Second Chance — Attraction in Portage

The customer service here is incredibly poor and its time to speak up. Theyve gone down hill since they moved from their location across the street and Im tired of being quiet about it. I am the type of consumer who shops local and prefers to go to things that are attended by humans because I like seeing people employed (ie No self check outs for this guy).

Basically, the workers are very standoffish. I have been buying and selling games there for years, I have even trusted them to leave my store credit in their books for future use when they didnt have something in stock. This is the type of place that may have something you want but if the right people arent working its best to just turn around and leave without even looking. I have done it on countless occasions.

I would also like to make clear that I bought many of the DVDs there and never once even used them. So basically they will sell you a product that they feel isnt good enough to buy but they will surely sell it to you. Then when you go back with the same thing they say its not good enough. They cant get their story or business practices straight.

I have been biting my tongue due to the increasingly bad customer service there. I was told that my disks were too scratched. Some of them had shallow scratches that are easily buffed out. I hadnt noticed some of these minor scratches but most did not as you can see from the photo I attached. All they had to do was tell me they werent interested in my stuff that day. Instead they said they were too scratched and then I showed them non scratched discs. Then they told me their machine wasnt working. So I asked them which one was it a non-working machine or scratches because I will be back. Thats when they told me its because it costs too much money to run the machine than buying the items from me are worth. Excuse after contradicting excuse. I kept asking which one it was. Again, all they had to do was say they werent interested. Instead they started judging me. I was called angry, I was told I was arguing, and all I was doing was asking what I expressed to them were hard questions they couldnt answer because they lied. One worker told me to leave and let them do their job. I told them customer service is part of their job. They said they dont get "angry" customers. Yet another lie. Whenever you deal in sales you deal with disappointment and disatisfaction, it goes with the territory. Still you have to retain those customers as a small business. That is just the name of the game.

I was so disappointed by how I was treated after I left that I went back inside and let them know that just because someone asks them a question they cant answer honestly because they lied doesnt mean they have to start abusing the customer. Its cause and effect, you lie and it comes back to haunt you and then you keep telling enough lies and mistreating people badly long enough and it comes back to bite you. Of course they really didnt like it when I offered them that bit of advice.

On another instance a worker got angry at me for asking about their increase in prices. She told me they stay competitive with online pricing. When I went on my phone and showed her online pricing she said that she already gave me an answer and I said it doesnt match up with what I am seeing.

I could go on but I will stop there with examples.

It is this double speak that they have that these young kids they employ must not understand that when they lie someone might just let them know they are aware of said lies. When you lie you have to show humility and let the customer come first, especially when that customer is a regular like myself.

You can see other reviews across the net where people have experienced the same things here.

Anyway, avoid this place if you appreciate customer service. Sometimes they have cool stuff so its a trade off but I for one cannot support a business where I am...

Poor selection, high prices, and rude staff.

This place was kind of bad a year or so back, but it's gotten so much worse. For as long as I've been going there, the prices have been way above the average going prices online. Often, you can find the same item on ebay for much cheaper, even after shipping and taxes. There is a value in being able to physically walk into a store and have the item in your hands that day, but in this case it's going to cost you most of the time. Over the past year though, their selection has virtually dried up to mostly a collection of games that nobody would likely want in the first place, often for more than they're worth.

There are a number of reasons this has happened, but it seems like the most likely reason is the terrible service. The staff there is mostly made up of teenagers and college students, which is normal for a business like this, but from what I can tell, there is almost no supervision at the place because the staff are very unprofessional and often outright rude. Most of the time there are at least three of them behind the counter having loud and unprofessional conversations. By unprofessional, I mean that they talk about how much they can't stand other coworkers, how they just want to watch movies in the back, and how dumb a previous customer was. These are all normal conversations to have with coworkers, but not loudly and within earshot of customers. I even heard a group of staff once talk about how much they couldn't stand Chik-Fil-A because the service was 'too friendly'. Ironically they were discussing this while ignoring a customer that was trying to purchase something. Another time, a customer came in trying to sell a console and some peripherals, but the staff were very reluctant to even look over the stuff. They said that it wasn't the cut-off time for purchasing yet, but it was close enough. When he explained what he had for sale, they said that they had no idea what some of the stuff even was so they wouldn't consider it. Overhearing the conversation, I offered to buy one of the peripherals off the guy. In a matter of minutes we looked up the going price on our phones and struck a deal. Had the staff simply done the same search they could have made that deal and easily sold it at a mark-up. Obviously this hasn't been my experience every time I frequented the store, but it seems to be more and more these days.

Another thing that I find annoying is that the staff are fairly hit-or-miss about wearing their masks. This honestly wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the aggressive signage on the doors and windows that is almost insulting. We get that there's a mandate to wear masks and generally most people are willing to comply with that, but the signs border on inflammatory, especially when some of the staff don't really seem to have to follow the store's policy of "No Mask, No Service".

This place used to be a pretty cool place to visit back when it had a decent selection. The prices were high and the staff was a bit unprofessional at time, but it was fun to browse the store and find a movie that you almost forgot about or occasionally come across a rare game 'in the wild'. Now the selection is really slim and the staff seems almost hostile and annoyed by customers. Bottom line: if you're in the market for vintage video games or consoles, just hit up ebay and save yourself some money...

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 FIVE STAR STORE/EMPLOYEES (EXCEPT ONE) I really love the store. It's AMAZING!!!!!!!! And every other employee I've encountered has been fantastic!!! Great selection of games, movies, game systems, accessories/parts, etc.

ZERO, ZILCH, NO STARS HOWEVER TO YOU, SIR, AT THE COUNTER. The shorter than average (5'6" ish) bald headed (maybe shaved) middle-aged, heavier in the middle man at the counter taking money about 5pm on Saturday, March 18th, 2023 when I, a taller than average, long-haired, middle-aged, heavier in the middle woman 😉🤪🤣 came in inquiring about an Xbox360 guitar hero or rockband guitar controller (counter person who helped me with that question was great!) I browsed awhile, made my selections (several) and waited patiently in line. Not everyone appreciates the rude, crude banter from counter person to customer. One particular counter person/cashier was rude and "joking" with everyone inappropriately and loudly. He told one customer, "We fancy ourselves comedians."...... but no one was laughing. When it was my turn in line, I approached with a question about a game I was considering. I was rudely told that "No, that game didn't come with a cord, I'd have to have everything already at home to play it, or purchase it." When I said it came with one originally, again was told very rudely,"No, it didn't, and if it did, it came in a big box with a guitar, too." He then proceeded to laugh at me, as if to say, "Stupid woman doesn't know anything. " I tried explaining that no, actually, it could/ would have had a cord, I was then ignored, and he started talking to another coworker and customer. I had 6 or 7 games I'd handed him intending to purchase (he handed them off to another to find), but after that exchange, I was dumbfounded, looking at him like, really??? Instead of asking if they had the cord for me to purchase, like I would have had it been a different employee, I only said "No never mind" and left without making any purchase at all. I really wish I'd caught his name, and I HOPE HE SEES THIS. (Or maybe I'll be sure to show him if I have the misfortune of interacting with him again) I hope that if I stick to mornings like usual when I visit, I can avoid another interaction with...