Forum - View topicEarly Release Purchase Denied: Does this make sense to you?
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Jedi Master
 Posts: 400 |
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While at Best Buy today I looked up Code Geass R2 part 2 in their customer Kiosk and found that they had it in stock, even though the DVD wasn't supposed to be released until next week. After verifying with customer service that it was in stock, I was told that they would bring it out for me.
Some time later, the CS rep came back and told me that they couldn't sell it to me since the release wouldn't be until next week. Does it make sense for them to deny selling this to a customer after acknowledging that they had it in inventory? Was it unreasonable for me to expect that they would sell it to me early? |
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TJR
Posts: 223 |
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AFAIK, the rationale is that it's an unfair advantage to Best Buy if they start selling a product before all other retailers have received their shipments (hence the common release date).
It isn't really Best Buy's decision (they'd love to beat the competition to the punch) but rather that of the distributor. |
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quikbeam1
 Posts: 150 Location: Behind you |
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If best buy were to sell you a product that has not been released yet, they would be breaking contract with the company releasing the product, and would have to pay a very significant fine. Most releases actually arrive at stores much earlier than their release date, so what happened to you is not uncommon by any means, its just the way things work.
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DragonsRevenge
 Posts: 1150 |
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It's actually against the law for them to break Street Date. If it was out early, it was their fault.
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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My Best Buy sometimes puts anime out early and they don't have any problem selling it to me.
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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It's not unfair to ask them to break street date- many DVDs are sold earlier than the intended release date, especially smaller releases like, well, all of anime.
It's also not unfair for them to say no- techincally, they really aren't supposed to sell early. The idea is to give all retailers, regardless of size or shipping company of choice, to get stock and sell at the same time... everyone gets the same chance on the customers instead of the guy who can get his shipment first getting the lion's share. Chalk it up to an overworked employee trying to prepare for the biggest shopping day of the year making a small blunder, then correcting himself- and don't worry over it. (Now if it's been on the shelf or in your hand already, we'd have a whole 'nother beast.) |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8509 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I saw the first DBZ Dragon Box and the Rebuild of Evangelion 1.01 DVD in Best Buy a week before either were to be released.
This especially peeved me because I had pre-ordered the Dragon Box from Amazon, and a lot of folks were already receiving theirs, while mine had only just started shipping, despite me pre-ordering it way before most. Seeing it in Best Buy irritated the hell out of me, but I bought myself a copy of the Evangelion movie without any guilt. |
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TheTheory
 Posts: 1029 Location: Central PA |
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Pretty sure it isn't law--no one is going to call the cops and say "Such-and-such store has a new release on the shelf too early!" They'd laugh in their face. However, the distributors set the rules and they enforce them. If a store is caught breaking the rules the distributor can do all sorts of things--most frequently they'll not ship new product to the store until the actual release date. This is a killer, since that means the store often won't have new product on time. Therefore they lose out on the people who expect to purchase the item right away. As a consumer, I'll take advantage whenever I see that a store (usually out of ignorance rather than devious intent) has a product that I want out early. However, it is should not be held against a store for not selling a product that they show in their inventory if it isn't out yet. |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Just because they have it in inventory doesn't mean that they can sell it to you. Products are usually shipped out to stores weeks in advance before the release date to make sure there's time to get ready and adjust for any shipping or stocking mistakes. If one of these stores were to sell the product before the release date that would be in violation of their contract with the license holder, as others have said. You shouldn't expect Best Buy to do that. Now of course there are some cases where products are sold early by mistake but this is an exception, not the rule. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 4013 |
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As others have said, retailers can get fined by the manufacturer if the manufacturer finds out that they sold an item before its street date. I remember a few years ago, the local Best Buy got fined by Sony when they released the ethernet adaptor for the PS 2 a week early. In addition to the fine, they were also not shipped the restock of the adaptor after it sold out.
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Heck I seemed to have the best luck in always finding stuff at Best Buy (when I bought more anime) at least 1 week early. Sometimes up to 2 weeks early, or even sometimes just a day early.
I think it really depends on who the merchandiser is at the store, and if they pay attention to the street dates for anime. The main thing about some anime, is that they sometimes push back the street date, but have shipped some of the product to the stores. As far as requesting they go to the back to look for stuff they say they have. I have had them do that as well, sometimes they find it and bring it out, and other times they say they can't find it. If the computer said that it was in stock, and they had it in the back, then ask for a manager, because that is false advertising. Sometimes though when it says the item is in stock at a certain store, it does not mean that the store will actually have it. Because somebody else may have reserved a copy, or they only had 1 copy, and somebody else got it. It really depends also on when they get a shipment/truck of stuff. Some of them get it in the morning, while others get it later in the afternoon. With anime I don't think there is as much "pressure" from the companies to put it on the shelf on the release date as say a mainstream movie (especially Lucas stuff). Heck I am sure they are happy to sell a DVD at any point, even if it is "early". |
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luffypirate
 Posts: 3187 |
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That's happened to me before at Suncoast and Fry's. I forget what title but they wouldn't let me buy it. Might have been Paradise Kiss? Weird thing is I got the first volume of Gunbuster 2 from Suncoast two weeks early and they actually honored the first week sale price for it..
 Guess it works both ways.
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TheTheory
Posts: 1029 Location: Central PA |
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WHAT? No it isn't. You could maybe maybe try to argue that if the computer was one that the public could use (ala the kiosks in Barnes and Noble) as opposed to a staff computer... but even then it is pretty well assumed that stock numbers aren't gospel. No manager would sell product before the release date if the item was in the back simply based on "but the computer said it was here." Really, the only time a "false advertising" complaint has any validity is when either a. the customer is told something by the store/employee to bring them into a store, only to find out that that isn't the case (something that happens with frequency--not due to evil intent on the store's part, but just because miscommunication is really easy) or b. when the customer is told something that relates to them getting ripped off... either at the cash register (ex: a sign says that a DVD is $19.99, but it rings up at $26.99... again, rarely malicious on the part of the store, and hopefully either the customer or cashier catch the mistake)... or in terms of misplaced expectations for what the product is/contains (ex: DVD has a bonus CD packaged with it and the store clerk says that it is a music CD, but it turns out to be a CD-ROM). |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Yeah, false advertising wouldn't fly. Inventory systems just tell you the product is registered as present, the system itself is no guarantee the product will be present, nor do the companies claim it as such. On top of that, if you look up any of these products on their site or those listed in their ads, it will clearly specify the products release date and that the product will not be available for purchase until that date. For this product, the site clearly shows it's pre-order only right now, and it lists a release of 12/1. If that site lied to you then you'd have a potential case, but an inventory system just saying it's in stock in no way promises a sale.
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Bento-Box
 Posts: 1049 Location: Florida |
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I used to work at a Best Buy and they get fined for every game/DVD/CD or whatever sold prior to street date. Or, at least, that's what they told us in my department.
They aren't supposed to do it, but a lot of stores will sell it anyways. I mean, the boxes even come with tape sealing the box that says "do not open or sell prior to: date" So . . . they kinda know they're not supposed to. |
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