As if Wii shortages a year after launch weren't bad enough, Toys 'R' Us seems to be determined to take £300 from you if you want to get one before Greedmas.
A source has told SPOnG that, having heard that the Wakefield branch of Toys 'R' Us had Wiis in stock, they headed down to get in line. Fair enough, Wiis are in short supply - not the fault of Toys 'R' Us.
While queueing, our source and other assembled punters were told that the Wii is not available on its own from the shop and has to be bought in a bundle. Not ideal, but not a practice that's limited to Toys 'R' Us at the moment, as SPOnG reported earlier.
The outrage of those assembled came when they were told by a Toys 'R' Us staff member that not only would the shop not be selling standalone Wiis (which would have come with Wii Sports, of course) but they would also only be selling them in £300 bundles - punters would not be allowed to purchase Toys 'R' Us's advertised cheaper bundles at £250.
Let's break it down.
The £250 bundles (£249.89 or £249.99, to be precise) include (according to the Toys 'R' Us website) "a Nintendo Wii console and remote, Sports Pack, Controller Sports Pack and 3 games – Ratatouille, Surfs Up and Carnival: Fun Fair Games", or the games "Super Fruit Fall, Carnival and Rayman Raving Rabbids". In terms of cash value they work out at around £294 and £279 respectively, taking into account Toys 'R' Us's pricing of the games and the Wii's recommended retail price of £179. The games, however, aren't everyone's cup of tea. Being forced to take them just to get the hardware would certainly provoke some unrepeatable expletives in the SPOnG underwater castle...
That's not as bad, however, as having to choke down Toys 'R' Us's 'Total Family Pack' at £299.99 - especially when the company advertises a cheaper bundle. The pack, "Includes Nintendo Wii console and remote, Sports Pack, Controller Sports Pack and 5 games!" The games in question are Super Fruit Fall, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Carnival: Fun Fair Games, Open Season and Chicken Little: Ace in Action. Total value: £349. Again, cash saving.
But does anyone really want all those games? Only Raving Rabbids is a quality title, the rest are available heavily discounted from other retailers. Surely the honourable way to bundle is the way HMV, Game and others do it, where you can choose the games you get with your console, rather than having to pay top dollar for ageing titles that the retailer has negotiated massive discounts on to help dump dead stock.
SPOnG contacted Toys 'R' Us to find out if not selling advertised bundles to take advantage of demand for the Wii is company policy. Having been shoved off to customers services by the press office, we were told, "We haven't got a particular policy as such, we've just always sold them that way".
As it didn't seem altogether top practice to get an everyday, shop-floor, staffer to quote on Toys'r'Us policy, we decided to give the press office one more chance to do its job by getting us an official, on the record quote by a staff member responsible for setting policy... that was some hours ago. We have still not heard back.
Before we leave, however, Nintendo has returned us a comment regarding its policy - and a relevant one it is too, "We sell Wiis to retailers not bundles - you will have to take that issue up with each retailer. These are not Nintendo bundles and are led by retailers", fair enough. Back to you Toys'R'Us...
A source has told SPOnG that, having heard that the Wakefield branch of Toys 'R' Us had Wiis in stock, they headed down to get in line. Fair enough, Wiis are in short supply - not the fault of Toys 'R' Us.
While queueing, our source and other assembled punters were told that the Wii is not available on its own from the shop and has to be bought in a bundle. Not ideal, but not a practice that's limited to Toys 'R' Us at the moment, as SPOnG reported earlier.
The outrage of those assembled came when they were told by a Toys 'R' Us staff member that not only would the shop not be selling standalone Wiis (which would have come with Wii Sports, of course) but they would also only be selling them in £300 bundles - punters would not be allowed to purchase Toys 'R' Us's advertised cheaper bundles at £250.
Let's break it down.
