I’ve worked retail and I get exactly what you’re talking about. Never worked GameStop but it’s like all retail is similar. Dated a woman who worked a clothing store and exactly the same too. No wonder so many stores are failing.
Thanks for the video Jay. It was like that as a retail tech. They wanted us to upsell if possible when talking to customers. And if I get excited about tech I will go into a deep dive, I was so close to closing a sale worth a lot of money, it was a medium sized local business who wanted several desktops and laptops as well as tablets. My manager came over and dragged me away, and when I tried to explain what was going on he said he wanted me to stay in the tech room for an hour. I had nothing to do in there as all the systems were doing their things and I just sat there thinking that he just cost us an order worth probably 15+ grand.
Thank you so much for sharing Jay. That last bit hit me hard as I can totally relate. My last day at Game Stop while I walked out the door I just saw business carry on as usual like I didn't matter. I was very greatful to have WillyLo's support in my final days there but I definitely felt the "I'm not being heard" feeling from the company.
never worked for gamestop and i only had 1 retail job but i can releate. I worked most my life in Manufacturing plants and it's pretty much always like this. I couldn't imagine working anywhere for 18 years unless it's my own company or really good pay. I've never worked anywhere for more then a few years because it's always easier to negotiate a new wage then get a raise. I've worked at companies that has new employees making more then people who had been there 10 + years
20 years, wow. Back in the day it was common to see the same management for a few years, but over the last fast years I rarely see the same person twice.
Dude.. Everything you said brought back so many feelings.. Best decision we ever made.. It was hard to leave our "family" we had in our group of stores.. We made some of my best memories of my life.. I can only imagine what it was like your last few years.. Especially during the pandemic.. Sorry to hear you went through all that.. On to bigger and better dreams buddy!
You left long before we did. You were smart Marc. But I'm glad the rest of the family left as well. I made many great lifelong friends including yourself mate. And yes, I'm finally doing what I want for a living :)
Such a great video! This speaks to anyone across any industry that is is expected to deliver results while not being giving the tools or support to achieve these goals, To add to that the undermining and continuous threats is gross mismanagement. Sadly the people who actually care and want to succeed are the ones most often subjected to these environments. By sharing this experience someone will be empowered to make a change, thanks Jay !!
I worked at GameStop from 2003-2006. I worked with a team of folks who all became managers and our manager became a district manager. I ended up joining the Navy instead. I’m on my 19th year now 🤣
The reason I stopped shopping at GameStop was entirely 100% because of how they historically treated all their employees. Would rather shop elsewhere and let them fade away into oblivion.
Wow Jay I that was really interesting to watch. I also worked at GameStop for several years and my experience was very much the same as yours. Loved my fellow store employees and most of my customers but most of the upper management were full of bologna. My last year there was pretty miserable as I pretty much worked alone every day until the closing shift would come in. I have worked for several retailers throughout the years and none of them were as bad to me as Game Stop was. I could go on and on but I’ll just say everything you said was spot on and I’m glad you are past it. I’ve never regretted leaving them. Cheers man!!!
Yep work alone cause there are no hours. And have to do 10,000 things at once PLUS serve customers. Anxiety just thinking about that again. Thank you for sharing
Man I feel this. I worked at GameStop in high school and into my 20s. I was hired originally, like you, the busiest store in our district and moved my way up the ladder. It was the same for me, a shift needed filled at another store? Send him, he'll do it. I eventually got moved from that store, which was a fast paced environment, great numbers, etc., to the slowest, lowest store in the district. I was constantly getting hassled about why my numbers were low, why we didn't do this, why we couldn't do that, and I always told them, "it's impossible to get numbers when I'm only seeing 1-2 customers a day." That didn't matter. As time went on at this store, I noticed more and more toxic traits, and terminated because the loss prevention guy said he "saw me on video throwing a defective game away, then taking out the trash hours later." But, the real reason I was terminated was because I called the "anonymous helpline" to report some behaviors my manager was doing. Like reprimanding staff in front of customers, reprimanding keyholders and other managers in front of staff, etc. They didn't like that. But regardless, he was trying to insinuate that I stole the game. I looked at him and told him to show me the proof, and he fought back, kept trying to change the subject, etc. I told him before finally accepting my termination that "How am I supposed to get all my tasks done around the store, like taking trash out, cleaning up, etc. when I am the ONLY one in this store for 12 hours?" Took the termination, got on unemployment and went to college and haven't looked back since.
That sounds like a nightmare and I'm glad you are no longer there! You did the right thing by going to college and moving on. Thank for sharing your story!
This is going on everywhere, I left my retail job during Covid as well. The mighty dollar seemed more important than my health. I am glad I left, scary at first but so far I have managed.
Thanks for sharing Absorbvids. It was scary yes, but the best thing I ever did. Now I get to do this for a living. I hope you're doing well and thank you again for watching
Thanks for sharing with us! I bet during time there you have touched peoples’ hearts and have made a positive impact on people (both customer and coworker) more than you realize!
Huge difference working for a mom & pop gaming store than corporate overlords! I worked at Mat-Lynn’s in the 90’s for awhile before someone drove a van through the front window robbing them blind. They closed their doors sadly. I also did call centres inbound/outbound for 12yrs where i learned what “setup to fail” was all about.
I agree with you for sure. Gamestop started as EB Games and it was different for sure, it was actually fun and exciting to work there. Sadly they stopped caring about it's employees awhile ago. Thanks for watching!
I completely understand - I was a manager at a call center that closed and one of my coworkers husband was a district manager for gamestop and he hired me as a store manager. This was during the peak of pushing those damn subscriptions, warranties and pre orders and he knew how good I was at sales because his wife spoke so highly of me, so I didn’t go through the years of working my way up the ladder. My store was a slower store, but as soon as I took over we kicked ass and I was always one of the top managers with the pre orders etc…. But to make a long story short, the stress, terrible pay, the lack of hours and being there all alone, early morning inventories, the higher ups always on you even when you are doing good etc.. it wasn’t worth it and I lasted a little over a year.
Wow so you were a top tier manager hitting your goals and you STILL felt stress all the time. This is what I mean...you can't win. Ya the pay is terrible and they know it. They also know most of us will just suck it up because we are surrounded by games all day, which is true and sad. Yes I was also there alone for alot of the day when I opened. Most times till 2pm. Thanks for sharing your story mate
now we know and knowing is half the battle GI JAY !! reminds me of me and my front end manager job at WALMART uhh 😬 was that Job brutal!! thanks for sharing 🦇✌️ Batstan
My condolences. I like you LOVE GAMES. I too want to make this industry great. But damn, the decline of Game Stop is crazy. WHAT WAS MANAGEMENT THINKING!?!?!?! Forcing the employees to push “subscriptions, warranties, etc” killed the costumer experience! I truly believe “geek stores” could work if they tried to make the customer feel good and safe instead of walking money bags!
They want money. And I get that to a point. The way they were getting money needed to change and stopped making sense. Protection on Switch games never made sense to me. Thanks for watching!
Sorry to hear about that bro and the way you were treated you seem like a person who really cared about the job and the customers and also have a passion for video games. I’m really sorry
I worked at Panera Bread for one year and Starbucks for 5 months, you want to talk about how much stress I had, it was insane the metrics that are pushed, it's super difficult. Kudos to you staying there for 20 years. Wishing you a ton of success moving forward.
Thank you for sharing your experience Jay. Working for EB Games was a similar roller coaster of emotion for myself where it was also a dream of mine to work for what seemed to be such an illustrious company. Yet the true colours were eventually shown to be just another soul sucking retail environment disguised as something better than it really was. The toll that takes on one's mental health is staggering, and to think that I only endured about one tenth of the total time with the company that you had put in! Not to mention the terrible working conditions you endured from the pandemic era. I will always appreciate many fond memories with the EB family all in it together, which is probably the greatest takeaway one could possibly have from working anywhere retail. I'm glad you were able to shed light on and move forward from this past. Onward to better times!
Great video. I’ve worked retail before, not a game store specifically, but many of these points sound very familiar. I hope things are better for you now though!
THings are much better. It's been a few years since I've been there and took alot to leave, but I finally did. Hope your doing well man and thank you for watching
@@JayBartlett1975 indeed! And thank you for all of your amazing content! Especially this one right here! It was personal for you, and me! And I respect the genuine and open honesty. I needed to hear this! Much respect.
Boy do I have a story for you Jay. In 2005-06 I was the A.M. of EB Games at the Eaton Centre in Toronto. I met and served celebs like Robin Williams, I was the #1 seller of edge cards in the district. We had an acting manager steal money out of the till. The inventory was screwed up and they thought we were all stealing games but I didn't steal even a pen from that place. We were all fired except the manager who actually stole. I got severance since they had no proof I did anything wrong. I like shopping at Gamestop now but I boycotted the business for several years. NO BATHROOM BREAKS IS ILLEGAL We always had 2 staff members at all times at my store. Good boss = good job.
Well my friend I know and feel what you're talking about. And I'm very sorry you had to go through that for such a long time. I have been in grocery retail for 28 years. Much like you I showed the initiative and moved up the ladders. The discount grocery chain I was with for 17 years was much like GameStop and still is today. And like you it took a huge toll on my mental health and my physical ability to continue to go to work every day. I spoke my mind and corporate didn't like that. I knew they wanted me gone and I wanted out so I quit. Nowhere to go, just quit. I couldn't take it anymore. It was 2017 when I quit. I tried something else for work but it wasn't helping my mental health because I felt like I was a failure and I didn't know anything other than life in a grocery store. I am back working in a grocery store but this time for one of the major grocery retailers and it's much better. I am very thankful for the opportunity that came my way and I definitely don't take it for granted. It really turned my life around. I definitely don't regret leaving the other company, it was one of the best decisions I made but it has taken some time to get back to where I am now. Thank you for sharing your experience with GameStop as horrible as it was for you. I'd love to sit down and talk about it with you further over a couple pots of coffee, but that's for another day. I'm very happy to see you doing what you love on RUclips and you're doing an amazing job!
I remember you sharing this with me when we first met. I too am glad for you mate that you had the courage to move on as well and now you're in a better place. I know I am and finally doing what I want for a living
I was one of the 20 lan admins for all of Barnes & Noble in the early 2000s, do to that there was a binder at gamestop, and it gave me a 15% discount storewide by just putting my name in the binder and my badge info, most dont know at one time Barnes & Noble owned gamestop! I really miss that.
Wow. I don’t know how I missed this video until now. I remember my breaking point vividly to this day, and I was only there for 2 years, while I’ve been gone for 15 years. You deserve a lot of credit for sticking around for as long as you did. On the bright side, at least you met a great group of friends through EB/GS. Ones that has been and will continue to support all your projects. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store in the future. Cheers!
