Top Cut Collectibles — Attraction in Berwyn

I'll start this off with a disclaimer. I came here on a whim, so this was my first time experiencing being in the store. First, the store looks pretty impressive, I've seen reviews on here complaining about the lack of comics, and while a valid complaint, I would like to point out that the manga section is pretty nice. The main issue I see with this store is the employees. Look, I get it. I worked retail for 5+ years, so I know how draining a job like this can be, but the bluntness I felt talking to the staff felt like talking to my girlfriend after getting caught spending 80 bucks on a new booster box. (Cold, distant, and you know they think you are wrong no matter what you say. 😭) Point being the staff feel unfriendly as hell. And you can tell they just don't want to be there/help. First time being there, and here was my interaction with them. I waited for about 10 minutes while the guy ahead of me tried to buy pokemon products. He had so many questions, and the staff was a pool of knowledge that had sat in the hot desert for 8 years. A.k.a., this guy had no idea. It's not really a "problem." There are plenty of things people nerd out about. Maybe pokemon wasn't his interest. It was more of the cold indifference for me personally. So I walk up after that "conversation" is over and ask, "Do you guys have any lorcana mats? I've been looking everywhere for-"

Him: "Oh, we don't carry that here."

Me: "Dang alright well any lorcana packs or-"

Him: "The only mats we have are on that table right there."

Sensing the "stop bringing up that trash game" vibe, I go to what's only described as a garage sale assortment of play mats. I look for what felt like 3 minutes between the anime succubuses and questionably aged reincarnated 30 year old salary men and finally find not 1 but 2 lorcana mats, STILL IN BOX! So I'm conflicted about adding this part, but I feel like this is why this review went from a 4 to a 2 while writing out my experience. I proudly take my find to the front, ready to buy, but this guy is oddly stand offish. Like he almost wished I didn't find what he said 5 seconds ago didn't exist. That's the biggest problem I see here. The staff feel downright antisocial at times and unhelpful the rest of the time. There seems to be no organization to help them find product the shoppers actually want, and they have just adopted an attitude of "I'll just tell them no to get them out of my hair" Now I'm no business owner but if I lost a sale just cause my employees felt something didn't exist because they didn't feel like raising their eyes 90 degrees (seriously the mats were stading up right in eye sight) I'd have some feelings about the loss in revenue.

But hey, this was just my first time being there. Maybe it was a bad day. But it being an hour away makes the chances of me coming back after this...

It is not very easy to shop for card singles. They keep a small amount of singles in glass cases, like most card shops, with the rest in bulk boxes. The issue is you are not allowed to peruse what they have in stock behind the counter under the justification that you, the customer, might damage the stock. This is a vastly different purchase flow when compared with other stores in the area. Their justification for this silly hurdle is that you can see their entire stock on the website. Having been to the website to try and build out my $75 decklist, it is far from user friendly. If you don't know precisely what cards you are looking for, you are out of luck. Being able to see what cards a store has in stock and allowing the customer to make spontaneous purchases is a cornerstone of shopping for TCG singles at a game store. If you are out of a card I want, I need to be able to browse for a replacement.

I went into the store with a decklist in hand and two hours later, rather than walking with a $75 completed deck based on in store stock I walked out with $11 worth of on-display singles. Not only did I not get my deck finished but I was unable to compete in their event that weekend, costing them more money and me more frustration. The guy behind the counter was also very overwhelmed by everyone requesting him to pull up singles for them on what should be a slow Wednesday afternoon due to this slow purchasing flow hence it taking me two hours to walk out with 7 cards and a still incomplete deck. He was nice, however, and apologised for the wait and helped me get the best deal.

I love to support local shops but will likely be going elsewhere for singles and only here for the events they run. I'd rather not drive 40 min to spend 2 hours to get singles when Tcgplayer or TrollandToad can import my decklist in less than 5 min and have my entire deck shipped in 3 days with everything being in stock.

If they could alter their website to show a list of all cards in stock, that would be a step in the right direction but ideally I'd like to drive over, play a few games and browse their stock at my leisure. If you are really worried about your customers damaging $.20-$1 bulk common and uncommons while shopping, you have your...

I Made a purchase and while I did get the cards I needed they made me wait so long to complete it because of something an employee did. I paid for some cards and it turned out they were away for some tournament and I was told to wait after the tournament to pick up the other half of my cards. I left for work early to stop by and pick the cards up before I clocked in. I went over and I was being told to pay again for the cards I already paid. I had to show my bank statement to prove that I made the purchase because I guess they thought I was lying to cheat them out of 2 dollars worth of cards. Then they finally found it on their order history. It turns out the person who took my order put a wrong card in the order so I ended up owing more because the card I needed was more expensive. I had to use my credit card (which I hate doing that's why I paid ahead of time, but turns out that they shouldn't have done that either) and what should've been 10 minutes at most took me over 20 minutes to get done and I was late for work. My friends stopped shopping here and this was my first experience with the new ownership change and I wasn't pleased at all I used to go all the time back when it was on Oak Park Ave. and on Archer Ave. and now I stopped shopping there too. Maybe one day I'll go back, not soon though. For now I've been driving a whole hour away from home for a pleasant experience at...