Xbox 360 - shafted by highstreet store
Discussion
Howdo folks, 'twas my birthday yesterday, and my wife has very generously pre-ordered me a 360 as a present - cool, I thought, cos it's probably the closest I'll ever come (lotto win, perhaps?) to driving a TVR Sagaris 
.
The shop (dunno if I should name it or not) guaranteed we'd get it on day of release, and took a deposit to secure it. Imagine my pleasure at receiving a 'phone call yesterday telling me that, no, I can't get the 360 on day of release, and no, we can't guarantee it before Christmas!
It would appear that since I live in West Cumbria, our highstreet store will not be given it's allocation of pre-orders, because the city based stores take priority, even if their pre-orders were taken after mine!?!
Shafted? P*ssed off? Damn right.
They've 'secured' my custom with a false promise, and left it too late for me to secure a 360 for Dec 2nd from another shop by waiting until yesterday to reveal their lie - and I'll be damned if I'll go onto ebay and pay £500+ quid for one.
Apologies for the long post, but just two more points: first, to anyone who's ordered more than one with a hope of making a fast buck on ebay, shame on you; second, to any in my position now, please don't buy off ebay at ridiculous prices - let the consoles rot there...
*and relax*
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 07:59
edited for typo
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 08:50
. The shop (dunno if I should name it or not) guaranteed we'd get it on day of release, and took a deposit to secure it. Imagine my pleasure at receiving a 'phone call yesterday telling me that, no, I can't get the 360 on day of release, and no, we can't guarantee it before Christmas!
It would appear that since I live in West Cumbria, our highstreet store will not be given it's allocation of pre-orders, because the city based stores take priority, even if their pre-orders were taken after mine!?!
Shafted? P*ssed off? Damn right.
They've 'secured' my custom with a false promise, and left it too late for me to secure a 360 for Dec 2nd from another shop by waiting until yesterday to reveal their lie - and I'll be damned if I'll go onto ebay and pay £500+ quid for one.
Apologies for the long post, but just two more points: first, to anyone who's ordered more than one with a hope of making a fast buck on ebay, shame on you; second, to any in my position now, please don't buy off ebay at ridiculous prices - let the consoles rot there...
*and relax*
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 07:59
edited for typo
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 08:50
Thanks for the replys guys.
Well, in my less than happy state yesterday I said 'no' to the Core system - the cost of upgrading (and the availability of HD etc) makes it more expensive than the full system I ordered.
I'm considering saying yes to the core, but subject to them giving me discounts on the upgrades so that I don't end up out of pocket, and I'm even tempted to ask for PGR3 as some kind of recompense for them going back on the deal!
Letters to the shop's head office have been drafted, and will be winging their way soon (I got no joy from the several 'phone calls last night).
It's not all bad though: a friend of mine pre-ordered from the same shop and has paid in full! Poor sod ain't getting his either...
Well, in my less than happy state yesterday I said 'no' to the Core system - the cost of upgrading (and the availability of HD etc) makes it more expensive than the full system I ordered.
I'm considering saying yes to the core, but subject to them giving me discounts on the upgrades so that I don't end up out of pocket, and I'm even tempted to ask for PGR3 as some kind of recompense for them going back on the deal!
Letters to the shop's head office have been drafted, and will be winging their way soon (I got no joy from the several 'phone calls last night).
It's not all bad though: a friend of mine pre-ordered from the same shop and has paid in full! Poor sod ain't getting his either...
mr2aw11 said:
Apologies for the long post, but just two more points: first, to anyone who's ordered more than one with a hope of making a fast buck on ebay, shame on you
Don't hate the players, hate the game.
At the end of the day it's only a console that will be 100 quid in a years time. It's the consumerist must-have-it-first desire that causes people to try and cash in on it, as they know some muppet will pay silly money for one.
I managed to get a PSP on release day without having pre-ordered, I reckon there will be some available if you get there early on Friday, where people haven't collected them or a shops gets a couple more than they were expecting.
Neil H - that's a bit "chicken & egg" don't you think? If there weren't any "players", there wouldn't be a "game"... 
As for getting one without pre-ordering, when you live in W. Cumbria, (nearest city - Carlisle, though it isn't exactly a metropolis; nearest city with decent shops - Newcastle 2+ hrs) you can't just pop down to the shops on spec hoping you'll get lucky. That's the whole point of pre-ordering! It's not 'cos "I must have it first!", it's because there simply aren't the shops 'round here to allow me to risk not pre-ordering.
As an update, I've been informed there will be no discounts on HDs/ethernet cables/wireless controllers even if some are allocated to my local store (which there are no guarantees of). That letter's being re-worded more forcefully, methinks.
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 10:49
As for getting one without pre-ordering, when you live in W. Cumbria, (nearest city - Carlisle, though it isn't exactly a metropolis; nearest city with decent shops - Newcastle 2+ hrs) you can't just pop down to the shops on spec hoping you'll get lucky. That's the whole point of pre-ordering! It's not 'cos "I must have it first!", it's because there simply aren't the shops 'round here to allow me to risk not pre-ordering.
