GW USA dealt deathblow to South Jersey gaming community

[Isabel]

First, I'm sorry this is poorly written. I've had to sum it up quickly, I'm currently at work and on my lunch break. This was originally posted on the official Games Workshop facebook page in the discussion thread for rants, so I will just copy and paste it from there. Thank you for reading.


Games Workshop USA dealt a death blow to the South Jersey wargaming community yesterday. At the GW Vorhees in Echelon Village, New Jersey, our local store manager is lovingly refered to as "The Emporer" or "Our Fearless Leader" and many other names. This guy was so beloved by our community, that as a redshirt, GW corporate recieved enough mail from our community that they elevated him to store manager. Since then he has taken #1 in sales last year and #2 in sales this year, out of all of America. As of yesterday, this great man was fired. Why? A few months ago, he was forced to ask a customer to leave for cursing repeatedly in front of other customers including women and children. I have a seven year old daughter myself and this kind of thing infuriates me, so I respect that he had the courage to ask them to leave. This was after he had politly asked them to stop several times before. Since then, this crude person and his friend made a fuss, purely out of spite, to the store manager's superiors. Did GW USA act professionaly and investigate? Look at the evidence as to how great an employee he is and how loved by his community he is? No. They show up in force, like a bunch of thugs and make all of us leave the store, lock the doors for an hour and then walk him to his car and make him leave right there on the spot. This is outrageous. Everyone in our group is furious about what GW USA has done, it was completly unjustified and inappropriate. Games Workshop stores are not a McDonalds where you place an order with some snot nosed teen you'll never see again. This gentlman has become a close friend to all of us, in store and out. We have a huge respect for him, and most of us come purely because he was the manager. Before he worked there, I didnt bother making the 45 minute drive because the current store manager was lazy and unproffesional. GW USA will come to regret their decision and I hope that the parent company, the origins of this great hobby we love so much, you in Great Britain, will take notice and investigate what was done here. We have a community page with over 140 people on it, everyone of which is pledging to no longer support the store under its new management. Many are even saying they will be moving on to play Warmachine. This is disappointing to hear, I have been a Games Workshop enthusiast for 20 years now and I'd hate to see the hobby die in our area. PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS INJUSTICE!! Sincerly, Josh Austin. Dedicated Games Workshop hobbiest since 1992.

[Trasvi]

If that is the whole story, then... wow. That sounds harsh.

"make all of us leave the store, lock the doors for an hour and then walk him to his car and make him leave right there on the spot" That sounds incredibly unprofessional. No matter what institution, this kind of thing should be done outside of hours unless, unless upper management actually witnessed him assaulting a customer or something.

However, it seems par for the course for GW. A redshirt friend of mine got fired for not maintaining year-on-year sales for a particular month. The month in question they year before? 40k 5th edition....

Don't take this as a 'death blow' to the gaming community though. Look at it as GW shooting themselves in the foot. Go on and have a blast playing warmachine or malifaux and laugh at GW's behaviour.

[Isabel]

The deathblow part was more about grabbing attention I have an independant retailer close to me, so its not so bad. But this store manager was a really great person and deserves to have his customers defend him. Thank you for the reply.

[Pacorko]

Absolutely unfair and absurd. To put a man out of work just because two air-heads with big mouths, petty intentions and no courage can't shut their traps or talk without epithets even when asked not to do so in a place open to children is the most stupid act this people could have made.

I can just applaud your loyalty to this man and the support campaign you are organizing for his sake. But I can only advise you to take it to GW's regional management and higher-up echelons so it really has any effect that can help the ex-manager in any real way. Those are the individuals that can right this wrong-doing.

As for the low-men that caused this: shun them. Organize your peers to avoid playing against them or even fraternizing. Boycott tourneys they are already attending and let it be known why you are doing so. Until they see reason and detract from their accusations and apologize to the offended party, you really don't need to be associated with them, nor want their ilk as part of your community.

I hope your actions can help this guy out in such tough times, and thank you for standing out for others in the face of injustice.

[Necrotyr18]

I have a local store five minutes around the corner from my home and would commute the hour drive to GW Voorhees for tournaments or a day of pick up play. The reason behind this was because of the now ex-store manager at GW Voorhees. That store will not see my face or another dime for the release of their store manager.

[1972lt1]

I am part of the GW Voorhees community, and enjoyed going there because of the now ex store manager. He knew all of his customers and no matter how busy the shop was you were always greeted when you walked in. He always found time to help out with a rules question, ring someone up and help someone out with painting or modeling, and never once lost his cool. Many people feel like they don't fit in or have problems, but that was all forgotten when you walked through the door. GW has done a huge disservice to our shop today.

[Liber]

Lots of companies would make the same mistake GW did...but damn, i really hate too see GW once again proving that although they excel at making models for wargames, they absolutely blow as a competent business.

