When you imagine harrowing occupations, you probably think of police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and other dangerous jobs... not a video game store employee. Could you imagine cracking open a gaming console to find a hoard of cockroaches? How about dealing with a family full of thieves? Or fending off a video game-obsessed stalker? These employees have had to brave some pretty crazy situations.
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#1 What Are These?
On my first Black Friday shift, this one guy came in to trade in a whole bunch of Skylanders figures. Like two grocery bags full. This was at a time when Skylanders was relatively new, so there was no real streamlined way to get them all in the system. Since I didn’t know the characters, he had to look them up on the website while I dug through the system for them. It took about 30 minutes to get through all of them and the receipt was around six to seven feet long by the end. Following that guy, there was a line that went to the back of the store for the majority of my shift.
#2 Maybe It Was An Xbox 2
We did have one lady who came in insisting that her son owned a “PlayStation 360” and wanted to make sure the game she was buying would work on it. We tried to explain to her that such a system did not exist and it was either a PS2 or an Xbox 360. We tried to show her the systems and the controllers to see if she recognized one of them. She got mad, screamed at us for being thieves and scammers. She said we tried to upsell her and take advantage of people who didn’t know anything about games. She stormed out of the store without buying anything.
#3 People Are So Disgusting
An older lady brought a bag in and wanted to sell her Wii. I put my hand in the bag and it was soaking wet. I have no idea what it was but she was furious that I wouldn’t take the Wii. From that day forward, I made every customer take all trades out of the bags themselves. I also had a kid and mom come into my store and cause havoc. The mom wasn’t paying attention at all to her 8-year-old son walking around. All of a sudden, the store gets very quiet, then, the mom rushed the kid out of the store. I went to see what was going on and found that the kid had used our floor as his own personal bathroom.
#4 You Have To Admit, This Is Sorta Genius
This was in 2007. GameStop had a used game return policy: seven days, no questions asked, and you'd get a full refund. People would abuse this rule constantly, like a rental service. We knew it and we were able to flag people who did it too often. Then, there was this one witch. She was an old lady with a gaggle of grandkids. She seemed so sweet and was very nice to us while in the store. She bought the kids a PS2 and a gigantic stack of games. Her total came to over $400. I rang her out, handed her the multiple bags of stuff, and said to the kids, "Wow, you guys are lucky to have such a great grandma! This many games will last you months!" The grandma chuckled and said, "Oh they're only in town for the week. You guys have that seven-day return policy, I'll see you in six days!"
#5 Please, Guys, Control Your Kid
I worked at GameStop as a store manager for about four years. I have so many stories of scary and rude customers. I had a family that would bring their son in every Saturday. Each time they came in, they would stand in a corner and text while their son knocked over stands and ripped things off of the wall. I had to get permission to ban them from the store because the parents wouldn't do anything.
#6 Wonder Why It Wasn't Working...
A gentleman came in to buy one of our old 360 bundles. He brought it back a few days later and complained that it didn't work. We started our normal troubleshooting methods in-store. We couldn’t figure anything out. So I did a swap, took his old system in as defective, then sold him a replacement bundle. I went through and tried to wipe the system so we could ship it back to the warehouse. Cockroaches started crawling out of the system instead. I freaked out.
I threw the system in one of our giant shopping bags, threw that in a box, taped it shut, and threw that in another bag. My manager told me to destroy it in the back. I took it out to the parking lot and had to throw it around to destroy it. These cockroaches scattered like marbles on a floor. I was dancing around the parking lot on my tiptoes to avoid the flood of roaches. It was awful.
#7 We've Got Your Information, Idiot
Years ago, I trained a kid that turned around and robbed the store a month after we fired him for stealing. My coworker was on the phone with the cops after he left while I was getting his old employee file out. I read off the two addresses he had down as well as his phone number. He had put down his parents and grandparent's address, so they caught him. He's still serving time.
