We recently asked Kotaku Australia readers to share their best-cooked video game retail stories. And everyone's expectations were not disappointed. From disgruntled parents, dodgy trade-ins, to a surprising number of stories featuring actual human waste, retail staff at brick-and-mortar game stores have seen it all.your story is real Registration date The skits are like parts of a documentary and I find them very funny and scary at the same time.
The original article and social media received a ton of response, so I'm compiling them here for posterity. This is a piece for those looking to collaborate with other video game retail staff. For those who want to share more detailed war stories, or for the nosy ones who want to know just how much cursed things lurk behind the cash register. In this article, we highlight some of the wildest (and hilarious) experiences reported in the comments and on social. You are police officers and living proof that time spent in retail customer service is important for character development.
outside is better than inside
As I said, there was an unusual amount of talk about shit (and other bodily fluids). Honestly, one episode is probably too much.
From our own David Smith:
Someone straight up shit in one of the gaming aisles. Just a giant triceratops wriggling between the wall of headphones and the PS3 game.
From Craig:
When I was 21, someone somehow left a giant piece of trash under the video game aisle.
From Colin:
I… In one store, a mother left her used diaper under the DVD shelf, and in another store, someone threw up again under the DVD shelf. It is no exaggeration to say that I left the company shortly after that.
One Saturday morning, a father came into the store with his 9- or 10-year-old son, said something like “I'll be right back,'' and walked away, leaving my son in the store with me. .
I was shocked at first, but it didn't really bother me until my kid tried to play the Xbox gaming kiosk with one hand, pinched it hard with the other hand, and started piss-shuffling. All of a sudden, this kid ran out the front door and urinated on the sidewalk. Before I knew what was going on, this kid ran out into the street and that was it. His father then returned to the store, realized that the child was not there, and left down the street in the same direction.Then his father came back with a kid whose father was doing a walk of shame wearing piss-soaked shorts [gave] He's hell for doing what he did.
From Rose:
Someone stopped in the aisle, paused, waved their legs, [a] They walked away, shit rolling down the bottom of their pants. I had to see it on camera to know what happened.
And a comment from Priscilla (@Cillah on X), perhaps the granddaddy of all “better-than-inside-out” video game retail stories:
Just a teenager working at [a games retail store] When a woman goes into labor and her partner keeps browsing the PS2 box for cheap games and still completes the purchase.
The kids aren't okay (and the parents aren't okay either)
In typical retail horror story fashion, frustrated parents, entitled kids, and family drama that rivals most extra telenovelas also seem to be par for the course for the video game retailer's staff.
From Rose:
I had to explain to my ignorant but curious mother why GTAV had an R18+ rating, and my 11-year-old got furious when she wanted me to buy it.
From Craig:
Let's say a customer contacts us and asks if we have a Nintendo DS Lite in stock, and if we're lucky, we have one left. He asked me if I could keep it. So I collected his details over the phone and he was scheduled to arrive at the store within 30 minutes. The manager approved the event.I attached the paper with tape [the] It was a DS box and was sitting in one of the backstock rooms of my storage cabinet.
As he said, the customer arrived within 30 minutes. So, I went to pick up the items for him, and “as luck would have it” the DS was gone. A piece of paper with his details was left in a circle on the floor. One of my colleague's boyfriends took away his DS and sold it to another customer.
This customer then proceeded to thoroughly attack me in the store, telling me that I had “fucked him” and that I had “ruined” his daughter's Christmas. Then he “hoped” my Christmas would be terrible. He also called me some other funny names.
please put it in the trash
And of course, what would working in video game retail be without some creepy customer interactions?
From Morgan:
The night before FIFA's release, I was cornered on a loading dock after work by a group of guys lurking in the parking lot, trying to force me to give it to them early, when I awkwardly asked them about the fact that it was scheduled to be delivered in 2019. I made something up. In the morning, I hid in the house until I had to leave.
From Ruby:
During the trade-in process, a customer once said to me: “You better make sure all those games are there, or Mr. *video game store name* might come and beat you up.” But you also like it. Maybe? ”
He was there with the kids, my fucking useless manager was right next to me and didn't do anything, and to boot, I was only 17! Very cool!
From Milli:
My personal favorite was a client who added me to a group chat with about 20 random women on Facebook and lamented why no one would date me, saying, “If only sniper rifles were legal.” He followed up on this line. It's a good time. It was a wonderful time. Just the best.
There are many other truly amazing customer interactions at video game stores that you've shared, many of which will stick with me for a long time alongside my own retail horror stories. (thankfully, human relationships will be much less excrement). Thanks for joining us, guys, you guys are the real deal.
If you want more scary customer interactions, cursed retail experiences, or a good laugh as you get through another Karen tearing apart a new Karen or a creepy patron asking for your phone number, tune in to: Registration datean Australian comedy about the staff of a fictional consumer electronics chain, will air next week on PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION, streaming on 9Now (a channel owned by our parent company and our parent company's parent company).
Godspeed, retail staff.
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