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Mr. Tim Cook
- Thread starter Wanski
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Sure it's possible that long before they planned the 9/20 launch they knew that this was going to happen... but from everything I've read it didn't happen like that. Due to the incredible rumor mill out there, everyone "knew" that the phones would be released on the 20th. What if a few weeks before that Apple changed their mind and said release would be mid-October.
In all honestly, I truly doubt that by pushing off the release everyone would be happy. The boards would be flooded with people extremely upset that the launch was postponed. "Mid-October?!?!"
NO WAY to make everyone happy. The majority of buyers could care less if they have to wait a few weeks or months. The rest, well, they know what the risks are.
They don't have to be amazing to wait until there's adequate supply before they launch a product.
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Rumours are just rumours. Apple didn't announce anything about the 5s until Sept 10th, so they could have launched it a month later without going back on their word.
I'm not saying that Apple SHOULD have delayed the launch, by the way, I'm just saying that they could have if they wanted to. But they want their products to be hard to get at first.
Wow, what a brave and courageous daughter you have. I'm holding back tears right now. #firstworldproblems
Maybe a little, but I don't think they're pleased this time. Too many angry customers.
Dear Wanski,
I am writing from my all black, unlocked, 128gb iPhone 6. I am sorry to hear of your disappointment. I almost spit out my $25,000 glass of wine when I read your letter. I would like to thank you for being an Apple faithful customer. I will do everything in my power to fix your situation. In the meantime I have a tee time to get to.
Best regards,
Tim
I am writing from my all black, unlocked, 128gb iPhone 6. I am sorry to hear of your disappointment. I almost spit out my $25,000 glass of wine when I read your letter. I would like to thank you for being an Apple faithful customer. I will do everything in my power to fix your situation. In the meantime I have a tee time to get to.
Best regards,
Tim
I love how the OP starts this thread and then everyone jumps on and screams with their posts. If you notice the OP has yet to post again...
I just hope the OP's daughter isn't so traumatised by not having the iPhone in the colour she wanted and on release day that she goes on an armed rampage at her school, but if she does I think the OP might be there alongside her 
If nothing else, she'll learn these are everyday sales techniques and by no means is it false advertisement.
How about you try to invent something that is world-demanded and see how it will be to get the "proper" quantities to the right demographic.
She's doing very well by having patience as getting butt-hurt will do nothing but ruin her own health.
How about you try to invent something that is world-demanded and see how it will be to get the "proper" quantities to the right demographic.
She's doing very well by having patience as getting butt-hurt will do nothing but ruin her own health.
The carriers have to buy the phones with no returns allowed so it's also possible they didn't think certain ones would sell and didnt order any
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The only way they can do that is to require folks to order online and hold production until those numbers come in. Then they can be sure they are making exactly what is demanded when it is demanded. Not a phone more or less.
Don't be silly. I'm not suggesting that that they can know the exact number of phones to the person, but they've done enough launches that they can reasonably project demand. The fact that the phones started having ship times of "October" within hours of going on sales shows that they weren't even close to meeting the demand.
Wow...What a frothy frenzy. I wasn't quite expecting this when I returned from camp. The first thing I did was sit down with my wife and daughter and read through the replies. My daughter said, "dad they just don't get it. It's not about me it's that they didn't have any phones". Bang on, Brilliant !! We dissected the replies like we were in a college communications class. Thank you all.
You see my post wasn't about why I was trying to get the new iPhone. I gave my daughter the online receipt and told her the phone should be here within a couple weeks. She said O.K., thanks dad. No drama, no trauma.
I also understand that there is just about as much chance of Mr. Cook reading my post on this forum as as it is him reading an e-mail that one of his 6 assistants opens up.
I was trying to make a point that I think the "Apple is starting to show some bruises". I'm glad to see that some of you MR readers actually got that. In retrospect I should have nixed the whole story about why we were looking to get the new iPhone but it turned out to subsequently provide some interesting post reading from some of the readers. Sorry to those who read a post and it doesn't get past the first three synapses before they start throwing spears like a neanderthal.
You see my post wasn't about why I was trying to get the new iPhone. I gave my daughter the online receipt and told her the phone should be here within a couple weeks. She said O.K., thanks dad. No drama, no trauma.
I also understand that there is just about as much chance of Mr. Cook reading my post on this forum as as it is him reading an e-mail that one of his 6 assistants opens up.
I was trying to make a point that I think the "Apple is starting to show some bruises". I'm glad to see that some of you MR readers actually got that. In retrospect I should have nixed the whole story about why we were looking to get the new iPhone but it turned out to subsequently provide some interesting post reading from some of the readers. Sorry to those who read a post and it doesn't get past the first three synapses before they start throwing spears like a neanderthal.
