How Sneaky GS can be!!!

There was a great Store Manager at Gamestop by the name of John, this guy was the prime example of customer service at Gamestop so much so that a FOX Business New corespondent who visited his store had such great things to say about his, so much so that GS Corporate took notice and sent an email company wide, but your fame at GS can be very short lived as this manager was fired with out any excuse or reason, so much so that GS knew they were wrong that they didn’t even try to stop his unemployment claim when GS is know to go after the people they fire so they do not get the unemployment. So anybody who thinks they are safe at Gamestop think again!!!

 

The Managers own words!!!!!

 

Thats the details, no reason or excuse by my DM, I have the Text when I asked him what was the reason so I can tell unemployment. Text says “ITS YOUR CALL” NJ has a wrongfully terminated employees law that only allows up to 3 years severance pay. Plus the attorney said they aren’t fighting my unemployment so IDk…. Plus Joe kepted quite until something was said. He said don’t bring it up, plus he said he heard nothing. That was 3 days before Sica questioned me on that Wednesday, I got fired 2 days later on Friday. Sica said he would question every Store Manager in our District to get there stories… They all said there was no issue or problem that they heard, a few told me I was over reacting. So I found out Paul Sica never talked to anybody….. After I was gone that’s a few changed & stories r said…. But im not like everybody, ill walk right into 1 of those stores & ill say my Fuckin peace… Beleive me I would. Atleast I didnt Kiss anybody’s ass. I EARNED ALL MY PROMOTIONS CAUSE IM FUCKIN AWESOME, Im clean, im good looking, im charming, I can sell a blind man a car I know, Every Fuckin Customer loved meeee & u know that

The One Good Thing About GS

The only thing that was good at GameStop was my staff and the people I worked with, with a few really cool customers, but I want to talk a little about the staff I had and the people I trained and promoted. I will start with the people that no longer work at GameStop.  The first person is Jay, he came to me as an assistant manager, and then I was able to promote him to a store manager, good guy, even though he drove me nuts at times for not getting things done, and not getting enough numbers, but overall he knew what he was doing, his downfall as a store manager was that he let his staff dictate the rules instead of himself doing so, he became friends with his staff which is not against the rules, but his staff thought they could do whatever they wanted, and that led to his downfall, I gave him plenty of advice over the course of several months but the numbers did not improve and at GameStop that meant you are out. I don’t talk to the guy much, but I wish him luck in everything he does. The next guy is Ev, who came in to train to be a store manager, guy was good knew what he was doing and picked it up very fast, I got him promoted to store manager and placed in a store quickly, but personal issues led him to leave the company. He was a funny guy when he wanted to be and serious when he needed to be. Then we have Ch who was also trained by me for a store manager spot. This guy was a huge Video Game fanatic so he fit in just fine, great guy funny and all, but his staff was out to get him because he wanted them to perform and they did not so they ganged up on him and called Loss Prevention and said the guy was stealing or doing other stuff, truth be told, he was doing everything by the book, but GameStop LP once they investigate you for anything they want you out, so he was let go without and rhyme or reason. Then we have Zu who came in as an Assistant Manager to be evaluated and then maybe promoted to Store Manager, she was a funny person with an attitude lol, I guess that came with her being Spanish..lol…She was throw from store to store to help cover, and when he store manager got fired the store fell on her shoulders and it was a task to great for her because the staff  did not care or listen to her, she left for a better job, with better pay. I have a special story to share about another Store Manager that was fired for no reason, but we shall get to that later!!!! Next blog is about my former staff at 3755…..

Why GameStop Will Never Be Great Again!!!!

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/10/24/why-gamestop-will-never-be-great-again/

 

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Posted 9:00AM 10/24/11Posted under: Technology, Retail, Investment

800000

Die-hard gamers know their local GameStop (GME) stores well.

The small-box retailer is the place to go to trade in used games and gear for new things to play. The prices aren’t the best, but the stores are convenient and the folks manning the registers are knowledgeable.

For years, this model has worked flawlessly. GameStop is there for every new generation of consoles or handheld systems. All of the hottest PC games are also there. The attractive store economics have made expansion a breeze. There’s always cheap rent to be had at a strip mall in the suburbs.

