Wii’s and Walmart
First let me start off by saying that I’m happy to say that I have converted and/or convinced 5 family/friends to buy a Wii, since getting mine.
This is the story of my sister’s journey to get a Wii; after her boyfriend played my Wii, not being an avid gamer, he decided that he wanted one for X-Mas. After surfing though digg I found a couple of post that stated best buy would be holding some of their stock for the Sunday after black Friday. My sister decided that would be the day she would try and get one. Long story short, she didn’t get one.
So today started the calling. With 4 24×7 Wal-Marts and 1 8-10 within a 10 mile radius she decided to start calling right before her lunch. She picked up the phone and called the Wallie World closet to her place of employment. Success, first hit! They where unloading them off the truck at that very moment. She took lunch early, hopped into her car and drove over. She wondered back to the electronics department and tracked down an employee. “I just called over here and they said you have Wiis.” The Wal-Mart employee responded “We sure do would you like to purchase one?” “Yes, Yes I would” The Wal-Mart employee wondered into the back only to return empty handed. “Sorry but I can’t sell you one, we have to hold them for our December 3rd advertisement.” Now my sister isn’t the type of person we want to screw around with, however she politely asked to speak with a manager. While asking to speak with a manager another hopeful Wii seeker overheard the conversation and stated she too was told over the phone they had them available to purchase.
Enter the electronics department manager, which I didn’t even know such a position existed in Wal-Mart, “I confirmed that we are not able to sell you the Wiis until December 3rd. Sorry, but you will have to return at Midnight December 3rd to get a Wii.” At this point my sister and the other Wii hopeful were a little miffed. They decided to seek out the store general manger. After finding and telling the store manager the problem, the manager decided to go-head and give them each one anyway. (Element of surprise music queues), When trying to ring them out, the system wouldn’t physically allow the transaction to be completed. “Looks like you will have to come back December 3rd after all.” the store manager stated.
Nevertheless, the story does have a happy ending. The store manager gave them each a voucher good for one Wii and then proceeded to put the Wiis with copies of the voucher in her office. “Track me down December 2nd at 11:30PM and I will personally make sure you each get one.”
So looks like Wal-Mart will be holding Wii stock until December 3rd. So campers and parents be alert and on your game Saturday night.
-Bryan
Monday, November 27th, 2006 @ 4:34 pm 
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November 27th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
thanks for the heads up!
November 27th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
That voucher was probably for a 800 dollar bundle full of crap she doesn’t even want.
November 27th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
“Never make it difficult for your customers to give you money”
- Business.
November 27th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
I hate when things need to be rationed by policy. Money is the usual way to ration commodities in a free society.
Yet, I understand their risk aversion - after the grotesqueries that surrounded the launch of the PS3, I can understand the need for caution.
Why Nintendo couldn’t ship more, I don’t know.
I guess, I will be buying mine on January 2.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:02 am
very weird… glad to hear they are getting one though. I too missed out on Sunday’s best buy shipments. Was told from a wal-mart employee that they would have a few in when the trucks arrived today (monday) between 10:30 and 2. I arrived at 2. Asked the employee in electronics, and her response was: “he shouldn’t have told you that, we have no idea when we are getting them, and we won’t get to the trucks till 5 or 6 tonight”. I didn’t really believe her, so I hung around for a bit. I hear over the PA that the assistant manager is needed in receiving. 10 minutes later they walk over to electronics w/ 6 wii’s. Myself and 4 others were leaving the store with them in hand within 5 minutes. Very weird that your local store couldn’t sell them.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:11 am
That sucks so much. Wal-Mart has always been the sleaziest piece of crap, and for them to *deny* customers away from business is TOTALLY nonsensical. WTF! Sorry to hear that, cuz that is teh suck.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Well that is terrible.They shouldn’t be able to do that if they are wanting to sell them,sell them to the people when they show up.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:35 am
This is strange. I personally work in a Wal-Mart electronics department and we sold 32 of them just today, as well as several others when they first released. This must be isolated to either that Wal-Mart or that area.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:10 am
While I agree this can be upsetting, neither you nor your sister, or anyone else for that matter has a RIGHT to get a Wii or any other product from any store. Just because they have it in the stock room doesn’t mean it is for sale. This is just like the cry babies who were bitching about the bundles for the PS3. If you don’t like how the store has decided to handle its business, don’t shop there.
