Why is Gamestop so sexist?

[Glorious Raven]

I have to say, I've never had any kind of a sexist issue with the employees at any GameStop I've been to. They've all been really helpful to me, and in the last one I was in, the cashier and I got into a conversation about Tales of games. I've never received strange looks because I'm a female gamer walking in to look at games.

The other part of this topic that popped up, I'm not going to comment on other than to say sometimes the way people look at things amazes me.

[Merlin]

Gamestop has the same problem that Best Buy, Radio Shack, WalMart, K-Mart, and other brick-and-mortar stores have... the application "test" they give you is specifically designed to weed out decent people and leave only the trash. The majority of people left are assholes and douche-nozzles. Occasionally you luck out and a decent person squeaks by. The people that work at Gamestop are not indicative of the gaming community, nor are guilds in games where you are added based off of who you know, who's ass you kissed, or how many times you flash your pixelated boobs.

I pretty much abstain from going into stores anymore unless I absolutely have to. The people that work there and the customers alike are equally stupid. I can't even walk into a store without at least three people walking up to me and asking for help with something. I find that more offensive than the people who work there. Go ask the jackass leaning on the pole not doing his job with the tag that says "How may I help you?" on it? It isn't that they are asking me for help rather than the people that work there... I don't mind helping people if I'm not in a hurry. What I have a problem with is that after I respond to them they ALL say the same thing "Oh I thought you worked here". Why... is it because I'm a white male in my 20s? OBVIOUSLY I work there even though I'm not even wearing anything that resembles the uniform for that store.

[LocoColt04]

Perhaps a slight segue, but try walking into Target with a red shirt. Doesn't matter what your gender or age is, you'll run into exactly the issue Merlin described.


edit:
Also,

see? now 50% women is just a misrepresentation of the girl gamer community, makes me just think that girls are hired on purpose to overcompensate for possible sexism.To me its just fighting ignorance with more ignorance.

I can't sit here and say that isn't the case everywhere, because I've met my share of skeevy managers in the past. The ones who hire girls for sex appeal and such... they do exist. I'm not for a moment going to tell you that they don't. However, the example I gave above explicitly references some of the stores I've worked at; at one location, the entire management has become female since I left, and most of the staff is female as well. They ALL play games - and not just World of Warcraft. Just because YOUR community doesn't have a lot of girl gamers doesn't mean that EVERY community doesn't.

The sexism comes even more from the customers than it does from the staff. When I used to work there, I would have people wait in line to ask me questions instead of going to the more-than-capable person next to me. I remember one instance when my boss of that era asked a group of teenage boys if they needed help, and they said they were waiting to ask me a question. She offered to answer it, but they declined. When I was done with the customers I was helping, they started asking me a whole bunch of questions about the 360 (which I didn't yet own) and I promptly redirected them to the woman who would be better suited to answer their questions.

Could I have helped them? Sure. But I wanted to make the point that the woman over there was just as capable, if not moreso.

[loaf]

It's the policy for most of those stores (like Best Buy) to have their employees ask you if you need help every time they see you. My sister's husband used to work for some retail store in Northern California and every time he walked by a customer, being the same customer he just walked by and asked if they needed help, he had to ask them again if they needed help. Why? Company policy and they want to make sure every customer gets helped. They call it good Customer Service and honestly, it's what keeps Best Buy above Wal Mart in terms of technology. I hate Best Buy, I hated working for them, but my job was cool. (Warehouse) I just dealt with the bullshit managers and supervisors. (my manager was cool).

[Imposter]

Maybe they are just trying to pick up Merlin?

Anyways clearly customer service isn't a real priority anymore and thus online shopping has become so great. I'm currently residing in the states and have only traveled into gamestop a few times. I'm not a huge fan of them, I don't think they are of me either. I mean I do my best to make them work for their $9.30/hr wage and they treat me with some pretty disrespectful tones. I'm with you all though, screw the stores!

Except maybe Target, dang they have some nice coloured clothes.

