I should just stop preordering games.
I don't wanna rewrite it all so I'm gonna c/p from twitter: (I should add it is expanded from my Twitter posts since character limits blow)
Well @bestbuy just lost my business. Pre-ordered a game releasing 3/26, they put a hold on my debit card for $160 on 12/30 when i placed the order.
Release hold a week later. Then, Re-add hold out of the blue today, I get hit with an overdraft fee because I hadn't counted on an extra $160.49 charge.
Try to cancel order.No go. So I call them.
Spend total 45 min. on hold.
Finally get a hold of someone and am told that my bank must have released the hold and that they will place the hold again...til whenever the game gets released. FUCK THAT STATIC!
Cancelled order finally. So now I'm pissed cause I wanted the xbox version because I want to play with a controller and its up in the air right now if the PC version will have controller support....BUT I'm Ordering the PC version instead from @gamestop because I REALLY want the Collector's Edition, (it is sold out for Xbox and even PS3 everywhere), even though the thought of playing with a Kb/M is not a very pleasant one for me as I have difficulty with Kb/M controls (yeah yeah, laugh or diss me if you like. I like my controllers)
Fuck you muchly @bestbuy for shitty practices. won't see a dime from me again.
So..my track record with pre-orders is not good...
Pre-order Gears of War 3 Epic Edition from Amazon with release day delivery. get it 2 days later.
Pre-order Borderlands 2 Ultimate Loot Chest Edition from Amazon, day before release they give me a bunch of bullshit about my form of payment, (even though I had the money and then some available) claimed they couldn't do a thing about it, gave me a fuck you and cancelled my order.
So I vow NO MORE AMAZON PRE-ORDERS!!!! (feel free to peruse that line of crap)
Pre-Order from Best Buy...now this shit.
Apparently Pre-orders and me are a no go. FML
So after that disaster I went to bed royally pissed.
This morning I had a tweet, i go look and read this:
@sihayathefremen I'm sorry this pre-order has been a mess for you. Could you email you order # and details to twitter@Bestbuy.com? ^DN
— Best Buy Support (@BestBuySupport) January 12, 2013
Now I know and you know that this will solve nothing but at least I can give them a piece of my mind.
So I wrote them a lil email about the incident:
After talking to an extremely rude woman on the phone (not the first time, the first person was nice but the call got disconnected. I called back got someone else and she was nasty as hell), spending a combined 45 minutes on hold and watching charges bounce in and out of my bank acct repeatedly, I really think this issue is over and done. Your business practices suck and I don't get to but the game I wanted. I lose my game and you lose $150 of my money.
However, since I was asked to email support after I vented on Twitter, i will go through the situation again.
On December 30th I pre-ordered Bioshock Infinite Ultimate Songbird Edition for Xbox. I usually pre-order games from Amazon or Gamestop, places that do not charge for a game until its released and ready to ship which in this case would be March 26th. sadly, Gamestop was old out of the xbox version of the game, so, I went with the only place that had it, Best Buy.
Shortly after I place the order I go to my bank acct to check my balances before purchasing other things and I see a pending charge for $160.49 from Best Buy, I was kind of pissed to see it there at first but then figured, what the hell, the money is there, might as well do it now so I don't have to worry about it in March.
The order never cleared though. It was pending for over a week and then was gone. I was kinda confused but figured that it was just a temporary hold to verify form of payment and all that, waited a couple days and nothing. No charge, no email, nothing so, i figured, hey great, a bit more money for groceries.
Last night I log into my bank acct and it says my checking has gone from over $250 to $0. I go look and there's a $160.49 pending charge from Best Buy.
I think to myself, I can transfer money from my other accounts to cover this but...this is bullshit, Why am I being charged. To hell with it, I'd rather leave my little bit of savings there so I can get emergency stuff than use it to pay best buy for a game that wont release til March, one they already held money for and the fees my bank will charge me as well.
I try to cancel the order, but since i had been sent the code to some awful flash game as part of the promotion I'm told I can't cancel. So I call. spend some time on hold. Get transferred to a nice lady, try to explain the situation, she tells em to hold one a sec, call gets disconnected. I call back and get put on hold again, says hold time is 5 minutes, but it was closer to 20. Finally someone picks up and mumbles a paragraph of gibberish at the speed of light. I can't understand a word, so I tell her "I did not get a word of that" She sighs heavily and starts the mumbling again, slightly slower. I stop her halfway through tell her i dont really care about all that and explain why I called.
She rudely explains to me that "ma'am you weren't charged, we just put a hold on your card" yes I get that but the hold was released, why is it back again?
"Ma'am we didnt release it your bank must have." Ok but why would you charge me NOW for a game that will arrive in MARCH?
"Ma'am we didn't CHARGE you, we PUT A HOLD on your card." Can I use the money during this HOLD? No? then it might as well be a charge. so why are you HOLDING my money for months? For an item that doesn't exist yet?
"We put a HOLD as soon as you buy it, until we charge it" I understand that for a regular order, I order you check I have the money and hold it, you ship and charge, I get my item. But this is a pre-order for something that isnt physically anywhere yet. It already got pushed from February to March, it could easily be pushed back again. You plan on HOLDING my money on and off til whenever it releases? How does that make sense.
