Okay I don't normally do this but here is a fun consumer rant. A few weeks ago there were complaints that the preorder process for PS5s was a fiasco followed by reassurances from Microsoft that their process would be much better. Well oh boy do I have a shambolic tale to tell 1/?

So as far as I know simply preordering an Xbox Series X/S was relatively smooth from most shops. However what I wanted to do yesterday was preorder through the All Access scheme, that is 24 monthly payments which covers the cost of the console and Game Pass Ultimate. 2/?

This actually works out cheaper than buying them separately as reported by @eurogamer and meant I didn't need to pay £450 in one lump sum. Seemed like a pretty good deal so I went to the websites of the only two retailers offering this service @SmythsToysUK and @GAMEdigital 3/?

. @GAMEdigital shoved me in a queue (which is fine!) but then when I reached the end of the queue the whole website blinked out of existence (not fine!!). When it eventually did return from the dead many hours later All Access purchases were only available in store, not online 4/?

The @SmythsToysUK website seemingly didn't update at all for hours and eventually said they were only taking full orders in stores. All Access was only going to be offered online but not until the fixed the website 5/?

This eventually happened, Xbox Series X appeared as part of the All Access offer. I entered all my details, most of which were required for @Klarna who are providing the finance for this deal. The direct debit went through and then the Smyths website died again 6/?

I received an email from Klara saying that my direct debit was confirmed but absolutely nothing from Smyths. Judging from the response to my tweets the same thing happened to a lot of people. As far as I know I don't think anyone's XAA orders worked correctly at this time 7/?

The customer services team at @AskKlarna were pretty good and very responsive. They effectively told me that my Smyths order didn't work, I won't be getting an Xbox and my direct debit will therefore be set to £0. They advised me that I should cancel it with my bank 8/?

But unfortunately this leaves me and plenty of others in a strange limbo. I was advised not to attempt to make another XAA order as this "might effect my credit rating". If stock were to appear, or if I were to walk to a @GAMEdigital store I apparently can't make an order 9/?

Moreover, it's frustrating that I have to fix this by contacting my bank. @AskKlarna were good but I had to hunt out this information. There are likely many people out there who haven't heard a peep from Klarna so aren't aware that their order did not happen 10/?

Oh and through all of this I haven't heard a peep from @AskSmythsToys It would be really good to understand what they have to say about this, and whether there is anything they can do to rectify the problem! Anyway - consumer rant over, it's been a stressful day! 11/11

Updates to this thread!! Throughout today I heard many rumours that this was getting sorted and @SmythsToysUK were on it! Well it turns out these rumours are very true and I have been emailed by Smyth's with instructions on how to finish my preorder. I'm getting an Xbox!

To anyone who saw my tweets earlier - Check your inboxes!! My email from @AskSmythsToys ended up in the "Promotions" part of my Gmail so I almost missed it so check there if you use Gmail like me.

Bit of a drama filled purchase but hey it's done now. Thanks to @SmythsToysUK for sorting this out and thanks to @AskKlarna yesterday for being very helpful when I was panicking about my credit rating.