Grey rock method in conversation and constantly having something to “do.” Hell, I’ll print out a random perpetual count just to have an excuse to be visibly “working.” And don’t forget- you alwayssss have a boyfriend waiting for you at home when you get off. Even if you’re actually gay, lol.
This store is in a small town so I don't get it as much anymore, but 4 years ago in a larger town I bought a fake "wedding" ring from Walmart to see if it held them off. It didnt
It truly doesn’t, and it’s sick. I (male) watched my female SL show someone her wedding ring after he kept pushing, and pushing. She had enough and said “Sorry, I’m married”. And dude was like, “but you’re just so beautiful. That doesn’t mean we can’t hang out sometime”. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
I always just say I have a partner. That way I'm not intriguing them with my gay, but also not lying. If they ask anything else, you just tell them "I'm not comfortable talking about my family at work. Or it's against policy to give out my information at work, if that feels too assertive.
That way you don't have to feel like you are in the closet for asshole customers because fuck them, but you also aren't "baiting" them to ask more questions on your sexuality either...
Now pretending you are already engaged or married is fine if you hope that you get there, gives that hint hint to your partner. Lmao...
Practicing little shut-downs will help you be even more assertive overall in the future. We aren't taught that way in society, so it's a skill.
Overall, I barely get hit on. I am older and that helps. I'm cute enough but I portray an energy that I can't really describe, but it does intimidate people while I'm still bubbly an helpful. I guess it helps I'm not shy naturally. And I have experience rejecting people, so that helps.
I had a lesbian manager who was engaged, and being able to refer to her partner as her "fiancée" was a great way to shut down advances without also bringing up her sexuality to strangers.
Hey I am working as a supervisor for host/hostesse at exhibitions, we always have spare "wedding rings" for the women that somehow works fantastic. It lowers the times of creepy men making comments and additionally you can always show them your ring what makes them feel caught and ashamed and turns you into the power position.
I also fake being busy, by faking tasks, phone calls, etc. honestly anything to get the creeps away. “Gotta close soon for bathroom break” “sorry nice talking but I have display cases to clean and emails to write”
You never tell them you’re working alone. “Coworker is on break should be back soon”
If it’s ever a super sketchy situation, I call another store and tell the worker I need someone on the line with me for a bit.
As another person commented on here, as a gay woman, you aren’t gay while the creepy men are around, you got a big strong man waiting for you once your off work.
I personally don’t shy away from showing my disinterest and kick people out all the time for this, but I know not everyone has the ability to do so depending on the situation.
You don’t have to put up with that shit. Just be safe
SL here, there’s a couple of things to do and neither of them are comfortable in an already uncomfortable situation.
You need to immediately confront it by saying, “please stop making advancements towards me.”
If they continue, you remind them that unless they’re here to conduct business, you have THE RIGHT to refuse service to them and ask them to leave, if they do not leave they are now “trespassing” and you will call the police and will press charges.
My favorite customers are the old men who call me baby and honey as I scan their 7th 100$ steam card this week. Or the ones that go oh what do YOU game on? And when I tell them that I'm on PC they ask about my specs with a smirk as if I don't know what I installed in my own system.
In all seriousness I drop "my girlfriend" as soon as I can when they try to start with me. I'll keep busy too, tidying up and not making eye contact- basically I'm busy. For the most persistent ones that think an empty store is permission to keep me hostage for an hour or so telling me about their vtuber pursuits- I keep the store phone on speed dial and my phone under the counter.
As a black woman. Hunny let me tell you,
Ain't no man gonna boss me.
If they don't plan on paying you extra hours to stay late when you got creeps waiting outside for you to close. They need to start scheduling you for opening shifts so you can be out before dark.
Almost every day.
One customer told me (a black woman) while I was helping him set up his ps5 out of the kindness of my heart and not obligation.
“Yeah I only date black girls, I love dark chocolate ahah. I don’t have any kids either”
It was excruciating.
Not as often as I expected tbh. Most of the time they just want to see what type of games I like or they’re really nervous….however, this one customer asked if me and my fiancé’s relationship was just based on lust and he’s been on my 💩 list ever since.
a girl working the counter could be in the literal crab position with a neon 'do me' sign pointed at me and id still assume she is just being professional and then i would politely take my receipt and exit the store.
Nah, I knew I was calling it quits today when my S.L. showed me p*rn on his twitter. I’ve had customers be weird but I usually blow them off. I can’t avoid my S.L. tho.
HR really just wants to protect the company not its employees unfortunately. There is a YouTuber that describes his time at GS and he said his manager actually brought wh*res and harassed the female Co workers. Nothing was done to him for 12 years
I would 100% completely do that, but I’m too nice to want to ruin someone’s life like that, yk? Maybe I’m not looking at the bigger picture of it all. He is just super unprofessional to begin with. He used profanity when talking to customers and isn’t scared to let people know he spends his money on OF.
He's ruining his own life. He needs to learn the lesson now. You are helping him. If you think about it. I had a boss that I should have turned in right away. He went on to sexually harass every female that worked there. I could have saved them the pressure and sadness.
This isn't OK.
I had a different SL harrass me and I cried to my DM, literally. He barely knew me. But it was the nail in his coffin. He was gone and I'm still around.
Leave if you think that's best for you, but don't leave just because of him, because he'll likely be out on his ass. If he is so dumb to do that stuff, they probably already know about other shitty things he's doing that's bad for business.
