Needlessly destructive cashiers

"I shall crush you!"

Hi All,

This is my first post to these forums, and I'm sorry that it's a rant, but this bugs me to no end! After searching high and low, I found a pristine CE of GalCiv II at Wal-Mart the other day. I snatched it up and took it to the check-out counter. Naturally, the cashier decided that she needed to destroy the box by scraping it all over the magnet that deactivates the anti-theft devices. So, rather than the pristine box that I picked up, I am the proud owner of a box that looks like it had a close encounter with a cheese grater. I would have just refused to buy the game, but it's the only CE I've seen in a while.

I know that I'm a closet perfectionist and too particular about my things, but it drives me crazy when people do things like that. I've been trying to figure out what would drive people to needlessly damage other people's stuff. Jealousy? Oxygen depravation? A heart two sizes too small?

Anyway, I love the game itself. The humans and Drengins at Stardock did a fantastic job. But please excuse me while I find a toilet plunger that I can use to pick the box up off of the floor and put into the closet.

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I'd just chalk it up to stupidity/ignorance, myself.

Speaking as someone who's spent way too many years as a cashier in way too many places, I can tell you that cashiers are trained for expediency. The idea is to get the customer rung up and the door as fast as possible (especially in a low-quality store chain like Wal-Mart).

For most other types of products, the box isn't important. Furthermore, the anti-theft deactivators are usually a complete pain in the backside. I can think of several occasions in my own cashiering travails where I rubbed every inch of the stupid thingy, and it *still* beeped on the way out. Grr.

Therefore, someone who isn't a gamer/collectible fan, and therefore doesn't understand the need for a non-damaged box, might well decide that rubbing the thing to death as quickly as possible and throwing it in the bag is the way to go.

I'm not offering this as an excuse, mind you - there's no excuse for a cashier not to treat your stuff properly no matter what they're selling you, or whether they understand the product or not - just as an explanation.

The next time you're stuck having to buy your games/collectibles in a non-specialty shop, it might be worth politely requesting that the cashier try not to damage the box. You might get some eye rolls, but they should (read: should as in "It's their job", not as in a probability assessment) honor your request.

Peace & Luv, Liz

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You might take note that Wal-Mart (I used to work in corporate claims over electronics) cares about 0% about the quality of their products. Most electronic items have a 50% return rate, and about a quarter of their items have over 90%. They just back charge the supplier and make the same money there. Most of the time they load boxes in the rigs so cheaply that they won't pay for braces. This leads to boxes simply rolling across the dock when the truck is opened. Alot of the time they are just pushed by means of kicking (I have seen this with my own eyes) or running a fork lift into them until they are all piled into the salvage portion of the warehouse.

Do not, under any curcumstances, buy anything with electronic parts at Wal-Mart.

Why should the cashier care if she beats up the box when most of them come to the store that way?

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