Re: Nexus 10 ship status - Here's how to get shipping status
Boy, have I had an adventure with Google/Google Play within the past few days...
To start the story, I placed my order for a Nexus 10 on 4 December. Up until this past Thursday (13 December) it stated that my order was "Pending." The initial e-mail quoted the ship date would be within a week. On 13 December, the status switched to "Pre-Ordered." My reaction was, as expected, "Now, what exactly does that mean?" I ended up calling Google Play support to get a more responsive person (as e-mail swapping is a waste until you make an actual phone call, from my experiences). I was informed that my case/order was 'escalated' and that I'd hear back from the representative whenever she was updated on the case. For some reason or another, another representative decided to finally reply to my original e-mail - he quoted a wait of 2-3 weeks. Absolutely unacceptable.
Thus, I called again (yesterday) asking if the quote time was accurate and if they were absolutely certain, one-hundred percent sure, that I wouldn't see my Nexus 10 within shy of the two week estimate. The tier 1 representative confirmed this, no chance whatsoever. I decided to cancel my order - he directed me to the online form to fill out for cancellations. "Since it's been so long since you've placed the order, there's a chance that the order cannot be cancelled. If that's the case, you'll have to wait for the device to show at your door and refuse it - we will refund the total cost of the device from your card within forty-eight hours." This, too, wasn't what I wanted to deal with. I had seen that Wal-Mart had stock online and had estimated their delivery (rush shipment) would be by Tuesday - so, figured I'd go that route instead.
Yet, the cancellation wouldn't go through. We sat there for about 20 minutes (which, according to Google Play, should inform you as to whether or not its been cancelled within that time frame) waiting for confirmation until I came up with yet *another* idea. "If I removed all of my payment options from Google Wallet, would the billing system still be capable of charging my debit card for the Nexus 10 device?" Representative confirmed that if all payment options were removed at the time of Google Play attempting to charge you for the device that it would automatically reject the billing method altogether. The problem with this was: I'd have to wait about eight weeks, they said, to add any payment methods to my Google Wallet again - therefore, would have to wait that long to purchase apps/books/movies from the Play Store. This is because the Google Play billing system will attempt to bill (and ship) your order up to a week and a half of its first attempt.
I decided, in the end, to wait for Google Play; rather than to tie up my debit card for two separate devices (when I only have the need for one). Went to sleep four hours ago (from current time of 07:17) and woke up to find an e-mail from Google Play with a UPS tracking number, stating that my order was shipped. ... Sadly, that's probably the *only* device I'll ever order from Google Play any time soon...