Toys"R"Us Pretends To Have Wiis In Stock, Disappoints Customers

Toys”R”Us’ website may claim to have Wiis in stock, but as reader Nick discovered yesterday, they don’t. Nick ordered the elusive console first thing yesterday morning, but Toys”R”Us quickly sent an email explaining that the Wii was backordered and unavailable. As of this morning, Toys”R”Us’ website still inexplicably lists the Wiis as “In Stock.”

Nick writes:

Hey Consumerist,

I enjoy your website quite a bit.

I don’t usually have too many consumer related issues, but I’ve run into something today that was sort of odd and thought that you guys may or may not be interested.

When I woke up today, I got into my usual routine, checking around the web to see if there were any places that had the Nintendo Wii in stock. As luck would have it, Toys’R'Us said they had them in stock. I’m thrilled, I’ve been saving up for a few months to get a Wii, and finally, I can get one. So I order one around 10am.

I get an e-mail at 12:55pm saying that, sorry the Wiis are currently on back order. I’m bummed out, but not crushed. I go back to the Toys’R'Us page, and guess what, they’re still saying they are available. At this point, I find this really annoying. They are not telling customers that these have been backlogged on the site, but are sending out e-mails saying as much. I took a screencap of the site (still listing it as available at 1:15 or so).

I still really want my Wii, and would like to know when it’ll be shipping. I call thier customer service, and I am helped by a very polite lady who tells me they are unable to say when the backorder will ship. Cue further dissapointment. I’ve sent of a polite e-mail through their web e-mail interface to express my disappointment in the handling of not only my own order, but continuing to take orders even though they knew they were selling a product they didn’t have in stock (but were listing it as in stock).

I’m really pretty bummed out with this whole thing. I haven’t canceled my order yet, because I’m hoping by some miracle this will come through. I don’t know if you guys at Consumerist would be interesting in something like this or not, I don’t know if this is par for the course when trying to get a Wii. Nor am I sure what benefit this will really have, maybe you guys could do soemthing with this at least.

Toys”R”Us’ letter to Nick:

Dear Nicholas,

Thank you again for your recent purchase at Toysrus.com & Babiesrus.com.

We have received your order 85439XXXXX-000, and wanted to let you know that there has been an unexpected delay in the shipment of the following items:

Item: 4172131
Description: Nintendo Wii Console
Quantity: 1 @ $249.99
Shipping Method: Standard Ground

Shipping to the following address:

Nicholas
Address

We want to assure you that your order will be fulfilled once the the item(s) becomes available. Once we are able to ship the item(s) you will receive a shipping confirmation email with updated tracking information.

All of your order information will also appear in the My Account section of our website where you can:

* Track all your orders
* Change your passwords

Please allow up to 60 minutes for your order information to be updated on our system.

http://www.Toysrus.com/checkout/index.jsp

Thank you once again for your order and selecting Toysrus.com & Babiesrus.com! We are continually expanding our selection to serve you better, so be sure to visit us often for new items and the latest promotions. If you have any further questions concerning shipping, order status, payment or other website policies, visit the Help area of our website at http://www.Toysrus.com/help .

Sincerely,
Customer Service

This e-mail was from a notification-only system; please do not reply to this message.

Nick’s response:

Good Afternoon,

I was writing to express my disappointment in your handling of my order 85439XXXXX-000. I was really looking forward to getting a Nintendo Wii, and was excited to hear that Toys’R'Us had them in stock this morning (Friday, May 2nd). I placed my order in the morning, and then at 12:56pm received a notice that the order had been placed on back order.

I was rather annoyed that this was the case, but understand that sometimes these things can happen. But then I checked the Toys’R'Us website, and the item was still being listed as available. I took a screencapture of this at 1:10pm. While I am personally disappointed that my item is on backorder, I am even more disappointed that Toys’R'Us continued to claim that they were available, even though they clearly were not at that point.

I am also terribly disappointed that when I called customer service to find out when they might be shipping, to find out that no one could even give me an estimate of when they might ship.

I am leaving my order active with you currently in hopes that you resolve this issue quickly, but all and all, I have been very let down with Toys’R'Us.

Respectfully,
Nick

Don’t be ashamed if you don’t have the Wiis, Toys”R”Us. Nobody does.

If Wii-hunting is integrated into your morning routine, consider popping into the Nintendo World Store early one morning to buy one in person. As a responsible retailers, Nintendo won’t take your credit card unless the console is in stock.

Nintendo Wii Console [Toys"R"Us]
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