I'd buy that if it was Samsung who sells 10,000+ different products. But when you carry a tiny product line, and do these launches over and over again.... it's really not that tough to get it right.
That assumes you always have the same front-line staff for every launch. Turnover in Customer Service is hilariously bad. While numbers are sparse, I'm seeing comments of upwards of 50% yearly turnover. Retail is almost as bad too.
So while the folks on the production end have their ducks in a row, the folks running the online store have their ducks in a row, customer service is a churning pot of folks who are consistently undertrained and under pressure.
I've supported internal tools that I've developed at my company, and I can see why the turnover rate is so bad. It's easy to be demoralized by the folks who have to look you in the face the next day. I can't imagine the crap people will heap on someone they don't even know. Then again, I just have to look at the crap people heap on each other over the internet to find out.
And, Apple already knows the day they will launch this in-store. The lack of communication in that regard is just inexcusable. Apple is an incredible company in many regards.....but it this way, they are just ridiculously stupid. They can get away with it (for now) because they have the best products.
Perhaps they don't. They couldn't launch along-side the Wifi models like they wanted.
I've seen this stuff happen. Have plans laid out, and have it all go to hell days before you go public with it, and have it languish for weeks as people work overtime to get it fixed.
AT&T doesn't even know when they will be able to launch the iPad Mini. Verizon doesn't either. I would be pretty surprised if there's an in-store launch on Friday unless Apple's cut every 3rd party out and goes with a soft launch.
fine..... I guess I can see that.... however.... given there is no publicized date to have these in stores.... then I feel like how DARE they bypass minutes into preorder time orders to stock a store before I received mine? may come across as a sense if entitlement.... but I got up in the middle of the night... gave them money.... yet I'm treated like some bastard child while apple sends minus to the stores for walkins....
Yes, they should have a publicized date for the in-store launch. As I said, I suspect they didn't even have a firm grip on what stock is coming out of the factory at the moment. If they did, these would have launched along-side the Wifi models.
Another thing is to consider the point of view of Apple, where they know they can't please everyone. Having some stock for stores is a must, even if it hurts some pre-orders. Otherwise, you're likely to never be able to sell to walk-ins for months.
But here's the thing, if they haven't even gotten many/any AT&T models out of Hong Kong yet, then I'd be surprised if they have many/any for walk-ins. This may be a very "soft" launch because of supply constraints.
