Who's To Blame For The Botched PS5 Launch?

The PS5 Was Supposed To Take Preorders Today, Instead Preorders Began Yesterday And Sold Out In 20 Minutes - At Most - But Not All Retailers. Is this Sony's fault - or the fault of bigbox stores like Amazon, Walmart, BestBuy, Target and many others?

I saw the news last night. Moments before then, I'd been blissfully unaware. I knew they were soon taking preorders, but I hadn't even watched the press conference because I've been so busy planning my wedding. I had joined Sony's email list in hopes of getting early access to the preorders, but was not one of the chosen ones to partake in Sony's direct preorder process.

I went to bed feeling a little down, but telling myself it was OK. I still had hoped maybe not everyone would be a dick and that someone would try to stick to Sony's plan.

I scanned social media looking for any signs of life. Amid brag posts, angry angsty posts, scalper posts, international preorders, and many others... I saw my glimmer of hope. Someone I don't even know, had posted that he got his at Sam's Club. The time stamp was 10 seconds ago (Hours ago now - As of this writing, Sam's Club has long since sold out). But that was it indeed - my chance - my opportunity.

I nervously typed in Sam's Club, hit the search bar for Playstation 5... and that it was. The more expensive model with the Disc drive - which was my preferred model because I have some blu rays and other things I use my PS4 to watch currently. I do buy most, but not all, of my games digitally these days, as it's more convenient, saves time, space (in my tiny apartment), prevents games from getting scratches, skipping, etc.

I added it to my cart... and since I wasn't a current member, they added on a sam's club membership. $50 and good for one year. I can also save money on gas and groceries so I decided this was fine. Plus still cheaper than the scalpers who are charging 800-1,000 for it already.

I completed my checkout and got my order confirmation. And my whole body trembled with fear, excitement, joy, happiness, nervousness, relief, just overwhelming emotions raced through my body like magnetic electricty.

I still couldn't believe it. Still didn't believe. Still don't believe it. I'm still in shock. Still doubtful that it could be mine.

My doubt comes from a few sources:

1.) Because it was a large purchase from a vendor I do not purchase from, my bank flagged it as fraud. I answered the phone and they told me to try again in 60 seconds, however, my existing order was still showing in Sam's Club and I didn't want to cancel it and risk messing up or missing out.

2.) Instead, after clearing things up with my bank, I began by contacting Sam's Club's online chat support. This person referred me to an order verification hotline. That's step 3.

3.) I called the order verification hotline. They told me to be on the lookout for an email I would have to click on to confirm my order in the next 48 hours. It has only been about 10 hours, so no email yet.

4.) While posting about my PS5 Preorder experience, the verified twitter blue check mark symbol official Sam's Club account DM'd me to help get to the bottom of what's going on. There was a few hours delay, but eventually they told me everything looked fine and that the order "went through" on their end and that it will be billed once it ships.

5.) This is all great news so far, but there is still doubt for a few more reasons...

6.) When PS4 was released Sam's Club screwed the pooch on that one and "mistakenly" took pre-orders online, when they actually were not selling the system at all online and only directly in-store. They gave some folks vouchers for their in-store pickups but obviously could not meet the supply and demand of the online orders they took. Although they were happy to bill new members for that $50 sam's club membership though lol.

7.) It's not just Sam's Club... Already the PS5 launch has been a fiasco, with items being ripped from people's carts. and orders canceled at all of the big box retailers I mentioned, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Gamestop, Amazon, etc.

8.) Until I get a tracking number that my PS5 has shipped I don't think I can truly relax and rest easy. But I will say so far Sam's Club's technical support team has been very polite, helpful, and reassuring. And I hope that it is as they say and I'm just being a paranoid little gamer girl over here lol.

How about you? Were you able to pre-order the PS5? Or maybe you have no interest in the system just yet with few true "exclusives". Most of its exclusives are a timed release that will later be on Xbox or PC. But I think we'll still see a lot of exclusive JRPGs which is my preferred genre. So for me it's a MUST OWN console.

In the meantime I have about 20-30 PS4 games I have either not played or barely played, and about 10-15 Nintendo Switch Games, and hundreds of PC games, in the "I bought this months ago, and haven't played it yet" category. LOL. So those will hold me over, until hopefully my PS5 ships. Fingers Crossed! And Good Luck on your search if you're still looking to get your hands on one.