EB Games Preorder Woes

Lchronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 13:59
Last edited 28/09/2018 - 15:00

Valkyria Chonicles 4 released 25/9/18

I preordered a bit late, did the order on 20/9, traded in my spiderman for preorder credit
On 24/9/18 I received a text message from EBGames telling me to come pickup my game on release day
I came in on 27/9 and they told me that my item was in transit, only left the warehouse 26/9
long weekend coming up and I have no games to play for that weekend.

a bit of a first world problem but just quite upset by all this.

  • why did they tell me to come pick it up when it hasn't even shipped from the warehouse when the message was sent?
  • if they can't send the product in time why did they still take preorders that close to release date?
  • did they see me not come in on release day and decide to just sell my item away to make a quick buck?
  • on the receipt it did however say that there's normally only a 48 hour hold time but I am a level 3 member and 1 of the perks was 6 days preorder hold guarantee, unless I am understanding that perk wrong?

just wondering if this is common to happen with EB preorders for future purposes because obviously I'd like to avoid this again in future.

I felt like perhaps if I did not preorder the prestige edition I would've been able to get the game already so its almost a disadvantage going for the higher tier products since u are at higher risk of things going wrong

thanks for listening, rant over.

UPDATE
complained on their Facebook page and got some sort of reply

essentially they only ordered for 1 prestige edition into the store but including myself there were 2 total pre orders. because I did the preorder only a week ago they didn't have stock left for me and so warehouse has to ship another one out.

I received the standard apology and was instructed to wait for the item to arrive.

Yep, not gonna preorder anymore in future.

Gaming

Related Stores

EB Games Australia
EB Games Australia

Comments

  • trustnoone on 27/09/2018 - 14:07

    Wait did you preorder for pickup in store? If so shouldn't it already be at the store? It sounds like its being confused with a shipping preorder?

    Also not sure if possible but if you're level 3 do you have a change of mind policy? Is it possible to buy somewhere now and return the other game?

  • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 14:13

    yea I went into the store to pre-order it.
    yes I thought it should be at the store already but the guy searched and searched and found nothing
    don't think its being confused for shipping preorder because:
    - the store person told me its en route to their store.
    - the text message also told me to come into said store to pickup the game, maybe I'll get a surprise in the mail??

    my local area is a bit rural( had to drive 50km just to get to this store) which is why options for preorder is quite limited, especially when going for special editions. I suppose its possible to cancel it and get refunded and buy the game alone jsut so I get it today, should've thought of that while I was still at the store sigh

  • HighAndDry on 27/09/2018 - 14:22
    +5

    why did they tell me to come pick it up when it hasn't even shipped from the warehouse when the message was sent?

    Maybe mass text to all pre-order customers?

    if they can't send the product in time why did they still take preorders that close to release date?

    You're asking why they're still willing to accept money…?

    did they see me not come in on release day and decide to just sell my item away to make a quick buck?

    Doubtful. More likely they had more preorders than stock on hand and had to order yours in extra.

    on the receipt it did however say that there's normally only a 48 hour hold time but I am a level 3 member and 1 of the perks was 6 days preorder hold guarantee, unless I am understanding that perk wrong?

    Don't think that was a factor.

    just wondering if this is common to happen with EB preorders for future purposes because obviously I'd like to avoid this again in future.

    PREORDERS ARE BAD. EB IS BAD. DON'T PREORDER. DEFINITELY DON'T PREORDER FROM EB.

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 14:41
      +1

      1- yea makes sense, stupid though, but I suppose not unexpected
      2- yea i get that they'll try to take in as much money as they can but if they run the risk of not being able to fulfill them properly its gonna come back at bite them, thought they'd be a bit more responsible than that
      3- I suppose that's somewhat nice to know
      4- so just to be clear, in a normal circumstance, if they did have my item on release day, I have 6 days to come get it, otherwise its up for grabs by other people? so then if I turn up later than 6 days and there's no more of that item left what happens? they just refund the deposit?
      5- but if you don't preorder you can't get the special edition stuff? or are you saying in general preordering is not a good thing to do?
      where else could you preorder special editions from aside from EB and JB? I doubt it'll be helpful for me since I live so rural there aren't likely to be many other options

      • HighAndDry on 27/09/2018 - 15:17
        +3

        or are you saying in general preordering is not a good thing to do?

