That rep could be telling the truth, to the best of their knowledge. The problem is, again, that this whole thing went from breaking story to official response in the matter of hours. The rep you spoke with could be relaying information he JUST received, or what he heard in the office from other call-center reps.
When a story breaks like this (outside a companies control) there's an issue getting the correct information down to the frontline, the customer facing employees because there's not a "quick" process to do this. Most information is passed down using a structured pattern that must be bypassed for things like this. Again, since this is Google's FIRST time doing this, it's not surprising that they didn't have a fast, accurate, info pipeline.
Just ask anyone who works for a carrier. Often sites like this will break news before the reps know what's coming because sites get tipped by people much higher in the hierarchy.
Google's announced NOTHING officially about the gamestop issue. So all we have to go on is what you heard from a single (more than likely flustered) rep answering the same question for the 2-dozenth time in the past hour.
And I'm not calling you stupid, I'm saying that your understanding of retail is incomplete, or "Most people are stupid when it comes to how retail works." the same way that my friend who works on cars calls me an idiot when I ask questions about my engine.
Difference is, I'm saying we should hold the company to their own timeline. You're the one implying that Google owes us something for not controlling a company they don't own (Gamestop)
Alright. Well I feel like we are getting closer to agreeing somewhere here. I'm agree about the timeline. I have not heard you yet recognize that Google has some serious issues with this launch. When a story breaks outside of a company's control, if you work at that company, I would hope you would think it's an opportunity to do something better. My suggestion is pick a solid release date and announce it before a single device gets to anybody's doorstep. I think that the "Gamestop is shady argument" would hold more weight if Google had announced a date. Just as your argument holds weight about me pre-ordering without one. I get that.
For the last week it has been all over the internet about when will they release. I pose that Google loved it to hype their product and hopefully get more people to be interested in it when it is released. I also say that there is a cost for this plan. As dtdlurch put it,
"...Google is keeping their "promise" exactly, while other retailers are essentially over-delivering and exceeding expectations. Intentional or not, Google set the expectation. Its their product. But, they are the last to get it out it seems."
Whether it is right or wrong to view a verbatim promise as a fail - the truth is that is how some companies can get screwed up. By perception. You must know that perception is a huge factor in a companies success.
I didn't expect a personal email, but I will tell about another email I got from another company. I ordered a shirt from shirtpunch.com. They were new and compared to TeeFury, they were pretty slow. A very long time went by. I emailed them and they sent me a canned response that completely and logically explained this issue. More importantly, they made me feel like it was okay that I was upset and they wanted me to know they cared. I asked for nothing free. I got nothing free and I still buy from them because of the respectful communication that made me feel valued. A recorded message or a quote from a keynote about mid-some month doesn't. If it does for you, that is great. I'm happy for you. I really am. It didn't do it for me.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I want to include the shirtpunch message so you can see why I did not appreciate the communication as delivered by Google.
"Thank you. To our customers, friends and supporters, thank you. You have no idea what your support has done for ShirtPunch. Now, it?s our turn to repay that support and fix everything that isn?t up to par, to improve delivery times, and to be the company that focuses on what is most important.
When we launched ShirtPunch last October we didn?t know what to expect. We?re not the only players in the game, and the bar has been set at an incredible height. We had every angle covered, we had thought through every single problem, and we had backup plans for just about everything?but then it happened. A community started to emerge. You started sharing us with your family and friends, they started sharing us, and things started to grow at a rate we had not anticipated.
Immediately we recognized a problem. The current printers we were working with had started falling behind with no ability to catch up. They didn?t have the manpower, the space, or the resources to take us to the next level, and so in December we switched to our second printers. We thought we had found the answer to our problems but 2 months in they started to fall behind as the orders grew, and they too were unable to catch up. We have now settled with one of Toronto?s leading print companies. Not only can they handle our current orders but also they can expand and grow with us. We?ve now worked out the kinks and have an ironclad schedule in place to bring our turnaround time to less than 7 days. They also happen to make the best t-shirts we?ve ever seen.
With the shirt problem solved, we needed to move to our second major problem, shipping. Shipping is the Achilles heel of ShirtPunch.
In Canada, we don?t have the same mail options as the rest of the world. Sure, we have FedEx and UPS, but the problem is that because of Canada?s size they only offer premium rates (nothing below $15). We simply couldn?t put a $15 shipping price on a $10 shirt. Our only option was Canada Post.
Canada Post is a great company. They?ve worked hard with us and have given us every discount possible to bring your shipping cost down, but this also means we?re using standard service. No air travel, no tracking number, no bells or whistles. Standard service is very slow but add to that the border crossings, and you can see how days turn into weeks, and sometimes even well over a month.
A solution has been found! We?re currently in talks with several shipping companies who are all competing to bring in the best possible service. Faster delivery times (ten days to your door is our new mantra!), tracking numbers for every purchase, and shipping/order confirmations, will all be included!
This won?t happen overnight. This means a rebuild of the entire site (thus allowing us to fix EVERY problem you?ve encountered), better lines of communication, and product guarantees. We?re committed to making these improvements and re-launching a stronger, faster website this summer! Until our new site is launched, we will remain committed to providing you with the highest quality product and the best designs/designers in the world.
We can?t begin to thank you enough for your support and your patience. You?ve made us into what we could only dream, and it?s time we return the favor.
Sincerely,
-Russ
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