Ah. Yes, it can, and it did. Ask anyone who was able to get a Nexus 4 before it went out of stock. So being out of stock for a high demand product, a product that will come back in stock for sale, is not being able to deliver it at all? If the two are in fact synonymous to you, then I can't argue with you. I don't see it that way though.
Nexus 4: with the total lack of customer service is it worth the wait any longer?
- Thread starter KenDavidson
- Start date
Exactly, Google creates phenomenal services and products and is known to deliver them with perfection. I think this is why so many of us who are the Google base are disappointed in how the Play Store customer service side side was handled. I am personally glad the phone sold out and saw such a huge demand and I hope that demand continues to grow drastically. But, I also know that without delivering products through the Play Store combined with the exceptional customer service one would expect form a company like Google that there will be continued fallout.
This is still a complaint thread. Smh No matter how you want to spin it. Just wait. Smh
To provide explanation it is not a complaint about the fact that the demand for the phone was greater than expected or the fact that the phone is apparently in a back order status. I really am not concerned if the phone is delivered next week or in 12 weeks, I am patient and will wait for something of this quality. This is rather an open discussion regarding Google's ability to deliver a world class customer service experience even when there is a supply chain or other service delivery failure which is key in today's marketplace to maintain a competitive advantage. In essence it is a "complaint" regarding the lack of customer service and not the supply issue if you want to break it down to it's pure form.
DirkBelig
Well-known member
Quoting these together because they're of a piece. First, we do have a lone Googler - ziptied - who has provided some slivers of insight as to what's happening inside the Googleplex but whether he's conveying messages from here amongst the rabble back up the mountain is unknown. He started a thread saying that Big G would be sending out surveys asking our thoughts of how our experience with the Play store were, but did anyone actually receive these surveys or is this yet another botch on Google's part?
What makes this pooch screw worse than the Nexus 7 launch is that over the intervening several months, it appears that absolutely nothing was learn from and improved upon. There is clearly a design side at Google which has taken pride in crafting the Nexus 4/10, but their hard work has been squandered by an utter catastrophe of poor planning, execution, follow-up and communication. Short of being given out in goodie bags at a Nazi-Klan-Nickleback fan convention, it's hard to image how much worse things could've been mishandled. The excitement at the the announcement followed by gobbling down the reviews and pondering their meaning while awaiting to see for ourselves has been replaced with the frustrations of not knowing WTFF is going on and seeing multiple reports of problems with the initial shipments. We're 10 days into this fog bank and there's little sign of clarity yet.
Google Play CSRs can't give a straight answer because they don't know anything. In my experience trying to get my Nexus 7 replaced for a clearly defective screen - it should've never made it into a box at the ASUS plant, so it's on them - I had to hold for over 45 minutes each time and when I was finally talking to someone, they were unfailingly polite, sympathetic, and completely useless at getting anything done. Again, this is the fault of the system they're working within; no one is in charge who is capable of setting up a proper e-tail operation and then follow things through.
This leads to Ken's question of whether Google knows how badly they're blowing it. I suspect that the people who care the most - the developers - are painfully aware at how orphaned their creations have been in the marketplace, but the people who are screwing up in the Play aren't or don't see the problem as acutely as necessary. It's not apathy which leads to the appearance of not caring, it's an inability to see the Big Picture of how little failures here and there start to fracture the overall image of a company. Look at the damage Apple has done to themselves in just a year after Steve Jobs died: Lackluster me-too products like the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini; stupid adverts with celebs acting as if Siri was their only friend; an upgrade to iOS with less functionality than its predecessor and broken Maps because they chose to throw away a perfectly-working map app in favor of pushing out a broken alpha of an app. (Jobs would NEVER have let Maps ship in this state.) Apple's stock price is sliding because their inability to genuinely innovate is catching up to them without the bamboozle fu of Jobs to run the Reality Distortion Field generators.
I think a lot of the problem is that Google doesn't appear to know where Nexus fits into their overall scheme of things and the complexity of manufacturing and distribution physical goods is a different thing than coming up with a virtual service or site which can appear and disappear with a few key taps. Tap-tap-bleep-Google Wave is there. Tap-tap-bloop-now Wave is gone. Ordering up 500,000 phones at a cost of $125 million (or whatever; just making up #s) and getting them sent from Korea to be then sold through your own online store and then shipped out is a massive undertaking akin to being someone who makes good cookies for their family deciding to go nationwide and put them in every supermarket in the country.
