Mere minutes after word got out that Kohl’s received an wildly unexpected PlayStation 5 shipment, the American clothing retailer announced that its supplies had already run out. Sony's newest console is one of the hottest-selling items on the gaming market this holiday season, with retailers exhausting their shipments about as quickly as they can come.
So far, most stores are only selling the PS5 online due to a combination of low supplies and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic making long lines at a brick-and-mortar outlet during the busy holiday season even more hazardous than usual, though this has done little to slow down the ongoing rush of fans and shady internet scalpers looking to get their hands on the latest generation of PlayStation gaming technology. Walmart in particular has been hit hard by the massive demand for the PS5, as the retail chain’s online servers crashed almost immediately when the console first launched a couple of weeks ago.
As reported by PushSquare, word got out that Kohl's was offering up a surprise quantity of PS5s on their website earlier today… only for this stock to run out almost immediately. In compensation for this, the company says that all eligible customers who did try to order a console will be rewarded by allowing them to keep earned Kohl’s Cash from their canceled purchase, which they can use to buy pretty much anything else available at Kohl’s both online and at any physical location. Users on social media sites like Reddit and Twitter have claimed that their PS5 pre-orders have already been canceled, in addition making plenty of jokes and memes about how much Kohl’s Cash people are going to be refunded now that their console orders have been put on hold.
The issues surrounding the PS5’s limited availability are hardly exclusive to the US. In the United Kingdom, shipments are being delayed on account of the console’s large size (it is easily one of the biggest consoles in gaming history), and those who have received one through Amazon are reporting getting something else entirely when their orders finally arrive. In Toronto, Canada, there are even troubling reports of would-be customers being mugged by criminals falsely offering up the new console.
Back in the States, some fans are speculating that Kohl’s recent shipment of PS5 consoles - and their equally sudden disappearance - are part of a clever ploy by the retailer to get people into its stores to spend that reimbursement of Kohl’s Cash, and that seems easily possible given the growing demand for Sony’s much-hyped and well-received new console. However, players who would have preferred getting a PlayStation 5 to a refund of store-exclusive currency are still going to have to wait until the next shipment arrives, with Black Friday appearing to be the next window of opportunity to get their hands on one of video gaming's most sought-after systems.
Source: PushSquare, GingerNinja88, Migos0001, skowski8, mannysv8