The proper way to launch: Kudos to Best Buy Landmark [update 1]

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 18th 2006 at 7:40PM }

Let us give credit where credit is due. Despite the foolish things we've seen at retail stores where managers treated people inhumanely for their pathetic amusement, there were some stores that did things right. The Landmark Center Best Buy in Boston was one of the rumored sites of a PS3 midnight launch -- which ended up being true. Starting Wednesday people began camping out for the following evening's midnight event. It could have all gone bad, but thankfully there was some basic intelligence at work.

Witnesses say at 11PM the night before launch, the general manager of the Best Buy walked over to the already formed line and told them he didn't care what system they used to organize, but to figure something out. That's when the people waiting came up with a list and began doing roll call every hour. If a name was called and the person didn't answer, they were off the list.

In the morning a crowd had formed. Although there was confusion, the manager did take the list from the hopefuls who had spent the evening and pocketed it. The original intention was to begin lining people up at noon. The crowd clearly made that situation impossible now. By noon the police had begun showing up and the store was aware that they only had 40 of the expected 138 units on-hand. By 3PM the midnight launch was officially called off. The crowd had become unmanageable and there clearly weren't enough systems. The manager took the list which he had pocketed and began reading off names. People came up, showed ID, went inside and gave their phone number, paid and got a ticket to return the following day when the store opened. The remaining expected units were then raffled off. By the following morning, the other 98 units arrived, and launch went as well as could be expected. Kudos to those who saw a bad situation in the works and at least did something to fix it.

Know any other stores that deserve a shout-out for keeping things in control?

[Thanks to Ray A. Hernández]

(Update 1: Cleaned up some little things)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

J.R. @ Nov 18th 2006 7:52PM

The sign says they roll called every hour on the :30 mark, not every half-hour.

karmaghost @ Nov 18th 2006 7:52PM

also of note was that it was Boston and not Compton.

Scott @ Nov 18th 2006 8:04PM

The Super Wal-Mart in Duluth, GA needs a kudos. They setup chairs INSIDE by the layaway department to mark the twelve systems they were getting in plus two more chairs for rainchecks for units they expected but did not received. They also had one employee dedicated to keeping an eye on us and checking to make sure we weren't hassled.

Just before midnight, they took us into the layaway department and blocked it off while we made our purchases. They then had a handful of employees escort everyone through the store and out to our cars.

Worked very well and everyone in line was real nice to each other and saved seats when people went to get something to eat or go to the bathroom.

Scott @ Nov 18th 2006 8:11PM

Oh, and the Sam's Club in Snellville, GA deserves a big raspberry. Managers came out to the campers in line and told them things like they weren't taking cash for the PS3...you had to buy it with a business check. Then they constantly changed the number of systems that they said they would get in.

Eventually, at 7AM, everyone got lined up for the opening only to find out that the shipment had been delayed. Everyone was told that they would get a maximum of three units in. The FedEx truck eventually pulled up and everyone saw them pull SIX boxes out of the truck. One of the campers that had been in line at the time saw them take FOUR boxes into the offices. They only sold the people that had sat in line outside for almost two days TWO units.

rob @ Nov 18th 2006 8:55PM

Comment #4, its a shame that that happened at your store. I know a friend of mine tried getting a job at ebgames a few weeks ago just in case it would improve his chances of getting a Wii/PS3.

Fin @ Nov 18th 2006 9:17PM

I had almost the opposite experience at Best Buy in the Garden State Plaza mall; the mall security were chasing us out for 2 days then the security guy says he'll allow us to line up at 11pm. He tells us we have to be off the premises then walk on and form a line. When we all follow his instructions after waiting for 3 days we get to the front of the building and he let a line form at 10.45 or so. There were still ppl waiting off property for his signal to form the line.

bryan @ Nov 19th 2006 12:55AM

Hey, I worked at that store a couple of years ago when they were first opening. A great staff, and actually a pretty good experience after working at a Brighton CompUSA (not a fun commute). Great that they handled things so professionally. Building buzz for a new product is usually a good thing, but not when it leads to shootings, robberies, and riots.

JBCheese @ Nov 18th 2006 9:28PM

my local Best Buy here in Plattsburgh NY wouldn't allow people to set up tents or tarps at night (or toss around a rugby ball). The 50 people i waited in line with had to sit in freezing rain for 30+ hours with no protection soaking wet. Additionally the Best Buy manager's and employees wouldn't tell anyone how many units they were expecting. its good to hear that not everyone was treated as inhumanly as we were.

