The Real Issue

[joraem]

I know there's been quite a bit of talk about this, but ... The real issue is a lack of communication. Prior to the pre-order, it was widely assumed that the watch would be available in stores on 4/24 (yes, I'm aware of Angela's vague email ...). It was also assumed that if you ordered on 4/10 - particularly if you did so near the time pre-orders opened - you would get your watch on (or near) 4/24. These assumptions were based on prior experience with apple and apples own publicity on watch availability.

So to me, the issue isn't keeping the promise of the delivery window; the issue is poor communication by apple. A 2 week window is too long and too vague. And not being able to update it to a shorter, more specific time period - say 4/29 to 5/1 - is both unexpected and not up to par for apple. No one at Apple can answer the simple question for pending orders - what specific date is the watch delivering. That's upper managements fault in my view.

 

[TheGreenBastard]

Cry me a river.

 

[maricc]

Cry me a river.

Yea seriously.... You'll get your watch as soon as possible, just chill out.

 

[lchlch]

I know there's been quite a bit of talk about this, but ... The real issue is a lack of communication. Prior to the pre-order, it was widely assumed that the watch would be available in stores on 4/24 (yes, I'm aware of Angela's vague email ...). It was also assumed that if you ordered on 4/10 - particularly if you did so near the time pre-orders opened - you would get your watch on (or near) 4/24. These assumptions were based on prior experience with apple and apples own publicity on watch availability.

So to me, the issue isn't keeping the promise of the delivery window; the issue is poor communication by apple. A 2 week window is too long and too vague. And not being able to update it to a shorter, more specific time period - say 4/29 to 5/1 - is both unexpected and not up to par for apple. No one at Apple can answer the simple question for pending orders - what specific date is the watch delivering. That's upper managements fault in my view.

"assumed"

 

[tx26257]

Can we now please stop with all the whining

 

[Slim Boy Fat]

They know how many orders they have. They should know how many watches have already been made and are currently being freighted to different distribution centres. They know what there manufacturing capabilities are. So they should be able to give a much better idea of delivery dates. Something fishy going on and they aren't telling us jack!

 

[MrGimper]

"assumed"

Beat me to it.

Assumptions are always bad

 

[Slim Boy Fat]

Can we now please stop with all the whining

Which do you think is worse, the initial whining or all the whining about the whining?

 

[Arran]

No, it's not poor communication. It's insufficient precision for you.

But like any product offered for sale: The buyer either accepts or rejects the offer. It's your choice.

 

[joraem]

It's not whining. I agree that it will come when it comes. It's really just an observation. Not too much to ask, in my view, that more specific info is provided from upper management to customer service and, most importantly, to customers.

 

[NM08SRT8]

I know there's been quite a bit of talk about this, but ... The real issue is a lack of communication. Prior to the pre-order, it was widely assumed that the watch would be available in stores on 4/24 (yes, I'm aware of Angela's vague email ...). It was also assumed that if you ordered on 4/10 - particularly if you did so near the time pre-orders opened - you would get your watch on (or near) 4/24. These assumptions were based on prior experience with apple and apples own publicity on watch availability.

So to me, the issue isn't keeping the promise of the delivery window; the issue is poor communication by apple. A 2 week window is too long and too vague. And not being able to update it to a shorter, more specific time period - say 4/29 to 5/1 - is both unexpected and not up to par for apple. No one at Apple can answer the simple question for pending orders - what specific date is the watch delivering. That's upper managements fault in my view.

I think the real problem here is the end customer making assumptions.

 

[adammull]

Which do you think is worse, the initial whining are all the whining about the whining?

The latter.

Apple could come out today and say all watches are delayed for 8 months and people would say, "I'm so glad they're going back to the drawing board to provide me a perfect product. Apple is so awesome!!!!"

 

[Sparkeze]

I got mine on launch day, but I think it's ridiculous that someone who ordered 10 min after the start of a preorder that was 2 weeks before release day has no idea when a watch will be arriving and no one seems to know. I was in the T-mobile iPhone 6+ debacle and remember the anguish.

 

[Teride]

I got mine on launch day, but I think it's ridiculous that someone who ordered 10 min after the start of a preorder that was 2 weeks before release day has no idea when a watch will be arriving and no one seems to know. I was in the T-mobile iPhone 6+ debacle and remember the anguish.

I would have to agree....it's not like Apple just announced this 3 months ago..it's been 8 months. I think it would have been better for all if they would have been upfront with the preorder & delivered in 6-8 weeks. This would have at least helped to curb the consumer expectations for a "launch" day availability.

 

[Arran]

I think the real problem here is the end customer making assumptions.

And then supporters making further assumptions about what should be knowable and to what degree of precision.

A lot in life is un-knowable.

----------

...I think it would have been better for all if they would have been upfront with the preorder & delivered in 6-8 weeks. This would have at least helped to curb the consumer expectations for a "launch" day availability.

And it also might have killed orders.

People may say they're un-happy on here - but they're not canceling their orders.

 

[nrubenstein]

I got mine on launch day, but I think it's ridiculous that someone who ordered 10 min after the start of a preorder that was 2 weeks before release day has no idea when a watch will be arriving and no one seems to know. I was in the T-mobile iPhone 6+ debacle and remember the anguish.

Um, by 5/8, exactly as Apple promised when you pre-ordered.

People are upset because they *assumed* that 4/24-5/8 really meant 4/24. This isn't a debacle. Apple's system actually worked really well. The T-Mobile launch was a genuine debacle - the entire ordering system cratering and staff resorting to paper is a great example of how it shouldn't work.

