When I was really into
Magic the Gathering (MTG) a few years ago there were a
fair number of local gaming stores. One of my favorites of the time was
The
Encounter in Allentown. I used to go to their MTG tournament on weekends
and just hang out there for some fun and games on weekends. Back then the store
was reasonably well kept, organized, and clean. And even if it wasn't all that
clean and organized the people were nice, both the other customers and the
people who worked there. That seems to have changed though.
I introduced a co-worker to MTG a month or so ago and he wanted to know where
he could look at cards. Of course, my first thought was of The Encounter. We
headed over with me expecting to find it much as I remembered it. Instead what
I found was a bit of a dive. There was so much stuff on the counter I couldn't
see through the top of the glass at it's contents. Everything on the
shelves struck me as dirty and almost dusty. Additionally, the back gaming
room was
a sty even by my standards, and I'm pretty messy. Let's face it, most gamers
aren't exactly known for their organization and cleanliness so it's not like
I'm holding them to a high standard. There were also giant piles of stuff in
the main part of the store.
Let me say though, this may not be the way they normally are. I understand
that they had just come back from two back to back comic/gaming shows which may
account for the disorganization. Still, it leaves a bad impression.
Especially if a new customer walks in.
I know I've gone on about organization and cleanliness a bit now but that's not
really the deal breaker. A place can be cleaned, no biggy. And they did just
come off of those shows, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt
in that regards. What has turned me mist off is the customer service. My
co-worker, Mike, decided he wanted to call them to see if they had a few
singles rather than driving over to ask. He called both the Allentown
store and the Stroudsburg store asking if they had any
Blightning in stock. A few examples of the replied
received were:
"I'm 14 hours behind! I don't have time to look up singles!"
"I'm not supposed to look up singles!"
"There's no such card."
That last one was given after we provided the MTG Card set and name. According
to
Gatherer the card sure as hell does exist.
My first thought is that there was a bad apple employee who answered. That
thought was dashed when he got a similar reply from both the Allentown store
and the Stroudsburg stores telling me the problem is systemic rather than an
individual.
I'm not going to totally discount The Encounter yet. I think I'll give them a
visit in a month or two and see how they are doing. Until then, the preferred
alternative is
The Portal Comics and Gaming. If the Encounter doesn't
shape up The Portal may end up being my go to place for geeky games.