#8 Quick, Grab The Hand Sanitizer
I was an assistant manager for about a year and had done retail before. Our store was right in between a fairly upscale touristy part of town as well as some of the poorer neighborhoods, so we got all sorts of people. The holiday season was in full swing and we were always crowded. On this particular day, we had a few seasonal hires in to help with the workload and I was behind the counter pulling games as people came up to make the transactions faster.
Then suddenly, a smell hit the entire building—like a hundred cats had relieved themselves in the air conditioner and someone had tried to dry it by starting a fire with burning hair. My seasonals looked at me with a mix of confusion and terror as a family of four approached the counter and it slowly became apparent that they were the cause of the smell. I’ve been nose-blind before from staying with an aunt who used to be an animal hoarder, but this was far worse.
I sent my seasonals on break, grabbed the hand sanitizer, pumped a small mountain of it into my hands and, as casually as possible, smeared it on my upper lip, hoping my facial hair would hold onto it and block the smell. It mostly worked. I was already in holiday rush mode but this was the fastest I ever got a used Xbox 360 and GTA V packaged and ready to go. When they left, we noticed that the store had actually cleared out of all other customers, who also couldn’t deal with the odor. Our other manager came out of the back, gave me props for not embarrassing them, and promptly proceeded to fill our store with Febreze.
#9 This Guy Is Far Too Confident
I worked in a store where theft was a very common occurrence. But there was one guy in particular who stuck with me. He stole one of the cheap controllers off the wall from the back of the store and put it in his backpack. Then, he came over to the counter, reached across the counter, opened a drawer, and stole a brand new game. He took it away from the register, opened it, waited in line, and traded the game in for $25. Then, he asked me to look for something in one of the bottom drawers and he stole back the game he just traded in for a second time! After that, he immediately left the store before I could notice he was gone. I have to give him credit, he had some slick moves.
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#10 Actually, You're Horrible With Kids
One time, a woman screamed at me because her kid was tearing open a toy before paying for it and I kindly told him to wait until the toy was paid for. She seemed on the fence about whether or not she wanted to buy the toy, so I wasn’t glad that her kid was already ripping it open. She then proceeded to scream at me for being awful with kids. She said she would complain to the manager if I ever talked to her kid like that again. She then angrily paid and walked out of the store.
#11 Just Take The 'L', People
I had a couple come in to “return” a Sesame Street video game and a controller. They had a receipt from over a year ago. The game was scratched all over and the controller was full of dried soda. They said it didn’t work anymore (shocker) and were furious when I wouldn’t give them their money back. They were standing there screaming at me. It was crazy. Their kid was bawling, the lady was swearing like a sailor, and the husband couldn’t finish a sentence.
#12 Uh, No Thanks
I was hired to help open a new store. In this store, the manager was male, and everyone he hired... female. He was definitely trying to cultivate a "Hot GameStop" kind of situation. Word got around and we had people coming in to visit our store when they had other stores much closer to where they lived. They didn't really buy anything, they kind of just lurked around for hours at a time, chatting the staff up.
There were days when people lurking around the shop would wait for us to close up. That was kind of scary. I was eventually let go for "not being friendly enough." Apparently, about three months before the manager had a total screaming meltdown during store hours, he declared himself High Archangel, threw products at a customer, and was later picked up by an ambulance. My whole darn job was a mess.
#13 Wow, That Escalated Quickly
A mom and her son came into the store and didn’t even look at merchandise. They just came up to the counter and asked to let the kid use the bathroom. She clarified she wasn’t there to buy anything, but “has spent thousands of dollars in our store previously.” We politely told her we can’t let customers use our bathroom because it’s in the back of the store with lots of expensive merchandise. That’s the policy.
We have cameras and corporate reviews the footage. Additionally, what I didn’t tell her is that all the used game consoles that people sell back to us were stored in the bathroom. There was one month prior to Christmas where I had to do some impressive yoga to get to the toilet. I’m sure those consoles were a hazmat but I digress. Not to be unsympathetic to this kid’s plight, we told the mom that the pizza place next door lets people use their bathroom if they buy something, and the cheapest thing is a $1 soda or bottle of water.
