This week, Amazon restocked the PS5 for the second time this month, but it did not go well. A good number of customers secured PS5s and left, but the majority of shoppers left empty-handed.
Needless to search social media, there was an outpouring of frustrated posts. A common theme is the frustration of yet another failed attempt to buy a PS5 and wasting their morning.
This Amazon restocking was expected to go a bit more smoothly, as this was the first US Amazon restocking open only to Prime members. However, customers trying to purchase the game console were once again met with error messages, website crashes, and the all-too-familiar "Failed to add this item to cart" pop-up. The whole thing was a complete mess.
Not to be outdone, Sony Direct also restocked the PS5 later that same day, but somehow it was a complete disaster. This restock was originally advertised as an invite-only event, but the email invitation system apparently failed and the order line was opened to the public. After people without invitations began flooding the site, the queue reverted to being open only to those with invitations.
This naturally created a great deal of confusion and sparked even more complaints on social media. The fact that Sony Direct was telling customers who received invitations that they did not have one every time they tried to check out did not help matters either. If Amazon's PS5 restocking was terrible, this restocking was even worse.
The first PS5 pre-orders began just over a year ago. This means that the console has been on sale for a full 12 months at this point, and yet the PS5 restocking is a complete nightmare.
To be fair to Sony, Amazon, and other major retailers, when demand outstrips supply by this much, there are always problems and it is impossible to please everyone. However, after this past year of restocking, that excuse is no longer valid.
Retailers now have time to adopt a reliable system that allows people to purchase PS5s when they are in stock without having to go through many procedures. Retailers like Currys PC World in the UK use a lottery system.
These involve a certain amount of luck, but at least if you are chosen, you can check out without having to go through the tedious process and refresh the list of retailers hundreds of times beforehand. Some writers have purchased PS5s this way.
At this point, retailers still allowing the PS5 to restock have no excuse. Unfortunately, this problem is expected to continue for some time yet, as it will only get tougher to purchase a PS5 as the holiday season approaches.
If you are still interested in playing PS5 re-release games, bookmark the PS5 re-release hub. While this will not guarantee that you will get your console, it will certainly make the task of securing a PS5 a little easier.
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