However, the model is starting to come undone, and it may not be long before it’s “Game Over” for GameStop.

The Halo Effect

GameStop’s latest quarter was a mess. Total sales fell 3% to $1.74 billion, and that was with expansion, a 12% increase in pre-owned sales, and a 69% spike in its nascent digital sales.

How can this be? Well, comparable-store sales fell a mind-boggling 9.1% during the period. GameStop’s chunkiest margins have historically been had in secondhand sales of used games and gear, but strength there wasn’t enough to stop earnings from tumbling 23% for the quarter.

It’s Starting

What’s starting? The beginning of the end.

The industry’s been in a bind for years. Video game product sales declined 6% last month according to industry tracker NPD Group, and that’s the way it’s been for most of the months since 2009. GameStop has been able to grow through the downtrend. Cheap expansion and its healthy resale business have kept the retailer growing. Even now, analysts still see the specialty retailer pushing its financial results higher.

GameStop is now trading for a mere nine times this year’s projected earnings, and just eight times next year’s profit target. This would be a ridiculous bargain if there was any hope that GameStop would be more relevant in five years than it is right now.

Spoiler alert: There isn’t.

Brushing Up on Game Theory

Everyone knows why video game sales have been languishing. Die-hard gamers are still buying the latest Call of Duty releases, but casual gamers have moved on. Tending to a virtual farm on Facebook or spending weeks playing a 99-cent smartphone app will do the trick.

GameStop is no dummy. It has made several digital gaming acquisitions. It’s too little, too late.

There was a time — just a couple of years ago — when GameStop was riding the Guitar Hero andRock Band crazes. It was exploring opening larger stores to showcase the growing number of instrument controllers that just didn’t fit in its small-box scheme. This would have been a costly mistake.

However, now it just can’t get any smaller. Everywhere you turn, GameStop’s mortality is being questioned. Apple (AAPL) is the new king of casual gaming. Microsoft (MSFT) continues to push its Xbox Live digital marketplace.

Will we still need GameStop in this age of consumer-direct game downloads?

More important to GameStop’s model, what will happen to its resale business when we’re no longer buying physical games that we can trade in?

Endgame

GameStop is getting desperate. Earlier this year it hinted that it may launch its own gaming tablet, something that would seemingly anger all of its hardware partners. It’s now accepting iPod, iPhone, and iPad devices as trade-ins.

The rub is that even as the resale market is dying, Toys “R” Us, Amazon.com (AMZN), and Best Buy (BBY) are copying the model by accepting trade-ins, too. In other words, this is going to be a brutal fight to the end of this shrinking pie.

If anyone thinks that we’ll still be buying game cartridges and discs in a few years, they probably missed the memo. The digital revolution is here, and GameStop may have some skin in that game, but it will never be the neighborhood force that it used to be.

Longtime Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the stocks in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft, GameStop, Apple, and Best Buy. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.com. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in Apple and Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended writing covered calls in GameStop.

 

GS is full of Crooks!!!!

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/11/former_gamestop_vp_pleads_guil.php

Chris Olivera was for several years vice president of corporate communications and public affairs for Gamestop. Part of his job was serving as a public face and spokesman for the Grapevine-based video game retailer. He did that just fine. It was the other part of his job, processing invoices from vendors, that got him in trouble.

 

Olivera was using his position to funnel some $2 million into his own bank account.

The scheme was simple. According to a federal indictment complaint (Note: Olivera waived indictment. His guilty plea won’t be official until he appears before a federal judge at an as-yet unspecified date.) filed yesterday afternoon, Olivera sent regular payments from Gamestop to Cloud Communications, LLC, a Nevada-based corporation with offices in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Canada. The company, and its supposed representative, Jennifer Miller, existed only on the papers Olivera had filed with the Nevada secretary of state.

This went on for nearly two years, from July 2009 through April 2011, before Gamestop brass began to suspect that it was Olivera, and not Jennifer Miller, who was depositing the checks made out to Cloud Communications. It was the feds who figured out that Olivera was transferring the money he deposited for Cloud Communications into his own personal account.

