Essential Order and Shipping Thread

[dannyar11]

Here you go. Don't know why I had to provide proof.

 

[cstmstyle]

Crazy that some of you who ordered on the 16th still haven't got tracking. I didn't order till late on the 18th and got my tracking number Saturday morning. I only ordered the phone, no camera. Mines scheduled to arrive Thursday.

Yeah I ordered the phone on the 16th. I added the camera last Thursday with the understanding it would ship separate. Sucks that they appeared to have held phone and camera orders back from the initial wave.

It's even more annoying that they seemed to have stopped sending shipping notices out. I'm hoping tonight we see some more emails go out. 8 am in China is only 6 hours away.

 

[dannyar11]

Also I did not reserve early didn't reserve until they announced it was on sale on the 18th. Got an email after reserving that I could purchase it roughly 1 hour later and completed my purchase.

 

[y2jdmbfan]

Nothing here either....

 

[CollinFX45]

I was cool and calm awaiting the phone but if it truly the case that people ordered later by days and their phones have shipped, please someone explain that to me!!! Did you reserve the phone earlier, that is my only guess, or did you just go on the 23rd and order it. Heck if I pre-order on Amazon it ships on the 1st and with Prime I could have it by next Tuesday at the latest

Ah man Chuck, you've been the most optimistic person here and now you're turning...nooooooo!

Honestly, I think those of us who decided we were going to give Essential another $50 are out of luck completely. With such a small company operating a fly-by-night operation (my sarcasm/theory), it would seem that paying an extra $30-50 to FedEx to ship the camera separately would impact them greatly in some way. So, my best guess is that they're just flat out being cheap, holding our phones and will include them when/if the camera is ready. That is the only explanation I can come up with.

-Collin-

 

[modifier]

Honestly, I think those of us who decided we were going to give Essential another $50 are out of luck completely. With such a small company operating a fly-by-night operation (my sarcasm/theory), it would seem that paying an extra $30-50 to FedEx to ship the camera separately would impact them greatly in some way. So, my best guess is that they're just flat out being cheap, holding our phones and will include them when/if the camera is ready. That is the only explanation I can come up with.

Definitely. If they shipped cameras separate and sold around 10,000 units for example, even at $5-10 for shipping that would be $50,000 to $100,000. That's one or two employees' annual salary.

Companies are counting beans more than ever, especially with outside investors watching their books.

Amazon can afford it because Prime covers their costs in shipping. They collect more money in Prime subscriptions than what the sum of all subscribers cost Amazon in shipping. They also combine orders whenever possible.

 

[cstmstyle]

Ah man Chuck, you've been the most optimistic person here and now you're turning...nooooooo!

Honestly, I think those of us who decided we were going to give Essential another $50 are out of luck completely. With such a small company operating a fly-by-night operation (my sarcasm/theory), it would seem that paying an extra $30-50 to FedEx to ship the camera separately would impact them greatly in some way. So, my best guess is that they're just flat out being cheap, holding our phones and will include them when/if the camera is ready. That is the only explanation I can come up with.

-Collin-

Problem I see is we got an email to hurry up and pay for the camera as it was ready and we would be one of the first to get it sent out with our phones. Add the fact that the initial wave going out seems to have been completely random phone only orders.

I completely get that weather over in China has been a serious issue. What I don't get is why they are so terrible at communicating with paying customers.

 

[fernandez21]

Problem I see is we got an email to hurry up and pay for the camera as it was ready and we would be one of the first to get it sent out with our phones. Add the fact that the initial wave going out seems to have been completely random phone only orders.

I completely get that weather over in China has been a serious issue. What I don't get is why they are so terrible at communicating with paying customers.

Yup, I thought it meant the camera was ready and if I paid early enough they would include it with my phone, not hold off on sending my phone until the camera was ready.

Their communication has been horrible. If that’s the case with the China weather effecting things, then why not just come out and say it? Why keep giving us vague promises you have no control over (unless Andy Ruben really did build a weather machine).

If last week they simply sent out an email saying that the weather had effected their ability to fulfill the orders in the promised time and given an estimate of say 14-21 days to send out and offer a slight discount for our troubles (say a free 360 camera or $50 discount) you wouldn’t be seeing as many people complain and cancelling.

 

[cstmstyle]

Yup, I thought it meant the camera was ready and if I paid early enough they would include it with my phone, not hold off on sending my phone until the camera was ready.

Their communication has been horrible. If that’s the case with the China weather effecting things, then why not just come out and say it? Why keep giving us vague promises you have no control over (unless Andy Ruben really did build a weather machine).

If last week they simply sent out an email saying that the weather had effected their ability to fulfill the orders in the promised time and given an estimate of say 14-21 days to send out and offer a slight discount for our troubles (say a free 360 camera or $50 discount) you wouldn’t be seeing as many people complain and cancelling.

Agreed. I've backed kickstarter campaigns that went smoother and they took the time out to regularly communicate with backers.