I thought you were there for more than 2 years? Guess not. Yes some of my very best friends are from EB Games, so for that I'm blessed. It wasn't all bad. The last five years there were the worst. Thanks for watching mate
As a former employee of EB games, this video hit hard Jay. I worked at EB games for a few years as an assistant manager in my early 20s, as I was studying at Uni. I started off at the company part time, but was offered a full time role which is the reason why I dropped out of University as the increasing workload was hurting my studies. I thought I could take a break from study and build a career at the company as it was like you said Jay, a dream job. I very quickly learned about the forced unpaid overtime, setting up all the merchandise and sales displays countless times over the year. I still remember working an 8 hour shift, to then work another 5-6 hours (7am start, didnt knock off until 11-12pm) to setup the June sales display. All of the OT was unpaid as It was expected as part of the role. You would then start at 7am the following day absolutely exhausted. The midnight launches for new consoles and games, another unpaid overtime schedule that was also expected. Dont even get me started on stocktake counts..... (of course it was unpaid!) The regional managers would come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you didnt make targets, extended warranties or couldn't stay back to do stocktake counts. The business was very good at reminding you that it was a privilege to work at the company. I was so glad to leave and never come back. I choose not to shop at the stores now and will buy my games elsewhere. Thank you for sharing this Jay. You are not alone in your experience working for this organisation.
Wow thank you for sharing your experiences with me as well. It's not always easy to talk about is it? A privilege to work for the company. Man I heard that so many times. THank you for watching my friend and I know we are both in better places now
I feel you man! I worked at GameStop for 15 years. Put it the time, went above and beyond for my district, worked hard and still got shit on by the company after covid. It’s been 4 years since I left and Ive never been happier at my new job, making more money too. Hope you find peace mind
I feel for you dude. That is incredibly tough dealing with that level of negativity day in and day out. Especially tough when you work your butt off in a job that was your dream and you just get beat down day after day. I’m glad you were able to get out of there and find peace.
im in retail myself. im so glad my company goes above and beyond to support us. im sorry you went through the traumatic experience at gamestop. i worked there for 2 days before i saw the scam it was.
I believe that not all retial is bad, and it sounds like I'm right. I do believe it's a copmanies choice the way they treat their employees. Thank you for commenting and watching
I worked at GameStop for over 6 years. Left in 2019. Everything you described matches my experience with the company. Seemed like the longer I worked there, the more they wanted me to leave as to not have to give me raises. They became way too pushy when it came to making us sell the warranties, pre-orders, and cards. I even saw them resort to falsely accusing coworkers of theft just to have an excuse to fire them even though they were innocent. Most evil company I’ve ever worked for. So glad to be free of them.
Thanks for sharing your story and glad you are out of there as well! The longer you are there the more they want you gone is the perfect way to describe it. And that is a scary thought. Thank you for watching
Your story hit home for me BIG TIME! I was a store manager at GameStop from 2007 to 2010. The first 6 months was awesome! I loved my job. But then, everything you said started piling up. The unobtainable goals to hit, them cutting my hours every week. I was getting yelled at and threatened by upper management daily! It was impossible. I was also working 50 to 60 hours a week on salary not hourly, pretty much working by my self every shift. That job literally cause me health problems that I will have the rest of my life because of all of the stress. I hate to even say this, but I was at the point where I would fantasies about just vering off the road on the way to work so that I would get into a car accident and not have to go to work for that day. It was awful. I ended up just giving up, working my 45 hours I was actually getting paid for, and then going home for the day regardless of the condition of store. I just couldn't win ever. That didn't last long. They fired me at the beginning of December 2010. At the timeI had a 2 year old and a 10 month old abd a stay at home wife. What a great Christmas we had that year. GameStop doesn't care about their employees on a store level at all. We were just cannon fodder to them. Glad you are out!
And they know you won't leave because you love games. They hold that over you I noticed as well. I was starting to think there was something wrong with me after awhile. " This is my dream job right? I mean I'm surrounded by video games..."And you are also right in saying you can't win. you can't. It's the DM and Area managers job to pick thing apart so even IF you are hitting all the goals, they will find something. I wasn't even allowed to hire my own staff. Thank you for taking the time to write and watch the video
Awesome video Jay..Yeah, my experience working in Retail from 16 to 35 was soul destroying. It seemed to be the same throughout the various companies i worked for. And as you said, it was rarely the customers that were the problem, it seems to be some preset for upper management in retail to be souless, clueless and totally problematic. No matter what uniform I wore it was the same experience. Eventually I had to get out. Sometimes I think it's because a retail job is were 95% of us start, and companies know this, so they treat you like drones. Anyways, thanks for sharing your experience mate. All the best.
I appreiciate you sharing with me here and watching. Seems many of us have been treated like this, and you worked retial for a long time as well. On to better things mate
I wish some other youtubers would watch this, the ones that support this company. I used to work for an electronics store and I can fully relate. These companies aren't loyal. Thank you for sharing your story.
You're welcome. Well alot of people I know still have great working careers at Gamestop. This is just my experiece. I've heard it's alot of retail is like this. Thank you so much for watching!
There's still one Microplay that I know of in Ontario. I loved renting from Microplay, you could exchange rentals for a dollar. The edge card and warranty are why I went digital
God 20 years in retail... my worst nightmare. I worked in retail (for Software Etc., was also a "key holder") back in the day when I was in high school, but doing it for a career?! Lord God almighty.
I applaud you for loving what you do/did, and it sucks that corporate didn't see it that way. This is an example of people with higher positions running a business they don't know anything about, or care about, and they treat it as a money cow only. I had a similar story where the person i worked for didn't know squat about games, but she owned the store. Just terrible to be around that, so i decided to leave and open my own. I love what I do. I live for this. Sad where we currently are, though.
Wow you have your own game store now? That's great! Ya our higher ups knew nothing about gaming or the industry. Which is why Gamestop was still selling scratch protection on Switch games. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Very similar to my Best Buy experience. Had a manager tell me i didnt know enough about computers to work Geek Squad....jokes on him i am now a professional data scientist (have been for 10 years). Good/bad management makes all the difference in any retail job.
Sounds like they didn't want yhou to get ahead of them. I've been there also. Those kind of people try and hold you back out of fear that you will surpass them which sounds like you did! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment
Great video !! I have seen many similar stories about Gamestop, I have worked retail myself, I got away from it just before the pandemic, and I am damn glad I did. I stopped shopping at Gamestop circa 2013. Why? I got sick of all the upsales, asking if I wanted to preorder games, subscription sales, do I need PSN/XBL cards, do I need batteries, do I want insurance on the games and all of that crap. All that just got so super annoying. Turning what should be a minute or less transaction into a 2 or 3 minute ordeal. Its not just gamestop that was doing it, it was almost everywere you went back in the 2013 timeframe. But one day I went in a Gamestop, and I got what I wanted, and when I got to the register, the employee would not back off trying to get me to pre-order some upcoming game I had zero interest in. Finally I went look, I am not interested in that game. I dont play that type of game. Ring me up and Ill be on my way. I felt bad for being harsh with the guy, as I knew he was being forced into getting some numbers, sales for the store, but if someone says no, just move the transaction along. A lot of stores seemed to have calmed alot of that crap down greatly, due to people complaining about it. I cant speak for gamestop, I literally havent been in one since my story above. I feel like the pandemic may have played a part in killing some of that crap too.
The aggressive upselling is a big thing I didn't like about the jobb, but I did it because it was my jobb. The problem is when you don't hit the goals you go on conference calls in front of the district and need to tell everyone how you are going to "do better" without given any direction of training from the higher ups. You learn from the few store that can hit the goals here and there. And yes the pandemic was the final straw. We were not treated very well. Customers being allllowed to come into the doorway during a pandemic was insae to me, but it's what happened. I couldn't do it anymore and I left. The longer you work at Gamestop the less valuble you are and the morre they want you gone. I've seen that so many times during my time there. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
Props and my heart goes out to you for putting up with that stuff man. Loved GameStop growing up, I think we all did. So the fact that you lived the dream. Kudos. Hope you’re doing way better now! Thanks for your service ! Question! What do you do now? Your video came up on my feed so good to know your channel doing well!
I can’t remember if I commented on this video or not already - but yay, engagements! - on a repeat viewing, that part about your boss not even coming to see you or anything hits me harder today than before. It sure sucks when you devote decades to any organization and they can’t be bothered with the simplest of kindnesses when your time’s up.
Great video, Jay about your experience with EB Games into Game Stop. Sorry to hear some of the misery you endured there. The salesman pressure to keep up-selling is a horrible thing when it's required or you're fired or demoted. Customers don't always like it either. 20 years of your efforts and management talent and they still didn't care. That's awful. Great to hear you're out of that business to something better. I worked in retail at stores for years, many years ago, and it was bad because there is constant pressure from the bosses to keep selling extras to the customers and if you don't, something is wrong with you according to them. "Why are your numbers down this week? What's wrong? Why aren't you up-selling each time? You're not meeting the minimum requirements and failing to achieve." I would say I need more help on the floor. "Too many customers and I'm only one guy." They kept adding more work for you to do and accomplish, more quotas to meet, but no raises to match being stretched thin. Treated as a disposable employee. Not fun if the bosses and rules are very strict and oppressive. Nice to have a better job that's a lot more fair and less pressure. Thanks!
I briefly worked retail after high school way back in 1998 - 99. It nearly wrecked my mental health. Thankfully, I jumped to private security shortly thereafter and these last 24 working years have been bliss. Not perfect but light years ahead of retail, food service, and hospitality.
Thanks for sharing, Jay. Unfortunately, retail in the shoe department isn't any better. I worked for Skechers as an assistant manager and I was only able to last one year. This was my second job and I was 20 years old at the time. At our store we had one store manager and another assistant manager and both of them were full time with benefits. I'm sure you wont be surprised to hear that I did all of the work. I received every shipment weekly, performed every corporate mandated store inspections that we had to submit weekly, made sure the right money went to Garda, and I was part time with no benefits. Punishing employees meant nothing. It was always faster to just do things yourself rather than waste time arguing with your co-workers. I did all the heavy lifting, and my store manager and the other assistant took all of the credit. Eventually, my district manager found out I did all of the work and transferred me to a location with a new manager who had no idea what they were doing. I ended up doing even more there. I salute you for sticking it out 20 years. It was comforting to hear your story and read some of the others in the comments.
It's so sad to hear that your story is pretty much the same. And II too worked my tail off until I hit that wall. I couldn't win, I couldn't hit these goals everyday and hear how bad my store was doing daily. It beat me down mentally for years. Thanks for sharing your story.
I've been working for about six years of my life as a young adult and I have to say the few months of working a retail job at Target just might be the most hectic and unachievable work related experience so far. I was doing hvac/duct-cleaning for a few years prior and subway prior to that. Target is my first retail job and you're exactly right with how it doesn't matter what choices you make to get a job done - you are going to get shit regardless if you pull your weight and the weight of others. I swear I do the work of two people and get flack because I was supposed to do the work of three instead. I was always told that working retail deserved it's credit, but getting firsthand experience under my belt now has definitely humbled me. I hope you're doing good after everything you've been through. You just seem like a chill dude that deserved a break.
