Before Christmas Sneak related the sorry tale of Andy Baxter, who had ordered an Xbox 360 from Amazon on 19 August 2005 but was nonetheless sent to the back of the queue on launch day.

Amazingly some people were even worse off, such as doubly unlucky Dominic Price: “I too placed an order on 19 August, but not with Amazon. I chose retailer Special Reserve, paying £284.99 up front. I felt so smug when I heard that the 360 would be in short supply. And then Special Reserve went into liquidation. So no Xbox and no refund."

At the time Amazon was still promising a December delivery, so Price placed his second order with Amazon. “It was guaranteed to arrive on time, right up until delivery day – when the date suddenly switched to February 2006. Currently I am over £600 out of pocket and have nothing to show for it. Aaaaagh!”

Baxter, meanwhile, cancelled his Amazon order and chose instead to vie with the many Nigerian speculators to be found bidding on eBay. “I have now procured a machine, paying a premium in the process, but it was worth the extra £50,” he says, before adding that – unsurprisingly – he will not be placing an advance order for the upcoming PlayStation 3 with Amazon.

03 Jan 2006