Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be getting my iPhone+ 128 GB today, despite getting the Friday txt and email. I just wanted to write a brief note in case any T-Mobile execs browse through the forum.
There were some critical mistakes made with the iPhone launch that if T-Mobile ever hopes of eclipsing AT&T and Verizon, must correct down the line.
- Provide customers with a better time frame as to when they could pre-order the phone. I saw a news post that said that T-Mobile would start offering pre-orders on their web site at 3 AM EST. I stayed up and nothing on the site for hours until the morning. All the other carriers posted the time they would be able to take pre-orders, TMO should have done the same.
- Never, ever send out a txt and an email that says in specifics.... "Great news! Your iPhone 6+ will be delivered on Friday". This kind of error should NEVER happen. Send out a "Hey, we're working on your pre-order and we will ship it as soon as possible!" Hell, even leave out the dates. There's nothing worse than being promised something and for it not to be delivered. This is not amateur hour...
- Never, ever send out a txt that says we will txt you the tracking number and then not get them. Don't send me txts that just aren't true.
- My wife's iPhone 6 will be delivered today. But the T-Mobile order status page says "Pre-Order" and "BackOrder" in Order history for her phone. The only way I knew an iPhone 6 was coming was by chasing the tracking through UPS and seeing a pending charge on Chase. There's just no excuse for systems to be lagging this behind on getting status updates.
- I registered on T-Mobile so they could let me know when I could pre-order the phone. I got this email on 9/14, two days after pre-orders began. Hmm....not timely enough...
- Jump orders jumping to the front of the line...that, to me, is just so wrong on so many levels. I understand about customer loyalty and all in my business but this message just ended up confusing new and old customers. I jumped, you jumped, what jumped, what the hell? The whole jump to the front of the line just created more anger and confusion than I think its worth. It should just be first come, first serve. That's fair.
There are other small quirks with TMO's process that could have been handled better but not worth nothing here.
Overall I switched to TMO because I like their Uncarrier philosophy but it should never be at the cost of consumer confidence in a brand. TMO has done a great job of increasing their subscribers thanks to all their amazing promotions. I love the CEO's attitude of disrupting the norm. But as consumers we also expect things to run like a great business....especially one as competitive as the cell phone business.
I remain a loyal TMO subscriber....but I believe TMO needs to invest more time and effort on infrastructure. After all, there's only so much marketing things you can do to win customers over. In the end, customers who remain loyal are the ones who see value in a brand and service over time.
Those are my 2.5 cents.
Tuncer