gaming The Nicest Gamestop Employee I Ever Met Got Fired

[Sectus 246]

Used copy or no, I completely side with the boss. As nice as it is that he did that for you, it wasn't his stuff to be giving away. That's $60 worth of merchandise out the window, so I'm surprised legal action wasn't taken against the employee, as what he did is pretty much stealing. 

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,301]

I guess I got me a diamond among turds, if people on the internet are right about how poor Gamestop really is...

That's a beautiful analogy. xD

 

I remember that, at one point, Gamestop was misinforming people about how to transfer from one 3DS system to another.  "Oh, you just swap out the SD card; easy as that."  Except, if you did JUST that, none of the licenses for the who-knows-how-many games you might've purchased would transfer over.  Meaning that you couldn't play the games on the target system OR re-download titles to it; licenses are associated with the console itself rather than the user / account.  If you were too quick to format and / or trade in a not-properly-transferred system, you'd lose all your digital software.

[Gestum 2,493]

 

 

Gamestop is founded on stealing from their customers.  Depending on the freebie used game C. Star got, Gamestop might've purchased it for as low as a few dollars.

It still isn't right to steal from them.

 

 

they fired an employee who made a customer happy and managed to sell a brand new console. 

 They fired a thief. If you had a company would you let your employees steal things from it?

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,301]

Used copy or no, I completely side with the boss. As nice as it is that he did that for you, it wasn't his stuff to be giving away. That's $60 worth of merchandise out the window, so I'm surprised legal action wasn't taken against the employee, as what he did is pretty much stealing. 

A used game at Gamestop isn't $60 worth of merchandise.  It's an item they bought for a pittance from someone who didn't want the game anymore.  And, as stated in the OP, that employee sold a new console to C. Star.  *Weighs new console sale against giving away a free game that cost Gamestop far less than the original price.*  Hmm.

 

Let's say a customer buys a new game at the standard $60 price point.  Sixty bucks in Gamestop's pocket.  Let's say he decides that game sucks, but the trade in value is a whopping $12.  That's $48 still in Gamestop's pocket.  (Though the customer probably just gets store credit anyhow.  So they have to spend it AT Gamestop, regardless.)  Let's say that used game gets thrown in on a console deal.  That's $12 out the window that there was no guarantee of getting back anyhow...  Oh, and the cost of the console that was just sold.

 

In Gamestop's pocket.

It still isn't right to steal from them.

 

 

 They fired a thief. If you had a company would you let your employees steal things from it?

 

If I had a company I hope I'd have sense enough to differentiate between shoplifting and doing something to benefit a customer.  And sense enough, too, to know a well-meaning employee (who inspires customer confidence) when I see one.

 

Also, thieves generally don't turn around and tell someone they stole from them.  And then accept whatever punishment comes their way.

[Gestum 2,493]

 

 

If I had a company I hope I'd have sense enough to differentiate between shoplifting and doing something to benefit a customer.

 It doesn't matter if stealing something benefits a customer or not. It's still stealing. Would it be okay for me to shoplift an item if I gave it to someone who would benefit from it? 

 

 

 

Also, thieves generally don't turn around and tell someone they stole from them.  And then accept whatever punishment comes their way.

Don't see what that has to do with anything, but some do. Not many but still.

[J.R. 3,183]

That guy's pretty much a new age 'Good Samaritan'.

[Revy 184]

Never said it was right for him to do so, but he was sincere and even showed me the disc itself. He was a nice guy and kept his promise, he did apologize to the manager before he left. Its not like i wanted him to replace it like that. But he just kept insisting i take it, I just didn't know what to do so it wouldn't make it look like i was rude.

 

 

I knew it wasn't right, but come on, when i guy has been sincerely nice to you; how would you not?

 

I'd probably use my common sense and not take stolen goods to be honest.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,301]

 It doesn't matter if stealing something benefits a customer or not. It's still stealing. Would it be okay for me to shoplift an item if I gave it to someone who would benefit from it? 

 

 

Don't see what that has to do with anything, but some do. Not many but still.

Provided that you also turn around and give the store hundreds of dollars they wouldn't have normally received (and in exchange for something they might never have sold / likely paid almost nothing for).  And admit that you stole.  And are held accountable.  You'd be the most considerate shoplifter ever.  What the employee did wasn't shoplifting.  Shoplifting benefits the shoplifter, provides nothing to the store, and is done furtively so as to avoid the consequences.

