Refused veiwing of the new book

[thesheriff]

Just to start off with, this isnt a moan at GW, this is purley a thread to investigate whether this is a common occurance....

So I went into my local GW on saturday with the intention of looking at the new empire book. I always like to go and look at the new fantasy books, because it gives me a chance to discover what new units and combinations my friends might be using against me with there armies.

I walked over to the new release section with a friend of mine, and we picked up two books off the shelf. We started flicking through them - carefully i might add - new points costs and what some of the units did. Same as usuall for any new release, including all of the previous 8th ed. books.

I was then approached by a staff member that I have known for a long time, and asked what i was doing. I said that i was looking at what the new stuff did, expecting a cheerful conversation about how everything works and how I should go about combatting it with my armies (that he was well aware of).

Instead, he said, in a cheeful way: "Ok, you have about 5 seconds to put the book down".

Dazed, i thought that maybe he wanted me to use the open copy, as not to potentially damage it or drop it. So, i said "fine, is there an open copy you can look at??"

"No" he said.

I was tempted to ask anyone in the store to let me see any copy they had bought, but it was mostly full of begginers and I was still quiet annoyed, so i left. Which is a shame, I would have liked to have stayed and talked to a few people there

So, after my story, my quiestions;
*Are you allowed to look at a new book that you have not bought? Either an open copy or just one off the shelf.
*If not, how long have you not been allowed to?

I think I'll put a poll in too, to see what you think...

thesheriff

[xxRavenxx]

The problem is how damaged books get, and how quickly.

Boyes is a great example of it locally. They don't keep an eye on their range, and ALL their books they bought in last year are in shreds, because people have thumbed through them, dropped them, put food on them, etc. Noone would buy them now.

[Bigbot]

We always look through a store copy and then my wife tells me to get one from the back.

[Caiphas Cain]

I'm allowed to use the books in the GW I go to occasionally. I've known the manager for close to four years though, and he knows I'm careful. He even lets me use store armies if I want. I haven't been there in a few months though now, perhaps there's a new policy.

[sigur]

I hardly ever did that but I never was told to put the book down or anything. That's weird.

[Tarliyn]

Never encountered that myself. Can see some reasons for and against. Seems kinda extreme though. I run a chain retail store and one of the things we talk about with marketting is touch points. If a customer is able to touch a product and hold it they are more likely to want it and therefore buy it. I thought that was pretty simple marketing though. Sometimes i honestly feel bad for GW. So many of their policies are just backwards from the way the rest of the retail world is heading and they don't even realize it. They need to go and spend the money and hire a marketing person who has previously worked for a big company. The company I work for seems to go after people from Victoria Secret and our products are nothing alike, lol. (atleast 1 marketing, 1 dm, and 1 loss pervention person I am aware of so far lol) My company is all the better for it and like I said our products are nothing alike.

On a store level you wanna hire people who are passionate about your product and who are smart. On a game and model design level you want the same. But for corporate level jobs you want smart and experienced people, which requires money. To bad they are short sighted on it : /

Sorry went way OT


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[thesheriff]

Oh I forgot to mention. The guy who came up to me and told me to put it down asked me "am i thinking of gettig the book". Two thoughts went through my mind;

A) Lie - and say "I was considering getting it, i just want to have a look first". To which his response would be; "Your not going to get it are you"
B) Tell the truth - say "no, im probably not going to get it, but id like to have a look at a few cahnges"

I chose the latter option, because being honest is probably the best bet. And the guy knows me, and I dont have an empire army and its unlikley Id buy one there (although, I did say I was tenpted to buy one once I had the money) , so it would just be a straight lie to a person I would think of as a friend.

So, when he said "are you going to get one?" I said; "Nah, just gonna have a look for now. But I might do an Empire army when its my birthday in june, if ive got enough that is"

Ive said this before, when the ogres came out I took a copy off the shelf and perused, and when asked if I was going to get an ogre army I said no. And they were fine with me looking at it and just seeing what was new.

As Sigur said, it just seems really weird...

Anouther thing is, it wasnt like I was trying to write a list from it, i was just having a look. I woudln't get told to put it down if I went into Waterstones or any other place that specialises in books to any degree.

thesheriff

[Dylius]

Personally I think that you should always ask first, to avoid any problems.

Maybe they did it because they had a policy of "if you want to read it, then you have to buy it".

[marv335]

Most of the FLGS I've been to shrink wrap all the books to prevent this.
If you want to read it, you have to buy it.
I can see their point, it's a shop, not a library.

[thesheriff]

Most of the FLGS I've been to shrink wrap all the books to prevent this.
If you want to read it, you have to buy it.
I can see their point, it's a shop, not a library.

The concept that your stating, ie; "Its not a library" is fine. But, it is like an overnight change, and its very strange IMO.

