1UP reports that gamers who pre-ordered their PS3s at Best Buy could end up without an actual pre-order. Best Buy put up a completely functional pre-order form this weekend but when 1UP called a Best Buy senior specialist he confirmed that the pre-order page wasn’t meant to go live yet and all the placed pre-orders will be cancelled. It’s currently unknown if Best Buy is going to do pre-orders at all but the form clearly indicated that they’ll do something.

We know the pre-orders aren’t valid, but that doesn’t change the charges on people’s credit cards at the moment. Many people haven’t been formally “charged” for their order, but Best Buy has placed an “authorization hold” on whatever the order cost, meaning you can’t spend that money but Best Buy doesn’t have access to it yet, either. The representative we talked to said this would expire soon, but didn’t provide a timetable for it.

And don’t expect bitching to keep your pre-order in-place. Best Buy’s website specifically states they have every right to cancel your order and have no obligation to keep up the agreement, even if this all seems unfair.

If you pre-ordered on the Best Buy site this week I’d recommend that you call your local Best Buy to find out the current state of your pre-order. Be sure to keep us posted if you find out anything interesting in the process. I’d hurry up if I were you, the PS3 launches in 10 days in North America.

Thanks for submitting kissmygritz!