Indeed it is, my friends. Indeed it is.
The short of it: Amazon.com has screwed the pooch on this one so badly that...that...I JUST DON'T KNOW. Sit back and let me tell you the saddest and most boring tale ever told: that of a huge Mass Effect nerd who is not currently playing Mass Effect 3 (me).
No really, it's boring- you've been warned.
Way back in June- June! JUNE! JUUUUUUUUNNNNNE!- I spotted the ME3 Collector's Edition on Amazon and immediately pre-ordered. Into my cart it went! Completed the sale I did! Waiting I began! Heck, the game may have still had a tentative 2011 release date at the time, but I did not care. BioWare stated that the CE would be limited in quantity, but I did not care. My order was placed as early as could be. When the time came, Amazon would charge my card and send my game. Hooray!
Release day eventually began to draw near, and I thought "Hmm. I will check and see if Amazon is offering release-day shipping/arrival for pre-orders. That was what I chose when I pre-ordered Skyrim and verily, I would like to receive Mass Effect 3 on March 6." So I checked, and there was no option. Okay, I could wait a couple of days I GUESS.
Yesterday- the day before the US launch!- I checked my order. Still open, with an estimated delivery date of March 17th. Whaaaaa? That seemed...excessive. I clicked on the actual product, and found this message on the screen:
Due to high demand (and possibly the imminent Reaper invasion), we have unfortunately run out of our pre-order allocation for Mass Effect 3 - Collector's Edition. We are looking to secure additional allocation from the publisher and will update this page if that occurs. Please note -- if you have already pre-ordered this edition -- do not cancel as you may not be able to re-order.I figured YEAH, but I pre-ordered in JUNE, mofos, so mine should be, like, the first one out the door.
This morning, I woke up with an email giving me a code for my Amazon pre-order bonus DLC- some assault rifle or something. Yay! The game must be in transit! I checked Amazon. Order is still open, delivery estimated- March 17. I checked my bank account- the amount is "pending", but has essentially been taken out of my account.
I call around town, figuring I'll buy one, then when the Amazon one arrives I'll return it. No dice- it's sold out everywhere.
I poke around yon Internette, seeing if anyone else had any issues. I found a forum where someone mentioned Amazon being sold out, and another person responded with a "nuh uh, click this"- and it was a link to the same product on a different Amazon page. Add to cart! Just like any other new product that is in stock.
So, I immediately bought it and opted for 1-day shipping...though I still didn't cancel the other order, figuring better safe than sorry. Another pending debit on my bank account appeared...and the item is now "expected in stock" on the 8th, and I should have it on the 9th. The original item page is still up, and the corresponding order is still listed for delivery on the 17th.
I just went to check Amazon again on a lark (about three hours after I placed my second order), and I guess it's officially "sold out", now. The Collector's Edition is listed as being available only from other sellers, and it's already $130.
Will I get a Collector's Edition in the mail on Friday, or not? Will I get another copy a week later? Or will I get a cancellation from Amazon with a ""Sorry, sold out"? I have no clue and it's fairly infuriating. Not only because...you know...I really want to be playing the game right now, but because fuck you, Amazon.
10 comments:
This sucks!! I hope you get your collectors edition on Friday. Amazon really screws up. Fingers crossed :)
Fingers and toes crossed! :D I can't believe how badly they messed this up. I should've just gone to Gamestop or something, I guess. Arrgh!
When it arrives on Friday*, just consider yourself an honourary European... It's not released over here until then!
Seriously hope you get your hands on a CE!
*Note I use 'when', not 'if'. It's all about PMA!
Excellent thinking! I will munch on baguettes and paella as I play. As I play ON FRIDAY.
I'm in the same Mako, but I failed to order the Collector's edition until Amazon was already showing out of stock. I ordered it direct from Origin to guarantee I'd get one. Finally shipped last night, got a tracking #, but expected delivery Friday. Wah Waaaah.
I just am having a hard time understanding why Amazon would take pre-orders when they didn't have enough product to fulfill said pre-orders. I certainly won't be pre-ordering from them again.
And Best Buy...I ordered the ME2 CE from them and they shipped it in such a way that the packaging got badly damaged (even the tin case) and a disc was scratched. So, I figured I'd avoid them this time around. What's left for this sort of thing (CEs and the like), just Gamestop?
I went to Gamestop at Midnight for ME2:CE and got what I wanted, so may be. That's what I get for trying to sleep instead of gaming!
I Dl'd the ME:Infiltrator App from Itunes to hold me over, and aside from the horrible controls, it IS actually giving me a teeny tiny fix.
That is indeed a bad bit of business. With Amazon being the biggest online store on earth you figure they'd get the lion's share of the Collector's Editions.
And Amazon usually have such great customer service.
I'll be going to pick mine up tomorrow from EB Games. I pre-ordered it early this year so I hope I get it.
That sucks to hear. Hope you'll get what you want whenever you want it. Can't wait til you have it and start posting!
Personally. Unless it is something I REALLY REALLY want on the day of release, I reserve my stuff at a local chain store and get it after work. European Collectors Edition is reserved. Waiting. Arghl.
What's even worse is that had I just reserved it at a store, I could have had it at 12:01am! I have certainly learned my lesson, dang it.
Now I just need to completely avoid Tumblr for a couple of weeks. :D This is the worst!
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