There were bound to be hiccups - perhaps Google genuinely didn't realize how many people were eager to snap this up and got caught short - but all the snafus and delays would be mitigated greatly if Google had a public face, a spokesman, whose job it was to interface with the world as to what's going on. Larry and Sergei aren't going to be handling this personally, but someone should. Xbox has Major Nelson; even some people who wrote Steve Jobs directly got a reply; but a public face providing updates would help because every day the customers who've been kicking down Google's door begging to exchange money for a phone are left in the dark is another day of bad will and bad feelings. I have a saying - "It can take a lot of money to get people to like you, but they will hate you for free." - which describes how all the advertising and good products in the world can be mooted by a crappy shopping experience.
With the instantaneous nature of social networking and the power of influencers, this will rapidly turn into a toxic level of bad PR for Nexus, Play, and Google. What makes this doubly bad for Google is that the prime audience for these unlocked uber-phones are the loudest and proudest evangelists who would force-multiply the message of Nexus and thus Google's excellence. We would've shown them off and preached the gospel of choice and freedom from carrier contracts, but it's awfully hard to do that when we can't get our fraking paws on the phones, the buying experience is brutal and we'd never send people we care about to the killing fields of Play. Who is going to show off their Nexus - if and when they get it - and tell people where to get it while being honest that it will probably be the worst buying experience they'll ever have?
One of the most brilliant things Amazon did to get their PC games digital download service rolling was to assign a guy named Tony to live at Cheap Ass Gamers to interface with their community. He runs a thread announcing the current sale, teasing upcoming deals (which has the effect of freezing people from wandering off to Steam now because next week will save $), answering questions from the users and taking deals to management to see if they can be matched. After a year, Steam's sales don't seem as good and people are handing their money over to Amazon, usually for keys which unlock on Steam, meaning Steam gets to burn the bandwidth supplying the content without making the money from selling the games. It's ironic that Amazon is succeeding in the opposite manner Google is failing because Amazon has always shipped physical products and was new to digital sales and was moving into territory owned by Steam and others, but they've done well. Google should study what good customer relations looks like.
I've had my Straight Talk SIM sitting here for one full week already because I was naive enough to believe Google when they said it'd ship on Nov. 15. We are already into the 2nd week of their meek "within three weeks" promise of delivery and all we have left to do is wait and start threads like this wondering the Googs have forsaken us, their most devoted fans. Soon, the question isn't going to be whether Google cares but we care? How many more chances are we supposed to give Google when they literally cannot deliver their products? I don't mean in the sense that Google TV hasn't panned out in the 2-1/2 years since it was unveiled, but deliver something that we can hold that's allegedly in existence and for sale.
@DirkBelig
Nice novel you wrote there......
Fact is they are working to get more phones, it takes time. They cannot set a date because they are being manufactured and if for whatever reason they miss that date, people like you get their panties in a bunch.
Truth is, get on with your life. When they are available you will know, I'm more than sure there are other things you can be doing with your life right now instead of crying on here like a child. Move on dude and have patience, when it's ready it's ready. Also this is coming from someone who wants to buy right now.....
Nice novel you wrote there......
Fact is they are working to get more phones, it takes time. They cannot set a date because they are being manufactured and if for whatever reason they miss that date, people like you get their panties in a bunch.
Truth is, get on with your life. When they are available you will know, I'm more than sure there are other things you can be doing with your life right now instead of crying on here like a child. Move on dude and have patience, when it's ready it's ready. Also this is coming from someone who wants to buy right now.....
DirkBelig
Well-known member
It's always nice when trolls register a "brand new account" *cough* to attack someone without even bothering to understand what they're attacking, isn't it? 
They actually sent me 2 Nexus 4 units that I had cancelled but I ended up selling them for profit so I guess I can't complain haha.
I also had to get a replacement for my Nexus 10 that had a stuck power button. I can tell they are trying as my process was pretty quick but crazy tree of menus shows me that they really want to avoid talking to me.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
I also had to get a replacement for my Nexus 10 that had a stuck power button. I can tell they are trying as my process was pretty quick but crazy tree of menus shows me that they really want to avoid talking to me.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
It's always nice when trolls register a "brand new account" *cough* to attack someone without even bothering to understand what they're attacking, isn't it?
