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People would have gotten their watches by now if Apple packaged them properly

Y

yaboyac29

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 24, 2014
651
468
WHY ON EARTH do all the watches NEED to have the band inside of the box?

Could have had 2 separate boxes. One for the watch, one for the band.

Right now, the issue is (examples):

person A buys a sport 42mm with green band and it ships tomorrow because there's not much interest in the green band compared to others.

person B buys a sport 42mm with a black band but has to wait till july because that combination is oversold.

if they did it properly, person B would have gotten their watch just as fast as person A because you can produce more bands/day compared to watches/day.
 
That would not really make a difference with the SG Sport.

It only comes with the black band.

And the silver sport doesn;t offer the black strap.
 
In your example, person A and B are buying different Watch cases. Person A is buying silver aluminum while person B is buying space gray aluminum. It seems Apple has low stock of space gray, but they are still able to ship silver aluminum watches relatively quickly, so seperating the bands from the equation would not help in your example. Also doubling the amount of boxes being shipped may be detrimental to shipping speeds.
 
yaboyac29 said:
WHY ON EARTH do all the watches NEED to have the band inside of the box?

Could have had 2 separate boxes. One for the watch, one for the band.

Right now, the issue is (examples):

person A buys a sport 42mm with green band and it ships tomorrow because there's not much interest in the green band compared to others.

person B buys a sport 42mm with a black band but has to wait till july because that combination is oversold.

if they did it properly, person B would have gotten their watch just as fast as person A because you can produce more bands/day compared to watches/day.
Click to expand...
Uuuuuhhhh, no. All sport models currently ship in 3-5 weeks. Your argument would require that there are boxes and boxes of green and pink-banded sport watches sitting in warehouses using up watch bodies that could have gone to others, and that is obviously not the case.

There is a shortage of both watch bodies and watch bands; we know this because the individual bands are also taking weeks or months to ship. As another example, even if they had a million spare stainless steel watch bodies tied up in white bands, and everyone is ordering the black bands, it wouldn't matter because they can't make enough black bands.

Given that there is no stock in stores, Apple is obviously building these things to order. There are not warehouses full of pink and green sport watches that nobody wants.
 
You guys don't get it.

If I order a watch with a certain band at 3:01 and another person orders a watch at 3:02 with a different band, the second person may get the watch before me because the combination I ordered is in higher demand than the one ordered at 3:02 ...

Look at all the watches being shipped late because of a different band. You think they didn't have those bands ready? Of course they did.. But the combination in the box, the packaging (labels, etc) may not be available until later because of higher demand.
 
Look, I'm in the Leather Loop party of world domination and not a single person has gotten a watch and band while single bands are shipping.

I get your point completely.

BUT if you order a BMW with a special engine, tinted windows and a color that is "not sold frequently", you'll have to wait.

Apple tried to go the "special snowflake" route of product marketing and totally underestimated the complexity.

They want to do it that way, to tell you that you ordered a VERY PERSONAL device, just like BMW.

Not like the next iPhone that is sold 10 million times in 3 days.

I know that you and I totally believe that approach is bollocks for a mass produced tiny computer that runs iOS and is certainly not a watch in any sense.

But Apple wanted to try to appeal to customers that might like "individual" choices. They did not anticipate that "we", the people who have iPhones, do not care at all, because we are used to standing in line for a uniform product.
 
Yup, the watch and the band should have each been sold as separate items in the first place, just like phones and cases are. Who cares if somone wants to put a gold band on a sport watch? Just price the two accordingly and get these things shipping.
 
but then you get a watch without a band? it really doesn't change anything as far as waiting.
 
bking10 said:
but then you get a watch without a band? it really doesn't change anything as far as waiting.
Click to expand...

It has been well documented that people are waiting for their watch only because a prepackaged box isn't available with the band combination they want, while orders of the band they want are shipping seperately. I'd rather have a watch without a band for a week than nothing for 4-6 weeks.
 
yaboyac29 said:
You guys don't get it.

If I order a watch with a certain band at 3:01 and another person orders a watch at 3:02 with a different band, the second person may get the watch before me because the combination I ordered is in higher demand than the one ordered at 3:02 ...

Look at all the watches being shipped late because of a different band. You think they didn't have those bands ready? Of course they did.. But the combination in the box, the packaging (labels, etc) may not be available until later because of higher demand.
Click to expand...

No, you don't get it. It would be a nightmare. Some people would get the watch and no band, and some people would get a band but no watch. People would be so upset. They need to keep doing it how they are.
 
yaboyac29 said:
You guys don't get it.

