Pip-Boy Editions of Fallout 4 were exclusive to EB Games, but a shipping issue could result in some pre-orders being delivered on November 13 — three days after the launch of the game here in Australia.
The issue seems to be with those that ordered the Pip-Boy Edition online.
Today some customers noticed that their Fallout 4 pre-orders had not yet shipped, a day before release. Upon enquiring many discovered their copies of the game wouldn’t be arriving until November 13.
We asked EB Games about the situation. We were told that online customers should expect to receive their Pip-Boys tomorrow, but this is “subject to Australia Post shipping”.
EB Games is claiming there is no delay on its end.
“We can confirm there is categorically no delay with the shipment of the game,” EB Games said, in a statement sent to Kotaku. “Australia Post is Australia’s leading postal service and we ship according to their expected shipping timelines, as we do with all game releases. EB Games does endeavour for deliveries to arrive to our customers on the day of release.”
But in an email, EB Games invited one customer to take advantage of their seven-day money-back guarantee if the game didn’t arrive on time.
We do our best to ship out orders, timing them with Australia Post calculations, for delivery on release day. However, we can at times experience delays in the shipping process which, unfortunately, results in slight delivery delays. We’re incredibly sorry for this, we know how keen everyone is to get their hands on Fallout 4.
If you’re wanting to play ASAP, you’re welcome to pop into store and purchase a standard edition of the game to play while you wait for your order to arrive. You can then return it to the store within seven days of purchase (so keep proof of purchase) for a full refund, and continue playing using your own preordered copy.
And in addition, one customer received the following Direct Message on Twitter after enquiring about their Pip-Boy pre-order. A message that confirmed that some shipments would be delayed.
Some customers were upset that EB Games didn’t contact them about the delay. Many only discovered the issue after noticing their order had not yet shipped, a day before the game’s release. One person we spoke to purchased three Pip-Boys for members of their family. $577 spent in total. Until today, all signs pointed to the Pip-Boys arriving on November 10.
Quite often delays like these are a direct result of regulations designed to stop customers getting the game early. Australia Post could be overly quick at getting the Pip-Boy from point A to point B. The end result: you have some customers getting a copy of the game before release. To avoid this, there is often a rule put in place that the game cannot be shipped until after a certain date. This could be the issue with the delay.
On Twitter, EB Games seems to be responding to a number of people with this issue.
@LexieErin We do our best to have your game shipped for release. However, we can’t guarantee this due to the chance of unforessen delays.
— EB Games Australia (@EBGamesAus) November 9, 2015
@oberti98 Hey Jack! If you send us a DM with your email address, we’ll be happy to look into this for you.
— EB Games Australia (@EBGamesAus) November 9, 2015
It looks like there are similar issues in the UK
But regardless — the point of pre-ordering a video game is to receive the game on the day of release, not three days afterwards. Pip-Boys are expensive. Those pre-ordering the Pip-Boy Edition are core Fallout 4 fans, the type who want to be playing Fallout 4 on day one. And for some, that simply won’t be possible unless they purchase a second copy of the game.
Comments
81 responses to “There’s A Problem With Some Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Pre-Orders In Australia”
Talk about first world problems…
Not sure there really is a problem if they actually fulfill this. Anyone relying on aus post for a specific date is mad (then again it’s just as likely EB screwed up).
I suppose the only problems would be one of inconvenience of having to go into a store not once but twice, and also having to shell out (albeit temporarily) $90-$100 (unless you price match).
I’d regard it as a problem if I was the next guy in who paid full price for a brand new copy and instead got one that had been rented out for a week to someone else first 😛
LOL! Sick burn!
Do they actually do that?
I mean it doesn’t REALLY matter, but I always thought that the returned games were re-sold as preowned.
I guess not, but it does make a mockery of the pre-owned pricing model!
(I don’t buy anything except price-matched launch hardware from EB anyway. Their pricing and practices are pretty offensive)
Their pre-owned pricing model is already a mockery anyway 😛
I imagine they put them back as new. They’d probably give the disc a clean first, then just wack them back on the shelf.
