Gamers were unconvinced today by a major retailer’s “do better” promise after it confirmed long-held suspicions that much-coveted PlayStation 5s were being snapped up by bots.
Power Buy’s admission that it found at least one person using an “auto bot” to snatch up reservations for the next-gen Sony consoles helped explain why no one can obtain them because such automated programs snipe them as soon as they are listed.
“Before they made the conclusion that a bot was used, the reseller must have already bought a new house from the profits made,” read one comment on the store’s mea culpa.
Under pressure by Thai gamers who revealed evidence of automated “scalping” of PlayStation 5 consoles, the electronics retail chain admitted that it was true.
“A thorough investigation revealed that an auto bot was used to make reservations using different customer names, email addresses, and order details before posting receipts causing misunderstanding and damage to the company,” Power Buy said in a Friday statement.
The store said it had to go through legal channels to track down the customer and determine their culpability.
It also vowed to implement measures that would prevent bots from taking reservation slots “in order to be fair and transparent to all customers.”
Naturally, many dismissed it as empty words, concluding no legal action will take place given how long the problem has been openly discussed.
“Wow, there was a bot this whole time? No wonder I couldn’t get one after a whole year,” a Keerati Kowkum wrote.
“I will never buy from your store ever again,” wrote another angry customer.
Last week, an online Thai PlayStation community revealed a console scalper’s post purportedly showing dozens of PlayStation 5 receipts from PowerBuy after the last round of reservations was released.
Under Sony’s rules, only one console can be reserved per person across any store supplying one.
It’s been no secret that securing a PlayStation 5 at retail price is an impossible feat, something that has gone on for well over a year.
It isn’t just Thailand that’s going through a PS5 shortage. Worldwide, many other countries are going through similar ordeals in which consoles are sold at markup prices.
But why? Sony says a shortage of the computer chips needed to make PS5s are the cause of limited supply.
In Thailand, new batches of consoles are advertised monthly, with buyers made to wait until 11am on a Friday morning to reserve them – only to find all gone within seconds.
That’s forcing gamers looking to nab a seemingly mythological PlayStation 5 to pay scalpers exorbitant prices of up to THB30,000 (US900) – almost double the retail price.
