Quote Originally Posted by Graham Mitchell View Post
Bingo, somebody gets it.

I know it's an unrealistic expectation from a company of that scope and size, but that doesn't mean I can't get pissed when it affects me adversely. This pre-order bundle was given as an incentive to encourage pre-orders, but it inadvertently punished those who had already placed an order.

I know the bundle pack was a rip off, but it's the principle of first-come-first-serve that was violated here. When I brought it to their attention, there were many things they could have done to diffuse the situation. They didn't even have to comp me anything. If they would have just admitted that it was unfair and apologized SINCERELY (I'm a shrink. I can tell when people are bullshitting) I would have dropped it then and there. But instead, they were callous and unhelpful. I caught the girls behind the counter at the pickup site rolling their eyes.

And I said it before, and I'll say it again--I ordered the machine literally within the first week it even showed up on the website. I made my order, I figured I was set. Why would I need to read about all these pre-order bundles? I have a life. I have two jobs and a wife. I can't watch Kotaku every 5 minutes to see what Sony's doing now, and make the series of phone calls to determine whether or not it affects me. That's why you pay them, and that's why you preorder--so the store takes care of you. And Calthear is right. I guess that this isn't something you can expect from a company like Best Buy. But that doesn't mean I can't be pissed about it, and doesn't mean that they are completely absolved of all responsibility either.
I think all of us get it. The problem is that beyond the fact that they didn't treat you with respect which everyone can agree is accurate, your expectations are unrealistic. Big box retailers aren't designed to be full service operations that follow-up constantly. Moreover, you admitted that you may have deleted or ignored the e-mails they did send you. That's how big box retailers communicate and personally, I prefer it because I get to decide if I open it or not rather than having someone calling me or otherwise harassing me.

I get that not everyone can keep up on every video game news story, but it seems like you're on here posting quite a bit, so you obviously have some free time. Similarly, it seems like you are pretty obsessed with having the Vita on day one which just seems bizarre. Is your life really being negatively impacted by waiting seven days to play a video game system? The system has been out in Japan for months, does it upset you that people imported it and have had it for months longer than you have?

Pre-ordering is not a concierge service no matter where you place that pre-order. All it means is that if everything goes according to plan, the day the system is released, you can walk in, pay the balance and walk out with your Vita. If next Wednesday you walk in to Best Buy and they don't have your Vita for you, then you should be upset. As it stands, you haven't lost anything and frankly, you're getting a free memory card that you weren't even going to get when you agreed to preorder the Vita. So, maybe it's time to not stress so much about it and take a step back and wonder why not having a Vita a week early is such a big deal in your mind. Perhaps it's also time to speak to a colleague who can help you manage what seems to be a very unhealthy sense of entitlement and obsession with something so trivial.