So that's your side of the story?
Since the phone was released I have been wanting to buy and it sold out. Instead of you writing your life's biography on here just move on. I commented on your post because people like yourself look at like with the cup half full.....
Trust me, Google wants to make more money. They will have the phones when their ready. Holidays, manufacturing problems, delays I mean there can be SO many reasons why the phone is delayed. As a company their most professional answer is "Coming Soon".
Go play with your cats at home and relax. If you don't want to wait go out and buy a phone with another company, that's the awesome freedom of this country. Talk with your wallet
Done here
badbrad17
Well-known member
I actually liked Dirks post. It was long but I think it was certainly well thought out and he made some good points.
I think we just need to relax. Google is not perfect and they are certainly new to the retail game. Especially when dealing with this magnitude. Anyone who thinks they don't care is sadly mistaken. This is a very important part of Googles plan that needs to succeed so I believe they will fix much of it in the coming year or so.
But the one thing we may all be missing is that what most people outside of this forum are hearing isn't stuff about poor customer service that isn't measuring up, they are hearing that this new Google phone that only costs $300 has sold out globally in less than a week and it is amazing and lots of people are freaking out mad because they can't get one right freaking now. Sound familiar? Think about it. Apple has been pulling this kind off marketing slog for years. Over hype under deliver so everyone is talking about it and wishing they could have this highly sought after device. By having one you are the envy of the office. It becomes a status symbol because not everyone has one. It's a good concept and it works. Could customer service be better? Sure. But in the big picture it doesn't matter.
The only way this could fail for Google is if the nexus 4 was a crap phone. But we know that isn't the case. People will buy this for a lot of reasons. Most of which have little to do with poor delivery on the first week of a sales frenzy. In another 2 months Google will have lots of phones to sell and people will buy them just because of the type of conversations we are having right now. I have personally had a number of conversations with friends in groups of people where the nexus 4 came up and people are intrigued by it. When you say it sold out globally people take notice.
Soon the customer service will be better and the world will forget about this little blip on the radar. Maybe a few of you won't, but the rest of the world will because they don't even know about it.
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I think we just need to relax. Google is not perfect and they are certainly new to the retail game. Especially when dealing with this magnitude. Anyone who thinks they don't care is sadly mistaken. This is a very important part of Googles plan that needs to succeed so I believe they will fix much of it in the coming year or so.
But the one thing we may all be missing is that what most people outside of this forum are hearing isn't stuff about poor customer service that isn't measuring up, they are hearing that this new Google phone that only costs $300 has sold out globally in less than a week and it is amazing and lots of people are freaking out mad because they can't get one right freaking now. Sound familiar? Think about it. Apple has been pulling this kind off marketing slog for years. Over hype under deliver so everyone is talking about it and wishing they could have this highly sought after device. By having one you are the envy of the office. It becomes a status symbol because not everyone has one. It's a good concept and it works. Could customer service be better? Sure. But in the big picture it doesn't matter.
The only way this could fail for Google is if the nexus 4 was a crap phone. But we know that isn't the case. People will buy this for a lot of reasons. Most of which have little to do with poor delivery on the first week of a sales frenzy. In another 2 months Google will have lots of phones to sell and people will buy them just because of the type of conversations we are having right now. I have personally had a number of conversations with friends in groups of people where the nexus 4 came up and people are intrigued by it. When you say it sold out globally people take notice.
Soon the customer service will be better and the world will forget about this little blip on the radar. Maybe a few of you won't, but the rest of the world will because they don't even know about it.
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Don't get me wrong here, Google offers SOME fantastic products... the others i just use out of convince of having it all made by the same company. The issue I find it seams they find every single way to avoid costumer services, for a whole week they shut down their Nexus Device contact... I searched through all the Q&A contact us which lead to more Q&A's. I had to go to a complete nothing department (Google Search) to get my email forwarded to the department. The answer was pretty average, nothing decent. Yes i understand they are a large company, but the should be able to afford a decent human resources department.
A few university's I emailed, about obviously a different department had a reply straight as office hours was in by two different staff (email must of sent twice by me) but that is the standard of care they need. Mind you it was a simple question about enrolment numbers but they sent an essay. Now that was quality.
