COCKY H.M.V STAFF!!

Humanhank

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across. Working in HMV is no different to working in Dunnes or Tesco, its a mass retailer!! I could maybe understand someone in an independent store being like that, but i don't need some 20 year student with pink hair, judging my music taste. Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree?

Notorious

Humanhank wrote:

Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree

Why were they judging your music taste? What brought that on?

Haven't experienced anything like that myself; not from an independent store anyway. Purchasing from HMV is bad kids! You've got to support the independent stores who give the small Irish bands a chance to step up to the plate.

senordingdong

You're gotta support which ever shop will give you the best price.

Humanhank

I was just minding my own business looking for the Natty Dread album by bob marley when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album. I work in a supermarket, and if any of my staff insulted a customers taste i'd go mad! My friend owns his own music shop in london and he's built up his customer loyalty through valid criticism but not telling them you must be old if you listen to that.

senordingdong

Are you serious?

You asked for reggae and he suggested some mini rocker band?

You should have told him to save his laughter for himself.

HalloweenJack

I've always thought the HMV staff are very helpful. I was in there earlier on and they were very polite. They told me about their offers but politely and quietly accepted my disinterest.

Humanhank

I didn't even ask for an opinion i was just given it.

Ally Dick

Most music stores nowadays seem to me to be staffed with college dropouts with dyed hair and pierced eyebrows/lips. They never seem to have an opinion either way on the music that I purchase. If I bought Daniel O'Donnell's new album, they wouldn't give two fiddler's fucks

delbertgrady

Humanhank wrote: »

I was just minding my own business looking for the Natty Dread album by Bob Marley when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album.

Three words: "Manager. Right now".

I worked in HMV Grafton Street in the nineties, and there's no way that type of thing would be tolerated. Obviously, he's not indicative of the entire staff there - he's just some smartmouth - but he needs to be read the riot act. Constructive advice is one thing, but that's just obnoxious. I don't like reggae myself, but I'd never be snide about someone's taste. Each to their own.

lordgoat

I'd be more insulted/amused by what he did try and get you to buy.

Burning Eclipse

Now, I know quite a few of them, so this isn't exactly unbiased, but the group of guys and girls that work in the HMV Crescent S.C. in Limerick are all lovely, good people outside of work and helpful in there. Same goes for the staff I don't know (at least the in work part). And the staff in Cruises st. have always been friendly too!

Unless you've been in every HMV in the country, OP, don't make sweeping generalisations.

Sabre0001

Humanhank wrote: »

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across.

I do though

therecklessone

I'd have told him if it wasn't for the fact that HMV were hiring it was likely your only other form of interaction would be when he asked if you'd like fries with that, the cocky little bollox.

Scubadevils

delbertgrady wrote: »

Three words: "Manager. Right now".

I worked in HMV Grafton Street in the nineties, and there's no way that type of thing would be tolerated. Obviously, he's not indicative of the entire staff there - he's just some smartmouth - but he needs to be read the riot act. Constructive advice is one thing, but that's just obnoxious. I don't like reggae myself, but I'd never be snide about someone's taste. Each to their own.

I wonder if I worked with you so?! I worked in HMV Grafton Street in 1995 until early 1996... I was a young raver at the time and told all the older people who came in looking for rock, pop and jazz that they should really buy the latest techno release :pac:

Seriously though, I never experience that type of attitude in HMV and if I did I would laugh it off.

Rigsby

Humanhank wrote: »

when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album.

Are you not over reacting just a little here ?? Seems like a harmless jibe to me. If I had a euro for every time I was slagged off over my taste in music, I could buy the entire stock of HMV (not that I would ).

If you are really confident in what you like, and a dedicated music lover, then this harmless teasing should not get to you. Life is too short..... Get over it.

Ally Dick

I was in Strawberry Records in Boston a few years ago. A great, great shop. The staff were exceptionally polite, and also enjoyed friendly banter about the artists that you had purchased. It was a lovely experience compared to some of the sour-faced oul cynics that I see behind the counter in Ireland.

Holmer

Humanhank wrote: »

I was just minding my own business looking for the Natty Dread album by bob marley when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album. I work in a supermarket, and if any of my staff insulted a customers taste i'd go mad! My friend owns his own music shop in london and he's built up his customer loyalty through valid criticism but not telling them you must be old if you listen to that.

Fcuking hell, I'd have punched him in the face. How did you respond?

ADTR

Shocking! I would have recommended the new Brand New album.