Thank you for the kind words. Incredibly good lesson learned although I should have left alot earlier, but...We were taught to stick it out and I thought this was my dream career. Working in a game store. Glad you learned the lesson early on in life and you're right it does humble you and make you gratful for all the positive things you have in your life. Thanks for watching my friend
It was certainly a retail experience like no other. Your passion and dedication was so apparent but unfortunately corporate greed and very poor management structure forced all the blame onto the lowest man on the totem pole, all the while having no power to make any real change. You describe these things perfectly. The fact that you managed to hold strong for as long as you did, all the while watching it burn around you speaks volumes of you. So many fun times and good memories were had all the while, and I'm glad I was able to share some of those fun moments with you! Glad to see you doing well in the next chapter!
Josh brother, I miss you dude! Yes I am finally doing what I want which is a light side to all this. You were there right with me for THE darkest moments at that final store and YOU my friend were so strong and such a great leader, and friend. Thank you
Working retail for five years was one of the worst and best things I ever did. It taught me how replaceable you are to the company no matter how high up you make it. Taught me how much of a pipe dream the whole idea of a “raise” was. How no matter how cool you and your managers may seem you have to always expect the worst. It taught me to be more supportive of people at other retail and similar jobs because I know the hell that’s going on behind the employees only doors. It cost me untold physical strain on my mind and body. It made me comfortable with “just skating by” which is one of the worst things a person can learn when the my are young.
I agree to all that and there is no doubt I stayed there about 5 years too long as I saw the writing on the wall. But that's was my dream job...or so it once was. I wouldn't trade my retail experience for anything because like you said above, it humbled me big time. It made me understand you are replaceable and don't really matter to these companies. But above all that. It gave me the drive to do what I'm doing today, RUclips. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I started at Gamestop Xmas 2005 and I’m still there today . I started my own side business 10 year ago and now I sell my art full time. This will probably be my last year at gamestop. Yes it’s a crap job sometimes but perks and people keep me there… for now 😊. Awesome video btw, I never see too many gamestop “lifers” like myself nowadays.
This video came across my feed and I worked at EB Games/ GameStop in Ontario Canada at store 816 (which is no longer around) from 2007 to 2013 as an Assistant Manager. Everything you stated was true. A lot of those sales goals were unattainable when you worked at a mall store
You couldn't hit them in a mall store imagine being in a strip store that is dead! You only have a few customers every hour so the pressure is insane, and you feel horrible if they say they aren't interested becasue you can feel the averrage dropping. Thank you for commenting
You’re probably making way more from RUclips now than you ever did at GameStop so good for you. I was stuck in retail hell for many years of my life as well and the mental hit is not fun at all.
I'm better off for sure. There are so many people commenting and sharing the same kind of experience we have had. To better times! Thanks for watching.
Sorry to hear this happened. I wish I could say that Game Stop is the only company like this, but most Mall stores (Spencer Gifts & Hot Topic come to mind) are like this. Glad you're out, and hopefully have better mental health for it.
I do have better mental health and thank you for watching. It's really too bad that alot of retial workers get treated like this especially during the pandemic
My area supervisor told me years ago when I used to work at Taco Bell. "Employees from team members to store managers to higher ups are just a number. That's easily replaceable. If you die today, in days their would be a post up for your position." I took that to heart and every job I had I left on my terms
I dealt with the same issues when I worked at gamestop myself. I company I'm working for now as a store manager is starting to have the same issues. Add ons, upt, ads. If you don't hit all the numbers daily you get. A merit. 3 merits you have to be on a cc at 9am on a sat being yelled at and asked how to fix it. Every time.
Yep. Been there many times. The CC goes so something like this "How are you going to pull your numbers up" Rinse and repeat but they won't actually train you on tactics that will work and that's because there tactics are from 2005 and way outdated. Thank you for watching and commenting
Thank you Jay for the great video. I too have worked at a real shit hole for 9 years and I only got one rise, it was real big building and I felt like I was the only one working there, no support from anyone else and it was all on me. Finally I said F it and gave my 2 weeks and only did one LOL. I think I've seen you around some of the EB Games before (that's why I subscribed) I remember you asking me about how many games I have in my collection. If anytime you were working at a EB Games I went I hope I wasn't a jerk I try to treat all works with respect.
Hey man thank you for commenting! Over the many years of course there were customers that were not the nicest, but that's retail. The problem was not the customers so you are fine. Thank you for Subscribing to my channel :)
Hey not all retail is like this, I have some friends that work retail and love it, so that's a good thing. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
20 years bro. I worked with Marcia and Bill at the ‘closest’ other store in town as the assistant for a bit and I have somewhat fond memories. Mainly the passion with all of us in the area. The midnight launches, the hype of the new releases…things like that. Seems like another lifetime ago.
I'm sure we know each other then. That was the last store I was at. Like I was saying it wasn't all bad, the last half for sure. Funny how now they are doing "Retro" when I had been suggesting it sinc 2010. Good life experience for sure. Thanks for watching!
@ yeah it really annoyed me when we were when we stopped taking PS1 stuff and cartridges. I remember a lot of customers were super butt hurt when they stopped with the N64 stuff. I didn’t have the weird toys and stuff that was a bit after my time - when I was there, it was all about the scratch guard crap on everything and trying to hit those goals. I understand what you were talking about in the video. It was bloody impossible.
That metric talk reminds me of current call center job lol . I always wanted to work at GameStop back in my 20’s . Was a huge gamer back then , not so much anymore . I knew a guy that worked at GameStop part time , the hours sucked though . It got so bad at one point , he only worked one day a month . So yeah I needed something more consistent lol .
That's the thing, the hours at Gamestop can be brutal and completely inconsistent. I'm glad you found something consistent that works for you! Tough to make a living as a part timer! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Damn dude, that sucks, definite trauma after all that, and it's straight up abuse. I feel for you man, been through it but not for that stretch of time, that's a long ass time dude. I've worked restaurants, and that's its own can of worms, but never retail. Sounds like a nightmare! I now have an IT office job with the same crazies (narcissist managers/coworkers)...Yea!! Currently working with a guy who won't cooperate on even the simplest thing....he's ridiculous. Good job otherwise though, managers are just too scared to get rid of the dead weight.
Ah sorry you're going through that bs as well. I'm sure in time it will get better, or you make the choice to leave and make it better yourself. That's what happened with me I realized that after not getting a raise for four years that this was pointless. I shouldn't have waited four years but that's on me. Thanks so much for watching!
Sorry you had to go through that. It happens in the service industry too. I think there are a lot of un-empathetic managers and bosses out there and look down on the “troops”. I’m glad you’re not doing that anymore though, stress can affect your health in more ways than just mental. I hope whatever your situation now, you feel happier and healthier than before.
I worked at McDonalds for 5 years before going to work for GAME (UK version of GameStop) for 3 years. Started in 2006 til 2009. I didn't move up as I hated responsibility and bossing people about, just not my thing at all. It was all push push push - warranty selling, I absolutely hated! However I have nothing but great memories of the people and friends I worked with etc. I worked at 1 store primarily in a shopping centre and 2 others around the town, all 3 are now gone and there's 1 little store left in a sporting goods store that's there today
Funny you say that I too worked at McDonalds in the 90's! At EB Games I made lifelong friends 100%. Some of the best people in my life today. Thank you for commenting!
Yeah, I feel this. I was a manager for them for 13 years. I started when it was Electronics Boutique, then EB Games, and then Gamestop. It was a VERY different company once Gamestop took over. It's interesting how everyone from that time period seems to have the same trauma. I used to love working there and it was EB. I'm mostly a PC gamer and when I started the store was probably 80% PC merchandise. The DMs and VPs always seemed to respect the store staff and had common priorities. Once Gamestop took over the field management were some of the worst people I ever met. Once I was out, I went to college, got 4 degrees and now work from home as an energy analyst. The way out is through.
When I started it was EB too. That's the company I wanted to work for, not what it became. I'm glad I'm out. It's funny how you don't realize just HOW bad it is until you're removed from the situation for a long time. Ya when Gamestop took over and the DM's would visit it was like when Vader came to the second Death Star. Just fear for no reason other than to intimidate. Thanks for sharing your story.
My GameStop experience was similar, “your average is not good, you’re getting a write-up” was all I heard. I went through three three managers in my one-two years there. The last manager was trying to get his own people in so he kept using the write ups to get rid of people. All the old coworkers were going and I was the last one to go.
I remember going to pickup a copy of Nintendogs and being asked if I want the Scratch Protection on it. It was a sign that they didn't care about the customer experience anymore. Some executive just calculated that if they sell X amount of warranties with each game they would make Y more in profit. They gave themselves a pat on the back and waited for the profits to roll in. I stopped going there.
The "Scratch protection" was just a way for them to make more money and didn't care how it impacted the customer experience. Even if we hit the goals it's never enough. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I managed a GNC for a while and it is funny how many of these things sound exactly the same. Especially the part about cutting hours and having to play manager/sales associate all day while being told you can't shut the store down to use the restroom.
Yep. You aren't allowed to lock the door and put up a sign that says be right back. So you have to hold it. Insanity my friend. Looking back now there were so many things that were just wrong. I did however make life-long friends so thats a big win. Thank you for wacthing and commenting
I completely understand what you are talking about. This isn’t just a problem with GameStop but a problem with retail industry as a whole. The biggest issue in my opinion is upper management and (as you mentioned) unrealistic expectations from people that HAVE NEVER WORKED RETAIL IN THEIR LIFE. These stores will continue to suffer and be understaffed until these companies do better.
And Upper Managment that knows nothing about the game industry nor do they care. And the fact that we as store managers do know about the gaming industry matters little to nothing to them. Fact is the longer you work there, the worse you are treated. They will eventually try and push you out as I've seen happen many times there. Thank you for watching!
Can I just say as a former gamestop employee who only did 2 years I think your story literally hurt my heart. I worked with a manager who would literally get mad if I was in a good mood seriously would prefer it if I was miserable but at the time I had such a happy go lucky attitude it didn’t get to me but eventually I just wanted more money.
Ya there is no future there beyond Managment. Sounds like your Manager was just miserable and wanted everyone else to be just as miserable. I'm glad it didn't break your spirits! Thanks for commenting!
@@JayBartlett1975 Yeah it was a tough situation honestly and I'm glad I did it for a short period when I was young and it didn't bother me as much. We need to expose Gamestop because in my opinion not only do they treat their employees like crap they dont sell most games for a good price.
Thanks for sharing. It’s simple really, the margins were so low they had to find incremental income through scummy sales tactics and it all fell on the shoulders of store employees.
100% Selling warranties on 360 made sense. Fast forward 10 years and the same warranty for Switch games makes ZERO sense and yet we had an even higher goal then. I get the margins are low on new releases but giving more on trades and selling used games a little cheaper would have made up for that. Plus I brought the idea of Retro Games to my boss and was told there isn't room and it would never work.... Thanks for watching and commenting!
@ whenever you get down about your time there just know you made so many customers like myself happy with your personal recommendations, advice etc. so it wasn’t all for nothing my friend.
