Atlantis Games & Comics — Local services in Portsmouth

I hate to do this, as before today, this was one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, game stores. Usually my visits are very satisfactory. However, today they crossed a line in a way that I'm not even sure is quite legal. I noticed a game ("Lost Ruins of Arnak") for sale at an absolute steal of a price (in this case, $29.98). Having heard wonderful things about this game, I gladly brought it up front to purchase it. The price -together with my other items - made no sense, especially given the "Buy 2, get 1 free" promotion. Naturally, I questioned it, and the young lady ringing me up and another associate nearby quickly noticed that the Arnak was ringing up at $60 despite being stickered at $29.98. They immediately and without apology raised the price to $60 despite advertising it - albeit by mistake- at half that price. This brazenly disrespectful adjustment was even backed up by what I can only assume was a manager nearby who confirmed it. This is a problem. In this country you are required to sell items at the price that you advertise. If you make a mistake in this area it is on you, not the customer, to make an adjustment. It is also somewhat disturbing that no one apologized for this mistake. This is novel. Every other business that I ever remember shopping at has honored their prices as advertised, even when they turned out to be in error, because, frankly, said mistakes are not the customer's fault. Furthermore, every other business that I have encountered this situation in has been far more conciliatory and apologetic, which is an appropriate attitude for a business aiming to come off as pro-consumer. When I explained to the lady ringing my order up that I assumed that the great price was potentially due to the game being used and repackaged (I have seen that game sold roughly at that price-range in said condition), she commented that used games tend to have a "Used" sticker on them. Once again, correctly labeling items is the business' problem, not the customer's. And if mistakes are made, a business must honor the advertised price. I basically had nothing bad to say about this store until this sour experience, but this is indeed a black mark against it. I am sadly no longer sure that I can recommend this game store. Extremely disappointing and completely unacceptable. No thank you.

Response to owner: I looked it up. It is, in fact, a Class 1 Misdemeanor in the state of Virginia to sell an item at a different price other than what is indicated by the sticker. I also hope that you don't mean to imply that I may have switched the price tag, because that is completely outside of my way of life. I certainly know that there are seedy people out there, but I am not a liar. I saw the item on the shelf at a price similar to what it goes for used (I simply believed it to be used/repackaged) and brought it up to buy it. The solution to the problem of jackasses switching stickers is to be vigilant about greeting (so potentential violators know that you are aware of their presence) and monitoring (within reason) customers and prices. I know this stuff is a pain in the butt, but inventory and inventory pricing should be appraised semi-regularly. There are even companies like RGIS that will handle this for you. Again, a pain, but ultimately a necessary evil. And even if it were not against the law, which in Virginia it is, changing a price at the counter can readily be construed as anti-consumer. It just doesn't make for great customer service even outside of legal concerns. It just doesn't send the best message to your customers. I can sympathize with the idea that honoring these prices outside of a robust program of inventory and price-checking may be unsustainable, possibly moreso in a place like Portsmouth, but there are right ways and wrong ways to correct...

I've been frequenting this store for a little over two years now and I have to say it's a great place to go to. The store is pretty roomy and open, various places to eat are in the immediate area, a few within walking distance and parking is never an issue.

-The staff are all around friendly, professional and very inviting to anyone that walks through the door. Always good for a laugh with each of them having their own senses of humor but very serious and genuine when it comes to doing their jobs. There is no bias, they run events well and are very informative. They interact with customers of all ages, races, orientations and beliefs all the same and handle any issues that arise regarding the very rare cases of customer dissatisfaction as fair and honest as possible. They also never mix or bring any personal issues into the environment as I've seen happen in some other places.

-The place as a whole is a good place to just hang out in general, play various types of games and interact with others. It's almost like a second home or a hangout spot, even seen kids do their homework there and had help from other customers or staff.

-Overall I don't regret having set foot at this store at all, the selection of items and events is good and what makes the place tick is the people that work there, they make the place come alive and it's definitely easy for me to see why people frequent the shop. I'd recommend Atlantis to anyone, Teenagers, Adults, Parents and their kids etc. The place is a mixed bag...

(For a quick list of this store's products, scroll all the way to the bottom of this comment)This is my favorite gaming store, mostly because the staff/employees are incredibly helpful and professional. You can sell comics here, although Atlantis won't buy the ones that are basically worthless. Same goes for Magic cards, Yugioh cards, and Pokemon cards. They sell Cards Against Humanity (many expansions of it too!), Munchkin, Magic TG cards, Yugioh cards, Pokemon cards, and packs of them too. They have an entire wall of board games for all tastes, boxes and more boxes of comics, and POP! figures as well as others that aren't POP! Atlantis also has a kind of miscellaneous section next to the POP figures. You never know what stuff you'll find there. There are D&D as well as Pathfinder products, and to add onto that, Warhammer 40K. They have two TV's that you can hook up your Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PS4, as well as many other consoles onto.

IN SUMMARY:

D&D

Pathfinder

Popular card games like Munchkin, Superfight, Cards Against Humanity, as well as expansions of those

2 TV's to hook up consoles to

Warhammer 40K

Warhammer

A child-friendly setting

A wheel chair entrance

Free parking

Comics

MTG, Yugioh, and Pokemon leagues as well as cards

Easy and quick shopping

Excellent customer service

And more (I will answer any questions you have about this store, with elaboration

I would recommend this store to anyone looking for a gaming...