OP, I still think you're misunderstanding a fundamental thing here - you're complaining to Apple (solely) about the fact that "they" didn't have the phone to sell you - but "they" in this case isn't Apple. It's Verizon. You were in a Verizon store, and it turns out Verizon hadn't secured enough stock from their supplier, and/or (quite possibly) had chosen to distribute the stock they had to other stores rather than yours. This isn't Apple's fault, and even Tim Cook himself couldn't have directly changed the outcome without Verizon's say so.
Tim doesn't give a rats a** about your daughter. He's too busy tweeting celebs: https://twitter.com/tim_cook
It sounded from your original post that you had a couple specific variations you were looking for : 32 silver or 64 silver. Was it that they "didn't have any phones" left or didn't have the specific color/capacity you were looking for?
I'd imagine it's tremendously complicated & challenging to figure out optimal distribution for a multi-country launch. They have to predict popularity of colors, capacities, carriers on a country-by-country basis and now account for a whole new line of less expensive iPhones, and predict how that will affect sales of the new flagship iPhone.
What's going to be popular, and where? Which colors will people want? Carrier popularity is in flux, with T-Mobile gaining ground and others losing it. There are so many variables.
Much like you and your daughter had fun dissecting the array of responses you're getting, it might be an interesting intellectual exercise to put yourself in Apple's shoes for a bit: map out all the possibilities they have to predict/account for, and imagine the effort that would go into figuring how much to send where.
I personally would hope that they can come up with ways to more clearly and *quickly* inform people in lines what the stock is going to be when they do open, so they can make an informed decision as to their chances of getting what they want, and then continue to wait or not.
While I enjoy the social fun of waiting in line (though my limit is 3 to 4 hours of that) I chose to order online from T-Mo directly (and it would have caused some consternation at work if I were late that day), and it turned out well.
I hope she loves her new iPhone once it arrives!
you should read guy kawasaki's "the apple way"
he explains one of the shifts of apple's production cycle to a "pull" vs. "push."
in push production a company, let's use sony, ms, or samsung (since they all use push) makes billions of units and then puts them out in front of the consumer at various price points and incentives, using billions of dollars of advertisement, and making sure that their retail partners are incentivized to push their product over the competitors through special pricing programs.
the company has to convince its target customer population that they want its products more than the competitions.
apple's pull tactic, however, uses strategic marketing to create demand among the user base. the user base shows up at the store already wanting the product. the demand is present before they walk in the door...before they even get in their car in the morning to drive to the store.
this tactic allows apple to stream line its production cycle and meet demand more closely as it dwindles down (versus at the outset when it's highest) and minimize stock space and discounted offerings for closeouts.
this was one of the revolutionary production tactics that Jobs is credited with when business majors credit him with having some level of genius. similar to how Henry Ford revolutionized automobile production. He didn't invent wheels or cars but he did change the landscape of how they were made and pioneered techniques that cut margins and raised profits.
this also enables apple to have all those flashy retail outlets without having to stock their shelves with product that no one will end up buying toward the end of a release cycle.
this isn't *just* some artificial method to manufacture demand. it's a legitimate and savvy way to manage retail stock in a fast paced consumer market where a smart and timely release like google's motoX can wipe out a less prepared competitor.
Patience is a wonderful virtue! You just have to place your order like many of us and wait...end of story.
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That's a great one!
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That's a great one!
Do you honestly think that Verizon, t moble. AT&T and Sprint are that stupid to order only grey phones or best buy , target and Walmart are as well. AT&T does returns and I'm sure most of the others do as well. The point here is Apple in there infinite wisdom said screw you to the carriers and allotted very few if any other colors and configurations outside of space grey and the general public was not privy to that information before they headed out the door in the middle of the night to go wait for one. Please don't tell me to order online either that is not the point here. It's about Apple holding out the majority of stock outside of grey for themselves and in the end us consumers waiting at these stores are faced with no choices. I'm sorry I love Apple too but that move was really a bad decision and whoever approved that decision behind Apples doors should be looking for a new job. This was truly the whole point of the OPs thread and I agree. I was in the same boat and left with no choice regardless of my son or daughters needs or even mine. The bottom line extremely low stock for a launch day and on top of that Apple held the goodies without sharing with there business partners. Do you honestly think the CEO of AT&T loves grey only phones to sell and worse has to answer to his board of directors that burning question as to why his revenue is not up on iPhones. This is the heart of the thread from the OP and I totally get it. As a consumer he had no knowledge of the color and configuration limitations at a Verizon store before he left his home to make a informed buying decision. He was disappointed as many are. As a business person that is not what you want to happen to a good percentage of your customers . And believe me Tim Cook is reading this and if not some Apple employee will bring it to his attention. If he does not than his head is in the sand and truly gives a **** what people think. I'm sure that is not the case as he seems like a very bright man and cares about the company he leads or his board of directors will vote his ass out the door. These types of short coming are lesson learn items every business needs to consider is that end user that just wants to buy a stupid phone.
Btw I'm not picking on this poster here that's in quotes but just using your comment as a point of reference
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