As an update, I've been informed there will be no discounts on HDs/ethernet cables/wireless controllers even if some are allocated to my local store (which there are no guarantees of). That letter's being re-worded more forcefully, methinks.
>> Edited by mr2aw11 on Tuesday 29th November 10:49
To be fair to the shop in question they were told that they were getting X 360s. They sold X in good faith and have now been told by MicroSoft that they are getting less than X. So blame the real people at fault: MicroSoft.
Also do not get the Core system. If the US launch experience is anything to go by there are plenty of Core systems available but no harddrives so you are stuffed!
Also do not get the Core system. If the US launch experience is anything to go by there are plenty of Core systems available but no harddrives so you are stuffed!
Robbie, I'm not directing my ire at my local branch of this chain, all my contact with them has been very courteous thus-far. You're right in them being let down, but I think it's more the chain than Microsoft in this case. The local branch are just as miffed as I, because they know they're likely to lose future custom over this (and not just from me, but everyone in the area who pre-ordered through them).
What galls me is the fact the chain as a whole are honouring pre-orders based not on date of deposit paid, but on location of store, which kind of descriminates against the very areas that have a need to pre-order.
What galls me is the fact the chain as a whole are honouring pre-orders based not on date of deposit paid, but on location of store, which kind of descriminates against the very areas that have a need to pre-order.
mr2aw11 said:
Neil H - that's a bit "chicken & egg" don't you think? If there weren't any "players", there wouldn't be a "game"...
What I'm saying is, don't blame people for making a quick buck, blame Microsoft for rushing out a product when they can't meet demand. Or blame the people who are stupid enough to pay £5-600 for a 360 on Ebay just to get their hands on what is apparently a rather flakey device. Saying 'shame on you to people buying more than one' just sounds like sour grapes.
Alright - perhaps the 'shame on you comment' was a tad harsh (although I still believe relevant), but if someone buys a product, and sells it on ebay advertising as 'new/unopened', yes I have a gripe with them, cos they're just profiteering. It's not sour grapes, it was just an aside, tagged on to the end of my post.
My major gripe is paying for something and the other party going back on that contract - fair enough point, don't you think?
My major gripe is paying for something and the other party going back on that contract - fair enough point, don't you think?
Neil_H said:
[quote=mr2aw11]Neil H - people stupid enough to pay £5-600 for a 360 on Ebay just to get their hands on what is apparently a rather flakey device. Saying 'shame on you to people buying more than one' just sounds like sour grapes.
and the rest....some are up to £1300!!! on ebay.
Steve
well what a suprise.
Game mail me to tell me I probabaly wont be getting one.
Im 83rd in line and they are only getting 49 on day one.
Ok, fair enought its not their fault, but they should really not be promisng anyone anything until they
are CERTAIN they are getting the units.
Apparently Game in bluewater have 260 orders for day one.
I might just go along to see the teeth and blood flying.
Game mail me to tell me I probabaly wont be getting one.
Im 83rd in line and they are only getting 49 on day one.
Ok, fair enought its not their fault, but they should really not be promisng anyone anything until they
are CERTAIN they are getting the units.
Apparently Game in bluewater have 260 orders for day one.
I might just go along to see the teeth and blood flying.
sb-1 said:
[quote=mr2aw11]Neil H - people stupid enough to pay £5-600 for a 360 on Ebay just to get their hands on what is apparently a rather flakey device. Saying 'shame on you to people buying more than one' just sounds like sour grapes.
and the rest....some are up to £1300!!! on ebay.
Steve
I almost feel bad for having aquired one for £269 and it's sitting on my bedroom floor right now!
i was thinking of getting one and flogging it on ebay to make a bit of easy money.whats wrong with taking advantage of something thats been hyped up.if people a willing to pay stupid money for what is a gadget then why not.wil;l it be that much better than a x-box,i don't think it's full potential will be used for at least 6-9 months as far as gaming is concerned any how.
which is when i'll buy one
which is when i'll buy one
I will never understand why so many grown men are willing to pay well over the odds for a console that has no better graphics than a medium spec PC playing games at a fraction of the price, having said that, its always been the same from the Mega Drive usurping the Master System, I remember paying £280 for a PS1 when they come out, but PC's were pretty crap back then! 
chris watton said:
I will never understand why so many grown men are willing to pay well over the odds for a console that has no better graphics than a medium spec PC playing games at a fraction of the price, having said that, its always been the same from the Mega Drive usurping the Master System, I remember paying £280 for a PS1 when they come out, but PC's were pretty crap back then!
They're hardly comparable with medium spec PCs, a lot of the 360 versions of games look better than the current PC versions (King Kong and COD2 for example) Maybe in a years time the PC will have moved ahead again but a medium spec PC will be lagging quite a way behind the 360 at the moment. The other thing about the games being more expensive is that Microsoft is taking a loss on every 360 it sells, you try getting a PC that will play games at that quality for less than £1500. I'm a gamer and I'll play games on whatever platform they appear on but you can't deny the visual quality of the games (first gen games at that)on the 360.
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