Sometimes management thinks they have to be correcting things (you) at all times. I was an officer in the military and a civilian police officer. The best leaders take care of their ppl and then their ppl take care of them; make them stakeholders and show them appreciation.
Advance Auto Parts was the same way. I lasted 6 years there. Very sad what it could have been had management valued the employees feedback. Im now a real estate investor.
Well you're in a better spot I'm sure. I am glad for some of it because therre were many valuble life lessons learned from this job. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank you! And to what you said, all true. it took me a long time to come to this, but I finally did. I know most retial is like this, but Gamestop was for me was hell. Especially the last five years. They do not care about their staff at all. At least in my district. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Burlington In Deptford ,NJ, worked as a perfect employee till I was just not given hours anymore which means “your out “ to avoid unemployment , but I got a massive $500! A week job teaching aide job so f**k Burlington !
Well you're way better off for sure. And yes that tactic is complete garbage that they use to get people out. They starve you. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I had about 13 years with GameStop as a manager. I had flashbacks with you saying everything I saw while working there. Truly toxic corporate culture. Thankfully I was out of there in 2016. Keep up the good work.
I'm sorry you went through the same exact thing. But you're out so that's a plus. Many a life lesson was learned for both of us I'm sure, thanks for watching and commenting
Don't worry Jay. I'm sure the day will come when Gamestop finally goes out of business it's already approaching. Companies like that don't deserve what they have its time they get what's coming to them.
I don't wish Ill on anyone. They are who they are and from what I've heard from everyone it's not just my experience. It's the whole company. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Omfg those stats we need to maintain daily. It's so uncomfortable for me to continue trying to convince someone to get a warranty when they already said no twice. I hate it but I have to do it.
Ya they told us to do that as well. You can tell when a customer is not comfortable with the sales tactics. Especially when they don't need a warranty on a Nintendo Switch game. Trade in values that are horrible and turn around and sell it for 10 under a new copy. Awful. Thank you for watching and commenting
I really appreciate you sharing your story, very unfortunate to finally get a job about something you love , most people don't get that chance to be paid to do something they love. Glad you got out. I've never worked retail but i totally understand the BS you have to deal with from upper management and customers on a daily basis. So Jay what are you doing currently for work?
I feel you on this, my 1st job was working at a supermarket making minimum wage and I hated it b/c they treated me like c%#*p at times I was only there part-time and they didn't like that I worked on the weekends, and went to college and after working there 4 years I didn't put my 2 weeks notice I told them that I'm worth more and told them to f#*k themselves!! Ultimately it comes down to really owning your own business, the corporate world has always been bad and it's only getting worse. I want to start an online business, buy my dream home, and travel the world.
I can't believe that all business are like this, I just can't. I don't believe that all corporations are evil or anything like that. That being said my experience here was not fun and very damaging to my mental health. I'm sorry that you too had a terrible experience mate. I appreiciate you sharing
Unfortunately like 90% or more jobs are like that, it's hard to find a job that will be legit. That was my 1st job so I wasn't planning on staying there. Where do you work now?
Your experience was like mine with Hollywood Video back in 2005. Upsell packages left and right. DVD rentals were $4.25 each but I had to upsell a $19.99 a month unlimited deal where you can get 3 movies at a time. But you still had late fees. People thought of it like a subscription service where you don't have late fees and they would return to the store and browse movies and I had to be the bad guy and say they owed money...... On movies they rented for free as part of the club! And my manager knew, HE HAD TO KNOW how dumb this was but he had to be a company man and support it and make us feel like idiots for questioning this stupid thing
At the end of the day it's all about the money and I get that part of it, I do. However when there are practises that no longer make sense and you make your staff still have to follow them, that's when things go off the rails. Eg. Warranties on Switch games. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Not a retail story. But I worked as a 3D artist at a Disney satellite studio for 2 years (not nearly as long as your experience at GS). I worked my ass off for them, did a ton of overtime and trained a bunch of new hires. When I put in my 2 weeks notice, instead of getting a thank you card or even an email saying we appreciate your time here; they sent me an email asking me to 'review my offboarding experience'. Ironically enough there was no offboarding experience lol I just got an email from HR saying: 'Okay' after I submitted my notice. At least my lead and coworkers gave me a nice sendoff, but to be honest with you I'm not surprised at all at how the company handled it. Those places are revolving doors.
That is really sad. Doesn't make you feel so empty, like it was all for nothing. By them not having that element that makes you human. Appreiciate you sharing
In my 20s I worked at a little video store. It was great. I got laid off. About a year later, I was hired at Blockbuster. I was doing so well, that they would ask more and more from me. I did whatever they asked. But it became harder and harder to go to work. Off at Midnight, back at 8am. 10, or more days in a row. Laughable raises. I ended up having to quit. I had nothing left. I've had a lot of years of crippling depression and anxiety. I thought it was my failure. That I wasn't strong enough to work effectively. Fast forward 20 years: I know more about neural divergence today. I no longer think it's my fault. Masking, and burnout are typical coping skills used by those who struggle to be social. I'm sorry you had problems with your dream job. I understand the pressure, corporate indifference, and the toll on the body and mind. Thanks for sharing.
It wasn't you mate. I too got laughable raises and the last four years I got no raises what so ever. We were always meant to feel like we were wrong and failing. That really damages you over time. I see now that I didn't fail, I wasn't set up to win and had zero support. My ideas were brushed off and I was never listened to. Thanks for watching mate and sharing your Blockbuster story
@@x2SiCcx I started around 2008 and was there for maybe 3 years. Working there was okay but the pay was bad. The only thing that made it fun sometimes was certain employees that were cool and fun to work with. But once new people came in and replaced good people who left, the place was not the same. When it got to the point that they would not even give me hours for the week I took the hint and left.
I haven't shopped at gamestop in a very long time. I think the last time I was so invested in physical games was the ps3 era getting games and going mid night launches, but man the whole do you want to pre order or buy membership is very annoying, well and behold I shopped at target for a long time for physical games I was looking to get, and well, you see I was looking to get my daughter some physical games for her ninte do switch and went to gamestop, and instantly reminded me why I stopped shopping there, and why am I here moment. The guy was pushing for pre orders, membership buying etc. I almost just walked out until he finally rang Me up
They are pushing you for those things because that's the job. Believe me Nobody that works there wants to do that, but it's the job. High pressure sales for sure and if you don't keep up the company average you are looking at a possible write up. This I'm sure is most retail but at Gamestop it seemed darker for some reason. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment.
I worked at Gamestop in 2004-2005, so I was there when they acquired EB Games. I got fired because I left the store on my ten minute break. Well, that was the official reason, anyway, but the real reason was because I wasn't selling enough pre-orders. The highlight for me was probably Xmas season of '04 when the "schedule templates" only allowed for two people to work on December 26th, otherwise known as the busiest day for returns all year. I sent an email to corporate about that one and actually did get a reply with a half-assed apology a day or two later, but by then it was too late. They didn't care because they weren't the ones who had to deal with it.
The glory days before Gamestop took over. In Canada it was a slow prossess converting over. But you could tell, it felt different even though our Canadian head office fouoght to keep the EB Games name as long as they could. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@JayBartlett1975 That was actually my second stint with the company; my first was in 1998 when they were still Babbage's/Software Etc. It was a much better place to work back then, but even so, the cracks were starting to appear - as you point out in the video, you could never do anything right or anything to satisfy your corporate overlords. No matter how many things you were doing well (sales, pre-orders, inventory control, cash control, scheduling, etc.), they would always find one thing to complain about and hyper focus on that, and if you weren't struggling at any one thing in particular, they'd just make something up. And then they'd wonder why morale was so low. I left that time after we were told that we had to work an extra day per week during the Xmas season because they "said so," even though we had plenty of coverage due to the extra help we hired for the holiday season. I guess they didn't realize that "because we said so" isn't an actual reason. That doesn't even work on little kids.
Yes when EB came to town that's when Microplay's start going away. However, tthey also became more tthan just video games annd I think that hurt them overall
You still have a full Micropplay! Oh wow thats awesome. One of my first jobs and I loved it. I miss old EB as well. The company use to be so different. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I've noticed i went to gamestop this past weekend. Just to see what has changed and WOW pretty much toys and merchandise. XBOX had only a stand in the walkway not even on the wall I was unfortunately disappointed and walked out lol
I’ve worked retail and I get exactly what you’re talking about. Never worked GameStop but it’s like all retail is similar. Dated a woman who worked a clothing store and exactly the same too. No wonder so many stores are failing.
Agreed Robert. They act like souless robots and treat us like absolute garbage. Thanks for sharing mate
@@JayBartlett1975 hello from ottawa, I used to work at microplay as well. lol
@@robertsinfiniterealms1308 dating her was like working retail?
Thanks for the video Jay. It was like that as a retail tech. They wanted us to upsell if possible when talking to customers. And if I get excited about tech I will go into a deep dive, I was so close to closing a sale worth a lot of money, it was a medium sized local business who wanted several desktops and laptops as well as tablets. My manager came over and dragged me away, and when I tried to explain what was going on he said he wanted me to stay in the tech room for an hour. I had nothing to do in there as all the systems were doing their things and I just sat there thinking that he just cost us an order worth probably 15+ grand.
Thanks for sharing your story too Den
If he had only listened !
Thank you so much for sharing Jay. That last bit hit me hard as I can totally relate. My last day at Game Stop while I walked out the door I just saw business carry on as usual like I didn't matter. I was very greatful to have WillyLo's support in my final days there but I definitely felt the "I'm not being heard" feeling from the company.
I made lifelong friends from there including yourself man. I'll always be gratful for that.
never worked for gamestop and i only had 1 retail job but i can releate. I worked most my life in Manufacturing plants and it's pretty much always like this. I couldn't imagine working anywhere for 18 years unless it's my own company or really good pay. I've never worked anywhere for more then a few years because it's always easier to negotiate a new wage then get a raise. I've worked at companies that has new employees making more then people who had been there 10 + years
Thanks for sharing your experiences!! ❤
20 years, wow. Back in the day it was common to see the same management for a few years, but over the last fast years I rarely see the same person twice.
Ya it's my generation ya know. Gen X. Stick it out is what we were taught
Dude.. Everything you said brought back so many feelings.. Best decision we ever made.. It was hard to leave our "family" we had in our group of stores.. We made some of my best memories of my life.. I can only imagine what it was like your last few years.. Especially during the pandemic.. Sorry to hear you went through all that.. On to bigger and better dreams buddy!
You left long before we did. You were smart Marc. But I'm glad the rest of the family left as well. I made many great lifelong friends including yourself mate. And yes, I'm finally doing what I want for a living :)
Such a great video! This speaks to anyone across any industry that is is expected to deliver results while not being giving the tools or support to achieve these goals, To add to that the undermining and continuous threats is gross mismanagement. Sadly the people who actually care and want to succeed are the ones most often subjected to these environments. By sharing this experience someone will be empowered to make a change, thanks Jay !!