To be honest, I think Google doesn't overly care about customer service but rather wants to own the monopoly of the online world.
I do understand they are working to get new phones, that they are a middle man... but it seams with most departments they have been pretty slow to reply, unreachable or really vague answers
A few university's I emailed, about obviously a different department had a reply straight as office hours was in by two different staff (email must of sent twice by me) but that is the standard of care they need. Mind you it was a simple question about enrolment numbers but they sent an essay. Now that was quality.
To be honest, I think Google doesn't overly care about customer service but rather wants to own the monopoly of the online world.
I do understand they are working to get new phones, that they are a middle man... but it seams with most departments they have been pretty slow to reply, unreachable or really vague answers
badbrad17
Well-known member
Staffing a customer support center of the size Google needs is a massive undertaking. The University you mentioned may get some emails, but nothing out of the ordinary. Just the threads listed on the AC forum make it pretty clear that the call volume Google has received about delivery and order status etc. were in the crazy department. It may be easy to say, "just hire more people", but untrained staff are not very helpful as we all noticed. I heard google outsources their customer service which makes it even more difficult, as these people can't answer every question that is thrown at them.
I'm not saying that it's acceptable but the demand for this phone was so much more than the GNex that the system broke. For all we know Google may have doubled their staff compared to the Nexus 7 launch to make it smoother, but the fact that their servers were choking shows that this was no ordinary launch. Google would have no reason to think this phone would have the same feeding frenzy of an iphone yet it did. Apple has lots of experience in this retail game and they still have lots of issues when things launch. Why everyone is so surprised makes message shake my head. :banghead:
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peejay1977
Well-known member
Sadly the problem isn't the customer support provided over email or the phone. I've worked for 18 years in the world of customer service (IT related) and although you do get some poor operators on the phone often the problem isn't with them personally.
I rang Google twice and complained about the service since buying the phone, but not AT the person I spoke to, yes the information they gave me was shockingly bad and totally unhelpful, BUT they can only give out the "company line".
I told the 2 people I spoke to that I realised it wasn't their fault, one actually sighed and thanked me for going easy on him.
The problem isn't with the direct customer support over the phone or email, it's MUCH higher up in the food chain. I guarantee that the Customer Service Managers of the Helpdesks are screaming to the higher management about the volume of calls they are having to deal with the and lack of information they have to give out. Sadly thats the way it works, the people at the top make decisions and the people "on the ground" have to deal with the sh*t, and by that I mean us lot moaning at them that our phones haven't been delivered.
Google has failed us in it's handling of this launch, especially with the apparent lack of formal statement released by the company but the problem is with Google's upper/middle management making decisions and others having to clear up after them.
I'm as disappointed with Google as everyone else, especially since this is my first footstep into the world of Android but Google appeared to take no heed of the interest in this device and got caught with their pants down, it sucks but there's not much we can all do.
I just hope Google put their hands up, admit the mistake and move on. I doubt this fiasco will do anything to dent Google's dominance in the market, most people I know have never heard of the Nexus 4 as it wasn't marketed at all (not that I saw anyway).
It's a phone folks, companies up sometimes, Apple have done in the past and so have alot of others. Lets just chill out a bit over it.
I still stand by what I said about the OP, I think it's a very fair and interesting argument/point.
Paul.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I rang Google twice and complained about the service since buying the phone, but not AT the person I spoke to, yes the information they gave me was shockingly bad and totally unhelpful, BUT they can only give out the "company line".
I told the 2 people I spoke to that I realised it wasn't their fault, one actually sighed and thanked me for going easy on him.
The problem isn't with the direct customer support over the phone or email, it's MUCH higher up in the food chain. I guarantee that the Customer Service Managers of the Helpdesks are screaming to the higher management about the volume of calls they are having to deal with the and lack of information they have to give out. Sadly thats the way it works, the people at the top make decisions and the people "on the ground" have to deal with the sh*t, and by that I mean us lot moaning at them that our phones haven't been delivered.
Google has failed us in it's handling of this launch, especially with the apparent lack of formal statement released by the company but the problem is with Google's upper/middle management making decisions and others having to clear up after them.
I'm as disappointed with Google as everyone else, especially since this is my first footstep into the world of Android but Google appeared to take no heed of the interest in this device and got caught with their pants down, it sucks but there's not much we can all do.