The £250 bundles (£249.89 or £249.99, to be precise) include (according to the Toys 'R' Us website) "a Nintendo Wii console and remote, Sports Pack, Controller Sports Pack and 3 games – Ratatouille, Surfs Up and Carnival: Fun Fair Games", or the games "Super Fruit Fall, Carnival and Rayman Raving Rabbids". In terms of cash value they work out at around £294 and £279 respectively, taking into account Toys 'R' Us's pricing of the games and the Wii's recommended retail price of £179. The games, however, aren't everyone's cup of tea. Being forced to take them just to get the hardware would certainly provoke some unrepeatable expletives in the SPOnG underwater castle...
That's not as bad, however, as having to choke down Toys 'R' Us's 'Total Family Pack' at £299.99 - especially when the company advertises a cheaper bundle. The pack, "Includes Nintendo Wii console and remote, Sports Pack, Controller Sports Pack and 5 games!" The games in question are Super Fruit Fall, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Carnival: Fun Fair Games, Open Season and Chicken Little: Ace in Action. Total value: £349. Again, cash saving.
But does anyone really want all those games? Only Raving Rabbids is a quality title, the rest are available heavily discounted from other retailers. Surely the honourable way to bundle is the way HMV, Game and others do it, where you can choose the games you get with your console, rather than having to pay top dollar for ageing titles that the retailer has negotiated massive discounts on to help dump dead stock.
SPOnG contacted Toys 'R' Us to find out if not selling advertised bundles to take advantage of demand for the Wii is company policy. Having been shoved off to customers services by the press office, we were told, "We haven't got a particular policy as such, we've just always sold them that way".
As it didn't seem altogether top practice to get an everyday, shop-floor, staffer to quote on Toys'r'Us policy, we decided to give the press office one more chance to do its job by getting us an official, on the record quote by a staff member responsible for setting policy... that was some hours ago. We have still not heard back.
Before we leave, however, Nintendo has returned us a comment regarding its policy - and a relevant one it is too, "We sell Wiis to retailers not bundles - you will have to take that issue up with each retailer. These are not Nintendo bundles and are led by retailers", fair enough. Back to you Toys'R'Us...
Companies:
Toys 'R' Us
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Comments
Si 20 Nov 2007 20:26
1/6
Bloody Nazis.
intoxik8 20 Nov 2007 21:17
2/6
I noticed woolworths are doing the same on their website, you can't order a wii on it's own but you can order a £300 bundle
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deleted 20 Nov 2007 22:08
3/6
SPOnG wrote:
While queueing, our source and other assembled punters were told that the Wii is not available on its own from the shop and has to be bought in a bundle. Not ideal, but not a practice that's limited to Toys 'R' Us at the moment, as SPOnG reported earlier.
intoxik8 wrote:
I noticed woolworths are doing the same on their website, you can't order a wii on it's own but you can order a £300 bundle
yes woolworths are and SPOng you reported this ealier as well why have you targetted toys`r`us?, when another company is clearly doing the same and you know they are>??
SuperSaiyan4 21 Nov 2007 10:18
4/6
Hang on a min, I am sure there was a case similar to this a few years back where it was against the law or something to FORCE consumers to have to purchase a bundle? As legally you are inclined to be able to buy the item on its own?
al 21 Nov 2007 14:48
5/6
These games are crap, I had this problem with Toys r us when I tried to buy a wii from there, i dont like being forced to buy additional games, especially rubbish titles. Why cant most places give you the option to buy a wii on its own, most of us will want to buy games of our choice when we purchase the console anyway.
They may be cashing in, and you can understand that in the world of business, but to be honest they are also losing custom because of it.
Simple, wii package on its own £179, or with a game of YOUR choice £210-£220, maybe less.
They may be cashing in, and you can understand that in the world of business, but to be honest they are also losing custom because of it.
Simple, wii package on its own £179, or with a game of YOUR choice £210-£220, maybe less.
Rorkimaru 5 Dec 2007 12:09
6/6
Its not that big a deal. they are charging more for a rare item. its hard to get a wii so people should have to pay more.
personaly im suprised they are adding in the extra content to justify the price hike. if it were me i would charge 300 for the basic wii + wii sports deal. people would end up paying it
personaly im suprised they are adding in the extra content to justify the price hike. if it were me i would charge 300 for the basic wii + wii sports deal. people would end up paying it