She started flipping out on us and spewing expletives. She said that she had paid our salaries 10 times over in store purchases and that we’re going to the firey underground. Then, no joke, she told her son to “just go.” The kid used our carpet as his own personal bathroom. Then they left. I have never been so grossed out and dumbfounded. I had to close up for the day and the next day while our carpets were sanitized. This resulted in a loss of pay for the weekend.
#14 A Miscommunication At Its Finest
My first job was at GameStop in the early 2000s. I stayed for about four years. I started as a part-timer and ended up as a shift supervisor. My then-boyfriend was our store manager for a while. We were slow and short-staffed. It was just the two of us—my boyfriend and I—and maybe a customer or two. Someone was playing the Guitar Hero demo and another person was browsing the wall.
The door jingle and a guy with a huge backpack walked in. I gave the customary greeting and he didn't acknowledge or respond. I shrugged to my boyfriend and went back to cleaning discs. The guy looked around for a few minutes. Finally, he came up to my boyfriend and gestured for the stack of Post-Its he was using to label games. My boyfriend obliged. The guy wrote on the Post-It note that he was armed and wanted money.
My boyfriend and I turned sheet white. We were teenagers with no manager and no silent alarm under the desk. We were terrified. The guy was already putting down his backpack and unzipping it. The other customers were totally unaware and off doing their own thing. There was only $100 in the till and neither of us had the combination for the safe. He reached in the backpack and took out...a Sega Dreamcast lightgun. Turns out this guy was deaf and wanted to sell us a game accessory!
#15 It's Time To Stall Like Crazy
I once had a lady and her teenage son come in to trade in several DVDs and games that they had just stolen from the Walmart behind the strip mall where our store was. A Walmart employee called me to ask if they were in my store and said the cops were on the way. She asked if I could stall to keep them there. So, I told the lady and her son the cash vs. store credit value of their items without mentioning that I can't even take them because they were still wrapped in the cellophane. I walked them around the store and talked about which games were the best value for the money, etc. The police showed up and asked them to step outside. I just smiled and went back behind the counter.
#16 Are...Are You Okay?
A very stereotypical greasy nerd dude in a trench coat came in one day. He had a Naruto shirt on and was just mumbling to himself. He was in there for like an hour but he didn’t buy anything. I didn’t help him out personally but I was working close by as my coworker did. He had my coworker look up some fairly obscure GBA games and made really weird statements about them like, “That one actually predicted what’s going on in our world right now." The last thing he told us was to get some special brand of Colombian coffee that gave you “special abilities." I never saw him again.
#17 Worse Than A Bricked PS2
About a month after the PS2 came out, a notice went up in the staff room that read, “Polite reminder: When processing any returns, please check if everything is being returned before giving a refund.” That confused the heck out of me because that felt like retail 101. A week later, a kid brings his PS2 back and said it wouldn’t load any games. We had just had a restock, so I told him that he was in luck and I could probably replace it.
The kid’s face turned white, he grabbed his bag from the counter, and walked to the door very quickly. I managed to get the attention of someone on the floor to stop him. Turns out, he was waiting until the store was really busy to return a brick in a PS2 box to get the refund and keep the console. He had duped three co-workers who were all too embarrassed to admit why the note had gone up in the staff room.
#18 How About We Throw You Out?
As I was working the far left register, the one further from the door, I was ringing out a very scruffy looking man. He was with a service dog and looked like he was a veteran of some kind from all the army clothes he was wearing. I started to put his Xbox in the bag as he leaned in close to me and said, "Hey, I've got another $600 on me right now in cash. How about you run to the back and grab me another console?"
I just looked at him and calmly said, "I'm really sorry but per Microsoft and GameStop's contract, we are not permitted to give more than one console per household. This rule should lift after they've produced more. Check back with us in a couple of weeks." He glared at me and said, "How about you grab it or I'll rob you right here and now?" Luckily, this dude wasn't exactly smooth about it and my manager, Dan, saw this. Dan looked at him and said, "How about I throw you the heck out of my store and smash your system on the ground?" He shouted this so clearly that other people in the store heard and became terrified. Needless to say, that guy almost sprinted out of the front door. I've never been so stunned in my life.