 

The employee isn't actually a thief.  Had they taken the value of the game out of his paycheck, they wouldn't have lost so much as a dime from the transaction.  They might've potentially hurt their business in the long run over something they got for a song; totally ignoring the far-more-significant sale that was made.  People characterizing the employee's actions as theft see them only in black and white; the real world is filled with grays.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Ziggy and Angelbaby

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

Provided that you also turn around and give the store hundreds of dollars they wouldn't have normally received (and in exchange for something they might never have sold / likely paid almost nothing for).  And admit that you stole.  And are held accountable.  You'd be the most considerate shoplifter ever.  What the employee did wasn't shoplifting.  Shoplifting benefits the shoplifter, provides nothing to the store, and is done furtively so as to avoid the consequences.

 

The employee isn't actually a thief.  Had they taken the value of the game out of his paycheck, they wouldn't have lost so much as a dime from the transaction.  They might've potentially hurt their business in the long run over something they got for a song; totally ignoring the far-more-significant sale that was made.  People characterizing the employee's actions as theft see them only in black and white; the real world is filled with grays.

He does have a point, Gestum. You can't expect every employee to act the way you want them to, let them be who they are. I even offered to pay for that game too, but he said no. He has no regrets.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Candy Star

[Revy 184]

Provided that you also turn around and give the store hundreds of dollars they wouldn't have normally received (and in exchange for something they might never have sold / likely paid almost nothing for). And admit that you stole. And are held accountable. You'd be the most considerate shoplifter ever. What the employee did wasn't shoplifting. Shoplifting benefits the shoplifter, provides nothing to the store, and is done furtively so as to avoid the consequences.

 

The employee isn't actually a thief. Had they taken the value of the game out of his paycheck, they wouldn't have lost so much as a dime from the transaction. They might've potentially hurt their business in the long run over something they got for a song; totally ignoring the far-more-significant sale that was made. People characterizing the employee's actions as theft see them only in black and white; the real world is filled with grays.

I think you are still under the impression of this ideal world sense on things. The real world and businesses are hard places and there are lots of people at the moment who would snap at an oppurtunity to work in a Game store. No matter what way you spin it, someone taking someone that in no way belongs to the mand giving it to someone else is stealing, doesnt matter what, why or where, stealing is stealing, as I said earlier if he had taken the game and given it too his best friend the whole situation would suddenly appear worse.

 

I used to work in a supermarket on the checkouts, if someone came too me and said, 'hey my mobile phone is broke, I bought it a year ago and dropped it' and I gave them a new mobile, off the shelf that was worth 60 bucks that IS theft.

 

Companies MUST follow the procedures or they can be fined themselves or taken too court. If games manafactuerers (who have paid the shops too sell their games) found out they were being given away for free that would be wrong on so many levels for the people creating the game, the people making the physical disks / cases etc etc etc.

 

I know MLP teaches 'love and tolerance' etc but that is not the real world, your sense of view on the world is warped as I said earlier by this 'ideal world' morality and it will get you no where.

 

I agree that in the best possible world doing things like that would be acceptable but ONLY if the employee had totally covered the cost for the game himself.

Edited June 17, 2015 by DJ Lockheart

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

Them forcing their employees to act irrationally like that is way beyond stupid, they're not working in a factory; it's a small store. if its used, it's not going to matter, they have plenty of them, they had bucking 50 games just like it in the back room. It will not phase them.

 

This man acted to his own feelings, he didn't act like a robot programmed to do as the boss says. He was honest with me, and never lied. It's high time Gamestop HQ got there heads out of the clouds and start to think clearly. Humans are not your property, they live and eat like you do. You don't force a way of behavior on them. That's like if i told you that you can't  watch MLP anymore; you do what i want. 

Edited June 17, 2015 by Candy Star

[Revy 184]

Them forcing their employees to act irrationally like that is way beyond stupid, they're not working in a factory; it's a small store. if its used, it's not going to matter, they have plenty of them, they had bucking 50 games just like it in the back room. It will not phase them.

 

It doesnt matter if a company made 10 billion a year, stealing something thats not yours is still wrong even if its worth one dollar, your logic would justify anyone stealing from any shop because ''they make loads of money'' and the type that justifies piracy of films / music etc.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,301]

I think you are still under the impression of this ideal world sense on things. The real world and businesses are hard places and there are lots of people at the moment who would snap at an oppurtunity to work in a Game store. No matter what way you spin it, someone taking someone that in no way belongs to the mand giving it to someone else is stealing, doesnt matter what, why or where, stealing is stealing, as I said earlier if he had taken the game and given it too his best friend the whole situation would suddenly appear worse. 