 

[bhatech]

You guys are talking as if the company is underfunded and the device is like some $200. Jeez we paid $700, sure $50 for camera but that's for limited time and also the company is well funded for the near future. They are not operating on some tiny budget and it has nothing to do with saving shipping costs. It's just incompetence in managing orders and they probably thought people don't mind if they receive orders few days or weeks late.

 

[Ray Shaffer]

I spoke to a rep on the chat crappy system they have and she said the rest of us without shipping notices should get them today I don't believe her of course

 

[ThirtySixChambers]

I pre ordered on July 18th, I got the email to finalize my order on August 16th but I didn't actually pay for my order until August 22nd and I got my shipping notification email on this past Saturday with the delivery date of the 31st.

 

[CollinFX45]

You guys are talking as if the company is underfunded and the device is like some $200. Jeez we paid $700, sure $50 for camera but that's for limited time and also the company is well funded for the near future. They are not operating on some tiny budget and it has nothing to do with saving shipping costs. It's just incompetence in managing orders and they probably thought people don't mind if they receive orders few days or weeks late.

Well I'm not sure what's worse: being managed incompetently or being frugal on the shipping costs. I just want the damn phone!

-Collin-

 

[modifier]

You guys are talking as if the company is underfunded and the device is like some $200. Jeez we paid $700, sure $50 for camera but that's for limited time and also the company is well funded for the near future. They are not operating on some tiny budget and it has nothing to do with saving shipping costs. It's just incompetence in managing orders and they probably thought people don't mind if they receive orders few days or weeks late.

I worked for a $40B company and sat in engineering meetings arguing over $3 components. Everyone is accountable for a budget, even large companies. I have no doubt shipping costs are being combined because of budget.

That doesn't make it right, or comprehensible, or logical, or anything else. It's just how things are.

The lack of transparency is the real issue. And, I still think a fair amount of that falls on Foxconn as much as it does Essential.

 

[bhatech]

I worked for a $40B company and sat in engineering meetings arguing over $3 components. Everyone is accountable for a budget, even large companies. I have no doubt shipping costs are being combined because of budget.

That doesn't make it right, or comprehensible, or logical, or anything else. It's just how things are.

The lack of transparency is the real issue. And, I still think a fair amount of that falls on Foxconn as much as it does Essential.

That's fine agree that every company tries to save cost, but I don't like shifting blame to Foxconn or who ever. I'm dealing with Essential and they deal with million different vendors to make the phone. It's their problem and they can deal with it internally however they see fit.

For me as an end consumer, I'm paying my money to Essential and at the end of the day it's their responsibility to communicate properly, be transparent to it's consumers and keep them happy. They don't have to say Foxconn screwed up, XYZ vendor screwed up, they can say we are running into some production issues so we can't deliver the phone for 2-3 weeks etc or whatever time they want to take. Also, don't charge customers until you have the product ready to be put on a shipping container.

 

[njgill05]

Meh, I gave up on this whole thing. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with Essential.

 

[modifier]

That's fine agree that every company tries to save cost, but I don't like shifting blame to Foxconn or who ever. I'm dealing with Essential and they deal with million different vendors to make the phone. It's their problem and they can deal with it internally however they see fit.

For me as an end consumer, I'm paying my money to Essential and at the end of the day it's their responsibility to communicate properly to it's consumers and keep them happy.

Trust me, I totally understand and fully agree with you as a consumer. I only mention Foxconn because I suspect there's a disconnect from their side in not being truthful with fulfillment schedules. I've dealt with them before in other components and they never say 'no', only 'maybe' and 'yes' regardless of the answer really needing to be 'no'. It's a cultural thing. It's entirely possible that Essential isn't getting the right answers. Foxconn could be stringing them along to save their own embarrassment.

But, that doesn't excuse Essential's communication. It needs improvement without question.

 

[markwebb]

This is after 5+ emails where order number is in subject line and body of email and they reply to my email address. They really are being told not to cancel orders!!

Samuel Urfer*(Essential Products, Inc.)

Aug 28, 11:59 MST

Thanks for writing in. We understand your frustration and concerns. The team has taken a look at our warehouse and determined that there is still an opportunity to cancel your order. Our sincerest apologies for any previous messaging to the contrary.*

However,*We are very close to shipping your order out. We are certain you will be satisfied once you have it in your hand. The Essential Phone is a beautiful device that we can confidently say will exceed your expectation should you choose to keep your order. However, we understand if you would like to proceed with the cancellation. If so, please provide your order confirmation number and the email associated with the order and we will do our best to cancel you order. Have a great day!


Sincerely,

Samuel
Essential Customer Experience Team

 

[bhatech]

Phone has been taken down on Amazon and amazon pre orders are getting cancelled automatically

 

[msp1518]

Wow. WTH!!! This is crazy./ They are having serious problems.

i was charged the 23rd and have NOT bought the camera and have NOT received any emails about shipping. If I do not have the phone by Saturday I have to cancel. No joke. I won't have time to actually evaluate the phone before I leave the flipping country.