I really wanted a PS5 and was super disappointed when I missed the pre-order window because I am on the East Coast and was asleep. I'd set aside money for it from my tax refund earlier in the year and game consoles are one of the few things that I'm willing to spend a little irresponsibly on because I use them quite a bit at least weekly if not daily. I understand some people like to wait and that's fine, but I enjoy experiencing a new console during launch window and going alone with the hype. After I didn't get a PS5 I set two rules for myself about trying to get one. I wasn't going to use a scalper and I wasn't going to buy anything that I wouldn't use as part of a bundle (Antonline, for example, sells a bundle with a PS4 copy of Last of Us Part II, which I've already bought digitally and beaten, and I never tried for those.) I've spent the last couple months monitoring Wario64's feed off and on and getting in the PS Direct queues and all that "fun" stuff and had the same experiences as everyone else in terms of getting consoles into a cart only to not be able to checkout etc... Finally on January 7th I saw a link to a Gamestop bundle that included a PS5 with disc drive, an extra controller, Demon's Souls, Miles Morales Ultimate, and a $20 Gamestop gift card, and even though it was almost $800 I took a shot and I managed to snag one. I told myself this was okay because I always like to have a second controller, Miles Morales Ultimate Edition and Demon's Souls were two games I planned to buy anyway (though I probably would have gotten them digitally) and the $20 gift certificate is...whatever. I can just use that the next time Gamestop has a sale on Xbox controllers or something else I'd use.

The order did not go smoothly. First my credit card got declined, not because I didn't have enough credit but because it somehow flagged as potentially fraudulent in the system, probably because it was my first order from Gamestop in many years and it was for a lot of money. Then Gamestop's website wouldn't let me put in a new credit card number because it's a terrible website. So I called and got a nice lady from the Indian subcontinent with limited English to run the card again, which was an ordeal, and after waiting nervously for a couple days hoping that they wouldn't just cancel the order they did charge me. The order said it was preparing for shipment and would ship on January 29, which was the date the website told me when I pre-ordered. Then Gamestop charged me for the whole order again, though it was only "pending" on my credit card. Then I got confirmation from Gamestop for my gift card for $792, which was, of course, not at all what I ordered. I figured that was just a typo so I ignored it hoping that they would sort their system out. Then I got a text from FedEx telling me I should expect a package last Sunday (the 17th) but when I checked my Gamestop order online it said it was still preparing for shipment so I ignored it thinking it might be a scam. I actually passed the FedEx guy as he was going into my building that day, but I was in a hurry and figured I didn't have a package anyway. It turns out I did because he left a door tag that said they'd come back Tuesday, but they actually came back on Monday instead and delivered my PS5, Demons' Souls, and the extra controller but no Miles Morales.

At this point I was very confused and decided to email Gamestop customer support to find out what was going on, why there was a duplicate charge on my credit card, why they hadn't sent me a shipment confirmation email and the order still said preparing for shipment when I already had it, where Miles Morales was (it wasn't on the packing list so they didn't just forget to include it) even though I'd been charged for it (in a separate charge from the charge for the package I received) and just what the hecking heck was going on with the order. I received back an email that told me that my gift certificate was actually for $20 and the $792 was just a typo in the email, but did not address any of the other questions. Great.

Eventually the duplicative charge was reversed off my credit card and even though the whole order except the gift certificate still says preparing for shipment I did get the Miles Morales Ultimate edition on the 23rd, so I have the entire order and I was charged the correct amount. All's well that ends well. Except that there's one additional charge for a penny separate from the charge for the gift certificate and the charges for the console package and Miles Morales (which were all charged separately for whatever reason; maybe because they shipped separately.) This was most likely a charge they sent after I asked them to run the card again to see whether it would be declined, and forgot to reverse. It's a penny so I don't really care, but I'm pretty irritated at how the whole thing was handled. Everything from how terrible their website is (tracking is wrong and wouldn't let me change my credit card online even though the email they sent me told me to do that) to the fact that they had duplicative charges on my card for a week, which stressed me out, to the customer service I received when I tried to figure out what was going on.

It's not worth my time to try to reverse the charge (typing all this up took some time but I needed to vent) and I don't want to antagonize them because I now have $20 store credit I have to spend at some point, but I'm very tempted to try to get the penny reversed on principle. Which I might actually do if it wasn't for the terrible customer service that would make that a nightmare. Which makes it feel like they're winning by providing bad customer service.

I know I'm lucky to have a PS5 considering how hard they are to get, and I guess I deserve what happened for buying something from Gamestop in 2021, but it baffles me how bad they are at online retail considering what a huge company they are and how much their stores are struggling right now. How is there a major retail website in 2021 that can neither take a replacement credit number nor provide accurate order tracking? How do you ship something like a PS5 without any shipping confirmation on the website or via email? How can you have a customer service contact form where the person answering it doesn't even attempt to answer the majority of the questions asked?

It's no secret that Gamestop is not the best company to deal with but I wasn't expecting the order to be this messy. In the end I got what I ordered and the penny doesn't matter, but it's probably the worst online retail experience I've had in a decade that wasn't an outright scam or package theft.

Even now, a week after getting my PS5 and having platinumed two games on it, my Gamestop order tracking says it's preparing to ship in 21 days. At this point I kind of hope it keeps that status forever.