Gamers Angry and Confused Over Failed Nintendo Switch Preorders

Remember when I was kicking myself for not preordering a Nintendo Switch? Yeah, not anymore.

Major online retailer Amazon guaranteed customers who preordered a Switch that their purchases would arrive on launch day, which is today, March 3rd. Despite that promise, social media is overwhelmed with angry and confused gamers who are wondering where the hell their Switches are.

Most people are seeing shipment statuses like the one below, which indicate the Switch is arriving by 8pm today, except the actual current status is still “Preparing for shipment.” Not “Shipped.” Not “Out for Delivery.” Just “Preparing for shipment.”

That’s Andrew Goldfarb, Editor at IGN. He went on to tweet that he already received his The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Master Edition and Pro controller from the same Amazon preorder, but the Switch was still clouded in mystery.

Some preordered Nintendo Switch accessories are stuck in limbo as well. WWG writer Matthew Hayes preordered an official Switch case for launch day delivery, but it now has a delivery window of March 22nd- April 12th. That’s… a bit of a delay.

Of course, customers are trying to figure out where their Switches are and when they’ll receive them. Some Amazon customer service representatives are advising customers they likely won’t receive their orders today, while other reps are saying there shouldn’t be any issues with Switch shipments.

One Reddit user posted that an Amazon Live Chat rep said this:

Thank you very much Okay, I’m going to be 100% honest with you because I don’t want to give you any false information. We’ve been receiving a lot of contacts about this issue. The problem is that all orders for the Nintendo Switch are being a little delayed since we still have not received any of them. We are still waiting and they are on their way to our facilities but we don’t have any further information I do want to make it up to you for this inconvenience though So what I can do is this. I can add a promo certificate of $50 to your account.

According to this rep, Nintendo is at fault for not providing Amazon with sufficient stock for their preorders.

However, another Reddit user provided some information that just adds to the confusion. One rep he spoke with said Amazon has no stock of the Switch and that the earliest they can deliver to anyone in the US is March 7th.

He proceeded to call two more times, hearing different things each time. One supervisor said there are no stock issues and his Switch should be delivered today. Another told him their stock was depleted and those who received their preordered Switches must have placed the order before him.

The information given by the last rep is contradictory to Amazon’s recent Switch sales to Prime and Prime Now members. A commenter on this thread stated they placed their Switch order through Prime Now at 11:50 p.m. last night and received it at 9:30 a.m. this morning.

There isn’t an easy answer to the mess that is the Amazon Switch preorder situation right now. Some people have received their Switches, while many are still in the “Preparing for shipment” / “Arriving by 8pm” limbo stage.

Maybe Nintendo shorted Amazon on the stock, but it sure wasn’t cool of Amazon to ship Switches to Prime members when those who preordered hadn’t received them.

We’ll update you as more information surfaces about these issues.