As was mentioned in my interview with Tony Curtis back in 2010, GMT has a program to make things a bit brighter for those gamers out there who have found themselves out of work. Thankfully, and I’ll knock on wood here, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve found myself out of work for any extended period of time. I’m sure I’m not surprising anyone that even if someone is collecting unemployment (or any other type of supplemental government aid) it can be a real grind mentally and emotionally to be jobless. The folks at GMT understand that and are once again launching their “Tough Economy” special.
I’ll let Gene Billingsley share what the program is all about…
The “Tough Economy” Special Offer is Back!!
We’ve run these specials three times in the past few years, but we are STILL hearing from gamers who are out of work and we all know the economic environment we live and work in is still pretty scary. So, we are going to offer our tough economy special once again. Here are the details of the offer:
If you have lost your job since November 6, 2010 and remain unemployed, if you will provide verification of such status to Tony ([email protected]) or the office folks by mail or phone or e-mail, we will send you TWO FREE IN-STOCK GAMES of your choice. Play them, enjoy them, and know that we will keep this information private and wish you only the best for a quick recovery.
We hope you guys find this special helpful.
I became aware of this program, when it was run last year, and asked Tony about what lead to the special offer. You can check out the interview in its entirety here and here, but I’ll just share our exchange about the “Tough Economy” Special:
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TC: On a personal level we believe in the Golden Rule – treat our customers as we would want to be treated. We strive to be error free, but we are human and mistakes happen: games get shipped with missing or damaged parts, game boxes get torn up shipping to customers, orders get entered that do not get invoiced and shipped, and so on. We have always believed in the basic honesty of our customers. If a customer calls and says he is missing the counter sheets to a game we shipped to him, we send them out right away because we believe those sheets really are missing. If a distributor contacts me and says they were short two games in their last shipment, we send them right out. We have not been disappointed by our customers. We have the blessing of working with a segment of society where honesty is the norm. From a business standpoint we know the one thing that will drive a customer – and any future purchases – away is being treated poorly. Owning the best GMT game in the world will not compensate for poor customer service after the purchase. We still lose a few customers, but it’s not for lack of trying. With stress levels through the roof because of the economy, it’s even more imperative to try to solve customer problems quickly, efficiently, and most of all, cheerfully with no questions asked.
The Tough Economy Specials. We gamers are a unique bunch of people. In our hierarchy of basic needs, buying and playing games ranks right up there close to food shelter and clothing. OK, an exaggeration, but there is truth to it. Gamers thrown out of work by this recession get hit twice – they have to deal with the emotional and financial issues of being downsized, and with diminished budgets they can no longer afford to buy the games that would bring them enjoyment. We have run three Tough Economy Specials. For those anywhere in the world who have ever bought a GMT game from any source and who can show they have become unemployed as of a certain date, we have sent two free GMT games of their choice and paid for the shipping. We just wrapped up the third special. We are in what economists who are not out of work glibly refer to as a “rolling recession.” All sectors get hit, but not at the same time. We had gamers thrown out of work in the fall of 2008. We have gamers getting downsized now – and at all points in between. There may well be a need for a fourth Tough Economy Special.
JM: Why did the Tough Economy program seem to make good sense for the folks at GMT?
TC: I’m glad you asked. For us it has made perfect sense, but the average business person looking in from the outside might think we were nuts. We have been taken to task for giving away games we could have sold, and truthfully, at a time when our revenues were down, we created an additional expense we had to absorb. On the other hand we’ve been complimented for coming up with one of the neatest customer loyalty programs out there. Well, since day one for GMT, customer loyalty has always been a top priority. It’s not like we suddenly decided it was important. Our motivation to run the specials has been two-fold. First, all five partners are Christians and believing in Matthew 25 and James 2: 14-18, we could not stand by and do nothing in the midst of such widespread suffering. Second is our gratitude for the loyalty our customers have shown us through the years. As I mentioned before, many of the gamers out of work are the same ones who kept us alive earlier through their faith and generosity. We wanted in some way to repay their loyalty – return kindness with kindness.
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Certainly, there may be people reading this post who qualify for this special offer yet may shy away from taking advantage of the special. Personally, I say don’t let your pride get in the way of contacting GMT. And, yes, I’m also one of those kinds of people who aren’t all too keen on sharing my tale of bad times with others either! But you have to keep in mind that GMT will keep any information you share with them private. They aren’t even asking if you’ve ever purchased a GMT game either. I can say, with all honesty, once you’ve played a couple of GMT titles – and you get back on your feet financially – you’re going to put GMT right at the top of your list of companies you’ll want to purchase from in the future!
So if you lost your job any time after 11/6/2010, and are still out of work, contact the folks at GMT to receive two in stock titles at absolutely no charge. If you’re up in the air about what titles you might like to select, we have quite a few reviews of many of our personal favorites right here at TGG.
Hell, if you have to, let GMT know your pals at The Gaming Gang twisted your arm to call or email. Seriously! Let them know that Jeff McAleer said he would personally tease you mercilessly, and to no end as I do to Elliott on nearly every show, if you didn’t take advantage of the amazing generosity of GMT.
Elliott, Neil, James, and I can’t find you a job or put you back to work but we wanted to make sure you were aware of a wonderful bunch of people and a company that wants to help you forget your troubles; even if it’s only for a few hours at a time…
