Some frustrated Amazon customers are complaining that their Xbox One X pre-orders aren’t scheduled to arrive today, which is the launch day for the spanking new console.
Fans rushed to pre-order the “world’s most powerful console” months ago so they’d be able to scale 4K pyramids in Assassin’s Creed Origins moments after getting home from work today. But days before the $500 console’s release, and even today, several have said over Twitter and gaming forums that their consoles’ shipment dates don’t match with its release date—basically the whole point of pre-ordering.
This morning, Eurogamer reported that, in the U.K., “stock issues,” in Amazon’s words, have caused shipment delays for lots of local customers. It looks like the issues go beyond the U.K. and have affected U.S. customers as well.
The delays don’t seem to be extreme—one, two or three days—but consumers are upset nonetheless. Also, lots of customers on various forums say that they weren’t guaranteed a release-date delivery, although for online pre-orders, it is generally assumed that that’s when packages will arrive. “Never again to pre-order from @Amazon. Paid for release day delivery but yet my #XboxOneX will not be here until tomorrow,” read one tweet from a customer who said they are also in the U.S. “And another who said they’re based in Oklahoma: “Not getting mine till Thursday...Amazon has really been dropping the ball lately with these pre-orders.” “Mine hasn’t even shipped yet,” reads a tweet by one who said they hail from Puerto Rico.
In the U.K., customers are echoing these sentiments. “Amazon UK shafted me and now my day one pre-order Scorpio is MIA with no idea when it will ge here,” read one customer’s tweet. A second: “I’d love to play your new console @xbox, but @amazon are telling me my pre-order from August is out of stock and won’t get it. Please... stop your business with them.” Dozens more wage similar complaints, with a few alleging that Amazon waited until midday to explain that their shipment was delayed.
Reached for comment, Amazon told Kotaku that they have inventory to fulfill all Xbox One X pre-orders but did not specify whether they could fulfill them on the day of release, adding that “customer delivery date may vary based on their location and chosen shipping method.”
Amazon’s apparent issues shipping pre-ordered Xbox One X consoles on time come on the heels of the SNES Classic shipping fiasco of just a few months ago. In October, some SNES Classic editions still hadn’t shipped, despite pre-orders placed mid-August for the September-released console.