Getting it was a pain though, and that's where the ARRRRGH! comes in.
Before I get into my rant, I did want to say that so far the book is great. New Hive Fleets are detailed, the new units are very cool (Death Leaper! Old One Eye! Utini!) and the army list as a whole is definately a better fit with the new 5th edition rule set. It will do my old heart good to see The Great Devourer charging across the field again and making life extremely uncomfortable for Curtis and his lousy Tau or Sisters of Battle!
Anyways, onto my gripes.
Our only local game store is not generally a 40k store from my understanding so I'm not faulting them on being able to provide the new book. It's more of a service issue.
Around 1 today I called them to see if they had it on hand. Their website said it was present but of course the web is not exactly known for it's accuracy so I called them to make sure.
The kid on the phone was less than helpful. The whole conversation seemed very much like he was doing his best to get off the phone as quickly as possible. The question was very simple, "Do you have the new Tyranid Codex?"
"What's a codex, is that like a card game or something?"
To be fair, calling a book a codex is extremely confusing I'm sure. Websters Dictionary defines Codex as "a manuscript or book especially of Scripture, classics or ancient annals" but I can't expect that to be common knowledge. He might've looked at his pile of manuscripts, Scriptures or ancient annals and not seen it so that's probably not his fault.
So I told him it was a new Games Workshop book and spelled Tyranids for him. He very quickly said they didn't have it and he'd never heard of it and then hung up.
I swear I'm going to invent a device one day that allows me to stab people through the phone.
Part of my frustration is that I called again after 5, spoke to a differant person who assured me they did have it on hand and when I arrived they had 3 to 5 copies on display directly in front of the register which is located conveniently next to the phone. I didn't see any Scriptures so they must have sold out before I got there. I missed this guys name but he at least was more helpful, though when I spoke to him about the kid on the phone from earlier all he said was "Maybe we didn't have it in then."
The second part of my frustrations is that I've been treated poorly by this store before. I can't say it was the same kid but the last time I went in there I had taken my son with me. At the time he was roughly 4 so of course young children tend to touch things. He had his hands on their glass case and the person on hand snapped at him and then gave me the stink eye.
I work retail so I get that occasionally an employee is not willing or able to provide a reasonable level of customer service for a variety of reasons and I'd have been willing to leave and never shop there again if this had been directed solely at me. However it was directed at my son and that's where I take issue. In my experience, taking a customer aside and politely asking them to reign in their child is perfectly acceptable. In fact, one time at Gaming Experience that same son of mine spilled a paint pot and the staff on hand were very forgiving, even trying to refuse my payment for the wasted paint. I paid it anyways but they were kind about it whereas this kid was unpleasent.
I will gladly control my children if they are out of hand, it is not your job as an employee to do it for me. That being said, the kids are very young and Windex exists for a reason.
It makes me feel bad since this location is basically the only tabletop game store left in town. Also I've met two of the owners, one at Gaming Experience during it's proposed takeover and the other at a local comic book convention and both of these individuals were very pleasent and I would love to shop with them specifically. As for shopping them in the future, I don't know. If I do, and don't just skip straight to online ordering, I'm not going to do it anytime I call and get the same employee or physically visit the store and receive equivilant treatment directed at myself or my kids.
I'm not asking to have my ass kissed when I walk through the door, I'm not even asking to be greeted (which is a requirement in my business) but I am asking that employees remember where their paycheck ultimately comes from. Businesses like these ride that razor thin margin and creating an environment that is unpleasent and unprofessional is a great way to reduce that margin very quickly.
Again, the two owners I've met where great and if they are on hand running the shop I'd be glad to shop with them. The person on hand this evening, after 5 or so, was acceptable and I'd shop with him as well. Whoever was on hand earlier in the day would've cost them the sale and will Not get my business should I visit at a time he is present.
And since this whole thing is supposed to be about me painting stuff, I got three ork wartrakks finished and two ork old-skool trukks done so those pics will go up soon. After this I'm thinking I may need to build my Hive Tyrant into a Swarmlord since he's basically death on toast.
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