Josh @ Nov 18th 2006 10:10PM

Target in Huntsville, AL was pretty nice. The manager there always kept us updated on the number of systems they had and were expecting. He told us they had 6, and would possibly get another couple. So once we had 6 in line, we'd tell the others that there aren't anymore but that target is supposed to get a couple. Then the manager told us that instead of 2 more they got 4. Everyone in line had eachothers spot held, and everyone got along just fine. Target supplied us with some starbucks and their customers gave us cookies. In the morning we calmly followed the manager in and were escorted to our cars. Nobody tried to screw anyone and we had a great time. Thanks Target!

don'tworryaboutmyname @ Nov 18th 2006 10:20PM

Joystiq, I was at this launch, whoever gave you your information was completely wrong. If you would like, I have movies and pictures if you want the true story. And here goes.

Oh, and just as a side note, BestBuy is a bunch of crooks, and I'm going to explain why in this.
Every single BestBuy, doesn't matter which, were all told not to tell ANYONE how many Playstation 3's they were going to have. That means if a BestBuy had 30 ps3's, and you were the 40th person in line, they were not allowed to tell you that you shouldn't wait in line or tell you how much they had.

So I got to that BestBuy on Tuesday. They wouldn't even let people line up. They "said" they would only let people line up 12 hours before launch. Other than that, they wouldn't let you wait.

So basically, no one was having that. people started arriving as early as Monday, just waiting outside the premises so BestBuy couldn't kick them off the property (if you heard about those guys waiting 7 days before launch outside of BestBuy, they got kicked off the property after 4 days if you haven't read that story, almost every BestBuy was doing that.

So Wednesday comes around, and the people themselves start making a list, MIND YOU BestBuy said they wouldn't honor it, nor would they let people line up before hand.

So, needless to say, with the list not being official, there were many arguments with people who came Thursday at like 4 am. And trust me, come 11 am and 11:30 am, there were many false alarm rushes, WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY POLICE ARE THERE, AND NOT ANYWHERE ELSE? I counted about 30 police officers, 2 cop cars and one paddywagon. It was initially going to be a mad dash, untill there were too many false alarms and people were getting crushed, which is why they brung the police in. Soo........ they brought the police in, and by then a crowd of like 500 accumulated. The Store manager then came out and didn't know what to do, they had us waiting there for like 2 hours while they decided what they were going to do. Finally, they decided to honor the list, even though they said you could only line up at 12 p.m., even though the list started days before, which is why this is messed up.

So, people who were there earlier and didn't sign some stupid fanboy made list didn't get a ps3 at all. One of the people who was waiting there before anyone didn't sign the list because bestbuy said they weren't going to honor it, which was obviously not the case.

I did get a ps3, and that's the messed up part. Even from someone who got it, this bestbuy is not any angel of anykind. Joystiq, I am writing this in a rush, but I can give you video of this, and I can give you pictures, and I don't know who fed you all of that crap, but if you want the true story, you know my e-mail.

I was one of the people standing there the longest. They lied to us sooo many times, trust me this is the tip of the iceberg, if you give me a chance to write a full article, you will see.

Oh and by the way, that picture of the list is not the actual list they went buy, the actual list was taken by the store manager Gary, so I don't know WHO is feeding all this false information. There were rushes, there were mad dashes, I only got a 20gb!!! (when I should of got a 60 gb that I was PROMISED), and the store manager was maddd cool (Gary was the only one who helped things out, the store manager did the best he could, but bestbuy corporate and every manager under him sucked), but everyone else lied to us. All lies. Complete story later. Don't believe this article.

Somone @ Nov 18th 2006 11:04PM

The Bestbuy in Manchester, New Hampshire handled it really well. People started lining up at 8AM on Thursday after Security kicked them out the day before. A list was started later on in the day after an estimate was giving. Finally around 4:30 we heard that they were going to be getting 34 units ( I was #34) and the manager came out and counted everyone out. After telling everyone after me to go home, everyone up to me signed the unoffical list. Sadly people still lined up after us even though they were only getting 34 units. A few situations were averted overnight such as people that were "just hanging out" and a father trying to give his eight year old kids $600 each to buy a system. The fight then became one against the horrible weather one which was looked bleak, at around 5:00AM the manager showed up and told us he was going to get breakfast. At this point everyone lined up according to the unoffical list and we waited until 7:00 when he the manager finally gave out tickets. After giving out the tickets the manager said everyone could go warm up in their cars and take a nap before he opened up at 8:00. Everyone that had been on the list got their PS3s and went home happy, and the people behind me they got to enjoy the great New England weather. KUDOS to Bestbuy Manchester :D

subearthpirate @ Nov 18th 2006 11:24PM

i work at best buy, and i enjoy seeing everyone out there act like we owe them something for waiting in line like a bunch of monkeys for something that inst necessary to survive. We had a line started on Tuesday and those people were pretty civil about the whole thing, but why should we make your lives easier for doing something that you chose to do. Don't act like sitting outside a store for game hardware is somehow more noble that it sounds, because it doesn't sound to noble to begin with.