November 28th, 2006 at 2:27 am
that happends all the time. If you look at the ads there is a min. quanity stated. Being that i work at best buy, if we get a truck on wed. we can/will hold product until the ad (sunday) i dont blame them
November 28th, 2006 at 3:49 am
Tuesday, November 28th 2:30 AM CST
This story is absolutely true. I have just returned from my very own encounter of the same nature, sans the happy ending. After stumbling upon PS3Seeker.com (thank you google), I started calling a bunch of Wal-marts in my area. After about 30 mins of calling and looking over the site, I called a wal-mart that’s about a 45 min drive from my house. The girl on the phone told me that they had 2 Wiis for sale and that they’d probably both be there when I arrived because they were not on display in the video game casing. I thought that sounded kinda weird, especially now, but hindsight is 20/20. So anyways I was really excited and rushed out the door to go get my Wii.
Unfortunately, upon arriving and asking for it, the stocker said they did indeed have them but he’d have to call a manager over because of something he had heard about trouble ringing them up. At hearing this my heart sank, and I figured this story I had read was true. Nevertheless, I had to find out.
Of course when the manager arrived he told me about the advertising campaign, and that he could not sell me one. After a few minutes of explaining my story and my drive I was sent away with no Wii, and no voucher.
However…. after walking with towards the door with my head hung low and spewing out a few expletives out loud to make sure they heard me, the manager caught with me and told me he would, after all, sell me one.
The sun had finally shined down on me! But, alas, when the lady at the register scanned the serial number, that stupid register beeped and “SALE NOT ALLOWED” showed on the display. Thanks Wal-mart, thanks a lot.
So my only hope now is to wait until morning, when the Electronics Dept Manager and/or the Store General Manager arrive, see what they can do, and hopefully, hopefully, get at the very least a voucher.
So please, cross your fingers for me, and I will do the same for you.
P.S. please dont shop at wal-mart anymore, this entire situation is entirely stupid. Why they won’t take my money for an item is beyond my comprehension.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:05 am
To all the people who keep telling me I’m greedy and don’t deserve a Wii, you can suck it. 1) I already got one. 2) I’m not complaining I’m just trying to help some other people out so they know when and where to buy one. 3) If you don’t want to read the story don’t. The information you need is in the last sentence.
“Call the waaaambulance”? Grow up…
-Bryan
November 28th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Happened to me, too. My roommate works at Wal-Mart. She called to ask me if I wanted her to pick one up last night, and then she called this morning to tell me that the system won’t ring them up.
But she said at her store they don’t go on sale until Dec. 6.
November 28th, 2006 at 9:50 am
HA! Now, that’s funny! I’m gonna throw my comment in here regardless of what anybody thinks. Wal-mart is the most backwards, messed up place I know. At 10:00 p.m. on the eve of the official release date of the Nintendo Wii I travelled to my local Wal-mart. I had previously decided to see how long the line was to get a Nintendo Wii. Expecting the line to be wrapped around the electronics department I was pleasantly shocked to see a rather sparse gathering of people.
I approached the counter and spoke with a cashier. She said, “You might check with them in the Garden Department…but, I’m afraid you might be too late. I think they’ve already handed out all the vouchers.”
Too late? How can I be too late when it’s not even “officially released”?
At-any-rate I viewed this as if they had already sold them. What eats me up is the fact that I wanted to purchase “The Matrix” dvd as soon as I possibly could when it first came out. SO, I went to Wal-mart at 11:00 p.m. the night before the “official release date of The Matrix”, and I was told that they could not sell it to me…….”Because it hasn’t been released for sell yet.”
