I went to four TRU stores around my area(and they're quite far from one another) and asked if they knew when and/or what stores would carry MP Grimlock. I then went home and called their cust. serv.# and asked the same question and they ALL said the same thing. "I don't see it in our system. I can't find an item #. We don't know what we'll get til we get it. I'm sure the stores will have it." Dam are you serious? You don't know what you will exclusively sell until it's on the shelf? Please can someone explain how that's possible. Costco can tell me if they'll have an item for sale weeks/months before it gets to the store. Sorry guys, I'm just fed-up with they're whole "I don't know" B.S.
As a former TRU employee, the only way I knew anything about what we were getting was from this website and others. So most of the time the employees at the stores (and I was a dept manager at the time) don't know normally. Did you give them an item number or anything? I think in your example Costco is the exception, not the rule. Try asking Wal-Mart when they will get an exclusive in.
With the way most retailers are setup, the employees have to take the initiative to know. And in this day and age? Good luck on that. I miss the days of knowledgable employees of stores, and all around managers that give a damn other than their paycheck. I'm blessed by having two good TRUs in my city, one horrible one, and others that vary. All the retail outlets here are like that though. Target varies store to store, Walmart varies, heck even gamestop and best buy vary, mostly into the not so good side. I just miss the days of people actually caring about what they sell or knowing about it, but I guess I'll just have to be content with Sunset hills and chesterfield toys r us, and how well they treat me, and just avoid stuff like south county toys r us, where I'm surprised they manage to even stay in business with how crappy, and immoral, and occasionally illegal their practices are. On the flipside though, south county target has been one of the better ones for me too. So at least the SoCo TRU runs aren't a total loss when I go to that target afterwards. The only thing I don't get, is why they keep employees that intentionally piss customers off. South Country specificly has someone like that in electronics. Some wannabe 'in the biz' jerk, who just makes stuff up, or tries to tell you what your buying sucks, or what his views on consoles are, and why the wii sucks (if you're buying one). Stuff like that just makes me want to smack the poser. I'm buying what I want to buy, if I wanted your color commentary on it, I'd ask. WTF is wrong with employees to be bad mouthing their own product anyway?
Speaking from experience, the on the floor customer service reps are only informed about stuff that's on the floor, and usually only by looking at it. There is very little information given to them about what they carry, what they will carry, and when they will carry it. It's not so much that they're stupid as they don't feel its worth the time and resources it would take to make sure every employee knows what items are coming down the pipe in the upcoming months.
aernaroth sounds plausible. but i called the main cust. serv. they should have the info for all products in the store
Their employees aren't necessarily being stupid in this case, but their computer system isn't set up the way you want it to be. This avoids people standing in lines or hoarding exclusive toys on the first day that they're in. Or, if inventory doesn't come in on a specific day, they don't have to disappoint customers. Next time you can save gas just by calling the stores individually and you'll get your answers- or at least the answers they have. Also, Grammar Cop suggests that you avoid calling people stupid for a while.
Nah. The customers just got more obnoxious. When I worked retail, we had a bat in the back with 'customer service' written on it. There was temptation to use it almost daily.
You have to remember a few things: 1. Most of the store employees do not care nearly as much as we do about toys, and they don't get an updated flyer (or anything) saying "upcomming product". Most people don't even know what the hell a Grimlock is. 2. Going in and asking for Grimlock will get you nowhere in their computer system. For the most part, these systems are not very user friends (my experience was with Target, and Home Depot). Most of them were developed years ago, and use abbreviations for items, and this abbreviation may be different for similar items (Home depot would list Cedar as CDR, WRC, Cedar, etc), so a search for cedar wouldn't show every cedar board. 3. If you have ever been to a TRU at opening on a stock day, you can see why they are a little short with most collectors (not your fault). some line collectors are very demanding, but on the bright side, most employees have said that us Nerdformer collectors are generally the most mild mannered. Here is the item number and UPC for Grimlock: Item #: 354815 UPC/EAN/ISBN: 653569494287 Now I will warn you that it will not show up on the shipping manifest until the afternoon before it is delivered, but if the product is in the system, either of those numbers will find the product in the computer, and will tell you if it is coming in the next day, or is in the backroom for some reason. Hope that number helps, it makes both their and our life a lot easier.
Someone in our sightings thread mentioned that a local TRU had 34 MP Grimlocks listed as on order. So there is SOME accessible data out there.
Lately I have nothing but good experiences with my areas TRU's, when I called and they had Arcee in, they held one for me. When I got WFC Bee and Prime and asked if the others from the first assortment were in back they went and looked. Usually trying to be nice and finding the person who actually works that department helps. Bah weep graw nah weep ninny bohn
Except it's NOT being released on the 1st. http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/310964-hasbro-says-no-7-1-mp-grimlock.html
Try being a collector in canada, or even the UK. These toys will eventually come, and they will cost you less. Be happy.