I’ve no problem with it personally, so long as the quality is the same, its all the same to me
They’d be mad to give the customer all their money back if they weren’t going to sell the copy again as new. EB’s pre-owned prices are high, but they are still lower than prices for new games there.
Occasionally receiving a copy that has been used for a week is the price you pay for that refund policy. If you don’t like it, it’s probably best to shop at a place without such a policy. And at the end of the day, provided the single use codes haven’t been used and there is no physical damage, is there any real harm?
How does that work if it’s the PC version though? Doesn’t EB refuse returns of Steam games?
Yup, agreed. Never ever ever rely on Aus post. I made the mistake of that once when I booked a day off for a game that would arrive VIA express post the ‘next day’. I know they sent it on the right day, but aus post myteriously failed to deliver it the next day, making my day off obsolete
Seems to paint EB a little bit negatively but it’s a variable process. Gotta have a bit of foresight and know your online order can arrive anywhere between 1 and 5 days late, really. Just like anything that travels through the mail.
The secret is (if you can) order online for local pick-up at an EB Games store. Then the only problem you need to deal with is some arsehole employee ‘accidentally’ selling your pre-order to a mate.
Sometimes delays happen in the mail, but if they’re shipping today or tomorrow there’s no way those units are arriving on launch day. There was probably a problem in processing such a large amount of bulky items but EB is still failing to live up to the part of the deal where they promised to do everything within reason to ensure their pre-orders arrive on the release date. I used to use eParcel all the time. They could have processed all these days ago and waited until yesterday to manifest them/hand them over to the courier.
I mean it’s not like buying a pair of socks on the Big W website. We’re talking pre-orders with very specific release dates that are known well in advance.
Also if the frustration seems over the top keep in mind nobody who wanted the Pip-Boy edition had a choice. They had to go with EB Games, they had to pre-order from whichever outlet still had copies and if they were forced online they had to use regular shipping. [Edit: The interesting thing is those hardcore fans are mad at EB Games for securing exclusivity, even though Bethesda Softworks were the ones who agreed to sell them out to EB Games in the first place].
Customers could choose pick-up in-store. Then there would be no issue. Stores obviously already have their allocated Pipboys. Also funny you mention exclusivity. No doubt Bethesda are happy with EB, when EB games has more preorders than the entire country of Sweden.
Also regarding shipping, obviously EB could have tried to be more logistical with their shipping, but they also have to do their best to make sure that they don’t break street date either. Some customers have received their copies early due to living right near head office as well so I guess it depends a little on where you live. AUS post isn’t great.
When it comes to the PC version, the reasoning is bollocks. I have my SC2 expansion CE and it shipped Friday. I can’t play it because Blizz locks you out. Same applies to PC Fallout. Steam locks you out. There was no reason not to ship.
I take this view too, if i’m buying online the arrival date is an estimate.
EB should offer an Express Post option for a few bucks more. Subject to the delivery address being inside Australia Posts Express network EB can lodge it the day before and then you get it release day.
Assuming you don’t live/work near an EB that’s open when you can get to it.
Yeah I really don’t understand why Express post isn’t an option. Instead of a week wait for me, I could’ve got it in a few days.
Nobody would use it, everyone would still complain.
They do offer express shipping for a few bucks more. I selected it when I ordered my copy. It doesn’t help when EB only lodged the shipment after COB yesterday, unfortunately.
Express Post is an option. That’s how mine is shipping. And I’m still not getting it on time.
I think all the people that have bought Pip Boy collector’s editions on ebay from Scalpers should give negative feedback for their copies of Fallout 4 being delayed 🙂
I ordered Pip-Boy online. I’ll get it when I get it. It’s not like Witcher 3, Destiny, AC, Halo 5, Uncharted Collection, GTA5 Online and COD:BLOPS3 aren’t doing a good job of stealing my time anyway.
EDIT: I checked online. My copy got processed through the Melbourne Distro centre this morning, so looks like I’ll get it tomorrow morning. *shrugs*
EDIT2: (Tues Morning) Package arrived. 🙂
What do you expect when you’re having to get it posted? If I buy something I don’t expect it to arrive for at least two weeks where I live.
I imagine when you live in a metropolitan area and you’ve paid them for next day shipping, and they said they’ll ship it the day before release, that it would arrive the next day.