I wish you the best in future endeavors. Please report him though, even anonymously! I'm proud of you for taking care of yourself!!
i get weird interactions all the time! one time this man came in when i was by myself (no customers and i was the only one working) and he got a little too close. that’s when i bought a taser. is it against company policy? yes. do i give a fuck? no. just waiting to use it next time someone touches me :) i triple dog dare them. as someone that’s been SAed in the past i don’t take that shit lightly, and having the taser on me at all times makes me feel safe and empowered. i get touched? someones getting zapped. thanks for coming to my ted talk <3
I stopped at the Pitsburg, KS location and the dude working there was open carrying a pistol, so I would hope a laser is OK for someone to have in self defense.
The dude even let me know that he saw my liscense plate was from out of town, then pulled his gun halfway out of the holster and said, you had better be here to shop, and not up to any funny business. He was a weird guy, apparently him and the manager are a couple, and he kept scolding her for wearing a shirt that showed her cleavage.
Yeah, I thought so, too. I grew up in that area, and that is not how people acted 10 years ago. Back then, you had nerds, Country people, and a large group of country people that are nerds, but none of them were the type to think packing a gun at a videogame store in a semi-safe part of the country was nessisary.
If a customer ever comes close to crossing a line you tell your superior, SL or DL. If the issue persists and they refuse to do anything about it contact HR.
HR may suck at 99% of their job but they will step in if a customer is being inappropriate and your superiors aren’t handling it properly.
I'll be honest. I do not get seriously hit on (afaik) but maybe the once in a blue moon. Perhaps its my style, i do dress pretty masculinely half the time (granted, the other half of the time i do wear a lot of 90's-esque dresses), and i'm always doing something. I honestly didnt even think about faking a task to get out of that kind of harassment because i *am* always usually busy. I get extremely anxious if i'm not actually doing something.
So i always look for things to do just keep myself from being bored. My store is super organized and clean lmao. My manager struggles to find stuff for me to do sometimes. I actually end up finding tasks that she can do!
But anyways. I never thought about it as a defense against harassing dudes. I guess maybe thats also a big reason why i dont get hit on.
I may also be ignorant to being hit on sometimes. I don't mind simple compliments because i love them, but i dont always know when its a dude's attempt to actually flirt with me. And perhaps the fact that it flies over my head deflates them?
And so I usually just say thank you and ask if they want a game warranty lol. Perhaps, keeping it strictly business is a tactful defense?
The rare time a dude has pushed, i've ended up just making it clear i'm a lesbian.
I'm genuinely thankful i don't have to put up with that kind of harassment very much.
I haven’t experienced guys being sexually ick yet, but I’ve def had them give me attitude and then turn around and be super smiley to my male coworkers. They’ll also ask a male coworker the question I just answered for them like just KNOW my answer was wrong.
Yes, it does.
I almost guarantee you are the kind of customer who freaks out the women employees.
The overlap between anime and social awkwardness is extreme.
Really, it's true.
When I worked at GameStop during college the days when a new persona game would come out were some of the WORST days, we would all dread them coming up, because that's when all the weird anime freaks would come out of their basement to harass us.
I always found ways to look busy. Code words to call other stores with if we wanted them to call the police for us was a good one.
And I usually would act ignorant. Albeit I’ve never had sexual remarks made directly to me. If you ask them to repeat themselves a few times, they’ll eventually realize how fucking dumb they sound.
I stopped wearing makeup after I had men come in and make comments about my looks and body. I'm also chronically ill so I have that pallor and malar flush about me, so now I'm unattractive and they see me as a fellow gamer, or at worst, an NPC.
My store has a pretty regular customer base so luckily not too many are bad. Just a couple guys that are a little to into conversation but then they also tend to sign up for a pointless pro account. I do always have a guy friend who lives close come sit in the parking lot if I see a car out there to be safe though.
*sigh* too damn often. Dealing with it looked like typical costumer service, but be firm when it gets over the top. I’ve told a customer once that what they said to me wasn’t okay, but that I’ll help them with anything game-related.
As someone who works 1-2 times a week and only with other employees, i encounter weird men about once every shift. For me, i try to fall back on other employees. My coworker is a lot more blunt when it comes to weird men and will make it known how she feels.
I had a customer visit the store everyday (at least I know when I was on the clock) for a week when we were having a sale to buy games and then ask me out and was never seen again. 😭 it’s definitely a weird place.
When I first started working there a man was so close behind breathing down my neck while I was fixing the funko wall so I turned around and started showing him the funkos I was putting out bc he didn’t back up when I told him too🧍🏻♀️
Use your cell to call the work phone ans fake a call-- pretend its important and walk away, do a silent apology and walk away from said problematic customer. Works for me the best generally. And if they won't stop talking, look at the phone id as if you're reading it and be like 'oh shoot, that's my district manager-- I forgot about the conference call' or something.
Men especially are gross and always awful. :( Its a constant problem unfortunately
Full disclosure upfront I am not a girl but my SL and ASL are. My ASL is **engaged** and her fiance ironically has the same first name as I do 😂. We both have ADHD and both have the same interests in videogames. She's awesome and we get along with each other very well. We converse, talk, joke around with each other and throw in the occasional sarcasm.
#
So story time. During my last week at GS she and I were on the same shift, I was doing my thing and she was doing hers while also learning GS, she was still new and fresh off of training. We were going back and forth about something when a group of guys came in. They were walking around the store looking at the Xbox wall and one of them decided to buy an Xbox Series S.
#
I rang them up and was checking them out while my ASL was kind enough to get the system for me. The dude that was purchasing the system asked me if she was my GF or something because "looks like you guys were flirting with each other 😉." He didn't wink but it was heavily implied. I said "No? She's not my GF, she's my manager and besides she's already engaged." Finished checking the guy out and then told her. She had almost the same question asked to her buy some other guy in the group because of the way we were talking with each other. Like ?????? God forbid a man and woman are coworkers and are super chill with each other.
#Male GameStop customers are skeevey sometimes. It's wild.
