Valkyria Chronicles II Ordeal: base.com; SEGA and LoveFilm

Buying a game online should be a relatively simple task correct? Pre-ordering is a bit of a challenge, depending on how anticipated the title is. I bought Valkyria Chronicles I a long time after it had been released and have yet to make time to complete it - currently it's competing with a few titles I'm playing consecutively: Blue Dragon; Professor Layton and the Lost Future; White Knight Chronicles; Last Rebellion; Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles; Final Fantasy II; Final Fantasy III; Final Fantasy V; Final Fantasy VI; Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearer; Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness; Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility; Tales of Eternia; Tales of Legendia; Agarest: Generations of War and clean-up on Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (review pending) and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Oh, as well as my third time through Fate/Unlimited Codes - not by choice, but because my darn Memory Stick keeps corrupting my save data after a few months of inactivity...Despite playing that many games at once - the majority of which I haven't picked up in years - I still keep buying more and when I do, I'm a glutton for Pre-Order bonuses and Limited Editions...

Which leads me onto the ordeal heading this post.

Valkyria Chronicles II came out two months ago on 03/09/2010 and for those who pre-ordered the game, they were rewarded with a bonus code that allowed exclusive download and access of two Missions that would later be released on the PlayStation Network for purchase - date to be confirmed, though now it's available as part of a bundle of 22 Missions for the humble price of £3.99. Attracted to the offer, I hit Google and searched for the best price and came across the one on base.com for £17.99. I put my pre-order in and waited; rather than what most sellers do and despatch the order in time for release, they despatched it ON release and I didn't get my game until FIVE days later. I forgave them for this, but found that I didn't receive my pre-order code and so I hit customer support.  Now this is probably my fault, but could easily be down to them not writing an accurate description for the product, but according to them they never advertised to offer the code. Either way, I asked for them to offer some assistance in reaching a resolution but there was nothing they could do and since I had opened the game, they couldn't refund it.

Okay, with them not being able to help, I took the next logical step and contacted SEGA - the publishers of the game in the hopes that they could help. They kept sending me back to the retailer, despite the numerous times I told them I had already dealt with them and they eventually said they'll look to see if they had anymore codes available. A few days of waiting later and they replied with a negative - no more codes.

I know what it looks like, all this for a measly code to get two extra Missions before they were released on the PSN. It's the principle! Lame defense, but I was in that frame of mind where I had pre-ordered my game with the intent of being eligible for the extra Missions and had been "robbed" of that - I don't roll over easily and will be tenacious in my endeavour until I have exhausted every rational/acceptable means.

Going for a last ditch effort, I decided to try and see if I could buy another copy of the game - one that clearly advertised providing the code - and came across the one offered by LoveFilm. Yes, I'm also crazy enough to pay for a second copy of the game just to get what I want...what would I have done with the other copy? eBay of course! It had been a month since release by this time - base.com and SEGA had awful response times - and so I contacted LoveFilm before putting in my order willy-nilly, informing them of the situation and asking if they could make an exception in this case. I received a prompt and lovely reply from their customer service rep, which seemed promising, and put in my order. I received my game a week or so later and was informed that the code had been recalled from the manufacturer and once it had arrived it would be e-mailed to me. I waited a month and no code; I don't doubt that LoveFilm did all they could to help me, but seeing that it was now TWO months since the game's release, I thought it was quite pointless/ridiculous hovering around waiting for something that was quite evidently not going to happen.

I managed to get a refund from them for the game - they were lovely all the way - and decided to troll the boards for info on the new Downloadable Missions, as they had been released on the PSN by now. Specifically, I wanted to know if the pack included the two Missions that were pre-order bonuses. Little did I expect to find some news that greatly infuriated me; the two pre-order Missions had been available for free download ALL ALONG! They had been released on the PSN on 01/09/10 - TWO days before the official release! I checked the PSN the day I got my game to see if they were up and couldn't find a thing; the only download at the time was the game itself, which was also released on 01/09/2010. I don't know who to be mad it - myself; fate; SEGA...SEGA seems like a good bet. Surely the publisher of a game that happily sang about the release of the Mission pack on the PSN should ALSO know about the two pre-order Missions being available? I don't expect base.com to know; after all retailers don't give technical support, but they should learn to write accurate product descriptions. I feel awful for putting LoveFilm in the position they were in for trying to help me - there was no way they'd know about the Missions being available on the PSN.

But...SEGA?! How could they not know?! I wasted TWO months in an effort to get what I pre-ordered my game for, and not once did they tell me to shut up and troll the PSN! Their customer service sucks!

</rant>