        Pre-ordering is not a good thing to do in general. I don't game as much, but even a year ago the general critical/pro-consumer consensus is that pre-ordering doesn't allow consumers to react based on the actual quality of the game and encourages developers and publishers to rush out games and 'fix the rest in post'.

        Valkyria chronicles is generally better in that regard.. but that leads back to my other point, which is that EB has a pretty bad reputation, and for good reason. Over-priced, lacklustre staff knowledge, logistical issues like this.

        • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 15:54
          +2

          yes agree with the quality issues related with pre-orders, and I generally don't preorder because of that, happened this time because valkyria has had a good reputation thus far and I happened to have finished my spiderman and trading that in gives me significantly more credit so the logic at that point was "what could go wrong?". apparently a lot

          yes well staff knowledge I admit in most stores aren't very good, I don't generally follow any of their recommendations but I always had the impression that the people at this store were quite customer focused, which probably makes it even more disappointing that this happened.

        • Diji1 on 27/09/2018 - 17:32

          and encourages developers and publishers to rush out games and 'fix the rest in post'.

          It doesn't encourage that. Pre-orders aren't changing release dates.

          • Ninternet on 27/09/2018 - 19:18
            +1

            @Diji1: But higher pre orders could stop a company delaying a game that isn't ready

  • gaz3342 on 27/09/2018 - 14:40
    +3

    Can you buy the game from somewhere else, play it this weekend, then when your EB games order arrives, return that to the other place?

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 14:43

      yea I guess that's a possibility, but it would involve spending more money overall I imagine? unlikely I can get a full refund from other places. my alternatives are only K mart essentially and I am not certain if they will be stocking that game, I'm already in a relatively small town and a game like Valkyria Chronicles isn't exactly super popular

      • gaz3342 on 27/09/2018 - 14:45

        You should get a full refund as long as it's in original cellophane

        • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 15:07

          lol how to play game if still in original cellophane T.T

          • ChillBro on 27/09/2018 - 15:11
            +2

            @chronophysicist: You could get the second retailer to pricematch EB and if they do then you can make use of EB's 7 day change of mind return policy once you get the second copy from EB.

          • gaz3342 on 27/09/2018 - 16:05

            @chronophysicist: Read the thread again, thoroughly, if you think your comment is still valid, let me know and I'll explain.

            • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 16:10

              @gaz3342: nah I think @ChillBro has explained it already. I just wasn't thinking hard enough

              certainly sounds viable. i'll keep that in mind for future purposes.
              can't be bothered doing it for this now as the stores are in the neighbouring town which is 50km drive away and the only other possible alternative to EB is really just K mart and I am not confident they will even stock it to begin with.

      • Cheaplikethebird on 27/09/2018 - 17:04
        +1

        I would just go pick up the standard edition from another EBgames shop and use the 7 day return to get your money back after the weekend. I've known people who've worked at EB and they have people doing multiple returns in a single day, I'm sure they won't try and pull you up on it unless you're incredibly unlucky.

  • Topdog on 27/09/2018 - 15:13

    Never had an issue with Preoders either pick up in store or delivery, from eb games, Heaps of issues from JB However, I must be lucky.

