darkSpyro

Which stores have you found helpful or least helpful? And where have you found most of your skylanders?

Personal experience here in the States.

Helpful - Gamestop (x3 Single, x1 Three Pack, 3DS & PS3 Version), Target (X3 Adventure Packs & All Remaining)

Unhelpful - Walmart (0), Best Buy (x1 Single), Toys R Us (x1 Three Pack)

^ Same! Best Buy never seems to get any in. Walmart is a hit or miss just like Toys R Us. Gamestop and Target know when they shipments in, so thank god for that small miracle.

I'm on good terms with the people at Gamestop seeing as I get a police discount there and I've been going to the store since I got out of the military. I worked part time at the Target for awhile too so I still know a few people working there. I think that generally helped my cause.

Quote: GothamLord

Personal experience here in the States.

Helpful - Gamestop (x3 Single, x1 Three Pack, 3DS & PS3 Version), Target (X3 Adventure Packs & All Remaining)

Unhelpful - Walmart (0), Best Buy (x1 Single), Toys R Us (x1 Three Pack)

Eerily creepy similar. I did get the game at TRU as well as a few chars, but only the one at BB and a doughnut at wallyworld.

When I first began calling, I was shocked to call 3 targets and 2 Walmarts which didn't even bother to pick up. I had a whole list of numbers to try out, so I decided against calling them back, but now I'm immediately calling back. For some reason, certain Target store's lines are messed up, so while they want you to press a number to go right to electronics, I've found it easier to just talk to the person on the line and tell them to transfer you there.

A few places had incredibly long waits between talking to someone at the front, then someone picking up in electronics. I would have assumed someone was there in the little desk at all times but I guess not.

Recently after calling and asking "Do you have any Skylanders?" they tell me yes and then I'm like "...well...can you tell me what you have?". Clearly, if I'm calling about what you have in stock, I'd like to know exactly what you have in stock

As for finding figures, many of my stores have Wave 1 or something in. I found EoI at Best Buy, the triple with DubTrub at Target, and the single at Walmart. Not once since buying EoI have I seen it again, and I've yet to find Cynder on a shelf yet here. NE Ohio by the way; coincidentally, all the ones I found for Wave 3 have been around Akron OH.

Target, Gamestop, and kinda Best Buy were the most helpful ones. There are no local Walmarts around my place. Amazon also helped since I got some from them.

Calling on the phone I found wasted more time than it saved. Showing up at the store and being face to face seemed to make me harder to ignore and net better results. Gamestop was the only one I called regularly and they'd just tell me if they got a Skylander box in that day. They'd wait for me to come into the store in the morning to look at it most the time if I could make it before 11am.

I now call before I go to the store because gas is unreal.
This is how I got my collection so far:
GameStop: Xbox 360 pack, 8x single packs, and EoI (online)
Walmart: 3x single packs
Best Buy: none
Target: 2x single packs
eBay: 4x singles and Pirate Seas
Amazon: Darklight Crypt
Toys R Us: Ledgendary 3-pack

I think that's it.

It tends to vary for me. I've been very successful at a lot of stores. The Toys R Us closest to us is where I got my Whirlwind 3 pack, and today I got a bunch of singles from the same Toys R Us. The EBgames closest to me is where I found most Skylanders before Christmas, and after Christmas it's where I found the Stealth Elf 3 pack, Darklight Castle, and Empire of Ice. Also the EBgames pretty far from us is where I first found Sonic Boom, the Toys R Us in a mall kind of far from here is where I found Pirate Seas after Christmas, and I've been quite lucky at Wal-Mart what with finding singles of Wrecking Ball and Hex after Christmas.

Overall, it's been pretty even for me. Though Best Buy and Future Shop suck for Skylanders. I haven't seen any in either store since Christmas, but that could just be because their phone system is a hassle to call which means I don't call too often, and it's an annoying transit trip to get to them, so I don't check that often.

Toys R Us has been helpful but it depends on who you talk to.

If you talk to an older employee, good luck. They'll just say we're out of stock and we don't know when they come in.

If you talk to a young employee (like teenager or early 20's). They'll say " These things are crazy. Everyone wants them. We get them in from time to time, but the sell out pretty quick."

If you talk to a middle aged employee (someone around 30-40) They'll give you all the info you want. They usually have worked at TRU for a while and have a good understanding of shipments and stocking procedures. And anyone who works at TRU as a career like that will usually really want to be helpful because they love their job.