 

I used to work in a supermarket on the checkouts, if someone came too me and said, 'hey my mobile phone is broke, I bought it a year ago and dropped it' and I gave them a new mobile, off the shelf that was worth 60 bucks that IS theft.

It doesn't take an ideal world to have better business sense.  The employee made the store money in the transaction.  Hundreds of dollars.  He didn't keep his actions secret.  The store could've simply taken the maybe $12 dollars out of his paycheck.  Or the full, ridiculous price they were asking for a used game; probably $5 shy of the cost for new.  Though that would be more akin to stealing, in my book.

 

That would also be a completely different situation.  Imagine that you gave them a used phone that the store purchased for a fraction of the cost.  And then convinced them to buy a new laptop (they might not have purchased otherwise).  You made a big ticket sale, inspired customer confidence, and potentially created a repeat customer.  Oh, and then told your employer what you did.

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

It doesnt matter if a company made 10 billion a year, stealing something thats not yours is still wrong even if its worth one dollar, your logic would justify anyone stealing from any shop because ''they make loads of money'' and the type that justifies piracy of films / music etc.

You misunderstood me, DJ. I never said stealing was right, i said the guy had the right mindset. A measly used game won't make one bit of a difference to their budget. I payed them $200.00 for my new xbox, and i think that trade was fair. And how many times have they given away a free game? you buy one, get one free with a console, don't you? I bought a console, but didn't have a game, so he had the right idea.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Candy Star

[Calcomania 43]

Wow. Such crazy Drama!   Makes me appreciate the people that surround me even more O__O    I can't even begin to touch on everything you guys covered here. But my 2 cents:

 

Most of us agree that it's not good to steal.  There's better ways to fix things than to bend rules knowing you will get in trouble.

 

The employee gifting a game that they themselves did not pay for = stealing,  this story would have had a different feel to it had you said something along the lines of : "...After that, you're on your own." He hands uses his employee discount to purchase me another copy of the game. I ask him if he's pulling my leg, he says he's not.

 

OP spoke of this employee as if it were an old friend of theirs,  therefore I only ASSume that the employee was maybe an old school friend etc.   I actually have an IRL friend who acted much like this employee...  my friend cannot hold a job for the love of anything -__-  she's far too willing to bend rules etc, I often fear for him thinking he will end up in the System for something many would consider stupid.

 

For example: When he worked at a board game place he would give random people and friends his employee discount,  he would open games to pull out missing pieces to help people complete their games for which they lost their pieces for, he would exchange and repackage items,  he was caught on camera doing this but the company was already going out of business so he was able to ride it out before they could do anything about it.. SMH

 

then he went to work for Godiva, where he again started repeating similar actions but this time with Chocolates,   instead of melting chocolate that was not up to par with Godiva's standards he would pack them away in a "trash bag"  and at the end of the day take home the trash, he would give random ppl discounts,  clock in late, etc etc... well... he's had MANY jobs from which he has done questionable things,   he is by far one of the most entertaining, fun, adventurous people that I have ever known... but unfortunately he does a lot of these shenanigans and it always worries me that someday someone might press charges for something as silly as "Chocolate thievery"  

 

my friend worked at about 6 other places where he did pretty shady things for the benefit of strangers or friends and that was worrisome to me. 

 

Hopefully your friend isn't the same kind as whom I just spoke of in my mini story, I am happy that you got your broken disk replaced that is quite lucky of you.  

We've lost about 3 games already due to our PS3 breaking down and us having to send it back to Sony for repairs.  Typically Sony sends us a replacement and we lose the game.   Fortunately for me my boyfriend works for Sony so he's able to replace most games for cheap.

 

just be careful ok?  I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble myself.   And if you want real honesty and friendly businesses, try dealing with the small Mom and Pop shops.  These people are usually more willing to work with you when these things happen without you having to worry about getting anyone fired

 

P.S my friend has NOT matured much but he is working someplace where he is not dealing with customers so therefore he can't pull his shenanigans as easily anymore lol

[Time Shield 402]

Someone should also point out that if the store manager treated that action as being okay, it would set a precedent, one in which customers can (and I guarantee, will) abuse once they're aware of it.  In the short run, no, it wouldn't have been bad to give away one game, but if word gets out that you did it once, everyone else will expect you to do it for them as well.  Then you're stuck either following the precedent you set and losing a ton of money in the process, or not following the precedent and disappointing a lot of customers.