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 15:46

      I never had a problem before either until today, just leaves a very bad impression now

  • Fier2 on 27/09/2018 - 15:16
    +1

    You just got fooled around. If you preorder the game, doesn t matter if it was a bit late, your order will be in the stock shop the day before the release. But what happened is the store manager ( or someone working there) just gave your copy ti another customer who didn t pre order but want to get it now. Bad luck for you

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 15:44

      will never be able to confirm whether that's true or not but certainly that's how I feel
      would go to somewhere different but options limited

      • Fier2 on 27/09/2018 - 15:52
        +1

        My advice: go back to the store and get them to find you a copy asap as you did preorder and they screwed up by selling your copy. Someone i khnow used to worked there and his staff used to do a last minute sell thinking that if a customer don t pick up straight away then they must forgot about it. And the store manager used to chased up other store to find a copy asap to cover up the mishap.

  • vinni9284 on 27/09/2018 - 15:53

    I have pre-ordered an XBox One X special edition with the FH4 & Forza Motorsport 7 digital bundle for $649.
    I reckon it is a good deal considering that FH4 standalone will be released on 2/10/18 and the digital download (Standard Ed is ~ $100)
    I do have a PC too hence the Play anywhere digital download is ideal for me - JB has it for sale (Disk) for $69 from what I can remember.

    It is supposed to be ready on 2/10/18 so I'll let you know if I get stuffed around.

    Wish me luck LOL :-)

    Cheers

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 15:57

      lol if you really want to test things out you should try pick it up a day or 2 after the official release date, risky play and you have to hold back that excitement to play your game. and then if it turns out you got stuffed around too you're gonna suffer even more than I did

      but yea I wouldn't wish my circumstances on other people just to prove my point so good luck

      • vinni9284 on 02/10/2018 - 12:00

        Update - 02-10-18

        1 - 01-10-18 Received a text message that my console is ready to pick up in the store @ 8:00 am
        2 - 02-10-18 - Went to the store @ 8:00 am and paid the remaining balance and picked up my console.

        For me, it was a seamless process & great customer service.

        Cheers

  • Illian on 27/09/2018 - 15:59
    +1

    "long weekend coming up and I have no games to play for that weekend."

    You return all your games after you play them and don't have a backlog? Or anything else to do? That's some dedication to gaming sure, but a bit of a strange way to go about things I would think.

    I can't help with the actual problem though, I've never pre-ordered, I always wait atleast 6 months to play so all patches and DLC are out.

    • chronophysicist on 27/09/2018 - 16:07

      nah I normally just play 1 at a time really, just means u finish it and trade in while its still valueable.

      I still play like multiplayer shooters and stuff on PC but a long weekend is ideal for these RPG games where you have many hours to go quest after quest. I'm not gonna go into withdrawal with absolutely nothing to do but the long weekend is really wasted that way, not to mention the longer before I start to play means the longer it takes for me to complete the game and means by the time I trade it in the game the value depreciates further as well.

      I doubt anyone here can actually help with my problem really, more just ranting I guess.I imagine even if an EB staff member sees this they'll give the generic "we're sorry this has happened and are doing a thorough investigation to find out what happened"and then never be heard from again

      open to suggestions on alternative places to buy games where special editions are offered though. for where I am located it'd have to offer shipping services

  • Quantumcat on 27/09/2018 - 16:25

    Complain on the main EB Facebook page, maybe you'll get a voucher as apology. Or at least they'll give the store a talking to

  • Sage on 27/09/2018 - 17:03
    +2

    Just go buy the game, then return it after your copy shows up.
    Full refund.

  • Lockieasy on 27/09/2018 - 17:14
    +3

    Why do people still preorder games in 2018? All it does is continue to enable developers to push out buggy unfinished products.

    • Diji1 on 27/09/2018 - 17:37
      -2

      So why is there buggy, unfinished games released without preordering? And how does the preordering change the release date?

      • Lockieasy on 28/09/2018 - 18:47

        The consumer is paying for the game regardless of whether it's finished or not, so this incentivises the developers to cut corners on development time and build quality since they already have the person's money.

        Whereas the consumer could instead wait for it to come out and see whether it is worthy of their money or not, which would encourage the developer to release a finished product that reviews well.

