Why I refuse to support my FLGS

[Majoru Oakheart]

I Hate that place.

Yes, I've had a similar experience here with my LGS. There are only 2 in the city.

One is owned by a couple in their 60s. The man is ex-military and has almost no personality. Even when he thinks he is being funny and interesting, he just comes across as creepy. In contrast, his wife if very personable and friendly. I personally believe that they've only stayed in business this long because of her and being one of two stores in the whole city.

Almost every trip to the store for the first couple of years I went there was the same. You get watched the entire time you are there in case you are trying to steal things from him. He makes you leave your bag at the front counter. He then asks you "can I help you?" nearly every 5 minutes you are in the store. His wife hangs around in the back, so you rarely see her. When you ask him anything about the books in the store, he normally knows when he's getting in books and a little of whats in them, but he stopped actually playing games years ago. I believe he hasn't played D&D since before 3rd Ed came out. He has a weekly board game night he plays in, but the business of selling games seems to have replaced playing them for him.

He charges above suggested retail price on ALL books and claims the cost of doing business as the reason he cannot charge the MSRP. I've gotten a bad vibe from him due to the time at a Con where a local gaming group went bankrupt and auctioned off all of the gaming books in their "library" to pay their bills. I was trying to bid on Alternity, which was still in print at the time and I got outbid for the Players book AND DM's book by the owner of the store. I overheard him talking to someone when he was picking up his purchases. They asked "So, you buying all this stuff for yourself?" He said "No, most of it is just going to be resold in my store." I know it's business and all, but it seems that outbidding gamers at a gaming auction so you can sell the same items back to gamers at higher price seems unethical to me.

However, since the gaming commmunity is small here, and he helps to plan all the conventions and games days in the city, he is an icon here. Nearly everyone hates him, but they deal with him anyways. Also, a bunch of my gaming group members are friends of his.

They do have gaming space, however. It just can only be used when the store is open (normal business hours) and only if you let the owner know you need it way in advance so he can see if he'll let you use it.

The other store in the city is entirely staffed by high school kids who don't know anything at all about any of the books on the shelf. The owner is never around and until recently, I didn't even KNOW who owned it. I now know because someone I know bought it. I haven't been there since, so I don't know if it changed. However, they generally had nothing in stock and still managed to charge MORE than the above mentioned store. The store was sold because it was close to being bankrupt. They have only 2 gaming tables and they are in the middle of the store.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) When I need something NOW- I know I can call and have it within an hour.

If I were to call my local game store, assuming the guy that normally works there actually bothered to answer the phone, I can guarantee that his response would not be helpful.

Sorry- that was an incomplete thought. What I meant was I can call around to see if its in stock and proabably have it within an hour.

And, like I said before- I'm not asking that you support crappy stores, just that you consider more than just price- which you obviously do. You should ALWAYS exercise your power as a consumer to take your $$$ elswhere if you're not getting good service in any form.

However, here's a little advice from someone who does a lot of consumer advocacy:

1) If you're going to stop shopping at a particular store because of the way employees treat you, let the manager and/or owner know, either in person or in writing. That person may not realize what's going on out of his line of vision. You may even walk away with freebies. I know of 3 people in the last year who have gotten hundreds of dollars in free groceries because of inexcusably rude checkers- and I mean as in "F**k you- I don't get paid to bag your Diet Cokes" rude. I've had $$$ meals comped because of rude waiters, and $$$$ knocked off the price of something VERY expensive...

and in each case, the employee got fired.

And if the person who is a jerk is the person who manages/owns the store, you lose nothing by telling him off in public- you're not planning on coming back.

You have no idea how many other people have had shoddy service...

2) Tell your friends what happened and why. Word of mouth is the #1 form of advertising and publicity for most small businesses. A study has shown that happy customers tell 3 people about good service- but unhappy ones tell more than 20.

Here in Dallas, negative word of mouth got a Bentley dealership closed after they thought a "cowboy" was kidding when he ordered a particular model. When it wasn't ready on the appointed date, that "cowboy"-who happened to own 12 area banks- told ALL of his friends. 1 year later, that dealership closed.

And as for LA...I have long suspected it wasn't exactly gamer heaven. There's just too much else to do as far as entertainment goes.

