Standing in line waiting for the newest tech drop can be exciting, but one woman says Best Buy’s poor management turned it into a nightmare.
“So after waiting in line for four hours, Best Buy turned us away with no Switch,” begins Maeve Hutchins (@maeve_hutch) in a viral TikTok. “They gave out these ticket vouchers, saying that if you got one, you’d be guaranteed to get a Switch, but then all of a sudden at midnight they said, ‘Oh, we’re closed. Goodbye.’”
Hutch notes that the store still had the Nintendo Switch 2 in stock, but it just refused to sell them.
“And then they said [the vouchers] are invalid unless you wait until 10am when the store opens again,” she says. “As in, continue waiting in line from midnight to 10am.”
Hours wasted
Hutchins says the store is in American Fork, Utah, and bad reviews about the situation are flooding in.
She notes that the voucher states the item must be claimed during the Late Night Event that started on June 5 at 12:01am ET. When she pointed this out to a manager, the manager simply replied that they close at midnight, so there’s nothing they could do.
Hutchins adds that about 50 people were standing in line with her and many more were standing in the pre-order line attempting to pick up Switches that had already been paid for. Some people were waiting 6 to 10 hours, she says.
“This was handled so badly,” she says. “There are 10,000 ways they could’ve handled it better.”
She says shoppers were choosing to spend over $400 at Best Buy rather than other stores, and they should have been treated more “respectfully.” She also calls her experience a “scam” in the on-screen caption and says she will no longer be shopping at Best Buy and will be encouraging others to do the same.
‘You showed up late’
In the comments section, viewers had little sympathy for Hutchins.
User Danny Boy said, “The best buy switch 2 release page said they were only open for 2 hours for the release. 10pm to midnight. What do y’all expect on the release of a major console? That the employees just work 24 hours? … Either wait in line, or don’t.”
“People stop complaining,” a second viewer wrote. “Be patient or don’t get one.”
A third questioned, “What did they ‘scam’ you out of? Your time?”
What were the terms of the Best Buy Nintendo Switch 2 midnight opening?
On its website, Best Buy states, “On June 5, nearly all Best Buy stores in the U.S. will open at 12:01 a.m. ET for pre-order pickup and walk-in purchases. That means 11:01 p.m. CT, 10:01 p.m. MT and 9:01 p.m. PT.”
The page does not say that stores would only be open for two hours. However, an Axios article includes that information.
@maeve_hutch Replying to @justin!? BEST BUY TURNED US AWAY! ⚠️ Putting Best Buy on blast ?@Best Buy #bestbuy #bestbuypartner #bestbuystories #bestbuydeals #bestbuyemployee #nintendoswitch #nintendoswitch2 #nintendoswitchgames ♬ original sound – maeve_hutch
What else should I know about buying a Nintendo Switch 2 from Best Buy?
Best Buy will only be selling the Switch 2 in-store during launch week. It starts at $449.99 for the console alone and goes up to $499.99 for the Mario Kart World bundle.
Games and accessories are still available for purchase on the Best Buy website.
The Mary Sue contacted Hutchins via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted Best Buy via press email.
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