I just hope Google put their hands up, admit the mistake and move on. I doubt this fiasco will do anything to dent Google's dominance in the market, most people I know have never heard of the Nexus 4 as it wasn't marketed at all (not that I saw anyway).
It's a phone folks, companies up sometimes, Apple have done in the past and so have alot of others. Lets just chill out a bit over it.
I still stand by what I said about the OP, I think it's a very fair and interesting argument/point.
Paul.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
badbrad17
Well-known member
I feel like we are in the judgemental seat of the universe now about everything. Does no one have any patience anymore? 100 years ago you would go to the store and they wouldn't have any flour. They would tell you to come back next Thursday and maybe they would have some. Now everyone thinks they are the superstars of the world and know everything there is to know. It's bull poopie. People chill out and wait a freaking month for a phone. Your World is very small if you are not able to be somewhat patient while a company who obviously makes your life much better is trying to make it even better.
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DirkBelig
Well-known member
At least they'd tell you something. We have Google, the largest web advertising and services company on the planet, incapable of properly selling their own product on their own site and fulfilling those orders or even giving a straight answer or even make a statement, and to discuss whether this is a good way for them to do business is unreasonable? The tone of this thread isn't the usual, "Waaaah!!! Where's my phone?!?!?" but rather a mostly sober discussion of whether a big company understands they're creating a big problem for themselves and their business plans by so dreadfully mishandling this situation.
It's even more acute this week because many people are making tons of purchases online and I'll bet 99.9% of those experiences are going like clockwork. I've spent nearly $300 with Amazon and Best Buy and have piles of emails confirming orders, given shipping notices, giving hard estimates on backorder dates (and even alerting me that some stock will be available earlier than expected) and reminding me to pick things up. In short, doing everything Google seems incapable of handling in the year 2012. It's not being entitled to discuss whether this is bad business.
BTW, is being an "Android Evangelist" - or is that "Apologist" - a paying position? Some disclosure of your interests would illuminate where you're coming from in your defense of Google's poor performance. Thanks.
badbrad17
Well-known member
Oh jeepers I forgot to mention I am being paid meeelions of dollars by Google to post messages here.
Truthfully I may be a realist in all fairness. I definitely have my cup half full when it comes to looking at people and their desires to do their best. Even though we can find ways to justify our bad situation it sometimes doesn't benefit us in the long run when we are too judgemental. Google is a massive company but they have also proven that they want to make changes in technology and do the right thing. The price of the nexus 4 proves that.
My comments are based on trying to inspire people to be realistic and to not judge every company or person the same way. Google is a veteran at making online maps and search services. Does this automatically make them experts in retail services? I would say no. Did amazon open their doors last month and some how manage to deliver all their products to their customers? Uh no. It takes time to be great. We can compare the short comings of people and companies forever if we choose to. I would rather look to the benefits of the companies that are really making a difference and thank them for trying to deliver the best products at the best prices in the fastest time they can. If this is not fast enough for you then move to a different line and buy a more expensive product that offers you something that Google doesn't.
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A little long, but this sums up this conversation for me (there some strong language, so yeah there's that):
The reason you go thru this litany is because they Are Selling Something at 40 pct discount. Seriously, after all the Free services you're getting, just know yourself and stop trying to draw large truths about google services which are incredible and changed your world. So fulfillment on nexus rots but overall Google is amazing so suck it up
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DirkBelig
Well-known member
It's interesting to observe the patterns in group psychology - or what could be called "follow the movements of the herds" - over time to see how they compensate for the lack of information or a deficit of enough to form solid hypotheses.
From the announcement until the first reviews, the general tone was, "Google is a dingo and it ate my baby!!!" with the baby being removable battery, expansion storage and LTE. This was all a fiendish plot by Google to limit choice and make phones suck and there needed to be 50 petitions and 1000 threads to rail against the injustices perpetrated by the regressive, meany pants Big G.
Then came the reviews and the herd, er, masses looked for any proof of bias in the subtext; anything that allowed them to disavow the reviewer as a hypocritical Apple fanboy who was unfairly bashing the Nexus 4 for lacking things the iPhone didn't have a year ago (i.e. LTE) or ever (battery, SD slot).