Hopefully they keep raising prices and shrinking their customer base, thats definitely the way to fix everything!

[xxRavenxx]

There is no way that a company would do this for the reasons stated. They'd may as well be pulling out a cheque book at the same time for when the unlawful dismissal suit gets filed.

There will be more to it. Other complaints, perhaps, or something serious that hasn't been brought up in public, like missing stock, etc.

[Warboss Antoni]

Damn, which guy was this? Not looking for a full name, but a first would suffice. I used to go to Cherry Hill a lot when I was growing up and from what I remember the few times I was at Vorhees the staff was pretty much the same.

[AndrewGPaul]

Nobody reads internet petitions. You'll be better off getting these 140 local gamers to write actual, physical letters to GW US HQ.

Did you know that these two individuals had complained to GW before the store manager was fired? If so, that would have been the time to contact GW en masse. As it is, all they had was two complaints about the attitude of a staff member, and no contrasting information.

On the other hand, not supporting GW =/= "death of the hobby".

[Memnos]

It is highly unlikely that the store manager was let go for two complaints.

While Games Workshop will never tell you why they let someone go, it's safe to assume that what you know to be the reason they let the guy go is not the actual reason.

[IJW]

Agreed with xxRavenxx, even GW don't fire someone bringing in that kind of money for the reasons given, they especially don't fire someone on the spot and escort them to their car...

[SunTzu]

Yeah, that guy's about to become the richest guy in wargaming if he got fired for asking two people to leave the store. There's more to it than that, for certain.

[AngelofSorrow]

There must be more to this story.


Ready for eternal war!

[Isabel]

People knew about the complaints and many people sent in emails and letters to the GW headquarters supporting the store manager.

I dont know enough to speak any further on why he was fired, so I'll just leave it at this. After knowing this guy for a long time and seeing the amazing amount of support he has received, I am 100% sure that it was not justified. GW should show a bit more support for their staff. If you knew him, you would know what I mean.

[zoggin-eck]

Pretty silly to even comment on something like this. There's always two sides to the story, and there's usually things others don't know about. We lost a guy where I work recently, and there were of course multiple reasons why he was fired. Same goes for someone who left to work elsewhere within the same company. I doubt making a fuss will do any good. Rarely are people "re-hired" after something like that, and who's to say he'd want to go back after what happened?

To be honest though, slipping in the switching to warmachine line just comes off as childish and undoes any other points.

[selfconstrukt]

Unfortunately this is "par for the course" for GW USA. IIRC the retail staff are now (and have been) in Memphis for a while, and the HR department there is ruthless, no loyalty or even common sense prevails there.

In fact, the situation you just described is rather tame compared to some of the other firings they have done in past in the USA.

[snake-eyez]

It sounds like he was a great guy. Maybe you guys should encourage him to open a FLGS near the GW store and stock GW products and others. That way he doesn't have to tow the line of "buy GW PVA glue to glue GW sand and GW static grass to your GW base"

[weeble1000]

To be honest though, slipping in the switching to warmachine line just comes off as childish and undoes any other points.

It seems to me that consumers expressing dissatisfaction with a company via a boycott is is neither childish nor "undoes" the reasons for their collective dissatisfaction.

It's not like telling your school mates that you aren't playing with them anymore because they made you mad, as you seem to think. That is an issue of interpersonal relationships. A boycott is an issue of consumer choice.

The message is: I am a customer. You did X. Because of that I will no longer be giving you my custom and I will instead switch to one of your competitors for a comparable good or service.

It doesn't matter what X is. If Games Workshop wants business from these individuals, it will have to find some way to satisfy them. If the company feels that its overall interests are best protected by neglecting the concerns of these customers, it will simply have to accept the fallout. The fact that these customers can switch to Privateer Press is an indication that Games Workshop does indeed exist in a competitive market and does indeed need to be concerned about customer relations.

You can disagree with their reasons for a boycott all you like. You very well may feel that their reasons are silly, childish, irrational, or unjustified. But you aren't attacking that. You are attacking the concept of a boycott. You are arguing that the simple fact that these consumers have decided to use a boycott as a means of communicating with the company negates the reasons for their dissatisfaction.

What should a dissatisfied customer do? Keep giving the offending company business while attempting to resolve the dispute? What if there's no resolution? What if your concerns aren't being addressed, whatever they may be? If you don't stop supporting the company with your business, the company has all the reason in the world to believe that whatever you are upset about is not something that needs to be addressed, because it clearly isn't impacting your choice as a consumer.

Competition is a sacred bastion of the consumer in a capitalist economy. That is why we have laws to protect consumers from monopolies. If you don't like why they're boycotting, fine. But I will not sit around and see you denigrate boycotting as something immature and childish without having something to say about it.

[ted1138]

I know what I'd do if I was treated the way this bloke was, I'd tell those 'so called' superiors to go and *fudge* themselves!!