Youtube of EB employees pre-booking pre-orders

[nintenho]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cgsFyJ2FZMM

No idea which sub-forum to post this. They put up a sign saying you can't make pre-orders there so that they can keep them all to themselves. Hope they get fired because the person who took the video says which EB it is.

 

[Hardknock]

console talk.

 

[nintenho]

Oh yeah...

 

[Brimstone]

How do you know that they took all the pre-orders for themselves?


It could be the managers are rewarding their loyals customers by letting them book the systems instead of random walk-in's that are willing to camp out?

 

[rabidrabbit]

Yeah, sure. The loyal customers being selected how? I think we'd have heard already if the "loyal customers" had received some invitation to a EB PS3 preview party or something.

 

[ANova]

These are the same idiots who then turn around and sell them on ebay for $2000, even some trying to sell the preorders for $1300. The jokes on them however as ebay is cancelling all PS3 listings.

 

[bloodbob]

$2000 how many hours at EB would that be worth.
Like what 100 hours?

 

[Brimstone]

Yeah, sure. The loyal customers being selected how? I think we'd have heard already if the "loyal customers" had received some invitation to a EB PS3 preview party or something.

The sign implies all PS3 and Wii orders already booked. I know of many stores taking pre-orders down for their loyal customers for a long time now. Why screw them over by forcing them to camp out, when they spend a lot of money in thier store?

 

[NavNucST3]

The sign implies all PS3 and Wii orders already booked. I know of many stores taking pre-orders down for their loyal customers for a long time now. Why screw them over by forcing them to camp out, when they spend a lot of money in thier store?

I bought upwards of 20+ 360 games (I don't buy used software), a DS, DS Lite, 10+ DS games, and all my accessories for all of my systems, game informer, signed up on the pre pre-order list and... no call. Not even a shout out from the mgr on Live!

 

[Powderkeg]

The sign implies all PS3 and Wii orders already booked. I know of many stores taking pre-orders down for their loyal customers for a long time now. Why screw them over by forcing them to camp out, when they spend a lot of money in thier store?

I don't know of a single game store that keeps track of so-called "loyal customers." Heck, I know of very few who keep the same employees for more than 3-4 months.

The store I preordered my PS3 at (Yes, it's Ebay bound) was told that they would get 15 systems in. I've been shopping there since the day it opened and I know the manager on a first name basis. Fortunately I was able to convince him to let me preorder one because out of the 15 systems he was allotted, only 6 of them are going to make it into customer hands. The other 9 were "preordered" by him and his employees, and I'm quite sure all of them will be on Ebay.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't know of a single game store that keeps track of so-called "loyal customers." Heck, I know of very few who keep the same employees for more than 3-4 months.

If they have a loyalty/store/points card. like GAME (and thus I presume EB) then they have on record every purchase made using that card, and can easily print off a list of top spenders as 'loyal' customers. Of course that's not true loyalty in that they can't be sure you don't also buy from elsewhere, but if there is a loyalty program, that's as good as it gets.

 

[Powderkeg]

If they have a loyalty/store/points card. like GAME (and thus I presume EB) then they have on record every purchase made using that card, and can easily print off a list of top spenders as 'loyal' customers. Of course that's not true loyalty in that they can't be sure you don't also buy from elsewhere, but if there is a loyalty program, that's as good as it gets.

EB doesn't have such a card. The closest they have are these stupid "Value Cards", sort of like a coupon card for used games, which expire in 12 months. So the best they could come up with is a list of people who have used their used-game discount card within the past year.

 

[Schaden]

The memo sent from the corporate offices to the individual stores telling them about preorders specifically stated they were to be given on a first come first serve basis and then no reservations were to be taken over the phone or any other such matter. This is not an isolated case. Luckily my EB was on the up and up. I think the manager of this EB has a lot of explaining to do.

 

[Powderkeg]

The memo sent from the corporate offices to the individual stores telling them about preorders specifically stated they were to be given on a first come first serve basis

And that's what they did. Of course the employees come before the store even opens, so they are obviously there first.

 

[Schaden]

And that's what they did. Of course the employees come before the store even opens, so they are obviously there first.

I hope you're being facetious.
The corp policy was each stores employees can only reserve two out of however many preorders they were allotted. My local EB manager actually decided no employee would get dibs on the preorders, so all 16 went to customers.

 

[Powderkeg]

I hope you're being facetious.

Unfortunately I'm not.

The corp policy was each stores employees can only reserve two out of however many preorders they were allotted. My local EB manager actually decided no employee would get dibs on the preorders, so all 16 went to customers.

Yeah, well there seems to be another policy at work though.

Don't ask, don't tell.

As long as corporate doesn't ask for a list of names and contact info of those who preordered, and the employees don't tell them, it's all good.

 

[Mize]

$2000 how many hours at EB would that be worth.
Like what 100 hours?

Uh...you think EB pays $20/hour?
Bwahahahaha!

 

[LogisticX]

Uh...you think EB pays $20/hour?
Bwahahahaha!

Yeah, if the guy bought the PS3 for $0.

 

[Dresden]

Two things:

One, this entire ordeal could be wholeheartedly avoided provided Sony's ability to supply a reasonable amount of units was more than eight per store upon release.

And two, EB is garbage. Their PC department makes me want to firebomb the store. Now obviously I can't speak for the entirety of the industry, but I can safely say every single EB that I've ever visited in my entire life has downsized their PC games section to maybe, MAYBE, a cart somewhere in the back of the store. You know it's a dark day in video game retailers when Best Buy's section TROUNCES EB's. In fact their PC games section seems damn near immaculate.

 

[DemoCoder]

Your whole scenario Powderkeg depends on your pre-order being fulfilled. There's no guarantee that's going to happen either, which is why I didn't bother hunting around for a place taking pre-orders as I think a large number of people are going to be in a big surprise anyway.


I question why anyone who orders just one PS3 and who is not a teenager or someone with low income, would bother trying to "profit" from a single PS3 sale. The margin is at max, $1400, and probably less. Yet, there's the pre-order, the pickup, auctioning it, packaging and mailing it, seems like a trivial amount of profit. I'd just keep the system.

The only way I could justify a sale after going through the effort to get one is if I had gotten 2 of them, and was using 1 to cover the cost of another.