Domer

Quote: domer

Toys R Us has been helpful but it depends on who you talk to.

If you talk to an older employee, good luck. They'll just say we're out of stock and we don't know when they come in.

If you talk to a young employee (like teenager or early 20's). They'll say " These things are crazy. Everyone wants them. We get them in from time to time, but the sell out pretty quick."

If you talk to a middle aged employee (someone around 30-40) They'll give you all the info you want. They usually have worked at TRU for a while and have a good understanding of shipments and stocking procedures. And anyone who works at TRU as a career like that will usually really want to be helpful because they love their job.

Domer

Since when is middle agged between 30 and 40?

Quote: Monsinour

Quote: domer

Toys R Us has been helpful but it depends on who you talk to.

If you talk to an older employee, good luck. They'll just say we're out of stock and we don't know when they come in.

If you talk to a young employee (like teenager or early 20's). They'll say " These things are crazy. Everyone wants them. We get them in from time to time, but the sell out pretty quick."

If you talk to a middle aged employee (someone around 30-40) They'll give you all the info you want. They usually have worked at TRU for a while and have a good understanding of shipments and stocking procedures. And anyone who works at TRU as a career like that will usually really want to be helpful because they love their job.

Domer

Since when is middle agged between 30 and 40?

Well, I guess if you wanted to get technical, he said "middle aged employee". If you were to look at it as the age range of a typical employee (start work at around 20, retire at 65) one could say 40 is roughly the middle of being an employee.

So what he said was true, from a certain point of view.

I'd say Gamestop was helpful, letting us know when they'd have some new shipment
As for finding Skylanders in stores...
Target: bought Starter Pack and 10 Skylanders
Walmart: bought 7 Skylanders
Gamestop: bought 1 Skylander
ToysRUs: bought 5 Skylanders
Best Buy: bought 3DS Starter Pack

GameStop is VERY helpful!! They are very patient and always answer there phones, they even held skylanders for me right out of the shipment box(EOI). They're awesome and im good friends with everyone who works there. Shopko is also very helpful, always asnwering there phones and telling you when they get stocks, they even offered to hold figures for me once, but i never had them do it because they had some i already owned.

Wal-Mart isn't helpful because they're compeltely game-illiterate.. and have no idea about shipments, unlike gamestop. Kmart is unhelpful because they never answer their phones and never have anything when i go there, same with wal-mart.

Got everything at gamestop except bash chopchop and the pirate seas adventure pack, i got those three at kmart. (and the double trouble triple pack and cynder i got from GameMaster online).

I haven't had any luck with Gamestop. We also asked the guy that worked there and they don't get shipments very often and were just getting a couple adventure packs next month. Toys R Us stocks Skylanders all the time, but since they're the main place people go for them they sell out really quickly. I've never tried Best Buy, since I don't like that store that much. I found Prism Break at Target, and they had lots of Prism Breaks and Drobots there, along with a lot of pirate adventure packs. I got Drobot at Wal Mart one night but they were almost out.

I have two Gamestop stores near me and when one gets a shipment so does the other. It's great but the smaller one only gets 1 of each of the singles when they get them in. :[

Walmart Target and TRU

Personally, GameStop and Target have been helpful to me (GameStop had the Whirlwind, Double Trouble, Drill Sergent Triple Pack, Target had EoI).
I tried calling the closest Walmart and the person on the phone had no idea what Skylanders were (BIG shocker to me), and I was on hold for like 27 minutes before I finally hung up.

Since others on this forum had much better luck with Walmart, I guess it depends on the store itself...

EDIT: I also forgot about TRU and Best Buy.... Ehh.. I can't say that they were helpful, but they certainly weren't unhelpful..
Although an employee at Best Buy did say that they would be able to hold a figure until we got there, and then a week later, a different employee on the phone said that they wouldn't be able to...

TRU just didn't have anything in stock when I went..

EDIT2 : I am certainly surprised with how nice the GameStop employees were over the phone/in the store after I've had bad luck with two of the local stores' former employees (one had an absolutely spiteful worker and the other had workers who misinformed us).

ONE LAST EDIT (February 2, 2012): Now I can genuinely say something against Best Buy; I called them earlier today after reading on the website that the store closest to us was available only to be told that they did not have any in. And for 6-7 hours it still said "Available Now" on the website.

