Currys calls off PS5 launch after accidentally selling consoles early
Hot mess.
Currys PC World has cancelled its plans to sell PlayStation 5 today after a number of early customers were able to place orders well before the chain's official 9am release time.
These orders have now been cancelled, affected customers were told, and the chain has called off selling any more PS5s today entirely.
Currys originally said it would begin selling PS5 at 9am this morning, though some early birds found they could place orders early. There are reports on social media from a number of happy customers who state they were able to secure their PS5 from as early as 5.30am.
But, clearly, this was not how Currys' system was supposed to work - and now the retailer has begun refunding these early orders.
It's unclear how much of the chain's PS5 stock had been bought up by 9am, but affected customers now face being left without a PS5 and having to scramble for a replacement. Others say they have been told to expect a wait for their £450 refund to come through - which many need in order to make another purchase.
In a now-deleted tweet seen by Eurogamer this morning, Currys' customer service account blamed "an error on our site" for what had happened:
"Unfortunately due to an error on our site we were allowing customer to check out the PS5 before they went live at 9am," the message explained. "Due to this we have had to cancel orders and the funds will be released back to you. Please accept my apologies."
Amidst the scramble to sort everything out, Currys initially postponed its 9am launch of PS5 to 11am, then scrapped it entirely:
We've contacted Currys to find out more about what went wrong, and when PS5 consoles might go back on sale.
But it's not only Currys that's struggling. GAME was also due to start selling PS5s at 9am, but has postponed its launch until later.
The retailer last night emailed pre-order customers to warn them some launch day PS5 deliveries handled by Yodel might also be delayed.
Still looking for a PlayStation 5? The Jelly Deals team is trying to keep this page updated as new stock goes on sale.