DarkJager

Advising you to buy Paramore instead of Bob Marley?? You should have knocked the ****er out!

Dan Dare

I find the staff in HMV in Cork very nice and helpful and interested in what they are selling. High Fidelity indeed.

G-Money

I've never had any real problems myself in HMV. I'd say you're more likely to get the snobby stuck up pretentious attitude if you went into some other well known clothes shop on Grafton St, or any bar on Dawson St.

If HMV really bothers you, next time you are there, just tell them you are in there so you can check out a few CD's for free and then you're heading home to buy them for half the price online (including delivery)

Elliemental

Humanhank wrote: »

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across. Working in HMV is no different to working in Dunnes or Tesco, its a mass retailer!! I could maybe understand someone in an independent store being like that, but i don't need some 20 year student with pink hair, judging my music taste. Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree?

I usually only find that attitude among the staff in "Indie" record stores, tbh, never in HMV. I just hand over the cash and get out as quick as possible.

phasers

"Reggae's for old people is it? Well your mam seemed to enjoy it last night!"

rowlandbrowner

what cds did you buy?

creativedrinker

im into all kinds of music, but mainly rock/hard rock and allways thini its funny seein the odd look when you buy a house/trance/techno album when wearing a band tshirt... but sayin bob is for old ppl thats mad!!! the man was and still a legend!!!!!

Mikeyt086

Reggae is not for old people. Its for people who occasionally like to relax and not hear other people scream.

You should have had a go at him, i know i would have.

floggg

Humanhank wrote: »

I was just minding my own business looking for the Natty Dread album by bob marley when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album. I work in a supermarket, and if any of my staff insulted a customers taste i'd go mad! My friend owns his own music shop in london and he's built up his customer loyalty through valid criticism but not telling them you must be old if you listen to that.

Same dude probably has Legend on his iPod so he can show off at house parties how he's down with the revolution!

Nice choice though.

K-Ren

I went into HMV to buy the Bealtes White Album, and being a student, I went up and asked if they still did the student discount. It's printed on the back of the travelcard leaflet, but he said they didn't do it anymore in his own eloquent way : '' Naw bud dont do em any more '' without even looking at me. I don't mind being told that an offer's ended or whatever, but I was actually so unconvinced by this guy I went back into him after I had bought it just to make sure- the guy on the other till sort of looked at him as if to say : '' You can do it, just tell him it's not available anymore, don't screw up! ''

That annoyed me, but a few days later I went back into HMV to look for some DVDs, and the guy up stairs was really helpful in looking through the computer for some film names, so it's like any workplace, there are some people who are better at their job than others. The first guy just pissed me off because I could do his job some much better than he could!

/rant

Any key?

Humanhank wrote: »

laughed and said reggae music is for old people!.

thank god for HMV staff. Now I know for sure I'm officially old.
Little pip-squeak I hope you gave him a good ould old person ranting lecture........

Frankiestylee

I had two polar opposite HMV staff experiences the other day...

Went into HMV Grafton St. I was looking for a cable for a macbook. There was some Jack L instore on (pretty painful) and no staff seemed to be knocking about. So I went up to the til (it was in the downstairs section) and went to the side to ask the guy who wasn't actually on the till. He just ignored me standing there and walked off. I waited until the guy at the counter had finished serving the only customer in the queue and tried to ask him a question. He just pointed down at the space in front of the till. I was about to speak again when he twirled his fingers in some little hand motion and pointed down at the spot again. So frustrated I walked down and around the partition yoke and back up, ending up about 5 inches from where I started. I asked him if they sold firewire cables and he just shook his head once to say no. He didn't bother opening his mouth once.
This lad is what I'd describe as the stereotype of a HMV employee (Grafton St. anyhows) with too much gel in his hair and an aire of being cooler than thou.

In the Dundrum branch I asked a delightful girl the same question, she had no clue but got me someone who could help. He then explained why they didn't have what I was looking for and started recommending other shops in the centre that may have what I was looking for. Great customer service.

blastman

Had an encouraging experience with HMV staff in Liffey Valley over the weekend, so I thought I'd share.

I was just mooching around, not looking for anything in particular. One of the staff was putting CDs into the rack as I was flicking idly through them, and I noticed he was trying to read the front of my t-shirt. I was wearing a t-shirt from the current Marillion tour, and he said "oh, you know they have a new CD that came out last week?". You have no idea how impressed I was to hear this! An HMV staffer knowing about Marillion, whatever next!? To be fair, he looked a bit older than the usual angst-ridden emo kid that works there, but still...

delbertgrady

Very impressive by HMV standards.