Apparently somehow my cancellation had magically worked by this point and I say "I just cancelled something I really wanted, obviously I wanted it, I preordered a $150 videogame. but I cancelled it because out of the blue you put a damn charge on my bank acct. which is ridiculous."
Her charming reply was "Ma'am that's not my department, if you want to place an order i can transfer you to sales" Wait what? Who said anything about placing an order? You just screwed me with the one I had placed. Not your department? then why have you been giving me attitude for 15 minutes?
So apparently, If I pre-order from Best Buy, you will hold the money for however the hell long the time between my order and release is, whether its 3 days or 3 years. My bank obviously felt that was bullshit since you're charging me for something that isnt there. Yeah call it a "hold" all you want, if its deducting money from my acct, its a damn charge. So without warning or explanation you place a "hold' on my acct again, causing me to have a negative balance in my acct.
At the end of all this I'm left with a nasty taste in my mouth, a lot of time wasted last night, smoking too many cigarettes while talking to a snotty bitch on the phone and NO Bioshock Infinite Ultimate Songbird Edition Pre-Order.
So Thank you for ensuring that this was my first and last time pre-ordering with you.
Gamestop might only have the PC version, which I didn't want because I want to use a controller in comfort because I have difficulties with a keyboard and mouse, but I'd rather suffer with the PC version to get my Songbird Edition and be charged when the game is actually releases, not months in advance. That is a shady nasty practice.
Also, you need to teach your Customer Service reps to speak clearly, we know you're reading a script, the least you can do though is try to sound like you still kinda give a shit about the customer. Don't talk over the customer, don't be rude, don't treat the customer like they are stupid. don't be condescending, because if you are, don't expect me to be nice. That woman was nasty, rude, loud, talked over me, refused to understand what I was saying, treated me as if i was stupid because I didn't "get" her explanation of "hold" (Oh I get it, I just think its bullshit) and basically is a walking example of what NOT to do as a customer service rep.
Your "hold" is bullshit, your rep is a bitch and I'm beyond pissed off. But hey, wow , don't I feel special ya'll replied to my tweet.
At the end of the day it means I either buy the PC version somewhere else.
Or let you guys "hold my money, but not really, but really, til mid-march which is DEFINITELY a no-go for me. Charge it or don't. This "hold" for a few months shit ain't gonna fly with me.
I am pissed, exhausted and sad that I would not be able to get my game but I considered the matter over and done.
After all, the pending charge was reversed on my acct. last night and all is as well as it can be.
Yeah right lmao
I log onto my bank acct (Ever since I had a mishap with some money not being deposited in time and ended up losing most of my savings to overdraft fees I have been fanatical about checking my bank acct 5 times a day, and before I make a single purchase) what do I find? The reversal is gone and the $160.49 is yet again pending for withdrawal. On an order that was canceled. on an order that STATED last night on my acct that it was pending reversal.
I call Best Buy..again.
Lady was nice this time but she at one point says to me "I see on your acct that they have had the charge pending and removed 4 times to your acct since you placed it." WHAT? also "it shows it is cancelled, it should be gone from your bank as well" DOUBLE WHAT?
She then asks me "didn't the email you got when you place the order explain the pre-order policy?" No, no it did not. merely confirmed I placed an order. So I ask for clarification.
Yes indeed. Best buy will put a pending charge hold on your card continuously til the item is ready to ship. So hey! pre-order the Japanese Duke Nukem Forever (FF13 Versus) from them and you''ll have a weekly charge added and removed for the next 20 years.
But I had already cancelled my order, I just wanted the damn charge removed.
She couldn't help me, so back on hold for a manager.
Fifteen minutes later, get a manger. Give up on even bothering with anything relating to the game, just stick to the hold on my acct. Explain it 5 times and she says they show my order canceled. So it shouldnt be pending. I'm like "well thats all well and good but its in my bank acct."
She asks for my bank's number and calls. I'm on hold for another 15 minutes. She comes back and says the bank needs me to participate in the conversation and give them info. She puts me on conference.
I get grilled with questions. Bank says they can only answer my questions not Best Buy's. Ok. I explain the situation AGAIN. She says she cant help but will transfer us to someone who can.
Now me AND Best Buy lady are on hold together, for 20 minutes. Finally get someone, give her my info, explain i want the charge off, she tells me she can't help me. I say "WTF? I have best buy on the phone here too and we were told you could fix this. Best Buy lady speaks up and bank chick tells her she cant talk to her while I'm on the call. Best Buy chick is now pissed too says the other woman requested I be in the call. Bank woman is adamant, gives best buy chick a phone number to call WITHOUT me.
Best buy chick tells me she will call the bank deal with this and call me back. I say ok. After another 15 minutes or so she calls back saying the bank says I don'r have a hold anymore, all solved.
I log into my bank....
Best Buy Richfield Pending $160.46
ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
No Bioshock Infinite
No Money in the bank
Hours of my time wasted
FUCK YOU BOTH BEST BUY AND WELL'S FARGO!
you know, when I pre-order from Amazon, they don't hold anything, they don't even charge until they get ready to ship. Even if I ordered a year previous.
If I pre-order at Gamestop, they don't hold anything, they don't charge til they get ready to ship, no matter when i pre-order.
But Best Buy puts a hold on your card until the game is ready to be charged and shipped, regardless how much time will pass between pre-order and release.
Bunch of Bullshit.
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