The ordering system working well and people getting their devices *within* the promised window is not what I would call a botched launch.

 

[cmichaelb]

Cry me a river.

I love your username.

From parts unknown....

 

[Rm.237]

Cry me a river.

Yea seriously.... You'll get your watch as soon as possible, just chill out.

This is how Andrews thread started. The next thing you know joraem will forward this to Tim Cook. By tomorrow Apples website will change from The Watch is Here to The Watch is Here Sorta.

 

[joraem]

I'm not saying that they missed the delivery window. They have not (yet). The point of the OP is communication. In my view, senior management has done a poor job in communicating with mid level management, with direct customer service reps and with the public. Again, I fully accept that my watch will arrive sometime on or before May 8. And that is what it is. But from the "available 4/24" language which was subsequently changed to the unavailability of updated information, this has not been a model for good customer communication.

 

[Vanilla Face]

They have communicated everything that you mentioned, people chose to think they somehow knew better.

 

[MuseumVisitor]

Apple totally misinformed the public. The fact is that they did not have a single pink watch ready and yet they claimed delivery 4/24 as a possibility.
I have placed my order at 3:01 and got an confirmation email from Apple at 3:02.
I still did not receive my watch!

And the saga continues, status on my shipment started to change on Sunday 4/26, but for the last 4 days there is not a single info of where the watch is located. What kind of delivery service is that? Never to be able to follow the path of a shipment and hope to be lucky to be at home at that moment when it comes?
The whole process is so vague and unpredictable. I cannot recognize Apple anymore and how disorganized everything became. I will probably like my watch when it comes one day, but I have lost enthusiasm. I also lost respect for Apple after decades of being devoted to their products especially for not coming out and apologizing for this mess.

 

[adammull]

Apple totally misinformed the public. The fact is that they did not have a single pink watch ready and yet they claimed delivery 4/24 as a possibility.
I have placed my order at 3:01 and got an confirmation email from Apple at 3:02.
I still did not receive my watch!

And the saga continues, status on my shipment started to change on Sunday 4/26, but for the last 4 days there is not a single info of where the watch is located. What kind of delivery service is that? Never to be able to follow the path of a shipment and hope to be lucky to be at home at that moment when it comes?
The whole process is so vague and unpredictable. I cannot recognize Apple anymore and how disorganized everything became. I will probably like my watch when it comes one day, but I have lost enthusiasm. I also lost respect for Apple after decades of being devoted to their products especially for not coming out and apologizing for this mess.

Don't use facts or reason. Won't get you anywhere with the "APPLE CAN DO NO WRONG" crowd.

For the record, I'm in your boat. Ordered at 3:02AM and no Pink Sport. The window was wrong. It couldn't have started on 4/24. Mine is arriving today. Serial Number says week 15. Where was it on 4/24?

 

[Glene]

All Apple had to do is when you ordered the watch once you hit submit , it would come back with a pop-up window that would say something to the effect of :

"the watch is a unique launch, as opposed to our other products,and therefore you have a range of delivery times. Guaranteed it will deliver in that range. Click the okay button if you understand"

And then they would not have any problem at all ......l.

 

[5105973]

I think the real problem here is the end customer making assumptions.

Well it's not unreasonable for customers to have the expectation that the ordering process will proceed fairly closely to the way it's been conducted before, even for a new category of product. The customer IS paying hard earned money not just for the product itself but also for Apple's reputation for customer service and satisfaction.

The problem is not in the customer making assumptions. The problem is that Apple failed to do its own business as usual. They HAVE been slipping. With only a few exceptions here and there, it used to be so easy for us to hold out our money and for Apple to take it. Not lately. It's not just the Apple Watch. My husband was not able to get his hands on the new MacBook in time for an upcoming trip. He went to the Apple Store well after the launch of the MacBook to take a look at it. He decided he wanted it. They told him to order it online. Really, standing in a store that supposedly sells Apple products, he was told to go home and order it online. So he tried to. Current availability for his configuration is 4-6 weeks! The trip is in 2 weeks.

Apple is still a behemoth and can go ahead and become arrogant and abuse the customer's good will, but only up to a point. Then they will go the way of other companies and someone else will note Apple's mistakes and step up.

This Apple Watch has been widely touted as a product very personal to the wearer. Yet it's been sold in an unprecedentedly impersonal way. Ideally with a watch like this you would go in to see it in person first, make your selection and be able to walk out with your choice. If it's being marketed as a watch, it's not unreasonable for customers to expect it to be sold like a watch normally is.

Being told to first make an appointment for a try-on (AFTER most available watches are already sold out) and then to go back to order online is backwards.

There IS poor communication to the customers who did follow the backwards impersonal process Apple stipulated had to be followed. They DID screw up in rewarding those who followed this process well in advance of launch with only a delivery window instead of a launch day or very close to launch day receipt of product. For those saying a delivery window is fair, well perhaps, but it's still not the kind of customer service Apple should be aiming for. It leaves the burden on the customer to try and anticipate and plan for reception of the product without sufficient information to make such plans. The goal of business should be to try to reduce burdens on the customer and make it easy and desirable for us to give them our money!

It's not whining. This is simply discussion of how Apple deviated from their norm in customer service and the subsequent impact on customer satisfaction.

I did get my watch on launch day. I'm one out of only a small percentage of purchasers who did. We still have two watches left on order, one is in processing and the other appears to be preparing to ship, finally, barely in time to be the birthday gift it is intended to be.

 

[McPhallus]

It's not possible for them to communicate every logistical detail. I think the two week window really is the best they can do at this point with everything they're trying to manage.