[Merlin]

Oh yeah, if you wear any shade of red into Target, you become a target. Same with Best Buy and the rest. I typically avoid wearing whatever color scheme the uniforms are for a business to avoid that, but in my case, it doesn't seem to alleviate the problem. Luckily the employees don't think I work there. That'd be even worse. What if they started asking me to do random shit in a store because they think I work there?

edit: And no they aren't trying to pick me up... or if they are, not a damned one of them is even semi-attractive. Same goes for the fact that I get a shitload of people claiming that I went to his or her high school. All Wal*mart fugly. I think you know what I mean... ^^

[loaf]

Atma, you have no idea how important customer service is these days. That is why people go to places like Best Buy so they can get the customer service they look for because they don't know what they are looking for. Yes of course for people like you and me who know what we want, don't need to waste time going into a store to buy it if we can get it online. For the people who don't use the internet, don't like using their credit/debit card online, they go to the store to get the interaction they want/need to get what they want.

You'd be surprised how many people show up to Best Buy because nobody helped them at Wal Mart or Target. Because they didn't have their employees with a 30 second rule or asking every customer they see if they need help. If those customers just wanted to walk in, buy it without any knowledge, they go to Wal Mart or sometimes Target (depends how unlucky or lucky you are).

[Victoria]

@Loaf - Actually they do call it good customer service, but the real reason why they're all up in your face like that is to deter theft. Cause if they leave the impression that they're always watching you, you wouldn't want to steal in the store if you could help it.

On the flip side, if there's hardly any customer service like that and they're all left to their own devices, they'll feel more comfortable stealing shit.

[loaf]

I know they call it Customer Service...I said that lol.

It was slightly different at my store. They called it Care Plus. I only used it for the people we thought was stealing. The store I worked at had other methods for people who we thought were stealing, not just a simple, "Hi do you need help with anything?".

[Merlin]

Ah, no wonder nobody ever asks me if I need help in a store. I don't fit their "profile" of who they think is stealing. But seriously, the only places I get asked for help in is Blockbuster and Gamestop when I get to the counter, and they really aren't asking if I need help. They are trying to sell me shit I didn't ask for. Of course, I don't need help in stores anyway. I always know exactly what I need, what store it is located at, and where in the store it is before I even walk in the door. I hate being in stores so I spend the least amount of time I possibly can in them. Some things are hard to get online, like shoes. Shoe sizes are a guesstimate at best. I don't want to order something and have to ship it back because it doesn't fit. Plus I wouldn't know if the size above or below is a good fit. I rule out a lot of shoes because the next size up or down is just as wrong. But I digress... I still have a use for brick and mortar stores... I just hate going there.

[GypsyElder]

wow 69 replies. lol 69. I'm so behind, I can't even keep up with my own topic.

But yeah. During work, we were encouraged to smother people who were acting sketchy, but our store was tiny and last time I checked there was like 1006 something... lost units ie shit stolen.

But anyway this reminds me of how I went to Ralphs the other day at like 8 am with a friend and we were literally getting stalked by a manager or some guy who worked there (he had a tag and a tie). We started playing hide and seek with him through the sections to see if he was indeed following us. We stopped at the head of a shelf to get out of his vision, and as soon as he lost sight of us he came running down the isle like a moron.

I asked him " um yeah is there a reason whyy you're following us or what?"

and he was like "Oh well I saw the young lady put something in her bag bjdgwidkidwiqqt"

So I let him peek through my bag. It's like if you're gonna be sneaky and spy on me how about being a little more smart about it. I would have gladly saved him the workout had he just asked.

[loaf]

Whenever I go into any Best Buy these days, I honestly don't get stopped by anybody. Maybe it's because my old store knows me and doesn't ask? I'm not sure since most of the sales floor people there don't know me or even remember me since I didn't get cool with them then.

But when I go into the other newer store that has no customers in it most of the day. I still don't get stopped, I'd say 1 out of 5 visits I'll be asked if I need help. I go there maybe twice a month at the most.

[GypsyElder]

^ Maybe I just look sketchy

[Angel of Iniquity]

Maybe it also has something to do with the location of the Gamestops? Makes no sense lol
I get gretted with "Hey, how are you doing today"
But then again, they kinda know me. They only ask if I need something if I look confused.