The Frugal Dutchman — Local services in Fort Erie

Worst experience with a hobby/game store to date.

TLDR: Placed 3rd in a Lorcana Set Championship hosted by the store, but did not receive any set championship promotional prizing (due to logistical issues on their end). Then 2 months later when I asked about it again, I was told that nothing ever came in and I wouldn't be able to get a refund on the admission fees. After expressing my disappointment at the lack of resolution, I was told "sorry if the game you play is only valuable to you based on prizing, perhaps you should find a hobby to actually enjoy."

I travelled 1.5hrs to this place to play for the first time in their Lorcana Set Championship (Archazia's Island) for promo prizing, but once I showed up I was informed the store's promo package was not received. I was reminded several times before and during the tournament that he may not even get it at all. This was strange considering every other store I've played at had received theirs prior to hosting the event, except one time, one store did receive theirs a few weeks later. Disappointed but still hopeful, I wanted to play in the tournament anyway, so I paid $25 for my admission into the event.

The event required 8 people minimum to run, but at the start time we only had 6. Out of desperation, I offered to have my friend who was not there to submit his Melee.gg account details, so he could be "ghosted in" and surprisingly the store owner allowed it, knowing this is against the rules. While I was appreciative to be able to have a chance to play, I covered my friend's admission fee as well ($25). Still at 7 people, he was able to ghost in another player who didn't show. We were able to run the event, and I placed 3rd.

At the end I received 2 booster packs (should have been 4 since I paid for two admissions) and was told I would be notified when/if the promos came in.

2 months after the event, with the next set's championships about to start, I lost hope in ever receiving the items, so I just messaged him asking for a refund for my $50 of admission fees. He told me he would not refund me, based on the fact that he had reminded me from the start that he may not get the items at all.

Frustrated, I asked him if he could prove to me somehow through a communication thread with his distributors that he is actually making an effort to track these things down, and he told me I was "overstepping my bounds as a customer" and he was "under no obligation to share anything with me".

He finished up by showing what was stated on his Melee.gg tournament info page, where it was posted that 2 booster packs be awarded to every participant, and other "additional promo cards and playmat pricing TBA". Keep in mind I wasn't even awarded with that, or else I would have had 4 packs to leave with for $50 (which still costs more than market value anyway).

The whole point of playing competitively in tournaments is for prizing, so hosting a set championship knowing you don't have any of the appropriate prizing to give out seems like a money grab to me. Then to double down and not have any accountability when the problem was clearly on their end, and to go even further as to refuse to provide any resolution was just bad work practice. Then to finally comment, "sorry if the game you play is only valuable to you based on prizing, perhaps you should find a hobby to actually enjoy." is just downright disrespectful.

I think it's safe to say I will not be returning to this store, and if you plan to play in any sort of set championship for any TCG at this store, you might want to ask ahead and make sure they have the appropriate prizing for the event. Also check the fine print on the melee.gg tournament post ahead of time, in case they decide to pull the rug on you as well.

Screenshots of the private message exchange are included. The store owner has now blocked me...

a really nice place to go if you search for Nerd's collectibles .

D&D, Comics, Pokemon cards, Board Games, Star Trek or Star WArs figures

They also have a really nice game room with over 500 Games to play for just 5$ per person.

Christian is a Really nice person to talk too.

he got a good experience in the domain.

A good inventory is also online on the website and over Ebay.

The Frugal Dutchman also operate a non-profit event every year for to teach people how to integrate what they love with how to create a job out of it.

REcommend...

Runs tournaments and says the prizes aren’t in yet and he’ll call you when they come in. You’ll never get them and he charges full price for the tournament.

Edit to add, it was advertised as a sanctioned set championship that was during the timeline of official sanctioned tournaments with the prize support. You can say whatever you like after the fact, it’s shady at best,...