It can be difficult to sit here and feel aggrieved over the shambolic release of the 9th-gen consoles. I say that because the current climate has caused unfathomable shifts across every industry, affecting everything from production to the stocking of these now mythical items. It is very easy to sympathise from this perspective but is it all just a smokescreen for what is blatant anti-consumerism?
I.T infrastructure is no longer a blossoming sector and social media allows all companies, live and intuitive communication with its customers. So why are we left wholly in the dark by the mysterious nonchalance that these companies portray, in particularly vital times of customer communication.
The Setting
Here in the UK, we were informed of multiple retailers who would have launch day stock of the PlayStation 5. Not only that, but we were given actual times too. A welcome change from the initial pre-order stage from a couple of months ago. Sony had come out then and apologised for their lack of transparency and general communication.
Xbox Series X handled its pre-orders slightly better, but come launch day it was hectic, confusing, and very difficult to acquire one of the machines.
Things were looking good on the eve of the PS5 launch day. This time with actual time frames to visit certain retailers. This meant you should not have to sit and refresh furiously or sign up to multiple stock-informing Discord servers as you already know where and when to look.
The Old Run-around
Currys/PC World were one of many 9th-gen retailers that displayed horrendous communication inside and outside its organisation, as well as broken ordering systems and poor website infrastructure. Using Currys as the example here, they announced they would have stock of PlayStation 5’s at 9am, complete with a queue system to keep their website intact. So, I am sure you can imagine the confusion and panic when PS5s began being purchased from their site at 6am.
With widespread hysteria and a lack of any empathy or communication from Currys, it was soon announced that all these orders would be cancelled and eventually refunded as a “glitch” made the stock go on sale early. This would also force their 9am stock time to be postponed to 11am, which eventually resulted in Currys announcing that they have no stock.
A Communication Disasterclass
The customer support for Currys were telling people that their orders were fine, whilst others were saying that they would be cancelled. There were even some saying that Currys didn’t have any 9th-gen launch day stock to begin with. This was all reported via people in the trenches, trying to get their consoles. Screenshots of email threads, live chat tickets or even just public exchanges with customer support Twitter pages.
Again, not just with Currys, but every other retailer, communication was lax, and consumers ended up finding their 9th-gen stock alerts through third party companies. Ideally, these stock alerts shouldn’t be necessary, as these retailers should be communicating with their customers in the first place.
It wasn’t just Currys of course, with Smyths not even bothering to update people on their Xbox Series X orders until up to a week later. This is despite taking their money or setting up the direct debit for Xbox All Access.
Who Knew?
It might seem strange for me to home in on a single retailer, but this is what it was like for 95% of the companies that had PS5 stock. Even Amazon who had told everybody that their stock went live at 12pm, went completely silent before releasing its stock closer to 1:30pm. All complete with similar messy communication and contradictory messaging.
This date was known for a while. As was the knowledge that people were going to flood these sites. So why, in 2020, can’t multimillion-pound businesses invest in I.T infrastructure that allows them to cope with this kind of web traffic? Back in September, Smyths website went offline meaning consumers couldn’t purchase an Xbox Series X via the “Xbox All Access” method. This was a massive issue considering the only other retailer to offer this method of buying was GAME, who had also pulled their website due to incorrectly priced consoles.
Websites such as Very.co.uk, had no issues with their site going down and many were able to seamlessly secure their PlayStation there, if they were quick enough. Plus, GAME redeemed themselves by implementing an efficient queueing system that offered very long wait times but allowed stock to trickle out and be available for many hours.
The Real Scalpers
If you are one of the very select companies that have been chosen to stock PS5s then it should be your duty to ensure that the people who will be lining your pockets by buying these machines, can actually do so.
With scalping syndicates creating teams and communities to secure 3,500 PS5s at a time. Then the question lies with the companies that cannot seem to find professionals in this field, to develop queue systems or other security checks that stop this from happening.
As always, the target for both scalpers and retailers are one and the same. Make all the money possible, without spending anything you don’t need too.
The Saviours
There are a couple of companies that did things properly and burst any counters to the fact that these retailers are just lazy and didn’t do enough for their consumers for the respective 9th-gen launch days.
GAME is one. Despite some early problems with the Xbox Series X, come PS5 launch day they were excellent. Firstly, hosting a very efficient collection service for pre orders, which worked incredibly well given the fact the UK is in an unexpected second lockdown.
Secondly on launch day, they had brilliant communication on social media, outlining exactly when their online stock went live as well as keeping everyone up to date with stock levels. Their queue system meant over hour waits and it wasn’t without its frustrations for some, but at least this way the site stayed functional and stock stayed available for hours.
Also as mentioned earlier, Very.co.uk kept their website up with no problems. The actions of these companies prove that it is possible to invest in and develop systems that stop any abuse from resellers or general traffic.
Caught Red-Handed
It would be nice to sit here and evaluate the situation, but all the elephants in the room regarding COVID-19 and production just aren’t good enough excuses for many. The inability for companies to simply communicate with their customers and within themselves to ensure non contradictory messaging, is baffling. Not only this, but their lack of effort in procuring sophisticated I.T infrastructure is just not excusable in the modern age.
Resellers and scalpers ridicule us all by exploiting these elementary sites, removing stock from the hands of determined consumers, and flooding these websites with traffic.
Nobody is asking that everyone should get a 9th-gen console at launch. That is not possible. Especially not with COVID-19 and its effect on production. But that should not make us blind to the sheer lack of respect shown by these retailers and even more so by Sony and Microsoft themselves. Of course, COVID should be considered in these conversations, but many don’t see it as a valid excuse for the majority of these glaring issues in anti-consumerism.