Thank you for watching and commetning mate
Well, your first mistake was working there for 20 years 😂
Na I really wanted a career at a game store. My mistake was trying to make it work instead of leaving. Thank you for watching!
I worked at GameStop from 2003-2006. I worked with a team of folks who all became managers and our manager became a district manager. I ended up joining the Navy instead. I’m on my 19th year now 🤣
@@newdecca thank you for your service
Was thinking that as I scrolled by
This comment makes no sense and it's not funny.
The reason I stopped shopping at GameStop was entirely 100% because of how they historically treated all their employees. Would rather shop elsewhere and let them fade away into oblivion.
Ya it's bad. The only thing that keeps you there is the games, and they know it. A very negative place to work. Thanks for watching
Wow Jay I that was really interesting to watch. I also worked at GameStop for several years and my experience was very much the same as yours. Loved my fellow store employees and most of my customers but most of the upper management were full of bologna. My last year there was pretty miserable as I pretty much worked alone every day until the closing shift would come in. I have worked for several retailers throughout the years and none of them were as bad to me as Game Stop was. I could go on and on but I’ll just say everything you said was spot on and I’m glad you are past it. I’ve never regretted leaving them. Cheers man!!!
Yep work alone cause there are no hours. And have to do 10,000 things at once PLUS serve customers. Anxiety just thinking about that again. Thank you for sharing
More Gamestop employees need to do this. This company is a sinking ship. But still has dedicated employees.
Thank you for watching. It wasn't easy to make but was a long time coming
@@JayBartlett1975 hope you do more gamestop videos.
Well Jay glad you got out when you did. ❤
So am I. Thanks for watching mate
Man I feel this. I worked at GameStop in high school and into my 20s. I was hired originally, like you, the busiest store in our district and moved my way up the ladder. It was the same for me, a shift needed filled at another store? Send him, he'll do it. I eventually got moved from that store, which was a fast paced environment, great numbers, etc., to the slowest, lowest store in the district.
I was constantly getting hassled about why my numbers were low, why we didn't do this, why we couldn't do that, and I always told them, "it's impossible to get numbers when I'm only seeing 1-2 customers a day." That didn't matter. As time went on at this store, I noticed more and more toxic traits, and terminated because the loss prevention guy said he "saw me on video throwing a defective game away, then taking out the trash hours later." But, the real reason I was terminated was because I called the "anonymous helpline" to report some behaviors my manager was doing. Like reprimanding staff in front of customers, reprimanding keyholders and other managers in front of staff, etc. They didn't like that. But regardless, he was trying to insinuate that I stole the game. I looked at him and told him to show me the proof, and he fought back, kept trying to change the subject, etc. I told him before finally accepting my termination that "How am I supposed to get all my tasks done around the store, like taking trash out, cleaning up, etc. when I am the ONLY one in this store for 12 hours?"
Took the termination, got on unemployment and went to college and haven't looked back since.
That sounds like a nightmare and I'm glad you are no longer there! You did the right thing by going to college and moving on. Thank for sharing your story!
You should have contacted a lawyer; that sounds unlawful.
This is going on everywhere, I left my retail job during Covid as well. The mighty dollar seemed more important than my health. I am glad I left, scary at first but so far I have managed.
Thanks for sharing Absorbvids. It was scary yes, but the best thing I ever did. Now I get to do this for a living. I hope you're doing well and thank you again for watching
Thanks for sharing with us! I bet during time there you have touched peoples’ hearts and have made a positive impact on people (both customer and coworker) more than you realize!
Aaron thank you for saying that. I had many customers that became my friends and co workers as well. Thanks for watching and commenting
Huge difference working for a mom & pop gaming store than corporate overlords!
I worked at Mat-Lynn’s in the 90’s for awhile before someone
drove a van through the front window robbing them blind. They closed their doors sadly.
I also did call centres inbound/outbound for 12yrs where i learned what “setup to fail” was all about.
I agree with you for sure. Gamestop started as EB Games and it was different for sure, it was actually fun and exciting to work there. Sadly they stopped caring about it's employees awhile ago. Thanks for watching!
Yup EBGames 😢. My sis loved that store.
It was once great and they use to care about staff and listen
I completely understand - I was a manager at a call center that closed and one of my coworkers husband was a district manager for gamestop and he hired me as a store manager. This was during the peak of pushing those damn subscriptions, warranties and pre orders and he knew how good I was at sales because his wife spoke so highly of me, so I didn’t go through the years of working my way up the ladder. My store was a slower store, but as soon as I took over we kicked ass and I was always one of the top managers with the pre orders etc…. But to make a long story short, the stress, terrible pay, the lack of hours and being there all alone, early morning inventories, the higher ups always on you even when you are doing good etc.. it wasn’t worth it and I lasted a little over a year.
Wow so you were a top tier manager hitting your goals and you STILL felt stress all the time. This is what I mean...you can't win. Ya the pay is terrible and they know it. They also know most of us will just suck it up because we are surrounded by games all day, which is true and sad.
Yes I was also there alone for alot of the day when I opened. Most times till 2pm.
Thanks for sharing your story mate
now we know and knowing is half the battle GI JAY !! reminds me of me and my front end manager job at WALMART uhh 😬 was that Job brutal!! thanks for sharing 🦇✌️ Batstan
Thank you for watching Batstan!
My condolences.
I like you LOVE GAMES. I too want to make this industry great.
But damn, the decline of Game Stop is crazy.
WHAT WAS MANAGEMENT THINKING!?!?!?! Forcing the employees to push “subscriptions, warranties, etc” killed the costumer experience!
I truly believe “geek stores” could work if they tried to make the customer feel good and safe instead of walking money bags!
They want money. And I get that to a point. The way they were getting money needed to change and stopped making sense. Protection on Switch games never made sense to me.
Thanks for watching!
Sorry to hear about that bro and the way you were treated you seem like a person who really cared about the job and the customers and also have a passion for video games. I’m really sorry
That's ok mate. It was really the last five years that were the worst. Thanks for watching!
I worked at Panera Bread for one year and Starbucks for 5 months, you want to talk about how much stress I had, it was insane the metrics that are pushed, it's super difficult. Kudos to you staying there for 20 years. Wishing you a ton of success moving forward.
Thanks mate, and for yourself. On to bigger and better things!
Thank you for sharing your experience Jay. Working for EB Games was a similar roller coaster of emotion for myself where it was also a dream of mine to work for what seemed to be such an illustrious company. Yet the true colours were eventually shown to be just another soul sucking retail environment disguised as something better than it really was. The toll that takes on one's mental health is staggering, and to think that I only endured about one tenth of the total time with the company that you had put in! Not to mention the terrible working conditions you endured from the pandemic era. I will always appreciate many fond memories with the EB family all in it together, which is probably the greatest takeaway one could possibly have from working anywhere retail. I'm glad you were able to shed light on and move forward from this past. Onward to better times!
Thanks mate for saying all that. Our store was close for sure and we have life long friends becasue of it so that's a positive
Great video. I’ve worked retail before, not a game store specifically, but many of these points sound very familiar. I hope things are better for you now though!
THings are much better. It's been a few years since I've been there and took alot to leave, but I finally did. Hope your doing well man and thank you for watching
I feel ya jay! I’ve worked in retail for many years. And yes. 90% of the time it’s been the same story. They expected people to make miracles happen.
Appreiciate the comment mate. Yep give us more and more and more. Making goals absolutly meaningless
@@JayBartlett1975 indeed! And thank you for all of your amazing content! Especially this one right here! It was personal for you, and me! And I respect the genuine and open honesty. I needed to hear this! Much respect.
Boy do I have a story for you Jay. In 2005-06 I was the A.M. of EB Games at the Eaton Centre in Toronto. I met and served celebs like Robin Williams, I was the #1 seller of edge cards in the district. We had an acting manager steal money out of the till. The inventory was screwed up and they thought we were all stealing games but I didn't steal even a pen from that place. We were all fired except the manager who actually stole. I got severance since they had no proof I did anything wrong. I like shopping at Gamestop now but I boycotted the business for several years. NO BATHROOM BREAKS IS ILLEGAL We always had 2 staff members at all times at my store. Good boss = good job.
Not two staff anymore man, not for a long time. We should catch up and talk about it one day dude. Thanks for watching
Wait, this is the guy from the documentary I watched of the guy trying to acquire every NES game
I am. Nice to meet you!
Well my friend I know and feel what you're talking about. And I'm very sorry you had to go through that for such a long time. I have been in grocery retail for 28 years. Much like you I showed the initiative and moved up the ladders. The discount grocery chain I was with for 17 years was much like GameStop and still is today. And like you it took a huge toll on my mental health and my physical ability to continue to go to work every day. I spoke my mind and corporate didn't like that. I knew they wanted me gone and I wanted out so I quit. Nowhere to go, just quit. I couldn't take it anymore. It was 2017 when I quit.
I tried something else for work but it wasn't helping my mental health because I felt like I was a failure and I didn't know anything other than life in a grocery store.
I am back working in a grocery store but this time for one of the major grocery retailers and it's much better. I am very thankful for the opportunity that came my way and I definitely don't take it for granted. It really turned my life around.
I definitely don't regret leaving the other company, it was one of the best decisions I made but it has taken some time to get back to where I am now.
Thank you for sharing your experience with GameStop as horrible as it was for you. I'd love to sit down and talk about it with you further over a couple pots of coffee, but that's for another day.
I'm very happy to see you doing what you love on RUclips and you're doing an amazing job!
I remember you sharing this with me when we first met. I too am glad for you mate that you had the courage to move on as well and now you're in a better place. I know I am and finally doing what I want for a living
I was one of the 20 lan admins for all of Barnes & Noble in the early 2000s, do to that there was a binder at gamestop, and it gave me a 15% discount storewide by just putting my name in the binder and my badge info, most dont know at one time Barnes & Noble owned gamestop! I really miss that.
Wow. I don’t know how I missed this video until now.
I remember my breaking point vividly to this day, and I was only there for 2 years, while I’ve been gone for 15 years. You deserve a lot of credit for sticking around for as long as you did.
On the bright side, at least you met a great group of friends through EB/GS. Ones that has been and will continue to support all your projects.
Looking forward to seeing what you have in store in the future.
Cheers!
I thought you were there for more than 2 years? Guess not. Yes some of my very best friends are from EB Games, so for that I'm blessed. It wasn't all bad. The last five years there were the worst. Thanks for watching mate
As a former employee of EB games, this video hit hard Jay.
I worked at EB games for a few years as an assistant manager in my early 20s, as I was studying at Uni.
I started off at the company part time, but was offered a full time role which is the reason why I dropped out of University as the increasing workload was hurting my studies.
I thought I could take a break from study and build a career at the company as it was like you said Jay, a dream job.
I very quickly learned about the forced unpaid overtime, setting up all the merchandise and sales displays countless times over the year.
I still remember working an 8 hour shift, to then work another 5-6 hours (7am start, didnt knock off until 11-12pm) to setup the June sales display. All of the OT was unpaid as It was expected as part of the role.
