Man, I Had to Get This Off My Chest...

[Albromor]

...even though I doubt it will help in any way. The following is what I wrote to Nintendo Customer Service just a few moments ago. I know EB Games and GameStop aren't the most liked of chain stores, but I have known several ofthe people working at my local EB for over 10 years and found them reputable. Plus my niece is dating a GameStop manager and he confirms that the directive just came down from Nintendo. Here is what I wrote and, like I said, I doubt it will make a difference:


In September of this year I pre-ordered the GameCube version of Zelda:Twilight Princess. I kept putting down weekly installments and paid off my game on 12/5/06. I have the receipts. You tell us it will be ready 12/12/06.

I went to my local EB store to pick up my game today, 12/12/06. It is a Christmas Present for my son who has been waiting for this game for over a year. It is his top request.

Lo and behold I am told that it is not availiable because Nintendo has decided to only release a few at a time per store. What GIVES?! How come you cannot honor a pre-order?

1. I fully paid for this game. You have my money. Where is my merchandise? I should charge Nintendo for my time and gasoline.

2. You have compromised such chain stores as EB and Game Stop. They in good faith take pre-orders, but because you want to push Wii -- and please tell me how you can push Wii when there is no Wii Console to be found anywhere -- you trickle the release of the GameCube version to people who have been waiting.

3. You should have to be made to stand there and listen to what the counter people have to put up with because of your deceptive business ethics.

4. You really don't care about the customer because you got your money -- my money. The people at EB can't even guarantee if I will get it by Christmas. If it is not there for Christmas I want you to come to my house and tell my son why he didn't get it. I'm serious.

5. Lastly, if you do happen to answer this - I'm not holding my breath - I fully expect a pre-written answer that is as sincere as a politician's election promises.


My anger is due to the fact of your duplicity. You have deceived myself and many other customers. My son and I have discussed getting a Wii for his birthday. XBox 360 Pro here we come.

__________________________________________________ ____________________________

Thanks for letting me rant.

[Cloudbringer]

Wow... that's pretty scummy business, to take pre-orders and then not deliver! Hope they DO see that it isn't the best way to keep customers and getting mail like yours is a good way to keep them informed on that score.

[Hivetyrant]

Did you pre-order the game directly from Nintendo?
I don't think so, so I don't see the problem.
I know the manager of the EB store here and he confirmed that pre-order numbers are based on assumption and not on a guarantee from the supplier, untill the game is shipped, they can never be confident of how many they will have in stock.
You could argue that they should then never have pre-orders, which would be a fair statement.

Don't get me wrong, we live in completely different places and it may be very different over there, but I do believe that your anger should be directed at EB or Gamestop rather than Nintendo, as they DON'T have your money as soon as you pre-order.

[Larry_OHF]

A quick look over at Amazon.com says that it is out as of today as well. The game is out, but apparently what you are saying Albromor is that Nintendo only is allowing a certain amount of games per store. So I wonder how many Amazon.com orders are delayed...if any...

Hive, What Albromor said here is the key issue:

...it is not availiable because Nintendo has decided to only release a few at a time per store.

Nintendo has decided not to honor people's preorder, not EB. EB cannot do anything about Nintendo not shipping enough to fill the requests. Therefore, it is Nintendo's fault, and he did not have to order straight from them for them to be liable for their strange marketing scheme of limiting copies. He made that preorder in good faith that EB would be supplied enough copies to cover all preorders on the day of its release.

[Ziroc]

Yep, they do the same for PC games. If they don't get a high enough number of preorders, they won't order any. So... what do the 99 people do that DID pay? I'm sure they won't give you your money BACK, but give it in a 'gift' card.

As I said, EB and Gamestop--actually, just Gamestop--they bought EB is crappy. And Nintendo should be mass producing this game. Don't get that.. Sony did this with the PS3. Make 3 machines, and make most wait till 2055 to get one... (hehe)..

Hell, not that I could afford that nutty price tag. I did put my name in for a local newspaper giveaway of a PS3. Drawing is tomorrow!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Albromor]

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: A quick look over at Amazon.com says that it is out as of today as well. The game is out, but apparently what you are saying Albromor is that Nintendo only is allowing a certain amount of games per store. So I wonder how many Amazon.com orders are delayed...if any... Hive, What Albromor said here is the key issue: quote: ...it is not availiable because Nintendo has decided to only release a few at a time per store.

Nintendo has decided not to honor people's preorder, not EB. EB cannot do anything about Nintendo not shipping enough to fill the requests. Therefore, it is Nintendo's fault, and he did not have to order straight from them for them to be liable for their strange marketing scheme of limiting copies. He made that preorder in good faith that EB would be supplied enough copies to cover all preorders on the day of its release. [/QUOTE]Exactly... and what Z said. Nintendo's cut off date for pre-order was mid-October. They, Nitendo, knew exactly how many pre-orders there were and they kept insisting it would be on time. I even got a call from Nintendo last Friday asking if I was going to pick up my GameCube version on 12/12. I said yes.