#19 I Guess Wizards Are Worse Than War
Once, this mother came into the store absolutely livid. She had a 10-year-old boy in tow. She demanded to exchange a used game that he purchased just a few hours before because it had wizards in it. She told the kid to go pick a different used game... and he came back with Grand Theft Auto 3. She looked at it and decided that this was an okay purchase for a kid who was 10, but that a mage in a game is not. I tried to explain to her what the ESRB ratings meant and that I wouldn't be able to even sell the game to him without an adult, but she said that as long as it didn't promote wizards and witches that she was okay with him getting this game instead.
#20 Yes, Children Are As Bad As Parents
I worked at a GameStop that was frequently used as a daycare when parents wanted to go to the Walmart next door. There was a specific spot on our front window that kids gravitated towards like moths to a lightbulb. Every once in a while, I would just watch in disgust as some of the younger kids would lick this spot on the window. They were absolutely disgusting and all of their parents weren't there to tell them no.
#21 I Think You Scared Him Off
I worked at an EB Games in 2005. The important thing to note is that EB didn’t use the term “used” for games. Instead, we used “pre-played.” I had a woman come in to buy Sniper Elite for her husband, but I didn’t have any more sealed copies. She didn’t mind and purchased it at the new game price. A few hours later, I got an angry phone call from a man who said I sold his wife a used game and charged her for a new copy.
He explained who she was and I told him what happened. He freaked out and said that the game was opened, which makes it used. I let him know that we don’t sell used games, we sell pre-played games, and assured him that the disc was removed from the case, sleeved, and filed, which means it has never been played and is, therefore, a new copy.
He got loud, asked me how old I was (I was 18), and went off about how he is older than me and is a lawyer. He demanded that he be refunded the difference between the prices, so I told him that my store manager would be in the next morning and he could take it up with her. To my knowledge, he never called her, so I think he just gave up.
#22 How Could Your Manager Get Mad?
I got scolded by management for helping a woman for 30 minutes. She bought 12 games and was looking for good recommendations for her son. I found every game on her list and a few more to surprise him. Those surprise games were Okami and Katamari Damacy. She was overjoyed that her son was going to have lots of good games to play. Why were they mad over such a large sale? Oh, because they weren't freaking used. Yeah, the store wanted me to sell used games instead of new ones. That woman wanted to make sure her son was happy and I was tasked to do so. I know I did a good job.
#23 Yeah, I Don't Think It's Going To Work
I worked at GameStop a long time ago but I’ll never forget this one. One night, a guy brought in a really dusty and dirty GameCube and he wanted cash. I asked him if it worked and he said he didn’t know because he hadn’t played it in a long time. I told him that we have to check every console and when I turned it on and opened the lip, about one hundred roaches came running out all over the counter.
#24 The Look On His Face Was Priceless
Once, a guy stole a bunch of stuff from a store across town, and that store was in my district. We were using a group app to talk and the store manager posted the image of the guy and his description. So when I saw the guy come in for a return, I asked the guy for his ID and snapped a photo of it. I was joking and laughing with the guy about how much money he was getting back with his return. The guy felt victorious, you could see it in his face. Right before I handed him the money, I told him that we had him on camera stealing this stuff from another store and that I also had a picture of his ID. I told him that, once he left, I was going to call the police and report it. The look of defeat as he left the store was priceless. The guy got close to $200 in cash for $800 in stolen merchandise. I called the non-emergency line for the police and reported it. The caught the guy soon after. It was great.
#25 This Must've Been Super Awkward
I worked for SimplyMac, a company owned by GameStop. SimplyMac offered two-hour classes for older people on Apple software, like iMovie. We worked on commission and we didn't get commission for doing classes, so nobody wanted to do them. I was forced to do them. One time, this 60-year-old photographer came in and wanted to learn how to make an iMovie with his photoshoots. Awesome, there goes two hours. We were looking at photos to import from his laptop for the movie, and he had me click on this folder, and as I imported it, there were hundreds of photos of women. He started talking about how "pretty" and "beautiful" each girl was in the shot. His laptop screen was facing the entire store, so anyone could have just walked by and seen. So I taught him how to use iMovie and at the end of the two hours he tipped me $50 and I never saw him again. That was the most money I made in two hours there, ever.
