WARNING!!! Gripe Thread

[Brett's_daddy]

Okay, here's my gripe. I have been trying to buy my son a new Sony Playstation 5 for about 4 months now. I have spent countless hours tapping the refresh button on my browser, have about 6 or 8 app alerts letting me know when someplace is getting more in stock and all to no avail. When stores get these in online they sell out in 2 seconds...yeah, you heard that right, by the time you click refresh again they are all gone. Sometimes it'll let you "add to cart" but another message will pop up saying the item hasn't really been added to your cart and due to high demand they are making you go through an additional step and waiting for the "add to cart" button to go active again before adding it to your cart for real but they never do. It just sells out again. People are using these illegal "bot" computer programs which are algorithms designed to scan every millisecond for anyplace that has these consoles in stock and immediately adds like 5 or 6 to their cart after which these scumbags turn around and sell a $500 video game system for $1,000 to $1,500...and they are getting those prices. That's how insanely popular this console is, you'd have a better chance at winning the MegaMillions then buying a PS5 at a store. I'm just going off on this now because I just got an alert that Walmart had them in stock today at 3pm and after trying 3 different times (the store release their stock in 10 minute waves) and having it sold out by the time my brain finished processing the refresh button push to my finger I just got really irritated and had to air my gripe out  .

[Sir Shamsalot]

I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat. Turns out there's a microchip shortage about. Car manufacturers have had to halt production on vehicles because of it. I imagine it's effecting products all over.

[Brett's_daddy]

9 minutes ago, Sir Shamsalot said:

I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat. Turns out there's a microchip shortage about. Car manufacturers have had to halt production on vehicles because of it. I imagine it's effecting products all over.

I think it's more of a supply/demand issue here. With so many people forced to stay at home because of COVID (especially kids) the video game industry has never been so booming. Sony sold 10 million units between is launch date of November 12th and the end of 2020. A possible silver lining is that Sony has said they plan on sending 16 - 18 million units to the U.S. this year. I already told my son that we'll just have to wait it out and hopefully in a few months the newness will wear off and everyone who wanted one initially will have one and the stores will actually start stocking them IN STORE instead of online only OR Sony will just flood the market with them and scalpers will give up buying all they can because everyone who wants one will be able to get one themselves!!!

[gim]

I was going to buy one myself with some fantasy football winnings and recently realized that it will be virtually impossible to find one at MSRP.  I was going to trade in all my PS4 games, console, and controllers too at Gamestop.  I'm not buying one on ebay for 1000 bucks.

[Choporoz]

Take him fishing instead?

[Brett's_daddy]

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

Take him fishing instead?

Oh I do but he isn't interested in ice fishing and we've got nothing but hard water right now where we live.

[JohnFromLisbon]

Still waiting, too. Stay strong, don't give in, don't let the scalpers win.

 

Also, it's been so cold that my PS4 hasn't sounded like a 747 when booting up Red Dead Redemption for a while now.

[Brett's_daddy]

1 minute ago, JohnFromLisbon said:

Stay strong, don't give in, don't let the scalpers win.

I refuse!!! No way I'm paying a scalper one red cent. I thought I found a legitimate guy selling one just before Christmas...lucky thing I paid using PayPal as he was a scammer and I reported it to PayPal and got my money back...what a lowlife!!!

[JohnFromLisbon]

4 minutes ago, Brett's_daddy said:

I refuse!!! No way I'm paying a scalper one red cent. I thought I found a legitimate guy selling one just before Christmas...lucky thing I paid using PayPal as he was a scammer and I reported it to PayPal and got my money back...what a lowlife!!!

 

Good thing you used PayPal. It's always a risk, but it's one of the best things you can do.

 

I had no idea the demand for the PS5 would be this big, it's insane. But yeah, I'll wait a while longer for sure, and to be honest none of the next gen games that have come out since launch has really made me go "WOW". Maybe when Gran Turismo comes out later this year

[Deeare]

I heard theres a shortage of games also?    Is that true?

[Michigander]

They are using bots to get alerts and make purchases, you have little chance of beating them without a bot of your own until the supply grows enough that there's enough for everyone.

