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GameStop Short PS3s For Launch Day
GameSpot reports that GameStop will have too few units for preorders on launch day. Employees are being "asked" to wait until the second shipment of consoles to purchase units, to ensure customers can receive what they paid (and waited in the cold) for. From the article: "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. Those who reserved a system won't need to wait long to find out if they can expect a system on launch day. Starting tomorrow, customers who preordered a PS3 will be contacted personally by phone and updated on the status of their reservation, the rep said."
Starting tomorrow, customers who preordered a PS3 will be contacted personally by phone and updated on the status of their reservation, the rep said.
Hello sir or ma'am. My name is John Smith and I work for the EB in Silver Dollar City mall. We have received our first batch of PS3 and we are contacting the people who preordered early enough to get one from this batch. For verification reasons can I get your full name, mailing address, credit card number and security code?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Whether or not $20 is good enough really depends on how far out the next shipment is. If the next shipment is a week away, then I'd say that's fairly generous. If the next shipment isn't for another month or more, I would expect nerds rioting in the streets if they don't at least get a free PS3 game out of the deal.
There was no "agreement" between Gamestop and Microsoft. Gamestop started taking preorders before they knew how many units they would receive. They were taking fucking preorders the day after the 360 was announced, months before Microsoft even announced pricing or ship dates.
Hell, Gamestop was selling 360 "bundles" on their website while preorders were left unfilled.
But hey, this isSslashdot, and you're talking about Microsoft. Reason and facts have nothing to do with what actually happened, right?
Are you sure it's *not* Gamestop's fault? Sony has certainly blundered a lot this year, but EB/GS has turned into a very nasty little retailer lately and this seems consistent with my experience with them.
For example, every time I go into an EB/GS store around lunchtime on a Tuesday (release day for new games), the salesnerd has yet to open his shipment for the day. After he pauses his video game or stops gossiping with his friends, he recommends that I preorder next time.
Give them an interest-free loan on a readily-available item? No thanks!
I walk across the street to Toys R Us and buy it off the shelf, often for $5 less. It's sad when a crappy box store like TRU beats out a specialty shop in terms of service and early availability.
I understand that hardware is always scarce at launch, and the retailers don't make any profits from selling it, but if you're going to sell games, it seems to me you should take an interest in your customer's needs. If I were burned by EB/GS in this way after giving them a pre-order for PS3, I would resolve never to shop there again.
Sony has cutback significantly on their allocations to everyone. This isn't a GameStop fubar, it's a Sony one. This will affect Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Circuit City, and all other retailers who might carry this system.
We're talking about less than 1/4 the number of 360's that Microsoft brought to their launch party, and that was entirely too few for a system that had even less hype/demand built up than the PS3.