Yeah, I got that canned note today myself from a status update I sent this morning. The longer I wait, the more skeptical I get on actually getting it in time to throw a Cthulu in and have for Evo. :bluu:
Hey cyntalan,
where do u plan to buy ur stick?
I would like to buy one also, but ebay is to pricey…
Right now I have my old MAS that I threw in a 360 PCB for (and a Cthulu when Lizardlick reopens). It’ll do me just fine 'til I get my TE. I’m not that concerned with it for that very reason. I just swing by my local Gamestop every week or so and see if I get lucky. Otherwise I’ll just take my MAS w/ me to Evo.
Ok. Here is my video game central story… I preordered like Jan 14th… and as many I didnt get my order. I also had a preorder at Amazon (wish I hadn’t canceled that one lol) and one at Buy.com. So anyway my buy.com one was shipped last week so it should be here today.
I called VGC yesterday to cancel my preorder expecting the runaround but it only took like 4 minutes. The canceled my order and gave me a FULL refund without any problems.
I just called and asked for status. They said they won’t get getting any until the end of the month, so I cancelled. They didn’t resist in the LEAST, he almost sounded happy. No restocking fee or anything.
Edit: Just received the email.
The shipper’s tracking number is ORDER CANCELLED!!!
Yeah, now’s the time to pull out. They’re not getting a single damn stick.
End of the month?..the guy I talked to told me this week or next…sigh…
We can’t really blame VGC considering Gamestop has more pull then just about anyone else when it comes to any gaming product. However their customer service could definetely be better as I was as polite as anyone could be when cancelling my order and he didn’t say any of the usual lines you expect to here before hanging up.
Yeah I understand what you are saying. I thought about that myself as well and gave it more time to wait on them. I only really started getting worried and in a temperament this month after seeing people cancel their orders from them and people being able to pick multiples of them up without any preorders but for some reason VGC is the only one left out in the cold.
I dunno, I can blame 'em solely because NO one-shot mom-and-pop store could realistically believe they were going to get 1/3 of a given product’s initial (and at the time, only) shipment and put out that many preorders. Especially in a market where you have at least FOUR major competitors already taking out their own preorders well beyond the expected amount produced (Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, Gamecrazy in this case). Do you honestly think they accidently took 900 preorders thinking they’d get 900 sticks out of 3000? This tiny little nothing shop? And then split the remaining 2100 among those big four? Instant bullshit call right there.
The fact is they knew damn well they wouldn’t get 'em and were doing everything from the slightly shady concept of taking the preorders just to make their quarter look a bit more profitable, the way-overpriced shipping, all the way to the EXTREMELY shady practice of charging a restocking fee on a preorder. They walked away with a fair amount of cash for absolutely nothing, and until recently people had to throw a fit to demand not being charged 5% restock for cancelling the thing. 5% of $149.99? :lol: no. 5% of $149.99+shipping. Yeah, 5% restocking fee on the shipping too.
THAT is where I put the blame on them and the fact that they’re insisting it’s MadCatz fault is asinine.
Cyntalan I more than anything understand your pain…but let’s put all this aside and patiently wait as it won’t do us any good.
I’m trying to talk with OldSkoolFool to clarify things but honestly if all else fails at least we can cancel without the 5% restocking fee.
If anything, save your rage (or it’s just me) if they can’t get you any sticks at all ever and/or try to charge you a 5% restocking fee.
Kiko, you seem to be the mediator I’m getting furious about this whole thing, and I have to go through it again if that MvC2 stick is real :crybaby: but I’m waiting. Shouldn’t VGC have a tracking # on their shipment? They should know where it is.
VGC made a mistake. They didn’t realize how hard these sticks would be to get and were too dumb to foresee that the hardcore gamers who would be after this product wouldn’t take too kindly to having their preorder mean nothing and not receiving any notification that something was up. So yeah, it’s technically Madcatz fault, but that doesn’t mean VGC didn’t do anything wrong.
Unfortunately, beating down their door with questions isn’t going to do anything but maybe cause a disgruntled employee to move your preorder down to the bottom of the list…
If anything, I hope that the amount of shit they’ve been getting on this issue makes them regret taking on thousands of preorders they could never possibly fill.
In case anyone cares, this is the last response I got from them, after a long email from me was ignored for 3 days and I complained:
So yeah, getting mad at these guys is pretty much beating a dead horse at this point. I’m sure they wish they could ship out everyone’s order tomorrow, but with the meager supply, ferocious demand, and ludicrous ebaying that’s going on, we’re just going to have to wait for these sticks. I imagine that all the VGC orders could go unfilled until the end of summer, maybe longer.
