Mike pre-ordered the Kinect, a new sensor thingy for the Xbox, from his local Best Buy. He expected the store to be open at midnight so he could be united with his new toy just after the official release. The store web site said that they’d be open at midnight, so why should he expect anything different?

He certainly didn’t expect to receive a wide variety of answers when he asked why the store wouldn’t be open at midnight.

I pre-ordered Kinect for the Midnight Release at the [redacted], MN location. I like Best Buy and I shop there regularly. (For the Gamer Club Reward Points and other offers) Today the night of the release they still show the Midnight Release, I call the store they say they are not and are very rude.

Call Customer Service they confirm they are having the midnight release and I ask them to call the store. 10 Minutes later they call back saying now the store is not having it anymore. 30Minutes Later it’s off the web site. I can’t transfer to another store so my only option is time 3 times further away, hope they have stock (although it seems like they will) pay for it and then go back to get my pre-order money back.

I am getting mixed reactions of “you’re wrong we never were doing it” to “they changed their minds today” to “I am very sorry but you are kinda out of luck”. This is very annoying and I almost always have great experience at Best Buy.

We didn’t hear back from Mike yet–maybe he got his hands on a Kinect after all and has been feverishly dancing at his TV all night. Still, the confusion at Best Buy is decidedly not cool, especially for one of the few customers left who still likes them.

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