Send a complaint to Google Play about Nexus 7 shipping

[Menno]

[Elect] Nexus 7 Android Tablet Available For As Low As $209 (with $25 Google Play credit) - Page 62 - RedFlagDeals.com Forums

RFD is a huge forum in Canada.

Many members are reporting that they were able to pick up an N7 at Staples or electronics retailer Memory Express.

I'm sick of this. I'm on the phone right now. Will see about cancelling my order or what the charges are if I refuse shipment. I really don't feel like paying $22 more for the same product. The Google rep just told me that if I can get one in store I should pick it up and refuse shipment. They will refund me the full amount including shipping.

I hope Google gets swamped with refused shipments and cancelled orders. They deserve it.

Why do they "deserve" it?

And it's a VERY recent thing that pre-order means getting devices early. this is why stories like "Verizon S3 preorders shipping early" are STILL stories.


If you go get one in store, great. congrats on saving some money. If you want to post here about how you did it, again, congrats. But I don't see how Google did anyone a disservice here. The shipment is not late, they didn't randomly cancel orders, and from everyone posting about experiences with Customer Service, it seems like the reps are handing it quite well.

 

[Menno]

That doesn't explain how so many retail chains are launching early. Here in Canada, it's Staples and Memory Express (in Western Canada). It's eBuyer in the UK. Sam's Club, Gamestop and Adorama in the USA.

So there's some global conspiracy to screw over Play customers? Or is it more likely that Google botched the launch?

Ebuyer and Adorama both stopped selling the devices on thursday. Purchasing it at gamestop, sams club, etc is hit or miss.

If the launch was officially official today, then purchasing at any of these places would be universal.

Google did botch the launch, but only because they apparently didn't send down a clear enough "delay" letter (adorama and Ebuyer got it, others didn't) and they don't have strict enough penalties to prevent stores from selling it anyway.

Again, there is NOTHING new about a product going on sale before it's supposed to. Stories of this happening are some of the most popular close to launch.

 

[Jedi Neo]

I called Google Play Customer Service. The guy actually told me to try and get one in the store. He said that if I refuse shipping Google will refund all charges including shipping.

He said pre-order was just meant to "guarantee you would get one". Guess Google and most average customers don't see eye-to-eye on what the term "pre-order" actually implies.

That's what preordering means to me. They made no promises or claims that play customers would get extra benefits.

The good thing is all these cancel/refuse units will speed up the second wave orders.

 

[UCLA 15]

Here's my thoughts:

The launch of the Nexus 7 is turning out to be an average launch. Nothing wrong or particularly impressive about it. Let's look at Google's actual promises and obligations, and how they did:

Google announces the Nexus 7 on the June 27th
Makes pre-orders available, giving a 2-3 week window for shipping. Note: that means when you pre-ordered, you effectively told Google you were fully aware they could ship as late as July 18th
A week later, updates that window to 1-2 weeks
Announces through various mediums today that they will begin shipping

That is the full list of promises Google made with the Nexus 7 with regards to obtaining one. How did they do? Perfectly. No pushing back the shipping date past what was originally promised (2-3 weeks), and in fact we still have several days they could have waited and still met that obligation.

Play Store customers receiving their tablets before they would be available in brick and mortar was never a promise made by Google. You know what? Let's stop discussing whether or not Google told Gamestop or anyone else to stop selling the N7, because it was never something Google said it was going to do. In fact, if Google did tell retailers to stop selling the N7 (so that Play Store customers can wallow in the joy of being the first people with their hands on the device), they went beyond what they told Play Store customers they were going to do. So let's not discuss that any more. If you want to contradict what I have said, you must provide proof that Google made an explicit statement that Play Store customers would get their tablets before B&M customers.

"Pre-ordering directly from Google means I should get it first!" will not fly. I want something explicit. If you assumed that you would get it first, then you are at fault for not knowing what a pre-order is, not Google. There is 1, and only 1, guarantee that comes with pre-ordering just about anything: you will get one (when we say you will). Getting it first is not an explicit guarantee in any pre-order I have ever been involved in. If you pre-order from a company and get your product before B&M customers do, then that is a bonus, not a met obligation (on the condition that the company did not say pre-order customers would get it first; in our case, like I said, no one has yet demonstrated that Google made that claim).

