Dear customers who preordered XBones,
MS has finally told us the amount [they'll be sending to us], and why they waited so long with that number is becoming clear, because it's an insult and slap in the face of any XBone fan. Not kidding, we'll be getting just enough consoles to cover the first 35 seconds (no joke!) of preorders.
We're crestfallen, we're used to MS's ignorance and lack of cooperation, but this is taking things to a whole new level. You can find information on how to cancelations and orders at the end of this mail.
Just a quick explanation, since we're not a big concern we usually communicate with resalers/distributors from which we get our Microsoft stock. We were aware of the demand quite early on, so we tried to get into contact with MS before gamescom, amounting to 5 mails (which definitely got delivered) - but there was no answer or reaction from MS. It's a major embarassment for a worldwide enterprise like MS. We also tried reaching them through our resalers, who repeatedly handed their MS contacts our detailed preorder lists, as early as one week after sales started. MS knew at all times that we had three digits worth of preorders within the first five minutes alone. Apparently they weren't interested. If it's not Amazon, it's not worth their time.
We're extremely sorry, but like we said we've tried to establish contact even before gamescom began, and we didn't even get a rejection or refusal, but were simply ignored. It's preposterous that they gave us these tiny amounts (which are completely negligible considering the bigger picture) only three weeks before release. It's cowardice, and an embarassment.
Oh, but it doesn't stop there. Not only will we only be able to cover the first 35 seconds of preorders, no, more than half of the consoles won't be the Day One Editions...
We've tried everything and were left out in the rain with zero information. Sony proved that it doesn't have to be this way, we told them our considerable preorder numbers, we were acknowledged and they told us our amount early on. We'll be getting roughly 450 times as many consoles as from MS, despite preorder numbers being roughly the same.
We're baffled, and helpless. Our entire team will of course be relinquishing their own preorders and will wait for now, otherwise we wouldn't even be able to cover 35 seconds. We can't stress enough how sorry we are, and we understand anyone that gets angry, but please direct your hatred towards the culprits, namely MS. Maybe we can show MS just how many people are affected and that not everyone buys from megacompanies, I can only suggest you call MS support and complain, citing where you want to buy and when you preordered. I just know they'll try to deflect the blame and tell you that we lied to you, please have them give you the name of the customer rep so we can take action. Other specialist dealers are getting the same disastrous amounts/numbers from MS, which is why I'm urging my competitors and their customers to do the same, to show that these mega companies do not own the world. We've seen that MS needs to be reminded that their vision does not necessarily overlap with the rest of humanity, as seen with Always Online.
(the rest deals with how the customers will be able to cancel their orders and stuff...)