Then came Fail Sale Day, when Google took their shiny new products intended to cast the company and Android in a new leadership glow and took a huge, steaming, ate-nothing-but-Mexican-food-for-the-past-week dump on them. In the wake of the initial debacle and subsequent silence I've watched the herds transform from whiny entitled emo crybabies demanding cash money payments for their butthurt and lack of patience to this new phenomenon of apologists - paid(?) or Stockholm Syndromed - who are saying in effect, "Hey, dude, cut 'em a break. They can't be great at everything, mang. Google Maps is amazeballs and Gmail is free; so what if they can't seem to get selling stuff done right? Shut up and wait for your phone like a good battered customer."
No. Heck to the no!
These apologias deliberately avoid the points I've been making by attempting to switch the discussion from whether it's a long-term scar-leaving injury or a stubbed toe for Big G to an attack on those who dare discuss what's been happening, or more specifically, not happening in terms of tablets coming down from the Mountain View top. What has prevented GHQ from releasing a statement along these lines?
"We here at Google have been committed to advancing Android and creating innovative class-leading products that provide excellent performance and value for our customers. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 have been universally praised as exception examples of design, functionality and value and it was hoped that the public would want these great Android devices and our hopes were more than realized. Unfortunately, we didn't realize just how much people would want these products and were not prepared for the demand at our Play Store and this led to a very poor shopping experience for some customers for which we deeply apologize. New inventory is being manufactured as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality and will be shipping as soon as we received them within the coming weeks. We have already informed those on back-order that we will be waiving the shipping charges, but as an additional token of our appreciation for their patience, all who ordered on Nov. 13 will receive a $25 credit in their Play Store accounts as an apology for the inconvenience we've caused and to allow them to fill their Nexus phones and tablets with great apps, music, video and books from the Play Store in appreciation of their patience. We're proud of the Nexus line and can't wait until more users get their hands on them. We thank them for their support."
How freaking hard would that have been? It doesn't even matter if half of it is insincere and the other half lies or not, it's SOMETHING that addresses the problems, makes promises to rectify them, tosses in some balm for the hurt butts, and makes it appear like they've got hot products and are scrambling to get them to the people. I'm just a guy on a forum with barely a high school education and was able to snap off a better statement than all the big bucks-making, pointy-headed, book-learned employees of the Googleplex and that makes their continued mishandling of this situation both more mysterious and inexcusable.
There was a time when failure had consequences. (Maybe it's just because I'm old enough to remember that sucking at something got you an F and not a Participant ribbon and a pat on the effort for trying and don't feel bad and blow up the school, please.) On one hand we've seen top execs of Apple and Microsoft depart their gigs under speculation that recent products not being up-to-snuff was a factor and on the other we just had an election where half of the country decided that it didn't matter if the head man was an incompetent failure because they felt he cared about them based on nothing more than feelings. (This would be like buying an Apple Newton because you thought Steve Jobs was insanely great and being told Bill Gates eats puppies.) This latter view seems to animate the defense of Google here - "Hey, cut Google a break that you wouldn't cut any other retailer because what can you expect?"
What I expect, and so should everyone else, is for a company the size and breadth of Google to either be competent or at least own up to their failures. COMMUNICATION has been the Achilles heel of this whole mess and if we give Google a pass AGAIN, what is their incentive to improve? A: Darn little. The irony is that people are fine with complaining that LG has shipped some units that rattle and Google's changes to Android 4.2 have been buggy, but we're not supposed to hold anyone to account for the fiasco of selling the darn handsets. Huh? Um, no. That doesn't work and shouldn't be acceptable. If Google is to learn from their mistakes, then they have to take the hits. Failure can be a better teacher than success because what do you really learn when something works perfectly the first time? I know I've learned more from when I've built computers and nothing happened when I pushed the power button. After a few goof-ups, now it's normal for the rig to fire up the first time.
Google has two strikes on their record and no one wants them to strike out, but is it really too much to ask them to keep their eye on the ball and not leave the fans wondering why they support them? I don't.
From the announcement until the first reviews, the general tone was, "Google is a dingo and it ate my baby!!!" with the baby being removable battery, expansion storage and LTE. This was all a fiendish plot by Google to limit choice and make phones suck and there needed to be 50 petitions and 1000 threads to rail against the injustices perpetrated by the regressive, meany pants Big G.
