Those situated in the UK faced another setback whilst trying to get their hands on a PlayStation 5 today as a scalper group claims it has made more than 2,000 online orders through GAME. The online retailer had a restock of the next-gen console earlier today, but it’s hard to judge how many went to customers who will actually unbox and play the machine. As Eurogamer reports, a Twitter account has set itself to private itself following intense backlash to tweets boasting of “over 2000 checkouts successfully logged”. It apparently “just keeps getting easier every time”, one scalper posted.
This has led to the #PS5StockUK hashtag trending across Twitter, where users are detailing their frustration at the situation. The Carnage Bot, which is believed to be the account in question, advertises itself with an initial £250 entry fee along with a £25 monthly cost thereafter. From there, you would be given the tools to skip queues online and gain access to a community of scalpers.
#ps5stockuk
I’m frustrated that scalpers are sniping new #PS5 stock when the console becomes available. As a disabled gamer, it’s difficult to check stock online at any time.@Sony @PlayStation need to do something, scalpers are making a profit by selling for more than OG price— Vivek Gohil ⚡️ Mr Crunch (@uncannyvivek) January 19, 2021
GAME has responded to the claims of scalping, stating that each pre-order will be thoroughly checked and limited to one per customer. “We have strong measures in place to help ensure that our ‘1 per customer’ statement is maintained to allow for as many individual customers to successfully purchase as possible.”
“All pre-orders are subject to automatic checks and order updates such as cancellations following these checks take place after a customer will have received a valid order confirmation email. At the present time these orders are still pre-orders and as such no payments have yet been taken from customers. Payments will commence once our order checks have been completed.” For more information on PS5 Stock, head on through the link.