#26 Let's Shut This Operation Down
This woman came in with about four kids. They were all terrors, running around to different parts of the store, yelling, grabbing things, and rearranging them. It seemed like they were causing distractions while this woman tried, on three separate occasions, to get behind the counter. They ended up buying something, but then I noticed under this big box the oldest kid has picked up, he had stuffed his hands full of the little DS games that were on the counter. It gave me the impression that this was all coordinated by their mother. It’s one thing to see adults steal, but to see kids who are encouraged to do so is just wrong.
#27 You Have To Admire His Efforts
A homeless-looking guy came in early morning when I was the only one there and asked, "How much can I get for this?" He was holding out a longish black box with an exposed wire coming out of the box. I looked at him and then looked at the thing in his hand. I said, "What is that?" He then said, "How much?" I told him if I couldn't figure out what it is, then I wouldn't be able to accept it. He wouldn't tell me what it was, but said, "What if I mess you up?" I told him, "Interesting offer but we still can't buy it." He walked out. I still don't know what it was.
#28 Bratty Parents Are The Worst
There was this wealthy couple who had three kids and each kid had a Wii, a PS3, and an Xbox 360. They would pre-order every major game that came out for each system—always the deluxe edition. They spent a ton of money in our store. And they were crazy. They would ask for things they knew they couldn't have and then throw a fit. They would scour their receipts for anything that could be a mistake. I went to work at a different company and they came into my store there.
I immediately called a manager over when it was their turn to check out and explained how I knew them and that there was a 99% chance they would make the cashier cry. He went over and just as he got there, they were beginning to raise their voices about some supposed mistake. Luckily, the manager was great with handling people and got them out without letting them get a word in edgewise. They were awful. If they found a legitimate mistake in anything, their faces would just light up. Truly evil people.
#29 What Is It With Video Game Stores And Creeps?
I worked for a game store back in the '90s. The sheer number of weird, socially inept dudes who would follow me (a teenage girl) around or demand I go out with them was appalling. The worst offenders were like twice my age. Some would even call when I wasn't there and ask my coworkers or managers for my number or schedule. Personally, I found it baffling. It was tough coming into work every day.
#30 I Signed Up For A Job, Not A Stalker
I had a guy who would engage way too much with me whenever he came in. And he would never buy anything. He would literally come in for hours at a time and do nothing but talk to me. I would ask him to leave, and he would, only to be back an hour or so later. Rinse and repeat for weeks, despite them switching up my schedule to try and deter his behavior. I ended up having to threaten to call the cops on him to get him to leave—until a few days later, when he popped back up like nothing had happened.
I actually did call the police this time, but he was long gone by the time they arrived. He was banned from the store. But did that stop him? Of course not! It got to the point that he waited by my car one night when I was closing (it was dark, around 9 p.m.) and tried to ask me to go home with him. Luckily, my coworker I was closing with was an ex-Marine and had no problems threatening the heck out of him. I quit that job a month or so later. I guess he showed up a few months after that asking after me.
#31 This Kid Is The Definition Of 'Spoiled Brat'
Right before Christmas, back in 2003, this kid, who was about 10 years old, came into the store with his mom, grandmother, and aunt. Each of these ladies had an envelope with a bunch of cash, and each had a list of the things he wanted. He walked around the store like a spoiled prince and showed them all of the things that he wanted. After a few minutes, the grandmother came over and handed me the list and asked for help.