Australian video games retail *could* have looked at the poor state of the “digital future” that consoles are grappling with at this time and thought……”let’s really make an effort here”.
That sadly doesn’t seem to have happened.
A litany of issues here. The cartel-like behaviour by local distributors and stores is simply region locking by another name. Last time I checked there were still international borders and laws pertaining to time and space so it looks like your EB Games and so forth are the most reasonable alternative to playing the game as soon as legally possible.
Or, maybe you don’t have anybody to blame but yourself. Those awaiting Pip-Boy editions surely knew what they were getting themselves into and perhaps should have queried the logistics of all of this, core fans or no.
If the enthusiast crowd learned from previous experience and gave as much a hoot about this the way it did about conventions or classifications, maybe, just maybe, we’d see a bit of change. You don’t ask, you don’t get.
I wouldn’t say that though. Not in a pink fit. Perish the thought.
Do:
Cancel your pre-order.
Tell EB you are doing so.
Buy the game elsewhere.
Don’t:
Play dumb as to why tat that got bundled with your pre-order may not have reached you in BF Nowhere straight away.
Abuse staff in-store.
Complain on the internet about not getting a game on day on AS YOU BUY THE GAME ON DAY ONE ANYWAY.
Seriously though. Every single year since games retail became as serious as it is now in this country (arguably around the mid 00s, when the AAA industry as we know it came into being) we see something like this debacle.
The great street date break-apalooza of 2011.
The way certain publishers and games use our classification laws as playthings and for PR .
All those buggers who grabbed the amiibo out of boxes meant for store shelves and put them straight on ebay.
Games in this country as an industry will continue to be the laughing stock it is until whoever reads this and gets just that little bit angry actually does something constructive.
I just got the standard edition through JB. Pre-ordered online, so delivery was the only option. I don’t live in Melbourne where it was apparently dispatched from this morning so I don’t have great hopes of getting it even before the end of the week.
Colour me annoyed. I just knew this was going to happen. There was no option to pick up in-store, which I would have gladly done. Yes I know Aussie Post is slow-and-cheap-but-will-get-there-eventually …. but I not choice. That’s the issue. So much for pre-ordering.
What do you mean no option?, i chose to pick up my pipboy edition from my local EB.
I mean exactly what I wrote. Purchasing with a OMG West Australian post code (CBD based) I was *not* given an option to pick up in store. Yes I know how to use a web site, yes I double checked.
It wasn’t available in Melbourne CBD either. I think the pick up option was only available to those who preordered first, not the other allotments that they announced later. That or maybe it was a Qld only thing because of the area?
Ok fair enough, did you contact EB hq and ask to be able to pick it up from your nearest store? They most likely would have been able to do that for you.
Think they only have a certain allotment for store, once that goes the option to pick up is removed. Thats how I assume it works at least
There was a second tranche of Pip-Boys that were “Online Only”. If you got it in the first wave, then you had the option to Pickup in Store.
Ahhhh yes, the person buying three pip boy editions for “his family”.
Exactly what I thought… Bollocks.
Beat me to it.
Actually I know the person. He has a GF and a son and they all love games.
That’s his username on EBay.
moral of the story: stop falling for gimmicks.
They do a good job of sucking people in with overpriced tat.
Missed out on getting the Pip-Boy edition?
PS it’s awesome.
i can’t sleep now not being able to have a useless piece of plastic crap to shove my phone in…said noone ever
Dear gamers,
Stop. Pre-ordering. Games.
That is all.
Hell no. I wanted my lunchbox. Currently chillin outside eb in my car listening to my preorder soundtrack waiting for midnight to hit so i can take the game itself.
After the calamity that was the GTA V midnight launch and the no outside security of the Watch Dogs launch, i’ll just wait to pick mine up in the morning.
Can confirm the lunchbox is super cool. Had a good look at it earlier and it makes me want to spend the extra $60ish for it.
Dear you,
Keep your ideals to yourself. Let others do what they want.
That is all.
If the add ons are worth it and if they aren’t removing content from the game to try and sell pre orders I’m fine with it. This collection looks awesome and is the right kind of pre order bonus pack imo.