Now my big concern is this; if I go to Wal-mart and tell them I’m interested in purchasing a Nintendo Wii…are they going to tell me that I have to come back on Dec 3 or are they going to give me a voucher like they did for everybody else before it was officially released?
Anyone who reads this is my witness. I was refused a Nintendo Wii when it was first released because vouchers had been given out. Now, I’m going to go back to Wal-mart and request a voucher……I’ll do my best to inform each and everyone of you what the outcome is.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:01 am
I encountered the same problem, asked the clerk if they had and nintendo’s and he answered yes but we are not selling them at this point. These stores can do whatever they want and it’s unfortunate that we are at the **** end of the stick.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:09 am
see you people dont work in retail and when you have to go by an advertisement or whatever, it really pisses you off when some douchebag customer goes above you and is told the exact same thing.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:16 am
Call Walmart investor relations, ask why they are turning customer money away. Ask if this is policy (to not sell product, and thus make profit) to turn business away. Then call the analysts at say JP Morgan Chase and ask them to ask The Board, They (Walmart’s Board) continues to turn down business - this is not good for the ROI for investors, etc.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Toys R Us is doing the same thing. They received about 20 units at the local Toys R Us for the Initial Launch, they only sold 5 at that date, then the rest are being held till various times through out december. My nephew is an employee, and I’m trying to sneak one out… but thus far no success.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Here’s an idea… Don’t buy it from WalMart. They have done nothing to help the average consumer lately and they certainly do not deserve your money.
Find any other store near you, but please do not give WalMart the satisfaction of camping outside their doors.
November 28th, 2006 at 11:55 am
The reason they can’t sell them is due to truth in advertising laws in the US. If they get a shipment of 100 Wii into their warehouse today and they have distributed advertising material that there is a sale on December 3rd where they will have 100 Wii in stock, whiney, bitchy people who went to line up and get their Wii and didn’t get them can sue them for false advertising.
I praise the manager for doing his best to try and balance the wants of the consumer with the responsibilities of his employer.
To those who scream ban wal-mart and the customer is always right, I say try running a business in the most litigious country in the world. You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t in any situation it seems.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Where is your sister located exactly? And do you know what WalMarts will have the Wiis?
November 28th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
“While I agree this can be upsetting, neither you nor your sister, or anyone else for that matter has a RIGHT to get a Wii or any other product from any store. Just because they have it in the stock room doesn’t mean it is for sale. This is just like the cry babies who were bitching about the bundles for the PS3. If you don’t like how the store has decided to handle its business, don’t shop there.”
Gotta side with Ryan on this one. A business can do whatever it pleases, within the law and corporate policy. If they don’t want to sell something until a certain date, they absolutely have that right. I think it’s sad that they choose to do so, but whining about it and saying something like “I’m a customer, you have to take my money,” or “You have them in stock, and therefore have to sell them,” is ABSURD and stupid.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
I would also like to know.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Funny, I thought the Wii’s launch was November 19th?
Guess the big retailers are trying to get the line up fever hype working for every single shipment.
I do not think the retailers have any right to hold back inventory that the manufacturer and OWNER have released to the public. The big bosses at Nintendo I would be railing Wally World in public and championing their loyal customers!
I camped for my Wii and I’m very happy with Nintendo’s latest console. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
November 28th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Which walmarts? What area?
November 28th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
I hear target has in stock, but are also waiting.
November 28th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
North East Ohio - Akron, Canton, Cleveland
November 28th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
Hey, I would like to thank my Wal-Mart.
I asked about the Wii today on the phone, and they told me they wouldn’t know when they will get a shipment. And they told me that they aren’t doing the get-a-Wii-at-midnight thing- the manager thinks that’s not right. So it will be when the shipments come in, they’ll be for sale.
I just hope I will be able to get one….
*drools*
November 28th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Oh, and I am in Ogdensburg, New York (zip code 13669) and the Wal-Mart here is selling consoles only.
November 28th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
As has been stated before, they need a minimum amount of units because that’s what they say in their ads. If they don’t, then they get screwed by the Better Business Bureau or the FCC or whoever regulates retail ads. The reason they have the ads is to get people into the store so they not only by the Wii but all the other crap in a Wal-Mart. Ads drive traffic and they have to honor those ads.
