Target Cancels PlayStation 4 Preorders Bundled With Delayed Games

[Andy Chalk]

Target Cancels PlayStation 4 Preorders Bundled With Delayed Games

Target is canceling PlayStation 4 bundle preorders due to an "unforeseen development," but will begin offering them again on a first-come, first-served basis next week.

Following the surprise delay of Watch Dogs announced earlier this week, both Amazon and GameStop confirmed that customers who had preordered related PlayStation 4 and Xbox One bundles would still receive them on schedule [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128735-Watch-Dogs-PS4-and-Xbox-One-Bundles-Will-Ship-Without-Game], with some options for addressing the absence of the game. Target, however, appears to be taking a different tack, as a Reddit user claims that his Drive Club PS4 bundle preorder has been canceled.

"Thank you for your interest in video game consoles from Target. Unfortunately, some upcoming games have been delayed. As a result, we are canceling the video game console and bundled item(s) from your order," the email [http://gyazo.com/713151363e5c7dc06940e4766ae68360] states. "We will have video game consoles available for preorder on Friday, October 25. These will be offered on a first come, first served basis."

Target currently lists PlayStation 4 bundles with Killzone: Shadow Fall, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 and Knack, but all of them are currently unavailable for online ordering. Sony confirmed yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128818-Yoshida-DriveClub-Wont-Be-Here-Till-Early-2014] that Drive Club, initially slated to be a PS4 launch title, won't be out until early next year.

Source: Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1oqvtl/psa_target_will_cancel_your_ps4_preorder_if_you/]


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[BrotherRool]

Lets hope these new sales don't mysteriously seem to have higher prices than previously. Even still this is very sucky for all the people who had those preorders, the least you could do is give them the console and then an option for a refund if they want to go elsewhere

 

[FoolKiller]

Sooo... basically if you chose the wrong bundle, you get screwed.

This reminds me of one retailer who couldn't had issues with their supplier so they jacked up the price by 50% on all the pre-orders. This is why ordering things before their release sucks.

 

[tippy2k2]

That absolutely sucks for people who pre-ordered the system. I never understood why companies think that reacting this way is a good idea...

At best, you've pushed the person away from a sale.

At worst, that person is going to be pissed off at you for not even giving them any options on the (potentially) very rare and expensive piece of electronic equipment. Said person may never shop at your store again.

Target gets put into a bad situation with these delays but offer...SOMETHING. The chance to pre-order other bundles; the chance to pre-order just the system; hell, at least allow them to be first in line for the next batch of pre-order...

 

[Callate]

How about saving a space in line for people who made those pre-orders, Target? Are you unfamiliar as to how this whole "customer service" thing works?

 

[Raziel]

Wow, glad I don't preorder at target. And I'll make sure I never do in the future.

Odd though, isn't Target part of Amazon? You'd think they'd have the same policies.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Well, that was an idiot move.

I'm sure these thousands of people will happily replace their preorder, with one from Amazon, or Gamestop, or Walmart.

No doubt the 'new' bundles will be more expensive than the Ubisoft ones and won't have a guaranteed ship date either. Call me cynical but I think this is a smoke screen by Target to either jack up the price or cover for the fact that they don't/won't have enough PS4s available for the launch window (or both). All the other retailers have managed to dance around the Ubisoft issue without cancelling anyone's orders or at least asking them first, so why can't Target?

 

[fix-the-spade]

Odd though, isn't Target part of Amazon? You'd think they'd have the same policies.

Target's a publicly traded company in it's own right. They do share some major shareholders with Amazon, but the biggest of these (State Stree Corp/SSC) holds shares in 3'600 companies doing just about everything, the other ones are Banks and investment groups as well, so there isn't really much connection between Amazon and Target.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

God Damnit Ubisoft, you had 1 job, 1 JOB and you fucked that up.

They didn't fuck up; they realized that both of their launch titles needed room to grow. "Fucking up" would imply that Watch_Dogs and The Crew have been cancelled altogether, which hasn't happened.

You'll get to play 'em in due time. Patience is a virtue.

 

[rofltehcat]

Cancelling the preorders altogether instead of allowing people to change their preorder to another bundle is a bad idea. It'll just create a lot of bad blood, costing Target a lot of money in the long run.

 

[Zeren]

This right here is why I never preorder anything. I can't trust the companies to not screw me over.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Are these actual boxed bundles or were they just "buy the system and a game in the same order" bundles? I just ask because I'm not personally aware of these being any actual single box bundles existing.

If we are talking single pre packaged bundles, I can see there being a bit of an issue here in just swapping a bundle for a non-bundle. Not an insurmountable issue by any means, but an issue none the less.

If we are, however, talking about the system and the game already being separate and just being put together in the same order type bundles, then there's really no excuse for this at all. The system is already spoken for, just keep the console order locked in and allow the buyer to switch the game order to another one (or keep it in the system as a pre-order on the originally selected game if Target's system allows for pre-orders).

 

[Dragonbums]

Why did they have to cancel their preorders all together though?

Couldn't of they just reduce it to a basic PS4 pre order, then when the games come out they pick up the games for free?

Like just show your code that verifies that you paid for the bundle with those specific games.

 

[Saltyk]

Cancelling the preorders altogether instead of allowing people to change their preorder to another bundle is a bad idea. It'll just create a lot of bad blood, costing Target a lot of money in the long run.

This is pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Why not allow them to change to another bundle or just the console? Why cancel the whole thing? Seems like a overreaction. And it's bound to piss off a lot of people. People who may just go to Gamestop or some other store to preorder.

Not really sure how feasible that even is at this point. I just got back from my local Gamestop. They have 150 PS4s on preorder. And there's two other Gamestops that are very close (one is like a mile down the road and the other is maybe five miles away, and there's still Target, Walmart, and Best Buy) so who knows how many are being bought just in my area?

 

[likalaruku]

I thought Target went belly up years ago. There aren't any where I live anymore, & it's no small town.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Bad move Target. You should have shipped the consoles on release day and given credit/refunds for the game or shipped the game later.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Actually they did.
They promised them to various retailers (including Sony) for a time that they were unable to deliver.

That's a fuck up.

This is a promise they weren't obligated to keep if they strongly felt that the games needed more development time. It's their software, ergo it's their call. Publishers scale back release dates all the time, so I don't see this as a fuckup.

This is soley Target's fault. Ubisoft is allowed to delay the game as much as they damn well want. I'd rather them release a fantastic game a year later then shove out a buggy or broken mess next week.

Exactly. Waving the "THOSE DAMN PUBLISHERS!" flag won't get you your darlings any sooner.