Mossy Monk

I have no idea who Paramore are.

ninwilky

Personally ive never had any grief in Grafton Street. I've fairly conflicted music tastes and often find myself buying some strange combination like paramore and some black metal bands latest album, or maybe gojira [death metal] and foo fighters and generally the employee reaction is just to serve you as fast as possible. In Henry street, downstairs anyways, ive found the staff to be extremely friendly. From all the times ive gone to that paticular shop, be it for cds or 2 weeks ago to help my friend get her xbox ive always had a friendly reception in there. one girl even started chatting away to me cause she saw my student card. I think Henry street has a much better atmosphere and attitude amongst the staff

stovelid

All the suggested ripostes are a bit complicated.

What's wrong with a simple fuck off?

Rigsby

stovelid wrote: »

What's wrong with a simple fuck off?

Jaysus !!.. but you are all very thin skinned here

What's wrong with "laugh it off"

stovelid

Rigsby wrote: »

What's wrong with "laugh it off"

There's no swear in it.

spongeman

Humanhank wrote: »

I was just minding my own business looking for the Natty Dread album by bob marley when an assistant packing beside me just laughed and said reggae music is for old people! And then tried to convince me to buy the new Paramore album. I work in a supermarket, and if any of my staff insulted a customers taste i'd go mad! My friend owns his own music shop in london and he's built up his customer loyalty through valid criticism but not telling them you must be old if you listen to that.

Sure isnt it better than the staff ignoring you completely ? Whether you like their opinion or not its better than them grunting at you.

Perhaps the staff member was trying to make conversation ? God forbid that should happen.

Mossy Monk

spongeman wrote: »

God forbid that should happen.

Actually yes. I personally don't like people at the tills striking up a conversation with customers. It always leads to queues.

catch--22

I had to DJ a wedding recently (I'd only ever do it for a friend) and needed to buy a load of typical wedding music to keep everyone happy! Went to HMV Graffton St. and found in the basement the compilation section and spent 10 minutes flicking through some of the rubbish record companies stick on these things.

Ended up with about 5 mixes with the likes of ABBA, Girls Aloud, Beyonce and the latest Black Eyed Peas single. It took about 10 minutes to wait for the queue to clear so nobody would see me buying it all. When it was clear I popped up and and at the last minute threw in a book about zombies to try and make myself a little respectable. Turns out it just made me look weird!

Anyway the girl at the till had a great laugh about it all (with me).

I've never had any problems with HMV staff. Always found them helpful. Maybe you should change the title of your post so you're not painting everyone with the one brush?

iamnothim

Frankiestylee wrote: »

There was some Jack L instore on (pretty painful)

Oi! - that was me playing the piano! You could have at least have said hello...

- Dara

MistyCheese

Humanhank wrote: »

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across. Working in HMV is no different to working in Dunnes or Tesco, its a mass retailer!! I could maybe understand someone in an independent store being like that, but i don't need some 20 year student with pink hair, judging my music taste. Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree?

Back in the (earlyish) 90's one of the coolest jobs in the omniverse was to work in a retail outlet selling "music". See for example "Clerks"). This has of course changed, due in no small part to the advent of mp3s but some people are relucant to realise this.

sceptre

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I have no idea who Paramore are.

• American band.
• Middly as talent goes.
• First album good, second and third not so good.
• The emo boys like them because lead singer Hayley Williams is of the female persuasion. That's why Kerrang gave them a big spread a few years ago which gave them credence, which was nothing to do with the music.
• HMV have big posters advertising them in the windows so they want to flog lots of their CDs so I'm guessing they bought lots of boxes of them.

I think that's good enough for Mossy's "idiot's guide to Paramore".

I have great musical taste (not that that matters), am not greatly impressed with many of the NME types or the DJs that just play what they're told by the NME types (and those are the better ones) and in my free time I listen to a lot of crap too. Meh.

Dudess

Humanhank wrote: »

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across. Working in HMV is no different to working in Dunnes or Tesco, its a mass retailer!! I could maybe understand someone in an independent store being like that, but i don't need some 20 year student with pink hair, judging my music taste. Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree?

I worked there and Virgin Megastore, and beforehand, I used to think a few of them came across like that too - but then I found out it's, for the most part, unintentional. Although I did get a sense all right of "music retailer is so much cooler than any other retailer".

Meh, maybe I came across that way - wouldn't have been the intention though.