If I order a watch with a certain band at 3:01 and another person orders a watch at 3:02 with a different band, the second person may get the watch before me because the combination I ordered is in higher demand than the one ordered at 3:02 ...

Look at all the watches being shipped late because of a different band. You think they didn't have those bands ready? Of course they did.. But the combination in the box, the packaging (labels, etc) may not be available until later because of higher demand.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Ordered mine at 11pm on a Wednesday and it was on my wrist less than 48 hours later. (sport with white band)
 
It's ludicrous to expect Apple to sell the bands and Watches separately. No sense in it what so ever. Bands are an inherent part of a watch and should be sold together with the watch. Not to mention the bands on there own have only just started to ship and some of the styles are still on back order. I very much doubt that selling the bands and watches separately would have made much difference if any. It's already been reported there have been production issues with certain components and that's what's held up the watches in the first place.
 
So Apple should send you your watch right away but make you wait another 4 weeks for the ability to put it on your wrist.

"Hey guess what! Your SS Apple Watch arrived on 4/24. Your Link Bracelet will deliver on 5/8."

That wouldn't have caused an uproar, people getting watches with no way to wear them for 2-3 weeks or longer. What does that do to the return window?

I've heard some not so good ideas. I'll put this in that bucket.
 
I can just see all of the happy customers now, with their watch in hand, but no band. :rolleyes:

Nothing at all like phones and cases, neither of my iPhones have cases nor will they.

IMO Apple did the right thing on that front, I agree with the previous poster, its a watch, and should (and does) come complete in that regard.
 
I think this is at least the 3rd thread on this topic. Me, I agree. Others argue "end user experience would be lousy".

The early adopters are, by no means, typical end users. What we're willing to put up with is not the typical retail expectation.

I think we'll likely see this for next gen (or hope we do to expedite things as well to preserve some of our investment in our bands).

I'd like to see them stock the stores this way - "Buy any band with any watch". :)
 
yaboyac29 said:
You guys don't get it.

If I order a watch with a certain band at 3:01 and another person orders a watch at 3:02 with a different band, the second person may get the watch before me because the combination I ordered is in higher demand than the one ordered at 3:02 ...

Look at all the watches being shipped late because of a different band. You think they didn't have those bands ready? Of course they did.. But the combination in the box, the packaging (labels, etc) may not be available until later because of higher demand.
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't care. They're selling EVERYTHING they make. If one person has to wait a week longer then another, they'll live with that. Now if they see a significant amount of people canceling the more popular models because others are getting it, then that would change things. But they're not seeing that ... ever.

The only thing that happens is people complain, eventually get their item, get happy, and then repeat at the next product launch.

----------
SSonnentag said:
Yup, the watch and the band should have each been sold as separate items in the first place, just like phones and cases are. Who cares if somone wants to put a gold band on a sport watch? Just price the two accordingly and get these things shipping.
Click to expand...

Except you can't use a watch without a band. They need to sell the product in a single package that's usable out of the box. This isn't a lego set (although even those can be used out of the box).
 
Cars are sold with generic steel wheels. Buy your custom wheels (bands) seperately. Simple and logical solution. More money to Apple this way in the end as well. Everybody wins. Customer gets a usable product more quickly. Vendor has much simpler inventory and shipment logistics.
 
I vehemently disagree with this thread. Apple sells the experience as well as the product. And that's from someone who is still waiting on his Black Leather Loop / Stainless Steel model that he ordered at 12:03am PST on April 10.

This is simply not the way Apple experiences go, and I hope the day they decide to do something like this NEVER comes.
 
Since when does any watch manufacturer sell their watches without any band what so ever? Apple are trying to get into a new market here which means the whole experience of buying a watch has to be as it would be when buying in a jewellers.

When you buy at a jewellers you get it presented in this beautiful box, where it sits elegantly, waiting to be put on. It doesn't come with the face in one box and the band in the other and you have to assemble it yourself.
 
I think it would have better to sell ALL watches with a black rubber strap and offer the other bands as options. That seems more apple to me and would make logistics a LOT easier.
 
H3rman said:
Since when does any watch manufacturer sell their watches without any band what so ever? Apple are trying to get into a new market here which means the whole experience of buying a watch has to be as it would be when buying in a jewellers.

When you buy at a jewellers you get it presented in this beautiful box, where it sits elegantly, waiting to be put on. It doesn't come with the face in one box and the band in the other and you have to assemble it yourself.
Click to expand...

Michele watches and bands are sold separately....
 
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