In Australia EB games apparently have some sort of exclusive deal with Nightfall for 7 days. The same thing happened with Factions.
EB are not common outside of capital cites, in fact the are only 3 EB shops in my state. The closest is 450km away.
One of the locals tried to organise some copies. EB will not ship us the game, they would not sell the pre-release separately to one of us who made the trip before Nightfall was available. Can't be there to put on a deposit for a CE, bad luck we won't reserve one. Our EBay copies haven't yet turned up either.
After Factions I was assured by email that this wouldn't happen again?
The rest of the world gets it on the 27th of October. We have to wait till the 2nd of November? We can't get the CE at all?
http://www.gameswarehouse.com.au/lon...p?gameid=13608
http://www.aussiegamer.com.au/catalo...y-p-16587.html
http://www.cheapgames.com.au/guild-w...ll-p-1289.html
http://www.gamehead.com.au/product.php?productid=91506
Australians Shafted Again?
Hodor
Seissor
Not common outside capital cities>? I live in townsville, the arsehole of north queensland and we have two stores.
gamehead also do pre-orders
gamehead also do pre-orders
BerryRacer
Same with New Zealand, no EB anywhere close to us down in Central otago, south island.
Gamesman and Game planet are the only two online stores i know of, both have no CE and have NF due on the second :/
Gamesman and Game planet are the only two online stores i know of, both have no CE and have NF due on the second :/
Crowell The Fallen
Indeed. Its not bad enough that Nightfall and Factions was sold exclusively through EB, but the customer service i had was terrible.
I also live quite far from an EB store. So, when i was trying to get a copy of the Prerelease bonus pack i tried calling them. First off, they wouldnt let me have the bonus pack without buying the game too, which meant i actually wouldnt recieve the bonus pack or the game until the game was actually released. They also wanted me to pay upfront, and then have to wait patiently for it. And when i mentioned that they had it advertised on their website as SOLD SEPERATELY, they hung up on me. Without another word, they put the phone down.
Of all the stores in Australia to give exclusive rights to, why did it have to be EB? The worst expirience of customer service i have ever seen.
I decided to get the game and pre release pack from America instead, as i am disgusted at EB and never intend on buying from them ever again.
Why would i want to support a company that hangs up on me for requesting a product on their own website?
I also live quite far from an EB store. So, when i was trying to get a copy of the Prerelease bonus pack i tried calling them. First off, they wouldnt let me have the bonus pack without buying the game too, which meant i actually wouldnt recieve the bonus pack or the game until the game was actually released. They also wanted me to pay upfront, and then have to wait patiently for it. And when i mentioned that they had it advertised on their website as SOLD SEPERATELY, they hung up on me. Without another word, they put the phone down.
Of all the stores in Australia to give exclusive rights to, why did it have to be EB? The worst expirience of customer service i have ever seen.
I decided to get the game and pre release pack from America instead, as i am disgusted at EB and never intend on buying from them ever again.
Why would i want to support a company that hangs up on me for requesting a product on their own website?
Hodor
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Seissor
Not common outside capital cities>? I live in townsville, the arsehole of north queensland and we have two stores.
gamehead also do pre-orders |
Terra Xin
Quote:
| What does that have to do with us in SA? Gamehead release date, 2/11/06. |
I reckon it just comes down to bad customer service, because it's clearly different between other EB stores.
Hodor
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Terra Xin
Since when did SA refer to Australia? You can always rename your thread title...
I reckon it just comes down to bad customer service, because it's clearly different between other EB stores. |
Brother Redmund
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Terra Xin
I reckon it just comes down to bad customer service, because it's clearly different between other EB stores.
|
I live in regional QLD, there are 2 EB games stores in town. The guys were helpful, rang me when the pre-order came in, collected that at no addditional cost (provided I had put a deposit on NF), then they rang me on the 25th October to say that NF has arrived. The let me pick it up prior to the "release date" of the 27th, and simply said bear in mind the servers won't be live until the afternoon of that Friday.