I heard in the other thread that their shipment arrived and are being sent out hopefully
I’d agree with that… if, ya know, MadCatz didn’t come out and state they were only gonna make 3000 of 'em from the getgo. If they never said how many were gonna be made, then I could see the blame shifted onto MadCatz, but the sheer fact that EVERYONE knew how many were coming meant that everyone had a good idea how many to expect. And yet pretty much every retailer went well beyond a reasonable expected amount of the stock they’d get.
Remember, MadCatz initially had no intention on making more than 3000. They honestly didn’t expect THOSE to all sell out in a decent amount of time. It wasn’t like they decided “well, we’ll make 3000 initially and restock as necessary”. This was meant to be a limited release and they made it VERY clear how limited it was well before anyone started taking preorders. They covered their bases, the retailers started taking preorders, and didn’t stop 'cause it looked better on their books, thinking that they could pass the buck onto MadCatz for not supplying enough. It wasn’t just VGC that was at fault, but VGC was easily the most notorious simply because it is so small of a business and expected a quantity that even Gamestop didn’t get.
I guess we can all wait till then end of the moth and see what happens!!!
Heh, yep. =) Hi2uall, I is another guy who’s had my VGC pre-order since late december.
My VGC Pre-order SF4 Tournament edition arcade stick
I just want to let everyone know I have contacted VGC several times asking them to up date me on my pre-order for the street fighter 4 tournament edition arcade stick and I have a couple emails that I have received from VGC That I would like to share with you all as of April 20th 2009 . Which its past the ETA Date of April 7th which VGC has posted on there site for the sf4 tournament stick to be released. There is still no solid answer from these people on getting my sf4 tournament stick. There always beating around the bush always making excuse after excuse. There just trying to by time hoping there order will arrive I assume. Well after 3 months of waiting you start to feel aggravated with this online game store called Video Game Central . I think there is a lot of upset customers besides my self that are very Tee’d off at them. I could use a lot of other words about VGC but Im going to be nice lol
First email From VGC Reads…
The date of this email was 4-8-09 one day after ther ETA date ok
The item has been shipped out to us on the 7th. As of right now they have not arrived into our store as of yet. They are expected to arrive no later than early next week. As soon as the item arrives, it will ship out.
Thank You & Game On!! VideoGameCentral.com Staff
second email from VGC on 4-15-09
As of 4/7/09, MadCatz has been releasing their shipments of the FightPads and Arcade Sticks. At this time, they are shipping out sporadically to various retailers and distributors. Shipments are arriving to these locations throughout the entire month. Please note, as soon as the items arrive they will be shipped to you. Once the item is shipped you will be receiving an email with your tracking information inside.
We apologize for the inconvenience and long wait. We are doing everything we can to make sure this process is going as fast as possible.
Thank You & Game On!! VideoGameCentral.com Staff
There you have it thats the most updated info at this point . Do I believe VGC not really lol
anyways best of luck to everyone
LyssaVGC should stick with Spaghetti and meatballs instead of joysticks and games
Very lame, everyday I come here to check for one satisfied customer, but I have yet to see anyone be satisfied in receiving their TE stick.
Well I just called in to cancel my order (my first time contacting the company since my pre-order in early January). Conversation went like this:
[me] I’m calling about order #12 (interrupted)
[internet sales guy] Are you calling about the fight stick?
[me] yes
[ISG] (in monotone, scripted, and irked voice) MadCatz has been releasing their shipments of the FightPads and Arcade Sticks. At this time, they are shipping out sporadically to various retailers and distributors. Shipments are arriving to these locations throughout the entire month…
[me] I would like to cancel my order
ISG puts me on hold, comes back and says “You’re cancelled. You no longer have the pre-order for the fight stick. The refund should clear our system by the end of the day, your credit card should be reflected by your bank within 5 business days”
I ask to make sure he’s canceling my order and not another guy’s and he confirmed my name/address.
As stated by a previous poster, he kinda sounded glad that I would be one less person calling them about these sticks. Even though I never called them, holding onto $185 for 3 months understandably generates a lot of phone traffic. I wonder if you can even back charge by calling your credit card company after 90 days? Can’t wait to see the credit on my account.
BTW, I did manage to pick one up from GameCrazy as someone who preordered it ($5 deposit) never responded to the phone calls for 10 days. Manager said the kid most likely didn’t have the money. Good luck in getting your sticks/refunds, whichever route you choose.
Update: Just checked my e-mail to see the confirmation and they updated my tracking number
"The shipper’s tracking number is ORDER CANCELLED!!!"
Hahaha!