The Stream Team: Win a Wizard101 Fantastic Voyage Gauntlet Bundle

One more thing:

3 of the 4 Walmart’s I went to are listed on the “where to find” post found here: https://kingsisleblog.com/2017/07/11/the-fantastic-voyage-gauntlet-and-where-you-can-find-yours/

Those Walmart’s do not sell Wizard101 cards.

Just FYI.

I appreciate your responding back to my original post. However, for the sake of the community, it must be pointed out that most of what you have just said is categorically untrue.

For starters, KingsIsle is in the manufacturing business. They may not produce the plastic onto which their game images are printed, but they are directly in control of, and responsible for, the codes that are printed on those cards. They also directly house the programmers and the ability to make these cards available digitally, through the game, to their customer base. While it may be easy to simply cast aside responsibility onto the third party companies that KingsIsle has chosen to do business with, I can assure you the responsibility rests solely with KingsIsle and any attempt to redirect that responsibility onto others us unbecoming.

Secondly, all products produced, distributed and sold by the Walmart corporations are first and foremost posted on the Walmart website. There is no product that can be found within a Walmart retail location that is not, first, on their website. Again, there is no such thing as going to one brick and mortar Walmart store after another searching in the hopes that one store may have it and the other may not. How do I know this? Because I went to four Walmart stores today searching for the card in the Denver metro area. At the fourth Walmart store I went to, I was lucky enough to talk to the store manager and show that manager the post from this website and from KingsIsle about the card, which included, I might add, not only a direct statement that the product could only be obtained at Walmart locations, but also offered a link to the Walmart website (much like the one you provided in your post), which does not lead to the product. The Walmart manager apologized for me waisting my time, and kindly informed me that all Walmart products are first listed online and that traveling from store to store in search of a specific product needles. He said that all a person needed to do was to go onto the website and search up the product. From that point, the website will let one know if they product is in stock, at what brick and mortar locations it might be found, or even if the product is even carried by Walmart. I want to emphasize this last part, because currently the Walmart website does not have a listing for this particular card, nor do they have “coming soon” placement on their website for this card. The fact, however, that you can purchase the card elsewhere for up to 3 times the retail cost is insulting.

The bottom line: Kings Ise stated that Walmart would be selling the card, but Walmart is not. No brick and mortar Walmart currently operating, nor their warehouse, has this product nor a “coming soon” spot for this product. That makes Kings Isle one of two things. Either they are a a liar, or they are incompetent. Hopefully Kings Isle has better things to do as a company than to out and out lie to the customer base for Tuesday-afternoon kicks. But I do suspect that they are highly incompetent. This is not the first time I have run into these issues with Kings Isle. For instance, I was never able to purchase the Atlantean bundle for much the same reason as I am citing here. Kings Isle- and Kings Isle alone- is responsible for their product. If they say a product is going to be available at a certain retailer by a certain date then it is Kings Isle’s responsibility to make sure that that happens. If they are repeatedly unable to shore up their 3rd party obligations, then perhaps Kings Isle needs to admit as much and offer recompense to their customer base. Nothing would be simpler, cost the Kings Isle company less money, and make them more money than to simply offer the product digitally through the game. No 3rd party businesses to blame, and everyone is happy.

I certainly hope that what you say is true and that Kings Isle is earnestly expanding their distribution method of bundles in the future. Again, howe ver, nothing is simpler and more logical than the solution I have already proposed.

Also, the link you sent does not lead to any of the Fantastic Voyage cards. In fact, it shows they are not sold by Walmart.

Case-in-point.

entirely possible the cards are sitting in the back room at Walmart not getting stocked. I worked for Walmart for over 5 years. plenty of lazy brown nosers not doing their jobs and getting a check for kissing butt and gossiping.

I wish I was using hyperbole. Unfortunately, I am just relaying to the community and to you what I was told directly by the floor manager at a local Walmart. Perhaps that floor manager didn’t know what they were talking about? But, for now, that is all I have to go on and what they have told me, so far, seems to be correct.

