Twitter reacts to Best Buy’s restock of Nintendo Switch and NES Classic
For a brief, shining moment, hopes were high for those looking to buy a Nintendo Switch or NES Classic from Best Buy, and Twitter was all abuzz.
The announcement was brief, and it nearly broke Twitter. Yesterday, Best Buy announced that at noon today, Central Daylight Time, it would put both the NES Classic and the Nintendo Switch back in stock on its website:
3/29.
— Best Buy (@BestBuy) March 28, 2017
Noon CT.
Limited quantities of the #NintendoSwitch and NES Classic will be available online.@NintendoAmerica https://t.co/Yux4ba9VQ6
As its own announcement said, stocks of both did not last very long. Additionally, speaking from personal experience here, the site seemed rather overloaded, with it taking multiple attempts just to advance through the ordering process.
Some succeeded. Many more did not. So what did they do in response?
They tweeted about it, of course!
.@BestBuy hey I tried giving you guys $60 for an NES classic but your site went bonkers and died. Might want to fix that for next time.
— Cesar R. (@BigC927) March 29, 2017
The sentiment that Best Buy would lose out on business because of its glitchy site was a relatively common refrain. Several users dropped the A word: Amazon. (Of course, the online giant has had some issues of its own with these sorts of things, again speaking from personal experience, but usually the site doesn’t break while it happens.)
@BestBuy Amazing how you screwed up with purchases stuck in carts. Amazon has nothing to worry about from you
— HomeBrewing (@HomeBrew54) March 29, 2017
Best Buy even raised the hopes of some of its customers, letting them make it to the payment screen … and then it ripped those hopes away from them because the stock had sold out:
https://twitter.com/Floam_Loller/status/847144949665742855
Help me understand @BestBuy. I add an NES to my cart, spend 45 min in vain trying to checkout. Then when I get to final step, it's sold out?
— Ed Faris (@therealedfaris) March 29, 2017
@BestBuy disgraceful and incompetent manner in which your systems failed to handle traffic this afternoon for NES classic and Switch Orders.
— Dallas J. (@texasinspirit) March 29, 2017
Just searching for Best Buy on Twitter will lead to many more people pointedly addressing their tweets to the company, complaining about its customer service, the site issues, and more. One Twitter user even pulled out a sad Pikachu:
Had #NintendoSwitch in my @BestBuy cart, 45 minutes in checkout process, got to finalizing payment, and it vanished from cart. #FeelsBadMan pic.twitter.com/dYlkZlIjdk
— Tim Wells (@tinytimwells) March 29, 2017
Even those who managed to succeed had to try multiple times:
Oh, hey... it worked?! Keep trying to make your purchase at Best Buy. It may eventually come through. pic.twitter.com/2wKD2l3BXl
— Nintendeal (@Nintendeal) March 29, 2017
Although many were content to simply say that they hated how the site had crashed, one user, judging by the time stamp, is taking it a step further:
I'm done spending money with @BestBuy
— Billy (@Srenin75) March 29, 2017
Did you succeed in acquiring an NES Classic or a Nintendo Switch today? Or do you have to ready your fingers for another attempt at the next restock?