My mission yesterday was simple.  Stop by a Game Stop and pick up a new ‘Turbo’ controller for the PS3.  This controller has a special ‘button’ that gives gives you 3 taps instead of one when you press a particular button.  (think of how useful this might be with a first person shooter and single shot weapons).

Now, it’s simple enough, I’ve talked to a few folks online and 3 people confirmed they picked up these controllers at Gamestop.  So yesterday during lunch I stopped in to pick one up.

Oh my, not so easy.

First all their good PS3 stuff is locked up, this includes basic things like controllers.  It was clear to me that they didn’t have what I needed.  They only had two controllers on display, the normal 6-Axis and some other MadCatz funky thing that wasn’t even wireless.

My mistake was asking.

There were two people working, one of them seemed quite frantic, the other well let’s just say customer service isn’t her thing.

I asked her if they had any other controllers for the Ps3.  I was looking for a specific turbo controller.  Specifically this one:

the conversation went about like this:

“She looked at me like I was from another planet and wandered over to where I had just looked (in the secured PS3 Peripherials case”

She said: ‘Turbo?’.  
Me: Yes, Turbo, you push a button once and the controller magically pushes the button for you 3x or more.
Her: Hrm, never hear of such a thing, opens case and gets MadCatz controller.  “This should do it she proclaims’.
Me: Uh, no this doesn’t have any ‘turbo’ features.
Her: Total look of confusion…  What’s it called again?
Me: Wireless Turbo Controller for PS3, I think it’s a Hori brand but I’m told the ones you guys sell aren’t branded.
Her: Pounds away at computer, and asks other associate.
Him: We have other controllers in that drawer.
Her: Opens drawer and pulls out some 3rd party controller with ‘Rumble Features’ and hands it to me. “Here ya go”.
Me: Looks at controller, this isn’t it either.
Her: The computer says we have them, but I don’t know where they are.   Looks at other associate.  Who is on the phone with someone saying he did the console counts this morning and everything was fine, but now all of a sudden (1.5 hours later) two PS2’s have gone missing.   He looks really nervous.
Me: It’s not the end of the world, if you don’t have it that’s fine, I need to get back to work.
Her: The computer says we have 2, let me call another store.
Me: (thinking WTF? what will another store do for you?)  I wander around the store for 15 more minutes.  She just seems lost.  She looks high and low, the goes into ‘ignore me mode’  finally I ask her.  So what’s the deal.
Her: I don’t know, the other store wasn’t helpful, I can’t find them.
Me: The computer says you have them and you simply can’t find them?
Her: Yep.  You might want to stop back later.

OK, so magically they will unhide themselves after ‘later?’

I ordered one online, which is what I should have done in the first place.   I am thankful though that she’s there and not somewhere else that actually requires customer service and knowledge about the products they sell.

Coincidentally, neither Target, nor Walmart had them either, even though Walmart Online shows that they carry them.