Gaming Support

[nahorodny]

My girlfriend pre-ordered the regular edition of Final Fantasy XIII-2 a month or two ago. We spent 20-30mins at the kiosk with an employee to make sure specifically that the regular edition of the game came with the pre-order bonus novella, the employee assured her that she would get the pre-order bonus with that edition. Today we went to pick up the game from the Best Buy on 13 mile and Gratiot in Roseville Michigan and the customer service employee claimed that you only receive the pre-order bonus if you pre-ordered the collectors edition. The only reason we pre-ordered Final Fantasy XIII-2 at best buy was specifically for the pre-order bonus and then on the day the game comes out we're informed that the regular edition does not get the pre-order bonus, this does not please us. My girlfriend is a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIII and was looking forward to reading the novella and now she isn't able to.  Was the employee that handled are pre-order wrong about the pre-order bonus? Or was their a mistake at customer service? Thank you for your time and please get back to me as soon as possible.

[Mariel-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

Hi nahorodny,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for your post regarding the novella that comes with Final Fantasy XII-2. I'm so sorry to hear about the disappointment that your girlfriend has faced after doing some research, I'm hoping I can help clear up what might have happened.

It turns out that the little novella wasn't actually a preorder bonus; it is a book that is put into the package itself while supplies last. While it is exclusive to Best Buy, the book comes in select packages, regardless of standard version or CE. You can find out more details here of the promotion.

To answer your questions, we really can't say who is to blame. In this case, the employee was aware that the book would come with copies of both versions. However, due to the supplies being limited, your copy may not be one that contains the book. You are always welcome to exchange the game for one that has the book. I'm not 100% if there is indication, but I would assume on the packages that have the book, there would be something on the outside that states a book is inside.

I hope that helps answer your questions and feel to reply if you need anything else.

Regards,

[Bubblefish]

I had the same problem. I got to the store, and they didn't have it with the standard edition.  I inquired further and as I was told none of the standard editions in the store came with the book packaged with it.  I was led to believe, by the Square website and Best Buy personnel that it came with both editions.  To be frank, it was the only reason I purchased it from Best Buy so I was quite disappointed that it didn't come with it.

[k41]

not sure who but the person in charge of keeping track of all pre-orders should have held the novella copies.  the weekly ad advertises the novella so I would not be surprised if someone walked in and got a copy with the novella. 

one store I went to had 3-4 PS3 regular with novella (from what I could tell in the box behind the counter).  there were no 360 regular with novella out but about 4-5 in the back (heard employees talking).  I would assume that ALL CE would come with the novella since it doesn't make sense for SquareEnix to send out "normal" CE to BestBuy when Best Buy has an exclusive regular and CE ie packaged with novella.

[Mariel-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

Right. It was my understanding, after researching, that preorders were not really connected to the novella. Select copies of both the regular edition and the CE were supposed to have the novella. I'll pass along this information to our business teams and see if we have any insight on what might be happening at the stores.

[tonyumgoy]

        I pre-ordered Final Fantasy Xiii-2 online at December 28, 2011 with the Novel book as a bonus. I live in NJ. It was

finally shipped to me this morning, but the book was not included! So I went to a Bestbuy in Manhattan, NY, to ask the

customer service. They told me to call Bestbuy online customer service instead so they can re-ship one to me. Then I

called, and it took the operator more than 20 mins to find out that my order is missing the book and she said they ran out.

She did not tell me whether they ran out just the moment they were going to ship it to me, or they already ran out the

moment I pre-ordered back in December 2011. Regardless of two possibilities, they should at least indicate on the

website that the promotion ran out if it did the moment I pre-ordered, or they should at least prepare the book for those

who already pre-ordered. Because it is not like I just pre-order it 1 day before the game is released. I pre-ordered it since

last year during December.  This is my first time purchasing, pre-ordering game from Bestbuy, and I am very frustrated,

and this ruined my whole day.

        After this, I’ve heard some bad experiences from my friends who bought from Bestbuy, and they don’t recommend

Bestbuy.

[Morwening]

I had the same issue, I preordered the game over a moth ago, and it shipped to me without the novella. That was rather dissapointing,

as the promotion made it sound like every preorder recieved the book, but it was just chance?

[Kryoskadi]

I am in the same situation as the others on this thread. 

A month ago, I pre-ordered Final Fantasy XIII-2, even had a Best Buy Gaming Specialist select the preorder ticket that guaranteed what version gets the novella. From the kiosk, it was indicated that regular edition has the preorder bonus and the Collector's Edition did not mention such. The Specialist said to be safe preorder the Regular Edition, which I did. I have my preorder ticket and it said preorder bonus for the hardcover novella. I went to pick up my preorder yesterday, even inquired about the the preorder bonus. The employee did not even know about the preorder bonus and another Gaming Specialist informs me that the novella was packed inside the game, which evidently and obviously cannot be.

And as I see with the comments on this thread, online has no stock left either. Is there no way to obtain the novella anymore? I chose to buy the game from Best Buy specifically because of the novella preorder bonus, mentioned on the ad couple of times, despite other places like Amazon and Walmart who both have a $20 Credit granted when purchasing the game. The store was of no help either, giving me the run around of I was supposed to order the Collector's Edition, despite my preorder ticket depicting the alternative. Now, reading here how it was supposed to be packaged with both versions, I feel cheated on what was promised to me for choosing my business with Best Buy.

So again, is there no way for us who did not receive it to obtain the novella?

[Mariel-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

On an earlier post I linked the details of the promotion. I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment with not being able to get your novella. As I also suggested, you could always exchange your copy within the first 30 days for one that would have the book. Unfortunately, this little book only came with copies while supplies lasted, so not every copy may come with a novella.

[Kira]

This is an unacceptable situation-- just telling people to exchange it? Well, I guess it might work for those here who purchased the regular edition. I bought the collector's edition, and I can confirm that not all copies of the CE had the book included either. Mine didn't, and I had called ahead to confirm the CEs in stock had them and to have one set aside.

I called the store today, and was told that the LE is now out of stock everywhere in the area and there is no way to have one brought in to exchange for. Furthermore, although there are regular edition copies with the book still in the store, there is no way to get the book out of one of those either.  Instead, I was o call 1-800-BESTBUY and see if one could be shipped. I did so, and after being hung up on once and being transferred to gaming on my second call, there was nothing they could do except submit a ticket to the Promotions department, who I was told should be able to help and will contact me in 3-5 days.

From what I understand here, there's very little chance of any resolution from Promotions, and my chances of getting a copy of the novella are only going to get lower from here. The strange status of CE inventory evidenced elsewhere on these forums is bad enough, but this revelation of only "select" copies distributed RANDOMLY to all buyers regardless of when it was ordered, is unforgivable. That link Mariel posted is indicating while supplies last is all well and good, but is the ONLY place a limited supply is mentioned. The weekly sales circular simply says "with purchase or regular or collector's edition" with no mention at all of limited supply. There are no corrections posted at stores, at least as of when my copy was purchased, and there is no correction or any other marking on the online version of the weekly circular. I see that the book offer is no longer on the BestBuy.com item listing, which is the only step I have seen taken to deal with the issue and even that happened after the game hit stores-- well after this issue should have been noticed.

Every indication made to customers, aside from the newly-updated item listing on the website, is that the novella is packaged with every copy of the game at Best Buy. That is not the case, and it is blatant false advertising for no corrective measures to be taken. I'm shocked at how many obvious mistakes have been made in the handling of this promotion.