Back on June 5, the Switch 2’s launch day, I wrote about Belkin’s new accessories for Nintendo’s latest game console. I noted I hadn’t tried the Belkin accessories yet with my Switch 2; I ordered my console from Verizon, and it wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the following day.
My Switch 2 didn’t arrive on June 6. Or the day after. Or a week later. Or ever.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened: Verizon, a company that you don’t typically associate with selling game consoles, allowed more people to order the Switch 2 than it had in stock.
I checked in on what seemed like an apt Reddit thread entitled, “So I ordered my Switch 2 from Verizon… and it’s still not here,” which confirmed my suspicions. One of the commenters reported that he’d spoken to a customer service rep and was informed that not only was the device backordered, but there was no word as to when delayed orders would be fulfilled. The commenter also learned that Verizon had farmed out its Switch 2 sales to a third party, which made it more difficult to cancel your order.
Read more: CNET’s Switch 2 restock tracker
As days turned into weeks and I heard nothing from Verizon, and my “track order” page continued to list my Switch 2 as “scheduled to arrive June 6,” I started calling Verizon customer service every couple of days to see if anybody had any updates. The reps I spoke to were sincere in their efforts to help me and wished they could provide more clarity. But all they could tell me was that the console remained backordered.
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My order status never changed from the day I ordered it.
Truth be told, I wasn’t terribly upset about the situation because I wasn’t all that eager to buy a Switch 2 in the first place; I was a little annoyed my credit card had been charged, however. Like a few people I know, I ended up ordering the Switch 2 partially because the opportunity to buy one popped up without me making a serious effort to get one — I wasn’t going to follow CNET’s Nintendo Switch 2 Stock Tracker and dash off to a retailer like Best Buy or Target the moment a new shipment arrived in store.
As it was, I was on Slickdeals.com on the morning of June 5 and saw a post about the Switch 2 being in stock at Verizon online, albeit only available to Verizon customers. I clicked the link and was slightly shocked to discover it was indeed in stock and that I was able to order it, with a confirmation email to prove it.
As soon as I placed the order, I had a tinge of buyer’s remorse. Not so much because my bill came to $500 after tax and an extra $13 for expedited shipping. But I thought that maybe if I was dropping $500 on this thing, it would have been a better idea to wait and spend an extra $50 on the Switch 2 plus Mario Kart World Bundle, which was sold out at Verizon when I placed my order for the standalone Switch 2. At least I’d get a discount on one of Nintendo’s absurdly priced new games for the Switch 2.
Arguably, the best deal right now for a Switch 2 is Costco’s Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle that also comes with a 12-month individual subscription to Nintendo Online, plus the Expansion Pack for $525, saving you $25 off the subscription. But you have to be a Costco member to get it — if it’s in stock.
But even with that touch of lingering regret, I didn’t cancel my order, though I did get my money back for the expedited shipping. However, when I spoke with a very nice customer service rep with an Australian accent a few days ago, I did start asking some questions about how hard it was going to be to cancel the order. She confirmed the process was a little tricky, but she’d be happy to cancel it. She’d need to “file a ticket,” and it might take three to five days before my order was actually canceled and my credit card credited. I told her thanks, but I was going to hold off on canceling for a few more days.
After I hung up with her, I thought, OK, I don’t really want to be a jerk about this, but I do work for CNET, and maybe it’s time to share my Switch 2 buying saga with a wider audience.
As a journalist, what you should do in a situation like this is reach out to a company media representative and inform them that you’re writing about how you’ve had a rather poor shopping experience with their company. So I did just that, explaining that I wasn’t too upset about the situation, but I was concerned about the lack of communication about the status of my order, which seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo. Also, judging from a couple of Reddit threads on the topic, others were in the same position. Did Verizon have any comment?
Initially, it appeared Verizon might give me a comment. But then it didn’t. However, I did get tipped off that the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle had just come back into stock and that no one had posted about it. I quickly fired up my computer and headed back to Verizon’s website, where, sure enough, it was in stock. Glutton for punishment that I am, I placed an order for it since the bundle was what I wanted in the first place.
I then called up Verizon customer service to cancel my initial order. The Reddit users’ comments proved accurate. I spent almost 30 minutes on the phone — most of it hold time — waiting for the service rep to jump through all the hoops to get my order canceled. At the end of the call, I got a cancellation confirmation number (the aforementioned “ticket”) and was told that it would indeed take three to five days to process.
For my second order, I didn’t add expedited shipping, opting instead for the free two-day shipping. I got an email that confirmed my order, but when I went to track its status the next day, it still showed that my order was received but had yet to ship. I was sure I’d entered the doom loop again.
But lo and behold, a few hours later, I received an email saying my order had arrived. In the Verizon app, the status of my order had changed to “shipped.” When I got back home, I found a plain brown box with an expedited shipping label on it. My Switch 2 and a code for Mario Kart World were inside.
All’s well that ends well? The Mario Kart World bundle arrived the day after I ordered it.
If you’re thinking someone made sure that order got to me pronto, you probably wouldn’t be wrong. But I won’t lie. Despite it costing what it did and my putting a lot more effort into getting it than I wanted to, there was a certain satisfaction in finally receiving it.
I do think it’s a lot better than the original Switch that I bought shortly after it launched. Or maybe I’m just trying to justify spending $544 on it. At least I can try out those Belkin accessories now.