Then came the reviews and the herd, er, masses looked for any proof of bias in the subtext; anything that allowed them to disavow the reviewer as a hypocritical Apple fanboy who was unfairly bashing the Nexus 4 for lacking things the iPhone didn't have a year ago (i.e. LTE) or ever (battery, SD slot).
Then came Fail Sale Day, when Google took their shiny new products intended to cast the company and Android in a new leadership glow and took a huge, steaming, ate-nothing-but-Mexican-food-for-the-past-week dump on them. In the wake of the initial debacle and subsequent silence I've watched the herds transform from whiny entitled emo crybabies demanding cash money payments for their butthurt and lack of patience to this new phenomenon of apologists - paid(?) or Stockholm Syndromed - who are saying in effect, "Hey, dude, cut 'em a break. They can't be great at everything, mang. Google Maps is amazeballs and Gmail is free; so what if they can't seem to get selling stuff done right? Shut up and wait for your phone like a good battered customer."
No. Heck to the no!
These apologias deliberately avoid the points I've been making by attempting to switch the discussion from whether it's a long-term scar-leaving injury or a stubbed toe for Big G to an attack on those who dare discuss what's been happening, or more specifically, not happening in terms of tablets coming down from the Mountain View top. What has prevented GHQ from releasing a statement along these lines?
"We here at Google have been committed to advancing Android and creating innovative class-leading products that provide excellent performance and value for our customers. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 have been universally praised as exception examples of design, functionality and value and it was hoped that the public would want these great Android devices and our hopes were more than realized. Unfortunately, we didn't realize just how much people would want these products and were not prepared for the demand at our Play Store and this led to a very poor shopping experience for some customers for which we deeply apologize. New inventory is being manufactured as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality and will be shipping as soon as we received them within the coming weeks. We have already informed those on back-order that we will be waiving the shipping charges, but as an additional token of our appreciation for their patience, all who ordered on Nov. 13 will receive a $25 credit in their Play Store accounts as an apology for the inconvenience we've caused and to allow them to fill their Nexus phones and tablets with great apps, music, video and books from the Play Store in appreciation of their patience. We're proud of the Nexus line and can't wait until more users get their hands on them. We thank them for their support."
How freaking hard would that have been? It doesn't even matter if half of it is insincere and the other half lies or not, it's SOMETHING that addresses the problems, makes promises to rectify them, tosses in some balm for the hurt butts, and makes it appear like they've got hot products and are scrambling to get them to the people. I'm just a guy on a forum with barely a high school education and was able to snap off a better statement than all the big bucks-making, pointy-headed, book-learned employees of the Googleplex and that makes their continued mishandling of this situation both more mysterious and inexcusable.
There was a time when failure had consequences. (Maybe it's just because I'm old enough to remember that sucking at something got you an F and not a Participant ribbon and a pat on the effort for trying and don't feel bad and blow up the school, please.) On one hand we've seen top execs of Apple and Microsoft depart their gigs under speculation that recent products not being up-to-snuff was a factor and on the other we just had an election where half of the country decided that it didn't matter if the head man was an incompetent failure because they felt he cared about them based on nothing more than feelings. (This would be like buying an Apple Newton because you thought Steve Jobs was insanely great and being told Bill Gates eats puppies.) This latter view seems to animate the defense of Google here - "Hey, cut Google a break that you wouldn't cut any other retailer because what can you expect?"
What I expect, and so should everyone else, is for a company the size and breadth of Google to either be competent or at least own up to their failures. COMMUNICATION has been the Achilles heel of this whole mess and if we give Google a pass AGAIN, what is their incentive to improve? A: Darn little. The irony is that people are fine with complaining that LG has shipped some units that rattle and Google's changes to Android 4.2 have been buggy, but we're not supposed to hold anyone to account for the fiasco of selling the darn handsets. Huh? Um, no. That doesn't work and shouldn't be acceptable. If Google is to learn from their mistakes, then they have to take the hits. Failure can be a better teacher than success because what do you really learn when something works perfectly the first time? I know I've learned more from when I've built computers and nothing happened when I pushed the power button. After a few goof-ups, now it's normal for the rig to fire up the first time.
Google has two strikes on their record and no one wants them to strike out, but is it really too much to ask them to keep their eye on the ball and not leave the fans wondering why they support them? I don't.
badbrad17
Well-known member
What you are asking for is not unreasonable. Whether or not you get that kind of statement from them is yet to be determined.
Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums
Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums
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