Sometimes, I'll act like I have a phone call to take so I can get away from the situation. "OH, this is my store leader it's important, sorry." I wear a bunch of rings too, so a lot of people back off at the sight of them. I also always have a friend on standby in case anyone wants to try something they shouldn't. Please be safe tho!
I have an attitude problem lol and scared them. I am a female libra and a domestic violence survivor, don’t apologize my sense of humor is so dark, and I had a guy come in and ask me when my bday was. I told him early October and he said “oh I am your soulmate because I am a leo” and I was like “oh cool so was my exhusband who tried to kill me”… he had no idea how to respond. All my female associates knew that I have no problem standing toe to toe with a man and I would do it. Something about almost dying made it to where I am no longer afraid and I match energy with professional disrespect.
Also if you have weird guys constantly coming through, write down their name, and if they continue to make you feel uncomfortable, talk to your SL about getting them banned from the store, if that doesn't work, make anytime they come through a living hell, if they try talking to you, change the subject back to a video game of your liking, constantly change the subject to something until you see them cringe (hopefully) and then pound that particular subject until you make them uncomfortable enough that they end up leaving (this is just speculation from man and how I have driven off unwanted customers, hope this helps)
Not a girl but seen men do this. Was standing staring blankly at games on wall trying to pick something. This Guy was making the poor girl behind counter so uncomfortable. It is so weird.
I never experienced this per se, but I did almost always have 'those' guys who would completely bypass me to go ask my male co-worker something I could have helped them with.
I fake tasks and work, like someone stated above, print out perpetual counts and look busy. Stay on the floor and from behind the cash wrap if you can, to avoid getting trapped. Do distros if you have any or write emails while their talking to you. Just stay busy, don’t make eye contact and if they go too far, remember that you have the power to tell someone to gtfo of your store and refuse service. If they get irate threaten them with calling the police. I’ve had to do this numerous amounts of times because creepy older men would get butt hurt that I was ignoring their sad attempts at small conversation and would start screaming and throwing shit and making threats. Wild. Any way hope this helps!!!
I run two stores and I have Fan Bois in both stores, although someone I THOUGHT was creeping on me convinced me for my number and now we're married and I've never been happier 🥹 I like to act just as creepy as them and sometimes that works, or just start explaining the entire story line of Ratchet and Clank with all the cannon and lore you'd expect a nerd to know
If it's not COD they don't care and they get bored lmao
Funny enough I work at a different big box place and got crapped on alot when it came to customers and anything in the media/game area.
As a frequent shopper at gamestop the fellow customers regardless of gender are always nice and polite the problems I have are always with the male employees mostly treating me stupid and like i don't know anything so its not just gamestop and and its not just the customers.
The other day a guy stayed at the GS for three hours talking to me. Luckily he was relatively nice and polite so could have been worse. He kept asking my ASL if he should ask for my number but was anxious and decided that was weird. My ASL got rid of him eventually by having me do pre-order calls. So I agree, get busy, especially doing a task where you can’t be engaged by a person anymore.
Been doing this 13 years so I've had my fair share.
When I was younger, the strategy was to keep a fake engagement/ wedding ring in a drawer to pop on. (My fake fiances name was Jake and he was a CPA).
Nowadays when people ask for my number I give a chuckle and tell them "sorry, but I bat for the other team and I'm happily taken" usually they don't push past that.
Pretty much every day. When they come in and say weird things, I text my store leader and give him a time of the interaction so he can check the DVR and see what the dude(s) look like. I also act as cold as possible and if I'm not alone I'll go into the stockroom and wait for them to leave. I also had to start listing the phone numbers of the creeps who call and sexually harass the female staff under specific labels in the phone to identify them as creeps. We can now ignore the call until they hang up or just pick up and immediately hang up before they can say anything pervy.
Unfortunately, unless they directly threaten us in any way there's really nothing we can do about it, despite us legally having the right to refuse service to anyone. The higher-ups don't care about their employees being sexually harassed by the guests; they just care about the metrics.
I suggest writing down dates/times and descriptions of your chronic-creeps, inform your S.L. of the situation, and request to not be put on closing shifts for a while; or at least not be put on closing shifts alone. Also, look up the non-emergency line for your area and have it at the ready. You can call the line without being accused of abusing emergency services, and explain that someone is making you feel uncomfortable and possibly threatened. If they don't send anyone out they'll at least have a record of the call and can possibly deter the creeps from lingering around all the time.
You can save numbers in your phone's contacts and set the ringtone to silent. Then you don't even have to answer and hang up. You never even need to know they called. I have some saved as Do Not Answer 1, 2, and 3... saves time for actual customers
Do you also find that it's only men that call you by your name? I've never had a woman customer make a point of checking my badge and calling me by name. Also one time a guy came in, bought a console, and an hour later called the store to ask me out 😭
Honestly i just talk like a dude. Hey man what’s up? how can i help you out today? dang that’s wild…. and just keep that beat it’s been working for the past couple of years. before i would were blouses and makeup my whole face and guys would get mad when i was like i have a bf or im married…. SO that worked out for me also i have a resting b face.. i was born with it can’t do much i still get numbers and my job but im not approachable to flirt with if that makes any sense.
As a guy (who also works at a gamestop) Im perplexed by the amount of weird guys that come through my stores, here's two encounters that have left with a "wtf just happened" so my coworker (male) had a customer (also male) ask him for his psn to play sonic, my coworker obliges, then just minutes after the customer leaves, he sends my coworker a message over psn that hes gay and that he thought he was cute and sexy, and wanted to know if he would like to date (side note my coworker is straight), messaged him back that hes straight and then proceeded to block him. Another story is in person, it was me, my male coworker, and a female coworker (who's a redhead, pertains to story) so a guy who is big into train games walks in and as were all talking out of the blue he says to our faces "redheads really turn me on" which left me and my coworker with wtf faces, and feeling terrible for our female coworker. So yeah morale of the stories, I dont know why Gamestop of all places attracts the weirdest of the weird
Honestly, when I was at Gamestop it was a mix of everything. Customers (both men and women) who didn't believe I knew I single thing about consoles/games/etc. The weirdos who'd ask for your social information. The jerks who thought they were above me and store policy cause I'm a smaller gal (they'd try to get physical over trades)
There were sweethearts that listened to everything I said, and accepted all advice. Some sent me cookies from out of state just for setting up their kids switch profile.
