Earlier we described GameFly as the DMV of the gaming world. With a recent conversation between myself and one of the customer service representatives, it appears we may have been more accurate than we imagined.
The Reason I Emailed GameFly
The Sunday night prior to Memorial Day, we had two games out, and our subscription service only set for two games. So, 2/2. We’re all good. Then we wanted a third out, so we upped the subscription and loaded another game up top (Uncharted 2 in preparation for Uncharted 3′s upcoming release). The availability was “high”. Awesome. It’ll ship Tuesday morning.
Skip Ahead To Wednesday
No game. So we emailed them and asked why the game has not shipped yet. Here is their response:
GameFly’s Polite (No Sarcasm – Really) Response
| Hello, Our apologies. We have reviewed your account and noted that you currently have only very popular releases in your GameQ. Therefore, we have been unable to ship a game to you immediately since they have been temporarily unavailable. Please note the availability statuses on the Web site reflect inventory across all of our shipping centers. While the game may reflect “Available Now” or “High” in your Q, it may only be available in the shipping center that is more distant from your residence. We try to ship games from your primary shipping center to allow you to receive your games faster. To ensure we ship games in the fairest possible manner, we factor in the length of time that you have been waiting for a game (once a return is received in our facility) and the time the desired available game was placed in your GameQ. We do pay close attention to our inventory levels and the titles that are most popular to our members. We will continue to work to minimize the number and duration of unavailable games so we can send you your highest ranked item. We also recommend you add more released titles to your GameQ so you do not miss out on receiving games. We understand that our members want both their first choice and rapid shipping. While we try to meet these expectations every time, exceptions occur where the top ranked item is not available and we realize that it can be frustrating. We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. Sincerely, |
What We Learned
That each game’s availability may be completely incorrect and there is no way for the customer to know. We really hope GameFly starts kicking into gear quickly or else Redbox will realize it’s goal of not only competing against GameFly, but overtaking it completely.
Remember, next time you queue up a game, you’re really just gambling.
