Continuing my stroll through fond GameStop experiences, here is the story of how I almost missed out on getting a Wii U Deluxe edition and what my diligence and GameStop did to help change that outcome.

Missing the Pre-order

When the Wii U was announced on September of 2012, I did not make it into a GameStop to pre-order on either of the first two days. By the time I finally showed up, there were no Deluxe editions available. It was very disheartening. Not wanting to completely miss out, I pre-ordered the Basic edition.

Obviously, I was not planning to give up that easily. Between more storage space, the included game and several other accessories, the Deluxe bundle was a far superior value. Therefore, I started calling my GameStop every day hoping for an update. And, every day a different voice would respond that nothing new had come up.

More Consoles!

About a week and a half into this ordeal, I swung by the store looking for better answers. As luck would have it, several employees had just gotten out of some phone call with the regional managers and they had news to share: there was a possibility that GameStop would be getting extra allotments of Wii U Deluxe bundles! Although the news was refreshing, it also left me in an even larger state of anxiousness. Would I be able to pre-order one of these extra units? How would I go about making sure I did not miss out again? When I asked them, the best response they could muster was for me to continue following up with the store over the phone.

During my call the next morning, the guy on the line surprised me with more concrete news! It was now official: a few extra units would be alloted for the store and pre-orders would become available soon. Not able to add me through the computer yet, he decided to start a list on a sheet of paper with my name on it. This gave me some semblance of peace but I could not celebrate yet. My concerns were moot though. Because between then and the time I made it to the store that afternoon, another employee had figured out how to start queuing up customers for extra Wii U Deluxe‘s on their actual computer system. Even better, she had already queued me up; first in line! The amount of relief coursing through me at that moment was indescribable. I was now as close to getting a Deluxe edition as I could be.

Store Family

Not much occurred during the next couple of months. Then, maybe a week before the release, I swung by the store to find them preparing the shelf space for the upcoming console. After a bit of conversation and dorking out, the employee started pulling out several random Wii U goodies and handing them to me for no reason! None of it was worth a lot but the gesture alone brought those feelings of “being home” right back to the surface.

Then came the day before release; a Saturday, since Nintendo at the time thought that Sunday releases were cool. I went by the store again to check whether the Wii U shipment had arrived and how many extra Deluxe‘s had actually been received. Her response surprised me once again: “Yes, the Wii U’s arrived and there is a Deluxe box with your name on it; I made sure of it.” It was no joke. When I went the next morning to finally pick up the console, my Deluxe box had a big piece of paper taped to it with my full name handwritten. It was probably not necessary. But, the fact that she went the extra mile to make sure I got the version I wanted, especially after all the follow-up I had performed, meant a lot ot me.

Even though the Wii U went on to pretty much flop, I always look at it fondly and I think it has a lot to do with the quest that it was to obtain it. It is also how the “GameStop girl” and I ended up becoming friends. Actually, I ended up befriending most of the staff on that GameStop. Sadly, it closed a year or two later. And, even though I have since found another really good “pet” location, I still miss that store.

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