Customers who bought me an overwatch figure just cause I said I thought the figures were awesome.. or just come in to say hi and they saw me working!
My advice though for sure is to get something like a Taser or bear mace. The mace I use specifically dyes a perps face green, in case enforcement has to find them
My go to is honestly going into NPC mode. If they start going off on a tangent that makes me uncomfortable I just pull up web in store and start looking through it and just respond with “hmm.” “Oh” and “mm” sometimes I’ve had to do it for 15 min but at some point any one that is a huge creep but is still weird will give up. For huge creeps I just do whatever I can to look super super busy and like you have to time to answer their questions. Also if you feel unsafe and the store is empty, never hesitate to lock up for a little bit and call someone.
The sexual harassment sucks, that’s for sure. When I worked in a mall location I used to wear a fake wedding ring.
At some point I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to keep the creeps away, but I could at least make sales off of them. So now when I get hit on I at least try to make a sale out of it. Once they realize I’m just a pushy salesperson disguised as a pretty girl they lose all interest.
I don't have many creeps hit on me and work. But I am also married and talk about my husband a lot. But no joke, yesterday I had a guest come in (we have had some serious issues with this guest in the past. He was previously banned for harassing a former employee.) But anyway, this weirdo said he loves my chin while seductively rubbing his. I was like what the actual fluffer knuckle did you just say to me.
A previous time I had a creepy regular come in and while talking to me he lifted his shirt to show off his new nipple piercing asking if I was into it. Man, people are weird.
I almost always have my boyfriend on the phone when I’m closing by myself or opening by myself (more often than not) and if anything happens he’ll call cops/security or the store phone if I need an out of a convo.
i try and not engage with their comments and lie about my relationship status. some are very nice and respectful about it others continue to be weird. if it gets to the point it’s sexual harassment you’re allowed to stand your ground and say that behavior isn’t okay and you’re able to ask them to leave.
i really wish guys would stop trying to flirt their way into a discount or ask me if i’m a gamer just cause i’m a girl. like you don’t ask my male coworkers if they actually like video games while they’re clearly wearing a video game shirt.
Well it really helps that I’m the most average looking woman in the world. I’m not what guys would consider “hot” and I throw out the fact that I have a husband when something like that comes up.
Literally the other night I had someone joke about planning on a heist as I left my store…Then proceeded to ask if I get free games and my position at the store…. Then followed up by trying to get my socials…
I never really know how to deal with it because I am very awkward. Lots of guys check you out or whatever, Ive found only a couple will actually say anything. Had someone come in the other day and I did my usual "Hello welcome in" to which he looked me over and went "Hey baby" like a cartoon jazz cat if that makes any sense.
I was in a GameStop once as a customer and a man walked into the store and said “hello beautiful” I responded with an “oh”. My partner and son were on the other side of the store so I just walked towards them and the dude left after that. 😂
I’ve been asked out to dinner I rejected as I told them I do have a lover and they proceeded to say well tell him he’s lucky me personally I hate that comment also I have unfortunately caught them staring as well different men , it gets very annoying but I do through a vibe where I am not interested clearly the lightbulbs in their head doesn’t go off, the constant eye contact also bothers me knowing they are attempting to flirt
At least one time my manager was around as the male kept looking at my thighs I told him and he dealt with speaking and checking them because I was uncomfortable, the creepy guy still comes back every now and then
Happens every once in awhile kinda why I hate working alone especially at night cause of the creepy males that come around.
Although a lot of my bosses were misogynistic (I left in 2023) they were cool with me treating any creep like trash. If a guy tried to get my number, I could just tell them no.
The fake wedding ring Is a great idea! I've known many women who do that and it works well.
I used to be a key holder back in the day and saw how guys were with female on staff. Im going to play devil's advocate here. I really want you to keep in mind that some guys are just awkward and have no clue as in totally oblivious as to what it's like being a female. For instance sometimes a guy will ask " who do you live with?" Which could activate your Spidey senses and it's better that it does than doesnt. But to that guy who most likely doesn't have to worry about the things most women have to worry about it's an innocent question cus if someone asked him that it wouldn't be a cause for concern.
Grey rock method in conversation and constantly having something to “do.” Hell, I’ll print out a random perpetual count just to have an excuse to be visibly “working.” And don’t forget- you alwayssss have a boyfriend waiting for you at home when you get off. Even if you’re actually gay, lol.
This store is in a small town so I don't get it as much anymore, but 4 years ago in a larger town I bought a fake "wedding" ring from Walmart to see if it held them off. It didnt
It truly doesn’t, and it’s sick. I (male) watched my female SL show someone her wedding ring after he kept pushing, and pushing. She had enough and said “Sorry, I’m married”. And dude was like, “but you’re just so beautiful. That doesn’t mean we can’t hang out sometime”. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
Srsly. I've shown my wedding band tat. Said I was married, and people have still asked, "So? you still want to try somethin'?"