I have pre-ordered video games many times because they were hyped up and highly anticipated. I did so because I was worried you would not be able to find one on the shelves of a B&M for possibly a few weeks after launch because the game was so hyped. Sometimes my judgment was wrong and you could get one on the shelves first day, and I would be mildly bummed that people had the game and I had to wait a few days for mine to ship. But I didn't hold it against anyone because that was a weighted judgment I made myself and I just happened to be wrong. That's how pre-ordering works for so many products. I can point to so many cases in the tech world of cell phones or headphones or other things going like this.

 

[quinnsdaddy11]

The only thing I will say on the matter. Is why did Google send any shipments to retailers? Why not send those initial shipments to their own direct customer pre-orders? I think that is where most of us are steamed.

 

[Menno]

The only thing I will say on the matter. Is why did Google send any shipments to retailers? Why not send those initial shipments to their own direct customer pre-orders? I think that is where most of us are steamed.

because that's how Every product release has been done.. for at least the past 5 years (if not decades).

Gamestop getting their devices did NOTHING to limit the amount Google had set aside for preorder in the playstore, or how long it took them to ship them.

To put it simply.

x=number of N7's for playstore customers
Y=retail shipments.

X-Y=X

 

[UCLA 15]

The only thing I will say on the matter. Is why did Google send any shipments to retailers? Why not send those initial shipments to their own direct customer pre-orders? I think that is where most of us are steamed.

How retailers obtain shipments has already been extensively discussed in this thread. Cliffsnotes: retailers always receive their shipments very early to ensure they will have stock of a product before launch. Shipping to retailers early provides a safety net to ensure a truly botched launch does not occur, which brings me to one more point...

You people want to talk about a botched launch? You want to know what happens when a company doesn't ensure that retailers have sufficient stock of a product before launch?

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Single worst tablet launch I have ever seen, and probably one of (if not the) the worst tablet launches ever. People pre-order and are given a shipping date. The date is pushed back. People get a little disappointed. The shipping date is pushed back again, this time some tech websites hypothesize it is because there is a hardware fault Asus still needs to fix. People get a little worried and start to say they may just wait for the next new tablet. Launch day finally hits: only a very limited amount of pre-order customers actually have tablets on the way. Asus so underestimated the demand for this tablet that it is hardly available in B&M as well. I kid you not, there was a 200+ page on XDA discussing the launch and people would post where they had "spotted" (as if this thing was some kind of rare wild animal) a TF Prime and everyone else in the area would be in a mad rush to get it. One month later (after that twice pushed back launch date), most people still cannot obtain one in a B&M. Some pre-order customers still have not received one.

Time goes by, it turns out that the TF Prime did have some massive hardware and design faults. So there were pre-order customers who would receive a tablet 2 (read that: TWO) months after they were originally told they were, and when it did finally arrive, it was defective. You know what happened next? They had to ship them back to Asus and wait up to another month to receive a new revised tablet with the design faults (partially) fixed. In summary: a product you received 3 months after you thought you were supposed to, and one that still could be partially defective.

You people are getting what you were promised. Period. You have no idea what a botched launch is.

 

[bottlerocket]

I just sent them an email saying I was disappointed that I ordered from the Play store. I only have experience pre-ordering music, and when I do that you either get the item early, or on the day it's available in stores - neither of which Google fulfilled. I don't expect a response, but it made me feel better.

 

[cheezyq]

I'm new here, but I do have a concern about how this has played out. I won't pretend that I'm some retail/manufacturer guru. But the reality is that pre-ordering from the manufacturer generally comes with certain expectations...namely, that the product that was ordered will arrive at the consumer's preferred delivery address on or before the product is sold in retail. People pay shipping charges in exchange for the convenience of receiving the device at home instead of waiting in lines at retail stores in the vain hopes that the retailer has enough product in stock.