When M:TG started up, I was living in Austin, I bought cards at Dragon's Lair, Austin Books and Comics and at King's Hobbies, as well as at Lone Star Comics in Dallas when I visited home. King's Hobbies would ROUTINELY have M:TG cards MONTHS after the other locations had sold out.

KH's secret? They had a long standing partnership with a game store in LA that had ordered MASSIVE amounts of cards...and couldn't sell them. KH bought them cut rate, shipped them and sold them. And, apparently, that wasn't all he bought from that store, though I never found out what else in there had CA ties.

 

[Jim Hague]

2.) The owners of these stores are not the only ones that have to buy food and pay bills. $35-$40 dollars is very costly for a single book. I'd rather not be faced with the choice of buying either groceries or a game book.

To resurrect an old saw - your inability to afford a luxury does not mean it's overpriced.

3.) Although I don't know how the taxes argument arose since it wasn't in my post, I've never disputed the hidden costs of running a business. However, hardworking consumers also pay taxes. I lose over 28% of my income in taxes every year, further limiting my purchasing power. Hence, I am not very sympathetic towards this point in your argument.

See above.

4.) I've easily spent thousands of dollars at local shops in the past because I believe in supporting the local economy. I just cannot afford to do it anymore. I don't make a lot of money and I simply have too much debt to shop at a non-competitive, not to mention unfriendly, shop. My budget is simply too tight. When I can afford to be more free with my income, I will.

Again, see above. That your shop is unfriendly is simply bad icing on this particular cake.

-The fact that you and others here, want gaming consumers to recognize the plight of
struggling small businesses is laudable. Just don't forget the fact that many of the people you are trying to convice are struggling to make ends meet as well.

And again...see above. I've got a lot of sympathy for the people who don't have FLGSes in their area, mostly because the one here rocks on toast. But the argument that you cannot afford a product, so it must be overpriced is paralogic at best. Plus, the rising cost of games reflects the rising cost of production. I realize that you likely have little idea of how few people actually profit from the work they do to deliver that product to your door, be it via the FLGS or an online retailer, bugt I think it might be educational to do some research on the topic.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

To resurrect an old saw - your inability to afford a luxury does not mean it's overpriced.

Except that he *can* afford the product. The "luxury" he can't afford is the local gaming store.

 

[woodelf]

If people feel that saving money by buying online is worth more than what their LGS offers, how can they be faulted? Remember, the customer is always right.

Is the customer right even when she makes a decision against her own [self-declared] best interests, due to ignorance or misunderstanding?

[There is precedent for that: shopping at the place that undercuts the prices of a business that gives you better service in some other way, and that other business closes up due to lost sales. For that matter, it's basically the whole point of the book What's the Matter with Kansas?, which looks at why some of the staunchest supporters of the Republican party are some of those most hurt by their policies.]

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Is the customer right even when she makes a decision against her own [self-declared] best interests, due to ignorance or misunderstanding?

I'm biased, having worked in retail sales. I will say without hesitation that the customer is most often not fully informed. And when so, the customer is not right.

[... For that matter, it's basically the whole point of the book What's the Matter with Kansas?, which looks at why some of the staunchest supporters of the Republican party are some of those most hurt by their policies.]

True, but that book had a pretty shallow and superficial analysis of the mindset of the "subjects" and the "outcome" of the policies.

 

[Rykion]

I know it's business and all, but it seems that outbidding gamers at a gaming auction so you can sell the same items back to gamers at higher price seems unethical to me.

The store you describe definitely sounds like one not worth supporting. The practice of buying goods at auction for resale is pretty common. Most used car dealers, flea markets, and many antique/curio stores get some or all of their goods for sale in this manner. There really isn't anything unethical about it unless the goods are not sold as "used" if they happen to be.

 

[Jim Hague]

Except that he *can* afford the product. The "luxury" he can't afford is the local gaming store.

Sorry, but no. Complaining about the store has very little to do with the prices that store sets. Aside from one shop out of the dozens I've been to through the years, every LGS I've been in has sold at or below MSRP. If you're having to choose between a gaming product and groceries, you need to reprioritize.