Olivera’s guilty plea was filed yesterday along with the indictment. He admits to one count of mail fraud, which carries with it a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. No word yet from Gamestop on Olivera’s case, though his name seems to have stopped appearing on company press releases in mid-2011, which probably tells us something.

The RSB process at GS!!

RSB or Region Stock Balancing is one of the worst ways GameStop wastes its money and resources, Store do transfers to other stores around the country. The problem with this process is that the games you transfer to the other stores are usually sent back to you from different stores as well. So as an example your store was asked to send out 30 used copies of COD Black Ops lets say, and you send them all out, a few days later you receive an RSB from a store across the US that has 20 copies of COD Black Ops. How is this helping the stores, its not, not to mention that a lot of stores and Store Managers use this as an excuse to ship out all their scratched or cracked discs to other stores, the best way to get rid of your garbage is to send it to other stores via an RSB… This is a waste of money and employee hours as these RSB’s appear in the stores computers on Monday and need to be completed by Thursday with no extra hours given to complete the task, so Store Managers rush to finish this and instead of helping customer work on the RSB’s which further destroys GameStops Customer Service but its not like they care, they just want to take your money anyway!!!!!!

New Vice President of the North Market

I hear that the guy is really a tough ass, and has made a few moves within his Market, which is a very good start, now he just has to figure out how much of a useless idiot Teddy Nelson is and fire him, once that happens the North will start doing better, all he has to do is look at when Teddy takes vacations, his Region tends to do so much better without him annoying everybody especially the District and Area Managers. Teddy has no clue how Gamestop works and never will, the guy can’t even read reports and at times starts yelling at DM’s for performance when their performance was actually good and he was looking at the reports all wrong. I do hope for Region 19’s sake that this VP can get the ball rolling for Teddy’s departure, because once that happens good things will come for that Region…

GameStop Employees Afraid to stay friends

It seems funny to me that a few people are actually scarred to stay friends with me for fear that the company will fire them, now I told some managers they could do it if they wanted to, and one guy did and I can understand his reasons for it, he has a family he needs to take care of, but some other people, come on really you are that much of a pussy cat to de-friend me. I mean you really think GameStop is watching everything you do and say especially on Facebook, wow that’s just super paranoid!! I mean some of these people owe me so much for getting them in the company and helping them throughout the years and helping them resolves issues in their own stores. I would worry less about the company getting rid of you because I am your friend on Facebook, and worry more about the shady things you do in your stores!!!! This is only in reference to store managers!!!

Teddy Nelson Part 8

Teddy Nelson would always check out the Puerto Rico District Manager Team at The Multi Unit Manager meeting ever year around March in Dallas, as well as at the Store Manager Conference in  August in either San Antonio, Las Vegas or where ever they have it. Teddy would make very inappropriate comments about them, he even preferred one of their District Manager to make his sexist comments about more than any other, maybe because she had a very big ass and maybe because Teddy Nelson is African American he preferred that. Teddy felt very comfortable making those comments because he knew at the time no one would dare speak against him becasue he would get them fired because his buddy John Deegan was the North Market Vice President, but no more Teddy Nelson all your hidden secrets will be revealed!!!!!!!

Teddy Nelson Part 7

Teddy Nelson loves to speak ill about Homosexuals, he told us a story once from his past at Footlocker when he met a new owner, who was homosexual. Teddy stated that he did not want to meet the guy but he had to because he was a Regional Manager at Footlocker at the time. Teddy was making fun of how the guy was dressed saying he was wearing shorts with sandals with a mesh shirt that was almost see through, and how the guy had both of his nipples pierced as well. Teddy then said that the guy gave him a hug and kiss and that he (Teddy Nelson) was extremely disgusted by it and walked out of the meeting wiping his face.. So when I say Teddy Nelson is an undercover racist, he is so not just against Arabs, and Muslims but against Homosexuals as well!!!!

“The dismal truth about working at Gamestop….”

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-GameStop-RVW569589.htm

“The dismal truth about working at Gamestop….”