Whether or not their system was lagging (I hardly believe that it would that much) or the guy on the phone deliberately lied to me is anyone's opinion, but I really think he was lying...

Helpful: Gamestop, TRU, Target
****y stores: Walmart, best Buy

I always get horrible service from Best Buy and Walmart, on the phone and in store. Target is okay and Toys'R'Us is somewhat helpful in store but not over the phone.

Best: JB hifi: Extremely helpful. We always ring them up 1st to check if they have any new Skylanders, and they actually know what they're on about. They'll be able to tell us when the next lot's in, etc. They're really friendly too. When we went in to get the game the guy went out back and got it for us, and then kept bragging about how Prism break was his fav Skylander.

Worst: The warehouse. On the release date, we went there to get the figures cause they were on special. We go to the closest on, ask them if they had them (they had advertised the figures AND game in their latest brochure thing, to be release ON THE DAY WE WENT THERE,) and they said something like, 'oh, we don't know where the box is,' or 'we can't open the box' or some **** like that. They were so hopeless. So we got them to ring the other warehouse across town and they luckily had them. FFfffff... Stupid warehouse.

Let's imagine, just for a moment, that YOU worked at one of these stores. You are bombarded with call after call after call from people asking if you have any Skylanders in stock. You know, after checking ONCE, that you do not. After one hour, I would be on edge. After an eight hour shift, I would be ready to punch the next person with a Skylanders question. But that's just me.

There's no reason for an employee to be rude. But forgive them if they are a little short with you when you ask them about Skylander figures.

Quote: Himewad

There's no reason for an employee to be rude. But forgive them if they are a little short with you when you ask them about Skylander figures.

I worked in the game section at Best Buy when the Wii was released, and during the Wii shortage during the months after the release. It was incredibly repetitious to answer the same question over and over and over and over and over. But it also was an opportunity to talk to them about how awesome the Wii was (without rubbing it in too much that I had one and they didn't).

There has been several store associates, at Gamestop especially, that seem to light up at the question and they start talking to me about which ones they have, etc.

I think the rudeness that gets received when asked is probably coming from someone who a.) Hates their job b.) Hates Skylanders

I would love to work at a game store right now so I can talk with the rest of the nerdy dads and gamers trying to find these awesome figures, haha.

Yeah like himewad said. I was telling my wife we have a population of around 917,550 in Ottawa (as of 2010) and lets say a fourth of them play skylanders (still around 299,000) then lets say half of them collect (about 150,000), and half of them call the stores everyday. That would be almost 75,000 people calling everyday to ask about skylanders. I think i d get a little annoyed myself, LOL.

Bt that's your job. Sorry if they are popular but that's what happens

Quote: domer

Toys R Us has been helpful but it depends on who you talk to.

If you talk to an older employee, good luck. They'll just say we're out of stock and we don't know when they come in.

If you talk to a young employee (like teenager or early 20's). They'll say " These things are crazy. Everyone wants them. We get them in from time to time, but the sell out pretty quick."

If you talk to a middle aged employee (someone around 30-40) They'll give you all the info you want. They usually have worked at TRU for a while and have a good understanding of shipments and stocking procedures. And anyone who works at TRU as a career like that will usually really want to be helpful because they love their job.

Domer

The young ones are the best. At toysrus the 20 year old asked me which skylander I want and I said Empire of Ice so he brought it from the back. And it was a week ago.

Quote: Rays

Quote: domer

Toys R Us has been helpful but it depends on who you talk to.

If you talk to an older employee, good luck. They'll just say we're out of stock and we don't know when they come in.

If you talk to a young employee (like teenager or early 20's). They'll say " These things are crazy. Everyone wants them. We get them in from time to time, but the sell out pretty quick."

If you talk to a middle aged employee (someone around 30-40) They'll give you all the info you want. They usually have worked at TRU for a while and have a good understanding of shipments and stocking procedures. And anyone who works at TRU as a career like that will usually really want to be helpful because they love their job.

Domer

The young ones are the best. At toysrus the 20 year old asked me which skylander I want and I said Empire of Ice so he brought it from the back. And it was a week ago.

Maybe it has to do with our age as the customer.... I'm 37 so maybe that's why the 30-40 help me more....

Domer

Quote: SkyDad

Quote: Himewad

There's no reason for an employee to be rude. But forgive them if they are a little short with you when you ask them about Skylander figures.