Again, this whole directive of only releasing a few is directly from Nintendo, not EB, and it came yesterday(!). I didn't know about the Amazon snafu. They're messing with everybody. At the particular EB store where I pre-ordered there are 68 pre-orders and I am number 52 in line. That means 51 people pre-ordered before September (I pre-ordered September 3rd). And to pre-order you have to put money down. They only had 18 available; not EB's fault.

They got full payment, now where is my game?

[ 12-12-2006, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: Albromor ]

[Hivetyrant]

I understand what you are saying, but I have never known a company to produce and supply games based on pre-order numbers.
While Nintendo may know how many were made, I don't believe that they produce copies based on the number of pre-orders that they are informed of.

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: A quick look over at Amazon.com says that it is out as of today as well. The game is out, but apparently what you are saying Albromor is that Nintendo only is allowing a certain amount of games per store. So I wonder how many Amazon.com orders are delayed...if any... Hive, What Albromor said here is the key issue: quote: ...it is not availiable because Nintendo has decided to only release a few at a time per store.

Nintendo has decided not to honor people's preorder, not EB. EB cannot do anything about Nintendo not shipping enough to fill the requests. Therefore, it is Nintendo's fault, and he did not have to order straight from them for them to be liable for their strange marketing scheme of limiting copies. He made that preorder in good faith that EB would be supplied enough copies to cover all preorders on the day of its release. [/QUOTE]Unless you see the contract between EB and Nintendo stating that all pre-orders made through EB will be supplied, you should never assume that you will get your copy, and EB should also never guarantee this either.

I understand your frustration, but due to the demand of the game, it is understandable that only certain amounts of the game be shipped to certain stores.

Originally posted by Ziroc: As I said, EB and Gamestop--actually, just Gamestop--they bought EB is crappy. And Nintendo should be mass producing this game. Don't get that.. Sony did this with the PS3. Make 3 machines, and make most wait till 2055 to get one... (hehe)..

No there were literally $hitloads of copies made as this was always going to be the number 1 selling game for the Wii upon launch, but for once, the US did not come first and us Australians and Europeans also got as many copies so there may not have been as many to share around.

Hmm, I just realised that you are talking about the Gamecube version though, which makes the situation somewhat understandable.
Obviously in Nintendo's mind, they want people to buy a Wii, and the new Zelda game convinced many, maybe they only launched a small amount of the gamecube version in hopes that it would convince people to buy a Wii.

I truly hope not as I like Nintendo as a company now that it isn't run by a moron, but it would make sense.

Might I add though that if you can back out and get the Wii and the Wii version of the game, I would STRONGLY recommend it

I ahve played both and the game is A LOT better on the Wii (because of the controller)

[Larry_OHF]

Going on a tangent here...sorry...I saw a news report a few days ago that was talking about the Wii controller not being designed well because of the strap that is attached by a weak strand and when people get into the game they are playing, they'll throw the controller right into their big-screen plasmas and stuff (They showed pics! I was ROFL). Nintendo is thinking about redoing the straps, but said that people are misusing the controllers and should not be so "active" when playing, but that is what is supposed to make the Wii so fun...you get more active...so there's a debate on right now about this whole thing.

[Luvian]

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: Going on a tangent here...sorry...I saw a news report a few days ago that was talking about the Wii controller not being designed well because of the strap that is attached by a weak strand and when people get into the game they are playing, they'll throw the controller right into their big-screen plasmas and stuff (They showed pics! I was ROFL). Nintendo is thinking about redoing the straps, but said that people are misusing the controllers and should not be so "active" when playing, but that is what is supposed to make the Wii so fun...you get more active...so there's a debate on right now about this whole thing.

http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/

[Hivetyrant]

Originally posted by Luvian: quote: Originally posted by Larry_OHF: Going on a tangent here...sorry...I saw a news report a few days ago that was talking about the Wii controller not being designed well because of the strap that is attached by a weak strand and when people get into the game they are playing, they'll throw the controller right into their big-screen plasmas and stuff (They showed pics! I was ROFL). Nintendo is thinking about redoing the straps, but said that people are misusing the controllers and should not be so "active" when playing, but that is what is supposed to make the Wii so fun...you get more active...so there's a debate on right now about this whole thing.

http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/ [/QUOTE]Lol! yeah I have looking at that site for a while now and it is certainly worth a laugh

Though I still have trouble understanding how you could do that, I am prone to sweaty hands when playing games but I don't know how you could throw the controller like that as it fits to well in the hand.

The only ones I understand are the incidents where they have hit something mid swing which as caused them to drop the controller.