Pipe @ Nov 18th 2006 11:31PM

Everything about Best Buy screwing with us is true. They never told us how many consles they had (we found out how they were guaranteed after an employee sliped and told one of the campers)

I was at the Best Buy in Dallas, and the only reason chaos was avioded was because the first guy in line made a set of rules that we all tried to follow. We also made a list and for us, Best Buy did honor it.

On Friday morning, there were about 10 people that got there early, hoping there would be a mad rush when they opened. Like I said, we were lucky because Best Buy did honor our list.

Some stupid guy played the racist card by saying that we were calling him out because he was the only black guy there. We knew was going to get a PS3 because the night before, the GM of the store told us exactly how many consles they received. DUMB FUCK

Oh and one more thing, that rule about one PS3 per houseold was bullshit. One family walked out with 4 PS3s. The 60gig version too. That rule only applied to credit cards which you could only buy one PS3 on each credit card.

Wes @ Nov 19th 2006 12:10AM

If this many of you folks may have had horrible experiences with Best Buy (and I'm not douting you), then the BestBuy in Roseville, CA deserves a great pat on the back.

People started lining up on Tues. and the same day, the Employees and Manager of my Best Buy began taking role. As the line grew, the new additions would be added to the bottom of the list. At random, employees would come out in pairs to rattle off the list for a role call. You had to miss TWO role calls to be cut from the list, which was great. This kept the majority of the folks in line (because it was random), but also allowed us to grab food, go to the bathroom, etc. and then return to line. Role continued to be kept until about 2am each morning, and was then resumed at about 8am.

As soon as the shipments arrived, a poster was put up at the front of the store showing allocations (34 total), and the rules for the line queue and role call were also displayed up front.

Tents and canopies were allowed at night, or while it was raining, and for the Manager of the store was cool with us using parts of the parking lot for general recreation (football, frisbee) - he even came out and joined us for a while.

Not only that, but that same manager ran an extention cord out so that myself and a few others with tvs / ps2s could leech power to play games and watch movies.

Come 7am Friday morning the Manager gave out tickets to the first 34 people on the list (24 60gb, 10 20gb), and told those people to come back at 8am. This gave me and the other ticket holders a chance to go home (if we lived locally), shower, and come back to purchase our unit.

When we came back we formed a line in order of ticket number, went in in groups of 5 to buy the units, then left to our cars. A Police cruiser was outside to watch things, and we had the option of employee escort as well.

THANKS BEST BUY. You did things right and I actually had a hell of a lot of fun.

dolemite @ Nov 19th 2006 4:51AM

Well, here in Charlotte the Walmart we camped ou at was pretty cool. We too formed a list, and even though the store did not really count it, we policed ourselves. The Wednesday night storm was terrible, but we pulled our cars right up to the side of the building and sat in them for a few hours. The manager came out and told us how many they had and some people got rainchecks. To keep the line orderly, everytime a new face showed up, we explained to them how many units there were, and that they were waiting for notheing. The store managers also told the extras the same thing and that these 10 people had waited overnight. All in all, Walmart handled it well. Security did walk us to our cars, and the people I was in line with were cool.

Nomi @ Nov 19th 2006 12:44AM

To counter no.10.

The Best Buy in downtown Toronto (where smashmyps3, smashed their ps3) accommodated everyone real well. They had a long hallway in their basement where they moved everyone to overnight, but not before systematically taking the names of everyone down. They had 94 units after which they told people to go home. For the people that stayed over night they provided chairs from the neighboring Canadian Tire. It was a long line-up and I have pictures to show it. Employees from Best Buy stayed around to keep a check on the crowd and as far as I remembered, everyone who had their name in the list, received a ps3. Best Buy even hosted a gaming 'tent' per say, displaying ps3 right around the corner. In fact, if you watch the smashmyps3 video, you will see the very 'tent', also; those people aren't waiting to buy the ps3, they are waiting to play it.

All said and done, maybe us Canadians are just nicer.

T1mmae @ Nov 19th 2006 1:09AM

I work LP at an Eastern PA Best Buy and would like to try and clear some things up. Just so everyone understands Best Buy was under a huge amount of pressure to pull off the PS3 launch as smoothly as possible due to the whole thing being scrutinized by the SEC or AG's office...I forget which...This is all a by product of the gaffed Xbox360 launch and the 'bundling' fiasco. Corporate sent a 'playbook' to every location with the rules and regulations for the Wii and PS3 launch events. The employees were told in the playbook to not divulge the number of units to the line because of the chance that the number of actual units recieved could change depending on shipping schedules etc...All employees were told to only guarantee that we would have the Ad stated minimum of 26 units (6 Core, 20 Premium)...This worked well in my store since we were originally expecting 36 units and only recieved 34 by the time the launch rolled around...at 3PM Friday we recieved 6 more units in a drop shipment we knew nothing about and weren't even expecting. Those units were quickly purchased by lucky folks who happened to be shopping.

