Refused veiwing of the new book

[xxRavenxx]

What? Are you suggesting we all buy blind? I honestly think knowing exactly what you're buying is a very important part of shopping...

Interesting question:

Exclude first time customers, who would need staff help anyway to know what an armybook/codex is.

How many people DONT know what is in the book? I was 99% sure when empire came out, that it would be the updated ruleset needed to play empire in the current edition, and would contain some empire fluff and some nice pictures... Thats all the information I personally needed to decide if I'd buy one or not. (I chose no, because the book I need is a wood elf book, not an empire book )

[Baragash]

There are 110+ stores in the UK alone, I've only been in maybe 10 of them over the years and 3 of those had a 'no touch unless buying' policy in place. I must stress that this policy was not from HQ, it was from individual managers. It fluctuated as managers came and went or were shifted to other stores etc.

This.

And this was certainly true when I was a red shirt as well.

The OP should have asked as a courtesy, but similarly the staff should have been "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you have to put that down", not "you have 5 seconds to put that down" (assuming the story is related mostly accurately).

If their going to be assinine about looking through their products, make sure their perfectly polite to you, or complain up the management chain.

[librerian_samae]

Back when I used the Kingston store in London, and was thinking about a new army the manager grabbed all the books I thought looked fun and told me to just go through them untill i came out with a list I liked.
Now that's the kind of customer service I always associate with GW.

[Yodhrin]

Interesting question:

Exclude first time customers, who would need staff help anyway to know what an armybook/codex is.

How many people DONT know what is in the book? I was 99% sure when empire came out, that it would be the updated ruleset needed to play empire in the current edition, and would contain some empire fluff and some nice pictures... Thats all the information I personally needed to decide if I'd buy one or not. (I chose no, because the book I need is a wood elf book, not an empire book )

I thought exactly the same thing about the latest Grey Knights codex and ordered it online, and that turned out to be among my top ten most regretted purchases of all time. If I'd taken five minutes to browse through the book at a store, it's pretty good odds that I'd have spotted at least one of the things I found abhorrent about it, which would have driven me to delay the purchase until I could look through a mate's copy. Which is the actual reason a manager would put in place a no browsing policy, it has sod-all to do with damages.

I'm going to say this again for the people who're browsing on their mobile and thus may have missed it: retailers factor in a certain amount of stock loss as part of the operating cost, if they're not doing so, it's a poorly run store. It is not my problem if someone else has damaged a book while browsing; it is not my problem if the company won't pay enough staff to run the store properly; and it certainly isn't my problem if the manager is too incompetent to properly calculate their running costs. GW don't want you rummaging around inside new boxes of models, so they shrink-wrap them, so they are evidently aware of the process; if they don't want me to look through a 'dex or novel before buying -as I can do in any other establishment that sells books- then they can shrink-wrap those products, or put out dummies on the shelves and fetch the actual product at point of sale.

If you appear to be following an accepted convention(product you can look through is available to be looked through), then follow it.

[samiens]

So your logic is that as its not shrink wrapped its fair game? Sorry but there's no rules that say customers must be allowed to fondle everything that isn't wrapped.

Its subjective as to whether a policy that doesn't allow you to leaf through books prior to purchase is good or bad but it's a fact that GW have every right, in a single store or across them all, to determine whether you are allowed to or not- just as I've seen people in the magazine aisle in supermarkets etc who clearly are not going to make a purchase, asked to put them down.

I can understand not liking this policy but as a matter of principle the idea that you must be allowed to browse holds no water.
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[Galfinnan]

GW isn't Borders, before the Borders in Glasgow shut down, I remember going in there to buy the Swords of Night and Day and picking a copy of the shelf to find a bookmark in the middle of it and the pages dog earred and grubby. I picked another copy but I reckon someone had gone in there on their break and read a few pages everyday rather than buying the book. I doubt they would ever sell that book to anyone. Same thing must happen to copies in the GW stores as they don't sell that quickly so it would make sense to have no more than one copy out on the shelf to prevent this from happening. As they are getting it at cost price it can't hurt them that much to "waste" one copy of each new codex they get in to let people look before they buy or "demo" to new players. If you hadn't said you knew the staff member well enough I would have said that most likely he thought you were going to steal it

[loveless]

So your logic is that as its not shrink wrapped its fair game? Sorry but there's no rules that say customers must be allowed to fondle everything that isn't wrapped.