And having worked many a customer service job...the customer is most assuredly not always right. Ask anyone who's worked in returns or tech support. Often the customer feels entitled to be rude, selfish, lazy and unreasonable...none of which fits any definition of 'right' I'm familiar with. The customer can be right, but as in so many things, only if they bother to be informed.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

And having worked many a customer service job...the customer is most assuredly not always right. Ask anyone who's worked in returns or tech support. Often the customer feels entitled to be rude, selfish, lazy and unreasonable...none of which fits any definition of 'right' I'm familiar with. The customer can be right, but as in so many things, only if they bother to be informed.

Oh, how true. I could give examples of ungrateful wretches all day, but that would be bad.

Personally, I think that buying something online is cheating. To me, shopping is when you go to a store and look for what you want, not when you go to a web site and put in your credit card number and they deliver it to you. The only time I buy anything online is when I absolutely cannot find it in a physical store that I have access to, or if I know for a fact that I wouldn't be able to find it if I did look. This, of course, is my opinion, and other peoples' mileage can vary.

I really like my FLGS, Dream Wizards, in Rockville, MD. They stock Shadowrun, Battletech, and Exalted books, which my Barnes & Noble never will, and they're pretty much guaranteed to have the new WotC stuff in the day it comes out. That they're on my way home from work is just gravy. Their store is bright, clean, and doesn't smell, unlike some others I could rant about (cough*Compleat Strategist*cough). The staff, while not gregariously friendly, is reasonably helpful, and they recognize me and my friends. Heck, I don't even mind the "uphill both ways" walk to get there from the Metro station, since I can use the exercise.

I'm also fond of Comic Quest, in Evansville, IN (which is where I fly to go visit my parents). Every time I'm home, I make sure and purchase something there.

Brad

 

[Tatsukun]

Ok, another Tatsukun example-

Well, you know, people have always wanted to communicate with loved ones living far away. Originally, they had to actually go visit. It took a long time, and was expensive. Then, somebody had the idea that everyone could write what they wanted to say down, and one guy could to the traveling. It was called writing a letter. It was pretty cheap, but it still took a long time. Visiting took a big downturn as people wrote more letters. People only traveled if it was important, and not usually more than a few times a year.

Then, somebody had the idea of transmitting those letters over telegraph lines. It was pretty cheap, and instant. Suddenly nobody wrote letters for things that had to be sent quickly. For basic things, writing a letter (now called mail) was still fine because it was cheaper and you could send anything (like items).

Next, somebody made the phone, which was somewhat cheap, instant, and of great quality. Quickly, the telegraph was dead. Mail still hung around because it had changed into package delivery. Visiting still hung in there, but only for important things.
…..
So how many of you send telegraphs? Phones are cheaper, better quality, and much more convenient. How many people still write letters? Email is cheaper, faster, and just as good.

Now, of course, these are all broad generalizations. There are plenty of exceptions for all these statements. But, in general, they are true IMO.

So, should we hold a fund raising event to save the struggling telegraph operators who are being squeezed out by these huge phone companies?

No.

Starting a business is a kind of social contract, offered by the proprietor, and (hopefully) accepted by the customers. If I start an orange selling shop on main street USA, I am offering a contract…

I will…
Come to my shop a lot of hours in a week, and work hard at making it a good place
Provide oranges to people whenever they want them

The customer will
Give me enough money that I can pay my bills, and survive.

If the amount of money I need to live is below the amount of money people are willing to give me for the oranges, I can survive. If it isn’t, I can’t survive.

Online retailers are not evil. They just are more efficient. They need to be given less money to survive, so they can offer lower prices.

Saying that you should support a LGS simply because it is local, and small, is like a local shop putting a sign in the window saying “I have five sick children, please give me money”. That’s charity. Charity is fine, but it’s not business.

That said, if you can offer somehow better oranges, or dare I mix clichés, apples. You can survive. It sounds like Dristram’s shop is offering the proverbial apples. The question is, are you willing to pay enough money to keep him alive for the apples he is offering? I hope people are, it sounds like a nice shop. If I lived near him, I would probably buy his apples.

I hope this made sense, I’m pretty tired right now.

-Tatsu