I worked in the game section at Best Buy when the Wii was released, and during the Wii shortage during the months after the release. It was incredibly repetitious to answer the same question over and over and over and over and over. But it also was an opportunity to talk to them about how awesome the Wii was (without rubbing it in too much that I had one and they didn't).

There has been several store associates, at Gamestop especially, that seem to light up at the question and they start talking to me about which ones they have, etc.

I think the rudeness that gets received when asked is probably coming from someone who a.) Hates their job b.) Hates Skylanders

I would love to work at a game store right now so I can talk with the rest of the nerdy dads and gamers trying to find these awesome figures, haha.

Only walmart is RUDE to me

Quote: Whirlwind5598

Quote: SkyDad

Quote: Himewad

There's no reason for an employee to be rude. But forgive them if they are a little short with you when you ask them about Skylander figures.

I worked in the game section at Best Buy when the Wii was released, and during the Wii shortage during the months after the release. It was incredibly repetitious to answer the same question over and over and over and over and over. But it also was an opportunity to talk to them about how awesome the Wii was (without rubbing it in too much that I had one and they didn't).

There has been several store associates, at Gamestop especially, that seem to light up at the question and they start talking to me about which ones they have, etc.

I think the rudeness that gets received when asked is probably coming from someone who a.) Hates their job b.) Hates Skylanders

I would love to work at a game store right now so I can talk with the rest of the nerdy dads and gamers trying to find these awesome figures, haha.

Only walmart is RUDE to me

I can't say that the employee I got was rude, but still; I refuse to call Walmart again since they don't have separate sections like target does (i.e they have an Electronics section that you can get a hold of), and I certainly don't want to go to one of the stores nearby. Plus, when I called them a week ago, I think they kept me on hold for those 27 minutes, hoping that they wouldn't have to deal with me. Because, honestly; how long would it take to get up, go check the shelves, check the stockroom and come right back? At least 15 minutes tops!

But the Walmarts around me are horrible; they're too crowded and not enough cashiers to help out the people in lines that stretch all the way to Canada..

(Quote string was getting pretty long but this is direct response to above^)

Yeah, I've never called Walmart up to check for Skylanders stock for that reason. Conveniently, I only live 2 mins from the nearest Walmart so I just drop in a few times a week to check their stock while I'm running errands or something. Walmart actually seems to be keeping their stock pretty regularly lately, had success the past few times I've been there and their prices are staying the same. ($7.99 for singles, $19.99 for three packs/adventure packs)

However, their customer support is definitely lacking.

Gamestop's customer support has been the best for me so far. Just about everyone that works in the two stores I frequent has been really nice and started up a convo about Skylanders.

Gamestop and Target are by far the best. Although I happened to talk to a lady at best buy that is a skylander fan. She told me exactly when to see if they had any in. Monday or thursdays in spokane between 6-730 pm. She also told me best buy is going to put a purchase limit on them so people can't come in and buy everything.

My store gets calls all day every day. If I don't have any customers I generally chat it up with them. The only time I get rude or short is if they get that way with me. It happens a lot when I tell them that I will not hold figures or sell them multiples of the same packs.

Well, guess who came through for me?
Best Buy.
Called them up earlier this morning and the employee managed to get a Cynder for me and hold onto her until I was able to come down and pick her up just a few minutes ago.

So many people say they get such bad service from Best Buy, while I get pretty good service with them (I once took back some faulty headphones that broke at the extension part,
and they gave me a full refund.)

All I can say is I guess it just depends on the store..

Quote: Skytalon

Well, guess who came through for me?
Best Buy.
Called them up earlier this morning and the employee managed to get a Cynder for me and hold onto her until I was able to come down and pick her up just a few minutes ago.

So many people say they get such bad service from Best Buy, while I get pretty good service with them (I once took back some faulty headphones that broke at the extension part,
and they gave me a full refund.)

All I can say is I guess it just depends on the store..

Congratulations!!! You're going to love her.

I work at Toys R Us, and I try to help the parents/fans as much as possible. Scalpers I actually try to stop, just because. It kind of sucks when you have kids who are really wanting more figures and can't get them because some middle aged smelly guy is coming in when we open, buying up all the Cynders, Whirlwinds, and Drill Sergeants. It happened like 2 weeks ago, and it sucked. I grabbed one of each BEFORE we opened just so I could keep mine safe from these scalpers.