    • trustnoone on 27/09/2018 - 17:54

      Personally its because preorder cost is usually about $69 which is cheaper then any other place once its out, especially if I'm going to buy it on day 1 anyway it doesn't make a difference (well technically its better).

  • furys12 on 28/09/2018 - 09:14

    Sounds like a simple case of someone at the store sold the copy that should have been held for you, i wouldn't even say it was malicious most likely just a case of "this is selling better then expected, we only have one copy left and it's been more then 2 days since release, sell it" i would put money down on no in the store knowing the member perks half the time you went in there, the initial text message is 100% auto sent to all preorder holders, i've gotten the sms after picking the game up a few times.

    6 day preorder hold guarantee is indeed a level 3 perk and there wasn't a copy held for you, you have legitimate recourse to raise a stink with some level of EB support, they aren't going to give you the game for free anything spectacular but they might give you a discount or at the very least an apology

  • chronophysicist on 29/09/2018 - 11:07

    EB's response:

    Thanks for getting in touch with us!

    Sorry about the delays in your delivery.

    I can see that pre-order placed in the Port Lincoln store, however the store already had all their stock for that product by the time you had placed your pre-order.

    As a courtesy the store has agreed to send it to you by mail at their expense to avoid travelling into store again.

    In future, to avoid missing out on the initial release, it is advised that you pre-order as early as possible as most stores receive their pre-order allocation a week before the games release.

    To ensure you receive your product on release date, longer than 2 weeks before the release date is suggested.

    Apologies for any disappointment or confusion caused, if there’s anything else we can help you with please don’t hesitate to get back in touch.

    Kind Regards,

    • furys12 on 03/10/2018 - 07:40

      Huh so they over sold preorders and just hoped they got the next lot in before anyone noticed, that's some garbage right there, not sure getting sent the game directly makes it any better if the next lot were already on the way, unless it's a big effort to get in store

      • chronophysicist on 03/10/2018 - 14:47

        in summary:

        "its your fault for preordering late, you should've known that if you preordered so late that there might issues with supply, next time try to preorder earlier"

        to some extent I can understand that preordering 1 week before release there was going to be issues. but I think if you don't have the supply to meet the demand you should not still put the item up for preorder.

        furthermore the other issue was that a text message was actually sent telling me to come pick it up. whether its automated or not,someone should have noticed this and notified the customer rather than leaving people to show up later and finding out that their item is unavailable.

    • Quantumcat on 04/10/2018 - 12:05

      That's crazy, if they can't fulfil your preorder they should refuse the preorder, and give you a chance to go to another store at least.

    • Aussie World Warrior on 16/10/2018 - 11:28
      +2

      Fook you EB. You ram pre orders down everyone's throat to hit those all important KPI's that you're so fond of and then when it comes to release day you don't even have enough stock available to cover demand! Dude, ditch these arse clowns and order off Amazon, Mighty Ape, Gamesmen, Dungeon Crawl, any reputable online business who won't mess you around like that and will fulfill your order ontime in full with no excuses. EB are scum and deserve to die a slow and painful death.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/10/2018 - 15:01

    I received multiple notifications that my VK4 Chronicles preorder was ready for pickup from the local store on 25Sep18.

    Not one of those notifications included a heads-up or apology for the fact that it was rather beaten-up:

    https://imgur.com/a/StE1nxI

    At least they were honest about the cause and didn't try to blame the distributor, a courier or another third party. No, it was (and I quote) "staff tomfoolery" in the back office/store room earlier that day. Arrrrggh!

    I was given the choice of a heavy discount on the mangled set or to get a fresh one from the distribution centre.

    As any stupid collector would….I elected to do both. 😜

    • chronophysicist on 20/10/2018 - 18:15

      that's pretty mangled.

      mine was still nicely sealed in the packaging but the contents were unfortunately damaged. the artbook was rather crumpled in the corner.
      unfortunately for me this is really just bad people packing it badly and nothing to do with EB

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