Fallout 4 Fans Furious as Cancellation Farce Continues

Scores of dissatisfied customers have complained to UK retailer GAME after the company had mistakenly cancelled numerous pre-orders of the Pip-Boy edition of Fallout 4.

Just days before Fallout 4's long-awaited release date, GAME informed a large pool of customers that a payment error occurred with their pre-order, though it chose not to specify further.

The retailer is absolving itself from blame by claiming that the cancellations were due to banks and PayPal declining orders. GAME faced a similar issue in August, when it cancelled a number of pre-orders for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Back then, it used the same line that it was the fault of the banks, telling GameSpot "this is a totally normal situation which happens all the time." It also recently had similar problems with Mario Maker pre-orders.

However, in this instance the retailer is promising that it is getting in touch with all customers who pre-ordered the Pip-Boy edition, and says it has enough stock to fulfil those original orders.

Based on correspondence GameSpot has had with customers whose orders have been cancelled, the retailer has not been able to remedy the issue in time for the game's launch.

One customer was emailed with an assurance that their order has been held. They were asked to provide their order number, a telephone contact, and a time to call. After the customer replied with a request for call, no such contact was made. About a day later, the customer received a second automated email asking for the same details.

GAME has managed to keep communicating with fans. On its Facebook page, the corporation provided an update notice and assured that pre-orders would still be fulfilled.

It wrote: "We would ask that if you have not been able to replace your order by phone yet, don’t worry your order is still reserved and being held for you in our distribution centre. We want to assure you that we are working through your requests and will get to your order as soon as we possibly can to ensure you receive your Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition."

In a statement to GameSpot, the retailer said its customer service team has been "working hard to contact all impacted customers to ensure that as many orders as possible are fulfilled for launch day."

It continued: "At every stage, we have reassured our customers that their Pip-Boys have been reserved for them ... Each customer has been, or will be, contacted individually to reprocess their order and we have extended the opening hours of our distribution centre and customer services to facilitate this.

"We have endeavoured to deliver all pre-orders in time for launch day. Getting in touch with customers individually takes time, and due to us being unable to outreach to some customers just yet, there will be a short delay for a few of them but they will still receive their order should they still wish."

"Not Fit For Purpose"

At the time of going to press, more than one hundred customers have commented on the Facebook post, most of which have expressed their displeasure.

The most up-voted comment, from Patrick Deviny of Northampton, wrote: "You clearly have made a complete shambles of this , it is apparent that you are trying to blame the banks and this as you know is untrue the payments have cleared and you have the money, you are just such a dysfunctional organisation, people have have paid deposits and waited months for this and have spent the weekend emailing and hours trying to phone you to no avail, you are clearly not fit for purpose."

GAME has continued with claims that it is not to blame, replying on Facebook to one customer with the message: "We can confirm there was no glitch in our system this was due to Paypal/Banks declining the payment as detailed above."

Fallout 4 released on Tuesday November 10 across the UK, Australia, and North America. Many GAME customers are still unable to play it.

GameSpot's Fallout 4 review was loaded with praise for the open-world title, though it said that various bugs had affected the experience. Critic Peter Brown cited "plainly framed scenes and basic animations lend a roughness to the finish product, as do its frequent glitches."

Further Reading

• Fallout 4 review
• Fallout 4 review round-up
• Fallout 4 ultimate guide
• Fallout 4 essential tips
• Fallout 4 graphics comparison video
• Top loot locations in the early hours of Fallout 4
• Fallout 4 base building beginners guide video
• A visual tour of Fallout 4
• 5 secret games you can play in Fallout 4 video