'You're done': Security guard comes to retail employee's rescue when customer demands a video game console that's out of stock

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
May 22, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

One person recalled a decade-old story about the time a customer came and had a total meltdown because Nintendo Wii had just launched, and it was understandably out of stock.

People get really frustrated when things don't go their way, but some folk take it too far. I don't know what happened in this particular man's life to make him so bitter, but it's no excuse… retail employees deserve respect, just like anyone else. So, back to the story — the employee in question was working in a store selling DVDs, CDs, games, vinyl, and a bunch of other entertainment related things. They had been promoted to supervisor, and were working a shift when one very angry customer stormed up to them and demanded a Wii, despite not having preordered one. Well, you can imagine how that went… not well.

You can read the full story below, and after that, you are welcome to take a look at this tech support employee who was unfortunately fired after making too big of a mistake.

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  • 01
    SEGA MEDLEMENT TEENAGE MUTANT HERO TURTLES "His face dropped...' " Iffe Π V
    via Canva
  • 02
    "I'm not leaving here without the Wii." Yes you are.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 03
    I worked in a store selling dvds, cds, games, vinyl and a bunch of other entertainment related stuff. This story took place the day after the launch of the Nintendo Wii. Our store had guaranteed that if you had pre-ordered a Wii by a certain date then you would get one. If you had not pre-ordered then it was first come, first served for the remaining stock. No one was able to place an order or reserve one after the release day as we could not guarantee when we would get stock back in.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 04
    The day after the release, we had just opened and I was standing by the entrance of the door to greet customers when this big angry looking guy comes charging through the door straight up to me ... Customer: do you have any Nintendo Wii's in stock? Me: Hi, I'm sorry we sold out of the stock we had yesterday.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 05
    ...on hearing this the customer stamped his foot and slammed his shopping bags against his side. I knew at that point drama was about to unfold. Customer: Right, well I want to pre order one. Me: I'm sorry, we can no longer take pre orders as it's now after release day and we are unable to take orders as we cannot guarantee when we will receive stock back in since the product is in such high demand Customer: That's a lie!
    via u/Presspanda
  • 06
    Me: What? Customer: You are lying to me, I was in here 2 weeks ago and was told if I pre ordered I was guaranteed one on the day of release! At this point, I'm thinking maybe I've misunderstood and he has in fact pre ordered so I make an attempt at clarifying... Me: Oh, are you here to collect a pre order? Do you have your order slip and receipt?
    via u/Presspanda
  • 07
    Customer: No I don't have a slip, you should have one for me because I enquired about wanting one weeks ago! Either give me one now or order one for me! My son wants one! Me: That's not how it works unfortunately, we only pre order with a deposit. If you have not paid a deposit then we do not have a pre order for you. I cannot order you one either as our system will not let us.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 08
    Customer: This is ridiculous! Get me a manager right now as you are obviously incapable of sorting this mess out. I'm not leaving here without the Wii! As angry as this guy already was, he was about to get even angrier as I now had to inform him that I was in fact the manager on duty and the only one around. (I was a supervisor who did opening and closing - supervisors were designated managers on duty when there were no real grown ups around)
    via u/Presspanda
  • 09
    The guy flipped out...pointing his finger in my face, calling me a liar, telling me there is no way some little girl was a manager. Just as I was starting to worry this guy was about to physically a ult me something wonderful happened. I felt something brush over the top of my shoulder from behind and suddenly the customers face dropped and he was being dragged towards the door.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 10
    Unbeknown to me, our security guard had just come on shift and was just entering the shop floor when he heard the customer screaming at me. He walked straight up from behind me, grabbed the guy by his neck and dragged him outside backwards telling him "you're done." Once outside, the guy stood between me and the security guard...almost foaming at the mouth with rage for a good minute before turning and storming out of sight.
    via u/Presspanda
  • 11
    Sonic10122 Such a satisfying story there at the end. It's good to know you had security there. Sadly Nintendo hasn't learned it's lesson yet, I feel really sorry for anywhere that sells a Switch or did sell an NES Mini. 3.7k Share
    via u/Sonic10122
  • 12
    Flynnodaire I would like to confirm that it is in fact a similar situation with the Nintendo Switch, though stock is becoming steadily more readily available. We offered several waves of preorders but had absolutely zero idea of when they would come in, just an 'as and when' estimation. The best is when a customer would see us selling to a preorder customer and then be outraged that they weren't being given the same 'preferential treatment' despite just walking in and deciding they wanted stock.
    via u/Flynnodaire
  • 13
    [deleted]. I'm casually employed as a security guard (certified, licences and all), which has pretty much never come in handy for me yet, but if I ever had the opportunity to do this for a coworker, that's a badass way to say "hey, I showed up for work today." 455 Share Presspanda OP. I was extremely grateful that our security guard showed up for work that day....and for all the other days he showed up and dealt with the lunatics that came through the doors. 259 Share
    via u/Presspanda
  • 14
    spunkyweazle Wii customers were the worst when I worked at EB. People would practically knock shelves down reaching for the display boxes on the top rack, commenting "Wow this thing is really light" as they made their way up. 144 Share
    via u/spunkyweazle
  • 15
    Not Callum Stay In School 'Wii release' 'over a decade' I feel old 55 Share ratsta Tell me how you feel when you get your "25 year member roadside assistance 'gold card" in the mail :( Or when your barber offers to trim your eyebrows :( 31 Share ...
    via u/NotCallum, u/ratsta
  • 16
    [deleted] what has gone wrong with the world where a grown about a toy. man gets so fu ing pi. ed off 78 Share emdave. Presumably something in his backstory that we will never know - wife just left him, and he promised the kids a
    via u/emdave
  • 17
    Nintendo to make it up to them, but didn't have the cash to pre-order, or whatever - sadly people can get overwhelmed by their circumstances, and not everyone has the good grace or strength of character to avoid then taking it out on others :/ 108 Share
    via u/emdave
  • 18
    GoldenNuck. I couldn't agree with you more. One of my favorite quotes of all time from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. Even as a manger who regularly deals with irrationally irate customers, I always end each encounter wondering, "Man, I wonder what happened in your life to cause you to treat another human that way." I hope people's lives get better.
    via u/GoldenNuck
  • 19
    KouNurasaka Huh, what about that, you actually have to order an item in advance to pre-order something. Guy's a genius, ain't he?
    via u/KouNarusaka
  • 20
    Usually Inappropriate customer tl;dr: "HURRR HURRR DURRR GIMME DA WII"
    via u/UsuallyInappropriate
  • 21
    TRFKTA he stood between me and the security guard Why did the security guard not stand between you two? Surely standing the other side of the guy is counter intuitive in that situation
    via u/TRFKTA
  • 22
    alabardios. I am so glad to hear about security doing their job for a change on this sub. Good for you for holding your ground!
    via u/alabardios

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video game console games boss employee manager preorder retail workplace stories reddit gaming retail worker customers working supervisor workplace video games security guard
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