It seems more an issue of the kind of service being received locally as opposed to a nationwide shafting.
Hodor
I think you guys are missing the main point from our pov. The EB exclusive for 7 days. We can't GET the game locally. The EB service completely a side issue.
Chuck Norris
Heh I guess I was lucky then, EB Games is like a 10 minute drive from my place and I was called at like 9am in the morning on the 27th because my copy of the CE had arrived 
Hodor
Well, now it's the 3rd of October and well STILL can't get Nightfall locally. The exact same problem happened with Factions, it took nearly 3 weeks after release for any local shops to get copies.
lg5000
I'd be interested in how many European countries the same thing happens.. out in the country, not in the main cities, because as far as I'm aware, the main cities in Australia managed to get copies of both the standard and ce version of nightfall. (I'm in canberra, I got both before release date and the ce wasn't a pre-order.. for the pre-order, I got a phone call 3 days prior to release that its in)
Sekkira
I strolled in and picked up the CE no problems on Friday 27th.
xiao1985
sorry to hear that...
hated local eb (at sydney, won't name the store, but i am sure i won't visit that store ever again) but i did pick up my NF CE on 26th
as far as i heard, you do need to pre-order to get the pre-order pack... i think minimum deposit is 10bucks...
hated local eb (at sydney, won't name the store, but i am sure i won't visit that store ever again) but i did pick up my NF CE on 26th
as far as i heard, you do need to pre-order to get the pre-order pack... i think minimum deposit is 10bucks...
Trvth Jvstice
Wow! I thought Austrailians were too busy protecting themselves from the 10 most poisonous animals on the planet to be playing games. j/k
I'm sorry I didn't read the "Anet hates Austrailians" post that lasted for weeks earlier this year. But, it's obvious that either Anet or one of it's distributers has a deal with eb that put the dollar (or pound in your case I guess) ahead of the player.
I haven't figured out how eb could increase their profit by delaying the NF release, but I'm sure someone has a theory.
I'm sorry I didn't read the "Anet hates Austrailians" post that lasted for weeks earlier this year. But, it's obvious that either Anet or one of it's distributers has a deal with eb that put the dollar (or pound in your case I guess) ahead of the player.
I haven't figured out how eb could increase their profit by delaying the NF release, but I'm sure someone has a theory.
nossac
Tine for an update....
Australia hasn't used pounds for ages...
We have a dollar and cents system as well...
Australia hasn't used pounds for ages...
We have a dollar and cents system as well...
lg5000
nossac, true.. but if you go to the online gw store, you get to pay in pounds if you're in Australia.. or did when I tried a while ago, not sure if they fixed it and are now letting us pay in Euro like our NZ counterparts.
kang
I live in Australia, and I got the CE 3 days BEFORE release, because the servers didnt open before then EB just let me have it......
and I dont live in a capital city
and I dont live in a capital city
Bowman Artemis
3 stores I know of in my city, got my CE 3 days before release and I am officially in a regional area. It depends on the individual store. This is EB btw. No EB for 450kms? Where do you live?!? You've gotta be out west somewhere.
Ghost_Stalker
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by kang
I live in Australia, and I got the CE 3 days BEFORE release, because the servers didnt open before then EB just let me have it......
and I dont live in a capital city |
Hand of Shiva
I'm sorry to hear our gaming brothers and sisters down under are having problems with getting their games in. I use to work for an EB here in the states and honestly what people are saying is true, it does depend store to store and on the store managers on the customer service. Also for some reason shipping of games are really sporadic. Some locations will get a ton of the item and others will get 0-1 copies of the item. I suggest for you folks who are having problems with customer service at your local EB call their headquarters or write a complaint email to their offices. Regional Managers are loathe to let customer service slide and I'm sure your problems will be addressed.
