Best Buy's Phony PC Game Black Friday Sale

[XPostFacto]

I recently read that Best Buy would be offering Assassins Creed IV, Black Flag for $34.99 for Black Friday. The game, being new, normally sells for $59.99 everywhere else. I arrived at Best Buy but couldn't find the game, anywhere in the store. There were many copies for the various console games, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox 1, WII, Nintendo, etc, but none could be found for the PC. I asked one of the clerks whether there were any more copies that hadn't been put out yet. He went in the back and looked on the inventory list. He came back with the story that only 1 PC game was ever ordered and that copy was already sold. What? The Best Buy website advertised the game for $34.95. So this is how the store saves money on these chance of a lifetime sales. Don't offer too many copies so you don't lose too much money. Or is someone subtly phasing out PC games and quietly steering everyone over to console games? That advertisement was as phony as they could get. I spied Mass Effect 3 for $9.99. I briefly thought of buying it just to satisfy my urge for a new game, but I just put it back on the shelf. I had driven 40 miles for Assassins Creed, Black Flag, not Mass Effect. I suppose the only way I can get the game is on line, something I had not wanted to do because by the time I pay the shipping, I will have paid $59.99 and then some. I suppose I will wait a year or so. Besides, I have just ordered the first 3 Assassins Creed games for a bargain price of $51, trying to decide if the hype is worth the investment. I am trying to find a game similar to Skyrim. I'm getting tired of playing Skyrim for the 15th time. Is Assassins Creed IV that game? Looks like I will never know.

 

[Moonglow]

Tiddlywinks are still popular.

 

[XPostFacto]

Tiddlywinks are still popular.

I think I will go back to playing on line chess. It stimulates my mind, more.

 

[syrenn]

I recently read that Best Buy would be offering Assassins Creed IV, Black Flag for $34.99 for Black Friday. The game, being new, normally sells for $59.99 everywhere else. I arrived at Best Buy but couldn't find the game, anywhere in the store. There were many copies for the various console games, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox 1, WII, Nintendo, etc, but none could be found for the PC. I asked one of the clerks whether there were any more copies that hadn't been put out yet. He went in the back and looked on the inventory list. He came back with the story that only 1 PC game was ever ordered and that copy was already sold. What? The Best Buy website advertised the game for $34.95. So this is how the store saves money on these chance of a lifetime sales. Don't offer too many copies so you don't lose too much money. Or is someone subtly phasing out PC games and quietly steering everyone over to console games? That advertisement was as phony as they could get. I spied Mass Effect 3 for $9.99. I briefly thought of buying it just to satisfy my urge for a new game, but I just put it back on the shelf. I had driven 40 miles for Assassins Creed, Black Flag, not Mass Effect. I suppose the only way I can get the game is on line, something I had not wanted to do because by the time I pay the shipping, I will have paid $59.99 and then some. I suppose I will wait a year or so. Besides, I have just ordered the first 3 Assassins Creed games for a bargain price of $51, trying to decide if the hype is worth the investment. I am trying to find a game similar to Skyrim. I'm getting tired of playing Skyrim for the 15th time. Is Assassins Creed IV that game? Looks like I will never know.

the devil is in the details.... don't tell me you never heard of "availability limited to stock on hand"


next time get in line and camp out for a few days.........

 

[XPostFacto]

the devil is in the details.... don't tell me you never heard of "availability limited to stock on hand"


next time get in line and camp out for a few days......... [/COLOR]

If that is the case, the website should have indicated as much. Now, since the game was just released November 19, one would think that more than one copy would have been ordered to meet the demand. No, it is as I feared, somebody wants PC games to go away. You can't even find the game in Gamestop. They just tell me that I should download it. Well, I want it on a CD so I can install it on any PC. If I download it, it gets installed immediately.

 

[syrenn]

it is just a game

you will live.

 

[Ringel05]

Don't know about Best Buy but my wife and her friend were checking out Amazon's Black Friday deals. Apparently Amazon would post a sale for 2 to 4 seconds before pulling it. She said you should have seen the comments left by hopeful shoppers, they were not happy with Amazon.

 

[XPostFacto]

Don't know about Best Buy but my wife and her friend were checking out Amazon's Black Friday deals. Apparently Amazon would post a sale for 2 to 4 seconds before pulling it. She said you should have seen the comments left by hopeful shoppers, they were not happy with Amazon.

I fear it's the old bait and switch game, where they lure you in and hope you will buy something else. I noticed the cop car in front of Best Buy but never saw the cop inside the store. No wonder people get in fist fights over the merchandise, especially if there is only one item offered.

 

[XPostFacto]

it is just a game

you will live.

If I wait a couple years from now, I can probably get it for $9.99. Yet, it took a long time before Skyrim dropped $20 lower in price.

 

[Dot Com]

driving 80 miles round trip for a $20 savings doesn't seem like a "deal of a lifetime" to me. Plus, websites often carry items that stores don't. I always call ahead to verify availability or put on hold and get a name if something is that far away

 

[XPostFacto]

driving 80 miles round trip for a $20 savings doesn't seem like a "deal of a lifetime" to me. Plus, websites often carry items that stores don't. I always call ahead to verify availability or put on hold and get a name if something is that far away

I choose to live in a remote area, but I am also retired. I might drive somewhere once or twice a week, and most of the time I don't drive for several weeks. Since I am pretty well self-contained, Friday's drive just qualified for my once in a two-week drive so I haven't lost much in that deal. Look at the value it gave my truck at keeping my battery charged. I'm still saving a lot of gas not driving.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Don't know about Best Buy but my wife and her friend were checking out Amazon's Black Friday deals. Apparently Amazon would post a sale for 2 to 4 seconds before pulling it. She said you should have seen the comments left by hopeful shoppers, they were not happy with Amazon.

I can verify this.
My wife wants a laptop. At 12:00am they offered a pretty decent Dell for I think it was $249.
She waited up for it...logged on at 12:00am...by the time she logged on it said "no longer available" - it was literally like 12:00:20 am