Yeah, I'm talkin' about Hellgate: London. A week ago I went to the site, clicked the best buy link, and paid in full for a preorder copy of Hellgate: London. I had been told by others in-game that if you preorder, they email you the key and send the box later. Awesome! Payment sent, and I get... crickets. A sweet symphony of crickets. I check my mail, and there's the standard "Thank you for paying our executives salaries. Here's links to more crap!" email I get afterwords, then nothing. No key! The next day it is mentioned to me that Best Buy's the only one of the three doing online preorders through the Hellgate site that DOESN'T email they keys. It's sent in the box they mail you. Dammit!



I checked my email again. "Expected arrival date: 11/1 or 11/2" Nice. I preorder a game and they say it'll arrive AFTER the game launches. Bad, but I can deal with that. At least they're keeping the beta logins open for a bit, so I can still level my character in the meantime. But wait!

Behold this excerpt from yesterday's email from Best Buy!:


Dear Whackjob:

The item listed below is not yet available to be shipped. We expect to ship it within the next 1-2 weeks. We will ship the item sooner if it becomes available.

If you would like to discuss other possibilities for fulfilling your order, please call us at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289), and a Customer Care representative will gladly assist you. Please have your order number handy.

Your options may include:

* Finding a store in your area with your item in stock
* Ordering a similar in-stock item that meets your needs
* Cancelling your current order

I'll take option #4, and fill my local Best Buy's complaint box with dead fishworms and fish eggs from my local bait shop.



#EDIT: Seems I won't have to! New email today:

Dear Whackjob:

The items listed below are now packed and ready to leave our warehouse. Your credit card (or Gift Card) has been charged for the items. If you used a Reward Certificate, it has been applied to your purchase.

The item they list is just "Hellgate: London-Windows", so I do not know whether or not it has the pre-order code. It'd better be. I still have seven pounds of dead bait in my freezer that I need to dispose of.

~Whackjob