As for the launch my store did not honor the list that was made up by the people that had been there the longest. At 530 AM on launch day we posted the number of available units in the window. Our line was orderly because we told the people waiting that if one person got out of hand we would removed everyone from the property. This strategy allowed for some great self-policing of the crowd. We allowed tents while the rains fell Wednesday night and Thursday day even though the playbook recommended against it.

It wasn't the store level employees idea to allow people to only line up 12 or 24 hours early. In the playbook corporate recomended that as a strategy for the stores to use in order to control the crowd and keep the line from getting out of hand. Although the each store was allowed on an individual basis to allow people to wait longer. So everytime anyone asked me while I was standing at the door how many units we were getting I responded "At least 26 as the ad minimum states. Your more than welcome to wait in line as long as you like but for your safety Best Buy suggests waiting no more than 24 hours in advance of the launch." Lo-and behold our line began to form at 3pm Thursday and only grew from there.

Our line was orderly in the morning and the tickets were handed out accordingly. We enforced and let the poeple in line know that there could only be one PS3 per credit card and only one PS3 per person. I did notice most people paying with cash anyway. Some folks who didn't get tickets hung around hoping for a declined credit card but sadly everyone of the lucky individuals had their finances in order. By 845 I was picking up some left over pizza boxes and collecting a like new lounge chair for tailgaiting. And that was that, I only wished all stores launch went as smoothly as ours did.

Brian @ Nov 19th 2006 1:56AM

Here in Central Ohio, things were a little bit of a mix of all of these comments. The Best Buy allowed us to camp, and the closing manager both Wednesday and Thursday night was really cool and seemed to genuinely interested in our needs. Unfortunately, he was the only one. All other employees clearly thought we were just a bunch of gaming losers. We made a list, and when presented, it was promptly ignored, and policies that had been put in place by the cool manager were thrown out the window.

Some lady showed up for the first time that morning, and took a system away from somebody that had been waiting since 7pm Wednesday. Brothers that were told they would only get one system were allowed two, until karma struck and one was denied because he couldn't use his mom's credit card (LOL!)

Me and my buddy that waited both got premium systems (BARELY!), but it was just a bad situation. It went from what was an organized line to chaos within two hours, all because the manager who had been in charge the whole time somehow was not scheduled for the launch. We decided that if decide to do this again, we'll probably just show up at 4am on Launch Day and ditch, since Best Buy just hands out tickets to whomever is in line at the time they pass out tickets. It seems that No.11 is the model Best Buy employee, which explains a lot.

The ZeroCorpse @ Nov 19th 2006 5:05AM

OH, so NOW you guys acknowledge that some Best Buy stores treat launches and customers well... Now, after months of being denied another damned star because I dared to disagree with Vlad's opinion that Best Buy was ALWAYS EVIL, you admit that the people make the difference, and that one bad launch at one store doesn't taint the whole chain.

Our launches, when I worked at Best Buy (and every other electronics place I've managed) were spotless, and we were GREAT to the customers.

I don't expect an apology or anything. I know Vlad would never give in on his opinion that Best Buy and ALL its employees are terrible, but I'd appreciate some acknowledgment now and again when I'm deserving of a g'damn fracking star.

Launches are all about the PEOPLE who work at stores, not the company. Best Buy doesn't force bundles on anyone; If some rogue managers did it last year for the 360 launch, they were going against company policy, and they were (according to rumors) demoted for their misrepresentation of the company's good will toward gamers. Best Buy RELIES on gamers and electronics geeks and wouldn't risk pissing them off for a few forced add-ons. They know you'll be back to buy stuff for your console later... And they want you to be happy enough with them that they're your choice for accessories and games.

The way SOME people painted it, the few managers who did force bundles were part of some Best Buy black ops program, and the bad launches in rougher cities were part of the company's nefarious plan to make gamers uncomfortable and inconvenienced.

Some retail employees are idiots, and some are great people... Just like in any other industry (such as blogging, for example.)

I'm done. I'm sure you'll find a reason to hate on the people who work retail this year, again... This was probably just a momentary lapse on your part.

Thaddeus @ Nov 19th 2006 3:36PM

At our Littleton NH Walmart, they only had 10 systems, we had 10 people there 2 days early on Wednesday night. We made our own list of these 10 and then 5 or 6 of us held down the line and got told anyone that came they were out of luck, and the 10 were all called for. 3 or 4 of us were free to wander at a time. no one else showed up till opening on Friday morning and there were only 4 of them, the store gave them rainchecks. We never even stood in a line the whole time. Everyone just accepted that our list was official. Very fun and pleasant experience.