I’m in WA and my estimated delivery date is the 16th of November.
Next Monday.
Would be good if they could just give you the Steam code to tide you over.
And that’s the problem with online purchases that relies on delivery services.
I really should be enjoying fallout at the moment, since I pre-downloaded it and all, but since my brain is so fucking confused after playing so many good games including 2 hours of fallout, 4 hours of Black Ops 3 and Halo 5, with Tomb Raider next, I need to give it a brake. And read something for about half a hour.
“One person we spoke to purchased three Pip-Boys for members of their family. $577 spent in total. Until today, all signs pointed to the Pip-Boys arriving on November 10.” O Right, so there one of you are you greedy mother fuckers depriving people of a collectors item you fucking scum!…Now, I didn’t want a Pip Boy, But I know many who did, and that couldn’t get one because greedy fucks like this pinched them all! And just like that, a second wave of them came out, but only for American buyers of coarse.
You expect me to believe, as an avid collector myself of high quality Polystone statues of Marvel characters and the like from artists that are vary limited run, that this mother fucker didn’t do what almost every cock blocking, mega money hungry fuck nut dose to anyone trying to score one of a limited quantity of anything? First off, that ain’t for his fucking mum or brother I can tell you that right now! Its a bullshit story to cover up his fucking sook about not getting his collectors edition like all the rest of us, and he deserves not to fucking get them on time, I hope they all fucking break! Second of all, he’s going to sell those fucking things on Ebay for 2x the price of the fucking US Ebay, because its Australia! And prices here are FUCKED any way.
As a collector, I fucking despise these people that call themselves “Financial dealers”….You’re not a fucking Dealer, like some sort of Art Dealer, They have taste, your taking advantage of someone who clearly likes a plastic toy covering their phone, on there wrist. I don’t see the appeal, but they do! Your a mother fucker! I hope your so called Mum’s Pip-Boy brakes!
Actually, it was a genuine thing, he is just a nice guy picking up a copy for his girlfriend and his son.
People aren’t always shits.
There their, you’re your going to feel better after you take a break brake.
They have always had a disclaimer saying they try to ship prior to release if they can but that it’s not always possible, and it’s only going to get worse with Aus Post extending the delivery period of all their services (I think express is going up to 2-3 bus days on the east coast).
I just don’t see why they can’t offer the pick-up-in-store option for everything, both this and the Link Between Worlds 3DS XL bundle didn’t have it available for some reason.
I think some batches of bundles/collectors things aren’t allocated to stores but sold as online only as not enough are moved in the individual stores. This pack I think had pick up in store then a second batch was online only when the first lot sold out.
This is why I pre-ordered on Steam. At the time there wasn’t any specials advertised, and the only other place to order from was dodgy CD-Key websites that give you vague promises of sending you a key as soon as they get it. I loathe supporting Valve and Bethesda’s rip off pricing, but there’s sweet FA other options.
are these people complaining just stepped out of a Fallout vault? Ordering online ALWAYS comes with the chance of being messed up by the postal system. Just yet another tiresome entitled-gamer whinefest.
It’s not the postal system that messed up. If EB didn’t even lodge the order for shipping until today, EB are the ones that messed up. There’s nothing entitled about expecting to get what the company you purchased from told you they’d give you.
or given that is also happening in the UK, means their could possibly be a supplier problem.
It is painful entitled gamer first world problem when it goes without saying there is ALWAYS a chance of online orders screwing up. hell its happened to me a few times from different suppliers and not just for games. it is part of nature/risk of ordering online. hell even ordering in a store there is always a slim chance something goes wrong with the supply chain.
your buying a computer game not a human body part, its not life threatening when things goes wrong.
If EB had supply problems they should be telling people that, not “We can confirm there is categorically no delay with the shipment of the game”.
When did things have to be life threatening to be a problem? Nobody’s saying it’s the end of the world, just that EB said they’d do something and then didn’t. You yourself have complained about preordering in the past. If expecting a company to do what it said it would do (like release a functional game, or ship on time) makes someone a ‘whining self-entitled gamer’ then you’re just as much one as anyone else here.