As I looked at the list, I noticed that it had three different colors of highlighter on it: green for the stuff he had to have, orange for the next in line if the item was not in, and yellow for the last-ditch item. I knew this because he had written a key to the list, and he also wrote the total amount of money that he had to work with… $500. Now me, being silly and thinking that all of these ladies were working with the same list, started helping the grandmother. We managed to have everything that he wanted and while ringing her up, the aunt came over and asked if I could help her when I was done with the grandmother’s list.
I said I had already found all of the items for the first lady, and she said her list was different. I just stood there with my jaw open. I then got the list from the aunt and, sure as heck, there were all different games and accessories! Also with a total of $500! So, on this list, we only had about half of the things. Some of the games hadn’t even been released yet. The aunt looked very, dare I say, scared? She came back with the boy and his mother and told him that he would have to preorder some of the games since they aren’t out yet.
The kid proceeded to tell the aunt that she needed to preorder all of the games, pay in full, and then buy him more gifts since he wouldn’t have anything to open on Christmas. She told him that wasn’t possible because she had already paid a lot of money. He then calmly told her not to speak to him until after Christmas and that he doesn’t love her anymore. Little brat. Also, the mother had a list as well, she fared a bit better than the aunt though.
#32 Good Thing The Customers Were Chill
I was an assistant manager when one of the Madden games came out. This was maybe in 2004. We were doing a big midnight opening for it and everyone was having a great time waiting for the game, which we were picking up from another store about 30 miles away. Around 11 p.m., after people had been waiting for two hours, I got a phone call. The game wasn’t coming. I almost broke down, sitting behind the register, dreading the thought of telling everyone that they just wasted their time. To make matters worse, another store within walking distance of us got their games. I am so grateful that our customers took it well and didn’t get too angry.
#33 I Would Call Security, Too
We had a buy two get one free sale on pre-owned games at the store I used to work at. One guy wanted to buy the two cheaper games and get the expensive one free. When I informed him that that was not how it worked, he completely flipped out. He started yelling and calling me names. We had to call mall security to get him to leave.
#34 Yikes, Talk About A Nightmare
There was a massive electrical fire in our store which caused the sprinklers to go off and flood our store. The firemen couldn't get into the store for a bit because our district manager didn't tell us to give them the new key once we changed the locks. We lost a huge amount of consoles, games, and collectibles. So, for about three weeks, they had us spending our time recovering our products.
#35 Hey, They're A Victim Too
The storeroom at the game store I used to work at was long and was in a populated shopping complex. I was younger, about 19, and as a Senior Game Advisor, I could close on my own. So they left me to close around a popular holiday. I had a long line at my single register and a trio of gentlemen came in. One stood at the end of my line after browsing and picking something up, and one was browsing at the front of the store.
The last one snuck into the back room and stuffed his backpack with 10 PS4 controllers, my personal iPad that was on the break room desk, and a stack of games. I almost got fired for not being aware of them sneaking in. The video (which only recorded behind the counter and the front of the store) showed how they stayed in a group and then spread out in specific spots so I couldn't track them all at once. They didn't have an alarm on the backroom door, which was my only defence that they listened to. I still miss my iPad.
#36 Sneaky, But Not Sneaky Enough
I used to work at GameStop in NYC and I went on vacation for a week to see a friend. I decided to extend my stay a little while and when I went to change my train ticket, I had no funds. When I pulled up my online banking, I noticed a large charge to Sprint under the name of my general manager. Apparently, she used my direct deposit information to pay for her overdue phone bill. She was arrested on fraud and fired.
#37 I'm Honestly Kind Of Impressed
I worked at a game store for five years and witnessed one of the most elaborate heists by a group of young kids. Two young kids walked in and had bandanas over their faces. I told them that they had to take them off or they couldn’t be in the store. As I said this, they quickly grabbed a few older systems that we had in the bargain bin and sprinted out the door.
I rushed out the door as they leaped into the back of a pickup truck that quickly stopped in front of the store. As I looked at the license plate, it was covered up with a piece of cloth so I couldn’t even report the getaway car. All in all, it was evident that they had put in a ton of planning into that heist and it was executed flawlessly. They made away with about $100 in old consoles. I wasn’t even mad. In fact, I was thoroughly impressed.