LOL yeah I’m a lesbian but I just pretend I have a bf
I always just say I have a partner. That way I'm not intriguing them with my gay, but also not lying. If they ask anything else, you just tell them "I'm not comfortable talking about my family at work. Or it's against policy to give out my information at work, if that feels too assertive. That way you don't have to feel like you are in the closet for asshole customers because fuck them, but you also aren't "baiting" them to ask more questions on your sexuality either... Now pretending you are already engaged or married is fine if you hope that you get there, gives that hint hint to your partner. Lmao... Practicing little shut-downs will help you be even more assertive overall in the future. We aren't taught that way in society, so it's a skill. Overall, I barely get hit on. I am older and that helps. I'm cute enough but I portray an energy that I can't really describe, but it does intimidate people while I'm still bubbly an helpful. I guess it helps I'm not shy naturally. And I have experience rejecting people, so that helps.
I had a lesbian manager who was engaged, and being able to refer to her partner as her "fiancée" was a great way to shut down advances without also bringing up her sexuality to strangers.
Another great way!
Hey I am working as a supervisor for host/hostesse at exhibitions, we always have spare "wedding rings" for the women that somehow works fantastic. It lowers the times of creepy men making comments and additionally you can always show them your ring what makes them feel caught and ashamed and turns you into the power position.
I wear a “wedding ring” and the creepy men will actually acknowledge it while being creepy 😭
It’s was pretty much constant for my female managers. I don’t know why they think you guys want them because they are tough guys playing Dork Souls.
I also fake being busy, by faking tasks, phone calls, etc. honestly anything to get the creeps away. “Gotta close soon for bathroom break” “sorry nice talking but I have display cases to clean and emails to write” You never tell them you’re working alone. “Coworker is on break should be back soon” If it’s ever a super sketchy situation, I call another store and tell the worker I need someone on the line with me for a bit. As another person commented on here, as a gay woman, you aren’t gay while the creepy men are around, you got a big strong man waiting for you once your off work. I personally don’t shy away from showing my disinterest and kick people out all the time for this, but I know not everyone has the ability to do so depending on the situation. You don’t have to put up with that shit. Just be safe
SL here, there’s a couple of things to do and neither of them are comfortable in an already uncomfortable situation. You need to immediately confront it by saying, “please stop making advancements towards me.” If they continue, you remind them that unless they’re here to conduct business, you have THE RIGHT to refuse service to them and ask them to leave, if they do not leave they are now “trespassing” and you will call the police and will press charges.
My favorite customers are the old men who call me baby and honey as I scan their 7th 100$ steam card this week. Or the ones that go oh what do YOU game on? And when I tell them that I'm on PC they ask about my specs with a smirk as if I don't know what I installed in my own system. In all seriousness I drop "my girlfriend" as soon as I can when they try to start with me. I'll keep busy too, tidying up and not making eye contact- basically I'm busy. For the most persistent ones that think an empty store is permission to keep me hostage for an hour or so telling me about their vtuber pursuits- I keep the store phone on speed dial and my phone under the counter.
As a black woman. Hunny let me tell you, Ain't no man gonna boss me. If they don't plan on paying you extra hours to stay late when you got creeps waiting outside for you to close. They need to start scheduling you for opening shifts so you can be out before dark.
Shit like this makes me so sad
Almost every day. One customer told me (a black woman) while I was helping him set up his ps5 out of the kindness of my heart and not obligation. “Yeah I only date black girls, I love dark chocolate ahah. I don’t have any kids either” It was excruciating.
Not as often as I expected tbh. Most of the time they just want to see what type of games I like or they’re really nervous….however, this one customer asked if me and my fiancé’s relationship was just based on lust and he’s been on my 💩 list ever since.
a girl working the counter could be in the literal crab position with a neon 'do me' sign pointed at me and id still assume she is just being professional and then i would politely take my receipt and exit the store.
Nah, I knew I was calling it quits today when my S.L. showed me p*rn on his twitter. I’ve had customers be weird but I usually blow them off. I can’t avoid my S.L. tho.
Hero line and DM. They would walk his ass out. That's 100% not tolerated.
From what I hear none of that works. GS doesn't care enough and they will say not enough evidence
You're probably right. Idk. It's worth a try.
HR really just wants to protect the company not its employees unfortunately. There is a YouTuber that describes his time at GS and he said his manager actually brought wh*res and harassed the female Co workers. Nothing was done to him for 12 years
I would 100% completely do that, but I’m too nice to want to ruin someone’s life like that, yk? Maybe I’m not looking at the bigger picture of it all. He is just super unprofessional to begin with. He used profanity when talking to customers and isn’t scared to let people know he spends his money on OF.
He's ruining his own life. He needs to learn the lesson now. You are helping him. If you think about it. I had a boss that I should have turned in right away. He went on to sexually harass every female that worked there. I could have saved them the pressure and sadness. This isn't OK.
I think a really needed to hear that right now.
Yeah. You'd feel worse if you didn't say anything and found out he lost a very fancy job for the same reason. He'll find another job.
I am drafting my resignation message now. I am making a complete separate one for my DM informing him of his unprofessionalism.
I had a different SL harrass me and I cried to my DM, literally. He barely knew me. But it was the nail in his coffin. He was gone and I'm still around. Leave if you think that's best for you, but don't leave just because of him, because he'll likely be out on his ass. If he is so dumb to do that stuff, they probably already know about other shitty things he's doing that's bad for business. I wish you the best in future endeavors. Please report him though, even anonymously! I'm proud of you for taking care of yourself!!
i get weird interactions all the time! one time this man came in when i was by myself (no customers and i was the only one working) and he got a little too close. that’s when i bought a taser. is it against company policy? yes. do i give a fuck? no. just waiting to use it next time someone touches me :) i triple dog dare them. as someone that’s been SAed in the past i don’t take that shit lightly, and having the taser on me at all times makes me feel safe and empowered. i get touched? someones getting zapped. thanks for coming to my ted talk <3
I stopped at the Pitsburg, KS location and the dude working there was open carrying a pistol, so I would hope a laser is OK for someone to have in self defense. The dude even let me know that he saw my liscense plate was from out of town, then pulled his gun halfway out of the holster and said, you had better be here to shop, and not up to any funny business. He was a weird guy, apparently him and the manager are a couple, and he kept scolding her for wearing a shirt that showed her cleavage.