Google may be new to selling hardware and new to the retail distribution market, but let's not pretend this is some start-up operation that just made an honest mistake. Google should have been prepared for this. A screw up of this nature hurts, especially given the polish of its competitors, such as Apple. Google would do well to keep this from leaving a bad taste in their customers' mouths.

That said, I'm not throwing a fit about the situation or planning to raise hell. But I do plan on requesting compensation for the blunder, and I don't believe it's overreacting to do so.

 

[colin_25]

I just sent them an email saying I was disappointed that I ordered from the Play store. I only have experience pre-ordering music, and when I do that you either get the item early, or on the day it's available in stores - neither of which Google fulfilled. I don't expect a response, but it made me feel better.

Ditto.

If I had known that ordering from playstore would mean I would far behind retail stores, I would have then had knowledge to decide. I ordered 28th June, still no information on when i will get it.

Lack of information is annoying. One aspect that Google is excelling at

 

[steve dave]

bottom line is that preordering has always meant that one would receive a product on release day. This has always been the case. From video game consoles, video games, music, movies, phones, iPads, etc. The claim that preordering just means that you are guaranteed to get one eventually is ludicrous. Everyone is guaranteed to get one eventually if they want one, regardless of what they do. The Google apologists are really stretching it now.

I hate to make the comparison, but Google needs to take notes from Apple.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hawkmoon230]

the sales floor!.

I can understand Gamestop jumping the gun, but what I cannot understand and will not forgive, is the lack of communication from Google! Quite often I have had to call a customer and tell them we could not keep our delivery schedule, but I would always tell them WHEN they could expect it......That's only good customer service!!!

OK so you have had to call a customers to tell them that you could not keep to the schedule and I am sure Google will do the same if they cannot get it to you in TWO TO THREE WEEKS! that was their schedule and they have not missed it yet so no need to call!

 

[87thhunter]

Maby in the last 7 pages of this someone has said this but, Game stop sold SOME early but Google still released the device and still allowed them to sell it later on in the day, So i still would have been able to pre-order the device and pick it up regardless....

2-3 weeks shipping is fine if the device was not released in the first 2 weeks and i get to wait possible a week after it comes out to get it - when regardless of when i could have got it from game stop i still would have had it the same day BEFORE or After Google said they could sell it. When i pre-order something it would be nice to have it before the day of or after the release date not up to a week after the release when i paid shipping and could have avoid that just by going 10 min away to a game stop.

I like Google and figured that if i pre-order something i should have a item when it is released, and everyone say the retailers had the shipments ready months before - then why did it take a week or 2 before it was ever said that there was going to be pre-orders available through gamestop or office depot. Far as I'm concerned i ordered it before i could have ordered it anywhere else. And don't say you could have canceled didn't think this would have been an issue

 

[Chex313]

I have no ill will toward Google since I'm too lazy to go to a B&M. Received my notice of shipping late last night.

For those who are angry, if you want to hurt Google, don't buy anything from the Play store. Thats the only way they are going to make money.(and my web browsing their ads.) The N7 is selling for at or close to cost. Refusing a shipment and buying somewhere else does not hurt them...they are still selling a device. It can't be costing them $15 to ship a .75lb device so that's a hidden profit there.

They won't make much money on me since I just need this thing for browsing and reading web content. I'm counting on everyone else to spend their money, so Google can keep making quality cheap tablets!

Compared to many Apple launches it looks like they estimated demand pretty well and have enough units to fill any ones order...so we can all be thankful for that. When I first saw it in the io vid and then every review was steller. I thought there was a real possibility of a shortage, so I got my order in early. No sense in getting angry and jealous just because everyone who wants one can easily get one. We will all have a quality and fun device to use soon enough.

 

[codeda]

wow just read through all of this. I got two at Sams club last night, will be refusing my order when it comes but we haven't gotten notification yet so don't know when.

I'm not really sure about all the hostility on here. Hey if you are happy with Google and are glad that your shipment is coming, then all is well, but if you aren't happy and want to send a complaint I believe it's your right to. You are the customer, it is your money for your product, and if you are dissatisfied you are allowed to do what you want about it. I don't really get all these people getting up in arms because someone else was dissatisfied with the service they received. I made a complaint to Google yesterday on twitter. It didn't do anything but make me feel better, but then I went to Sams and picked up my two. Next time I won't order direct from Google Play and if that's what I want to do because I was unhappy then who else's business is that.