The reserve policy of EB is also that you put down some of the payment towards the item you wish to purchase. At no time prior to picking up your merchandise do you have to pay in full for the item. (There was an incident with the PS2 shortage in which those who had paid in full got their item before those that hadn't, but that was a store manager call not a corporate call.) However, with certain pre order items that you may see advertised they are not always garunteed (unless otherwise stated by a local ad that does not say "At partcipating locations only"), so preordering doesn't always mean you'll get your free tshirt etc. although most places are pretty good about giving you the promo stuff. So next time take down the name of the person you talk with, ask for a manager, take down their name and when they tell you you need to have paid for it in full or hang up on you report their butt to corporate and see if it happens again .
The reserve policy of EB is also that you put down some of the payment towards the item you wish to purchase. At no time prior to picking up your merchandise do you have to pay in full for the item. (There was an incident with the PS2 shortage in which those who had paid in full got their item before those that hadn't, but that was a store manager call not a corporate call.) However, with certain pre order items that you may see advertised they are not always garunteed (unless otherwise stated by a local ad that does not say "At partcipating locations only"), so preordering doesn't always mean you'll get your free tshirt etc. although most places are pretty good about giving you the promo stuff. So next time take down the name of the person you talk with, ask for a manager, take down their name and when they tell you you need to have paid for it in full or hang up on you report their butt to corporate and see if it happens again
.
Hodor
Are GW releases an EB exclusive in any other country? Simply removing this problem would solve the issue we have here. I have access to game wholesale companies here, and they cannot get the game till weeks after release?
Hand of Shiva
Well my friend let me put it this way. I picked up 3 different CE's +3 different normal games at 6 different locations. So no here in the US there was no monoply on The nightfall release. Tons of places had em, infact three of the places I visited had CEs on the shelves still not just for prereserve.
darrylhaines
If I remember correctly, you guys can order games from Play.com as they deliver internationally.
As for the availabilty in Europe, here in the uk, as long as you have an internet connection you can order all your games online from countless stores.
Think of it as a trade off, you lot get the sun and not so good game availability, we get the rain and very, very good game availability
As for the availabilty in Europe, here in the uk, as long as you have an internet connection you can order all your games online from countless stores.
Think of it as a trade off, you lot get the sun and not so good game availability, we get the rain and very, very good game availability
Sakan
I love living within 30 minutes of 4 EB stores.
I had mine in my sweaty little hands 2 days before the server went up.
Couldn't you just buy a key online if you were that keen to get playing right away?
I had mine in my sweaty little hands 2 days before the server went up.
Couldn't you just buy a key online if you were that keen to get playing right away?
lg5000
I just realised what was wrong with your post...
Seriously though, I don't live in the middle of nowhere like you do, never have, never planning on doing so.. but.. isn't there a way that EB's can deliver? Alternativly, would you happen to have family members who live closer to EB's who could pick it up for you and express mail it to you?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Hodor
Our EBay copies haven't yet turned up either.
|
Hodor
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by lg5000
Seriously though, I don't live in the middle of nowhere like you do, never have, never planning on doing so.. but.. isn't there a way that EB's can deliver? Alternativly, would you happen to have family members who live closer to EB's who could pick it up for you and express mail it to you?
|
It's not really the middle of nowhere either, it's the second largest city in South Australia. There are 3 EBs in the whole of South Australia.
generik
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Terra Xin
Since when did SA refer to Australia? You can always rename your thread title...
I reckon it just comes down to bad customer service, because it's clearly different between other EB stores. |
Hand of Shiva
It just seems really weird to me that ANet or NCSoft would throttle the sale of their game by selling it through only one merchant (that being EB). Most companies attempt to saturate the market by having as many stores carry their product as possible. Even though I live in the states I totally agree with the folks saying that there should be more then EB carrying the game at launch if that's what's keeping my brothers down under from tearing it up in the digital world.
Zolderick
I was lucky to get my CE, it was the last one they had at EB