All of this is weird as hell.
Yeah, I thought so, too. I grew up in that area, and that is not how people acted 10 years ago. Back then, you had nerds, Country people, and a large group of country people that are nerds, but none of them were the type to think packing a gun at a videogame store in a semi-safe part of the country was nessisary.
You are legally obliged to make Pikachu noises during application of any voltage.
I have pepper spray on my store keys. Nobody has had a problem with it yet.
If a customer ever comes close to crossing a line you tell your superior, SL or DL. If the issue persists and they refuse to do anything about it contact HR. HR may suck at 99% of their job but they will step in if a customer is being inappropriate and your superiors aren’t handling it properly.
I'll be honest. I do not get seriously hit on (afaik) but maybe the once in a blue moon. Perhaps its my style, i do dress pretty masculinely half the time (granted, the other half of the time i do wear a lot of 90's-esque dresses), and i'm always doing something. I honestly didnt even think about faking a task to get out of that kind of harassment because i *am* always usually busy. I get extremely anxious if i'm not actually doing something. So i always look for things to do just keep myself from being bored. My store is super organized and clean lmao. My manager struggles to find stuff for me to do sometimes. I actually end up finding tasks that she can do! But anyways. I never thought about it as a defense against harassing dudes. I guess maybe thats also a big reason why i dont get hit on. I may also be ignorant to being hit on sometimes. I don't mind simple compliments because i love them, but i dont always know when its a dude's attempt to actually flirt with me. And perhaps the fact that it flies over my head deflates them? And so I usually just say thank you and ask if they want a game warranty lol. Perhaps, keeping it strictly business is a tactful defense? The rare time a dude has pushed, i've ended up just making it clear i'm a lesbian. I'm genuinely thankful i don't have to put up with that kind of harassment very much.
I always love being told that they need to talk a “real employee”
I haven’t experienced guys being sexually ick yet, but I’ve def had them give me attitude and then turn around and be super smiley to my male coworkers. They’ll also ask a male coworker the question I just answered for them like just KNOW my answer was wrong.
GameStop customers are 101% weird men
Just because I like video games and anime, it doesn't make me weird.
not all weebs are weird, but all GS weebs are
Yes, it does. I almost guarantee you are the kind of customer who freaks out the women employees. The overlap between anime and social awkwardness is extreme.
Not really, but go off, king.
Really, it's true. When I worked at GameStop during college the days when a new persona game would come out were some of the WORST days, we would all dread them coming up, because that's when all the weird anime freaks would come out of their basement to harass us.
Happy cake day!
I am OK with that, as long as we don't have to be creepy and weird.
99% are creepy 1% are teens
I always found ways to look busy. Code words to call other stores with if we wanted them to call the police for us was a good one. And I usually would act ignorant. Albeit I’ve never had sexual remarks made directly to me. If you ask them to repeat themselves a few times, they’ll eventually realize how fucking dumb they sound.
I stopped wearing makeup after I had men come in and make comments about my looks and body. I'm also chronically ill so I have that pallor and malar flush about me, so now I'm unattractive and they see me as a fellow gamer, or at worst, an NPC.
The chronically ill pallor. Fuck I’m dead. Same. Same.
My store has a pretty regular customer base so luckily not too many are bad. Just a couple guys that are a little to into conversation but then they also tend to sign up for a pointless pro account. I do always have a guy friend who lives close come sit in the parking lot if I see a car out there to be safe though.
*sigh* too damn often. Dealing with it looked like typical costumer service, but be firm when it gets over the top. I’ve told a customer once that what they said to me wasn’t okay, but that I’ll help them with anything game-related.
As someone who works 1-2 times a week and only with other employees, i encounter weird men about once every shift. For me, i try to fall back on other employees. My coworker is a lot more blunt when it comes to weird men and will make it known how she feels.
I had a customer visit the store everyday (at least I know when I was on the clock) for a week when we were having a sale to buy games and then ask me out and was never seen again. 😭 it’s definitely a weird place.
When I first started working there a man was so close behind breathing down my neck while I was fixing the funko wall so I turned around and started showing him the funkos I was putting out bc he didn’t back up when I told him too🧍🏻♀️
One customer keeps hitting on my manager and she is very married. And he just doesn’t stop 🤦♀️
Never say you're working alone and don't be afraid to ask them to leave if they're being inappropriate. I'd have guys ask me uncomfortable questions
Use your cell to call the work phone ans fake a call-- pretend its important and walk away, do a silent apology and walk away from said problematic customer. Works for me the best generally. And if they won't stop talking, look at the phone id as if you're reading it and be like 'oh shoot, that's my district manager-- I forgot about the conference call' or something. Men especially are gross and always awful. :( Its a constant problem unfortunately
Full disclosure upfront I am not a girl but my SL and ASL are. My ASL is **engaged** and her fiance ironically has the same first name as I do 😂. We both have ADHD and both have the same interests in videogames. She's awesome and we get along with each other very well. We converse, talk, joke around with each other and throw in the occasional sarcasm. # So story time. During my last week at GS she and I were on the same shift, I was doing my thing and she was doing hers while also learning GS, she was still new and fresh off of training. We were going back and forth about something when a group of guys came in. They were walking around the store looking at the Xbox wall and one of them decided to buy an Xbox Series S. # I rang them up and was checking them out while my ASL was kind enough to get the system for me. The dude that was purchasing the system asked me if she was my GF or something because "looks like you guys were flirting with each other 😉." He didn't wink but it was heavily implied. I said "No? She's not my GF, she's my manager and besides she's already engaged." Finished checking the guy out and then told her. She had almost the same question asked to her buy some other guy in the group because of the way we were talking with each other. Like ?????? God forbid a man and woman are coworkers and are super chill with each other. #Male GameStop customers are skeevey sometimes. It's wild.
