The search for Black Hawk Down Team Saber

While shoppers across the United States were crowding malls and stores seeking discounted booty for the holidays, my two teen aged children were on their own quest: the search for Black Hawk Down Team Saber.

Earlier, I wrote about Game Stop and their stumbles in the customer service arena. One of my son’s friends had signed up on a waiting list for the Sony PS3 and was anxiously awaiting notifciation that his pre-paid order had arrived. As the magical release date approached, my son’s friend was bombarded with phone calls from Game Stop, not informing him of the status of his purchase, but rather offering him “opportunities” to participate in surveys. His reaction to the “opportunities” was comedic in it’s own right and should be appearing on Myspace videos any day now. (Pending rating of his video: AO for Adult Only…)
I thought we’d never do business with Game Stop thanks to that vicarious experience. Then, my daughter went on her own quest for the new Black Hawk Down game release. Though the release date was 11-21, it hadn’t arrived in our local stores by 11-22. (24 hours is a long wait when you’re a game obsessed teenager.) That Wednesday before Thanksgiving, my 19 year old college freshman’s trip home from college took three times as long as it usually does as she stopped at EVERY SINGLE retail establishment that sold video games between the Palm Beach Atlantic campus and our home.  Her vast store of knowledge was increased as she discovered that it takes a long time for a game to travel from Canada to the southern part of Florida.

Her desperation drove her to the local Game Stop store, where a young employee redeemed the entire chain’s reputation with our family. While they didn’t have the game in yet, the young lady who worked there told my daughter to come back Friday at 5 and there would be one there for her held the game for my daughter.

This young lady didn’t take a DNA sample or require a cash deposit. The young employee merely told my daughter to come back Friday at 5 and there would be one there for her. AND THERE WAS!
When my son called Friday at 4 to see if the game had arrived, they told him that the only copy they had was being held for a young lady who had come in on Wednesday.

My daughter was thrilled and jumped into her car to claim her bounty. She is now a devoted fan of Game Stop. All because of a young Game Stop employee.
In a perfect world, the young lady who held the game and kept her word, thus gaining a rabid video game fan as a customer, would receive a portion of my daughter’s business for life. She would also get a % of the business my daughter sends their way. That’s not the way retail works. It’s a shame because that young lady should get SOME recognition for what she’s done. She resurrected Game Stop from the dead in our family, at a time when my three children are convinced that true holiday cheer will come in the form of the PS 3, Wii AND the Xbox 360 (all separately wrapped and surrounded by games for each.)

Even if those dreams don’t come true this holiday season, they will be fulfilled on other gift giving occassions and Game Stop will be the benefactor of that business. All because a young lady in their employ did her job.

This young lass who couldn’t have been more than 17 years old reversed the major screw ups of someone much older who decided to use their customer hold list for telemarketing purposes.   Now THAT is a heartwarming holiday tale.