You would then start at 7am the following day absolutely exhausted.
The midnight launches for new consoles and games, another unpaid overtime schedule that was also expected.
Dont even get me started on stocktake counts..... (of course it was unpaid!)
The regional managers would come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you didnt make targets, extended warranties or couldn't stay back to do stocktake counts.
The business was very good at reminding you that it was a privilege to work at the company.
I was so glad to leave and never come back. I choose not to shop at the stores now and will buy my games elsewhere.
Thank you for sharing this Jay.
You are not alone in your experience working for this organisation.
Wow thank you for sharing your experiences with me as well. It's not always easy to talk about is it? A privilege to work for the company. Man I heard that so many times. THank you for watching my friend and I know we are both in better places now
I feel you man! I worked at GameStop for 15 years. Put it the time, went above and beyond for my district, worked hard and still got shit on by the company after covid. It’s been 4 years since I left and Ive never been happier at my new job, making more money too. Hope you find peace mind
I'm glad you're in a better place, I am too :)
Ya what happened to us during Covid broke me. That's when I learned our DM didn't at all care about us
Thanks for sharing this with us here Jay! Cheers brother! ♥️🔥🤘😎🍻
Thanks for watching mate. Something I've had to get off my chest for along time
I feel for you dude. That is incredibly tough dealing with that level of negativity day in and day out. Especially tough when you work your butt off in a job that was your dream and you just get beat down day after day. I’m glad you were able to get out of there and find peace.
Thank you! I am too. Itès too bad but it happened for a reason
im in retail myself. im so glad my company goes above and beyond to support us. im sorry you went through the traumatic experience at gamestop. i worked there for 2 days before i saw the scam it was.
I believe that not all retial is bad, and it sounds like I'm right. I do believe it's a copmanies choice the way they treat their employees. Thank you for commenting and watching
I worked at GameStop for over 6 years. Left in 2019. Everything you described matches my experience with the company. Seemed like the longer I worked there, the more they wanted me to leave as to not have to give me raises. They became way too pushy when it came to making us sell the warranties, pre-orders, and cards. I even saw them resort to falsely accusing coworkers of theft just to have an excuse to fire them even though they were innocent. Most evil company I’ve ever worked for. So glad to be free of them.
Thanks for sharing your story and glad you are out of there as well! The longer you are there the more they want you gone is the perfect way to describe it. And that is a scary thought.
Thank you for watching
Your story hit home for me BIG TIME! I was a store manager at GameStop from 2007 to 2010. The first 6 months was awesome! I loved my job. But then, everything you said started piling up. The unobtainable goals to hit, them cutting my hours every week. I was getting yelled at and threatened by upper management daily! It was impossible. I was also working 50 to 60 hours a week on salary not hourly, pretty much working by my self every shift. That job literally cause me health problems that I will have the rest of my life because of all of the stress. I hate to even say this, but I was at the point where I would fantasies about just vering off the road on the way to work so that I would get into a car accident and not have to go to work for that day. It was awful. I ended up just giving up, working my 45 hours I was actually getting paid for, and then going home for the day regardless of the condition of store. I just couldn't win ever. That didn't last long. They fired me at the beginning of December 2010. At the timeI had a 2 year old and a 10 month old abd a stay at home wife. What a great Christmas we had that year. GameStop doesn't care about their employees on a store level at all. We were just cannon fodder to them. Glad you are out!
And they know you won't leave because you love games. They hold that over you I noticed as well. I was starting to think there was something wrong with me after awhile. " This is my dream job right? I mean I'm surrounded by video games..."And you are also right in saying you can't win. you can't. It's the DM and Area managers job to pick thing apart so even IF you are hitting all the goals, they will find something.
I wasn't even allowed to hire my own staff.
Thank you for taking the time to write and watch the video
Awesome video Jay..Yeah, my experience working in Retail from 16 to 35 was soul destroying. It seemed to be the same throughout the various companies i worked for. And as you said, it was rarely the customers that were the problem, it seems to be some preset for upper management in retail to be souless, clueless and totally problematic. No matter what uniform I wore it was the same experience.
Eventually I had to get out. Sometimes I think it's because a retail job is were 95% of us start, and companies know this, so they treat you like drones.
Anyways, thanks for sharing your experience mate. All the best.
I appreiciate you sharing with me here and watching. Seems many of us have been treated like this, and you worked retial for a long time as well. On to better things mate
I wish some other youtubers would watch this, the ones that support this company. I used to work for an electronics store and I can fully relate. These companies aren't loyal. Thank you for sharing your story.
You're welcome. Well alot of people I know still have great working careers at Gamestop. This is just my experiece. I've heard it's alot of retail is like this. Thank you so much for watching!
There's still one Microplay that I know of in Ontario. I loved renting from Microplay, you could exchange rentals for a dollar. The edge card and warranty are why I went digital
There kinda one in my city but it's inside another store. I miss the stand alone for sure.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
The one in Ontario is stand alone and my main shop because of the nostalgia @@JayBartlett1975
God 20 years in retail... my worst nightmare. I worked in retail (for Software Etc., was also a "key holder") back in the day when I was in high school, but doing it for a career?! Lord God almighty.
I applaud you for loving what you do/did, and it sucks that corporate didn't see it that way. This is an example of people with higher positions running a business they don't know anything about, or care about, and they treat it as a money cow only. I had a similar story where the person i worked for didn't know squat about games, but she owned the store. Just terrible to be around that, so i decided to leave and open my own. I love what I do. I live for this. Sad where we currently are, though.
Wow you have your own game store now? That's great! Ya our higher ups knew nothing about gaming or the industry. Which is why Gamestop was still selling scratch protection on Switch games.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I looked it up there are some locations left of microplay buddy! Great Video!
Oh wow thank you for letting me know! Appreiciate you commenting
Very similar to my Best Buy experience. Had a manager tell me i didnt know enough about computers to work Geek Squad....jokes on him i am now a professional data scientist (have been for 10 years). Good/bad management makes all the difference in any retail job.
Sounds like they didn't want yhou to get ahead of them. I've been there also. Those kind of people try and hold you back out of fear that you will surpass them which sounds like you did!
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment
Great video !!
I have seen many similar stories about Gamestop,
I have worked retail myself, I got away from it just before the pandemic, and I am damn glad I did.
I stopped shopping at Gamestop circa 2013. Why?
I got sick of all the upsales, asking if I wanted to preorder games, subscription sales, do I need PSN/XBL cards, do I need batteries, do I want insurance on the games and all of that crap. All that just got so super annoying. Turning what should be a minute or less transaction into a 2 or 3 minute ordeal. Its not just gamestop that was doing it, it was almost everywere you went back in the 2013 timeframe. But one day I went in a Gamestop, and I got what I wanted, and when I got to the register, the employee would not back off trying to get me to pre-order some upcoming game I had zero interest in. Finally I went look, I am not interested in that game. I dont play that type of game. Ring me up and Ill be on my way. I felt bad for being harsh with the guy, as I knew he was being forced into getting some numbers, sales for the store, but if someone says no, just move the transaction along.
A lot of stores seemed to have calmed alot of that crap down greatly, due to people complaining about it. I cant speak for gamestop, I literally havent been in one since my story above. I feel like the pandemic may have played a part in killing some of that crap too.
The aggressive upselling is a big thing I didn't like about the jobb, but I did it because it was my jobb. The problem is when you don't hit the goals you go on conference calls in front of the district and need to tell everyone how you are going to "do better" without given any direction of training from the higher ups. You learn from the few store that can hit the goals here and there.
And yes the pandemic was the final straw. We were not treated very well. Customers being allllowed to come into the doorway during a pandemic was insae to me, but it's what happened. I couldn't do it anymore and I left. The longer you work at Gamestop the less valuble you are and the morre they want you gone.
I've seen that so many times during my time there.
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
Props and my heart goes out to you for putting up with that stuff man. Loved GameStop growing up, I think we all did. So the fact that you lived the dream. Kudos. Hope you’re doing way better now! Thanks for your service !
Question! What do you do now? Your video came up on my feed so good to know your channel doing well!
I'm a streamer and content creator here on RUclips! Thank you for taking the time to comment and watch my friend
I can’t remember if I commented on this video or not already - but yay, engagements! - on a repeat viewing, that part about your boss not even coming to see you or anything hits me harder today than before.
It sure sucks when you devote decades to any organization and they can’t be bothered with the simplest of kindnesses when your time’s up.
It sure does suck. It still sticks with me. Thanks dude for watching :)
@@JayBartlett1975 I’m sorry, brother. And I get it.
Great video, Jay about your experience with EB Games into Game Stop. Sorry to hear some of the misery you endured there. The salesman pressure to keep up-selling is a horrible thing when it's required or you're fired or demoted. Customers don't always like it either. 20 years of your efforts and management talent and they still didn't care. That's awful. Great to hear you're out of that business to something better.
I worked in retail at stores for years, many years ago, and it was bad because there is constant pressure from the bosses to keep selling extras to the customers and if you don't, something is wrong with you according to them. "Why are your numbers down this week? What's wrong? Why aren't you up-selling each time? You're not meeting the minimum requirements and failing to achieve." I would say I need more help on the floor. "Too many customers and I'm only one guy."
They kept adding more work for you to do and accomplish, more quotas to meet, but no raises to match being stretched thin. Treated as a disposable employee. Not fun if the bosses and rules are very strict and oppressive. Nice to have a better job that's a lot more fair and less pressure. Thanks!
It got to the point where the stress was so bad my mental health couldn't take it anymore. You are always wrong and always feel terrible
I briefly worked retail after high school way back in 1998 - 99.
It nearly wrecked my mental health.
Thankfully, I jumped to private security shortly thereafter and these last 24 working years have been bliss. Not perfect but light years ahead of retail, food service, and hospitality.
That's awesome! Glad you got out early mate.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks for sharing, Jay. Unfortunately, retail in the shoe department isn't any better. I worked for Skechers as an assistant manager and I was only able to last one year. This was my second job and I was 20 years old at the time. At our store we had one store manager and another assistant manager and both of them were full time with benefits. I'm sure you wont be surprised to hear that I did all of the work. I received every shipment weekly, performed every corporate mandated store inspections that we had to submit weekly, made sure the right money went to Garda, and I was part time with no benefits. Punishing employees meant nothing. It was always faster to just do things yourself rather than waste time arguing with your co-workers. I did all the heavy lifting, and my store manager and the other assistant took all of the credit. Eventually, my district manager found out I did all of the work and transferred me to a location with a new manager who had no idea what they were doing. I ended up doing even more there. I salute you for sticking it out 20 years. It was comforting to hear your story and read some of the others in the comments.
It's so sad to hear that your story is pretty much the same. And II too worked my tail off until I hit that wall. I couldn't win, I couldn't hit these goals everyday and hear how bad my store was doing daily. It beat me down mentally for years. Thanks for sharing your story.
