Amazon pledges to replace 'stolen' PS5 consoles — what to do next

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Do you have a PS5 order that never arrived? Amazon UK is here to help

PS5
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

As if finding where to buy a PS5 wasn't tricky enough with so little stock around, some U.K. buyers of Sony's next-gen console ended up in a situation where their consoles never arrived.

Various Amazon U.K. customers received shipments of random items, including cat food, while others received nothing at all. To compensate them, Amazon has now announced that affected customers can re-order the console by contacting customer service.

Initially, Amazon refunded customers who didn’t receive their PS5, or offered them various amounts of credit to make up for it. In normal circumstances that wouldn’t be so bad, but given how difficult it’s been to get a PS5 a lot of people weren’t happy. Obviously, the impacted customers wanted the console without having to rejoin the battle against bots (and other humans) to get one.

Amazon had hinted it would be possible to get a new console from customer service at the time, but that's now been confirmed. That’s great news for those who had their PS5 stolen en route to their home, though the best part is they should be able to receive a replacement within 14 days of making the order. Provided the PS5s don’t mysteriously vanish again.

While you’d think it would be simpler just to send new consoles out automatically, there are other factors to consider. The first is that refunds have already been processed, and Amazon needs customer permission before charging them again. 

Unfortunately U.K. customers aren't the only ones having to deal with lost or stolen PS5s. Various Reddit and Twitter posts confirm that customers in the U.S. and Canada have had consoles fail to materialise after being marked as delivered. 

It's not just affected Amazon customers either. There seem to be a suspiciously high number of Reddit posts mentioning that FedEx has lost PS5s in transit while accusing the delivery service of not caring enough to investigate. 

FedEx is definitely accountable for these lost/stolen PS5's and Xbox's from r/FedEx

While we can't see any reports of customers receiving air fryers (which have terrible graphics by the way) like the person in the tweet below, the problem of missing PS5 consoles is clearly a widespread one made worse by the extreme demand.

We're here to help make getting a next-gen games console a little easier with our where to buy PS5 article. Check that out as we track retailers that have new PS5 stock coming in sporadically. 

Unfortunately, Amazon U.K. is only honoring this pledge if customers confirm they want a PS5 by end of day December 5. Amazon customers in other regions should also be able to ask the same, since it's all one big company. 

As for those who bought from other retailers, your best bet is to keep pestering customer service and hope they get a replacement organised. We'd suggest doing that as soon as you can, and pray that your PS5 actually arrives this time.

Amazon U.K.’s investigation into the incidents is still ongoing.

More from Tom's Guide

Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Justintimen
    Just for any Canadian's who see this, don't get your hopes up.
    Amazon said my PS5 was picked up by a 3rd party shipper from their warehouse, the third party shipper assured me the package never left the Amazon warehouse, so after seeing this article I thought I'd contact Amazon customer support. After being transferred many times by customer service I've been told amazon.uk and amazon.ca are entirely separate entities ("Each site works independently") and amazon.ca is offering no support apart from a refund.
    Reply
  • rgd1101
    yeah. each country work differently
    Reply
  • Justintimen
    rgd1101 said:
    yeah. each country work differently
    Just thought I'd mention it since the article said "Amazon customers in other regions should also be able to ask the same, since it's all one big company. "
    No harm in trying. No dice this time though.
    Reply
  • Codybur
    My big thing is what's to stop customers from saying that it never arrives or that they got a air fryer or whatever the case may be when in reality they did get their package and they're trying to blame it on the system, something they know they can do because of articles like this.
    Reply
  • rgd1101
    I think a few of the delivered service take a pic when they delivered
    Reply