 

[BIGsinner]

When I watched the keynote address, It was stated that the Play Store was accepting pre-orders, and retail stores would be selling it on a later date. (Did anyone else understand it at the time it meant that retail stores would be taking pre-orders or would finally sell the device when it launched?) I was surprised to hear a couple days later that Gamestop was accepting pre-orders. Since they didn't exactly confirm when the pre-order date would be, I had thought (to my misunderstanding, since those pre-orders don't have to pay for shipping) that most likely they would get it a day or so later after Play Store pre-orders would arrive. Because, as previous posters have explained, "What would be the point/advantage of pre-ordering from the Play Store if I can get it from my local Gamestop for less money?"

Interesting thing is, that even when it was confirmed in the forums that retail stores already had the devices waiting in their storerooms, I wasn't slighted. I had figured at least those who ordered from the Play Store will get theirs the at the same time as those at the retail stores.. When it was confirmed that people who pre-orderded through Gamestop were actually receiving theirs on Friday, I was annoyed that the day I pre-ordered meant nothing, as far as in terms of how much sooner I would receive my tablet, not to mention that Gamestop pre-orders didn't have shipping costs added in. Especially since I didn't have my tablet in hand.

 

[Cubfan]

You guys complaining to Google is likely to have the opposite effect than the one you intend. Google is not mature as a retailer like Amazon. Likely their own sales and service force is very new. Cut them some slack.

They are selling these at nearly their cost and introduced it quickly. They were true to their promise on shipping... significantly beating the 2-3 week estimate. Bunch of spoiled kids are mad that a few stores made them available ahead of the preorders by only a couple of days. Seriously? You checked your order status every 5 minutes and were ticked you couldn't see any change until the money left your account? Do you online shop much?

I, for one, hope Google keeps this up. I love the Nexus line that gives me devices quickly and at a low cost. $350 for the Galaxy Nexus... wow. $250 for this excellent tablet... they're giving stuff away, folks.

So quit the whining and thank Google for their generosity, you ungrateful slobs. To put it in perspective, your alternatives are Microsoft and Apple who gouge their customers for every dime and slow play innovation to keep their sheep buying each product they produce. You want that?

 

[keithz]

I took the Google Play CSR's advice. I picked up one at the store this morning.

Google can now eat the return costs of my refused shipment. Too bad. This whole fiasco means somebody else will be getting one slightly later. And Google will have lost money simply shipping a device from their warehouse and back.

They deserve it. Trying to rip off pre-orders by charging ship only to deliver it later than the stores and for a higher total cost? I love Android. But Google just sucks at retail.

 

[keithz]

So quit the whining and thank Google for their generosity, you ungrateful slobs. To put it in perspective, your alternatives are Microsoft and Apple who gouge their customers for every dime and slow play innovation to keep their sheep buying each product they produce. You want that?

Sorry. But this is the kind of drivel I expect from sheep who line up outside Apple stores for an iPhone. Your just as brainless as them. Just a different shade.

 

[keithz]

bottom line is that preordering has always meant that one would receive a product on release day. This has always been the case. From video game consoles, video games, music, movies, phones, iPads, etc. The claim that preordering just means that you are guaranteed to get one eventually is ludicrous. Everyone is guaranteed to get one eventually if they want one, regardless of what they do. The Google apologists are really stretching it now.

I hate to make the comparison, but Google needs to take notes from Apple.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Here in Canada, it's atrocious. Not a single Canadian pre-order has gone through. That means that most Canadians are likely looking at getting their device around Thursday/Friday. A whole week after stores are selling.

Add to that, the fact that shipping is higher in Canada. And we get charged tax on shipping.

I just paid $293 at Staples. Got the $25 credit. From Google Play, I would paid $312. Now Google can have fun spending money from a refused shipment and all the extra cost and effort of refunding payments.