You hear that? It's the sound of thousands of GameStop employees quivering in terror. They're going to have a lot of angry customers to deal with come Friday.
How long did you guys sit in line for your PS3 preorders? Six hours, maybe eight? I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your hours sat in the cold might prove to be for naught. GameSpot is reporting that GameStop's initial PS3 launch shipments may not cover all of the meager six-to-ten preorders per store that they've already offered. Tomorrow, GameStop stores will be contacting customers personally to give them an update on their reservation.
Quoth the Harbinger of GameStop's Destruction:
"We are beginning to notify our customers that our initial shipment of PS3 systems will not be what we expected," the representative said ... For launch day, preorders will be filled in the order they were received, and those who had a preorder but are denied a system on day one will receive something for their troubles. GameStop will give those unfortunate customers (as well as unfortunate employees) a free used game or DVD valued at $19.99 or less when they eventually wind up purchasing the system.
Are you kidding? Twenty bucks in merch as consolation for effectively dashing all hope of a PS3 at launch? Those who made that initial wait at GameStop passed over other opportunities at retailers like Toys R Us. We put our faith in GameStop because their allotment estimates already seemed conservative; moreover, we assumed that a horribly botched operation like the Xbox 360 launch could never happen again.
Uh.. oops?
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
20 comments | showing # 1 to 20
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
6:14 PM on 11.13.2006
| 
And on the thing about knowing how many systems a Target store would have...you'd be surprised, and it has less to do with idiocy (not much) and more with a lack of communication. The person handing out the tickets is more than likely NOT someone who works back in Electronics, but probably a GSTL (cashier manager) who in all likelyhood doesn't even have any clue that a new video game console called the PS3 even exists. So it's still very very possible.
Honestly, the local mom & pop here does it right. They don't take any money down on it, and they let you know that there are no confirmed quantities. At most, you can put your name down, but you can do it at virtually any time as long as you can prove the game/system is coming out (in other words, you can't preorder Halo 4, but you could've preordered God of War 2 way back when it was first announced). That way, you won't be screwing over any customers who would've put money down, and that way there's at least an inkling of realistic understanding that you may or may not get a system. I still feel that $20 is a slap in the face at this point...they announced a Pre-Order date that they knew there was going to be lines for, people probably called off work and lost a day's worth of pay (probably more than $20 if you ask me) to wait in those lines, and many of them are going to find out that was all for naught.
If Sony had indeed promised GS a set amount of stock and has
now reduced it then yes I'd expect both to compensate the customer in some way but to be honest I'd think Sony would give a big "fuck you" to any company asking for compensation due to short numbers. -----
Then I'd have to say the store manager is a fucking idiot. How hard is it to count 100 Wii or 25 PS3s and count a similar number of tickets out. Give the tickets to the GSTL and inform whoever is in charge of Electronics to not sell anything without a ticket, hell remove the barcode from the system and require a supervisor signoff. Oh and probably put on the ticket that its only valid for 1 hour after opening. -----
The whole preorder thing just moves the mad rush and crush into a more civilised queue. Putting a name down just does the same by pushing the rush to a point where you can prove the system can exist or to the point where its released and you're up against everyone else to get a copy. I'm prepared to be proven wrong but the only fair systems are to either increase the price to a level that meets demand or a lottery where everyone has an equal chance at ownership. ---- In a fun way I kinda like the lottery idea and am shocked that MS and Sony haven't turned their launches into a Willy Wonka style golden ticket affair.
<br>
Hopefully there's a line break and this thing can read some basic HTML. You'd be suprised what taking names down does. The main difference is that this local store doesn't advertise the preorders, unlike what Gamestop did. Gamestop created a mass frenzy with their preorder situation, and even worse is that they allowed people to put money down. This store does not do that, for this very reason. And like a tape recorder on an endless loop, they will let you know that there is no guarantee. All I can say is that this system worked perfectly for them on the 360 and the prior console releases, so I believe this is a better system than Sony/Gamestop's shortsighted error.
*Gamestop Employee VS Disgruntled Customer
*Unhappy Children (OF THE CORN!!!) VS Nerdy 40 year-old virgin
*Exhausted overworked Mother VS Hobo (Who doesn't know what's going on)
Sony's the one who should be payin' out the ass to compensate it's customers...
I'd say if the store manager is prepared to give away several thousand dollars because his staff and his planning is poor then they need a new store manager. You're certainly not an idiot so why hasn't he given you the job to work the sales or give out tickets. Sorry, but I think its poor management or more accurately a lack of management thats to blame for that kind of screw up. ----
If all those checks are in place how does it go wrong? ----
I feel that Mom&Pop have a lot less pressure to deliver pre-orders. The web was hungry for them to be announced, consumers queued up for them. I think if GS/EB didn't do them plenty of people would be pissed about a rush on Friday morning, having to take a day off work and camp out all night only to have the first 5 people get one. Either way it doesn't work well.
Yet again, this is Sony's fault. I wonder what great and grand failures Sony has in store for us all today! Only 3 more days till launch! Sony keep it coming because this gravy train of bad news and bad karma just don't stop!