Yesterday, I reported on a rumor saying EB/Gamestop was working with Sony and eBay to cancel people’s preorders if they were trying to sell them on eBay for a higher price. According to Next Gen, that’s not officially the case. Chris Olivera, EB/Gamestop’s Director of Public & Media Relations went on record, saying, “Are we canceling pre-orders that appear on eBay? The answer to that is no.”
Next Gen didn’t provide any additional material, which leads me to believe Olivera is either very terse or his “But” was off the record. But, despite his categorical denial, people who work in EBs are claiming that they’ve been instructed to cancel people’s preorders if their receipt has made it onto eBay.
According to the comments on a Digg post discounting the rumor, numerous workers have said as much. One, who goes by the name “traviswood,” said, “I work at EB and we are infact calling people. 4 of our 8 preorders were Americans (We are Canadian) and they showed up on Ebay, today they were informed to come to the store to get a their preorder refund.” An American worker, alias “Klisk,” said his New Jersey store is “canceling [preorders] on ebay. Maybe it’s more of a district/manager thing than a corporate thing?” That could be the case.
Why is this happening in Canada and New Jersey? Are conscientious district managers standing up for their customers without global corporate knowledge? Has Sony bypassed EB/Gamestop’s upper levels and appealed directly to regional and local managers? It’s doubtful; when companies that big start avoiding proper channels, men in very expensive suits start speaking Latin to one another in front of juries.
However, if Sony isn’t involved, the question still is: Why?
Published: Nov 1, 2006 03:20 pm