Amazonian Nightmare

When the Playstation 4 was announced back in June, I hopped on my computer and preordered it from Amazon in the form of a “Watch Dogs” bundle. Over time, I applied gift cards to the preorder, so that as of last month the cost due was $0.00. Now, all that I had to do was wait for the quickly approaching November 15th release date!

This month however Ubisoft announced that Watchdogs was being delayed, and so Amazon switched my order to the basic core system launch. Not a huge deal, I would just order Killzone Shadowfall. It’s not amazons fault, and the new KZ game looked pretty sweet to begin with. So, I dealt with it, and carried on.

Last night however, I received an email from Amazon customer service, notifying me that my order for the Playstation 4 was cancelled, and that they “hope this helps”. completely flabbergasted and confoundedly confused, I got online and entered into Amazons support chat. It is here that I found out, that it was a mistake, and someone had accidentally cancelled my order.

Fine, mistakes happen. I get that! I asked them if they could correct the issue that had just happened mere moments before. I was informed that this was impossible, as their system is all automated and my cancelled order went to the next person in queue who hadn’t gotten their order placed in time to guarantee themselves the system.

So, basically I was told, that despite being a prime subscriber, despite spending thousands of dollars over the years on their website, despite preordering this console on the first day possible, that I was basically screwed and there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

In fact, not only was there nothing they could do about it, but to worsen the situation, Amazon has in place a system that allows only one console to be ordered per account. Meaning, that if I want to order another one, I would need to have a friend order it, and send it to my address. Despite the fact, that the now refunded gift card balance is saved on MY account, not theirs. Not that it would matter anyway, since the console pre-orders are completely sold out.

However, they did say they were sorry and issued me $30 dollars credit. Which doesn’t help me at all really. Overall, this is a horrible experience with amazon, and is the first time I have pre-ordered a big-ticket item from them. Is this a regular occurence? I don’t know, but I do know that I will be ending my prime subscription, and won’t be purchasing any thing major from them again.

Related articles

• GameStop, Amazon delivering PS4s to those who pre-ordered the Watch Dogs bundle (polygon.com)
• Target canceling PS4 pre-orders bundled with delayed launch games, customers say (polygon.com)
• Watch Dogs delay won’t void PS4 pre-order bundles, GameStop & Amazon issue statements (vg247.com)

Games: New Vs. Used

When purchasing games, you have two options. Either buy the game new, or buy it used. Which is the way to go?

First, you have to ask yourself, How new is the game? Is it a recent release? If so, then you might want to consider buying the game new. Bottom line, a new release game is not going to be that much cheaper used. If you are lucky, you might save yourself 5 or 6 bucks. However, many newer games come with free bonus DLC codes. When you buy that game used, odds are the code has already been redeemed. If you want that DLC, it will cost you between 5 and 10 bucks.

Best case scenario, you broke even. Worst case scenario, you paid an extra 5 bucks or so. Actually, best case scenario you end up on the loosing end too, since used games generally don’t have as long a return policy as a new game. Meaning if after a few weeks, you find out the game had a scratch that made it unplayable…too bad for you.

To be fair, sometimes you don’t really have a choice. A game company will quit producing a game, or it’s a game on an older game console. Your only realistic option is buying the game used. Sure, you can buy new copies of older games, but expect to pay out the nose. In fact, most of the time, that game you want, costs more new than it would to buy a game console.

It’s times like this, that paying the hundred(s) less for a game might be the best way to go, but it’s not perfect. See, here’s the thing. Many times these games have some serious issues. The games are old, and as such may not work as well as will like. Hell, to be fair, they may not work at all! You might buy a game, get it home, pop it in, only to find the damn game won’t boot up. Worse yet, it may boot up, and may play perfectly all the way through the game, until it reaches the last mission, and then freezes up!

If the game doesn’t work from the get go, you can always return it. Assuming you tested it right away. If however it waits until the end, you are pretty much screwed, since odds are, it will be several weeks before you notice, which by then returns are no longer valid. Also, if you notice right away, and you bought it at Gamestop, great..return away. However say you got it at some online store? If you paid 50 bucks for a used game, then yea! Return it. What about 5? At this point, is it worth the hassle of packing the box, printing a label and waiting for it to get there, so your replacement can be shipped out? Not really right?

I have bought many used games, and to be fair the majority of them work great. Although a good many were non-functional. So, weigh your choices before buying a used game, and figure out, if it’s really the best move for you.