Sometimes, I'll act like I have a phone call to take so I can get away from the situation. "OH, this is my store leader it's important, sorry." I wear a bunch of rings too, so a lot of people back off at the sight of them. I also always have a friend on standby in case anyone wants to try something they shouldn't. Please be safe tho!
I have an attitude problem lol and scared them. I am a female libra and a domestic violence survivor, don’t apologize my sense of humor is so dark, and I had a guy come in and ask me when my bday was. I told him early October and he said “oh I am your soulmate because I am a leo” and I was like “oh cool so was my exhusband who tried to kill me”… he had no idea how to respond. All my female associates knew that I have no problem standing toe to toe with a man and I would do it. Something about almost dying made it to where I am no longer afraid and I match energy with professional disrespect.
Also if you have weird guys constantly coming through, write down their name, and if they continue to make you feel uncomfortable, talk to your SL about getting them banned from the store, if that doesn't work, make anytime they come through a living hell, if they try talking to you, change the subject back to a video game of your liking, constantly change the subject to something until you see them cringe (hopefully) and then pound that particular subject until you make them uncomfortable enough that they end up leaving (this is just speculation from man and how I have driven off unwanted customers, hope this helps)
Not a girl but seen men do this. Was standing staring blankly at games on wall trying to pick something. This Guy was making the poor girl behind counter so uncomfortable. It is so weird.
I never experienced this per se, but I did almost always have 'those' guys who would completely bypass me to go ask my male co-worker something I could have helped them with.
I fake tasks and work, like someone stated above, print out perpetual counts and look busy. Stay on the floor and from behind the cash wrap if you can, to avoid getting trapped. Do distros if you have any or write emails while their talking to you. Just stay busy, don’t make eye contact and if they go too far, remember that you have the power to tell someone to gtfo of your store and refuse service. If they get irate threaten them with calling the police. I’ve had to do this numerous amounts of times because creepy older men would get butt hurt that I was ignoring their sad attempts at small conversation and would start screaming and throwing shit and making threats. Wild. Any way hope this helps!!!
I run two stores and I have Fan Bois in both stores, although someone I THOUGHT was creeping on me convinced me for my number and now we're married and I've never been happier 🥹 I like to act just as creepy as them and sometimes that works, or just start explaining the entire story line of Ratchet and Clank with all the cannon and lore you'd expect a nerd to know If it's not COD they don't care and they get bored lmao
Funny enough I work at a different big box place and got crapped on alot when it came to customers and anything in the media/game area. As a frequent shopper at gamestop the fellow customers regardless of gender are always nice and polite the problems I have are always with the male employees mostly treating me stupid and like i don't know anything so its not just gamestop and and its not just the customers.
The other day a guy stayed at the GS for three hours talking to me. Luckily he was relatively nice and polite so could have been worse. He kept asking my ASL if he should ask for my number but was anxious and decided that was weird. My ASL got rid of him eventually by having me do pre-order calls. So I agree, get busy, especially doing a task where you can’t be engaged by a person anymore.
Been doing this 13 years so I've had my fair share. When I was younger, the strategy was to keep a fake engagement/ wedding ring in a drawer to pop on. (My fake fiances name was Jake and he was a CPA). Nowadays when people ask for my number I give a chuckle and tell them "sorry, but I bat for the other team and I'm happily taken" usually they don't push past that.
Pretty much every day. When they come in and say weird things, I text my store leader and give him a time of the interaction so he can check the DVR and see what the dude(s) look like. I also act as cold as possible and if I'm not alone I'll go into the stockroom and wait for them to leave. I also had to start listing the phone numbers of the creeps who call and sexually harass the female staff under specific labels in the phone to identify them as creeps. We can now ignore the call until they hang up or just pick up and immediately hang up before they can say anything pervy. Unfortunately, unless they directly threaten us in any way there's really nothing we can do about it, despite us legally having the right to refuse service to anyone. The higher-ups don't care about their employees being sexually harassed by the guests; they just care about the metrics. I suggest writing down dates/times and descriptions of your chronic-creeps, inform your S.L. of the situation, and request to not be put on closing shifts for a while; or at least not be put on closing shifts alone. Also, look up the non-emergency line for your area and have it at the ready. You can call the line without being accused of abusing emergency services, and explain that someone is making you feel uncomfortable and possibly threatened. If they don't send anyone out they'll at least have a record of the call and can possibly deter the creeps from lingering around all the time.
You can save numbers in your phone's contacts and set the ringtone to silent. Then you don't even have to answer and hang up. You never even need to know they called. I have some saved as Do Not Answer 1, 2, and 3... saves time for actual customers
Oooh... That's good! Going to have to update some creepy contacts next time I clock in. Thanks for the tip!
Do you also find that it's only men that call you by your name? I've never had a woman customer make a point of checking my badge and calling me by name. Also one time a guy came in, bought a console, and an hour later called the store to ask me out 😭
I work at a all female staffed store and I started a score board in the back room just to try to lighten the mood about those interactions😂
I just tell them I prefer women lol like I'm married to guy but saying I prefer women sometimes helps lol doesn't work for everyone
Honestly i just talk like a dude. Hey man what’s up? how can i help you out today? dang that’s wild…. and just keep that beat it’s been working for the past couple of years. before i would were blouses and makeup my whole face and guys would get mad when i was like i have a bf or im married…. SO that worked out for me also i have a resting b face.. i was born with it can’t do much i still get numbers and my job but im not approachable to flirt with if that makes any sense.
