Taps Games — Local services in Edmonton

Was recently at a different card shop in the city and over heard a Taps employee openly degrading and insulting the business they were playing One Piece at. (Long hair and glasses)

Not a very professional look for taps in my opinion. Boasted about the prices being better than all other stores and seemingly didn’t mind to let the other pods know. Yet from what I have seen, Taps is comparable if not more expensive than their competitors across the city.

First time Taps customer

I would go into the pros and cons of the store but I feel the main issues should be addressed first.

Accessibility is minimal to low for anyone who is in a wheelchair or uses any sort of walking device. The tables downstairs are a last ditch effort to include people as such but unfortunately you are proving why an upstairs game space is worse for inclusion and functionality. Great, now you section off people who already have it hard enough. Good one.

Staff lack customer service training and when they can’t find something for you, they just stop talking to you and basically avoid you. Was looking for a bundle of D6, when it was apparent there wasn’t the ones I was looking for, I wasn’t told “sorry we don’t have them”, instead I got a cold shoulder. Was there with my brother and he waited nearly 10 minutes for a single card, granted I don’t know how well organized the back room is, if at all. When asked why it took so long by their fellow employee, the response was snarky and disrespectful “oh it wasn’t that long, it was only 30 seconds.. calm down.” Also noting that this person also looked like the one making the comment about the other store, while playing one piece.

Tried to interact with the locals, best I can say without being overly rude. Taps is Warp1 without the title, staff and locals a like. So if being pretentious and lacking any social skills is your thing, this is the place to be.

Positive:

-Lots of parking Lots of warhammer, comparable to GW in west Ed/Kingsway lots of DnD product TCG singles for most popular games

Manager who is an older gentleman seemed very lovely and helpful but unfortunately we didn’t have him serve us so we didn’t get that good experience that is promoted in your reviews.

I’m sorry but this type of place becomes the last place to visit when hunting for things of the TCG nature. Will be keeping my...

Edit: Taps has changed my opinion for the better these last few months. My major concerns have all been addressed and I greatly enjoy stopping by their store now.

Good store with fun events, but slipping on the customer service side of things. I've been going to Taps since it operated out of the original shoe box location, and before the people behind the counter seemed to know better how to help customers and make them feel welcome. Now I often find myself feeling a little unwelcome and here are the reasons why:

Favouritism - I get it, you have a cool job where you can hang out with friends, but don't keep chatting with them while ignoring your other customers and causing a line to form.

Product Knowledge - You don't need to know the whole store, but try and learn about your range. It seems most the staff know card games and that's it. Apart from not helping the customer you are also losing out on sales by not being able to suggest add ons. I work in customer service and am expected to know the basics of every department at my store.

Acknowledging the Customer - This is unfortunately a big problem. I have often waited at the cash desk for several minutes to be served. That's not acceptable. I've worked jobs having to do online orders and balancing that with in person customers, but you always acknowledge the person in store. At the very least a "Hey, I can help you in just a moment here," instead of dead silence.

Attitude - Now this point is going to get personal. Some of your staff are dismissive of customers and give off a vibe they don't want people there. It doesn't help when they ignore you during a transaction to go back to speaking with their friend. It makes me as a customer feel unwelcome and questioning why I should shop here. I will use GW at WEM as a counter example. I've never felt unwelcome there because the staff always made sure to divide their time amongst the different customers. It doesn't need to be a long conversation, just acknowledge them. Taps used to have this down and has really slipped the last year.

Overall I like the store and hope they do well, but these issues...

First time here to pick up the Final Fantasy MTG bundles I preordered. When I walked in and stood by the counter, no one acknowledged my presence or asked if I needed anything. When I went up to the till the guy working it just said "Hi." And stared at me with his cheek in his hand and finger by his nose, didn't say anything else. He looked bored and rather uncaring. So I tell him I was picking up an order, show them my order number because the man still hasn't really spoken to me. I assume since I preordered it there would be boxes of the bundles set aside for that, but he just grabs whatever was underneath him and across the way, and and sets them on the counter. Says nothing and looks away from me. Didn't ask if I needed anything else or if I needed a bag or just, something? Pretty much a silent "take it and get out". It makes me regret asking to buy some boosters from him cause he was just rude during the whole experience and seemed to just want me out.

There was others at the counter for a time as well, but despite seeing me by the counter no one acknowledged me or asked if I needed anything. They weren't lined up or had other people at the counter either.

On top of all of that, I keep having a feeling the box was tempered with? The corner of the box was bent like someone tried to peel it back, and I didn't think much of it because to me it's seal still. But then I open the box from the side of the peeling and the poster inside is crammed into the other end, as if someone opened the box, looked in for whatever they were looking for and shoved it back in. One of the packages for the lands also has a cut down the center that cut the card which was odd??

Maybe it's a manufacturer thing, maybe not. I still had the booster packs and the dice so nothing else seemed amiss but I wish I didn't feel so awkward from the interaction in store so I could've taken the box back in to exchange for a different one.

Regardless, I won't be returning to this shop based on in person...