There are, as I mentioned, plenty of valid reasons to encourage and / or enforce building in store. A few off the top of my head: reselling and stock "control" (as you mention), upselling opportunity (you like this? Here are more...!), introducing new / inexperienced builders safely and effectively, encouraging the visual of a store full of busy hobbyists which is helpful for attracting passing potential customers, making sure models go to genuine hobbyists, just to name a few of the most obvious. Even "it's manager discretion and I have a policy of must be built in store so I'm not seen to be offering preferential treatment to some and not others" would be fine.

Make it Bolt Action, stick with a decent game ;)

I did struggle to keep a straight face again the time - the utter shock helped!

Hey dude. You think I could get a copy of this play test? It sounds super interesting

That tallies with what head office said. Manager discretion - and your store's policy (in store assembly, with flexibility on conditions) makes sense.

Thanks for the perspective. I fully get wanting a quiet life and it being easier to blame (something out of my control). It's very possible that the standard answer "it's company policy" morphed somewhere into "it's company policy due to Brexit" because I know very well he has strong feelings on that subject. I think there's a very good chance that you may be right with this. It seems far more likely than "let's mess with this guy for the lolz".

Interesting. Do you mind me asking whereabouts in the UK you're located (county / region level)? Just wondering if we're in the same vicinity...

Controversial favourite of mine is the veggie bake. Absolutely love it

​@@thedigidude5135The veggie bake is fine. The veggie "sausage roll" is an abomination.

​@Daemonik I fully agree. I'm usually a steak bake man myself, but I always fancy something new. The veggie sausage roll is a crime

Sausage rolls are next level

You know you’ve struck gold when they’ve just pulled out a fresh batch of sausage rolls from the oven.

You don't need. Most gas stations in the US have a hot dog roller.

Most petrol stations in the UK have a hot dog roller, it’s not the same

@@v7w37 Totally different mate Look up sausage rolls and compere them (Everyday is a school day my friend. The more you know.)

I wish it wasn't something I have to consider usual. I experience people (from both sides, this isn't a partisan thing) banging on about it multiple times a week. I think it's just that Brits hold a grudge better than a Dwarf. I still hear people complaining about Maggie Thatcher, >30 years since she stopped being PM.

@@Daemonik Hmm, I do hear about Maggie every now and then. She's almost a religious figure like satan to some. But Brexit? I'm somewhat amazed it's frequently discussed, you must go to interesting pubs or something. 😉

I was the same way for some time when I got back into it in 9th. Tried a couple store games, but because I was learning the "current system" I was getting paired with children... Which was awkward all round. On my last occasion I was paired with a kid about 11, and his dad stood by the table glaring at me throughout. Honestly. I can't blame him - what sort of dad wants his preteen kids playing games with 40-something men in a toy store? I stopped going to stores to play for that reason, and got lucky with finding a couple of groups reasonably nearby where the youngest players are in their 20s. Luckily my boys play, as do some of their mates, and my wife is very understanding about losing the kitchen table 😄

I'd be surprised if that were the case, at least unless he's gone full hallucination. To give that level of wrong out as fact just seems implausible without any thing from HQ. Someone else suggested "blame something out of manager control for a quiet life" and that's the theory I'm currently going with. As in, he knows it's bull, but didn't expect anyone to actually bother checking

Thanks for the perspective - I agree that if he has just said "it's policy to build in store so we can guide newer hobbyists, but everyone gets treated the same" or something I'd have said cool and forgotten about it. I agree I'm not a whale. I think I was trying to get at that Dave and I established a "relationship" based around our interaction rather than him seeing £££ when I walked in - which I think is why the lie bothered me as much as it did because it _felt_ like more than retailer/customer. I did cringe when I saw the title "best customer" as I'm nothing of the sort! I would see people spending 10x what I did. I think I could have edited down part of it about the money side - originally I referred to occasional bigger purchases from dave, such as having bought my boys a Leviathan box set each from the store. I was getting at dropping £x00 or whatever for those was no big deal, but that was a good year or more into having met, so it wasn't a foundation for the way we interacted, though it became an in-joke later on that I'd occasionally splurge. But I removed a lot of that because I felt it was already too long! I guess I should have proofread one more time 🤦🏻‍♂️

@@Daemonik I suppose the title "best customer" had me a bit jaded. I now can recall that you never claimed yourself to be any of the sort. I can see that honesty is important to you so it felt like betrayal of a friend, so I understand.