Wal-Mart might be evil, but they’re not entirely stupid. They are the single largest retail outfit in the world. Didn’t get there on the stupidity of consumers alone.
Oh, and retailers can do whatever they want with the product once they have it. Sure Nintendo can say screw you, we’re not going to sell you this system anymore if you don’t do exactly what we tell you, but c’mon, again, Wal-Mart = biggest retail chain = biggest exposure to the average customer that Nintendo can get.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
The same thing basically happened to me today (Nov. 28)after driving 40miles. I was given a raincheck and one is being held for me with my name on it. But this Wal-Mart told me I could not get mine until Dec. 6 not Dec. 3 for their ad. I want to find out which is true I am not waiting till the 6th if I can get it on the 3rd. Gotta love Wal-Mart(not). I hope everything works out for your sister.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Bryan where is your Dec. 3 Wal-Mart located? Mine is in Central Illinois.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Dave has it right here. i work at a wal mart and they HAVE to keep the units in the back because of an advertisment. There are other stores i know of that are doing the same thing(bestbuy i think is doing this). They printed they would have Wiis on X day so they have to hold them until that day. bummer i know but at least you know when you can get one.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
WMT’s actions make perfect sense to me. It’s not that they don’t want customers’ money, it’s that they made a commitment some weeks back.
The Sunday ad was set and designed sometime in September or October. They made a commitment in that ad to have a certain amount in stock. They need to have that product there.
Unfortunately, the alternative is that they publish these ads in every market and many/most stores are sold out when the ad breaks and people arrive at the store to take advantage of the ad.
In this situation, WMT is going to sell the product; they won’t have extras gathering dust. Corporate needs to make a decision:
Do we annoy the people stopping by, or do we annoy the people (and States Attorneys General) who repsond to the ad?
It seems they chose wisely and are making the best of a bad situation. They have to avoid the accusations of Bait-and-Switch advertising.
Cromely.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
Hey I’ve looked on the internet everywhere best buy, walmart, target, amazon.com, gamestop, gamecrazy and many places like that and haven’t been able to find a wii. But I have a friend that found one in a gamestop by his house. I wanted to no if you can get a voucher for any reason or how I can make sure that I get one.
Aman
November 28th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Same happend to me today (after reading this post). My friend and I found out a shipment was coming at 1pm and that they would be available. Well, me and a friend rush down there and turns out there is 1 person inline ahead of us. I was so damn stoked! Long story short, the clerk can’t ring them up and being that I saw this post I asked to speak to the store manager of the store. So he come to the back and says “Guys I can’t sell you one. I’m sorry, I am not going to risk my well being just for you guys to get this system. You need to come back and wait starting 10pm on Saturday night.” It’s some bull that they’d keep that stuff in the back even though we drove half an hour to get the system.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:48 am
midnight is a bit early. Company direction as per the corporate run internal website has the Wii’s going onsale at 8:00 a.m. The registers have a lock in the system until that time.
November 29th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
I have never heard of a sale restriction on an item… unless it is recalled.. in which it will say “SALE NOT ALLOWED” I work at Wal-Mart at the Customer Service Desk, and this instance of holding systems seems a bit off to me.
November 29th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[...] Walmarts have more Wiis in stock for December 3rd. [...]
November 29th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
I just talked to the Electornics manager @ the Ofallon IL walmert. She informed me that they were not going on sale until the December 6th. Which is a Wednesday. Even when I ask her about Sunday she repeated the 6th was when they are going on sale. I am to the point that I will not buy anything from Wal-mart anymore if they are trying to dictate when I can purchase items.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
anyone know if this is all Walmarts? I’ve tried a bunch in around my zip code 90712 and no one know anything.
November 30th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
[...] Still don’t have one. What the hell is going on? Around the web I heard I missed out on a shipment this Tuesday, and that WalMart is holding theirs for December 3rd. [...]