After multiple Amazon customers reported receiving items like cat food and kitchen utensils instead of a PS5, the BBC programme Watchdog is investigating the claims.
Last week on BBC's The One Show, which airs every Wednesday, presenter Matt Allwright dedicated a portion of the show to discussing the recent issues of stock surrounding the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. You can see the complete clip below courtesy of VGC reporter Andy Robinson, in which Allwright encourages viewers to get in touch if they have information on missing pre-orders in particular.
Amazon missing PS5 orders segment from this week’s BBC Watchdog. pic.twitter.com/9BofG8hsyRNovember 29, 2020
This follows on from Amazon UK consumers claiming their PS5 orders had been replaced with household items like air fryers and pet food. In these cases, Amazon failed to deliver the console to the consumer, and after the consumer got in touch with Amazon about the supposedly failed delivery on release day, the company followed up by delivering household items instead.
A day after The One Show aired, Allwright posted the tweet below, saying he'd seen an "amazing response" after asking consumers for their stories of failed deliveries. Allwright followed up by saying that he understood how people could really use an "escape" right now, and that the first step would be getting retailers like Amazon to give customers an update on when they could expect their unfulfilled orders.
Amazing response to #consoleme on @BBCWatchdog @BBCTheOneShow tonight. I’ll be working through everything with the team and seeing how we can take things forward. Watch this space!!#PS5 #XboxSeriesX #xboxseriesSNovember 25, 2020
It's not just replaced items that Amazon UK customers have fallen afoul of. Across Twitter, Reddit, and other social media sites, consumers have reported their PS5 consoles "lost in transit" when ordered from Amazon, with some even filming their delivery drivers failing to deliver the console after having marked it as 'Delivered.'
"We’re all about making our customers happy, and that hasn’t happened for a small proportion of these orders," Amazon said in a statement late last week, provided to VGC. "We’re really sorry about that and are investigating exactly what’s happened. We’re reaching out to every customer who’s had a problem and made us aware so we can put it right."
PS5 stock has been incredibly scarce around the world since the console launched earlier this month. After PlayStation boss Jim Ryan commented that "absolutely everything is sold," Sony revealed that additional PS5 units are expected to be made available for consumers at some point later this year.
For a complete tracker on projected stock of the new console at official outlets, head over to our PS5 deals guide for more.