I've been working for about six years of my life as a young adult and I have to say the few months of working a retail job at Target just might be the most hectic and unachievable work related experience so far. I was doing hvac/duct-cleaning for a few years prior and subway prior to that. Target is my first retail job and you're exactly right with how it doesn't matter what choices you make to get a job done - you are going to get shit regardless if you pull your weight and the weight of others. I swear I do the work of two people and get flack because I was supposed to do the work of three instead. I was always told that working retail deserved it's credit, but getting firsthand experience under my belt now has definitely humbled me. I hope you're doing good after everything you've been through. You just seem like a chill dude that deserved a break.
Thank you for the kind words. Incredibly good lesson learned although I should have left alot earlier, but...We were taught to stick it out and I thought this was my dream career. Working in a game store. Glad you learned the lesson early on in life and you're right it does humble you and make you gratful for all the positive things you have in your life. Thanks for watching my friend
It was certainly a retail experience like no other. Your passion and dedication was so apparent but unfortunately corporate greed and very poor management structure forced all the blame onto the lowest man on the totem pole, all the while having no power to make any real change. You describe these things perfectly. The fact that you managed to hold strong for as long as you did, all the while watching it burn around you speaks volumes of you. So many fun times and good memories were had all the while, and I'm glad I was able to share some of those fun moments with you! Glad to see you doing well in the next chapter!
Josh brother, I miss you dude! Yes I am finally doing what I want which is a light side to all this. You were there right with me for THE darkest moments at that final store and YOU my friend were so strong and such a great leader, and friend. Thank you
Working retail for five years was one of the worst and best things I ever did. It taught me how replaceable you are to the company no matter how high up you make it. Taught me how much of a pipe dream the whole idea of a “raise” was. How no matter how cool you and your managers may seem you have to always expect the worst. It taught me to be more supportive of people at other retail and similar jobs because I know the hell that’s going on behind the employees only doors. It cost me untold physical strain on my mind and body. It made me comfortable with “just skating by” which is one of the worst things a person can learn when the my are young.
I agree to all that and there is no doubt I stayed there about 5 years too long as I saw the writing on the wall. But that's was my dream job...or so it once was.
I wouldn't trade my retail experience for anything because like you said above, it humbled me big time. It made me understand you are replaceable and don't really matter to these companies. But above all that. It gave me the drive to do what I'm doing today, RUclips.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I started at Gamestop Xmas 2005 and I’m still there today . I started my own side business 10 year ago and now I sell my art full time. This will probably be my last year at gamestop. Yes it’s a crap job sometimes but perks and people keep me there… for now 😊. Awesome video btw, I never see too many gamestop “lifers” like myself nowadays.
Thank you for wacthing and congrats on starting your own business. Hope you are doing well in it
This video came across my feed and I worked at EB Games/ GameStop in Ontario Canada at store 816 (which is no longer around) from 2007 to 2013 as an Assistant Manager. Everything you stated was true. A lot of those sales goals were unattainable when you worked at a mall store
You couldn't hit them in a mall store imagine being in a strip store that is dead! You only have a few customers every hour so the pressure is insane, and you feel horrible if they say they aren't interested becasue you can feel the averrage dropping.
Thank you for commenting
You’re probably making way more from RUclips now than you ever did at GameStop so good for you. I was stuck in retail hell for many years of my life as well and the mental hit is not fun at all.
I'm better off for sure. There are so many people commenting and sharing the same kind of experience we have had. To better times! Thanks for watching.
Sorry to hear this happened. I wish I could say that Game Stop is the only company like this, but most Mall stores (Spencer Gifts & Hot Topic come to mind) are like this. Glad you're out, and hopefully have better mental health for it.
I do have better mental health and thank you for watching. It's really too bad that alot of retial workers get treated like this especially during the pandemic
My area supervisor told me years ago when I used to work at Taco Bell. "Employees from team members to store managers to higher ups are just a number. That's easily replaceable. If you die today, in days their would be a post up for your position." I took that to heart and every job I had I left on my terms
That's so true. And I left on my own as well. Well we are both in better places now, and thank you for taking the time to comment.
I dealt with the same issues when I worked at gamestop myself. I company I'm working for now as a store manager is starting to have the same issues. Add ons, upt, ads. If you don't hit all the numbers daily you get. A merit. 3 merits you have to be on a cc at 9am on a sat being yelled at and asked how to fix it. Every time.
Yep. Been there many times.
The CC goes so something like this "How are you going to pull your numbers up" Rinse and repeat but they won't actually train you on tactics that will work and that's because there tactics are from 2005 and way outdated.
Thank you for watching and commenting
Thank you Jay for the great video. I too have worked at a real shit hole for 9 years and I only got one rise, it was real big building and I felt like I was the only one working there, no support from anyone else and it was all on me. Finally I said F it and gave my 2 weeks and only did one LOL. I think I've seen you around some of the EB Games before (that's why I subscribed) I remember you asking me about how many games I have in my collection. If anytime you were working at a EB Games I went I hope I wasn't a jerk I try to treat all works with respect.
Hey man thank you for commenting! Over the many years of course there were customers that were not the nicest, but that's retail. The problem was not the customers so you are fine. Thank you for Subscribing to my channel :)
As a high school student, my dream was to work there. I admire your commitment.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
Been there my friend, I feel your pain, 🙏
Thanks man. Better now but it was something I just needed to talk about
shout out to all retail workers that go through this. sorry it had to be this way.
Hey not all retail is like this, I have some friends that work retail and love it, so that's a good thing. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!
20 years bro.
I worked with Marcia and Bill at the ‘closest’ other store in town as the assistant for a bit and I have somewhat fond memories.
Mainly the passion with all of us in the area. The midnight launches, the hype of the new releases…things like that.
Seems like another lifetime ago.
I'm sure we know each other then. That was the last store I was at. Like I was saying it wasn't all bad, the last half for sure. Funny how now they are doing "Retro" when I had been suggesting it sinc 2010.
Good life experience for sure. Thanks for watching!
@ yeah it really annoyed me when we were when we stopped taking PS1 stuff and cartridges. I remember a lot of customers were super butt hurt when they stopped with the N64 stuff.
I didn’t have the weird toys and stuff that was a bit after my time - when I was there, it was all about the scratch guard crap on everything and trying to hit those goals. I understand what you were talking about in the video. It was bloody impossible.
That metric talk reminds me of current call center job lol . I always wanted to work at GameStop back in my 20’s . Was a huge gamer back then , not so much anymore . I knew a guy that worked at GameStop part time , the hours sucked though . It got so bad at one point , he only worked one day a month . So yeah I needed something more consistent lol .
That's the thing, the hours at Gamestop can be brutal and completely inconsistent. I'm glad you found something consistent that works for you! Tough to make a living as a part timer! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Damn dude, that sucks, definite trauma after all that, and it's straight up abuse. I feel for you man, been through it but not for that stretch of time, that's a long ass time dude. I've worked restaurants, and that's its own can of worms, but never retail. Sounds like a nightmare! I now have an IT office job with the same crazies (narcissist managers/coworkers)...Yea!! Currently working with a guy who won't cooperate on even the simplest thing....he's ridiculous. Good job otherwise though, managers are just too scared to get rid of the dead weight.
Ah sorry you're going through that bs as well. I'm sure in time it will get better, or you make the choice to leave and make it better yourself. That's what happened with me I realized that after not getting a raise for four years that this was pointless. I shouldn't have waited four years but that's on me.
Thanks so much for watching!
Sorry you had to go through that. It happens in the service industry too. I think there are a lot of un-empathetic managers and bosses out there and look down on the “troops”. I’m glad you’re not doing that anymore though, stress can affect your health in more ways than just mental. I hope whatever your situation now, you feel happier and healthier than before.
Much better now yes. RUclips is my home :)
Thanks for watching Mython
I worked at McDonalds for 5 years before going to work for GAME (UK version of GameStop) for 3 years. Started in 2006 til 2009. I didn't move up as I hated responsibility and bossing people about, just not my thing at all. It was all push push push - warranty selling, I absolutely hated! However I have nothing but great memories of the people and friends I worked with etc. I worked at 1 store primarily in a shopping centre and 2 others around the town, all 3 are now gone and there's 1 little store left in a sporting goods store that's there today
Funny you say that I too worked at McDonalds in the 90's! At EB Games I made lifelong friends 100%. Some of the best people in my life today. Thank you for commenting!
Yeah, I feel this. I was a manager for them for 13 years. I started when it was Electronics Boutique, then EB Games, and then Gamestop. It was a VERY different company once Gamestop took over. It's interesting how everyone from that time period seems to have the same trauma. I used to love working there and it was EB. I'm mostly a PC gamer and when I started the store was probably 80% PC merchandise. The DMs and VPs always seemed to respect the store staff and had common priorities. Once Gamestop took over the field management were some of the worst people I ever met. Once I was out, I went to college, got 4 degrees and now work from home as an energy analyst. The way out is through.
When I started it was EB too. That's the company I wanted to work for, not what it became. I'm glad I'm out. It's funny how you don't realize just HOW bad it is until you're removed from the situation for a long time.
Ya when Gamestop took over and the DM's would visit it was like when Vader came to the second Death Star. Just fear for no reason other than to intimidate.
Thanks for sharing your story.
My GameStop experience was similar, “your average is not good, you’re getting a write-up” was all I heard. I went through three three managers in my one-two years there. The last manager was trying to get his own people in so he kept using the write ups to get rid of people. All the old coworkers were going and I was the last one to go.
All us that were hired in 2003 left around the same time, and I'm sure Gamestop was more then happy to see us go. Thank you for watching!
I remember going to pickup a copy of Nintendogs and being asked if I want the Scratch Protection on it. It was a sign that they didn't care about the customer experience anymore. Some executive just calculated that if they sell X amount of warranties with each game they would make Y more in profit. They gave themselves a pat on the back and waited for the profits to roll in. I stopped going there.
The "Scratch protection" was just a way for them to make more money and didn't care how it impacted the customer experience. Even if we hit the goals it's never enough.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I managed a GNC for a while and it is funny how many of these things sound exactly the same. Especially the part about cutting hours and having to play manager/sales associate all day while being told you can't shut the store down to use the restroom.
Yep. You aren't allowed to lock the door and put up a sign that says be right back. So you have to hold it. Insanity my friend. Looking back now there were so many things that were just wrong. I did however make life-long friends so thats a big win.
Thank you for wacthing and commenting
I completely understand what you are talking about. This isn’t just a problem with GameStop but a problem with retail industry as a whole. The biggest issue in my opinion is upper management and (as you mentioned) unrealistic expectations from people that HAVE NEVER WORKED RETAIL IN THEIR LIFE. These stores will continue to suffer and be understaffed until these companies do better.
And Upper Managment that knows nothing about the game industry nor do they care. And the fact that we as store managers do know about the gaming industry matters little to nothing to them. Fact is the longer you work there, the worse you are treated. They will eventually try and push you out as I've seen happen many times there.
Thank you for watching!