@@jaynexus1639 Thanks for the follow up, I appreciate it. I can certainly understand that the title immediately generates the image of a nightmare entitled customer! It was entirely the personal element that bothered me. If we'd never passed the "I am a customer who buys product from you" then this wouldn't have bothered me In the slightest. _Edit: typo_

I had a situation with a store owner who insulted my intelligence. I didn’t go back to his store I go to my local wargaming club and play one page rules instead. I think he used excuse of about brexit as opportunity to rant about his personal politics.

Not really - Greggs sell "pasties", primarily, with a sideline in sandwiches and donuts. From what I understand, sausage rolls (their staple offering, they sell them by the million) only recently made it to the USA about 10 years ago from Trader Joe's, calling them "puff dogs". If you look up "Cornish Pasty" you'll have a good idea about what they sell. It's also (generally) counter service and take out in a paper bag rather than "eat in".

Taco Bell is shit on the bottom of my shoe compared to Greggs 😂

I was making the comparison based on North saying it was a place to eat after heavy drinking. Taco Bell in my college town advertises its hours as 'Open til at least 4am'.

Also, pasties < Empanadas. Lol. Especially with Chorizo. Mmm mmm.

@@manleycreative7115 Aha - I've talked to a bunch of USAians who can't wrap their head around what a pasty is! Greggs is a "morning after with a hangover" type place rather than a "finish the night with something you know you'll regret" place. Here in the UK, the equivalent is generally a greasy doner kebab place run by a dude called Stavros. Meat Kebab £5. Meat Kebab From An Identified Animal £7.

Nah, he had plenty of time to clarify while I was staring blankly at him trying to process what I had just heard! 😄 - I didn't immediately stomp off in a sulk or anything. Probably another 5 mins or so before I actually left (as I mentioned in the letter, he's a talker and can be difficult to get away from sometimes!) After someone elsewhere in the comments suggested it, I'm going with "don't blame me it's (thing outside my control)" as a general wanting a quiet life thing, rather than a personal insult (as it felt at the time because it was just so stupid). But having had many hours of conversations with the guy, I'm confident it wasn't a joke with an incoming follow-up that I didn't wait for.

Thanks for the perspective. I was wondering if I was overreacting, hence that being part of the question. It's been on my mind, and north had said he was running low, so I sent it in. The reason I went "deep" was for full context. Lots of submissions include details i don't think are particularly relevant as a listener, but evidently the person submitting it does. Would you mind expanding which part you feel I'm overreacting with? The fact that it bothers me about being lied to, or the fact that I'm saying "nah. I'm done with the store/ manager"? Both? Something else? I'm curious as to your thoughts, and if you have time / inclination would appreciate more info.

​@@Daemonikat least on my end, I was wondering if it wasn't meant as a joke and a hint that he doesn't want to go into details on why, at least at that moment (tired from work or having heard the same question too many times, f.ex.). Blaming brexit sounds preposterous enough that even the GW HQ person laughed at it, so I think it may have just been a joke gone wrong. Regardless, not all people are compatible, so I doubt there's a need for guilt... :) Anyway, the only one who knows for sure what he was thinking (if he even was), is him. Most likely he has forgotten by now, though.

@@vilidious Thanks for the idea - if I hadn't heard him raging against Brexit previously, I might have taken it the same way... The way people in the USA turned "thanks, Obama" into a joke applied to burning one's toast or stubbing a toe a few years ago. I certainly didn't get that impression at the time, and I'm not particularly sensitive to the issue (fairly agnostic on the concept, think it's been handled badly is about as far as I go). If I were strongly pro-Brexit, it would have been very possible that i could taken a joke wrongly, but I don't think that's the case here due to the presentation at the time (which can't be represented well in text).