Target pre-order sillyness

I pre-ordered my [Wii](http://wii.nintendo.com.au/) from [Target](http://www.target.com.au/) thinking it would be a rather painless process. The $600 of added coupons also helped in my decision.

I guess I should have known that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I rocked up to Target and enquired about the Wii pre-order offer they were running. Even though there were signs up saying to enquire at the lay-buy section, I went there and got a dumb looking stare. The ladies there had no idea what I was talking about.

I went to the electrical department, and got a bit more lucky. The girl serving me knew about the Wii pre-order bundle but could not give me a single bit of information about what the ‘$600 coupons’ contained. She did eventually tell me that she was pretty sure the coupons were for Wii games and accessories.

Biting the bullet, I asked if I could pre-order. She went ahead and took my name and everything and started pushing buttons on the computer. The sign said I needed to pay a $20 deposit, but I figured I’d just pay off the full amount there and then so I didn’t have to worry about it on the day.

I asked the girl if I could pay off the whole amount and this is where the troubles started.

Apparently the Target computer systems do not have a separate ‘pre-order’ section, so my Wii pre-order would have to be entered into the Lay-buy system. Since it was going in the lay-buy system, I could not pay off the whole amount (The lay-buy system cannot handle having a lay-buy with no actual money owing on it). On top of this, for some reason the Target Wii pre-order / lay-buy entry in the system would not allow me to pay any more than the designated $20 amount.

So I tell the girl to just put the $20 through, which she does. She prints out the pre-order (lay-buy) receipt and tells me to just bring it on the release day and I can pick it up.

As I am walking out the door, I started reading the receipt. On it, I noticed a $2.50 ‘lay-buy’ fee was being charged. Confused, I walked to the service desk and asked why I was being charged a lay-buy fee for my pre-order. The lady at the service desk must of been having a bad day, as she just shrugged and said she had no idea and that I would have to go back to the electrical desk.

So back to the electrical desk I go. I asked what the story was with the ‘lay-buy’ fee on a pre-order. Surely it wasn’t my problem if their system couldn’t handle pre-orders and had to be put through as lay-buys. She explains to me that the fee was just a side effect of having to put it through the lay-buy system and told me i would get the amount refunded when I pay off the Wii on the release day.

Happy with her answer, I left.

Skip ahead a few weeks to release day, and I head down to Target to pick up my Wii. The lay-buy counter was hectic to say the least but I eventually got served. The lady gladly took the credit card and I got my Wii. I asked about the $600 coupons I was meant to get with my pre-order and got the now commonly know look of blankness. I also asked about the $2.50 ‘lay-buy fee’ refund since it was a pre-order and not a lay-buy. Seems the lay-buy desk had no idea. I wandered up the back to the electrical department to see what games / accessories they had only to find a whole lot of nothing relating to Wii.

I overhead another guy at the service desk being told that all their Wii stuff was stuff out the back and someone had been sent out to get it.

Skipping ahead, I managed to find the extra controller I wanted and went to pay. At the counter I asked about the $600 coupons I was meant to get, only to be informed that they had not arrived yet. When I queried about buying the accessory I had now and returning when the coupons came in to claim the coupon bonus I was told it was not possible. I also asked about the $2.50 ‘lay-buy fee’ and got it refunded. So in the end I left with no accessories, after being told that they would ring me when the coupons came in later that day.

4:30pm comes around, and I still hadn’t received a call. I phone them up asking if the coupons had come in since i was heading over that way anyway. The guy on the phone tells me that they have been in for some time now (Where was my phone call?). So I take another trip to Target, get the coupons and get the accessories using the available coupons.

The whole process was extremely unorganised and terribly run. I really can’t believe how badly run it was. Another thing that doesn’t really make sense to me is that one of the coupons in for a $20 discount on Zelda, reducing it from RRP $99 to $79. The thing is, Zelda was advertised in the Target catalogue for $79. So anyone could go in and buy it on the day for $79. So much for ‘exclusive pre-order’ coupons.

As for other games included in the coupons, Target currently still have none of them in. I guess it’s a good thing the coupons don’t expire for some time. I will be asking the question though if none ever come in.

So yeah, I’m not really impressed with the whole Target pre-order set up. /shrug

NOTE: $2.50 isn’t a lot of money. I wasn’t overly concerned about the actual amount. It was more the fact that my pre-order wasn’t a lay-buy, so therefore should not be getting a ‘lay-buy fee’. It’s not my problem that their system cannot handle pre-orders.