 

In the end, it's something he probably should have asked his manager first.  Maybe if he had asked first, his manager would have agreed, and nothing bad would have come of it.  (Even if his manager wasn't there, employees are always given a way to get in contact with their superior, so that's not an excuse either.)

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

Yes, but you can't be an total prick to your employees, that's the number one rule. It was his first time doing it, a warning would have been good enough.

 

Firing someone who basically stole from the store isn't being a "prick". It's being a manager.

 

Yes, he was nice to help you out.

But he still gave you something that didn't belong to him.

 

Now if he had taken his own money and BOUGHT the used copy to give to you, that would be another story.

What I would have done was ask my manager if there was something that could be done for you.

Edited June 18, 2015 by ShadOBabe

[Steve Piranha 29,411]

 

We all have those moments where we are playing our games and suddenly hear that noise we all were dreading, and it destroys the game. So here's my account:

 

I've owned my first XB 360 for a good year and a half, and then suddenly started making that grinding noise and quit working. So i had a choice, try to repair it myself or take it to Gamestop. I decided on trying out Gamestop first, if they couldn't do anything, then i would fix it myself. I drove over there and brought it inside, There was only one employee working there at the time, and i really didn't want to go home without the game, the guy greeted me and asked what's wrong with my console. I told him it croaked on me and asked if he could get the game out of it, he opened it up and just had that look as if something was wrong. 

 

"It seems your game is toast." that ticked me off more than you can imagine. I payed $60 for it, and now its useless. But i wasn't expecting what he did next.

 

"I might get fired for this, but i can help you out, just this once. After that, you're on your own." He hands me another copy of the game. I ask him if he's pulling my leg, he says he's not. I can't exactly remember my my own words at the moment, but i was happy about it.

 

I bought a new XB 360 and went home, the next time I went back; i learned he got fired for giving me a free game. I felt sorry for the man, i don't think he deserved that for just helping me. Its sad that the boss did that to him, but we are good friends though and i do get to see him when he's stops by for a visit. 

 

He found a better job, and a boss who's not a total prick. I think he said he worked as a game dev or something, not exactly sure. I'm happy he got somewhere good, and that he loves what he does.

 

________________________

 

So that's what happened one time to me, i swear some people just don't understand what kindness is, and just disregard it. If i could, i'd grill the boss about it; the guy was helpful, and a good person.

 

I was about to feel sorry about the guy, but seems to got his stuff together pretty quickly 

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

The store makes more than enough on sales, not like they had anything to lose by losing a single game. 

Once again, if they give one person a copy of a game they have to do to the same to everyone. Imagine how many games they would lose then. 

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

Once again, if they give one person a copy of a game they have to do to the same to everyone. Imagine how many games they would lose then. 

He was kind enough to do me a favor, and that's all that matters now.

I was about to feel sorry about the guy, but seems to got his stuff together pretty quickly 

He didn't become a dev right away, took him a long time to do so. But i'm happy he's got another job.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,302]

No offense to the original poster, but this was a case of employee theft. It was no different than him reaching into the till and handing you sixty dollars.

[Gestum 2,493]

 

 

The employee isn't actually a thief. 

 He took something that wasn't his without permission from the ones that owned it. How is that not theft?

 

 

 

Gestum. You can't expect every employee to act the way you want them to, let them be who they are.

So it's okay to break rules? So technically if I worked at a liquor store it would be okay for me to sell vodka to a ten year old? 

[Revy 184]

 He took something that wasn't his without permission from the ones that owned it. How is that not theft?

 

 

 

So it's okay to break rules? So technically if I worked at a liquor store it would be okay for me to sell vodka to a ten year old? 

 

 

You forget, the OP's logic only somehow applies too this one incident which affects him and not any others

 

:huh:

Edited June 18, 2015 by DJ Lockheart

[Discordian 6,015]

You...understand that this is a business and he literally stole from it, right? Regardless of intentions that's not only against the law but hurts the business.

 

It would also have quite the effect when he does it again or other employees decide to take advantage of the fact that you won't be fired over something like that.

 

You don't steal from your employer. It has been and always will be grounds for dismissal and it's in the employment agreement for most businesses. Particularly retail-based ones.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

He was kind enough to do me a favor, and that's all that matters now.

Ok, so this topic wasn't about how is was wrong to fire that guy then?