Yes, a company can certainly give gifts to its customers. LRG already did that with the coin. The debate is really over whether this is actually a gift or is instead a "bonus" that LRG used to induce customers to buy the last few Vita releases that they would have skipped otherwise. If it turns out it is actually a bonus and that customers relied on the offer in their purchasing behavior (i.e. but for the bonus offer, they would not have bought the last few Vita games), then you could argue that LRG has an obligation to provide the promised bonus to those customers who meet the qualifications they laid out prior to the sale of those last few games. My personal perspective is that the offer was never explicit or specific enough to rise to the level of a legal obligation. Indeed, there was a lot of debate as to whether the bonus game even existed and no clear promise that if certain conditions were met that everyone who met those conditions would get one.
This is essentially my argument, as legally, a gift must be no strings attached (paraphrasing). Making it conditional on purchase means its no longer a gift and is likely something like an incentive or reward. Reneging on that would have legal consequences per jurisdiction, likely a bigger issue in the EU.
How's that EU store coming, Doug?
The coin is totally a gift, since there is no reasonable way anyone was making game purchases since LRG opened just to get that nor did they know about it. But I imagine people are out there buying some of the less desirable Vita releases to complete a set for a super rare game, 'cause FOMO is kind of a thing (putting the limited in Limited Run Games, after all).
Now are game collectors the type to get super petty and litigious over the smallest slight? Perhaps. I guess if the company continues to promise to deliver, they technically haven't failed to do so. I think the EU has laws on reasonable time of delivery, not sure if the US does.
Just weird that the cofounder is here stating "we don't feel like it," as the best reason why they don't take care of some of their most loyal customers.
And to be clear, Doug, that is the reason until you tell us otherwise. You can make priorities; they just lie elsewhere right now.
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Aside, I think about LRG's logistics and would love to know more. But the one thing that seems to be an odd choice is allowing customers to tie together shipments of so many variable delivery date, long-lead items such as those crazy collectors editions that can see astronomical delays.
I cannot imagine its easy to maintain either a correctly accounted for estimated quantities or set asides or "piles" of various orders waiting six, 12, or 18+ months for that last bit to come together and ship it out to the customer.
I would think a company would limit the window on how long that was acceptable and either offer a free split to clear the warehouse and overhead so that picking and packing is less complicated for the staff or detangle their logistics systems (or both).
It's like people waiting months to get those blind boxes; those should be already accounted for, in terms of quantities, pre-event and pre-packaged, binned, and ready to allocate such that they can nearly go out the "same day" things are ordered. Waiting three months for shipping, assuming they're not tied to a pre-order, is absolutely nuts in any other customer service program.
I would absolutely love to see how they handle their warehouse; I would be that they could see a significant uptick in customer satisfaction and turn around times if they hired some professional industrial engineers and logistics management staff (assuming they don't have any now).
I say this having looked back at old interview given by Josh and Doug and how skittish they were about over-ordering, having leftover stock on hand, and knowing the obvious drag and additional risks of maintaining a large inventory. One act of God and your warehouse is wiped out (or product is damaged, destroyed), and the massive tangle you would have to pick apart would be a nightmare.
And yes, this is the stuff I normally thing about...
up.