I went through the same situation with bjs tires while being the service supervisor. Best thing I ever did was to walk out mid shift
And now I'm sure you're in a better place for it. Thank you for commenting!
Great video. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for watching and commenting :)
Can I just say as a former gamestop employee who only did 2 years I think your story literally hurt my heart. I worked with a manager who would literally get mad if I was in a good mood seriously would prefer it if I was miserable but at the time I had such a happy go lucky attitude it didn’t get to me but eventually I just wanted more money.
Ya there is no future there beyond Managment. Sounds like your Manager was just miserable and wanted everyone else to be just as miserable. I'm glad it didn't break your spirits! Thanks for commenting!
@@JayBartlett1975 Yeah it was a tough situation honestly and I'm glad I did it for a short period when I was young and it didn't bother me as much. We need to expose Gamestop because in my opinion not only do they treat their employees like crap they dont sell most games for a good price.
Thanks for sharing. It’s simple really, the margins were so low they had to find incremental income through scummy sales tactics and it all fell on the shoulders of store employees.
100%
Selling warranties on 360 made sense. Fast forward 10 years and the same warranty for Switch games makes ZERO sense and yet we had an even higher goal then.
I get the margins are low on new releases but giving more on trades and selling used games a little cheaper would have made up for that.
Plus I brought the idea of Retro Games to my boss and was told there isn't room and it would never work....
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@ whenever you get down about your time there just know you made so many customers like myself happy with your personal recommendations, advice etc. so it wasn’t all for nothing my friend.
Sometimes management thinks they have to be correcting things (you) at all times. I was an officer in the military and a civilian police officer. The best leaders take care of their ppl and then their ppl take care of them; make them stakeholders and show them appreciation.
Agreed 100%
Our DM/AM didn't care about any of us, just numbers and that was pretty clear right off the hop.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Advance Auto Parts was the same way. I lasted 6 years there. Very sad what it could have been had management valued the employees feedback. Im now a real estate investor.
Well you're in a better spot I'm sure. I am glad for some of it because therre were many valuble life lessons learned from this job.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Anybody remember FuncoLand?
We never had that in Canada but I remember hearing about it alot. Thank you for watching!
Great topic. The sad thing is to go to the corporate machine. Everyone is just a cog. You can ans will be easily replaced..
Thank you! And to what you said, all true. it took me a long time to come to this, but I finally did. I know most retial is like this, but Gamestop was for me was hell. Especially the last five years. They do not care about their staff at all. At least in my district.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Burlington In Deptford ,NJ, worked as a perfect employee till I was just not given hours anymore which means “your out “ to avoid unemployment , but I got a massive $500! A week job teaching aide job so f**k Burlington !
Well you're way better off for sure. And yes that tactic is complete garbage that they use to get people out. They starve you.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I had about 13 years with GameStop as a manager. I had flashbacks with you saying everything I saw while working there. Truly toxic corporate culture. Thankfully I was out of there in 2016. Keep up the good work.
I'm sorry you went through the same exact thing. But you're out so that's a plus. Many a life lesson was learned for both of us I'm sure, thanks for watching and commenting
Don't worry Jay. I'm sure the day will come when Gamestop finally goes out of business it's already approaching. Companies like that don't deserve what they have its time they get what's coming to them.
I don't wish Ill on anyone. They are who they are and from what I've heard from everyone it's not just my experience. It's the whole company. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Omfg those stats we need to maintain daily. It's so uncomfortable for me to continue trying to convince someone to get a warranty when they already said no twice. I hate it but I have to do it.
Ya they told us to do that as well. You can tell when a customer is not comfortable with the sales tactics. Especially when they don't need a warranty on a Nintendo Switch game. Trade in values that are horrible and turn around and sell it for 10 under a new copy. Awful.
Thank you for watching and commenting
I really appreciate you sharing your story, very unfortunate to finally get a job about something you love , most people don't get that chance to be paid to do something they love. Glad you got out. I've never worked retail but i totally understand the BS you have to deal with from upper management and customers on a daily basis.
So Jay what are you doing currently for work?
Hey mate thank you for watching and commenting! I'm a fulltime RUclipsr.
@@JayBartlett1975 not a problem you're welcome
I feel you on this, my 1st job was working at a supermarket making minimum wage and I hated it b/c they treated me like c%#*p at times I was only there part-time and they didn't like that I worked on the weekends, and went to college and after working there 4 years I didn't put my 2 weeks notice I told them that I'm worth more and told them to f#*k themselves!! Ultimately it comes down to really owning your own business, the corporate world has always been bad and it's only getting worse. I want to start an online business, buy my dream home, and travel the world.
I can't believe that all business are like this, I just can't. I don't believe that all corporations are evil or anything like that. That being said my experience here was not fun and very damaging to my mental health. I'm sorry that you too had a terrible experience mate. I appreiciate you sharing
Unfortunately like 90% or more jobs are like that, it's hard to find a job that will be legit. That was my 1st job so I wasn't planning on staying there. Where do you work now?
Your experience was like mine with Hollywood Video back in 2005. Upsell packages left and right. DVD rentals were $4.25 each but I had to upsell a $19.99 a month unlimited deal where you can get 3 movies at a time. But you still had late fees. People thought of it like a subscription service where you don't have late fees and they would return to the store and browse movies and I had to be the bad guy and say they owed money...... On movies they rented for free as part of the club! And my manager knew, HE HAD TO KNOW how dumb this was but he had to be a company man and support it and make us feel like idiots for questioning this stupid thing
At the end of the day it's all about the money and I get that part of it, I do. However when there are practises that no longer make sense and you make your staff still have to follow them, that's when things go off the rails.
Eg. Warranties on Switch games.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Not a retail story. But I worked as a 3D artist at a Disney satellite studio for 2 years (not nearly as long as your experience at GS). I worked my ass off for them, did a ton of overtime and trained a bunch of new hires. When I put in my 2 weeks notice, instead of getting a thank you card or even an email saying we appreciate your time here; they sent me an email asking me to 'review my offboarding experience'.
Ironically enough there was no offboarding experience lol I just got an email from HR saying: 'Okay' after I submitted my notice.
At least my lead and coworkers gave me a nice sendoff, but to be honest with you I'm not surprised at all at how the company handled it. Those places are revolving doors.
That is really sad. Doesn't make you feel so empty, like it was all for nothing. By them not having that element that makes you human. Appreiciate you sharing
In my 20s I worked at a little video store. It was great. I got laid off.
About a year later, I was hired at Blockbuster. I was doing so well, that they would ask more and more from me. I did whatever they asked. But it became harder and harder to go to work. Off at Midnight, back at 8am. 10, or more days in a row. Laughable raises. I ended up having to quit. I had nothing left. I've had a lot of years of crippling depression and anxiety. I thought it was my failure. That I wasn't strong enough to work effectively.
Fast forward 20 years: I know more about neural divergence today. I no longer think it's my fault. Masking, and burnout are typical coping skills used by those who struggle to be social.
I'm sorry you had problems with your dream job. I understand the pressure, corporate indifference, and the toll on the body and mind. Thanks for sharing.
It wasn't you mate. I too got laughable raises and the last four years I got no raises what so ever. We were always meant to feel like we were wrong and failing. That really damages you over time. I see now that I didn't fail, I wasn't set up to win and had zero support. My ideas were brushed off and I was never listened to.
Thanks for watching mate and sharing your Blockbuster story
I worked at GameStop for 4 years(2007-2011). One of my worst Job.
It's too bad. Didn't start that way that's for sure
@@x2SiCcx I started around 2008 and was there for maybe 3 years. Working there was okay but the pay was bad. The only thing that made it fun sometimes was certain employees that were cool and fun to work with. But once new people came in and replaced good people who left, the place was not the same. When it got to the point that they would not even give me hours for the week I took the hint and left.
The bean counters at corporate office always ruin everything. Thanks for sharing Jay!
Thank you for watching!
I haven't shopped at gamestop in a very long time. I think the last time I was so invested in physical games was the ps3 era getting games and going mid night launches, but man the whole do you want to pre order or buy membership is very annoying, well and behold I shopped at target for a long time for physical games I was looking to get, and well, you see I was looking to get my daughter some physical games for her ninte do switch and went to gamestop, and instantly reminded me why I stopped shopping there, and why am I here moment. The guy was pushing for pre orders, membership buying etc. I almost just walked out until he finally rang Me up
They are pushing you for those things because that's the job. Believe me Nobody that works there wants to do that, but it's the job. High pressure sales for sure and if you don't keep up the company average you are looking at a possible write up. This I'm sure is most retail but at Gamestop it seemed darker for some reason. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment.
I work a software job and I realize the company makes me feel the same way. They just beat you down and expect more.
Ya it's too bad. It doesn't have to be like this but sadly where I was, was like that.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
Awesome room setup🫡
Thank you so much!
Is there a reason why their online inventory doesn't match their in store inventory? It's so annoying trying to find specific games at gamestop.
Not sure. I know it doesn't update riight away that might have something to do with it
I worked at Gamestop in 2004-2005, so I was there when they acquired EB Games. I got fired because I left the store on my ten minute break. Well, that was the official reason, anyway, but the real reason was because I wasn't selling enough pre-orders. The highlight for me was probably Xmas season of '04 when the "schedule templates" only allowed for two people to work on December 26th, otherwise known as the busiest day for returns all year. I sent an email to corporate about that one and actually did get a reply with a half-assed apology a day or two later, but by then it was too late. They didn't care because they weren't the ones who had to deal with it.
The glory days before Gamestop took over. In Canada it was a slow prossess converting over. But you could tell, it felt different even though our Canadian head office fouoght to keep the EB Games name as long as they could.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@JayBartlett1975 That was actually my second stint with the company; my first was in 1998 when they were still Babbage's/Software Etc. It was a much better place to work back then, but even so, the cracks were starting to appear - as you point out in the video, you could never do anything right or anything to satisfy your corporate overlords. No matter how many things you were doing well (sales, pre-orders, inventory control, cash control, scheduling, etc.), they would always find one thing to complain about and hyper focus on that, and if you weren't struggling at any one thing in particular, they'd just make something up. And then they'd wonder why morale was so low. I left that time after we were told that we had to work an extra day per week during the Xmas season because they "said so," even though we had plenty of coverage due to the extra help we hired for the holiday season. I guess they didn't realize that "because we said so" isn't an actual reason. That doesn't even work on little kids.
I had a microplay in my home town and we also had a westcoast video. All before gamestop and blockbuster.
Yes when EB came to town that's when Microplay's start going away. However, tthey also became more tthan just video games annd I think that hurt them overall
I miss EB games! EB games was on the next level. Microplay still lives in Ottawa btw. Two locations
You still have a full Micropplay! Oh wow thats awesome. One of my first jobs and I loved it. I miss old EB as well. The company use to be so different.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I've noticed i went to gamestop this past weekend. Just to see what has changed and WOW pretty much toys and merchandise. XBOX had only a stand in the walkway not even on the wall I was unfortunately disappointed and walked out lol
They're trying to sell everything now, its a shame. Thanks for watching!