Gaming Support

[Beyond]

I waited for 45 minutes stuck in the customer service line to be told that my pre-order for Streetfighter IV Collector's Edition for the PS3 was not there.  I was at the 23rd st and 6th ave store in New York City.  I had taken a break out of work hoping to just quickly run in and get the item i preordered 3 weeks ago.   They said they hoped to get more on Sunday.  Then the person said Next and that was it the turn for the next person who was on the line for 45 minutes.  

Why is there no pre-order / Pick up order line?  i was stuck behind every conceivable customer issue instead of having a 5 minute experience of picking something up.   There used to be the line in the store a few months ago. 

the 45 minutes did give me a TON of time to re-think being a loyal best buy customer.   I have probably earned close to $500+ dollars worth of Gift Certificates (that's a lot of money spent in a best buy store).  I will probably cash out my certificates and take my business elsewhere.  This experience plus being ripped off on a recent laptop purchase (where i was told that i would not receive a backup copy of the Windows Operating System (in case i needed to reinstall), and proceeded to pay an extra 80 dollars for an extra DVD that i did not need) has really pushed my tolerance for dealing with Best Buy.  I can see this store going the same way as their old competitor (C.... C... )   if they keep disappointing clients like me. 

[Nick-BBY]

What time did you go into the store? This title was not street dated and most stores do not receive product until after 2:00 PM the day of the release.

Thanks,

Nick

[MichaelJ]

I feel your pain.  I went to the 86th Street Store to try to buy the exact same thing.  I got there just as the shipment arrived/the PS3 CE were scanned into the system.  Then I was told that the games had 'disappeared' somewhere between the backroom and the store shelves.  I waited half an hour while they tried to 'locate' the games, to no avail.  They weren't sold out, as they were showing me the inventory listing of 5 available.  I finally pulled one of the sales associates aside and just asked what the heck was going on, only to be told that someone probably was hiding them for friends/other workers to buy since they didn't get enough shipped in.  All I can say is RIP CC.

[Beyond]

When i got to the store it was around 4:30pm.  I work only a few blocks away. 

[Beyond · Accepted solution]

Okay, i stopped by the store again during my lunch (after someone showed me a way to check if the store had any in stock) and talked with a manager and some one in the Gaming dept. The systems showed they had a bunch of the pre-orders in stock. but when going to the Customer service area they kept saying they did not have the item in stock.  I told the customer service person that the gaming dept person said there's X number still up there.   Literally 20 minutes pass by as the person searches the back and deduces it's in the locked area that the manager has access to.   they finally contact another manager and he comes up opens the "Cage"  and there they are.  

i finally got my pre-ordered game.   still makes me NEVER want to pre-order at Best Buy again. 

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon Beyond -

I was glad to hear that you finally were able to obtain your game.   I wanted to shed some light on the pre-order process on video games, music and movies.  When a pre-order is sold, our system tracks the number sold.  When the store receives in the actual product (generally a few days before a hard release) the media/inventory departments will allocate enough of said title up at the Customer Service area to fill the pre-order sales.  Those copies are not available to be sold to anyone but customers who pre-ordered.  The store generally holds those set aside copies for 14 days before offering to non pre-order customers. 

This way we should ALWAYS have the first copies of a title set aside for our valuable pre-order customers!  My apologies that there was a breakdown in your case, however I do thank you for bringing this to our attention so we can correct and better serve you in the future.

 Regards,

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate

[hockeycanuckjc Trusted Contributor]

Wow, thats some very educational information to know about as far as how the preorder stuff works. Until then I was clueless about this myself. Thanks for the info!

[detamac]

Are you sure that is always the case? I preordered my game last week and when I went in today - they did not have my order! Going there for my preorder and returning to pick up my game were such inconveniences! All the personnel could say was that they were out of stock and will not receive anymore shipment until a few days. That totally shows me that BEST BUY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS, rather they only care about maximizing profit by 'preorders' that do not even guarantee the order. After years of business, I am really considering shopping elsewhere. 

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hey detamac -

Yes, that should always be the process followed.  Would you be willing to to send me a private message or post more details so I can try to follow up with that particular store?  

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.  It is only with insight from our customer that we can rectify these types of situations!

 I look forward to hearing from you. 

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate

[JDD]

I pre-ordered the Street Fighter IV Collectors Edition online at bestbuy.com. I ordered it on 2/1. When the game came out, the product was backordered. I don't understand what's the point of pre-ordering either. I just got an email today that said the game would be backordered for up to three months longer! What's the problem Best Buy?