Last week, Target in the US was cancelling PlayStation 4 preorders that had been bundled with delayed games like Watch Dogs and Driveclub. It looks like the retailer is taking action to make good on the console part of those preorders, as well as giving $US100 gift cards to make it up to those affected.
Yesterday, Kotaku received the following statement from Target:
The release date for the video games “Watch Dogs,” “Drive Club,” “The Order: 1886,” and “inFamous: Second Son” has been delayed. As a result, Target cancelled pre-orders for Sony Playstation 4 consoles that were going to be bundled with these titles. We sincerely apologise to guests who were inconvenienced and are working directly with them to ensure they receive the console they selected by their original order date. There was no impact to Sony Playstation 4 pre-orders that were sold independently or bundled with other game titles.
I checked in with the readers who had initially written in to let us know that Target had cancelled their console preorders, and they reported that Target had gotten back to them individually since we published our story. One reader sent us a copy of the email, which reads in part:
We apologise for your recent Target.com experience. We are working on a solution that will ensure you receive the video game console you pre-ordered. Unfortunately, we will not be able to fulfil the bundled video game portion of your order due to publishing delays. You will receive an email tomorrow with further directions on how to confirm your order. We are committed to shipping your game console by the date on your original order. Additionally, we are emailing you a $US100 Target eGiftCard for your inconvenience.
Not bad! It looks like everyone will be happily playing their PS4s on launch day, and they’ll even have some extra bucks to spend on a new launch game, if they want. Good on you, Target.
Comments
5 responses to “Target Apologises, Making Good On Cancelled PS4 Pre-Orders”
seriously? “Drive Club,” “The Order: 1886,” and “inFamous: Second Son” all delayed??
I didn’t know The Order even had a release date to delay 😛
While Watch Dogs and Driveclub have been delayed, the retailers I’ve spoken to never indicated that Infamous or The Order were launch title and instead said they were slated for release next year.
That being said that could be true for the Australian market, the US market could very well had them slated as launch titles, but I’d say it’s more likely Target not checking their facts
I dunno about the rest (although as others mentioned I don’t remember The Order having a release date) but I know that Infamous was always set for early 2014. It’s the main reason I never bothered pre-ordering a PS4. I figured there’d be a bundle next year.
A few stores around the world have had troubles with these ‘delays’, but I honestly dont understand how difficult it is for everyone to ‘fix’ the situation…
First instance should be to contact the customer and provide options.
1) As is, console and game ship separately (when the game eventually becomes available)
2) Target offer a replacement game.
3) If bundle was more expensive, at the very least offer the console as a solo single item purchase.
4) Customer can choose to cancel.
Customer selects one of the above, everyone is happy and no stupid retailers stories popup.
These are probably online orders and the system wasn’t built to handle this situation. They probably removed the bundle product off there website and that automatically canceled the orders. Then they manually have to enter in the new orders. Your option is worse because you have to manually enter in 4 options and wait for the customer to reply.