Cool Stuff Games - Tampa — Local services in Brandon

I personally had a bad experience at this store... I was a customer for well over a year... But I stopped going because there's a known abuser on staff. The manager/owner knows about this and simply doesn't care. I was targeted by this staff member as well as another customer. The reason I'm sharing this for everybody to see is because this staff member had effected my time at the store this year and made my life hell. We were part of the same social group up until January. He had pushed me out of it after I stood up for myself after he was manipulative and verbally abusive toward me at the store and online before they hired him in December. He had turned the group against me and I was ostracized and treated differently by them while I would attend events like Commander Night or Commander Parties.

Eventually I separated myself and started just playing board games in the back instead... One day about two months ago, I was doing my usual thing but my phone was near dead. I had to take my headphones out and charge it. I am high functioning autistic and I keep them in to tune stuff out and not focus on the staff member I had issues with. I was sitting at the computer when I overheard him make an offhand remark about me. I tried to handle it by messaging him online but he never responded or acknowledged it, so I had confronted him and the store. Due to being overwhelmed and stressed out my voice was raised while I tried to stand up for myself. I had recorded it too which was wrong and I admit that.

There was no apology from this staff member instead I was treated like I was crazy and I didn't know what I was talking about. I had a meltdown outside the store because of the things I struggle with when it comes to autism and my history with them. A few days later the manager/owner sat me down and talked to me about the incident, he said I was lucky the staff member didn't press charges for recording this incident and that I was the aggressor... He even told me he advised the staff member to delete my message and that nothing good would come from it... He was very hostile in tone and didn't back down until I broke down into tears and tried my best to explain what I was struggling with over the course of the last year and how my disability effects me.

After this I apologized to staff for scaring them with my meltdown and confronting that staff member I had issues with while I was there a few days before. No apology was ever given to me by this staff member nor did I receive verbal confirmation that I would be left alone while I was there. After a while, I chose to leave and not come back.

I'm over being silent and dealing with this through corporate and the manager/owner... Especially since I'm not valued as a customer and that this abusive staff member is allowed to still work at this store simply because staff and customers like him. It's your typical "Charming Abuser" situation. I would not recommend this store if you struggle with a mental disability like I do, it is not a safe space for us at all. Avoid it...

I would not recommend this place if you are interested in collecting cards. We went in to look for Pokemon cards. There was a very limited amount on display and we were told that instead of seeing actual products we needed to look online. The online search program made it very difficult to find in stock products (we eventually figured it out even when the staff member couldn’t remember how to work it). After completing a cart on the computer we went to the service desk to pick up. They would not even beginning pulling the order until it was fully paid for, which became a problem when one of the 25 cards we selected could not be found. They told us that they put in the computer for a refund, but there was no paperwork or receipt or anything to prove that this was complete. Instead we were told that if we didn’t see the refund in a week to call the customer service number and give the original order number. This entire process was lengthy and frustrating. Also, the 24 cards we did receive (all holos) were not in any protective sleeves. And when we asked for sleeves for them we were told that was too many cards for them to just give us sleeves. That all being said, there were a lot of people present playing Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic that seemed to be enjoying themselves. So maybe just not for people buying...

I have amended this review from 1 star to 5. While a player there did ruin our experience that night the staff did everything in their power to follow up and assure us that a repeat of such behavior would not be tolerated. My wife and I have also reflected on the event and recognized that letting 1 player ruin a store for us that is full of tons of other kind players is not very rational. We have also realized that pegging a store with 1 star for a players behavior without giving them an opportunity to rectify the situation is also not rational. They provide the space and can only do so much to ensure that events like this do not occur.

Finally I want to add that when we did next return to the store a large amount of the players came to us directly and told us how glad they were that we came back and that was a very nice feeling.

If I have learned anything from this experience it would be that it is normal to be upset when faced with adversity and there is no reason to stand for it but it is important to reflect on the event and your reaction to it and be willing to amend your stance otherwise you won't know what you could missing out on.

Original 1 star review. "Went here with my Muslim wife and was confronted with open prejudice while trying to enjoy a game of Werewolf. We...