The Waiting Game

This week I planned to hammer on about the awesomeness of Gears of War 3 however I haven't been to play it yet.

Instead, I've been playing the waiting game with JB Hifi. You see I was given a voucher two months ago and I figured their online preorder option was a convenient service, with free delivery being a big bonus.

I figured wrong.

Six days after release I'm still sitting in anticipation next to the letterbox. I'm hoping it will come tomorrow. In the mean time I'm stuck with friends talking about it on Facebook as well as feeds from the official Xbox Facebook page and info and ads at almost every turn on the web.

Furthermore, when it was ordered back in July, I paid $99 for it. When it was released last week, the standard edition was priced at $69. JB are yet to get back to me about refunding the price difference. The site claims to refund any price difference however in my case it's not a straight reimbursement to a credit card as I used a voucher which I no longer have. I'm hoping there will be another voucher in the package on Monday...if it arrives then.

The reason I'm so skeptical about speedy delivery is because I ordered two cds at the same time as Gears, without knowing the preorder offer was shithouse. The first cd came two weeks after its release. Initially the order was lost then after a complaint it was found and sent. The other cd is due Monday. Let's see if they can get one out of three correct.

The thing that annoys me the most is that it's JB Hifi. If it were Big W or Wow Sight and Sound I wouldn't be so disappointed but because it's JB and I'm a huge advocate for the business, this experience is really making me dislike them. I don't understand how a prominent Australian company can't get their act together and ensure timely and reliable delivery. If each store is able to have their copies for sale by the release date, why can't preorders be filled on or a day after release? Why is it taking six days for a package to be sent from Melbourne to Brisbane?

Anyway I've learnt my lesson and will now only purchase in store. Has anyone else had a poor preorder experience?