Killinator

Humanhank wrote: »

Is it me or are the staff in any HMV the cockiest, up there own arses, 'i know everything about music and movies and you know nothing', staff you've ever come across. Working in HMV is no different to working in Dunnes or Tesco, its a mass retailer!! I could maybe understand someone in an independent store being like that, but i don't need some 20 year student with pink hair, judging my music taste. Its in every store! Whats the deal? Anyone else agree?

I'm sure your doing something soooo much more important with your life:rolleyes:

I hope the counselling your recieving for this traumatic event will be much help in getting on with your life, that is if you've managed to get out of bed since it happened, its a tough world out there!!!

Dudess

Killinator wrote: »

I'm sure your doing something soooo much more important with your life:rolleyes:

Meh, maybe they are...

If you're a HMV staff member (which I suspect you are ) you've kinda... helped validate the OP's point. :pac:

Killinator

Dudess wrote: »

Meh, maybe they are...

If you're a HMV staff member (which I suspect you are ) you've kinda... helped validate the OP's point. :pac:

How have I?
Im sorry but I object to being called a college dropout with pink hair(I dont have pink hair and am not a dropout- though I am studying in college,but I have to do something to pay my way),
If this person was broadly painting you and the people you work with with the same brush becasue a silly incident like the one described would you just happily accept it, I doubt it!

kilkenny_kid

I was in a HMV store a few years ago looking for a The Who cd, after being inspired by CSI. Anyhoo, i could not find one, I asked this lady who was working there for assistance. She had a brief look at my ears (Im partially Deaf) She had I had no business listening to them nor any music. This upset me quiet abit, and being 16 I didn't know what to do. My teacher (as I was in bording school) sent in a letter to management, they replied with a 50 euro voucher.

Takk

Killinator wrote: »

How have I?

By replying with this:

Killinator wrote: »

I'm sure your doing something soooo much more important with your life:rolleyes:

I hope the counselling your recieving for this traumatic event will be much help in getting on with your life, that is if you've managed to get out of bed since it happened, its a tough world out there!!!

Many others (which includes customers and current/former HMV staff) who disagree with the OP, have replied to this thread with a bit of tact and useful insight to respectfully put across their points.

Unlike you. Which kind of undoes the work they did, when they suggested HMV staff aren't complete tools.

Killinator

Takk wrote: »

By replying with this:



Many others (which includes customers and current/former HMV staff) who disagree with the OP, have replied to this thread with a bit of tact and useful insight to respectfully put across their points.

Unlike you. Which kind of undoes the work they did, when they suggested HMV staff aren't complete tools.

Again, Im sorry for taking offense to the general insults thrown at me by the OP,
But again the incident the OP refered to was a nothing incident, yet somehow it reflects on the general manner of ALL HMV staff,
why am I required to show any respect to this person, they have just come on to a public forum and insulted a large number of people,
I could say 'all HMV staff are great' but working for HMV that would be more than a bit biased on my behalf,
Look at it from our perspective, plenty of people will come into the store and be complete jerks and treat the staff like doormats who have no role in this life but to serve them like the roylaty they think they are yet I dont start a thread saying that eveyone who shops in HMV are a**holes do I.;)

As per my original comment it was meant to be tongue in cheek but seriously I dont pretend to know everything about music,games or films but I'll do my best to help customers or offer opinions, it wont always be the kind of thing a customer is looking for but at least I tried!!

But if the OP is gonna make such broad opinions on groups of people like that then they shouldnt go outside, otherwise they might meet someone else they take an unreasonable disdain to and feel the need to start a new thread, possibly about the Gardai or librarians.....:pac:

Oh and Kilkenny_Kid that was poor form by the staff, I actually feel bad that someone I dont know who works for the same company would do that.:eek:

Ohhh and Takk, I'm not a tool:D

Takk

Killinator wrote: »

But again the incident the OP refered to was a nothing incident, yet somehow it reflects on the general manner of ALL HMV staff

And as I said, many others have agreed with you, as do I. But your original post does not constructively argue this point at all, which is what Dudess and I were implying.

Killinator wrote: »

seriously I dont pretend to know everything about music,games or films but I'll do my best to help customers or offer opinions, it wont always be the kind of thing a customer is looking for but at least I tried!!

^ An attitude like this in your first post would have helped your cause much better.

Killinator wrote: »

Ohhh and Takk, I'm not a tool:D

Sorry, I'm sure you're not. But maybe you can see how someone may have come to that conclusion, based on your initial post.