 Former Assistant Store Manager in Dallas, TX – Reviewed Jul 16, 2010

Pros – Discount on Games
Freebies from Vendors
Can be slow paced
Can have tattoos and piercings

Cons – CONSTANT marketing
Corporate cares more about the $$ than employees
Inexperienced Managers
Lack of Customer Service
Pushing sales
Not commissioned sales, but are required to push sales as if you were
Can be fired for lack of sales (even in a slow store)
Sexist atmosphere
Lack of hours
Must be willing to relocate with very little notice
HIGH roll over
Give refunds to customers PERIOD.
Get rid of comcards

Advice to Senior Management – I worked for Gamestop for almost 2 years. Being a woman I was treated condescendingly by my manager. Even the smallest mistake I made he would go into a 20-minute tirade. When male employees made greater mistakes it was laughed off. All the company cares about is reserves because to them these are guaranteed sales in their pocket. If a customer comes in get a refund on a reserve, we are required to discourage it. Needless to say most customers would rather take store credit than squabble over $5.
Receipts are required for every return no matter what. Even if the game is sealed and you sold the customer the game. Mind you some managers are human and they make exceptions the majority don’t because refunds hurt stores sales. The corporate office sends emails to the stores daily detailing their sales for the district. Even if your store is slow you are REQUIRED to sell no matter what.
When you are management, you are guaranteed full time hours. If you are below management you are not a necessity for the store. You are NEVER allowed to work overtime. Gamestop DOES NOT pay over time. You can be written up for working overtime. Every week there is marketing to be done; you are required to have this marketing up. Every few weeks stores are secret shoppered and if you miss one little thing you can be fired for not complying with store procedures. Every inch of any Gamestop has been purchased for marketing. There advertisements can change weekly. It common to stay late to ensure all marketing is done, just no OT! Most of the time there is only one manager working an entire store, which is a safety hazard.
If you are a Game Adviser you get 12 hours or less per week. Sometimes a week or two can go by where you don’t work at all. Corporate allots very few hours, which barely covers full time for managers. The attire is khaki pants and a collared shirt. Recently Gamestop has allowed jeans, but they quickly take that away at a whim. For company that demands conservative professionalism you are allowed to have exposed tattoos and piercings.
I was moved to another store with only 5 days notice; it wasn’t until the day prior that I knew what new store I was going too. That store was an hour commute from where I lived; Gamestop does not compensate for gas or mileage. They constantly shift employees from different stores with very little notice. If another store is short staffed the district manager will call your store and ask if you came come fill in for them. Gamestop feels as a manager this is a part of your job duties.
The holidays are the worst because of hours and marketing. The store managers are incredibly over worked at Gamestop and are paid an extremely small salary compared to what other retail companies pay for less work.
The insurance is laughable, and if you are injured Gamestop doesn’t like to hear about. This depends a lot of your district manager too. Insurance is only offered to Managers period and the majority of managers I knew don’t even get it, because their paycheck is so small.
The payroll is a problem due to some story Gamestop tells it employees on how 9/11 prevented a lot of paychecks to get to employees on time, they now give you an ATM type of card. This card is not a debit card. The first time you withdraw money from it, it’s free. Everything else there is a fee. You are also given 5 “ATM” checks. These can be used to transfer money from your ATM card in your bank account. But once you use up all 5 checks you have to reorder more, which takes up to 8 weeks. Gamestop no longer issues paychecks and the ATM card is used in place of direct deposit. You’re meant to use this card temporarily until direct deposit is set up. However that can take up to 4 weeks, I have had employees been waiting up to 16 weeks for there deposit to be processed. When you call and complain neither Gamestop nor the card company can help you other than apologize.
Every employee is required to have high reserves, memberships and game insurance. Even if you only had a 4-hour work week – you will be fired for low sales. Other Gamestop stores are extremely competitive. They will send returns to your store so that they can avoid it on their books. Even at the risk of sending a customer all over the city. I cannot emphasize how strongly returns are discouraged.
Employees do not get a discount on new game systems only used ones. When it comes to games out on the floor, one copy of the new game is “gutted” and the case is put on the floor. When it comes to used games all cases are gutted and put out on the floor. It is against company policy to allow employees to check out new games, only used ones. But I have seen managers still break this rule.
Overall Gamestop is a company who feels they are on a “high horse”. They are cutthroat and only care about money. Employees are over worked & badly treated. There is little to no regard for customer service. I can’t even recommend shopping there…