#38 Come On, Corporate, Pull Through
We have two women working in the store and people come into the store just to talk to them. We’ve had stalkers that would come in just to stare at my coworkers. Some people would ask for them specifically, just so they have a chance to talk to them. It’s a very, very unfortunate thing to say that the cops are called semi-regularly because of people getting aggressive or handsy towards my female coworkers. My manager, being a woman herself, says she would like more hours given to the store so that people don’t have to work by themselves because it is legitimately dangerous, but corporate says no.
#39 Thank Goodness For That Football Player
We were a pretty low-volume store, so a lot of the time, there was only one person working. It just so happened that I was working alone one day when some guy came in asking to return a PC game. We couldn't return PC games at all. The return policy at GameStop was already pretty strict, but PC games were the most strict because of the one-time activation codes that they came with. The guy said he didn't like the game and then he said it didn't work. Then, he claimed he never opened it (despite the obviously broken seal on the box).
I told him that I couldn't return the game and he flipped out. He started yelling. And I was alone in the store at the time–it was just me and him. He attempted to lunge over the counter at me. It was kind of a slo-mo moment in real life, and I remember asking myself as he was coming towards me whether I would get fired if I acted in self-defence. Thankfully, I didn't have to, because he was a rather rotund man and he bounced off the corner of the counter instead of going over it. Another customer came in, saw what was happening, grabbed the dude, and literally threw him out.
#40 Taking His Roach Home? How Thoughtful
Because so many people have cockroaches in their systems, we were told to shake the systems to see if anything came out. Usually, a roach would scurry out approximately one out of every ten consoles. Roaches like to make homes in consoles. The most memorable time this happen, the guy had a bag of games as well. I gave the console a subtle little shake and a roach dropped out and started crawling across the counter. I looked at the roach, looked at the guy, and I told him we couldn't take his console. The guy sheepishly gave me a, "Sorry." He picked up the console, picked up the cockroach, put it back in his bag, and hurried out. I don't think he knew bugs were in there.
#41 Those Xbox Ones Felt Lonely
There was a massive group of people stealing credit card numbers and printing new cards with their names on them. They would come into the stores and try to purchase the visa gift cards until we told them that they needed cash or debit. Then they would try to buy three to five PS4s at once. It was always PS4s.
#42 Employee: 1, Jerkwad: 0
During the early release of RDR2, I was manning the door and only letting in 10 people at a time (we have a small store). The customers had ticket numbers that they picked up earlier and they were already in order. If you didn’t have a ticket number, you had to go to the back of the line. Well, a huge dude came and didn’t have a ticket number, but apparently he really wanted this game, so he tackled me against the door and tried to barge in. I foolishly blocked him to defend my minimum wage job. He eventually went to the back and did the “respect” nod when he eventually walked out with the game.
#43 This Isn't A Nightclub, Pal
A GameStop manager was fired because he thought it would be okay to hire his own security for the store. He hired him privately, not even through the company. So he had this guy walk around the store, unauthorized, trying to stop robberies and sneaky behavior. Luckily, the situation was handled before anything bad happened.
#44 You’re A Mean One
An older gentleman came in looking for an Xbox deal that we had weeks before and I advised him that the deal was no longer available. We did, however, have better deals with better games. He came back to me five minutes later with his wife on the phone. I was put on the phone with her and was yelled at for five minutes because, apparently, I told her the deal would be on the next time she came into the store (this was my second shift, so I probably made a mistake). She then told me that if her husband isn’t walking out with the exact deal from weeks before, that I would be ruining a 12-year-old kid’s Christmas. I guess I was the Grinch.
#45 Welcome To The Roach Hotel
A customer brought in probably the grossest PlayStation 4 I had ever seen. I thought to myself, "Oh no, please don't have roaches." I tapped it against the floor and nothing fell out. No telltale signs. I took it in. My coworker decided he needed to find out why it was so dirty before cleaning it, so he opened it up. Inside was the world's first deluxe roach hotel. We destroyed the console. Why are people so gross?
