 of mine just sits there waiting for me to reclaim it, no instead you use it as a new stream of cash to build more store and pay your asshole corporate suits their bonuses.
And no thanks for the Free Dead Rising t-shirt that cost you pennies on the dollar and will no doubt shrink the first time I wash it I’ll pass on that.
“(heck, we'll even CALL you the night before to remind your sorry ass).”
If you ever talk to someone like that IN your store you think they would buy anything from you. Let alone you continue to work their. Maybe that’s were you should start instead of think your customers owe you something why don’t you try working for your retail income.
Judd is right Gamestop brainwashes their employees to even think that that shit is ok.
In the end it won’t matter digital distribution in the long run will kill companies like this and then all these asshole can go do this shit to people at the GAP.
Hey were getting in a new pair of exciting GAP Mens jeans they should be in on Tuesday, if you put $5 down I can guarantee you get a pair,
See how stupid that sounds, well maybe you don’t but again your brainwashed so good luck with that.
The fact that they even have rules about bad mouthing the company on the internet means that they KNOW about how all this shit IS under handed bullshit.
Wait what’s that smell, oh it’s the gamestop stock taking a shit…
Judd @ Aug 13th 2006 9:21PM
"The mall had a Gamestop, and two EB's, so now there are three of our stores in the mall, plus my store less than an hour away from the mall."
My bad, did I say hour? I meant mile. Yes, I could walk from one of our stores to three others. And to play devils advocate against myself there are sometimes when reserving could be good. I know that I want to get Twilight Princess when it comes out (and joe we might not get enough not because of space, but just because they haven't shipped enough), and I'd like to make sure I get it when it comes in.
But in the end, like all retail jobs, "the customer is always right" mentality is a hypocrisy, because that is the person instead of helping out we end up fucking over.
Tiffany @ Aug 16th 2006 3:15PM
Well, I've read a lot of back and forth arguments but I think what it comes down too, simply put, is that nothing's perfect. Is there any national or global corporation that hasn't had employee labor/policy issues? Hell, in today's sue happy world I bet the majority have had their share of law suits and legal battles. Honestly, if you don't like Gamestop, stay away from it, don't shop there, it's that simple. If employees (and I was one for two years) aren't happy, find another job. I did. And I know for a fact that you do not work 7 days a week, so that leaves at least one full day to go job hunting.
Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't stand up for what you think is right just because it's part of life, but come on, it's freakin Gamestop! There are (in my opinion) more important things to devote your time to.
Lastly, Gametop/EB's lack of customer service and employee benefits will hurt no one but them. Customers will start shopping elsewhere and employees will hold no loyalty or cares for the company and will quit. Gamestop will suffer, and the rest of us can shop at Best Buy.
Arkady_som @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:48AM
As a former employee at EB Games, I must say that between EB and Gamestop... I definately prefered EB. From what I've seen, at least EB made the effort to care about their employees. Once Gamestop took over, suddenly hours were being dropped off of "game advisors" and were magically given to the Manager. Why? Because he can work those hours and not get paid extra. It also make it so regular employee's cannot get any sort of medical/dental plans. But why worry about that when you have this revolving door of kids who wanna work in a game store because it's cool? That's the best part you know. They get these young kids in who know only what little they know about games and they pay them based on a grid. Cheap labor. Who cares if they screw up and they get fired? There's about 20 more little Johnny's just looking to work where games are involved.
There's so much more to it then that. Much more. That was only the tip of the iceburg. I didn't go into their "book cooking" practices to make it look like their numbers are high. I didn't go into their 360 reserves... to be put on hold for months because Gamestop wanted more reserves, regardless of whether they could fill them or not. I didn't go into how they sucker people into putting $5 on games, only to sell that reserved game right out from under them because the higher ups told them to. Hell, I didn't even go into their %125 profit they get from used games.
There is truth behind their underhanded ways. It was enough for us at PushB to make anti-Gamestop shirts. If anyone is interested, you're more then welcome to take a look. Go to our website at www.pushb.com and click on the bottom link where it says "Why Should the Gamestop when you can PushB?"
Don't buy from Gamestop... support your local mom and pop stores if at all possible.
Hippolyta @ Aug 31st 2006 1:06PM
My Husband is the assistant manager for Eb/Gamestop. One thing you have to understand is that the manager get slack for some of the stuff that goes on in the store, but his manager is a corporate kiss-a-s. So my hasband does all the manager work while the manger leaves early or has extended lunches. True the gamestop higher ups are taking charge of the company by taking away EB employee perks and only ordering what is reserved and not worring about the customers that don't know about reserves, but they said that the only incentive you have to do work is to keep your job. Not that that really matters because they are systmatically firing all the eb workers and replacing them with gamestop workers of their choosing, without warning mind you. In the area I live in there are 6 Gamestops 3 used to be eb Game and 2 people from eb still work in the companies, my husband included and the wanted to fire him because he makes more from his EB pay than any of the Game stop assist. They also have no customer service skills. managers in the district. The managers steal from the store and cover it up, badly, and try to blame the eb employees by saying "They hate Gamestop corporate" which is true, but we don't need to steal. It's just such a mixed a up company full of lies and garbage. My husband got offered another job and he is just waiting for the right time to leave.
Flea @ Sep 25th 2006 8:21AM
Gamestop sucks. I was a Store Manager there for 4yrs. I did all kinds of things for them because I was trying to get promoted. I set up and opened 14 stores for them. I was a good manager treated everyone fairly, followed all the rules and had a good time for a while. My store was constantly at the top of the companies rankings. Because of my higher then most salary I got termanated for something stupid that really even was not my faught right before the merger. House cleaning I quess. They use and abuse their managers and have shady policies. The recent firing of EB managers has happened before when Gamestop bought Funcoland. It is a technique used by them to reduce salaries. EB stores tipically payed more then Gamestop. My only regret is staying there as long as I did. Really guys, Retail sucks and it is not a career.
Cat @ Dec 30th 2006 2:50AM
I probably won't be stopping back here but, whoever said they were in the "gaming industry" needs to come to terms with the reality that they are in the "retail industry."
There is a huge difference between the two. A GameStop/EB Games employee has very little to do with the video game industry.
It's comparable to an employee at Bloomingdales saying they're in the fashion industry. You are selling, not creating and/or refining a product.