[CountryboyinDC]

I ran into this back in the spring - suddenly we were at home all day every day and I needed something for my 7 year old to do when I needed to focus on work.  I bought a Nintendo Switch for $475 from scalpers and the Ring Fit Adventure game for $130.  I probably had some not-so-nice thoughts about the scalpers.  Once the Playstation 5 came out, Nintendo Switch is in plentiful supply with deals to be had.  Do I wish I had waited?  No, it was something that I could give him to do when I and my wife both had an important meeting that couldn't be interrupted.  

3 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Take him fishing instead?

I like that notion.  Are you volunteering?  I'll bring him by, his own kayak and all?.  To set expectations, his attention span is slightly less than a fruit fly.

[NYWayfarer]

Hindsight being 20/20 a preorder would have helped. It’s the best way to reserve one of these machines. Once on the market it’s like an old west shootout to get one.

 

My suggestion would be to try Walmart or Target. My wife and I were lucky enough to get the new X-Box the day it was released at Walmart. 

[Brett's_daddy]

57 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Hindsight being 20/20 a preorder would have helped. It’s the best way to reserve one of these machines. Once on the market it’s like an old west shootout to get one.

 

My suggestion would be to try Walmart or Target. My wife and I were lucky enough to get the new X-Box the day it was released at Walmart. 

Oh believe me, I am kicking myself for not pre-ordering. I try ALL of the web sites, Walmart, Target, Gamestop, Best Buy, Newegg...all of them to no avail.

15 hours ago, Deeare said:

I heard theres a shortage of games also?    Is that true?

I hadn't heard that. The games seem to be readily available both online and in stores.

15 hours ago, JohnFromLisbon said:

to be honest none of the next gen games that have come out since launch has really made me go "WOW"

Demons Souls looks awesome and I've heard it's an incredible game. The rest of the games have PS4 versions as well, my son got the new Spiderman:Miles Morales game from Santa and he loves it (it is pretty darned cool).

[J Francho]

Buy him a book instead.

[TnRiver46]

11 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Buy him a book instead.

Do you give out apples and toothbrushes at Halloween too??

[J Francho]

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Do you give out apples and toothbrushes at Halloween too??

When I run out of candy, they get cig butts.

[DitchPanda]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

When I run out of candy, they get cig butts.

Atta boy get em started young...teach em brand loyalty.

[Brett's_daddy]

3 hours ago, J Francho said:

Buy him a book instead.

Oh he has plenty of those too but have you ever tried telling your 10 year old to put down the video games and go read a book...lol. I try numerous times and sometimes it works but most often I'd have to pry the controller out of his hands :).

[J Francho]

32 minutes ago, Brett's_daddy said:

have you ever tried telling your 10 year old to put down the video games and go read a book...

I'm on my 4th son dude.  Put your dad pants on.

[NYWayfarer]

9 hours ago, J Francho said:

When I run out of candy, they get cig butts.

When I ran out of candy I gave loose change. I knew I was old when a kid gave me a side eye and asked “where’s the folding money?”

[Brett's_daddy]

Let's keep this thread active, if any of you who are also trying to get a PS5 actually gets one post it here to give us unlucky dogs who are still trying some hope .

[gim]

Well I decided to buy a couple of new PS4 games instead.

 

Books? I don’t think so...

[moguy1973]

It's not just PS5's and XBoxes.  All higher end gaming equipment is in short stock due to scalper and bots.  High end PC parts like CPUs and graphics cards are pretty much no where to be found for retail prices.  We can thank bitcoin miners for that. They use bots to buy up all the stock so they can data mine for bitcoin.  Even used parts are higher than they were this time last year.  I built a new gaming PC with mid-upper end parts and it cost be about $1200 back in April.  If I would build a similarly spec-ed computer now it would be closer to $2000.

[Jrob78]

This has been going on in the shoe industry for years. Most online stores have tried to put in safeguards to work around it but the bots still get through. It's incredibly frustrating to not be able to get something and then see someone post 40 or 50 pair on instagram that are going straight to resell.