[6mmhero]

It does seem a little strange, but then it depends how long you were looking at it etc. On a release day it is expected that people will pick up the new book to flick through etc. How many copies were left on the shelf bar the two that you and your friend were looking at?

On a similar note a lot of comic shops have signs to stop people standing and readin the comic/book cover to cover.
I think if you were just browsing the book then this is strange, however if you were there for a while and reading the rules cover to cover then perhaps it is not so strange (especially if you do this for every fantasy book). Not saying anyone is in the wrong but would have thought the staff member would have viewed it as a promotional opportunity.

[Freakiq]

Just picking a random book off a shelf and reading it is poor form but so is not having a store copy.

I still think OP should have asked first though.

Still, one more reason to not feel bad when you download the scanned version.

[Spectrar Ghost]

The shop may not be a library, but if I'm unsure whether to get a book, especially a rulebook, I like to be able to look through it. If I can't, I won't buy it. It's that simple. Policies like this result in lost sales.

I understand that damage is a worry, but either take the chance and make sure the customer treats the store's property with respect, or have a store use copy. Especially for GW stores they need to take a hit for probably $10-$15 bucks for the cost every couple months, and a $30 or so hit every couple years for the core books. It's chump change for the goodwill it generates. You can whip it out to help customers select a new army, use it in the Academies (do they still do those?), and have it available for the staff to peruse to build expertise. It's a no-brainer.

[Lord Inquisitor]

Firstly I think it's bonkers that GW don't provide at least rules sections of army books and codecies online. Amongst other benefits for the company it would allow shop staff to give the website address and send their game-store groupies home to read up on the new book at their leisure and think about starting an empire army.

However, I think all GWs and the vast majority of independents have open copies for this precise reason. Buying all the books costs what, $500 or so? Absurd to expect casual or even tournament gamers to buy every book and players are much more likely to be satisfied with the game and/or start a new army if they can actually read the rules, look at the pictures, etc.

But still, the shop is under no obligation to provide open copies, nor should they allow you to paw the merchandise particularly when you have no intention of buying it. I may not consider it a good long term business plan for GW to not extend this courtesy but a courtesy it remains.

[Dezartfox]

Our store had a problem that none of the beginner were buying the books, and just using the shelf ones, this caused issues with missing stock and damages. Now we make sure the beginners have the books, or else they can't play. Also we took all the books off the shelf and put a store/open copy that people can thumb through, but not use for a game.

[thesheriff]

It does seem a little strange, but then it depends how long you were looking at it etc. On a release day it is expected that people will pick up the new book to flick through etc. How many copies were left on the shelf bar the two that you and your friend were looking at?

I picked it up, maganged to flick to the special section to see how much Demi-gryph knights costed, then got asked to put it down. It was literally seconds...

Just picking a random book off a shelf and reading it is poor form but so is not having a store copy.

I still think OP should have asked first though.

Still, one more reason to not feel bad when you download the scanned version.

I do usually agree. The store was running a 24hr open event before easetr sunday, and they were crazy busy. The manager was running an intro game, one staff-member was serving a que of people 3-4 big and i couldnt even see the last staff memeber. So, i just started flicking through carfully

Your right, it wasnt the best form. And it was one of teh reasosn I possibly thought he asked me to put it down. But again, ive done it before, so i am just bemused at the sudden change.

One of the main aims of this thread was to establish whether anyone else in my position ahd experianced this "overnight change". If most peopel experiances had been one minute, look at books at your discression (within reason) and teh next it had been "No touchy!" then it coudl indicate a policy change. However, im thinking this is more of a staff memeber, or possibly manager instututed policy.

[Scammel]

Firstly I think it's bonkers that GW don't provide at least rules sections of army books and codecies online.

They do in a sense, you can get the statlines for most units on the website. Enough to know what the unit broadly does, but still forcing you to get the book.

[Deff Mekz]

Wow that's abit wierd, to fair though I can see why he asked you to put it down, if a little timmy had seen you holding it they might of got the same idea, and we all know how that would of ended...

On the topic of store copies, I know some GW stores (mainly the big ones) have copies in store, Warhammer World being one of them. Warhammer World even had store copies of the FW books at one point, I don't know if they still do mind.

[The Devourer]

I understand they don't want people damaging books they intend to sell however they really should have store copies. The stores I buy from allow you to look through any of the books and it is very helpful in selling. When i'm looking at a new game or army it is nice to get the employees opinion but i'm not putting any money down until I know I like the rules- i'm certainly not buying a book on the chance I might play with it.

[Inquisitor Kallus]

I think its all about manners. It doesn't matter whether he was going to let you look at it or not, you should have asked first. It really annoys the hell out of me that people think its ok to pick things up of mine or use them without asking me first. Do you have the right? No, you don't, because it's not yours. Same goes for thumbing through books in a store, ask first. I swear common courtesy is dying out these days.