Its subjective as to whether a policy that doesn't allow you to leaf through books prior to purchase is good or bad but it's a fact that GW have every right, in a single store or across them all, to determine whether you are allowed to or not- just as I've seen people in the magazine aisle in supermarkets etc who clearly are not going to make a purchase, asked to put them down.

I can understand not liking this policy but as a matter of principle the idea that you must be allowed to browse holds no water.

I'm wondering if this mentality is a UK/EU thing...I also wonder how horrified you'd be to go into a Barnes and Noble Stateside and see the hordes of people leafing through books. Summaries and book jackets are nice, but you often need to read a sample of the writing to know if it's a worthwhile purchase. I've been burned by jacket descriptions before, now I usually flip to a random page in the book and glance at the writing style if I'm considering a "blind" purchase.

At the cost of GW books nowadays, the book has to do more than just give me rules. Is there inspiring artwork in there? Are the rules inspiring in addition to being required? Are there any particular notes on various army color schemes or builds? Come to think of it, GW makes really crappy books on those merits. Maybe I should be less judgemental

Frankly, if you don't want the book looked at, seal it up. Even then you should have a store copy so that the customer knows what they're getting. GW is especially nasty when it comes to their rulebooks - some of the least content in the industry at the highest prices and all targeted at people who get money from paper routes and working in retail or fast food.

Bleh...now I have a bad taste in my mouth again...

[samiens]

Maybe it is a culture thing. But im not disagreeing that's its better to be able to sample before you buy, just that its not a right and storesare entitled to stop people doing so if they please.
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[Waagh Rider]

Maybe it is a culture thing. But im not disagreeing that's its better to be able to sample before you buy, just that its not a right and storesare entitled to stop people doing so if they please.
Sent from my 7 Mozart using Board Express

I've never had this experience, and I've been in most of the GW's in the UK.

[samiens]

I can't say I've ever had a problem in a UK GW store- I just don't think its unreasonable
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[Sean_OBrien]

Pretty simple to me.

They want my money. If they want it, they have to let me shop the way I want to shop. If they don't - they don't get my money.

In this particular case, if I take the time to drive over to a store to take a look at a new book - I expect to be able to take a look at the new book, that includes what is inside the book. If I didn't want to look inside the book and just wanted to see the cover of it - I would have ordered it online and not had to deal with driving to the store (and likely gotten a better price by buying it online).

That said, I have never had anyone ever refuse me looking inside pretty much anything. That includes books and magazines (some of which were sealed) as well as boxed sets of various sorts, models and the like. If damage to the books from casual browsing is such a problem for some people here, perhaps they should take it up with GW as opposed to their customers. I have books which are nearly a hundred years old that still have solid bindings, at over $30 for the codices and almost $60 for the rule book (guessing $75 when the next edition comes around) - they should be able to find a competent publisher who can put pages in the book in a manner that they do not fall out when looked at crossly.

[Max Jet]

Interesting question:

Exclude first time customers, who would need staff help anyway to know what an armybook/codex is.

How many people DONT know what is in the book? I was 99% sure when empire came out, that it would be the updated ruleset needed to play empire in the current edition, and would contain some empire fluff and some nice pictures... Thats all the information I personally needed to decide if I'd buy one or not. (I chose no, because the book I need is a wood elf book, not an empire book )

After the last Tyranid Codex I am going to take a thorough look at anything before I buy it.

You don't allow it? No problem, I take my business elsewhere.