EB still has to respect the release date, the soonest i could imagine them sending it out is COB monday 9th, say for example the posted first run and 100 pip boys landed in the laps of customers close to distros during the day, they’ve broken street date and could ruin relations with other potential exclusives, as far as EB is concerned they’ve complied with the standards set for them regarding release. Yes it sucks hardcore that some people wont get their pipboys for a couple days and if its true they couldnt do pick up instore then they should have known well before yesterday that there could be issues with aus post, because honestly aus post can suck sometimes. as far as i am concerned people hoped they were wrong, then found out they were correct that pre orders would be delayed and are now pissed at EB because they didnt do something to prevent missing out on playing day one. buy a second standard copy from JB for $60 and gift it to that mate who missed out and hasnt got the funds to afford it.
AusPost and most shipping companies don’t offer same day delivery so there’s no risk of release date being broken. You need a fairly expensive courier to do same day delivery. The earliest AusPost will deliver is next day (guaranteed with Express post).
I wonder if anyone did get express post. im not a huge EB fan, i just personally feel that reasonable steps were taken to get product out and aus post are going to take a couple days to deliver its unfortunate to the end user. we use a (reasonably priced) courier at work that does same day only and i tend to forget that not everyone does same day haha.
I got express post, it was only $4 extra. EB didn’t lodge the orders on time, mine was lodged last night after 5pm so it wasn’t picked up until today and won’t be delivered until tomorrow.
Screwing around your large-purchase consumers is probably not very smart.
Picked up mine today from my local EB and it’s been damaged in transit to the store. Rear-right hinge is bent to all hell and won’t open or close properly.
I picked my pip boy up last night (midnight launch). LOVE IT.
And this is why I never preorder a physical game online. I can bring myself to the game in store rather than demanding the game be bought to me.
And yet my SC2:LOTV CE arrived two days early. You can’t play FO4 early anyway anyway Steam locks you out anyway. Why couldn’t they do the same with the PC version again?
This is the absolute correct reaction to the news that AUS post is running post nation wide and doesnt care if you get your standard post first thing the next day!
What’s the point of complaoning about something when the problem actually being foreseen is dubious? Shipping problems happen in all walks of life, what can you do? Pretend somethingcould have happened differently just because you wanted it too? Stop legitimising your anger and grow up.
“One person we spoke to purchased three Pip-Boys for members of their family. $577 spent in total.”
For the Family!….rriigghhhtttt…
This has nothing to do with Australia Post, this is purely EBgames not sending out these pre orders till the last minute.
The sent my Legacy of the Void CE on Friday last week nice and early int he day, Auspost picked it up and there it was at my house 10 am Monday.
The did not even give my Pip boy edition to Auspost until 6:40pm Monday afternoon.
That means it was not sent out on Monday, a Game Eb Games have had in a warehouse since what Tuesday last week.
I never preorder stuff online just walk in preorder grab on the day..
The retail game doesn’t come out on PC until November 11. All other reports are lies.
Well, at least that’s the case for me after getting home from work to install it and facing a 10hour download on steam (18gb). Not cool.
I think this article is unnecessarily negative, and works on a lot of assumptions.
You assume that the entire Pipboy delivery comes in one shipment. What if it’s delivered to EB in a staggered fashion? What if the staggered deliveries to EB are late. The EB warehouse can only receive and process those back out so quickly.
Other people have mentioned it here as well, but if you’re buying something for online delivery you can’t always expect it at an exact time. If it’s shipped too early, they could be held responsible for a street date break, and dealing with the fallout (no pun intended) from that would be worse than a game being delivered a day or two late.
First world problems.
Pre-ordered via XBONE LIVE, preloaded, woke up in the morning and started playing before work, done. Physical media is dead to me, although I do have sympathy for people that ordered the physical editions. If your a big fan that wants all that extra stuff you basically got the shit end of the stick… bummer. EB actually do state that you will get the day of release when you order online, they need to probably make it clearer to customers. If they didn’t have all the exclusives i’m guessing most people would have purchased from other outlets. My experience has always shown me that EB has bad customers service and higher prices, I don’t understand why people buy their stuff from them.
The EB games facebook page is good for a laugh. If anyone wants to see people whine about how hard done by they are.