Again, I checked the list of Walmart’s put out by KingsIsle. Three of the four Walmart’s I checked today were on the list. (I live in the Denver area.) My husband needed to run to Walmart tonight so I decided to go with him and we went to the Westminster Walmart, which – again – is one of the Walmart’s listed through KingsIsle. Again, I talked to two managers. They had a place for KingsIsle cards in the electronics section, but the slot was empty. I showed them the KingsIsle website, I showed them this blog, and I showed them the KingsIsle list of Walmart’s that supposedly carry the product. They looked confused. And then do you know what they did? They pulled out their pads, pulled up Walmart’s website and inventory, and did a search for the cards. Their conclusion and response to me was that there must be something incorrect on KingsIsle’s end, because Walmart simply did not carry that product. No Walmart. Not just the Westminster, Colorado Walmart I happened to be standing in.

Now, maybe 4 different Walmart’s and 3 different Walmart managers just can’t get their shit together (wouldn’t be the first time I have experience something like that) and Walmart does somehow, miraculously, carry the product and I was just SO unlucky today as to not find it after 5 different trips to 4 different stores. Perhaps.

Or, perhaps something has gone wrong on KingsIsle’s end? I don’t know. What I do know is that KingsIse is said the product is available at X and X is shaking their head and saying, “oh no it isn’t”. This isn’t Walmart’s fault. This isn’t Walmart’s mix-up. It is KingsIsle’s fault and KingsIsle’s mix up.

And, again, this is not the first time I have encountered this problem. Not the first time by a long shot! I have missed out on two other bundles because of this nonsense and, so, this time I have decided to take my frustration and voice it to KingsIsle and the community.

I have already messaged KingsIsle directly and opened a ticket with them. However, given their poor track record with communicating with customers, I decided to post my findings on this blog, given the nature of the article, so that other Wizard101 fans/customers can have a heads up. And, by the other posts I am seeing here and on the Wizard101 website, I am clearly NOT the only person who has been dealing with these problems.

Now, you can lash out at me all you want. You can call me hyperbolic and insinuate that I am being overly dramatic, and perhaps I am. After all this is a kids game and I am a grown adult. I should know better. But I am sick and tired of “corporate know-nothing” and incompetence every where I look. I would gladly hand over my money to KingsIsle, but they can’t get their proverbial !@#$ together long enough for me to hand it over. And that is what is ultimately frustrating. Empty promises, misleading information, incompetent follow-through, undeserving company. Same old corporate know-nothing.

Bottom line is that the community needs to know that what KingsIsle is telling them is not true. Walmart, as of right now, does not carry this product. KingsIsle can say that Walmart carries it all they want, but it isn’t in Walmart’s database and it sure as hell isn’t on their shelves. Not Walmart’s fault.

Here’s looking at you KingsIsle.

Hi Andrew,

Your floor manager was mistaken. I’m not sure about your/their claim that “no brick and mortar store has the card.” I purchased mine from a physical Walmart store after calling many. KingsIsle provided a list of Walmarts that either should have the card or will get it.

The card isn’t on the Walmart website yet, but let’s take a look at some photo evidence from people across the nation.
1. https://twitter.com/tkgib/status/881965647772737536
2. https://twitter.com/W101Cal/status/884818237455814656
3. https://twitter.com/Iridian_Willow/status/884070348781694976

Now who should or should not be in charge of the cards may be a subject of debate, but KingsIsle, by definition, doesn’t manufacture. They don’t produce any physical product. They have no assembly lines. No delivery trucks. No drivers. Their cards are produced and distributed via InComm, and once they hand over the codes to InComm, they don’t control the process of creating the cards or distributing them.

This is not a matter of incompetence, just how the industry works. It seems that both you are misunderstanding the process and that the people you’ve spoken with at Walmart don’t seem to know what’s happening either, but plenty of us have had the same problems (and there are plenty outside the country who can’t find them at all), and we’re familiar with the fact that one must be patient until it’s available at a local Walmart.

Sorry you have had a bad experience, but please do not misinform here: The card is indeed available at many Walmarts as KingsIsle has said. Walmart stores have individual stocks of items that only reflect what they have in their store. Best of luck finding the bundle!