[Lord Inquisitor]

For those saying they wouldn't buy if not allowed to browse it should be noted that the OP straight up admitted that he wasn't going to buy it anyway and just wanted to read it.

[Spectrar Ghost]

Doesn't matter. I went into my local GW (a Bunker) Thursday for a game of Necromunda, and was not planning on spending any money. They had a pack of FW Space Marine Heavy Weapons on the counter, the shoulder mounted ones. One looked like it might be useful for a Heavy Plasma Gun for my Van Saar, but I wasn't sure.

I ended up buying them. What sold me? One of the employees allowed me to open the package and test fit the weapons against the shoulderpad of the Cadians I'm using for the gang. The same is true of rulebooks. If he had gone through the book and liked what he'd seen enough, it would have been a $35 sale the store wouldn't have had otherwise. Were the chances high? Maybe not, but higher than the zero chance the store got for a sale.

Is browsing the books a right? No. Is it good business sense? Yes. The questions are different, and I think that's where a lot of the disageement here comes from; people are arguing about two different topics.

[loveless]

For those saying they wouldn't buy if not allowed to browse it should be noted that the OP straight up admitted that he wasn't going to buy it anyway and just wanted to read it.

So what would have the response been if the exchange went:

GW Drone: "Do you plan on buying that book?"
Customer: "I don't know...I need to look through it first."

I'd agree with the sentiment that if a store doesn't let me look at the book, I probably won't buy from them. If a store wants me to "buy blind" I might as well just get it from an online discounter and save a chunk of cash.

An army book/codex isn't like a novel or something - it's a reference guide for a game. Additionally, it also acts as a shopping guide, as it informs the player how many of a particular box/blister he'll require to build the army he wants. It's a bit annoying on both sides - the best solution is to buy a store copy and let them check it out at the counter if you're really worried about how your customers treat a book (and that's a valid concern, apparently, given that every 3rd Warseerite appears to end up with books that start falling apart...I'm still not sure what you people are doing to your books ).

[Sean_OBrien]

Is browsing the books a right? No.

In so much as I decide how I spend my money, it is a right. While I agree, if the store likes - they can decide not to let me browse, however if they do not let me browse - I will not spend my money with them. Retailers need to understand that part of the relationship as well and then not wonder why it is that money goes elsewhere (either to online discounters or to other stores).

[ted1138]

I would never buy a book I couldn't have a look through first, and the staff member who spoke to you was very much out of order telling you to put the book back on the shelf. If I was you I'd put in an official complaint about it.

[Inquisitor Kallus]

In so much as I decide how I spend my money, it is a right. While I agree, if the store likes - they can decide not to let me browse, however if they do not let me browse - I will not spend my money with them. Retailers need to understand that part of the relationship as well and then not wonder why it is that money goes elsewhere (either to online discounters or to other stores).

The store is private property, you dont have a right to pick up a book and look through it, thats why you should learn some manners and ask first.

I would never buy a book I couldn't have a look through first, and the staff member who spoke to you was very much out of order telling you to put the book back on the shelf. If I was you I'd put in an official complaint about it.

A complaint? How is that out of order? It is the stores property and he did not ask permission. Some places are ok with this, others are not. You need to ask first before you go rifling through stuff, it really is common decency.

[xxRavenxx]

In so much as I decide how I spend my money, it is a right. While I agree, if the store likes - they can decide not to let me browse, however if they do not let me browse - I will not spend my money with them. Retailers need to understand that part of the relationship as well and then not wonder why it is that money goes elsewhere (either to online discounters or to other stores).

Online discounters who will let you browse through the army book?

[Mr Ogre]

I'm in favour of a dedicated Open Copy for the store.

Trouble with just letting people pick through those on the shelf, is that they do indeed quickly get beyond a saleable condition. And all joking apart, I've seen such horrors as a sticky fingered man-child cracking the spine of copy for sale to keep it open, because he'd forgotten to bring his own book. Not cool. Not cool at all. Easiest way to prevent this is indeed the blanket ban.