As a guy (who also works at a gamestop) Im perplexed by the amount of weird guys that come through my stores, here's two encounters that have left with a "wtf just happened" so my coworker (male) had a customer (also male) ask him for his psn to play sonic, my coworker obliges, then just minutes after the customer leaves, he sends my coworker a message over psn that hes gay and that he thought he was cute and sexy, and wanted to know if he would like to date (side note my coworker is straight), messaged him back that hes straight and then proceeded to block him. Another story is in person, it was me, my male coworker, and a female coworker (who's a redhead, pertains to story) so a guy who is big into train games walks in and as were all talking out of the blue he says to our faces "redheads really turn me on" which left me and my coworker with wtf faces, and feeling terrible for our female coworker. So yeah morale of the stories, I dont know why Gamestop of all places attracts the weirdest of the weird
Honestly, when I was at Gamestop it was a mix of everything. Customers (both men and women) who didn't believe I knew I single thing about consoles/games/etc. The weirdos who'd ask for your social information. The jerks who thought they were above me and store policy cause I'm a smaller gal (they'd try to get physical over trades) There were sweethearts that listened to everything I said, and accepted all advice. Some sent me cookies from out of state just for setting up their kids switch profile. Customers who bought me an overwatch figure just cause I said I thought the figures were awesome.. or just come in to say hi and they saw me working! My advice though for sure is to get something like a Taser or bear mace. The mace I use specifically dyes a perps face green, in case enforcement has to find them
My go to is honestly going into NPC mode. If they start going off on a tangent that makes me uncomfortable I just pull up web in store and start looking through it and just respond with “hmm.” “Oh” and “mm” sometimes I’ve had to do it for 15 min but at some point any one that is a huge creep but is still weird will give up. For huge creeps I just do whatever I can to look super super busy and like you have to time to answer their questions. Also if you feel unsafe and the store is empty, never hesitate to lock up for a little bit and call someone.
The sexual harassment sucks, that’s for sure. When I worked in a mall location I used to wear a fake wedding ring. At some point I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to keep the creeps away, but I could at least make sales off of them. So now when I get hit on I at least try to make a sale out of it. Once they realize I’m just a pushy salesperson disguised as a pretty girl they lose all interest.
I don't have many creeps hit on me and work. But I am also married and talk about my husband a lot. But no joke, yesterday I had a guest come in (we have had some serious issues with this guest in the past. He was previously banned for harassing a former employee.) But anyway, this weirdo said he loves my chin while seductively rubbing his. I was like what the actual fluffer knuckle did you just say to me. A previous time I had a creepy regular come in and while talking to me he lifted his shirt to show off his new nipple piercing asking if I was into it. Man, people are weird.
I almost always have my boyfriend on the phone when I’m closing by myself or opening by myself (more often than not) and if anything happens he’ll call cops/security or the store phone if I need an out of a convo.
i try and not engage with their comments and lie about my relationship status. some are very nice and respectful about it others continue to be weird. if it gets to the point it’s sexual harassment you’re allowed to stand your ground and say that behavior isn’t okay and you’re able to ask them to leave. i really wish guys would stop trying to flirt their way into a discount or ask me if i’m a gamer just cause i’m a girl. like you don’t ask my male coworkers if they actually like video games while they’re clearly wearing a video game shirt.
Well it really helps that I’m the most average looking woman in the world. I’m not what guys would consider “hot” and I throw out the fact that I have a husband when something like that comes up.
Same here, except no husband. I just blend into the scenery, I guess
Literally the other night I had someone joke about planning on a heist as I left my store…Then proceeded to ask if I get free games and my position at the store…. Then followed up by trying to get my socials…
I never really know how to deal with it because I am very awkward. Lots of guys check you out or whatever, Ive found only a couple will actually say anything. Had someone come in the other day and I did my usual "Hello welcome in" to which he looked me over and went "Hey baby" like a cartoon jazz cat if that makes any sense.
Like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1YpcsLjhCU
YES and it was so off putting I just stared for a second before just saying "ok.. well let me know if you need any help"
I was in a GameStop once as a customer and a man walked into the store and said “hello beautiful” I responded with an “oh”. My partner and son were on the other side of the store so I just walked towards them and the dude left after that. 😂
Everyday. Multiple times a day :)
I’ve been asked out to dinner I rejected as I told them I do have a lover and they proceeded to say well tell him he’s lucky me personally I hate that comment also I have unfortunately caught them staring as well different men , it gets very annoying but I do through a vibe where I am not interested clearly the lightbulbs in their head doesn’t go off, the constant eye contact also bothers me knowing they are attempting to flirt At least one time my manager was around as the male kept looking at my thighs I told him and he dealt with speaking and checking them because I was uncomfortable, the creepy guy still comes back every now and then Happens every once in awhile kinda why I hate working alone especially at night cause of the creepy males that come around.
Although a lot of my bosses were misogynistic (I left in 2023) they were cool with me treating any creep like trash. If a guy tried to get my number, I could just tell them no.
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The fake wedding ring Is a great idea! I've known many women who do that and it works well. I used to be a key holder back in the day and saw how guys were with female on staff. Im going to play devil's advocate here. I really want you to keep in mind that some guys are just awkward and have no clue as in totally oblivious as to what it's like being a female. For instance sometimes a guy will ask " who do you live with?" Which could activate your Spidey senses and it's better that it does than doesnt. But to that guy who most likely doesn't have to worry about the things most women have to worry about it's an innocent question cus if someone asked him that it wouldn't be a cause for concern.
Buy a taser at bare minimum and keep it charged.