PhilaPhile

Gamestop

My son was going to his best-friends birthday party friday night, December 2nd. He badly wanted to give him the Spider-Man Extreme for PS2 video game. It's more than we usually pay for a birthday gift but we are very close with the child's family. My wife called Gamestop to see if they had the game, how much it cost, and closing time. They had the game at a good price but they closed at 8:00 pm. We would have to hurry. We rushed out the door, drove quickly to the store at 3110 Cheltenham Avenue and arrived 5 minutes before closing time. Just made it. But wait the doors are locked. Three workers were inside but none of them would open the door. I shouted that my wife had called and was told that closing time was 8:00 pm and it's now five minutes before eight. One of them shouted back, "We're closed."

After I shouted a few choice words at the workers inside, my 9 year old son said, "Ohhhh daddy you said a curse word." I apologized for my language and went across the street to Toys R Us and bought the game for 5 dollars more than the price quoted at Gamestop. As you might expect I will NEVER shop at that store again. My son has been into video games for about a year now and, I'm sure, will be purchasing video games and platforms for many more years. But not at Gamestop.

tags: Philadelphia Gamestop Mount Airy tags: 19118

Brother Worm

I'm very late in reporting that Brother Worm has retired. Brother Worm ran Worm's Haircutting Shoppe in Center City. He has not indicated what his plans are for his retirement but I would guess that there will be quite a bit of merryment and mayhem. Fortunately, I had a Worm sighting recently in Northern Liberties. Good luck in retirement Worm.

Worm's Haircutting Shoppe

I needed a haircut badly. Several people were asking me if I was growing a beard. Was preparing to go to PopTech and I didn't want to look to scruffy. Went to Brother Worm last Tuesday, located at 1534 Sansom St. in Center City. Worm requires an appointment, 215.569.1117.

Always a good time talking with Worm about a number of different topics: barbecue, Eagles, Sixers, cars, politics, you name it. His friends bought a bus at auction to use for tailgating at Eagles games and other events. Not many folks at Eagles games tailgate like these fellows . A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to join them before and after the game. Had a great time with good people. Hope to join them again soon.

After Worm's I got a bite to eat at Le Bus. This place got its start at 34th and Sansom St. on Penn's campus. It was literally a bus that served great sandwiches, salads, and soups. Went there whenever I could. After a few years they moved into a storefront located across the street from the bus. After spending many years on Sansom St., Le Bus moved to a larger place in Manayunk. They also have a booth in Reading Terminal and the take out place I went to at 135 S. 18th St., around the corner from Rittenhouse Square.

Just like back in the day I chose the Thai Turkey Salad, it comes with a roll. I also picked up a couple of cinnamon danish for tomorrow. The salad isn't as spicy as I once remember but it's still good. A good place to grab something quickly and go around the corner to Rittenhouse Square, eat and watch the people. Not an option today due to weather.

Conicelli Toyota

In August my wife and I decided to buy a new Toyota Camry. We picked out a 2005 Camry LE and left a deposit using a credit card. I began having second thoughts and decided I wanted a car with a few more options. I went back on Sunday, when the dealership was closed, and chose a 2004 Camry LE with more options. On Monday we went in and made the purchase.

Now, for those of you who have purchased cars you know that it wasn't this simple. For me negotiating a car deal creates a lot of anxiety. We added some pressure to ourselves by making the purchase 2 days before we were going on vacation. Where we planned to drive about 2,000 miles. Although we didn't mention our vacation plans walking out of the negotiation wasn't an option. So I caved on some things where, given more flexibility, I might have put up more of a fight.

Toward the end of the negotiating we decided to add a security system that would cost $300. The sales manager added $300 toward the purchase price and we signed the deal. All of the calculations were performed by the sales manager on his computer. At one point he made a calculation mistake that was $300 in his favor. I pointed it out to him and he corrected it. What I didn't realize was that we were not going to receive an itemized list of options that we purchased. When we got outside to drive off in our new car the salesman asked us when we would like to have our security system installed. I told him we were going away for a few weeks and would have it installed when we returned.

After the vacation I had nearly 2,000 miles on the car and decided to wait for my 5,000 mile check-up before having the security system installed. I called last week to make my service appointment and was informed that the service department didn't install the security system. I would have to call my sales rep and arrange it through him. I called him and he had a little difficulty remembering us. He asked if we had any documentation indicating that we had paid for the security system. After looking through my paperwork I told him we didn't. He said that when a customer is owed anything after the deal is completed they indicate it on a "We Owe" statement. I said I have the "We Owe" document but it only indicates that we owed Conicelli the "Title" from our old car. He said he would talk with the sales manager but it would be difficult to convince him that we were indeed owed a security system without some sort of documentation.

The following day I received a message from the sales manager. After hearing the message I started feeling anxious again and began preparing myself for battle with the dreaded sales manager. I called the next day. He asked me to remind him of what had transpired. He said he had difficulty remembering us but that he would honor the committment. No confrontation. I was pleasantly surprised it went so smoothly. I told him I was blogging our encounter and would be sure to make it positive.

tags: 19428