Hey BestBuy: Hers a question (I am a glutton for punishment obviously) - I have called customer service on 4 occasions in the last three weeks and gotten... wait for it.... 4 different answers, ALL of which amounted to "Don't change anything" your order will DEFINITELY be shipping arounnd blah blah blah fill in the blank - 18th - 19th- 18th to 23rd - I paid nearly $30 for OVERNIGHT shipping, and now ON THE RELEASE DATE they pull this crap - BACKORDERED... Are you freaking KIDDING ME? You commit to a customer time and time again, and THEN do this?
This has just been an absolute NIGHTMARE of a buying experience, and only SOME ove the blame goes to Bestbuy, with Asus getting the Lions share of the blame. I understand when demand exceeds supply some people are going to wait longer than others. I get that people that move fast, think ahead and take extra stesp sometimes get screwed reghardless, but this has been screwing people on a mass scale. Canadiens won't see this thing this year, and hundreds, if not thousands, pre-ordered it.
I SOLD MY TRANSFORMER TF101 (Original Model) which I LOVED... because I needed the funds to get this. Tried to get it at AMAZON, only to have my Pre-Order canceled, then placed it at Bestbuy on 12/2 (wishing I had gone with TigerDirect, who is now SHIPPING SOME ORDERS!! Now, I am stuck it the same, leaky, sinking boat as a lot of others...
AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!
Some comments form the "Bestbuy Preorders only" Thread over on xda-developers.com:
OK, I finally broke down and just called the 888 number. Apparently, go figure, they have been flooded with calls about this matter all morning. I got a confident and hopefully accurate answer. Here is the gist of my conversation with a BB rep. Me: I preordered the Transformer Prime and my order status now says backordered.
BB rep: We have been getting calls all morning about this. What has happened is the release date of the Transformer Prime is set to tomorrow. Your order would have shown today. The system is one day behind thus the "backordered" notice.
Me: Are you sure?
BB rep: Yes. If your order was unable to be fulfilled you would have received an email stating your order had be canceled.
Me: Are you sure? In the FAQ it said BB would hold my order for 30 days on backorder before canceling.
BB rep: Not with a preorder.
Me: You sure?
BB rep: Yes.
Me: You're not just blowing smoke up my a$$?
BB rep No.
Me: Do online orders take priority over B&M orders? (B&M = Brick & Mortar)
BB rep: Yes. All preorders will be fulfilled before any orders from B&M stores receive shipments. Meaning you can not walk into a B&M and pick one up tomorrow if preorders are sold out.
I hope the above explanation is what's going on. Sloppy business regardless, but the alternative is worse.
I'd hate to think that a company as large as BB would:
1) knowingly oversell a product at pre-order just before Christmas
2) continuously misrepresent shipping date in order to reduce competitive advantage of competitors at the expense of the customer. That's essentially fraud, and on a mass scale.
