You know how when you go somewhere, and you have such a disappointing experience that you think it may have to be your last trip to said location? That's me with Echo Base as of yesterday.
I've done a lot of business with the owner, David, since the day they opened their first location, Tosche Station, and I was their very first customer through the door. However, the problem I've come to find is that if I'm not dealing directly with him, I just don't get the experience I expect.
Thanks to George of G.I. Jigsaw, I was feeling the need to flesh out my Marvel Legends Retro line, and I knew that Echo base would be good for doing so. They always kept this section relatively well stocked, and though it had shrunk, June 16th was no exception.
I grabbed three figures from the pegs, and made my way to the comics, where I pulled a handful of books. I then started getting the idea in my head for a custom figure, and made my way over to the Star Wars section, actually finding the two figures I would need to accomplish what I wanted.
It was here that I also took notice of their loose Star Wars figures which had a custom cardboard backer within the plastic snap closed bubble. Not wanting any of these figures, but more so the container and backer to ultimately utilize for my custom figure, I grabbed the cheapest figure I could find, and added it to my pile.
Leading up to all of this, things were already heading a little South in my overall experience. I stopped at the counter, and asked the two people working about some books David was pulling for me from a recent series of texts. Basically, I just wanted to inquire if he had gotten an opportunity to pull any of them from their back stock, and if so, if they were by chance available.
The response I got back, "I don't know." After a short few seconds of staring at the guy who answered, it became obvious that he was going to put no further effort into the matter. Not a, "I don't know, but let me call him and see." Nothing. It was a combination of awkward and annoying at the same time.
Fast forward back to my armful of stuff, which I headed to the register with. It was here that I found out that the loose figure I had picked up for the case and backer came with an unknown stipulation. You don't get the case and backer. Instead, they just want to give you the figure, and keep the case. The woman said to me, "There's a plastic shortage, so we need to keep these."
This is where I reached my limit, but kept my cool.
Rather than start arguing with an employee just following direction, I instead put everything back, and walked out.
Walking back to my car, I though to myself, "That is the stupidest thing I'd ever heard at a toy store. Really? Plastic shortage? 90% of what you sell is plastic! You are literally in the business of selling plastic."
The whole thing just annoyed me. Possibly more than it should have, but it did. It was just a building, building, building of annoyance with the whole trip, and it culminated in me just needing to walk away. I felt like me being there to spend money was an inconvenience to the staff, and quite frankly, I'm not going to force my hard earned money on someone.
Everything about the visit was disappointing.
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