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Nexus 4 disappointment as some successful orders face 3 week wait

The LG Nexus 4, the latest Google Nexus smartphone, released just three days ago but was sold out in hours. Although most of us expected that this phone would be a big hit it seems nobody could have predicted just how successful it would be. Yesterday we told how stocks through the Google Play Store were still sold out with no option even to order at present. Today we have learned that disappointingly, some people who placed an order and thought their Nexus 4 would be delivered any day, are now facing a delay of up to three weeks.

The LG Nexus 4 has a quad-core processor, 4.7-inch True HD IPS display with resolution of 1280 x 768 and launched running the very latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. Add to that the fact that it is exceptionally competitively priced at only $299 or $349 unlocked through Google Play and it seems the phone has almost been a victim of its own success with orders so overwhelming that Google just cannot cope.

Yesterday we discussed the fact that many people felt let down when they were unable to order the Nexus 4 successfully on the first day and still haven’t been able to place an order. We noted that on Google Play the phone is still listed as sold out with a message merely saying to check back soon and not even allowing potential customers to order the phone with a future shipping date. We received comments from readers to say how disappointing this was but it appears that today plenty more who thought they’d ordered successfully will also be feeling disappointed.

The latest news as reported by Engadget is that some who managed to get their orders in early and thought it was on its way to them are now receiving emails from Google Play to say the phone is on backorder and it may be up to three weeks until their orders are shipped. This is a real blow for those expecting to get their hands on their shiny new Nexus 4’s in the next day or so. In recognition of this Google also says that affected customers will receive notification when shipping does take place and a credit for shipping charges. As well as this, Google has also provided a convenient link for those who want to cancel their orders altogether.

It’s a real shame that Google is struggling with supplies of this flagship device and in our previous post we hoped that stocks would be replenished soon and that plenty of fresh supplies would be available ahead of Christmas. However with a three-week wait until some of the first wave of orders arrives it seems as though the chances of plenty of stock available for the holiday season look bleak. We’d really like to hear from readers about this.

Were you disappointed that you couldn’t even place your order for the Nexus 4 yet? Maybe you’re one of those who thought they’d successfully ordered the Nexus 4 and have received one of the Google emails about it being backordered? Let us know with your comments.

Comments

17 thoughts on “Nexus 4 disappointment as some successful orders face 3 week wait”

  1. Kam says:

    I think google are deliberately holding sales as they might have some agreements with network providers (like O2) to allow them to sell the handsets on contracts or full price on PAYG (O2 selling 8GB handsets for £399 on PAYG)

    And may be near xmas or in the new year, they will start selling it in full blow…

    Google’s team of top executives are not dumb that they didn’t expected high sales on launch… they (& LG) do have all the resources to manufacture & stock millions of handsets for the launch!

    Good sales strategy…
    Cost of jumper = £8
    Selling price beginning of winter season = £30
    Selling price during the winter season 20% off = £24
    Selling price end of winter season 50% off = £15
    Selling price after winter season 70% (still few left) = £9

  2. Ursicles says:

    How the biggest Internet company in the world has made such a shambles of this launch is beyond belief.
    Surely they would have looked at the numbering registering interest, deducted a % for timewasters and produced that many units?
    I need a new phone – and was waiting for the N4. Sadly i didnt get to buy one as the site kept tripping over, and now it appears im probably 3 weeks away from even being able to place an order – let alone receive the device.
    Only positive here is that the ebay touts are probably getting screwed royally over this – that bit is rather nice 🙂

  3. 247mtg says:

    Disgruntled people who did not manage to buy N4
    Happy people making money out the situation
    Now people have to wait 3 weeks

    What a saga for a phone, please do not tell us any more

  4. Ian Hicks says:

    Really poor experience, I received an order confirmation and then my order was cancelled for no reason. Google sales admitted cards were getting declined due to a problem with THEIR servers and couldn’t do anything about it.

    1) They should have had a ‘pre-order’ scheme so they could calculate demand on day one.
    2) They should have limited the number of handsets that could be ordered. Chancers have been ordering 5+ and selling on eBay at inflated prices. It’s worse than the concert ticket fiasco you normally get.

    All in all very poor show from a multi-national, multi-billion pound company. They should be ashamed, but hey I bet they don’t give a toss.

  5. Moorsy says:

    I was waiting up until last night for shipping details only to receive the dreaded up to three weeks email. Not happy, but at least my order is still in and should receive it soon.

  6. frank says:

    What I don’t understand is why google have gone so quite about this. There is no explanation or expectation for customers waiting to see what happens next! I will now go with apple.

  7. Tom says:

    that is what Google wants. Post , blog ,talk about it. In month or two all will be as should and you can buy you N4 easily. By that time lets hope they close all bugfixes. So do not rush.

    1. Ringo says:

      By then there will be other, better phones, and many would be buyers will have already jumped. This could have been a revolutionary opportunity to take power away from the carriers, and Google completely messed it up.

  8. etudiant says:

    Kam has a logical explanation for this debacle.

    If it were true, T-Mobile would have lots of phones to sell, because they need the Nexus as their top tier phone. However, T-Mobile too is already out of stock.

    The explanation is even simpler, Google screwed up, maybe deliberately.
    Google does not care, because consumers are not their customers, advertisers are. Also, because Google makes little or no money on their sales of the Nexus, they have no incentive to push it hard, especially as that would just peeve the carriers.

    They messed up the ordering mechanism, which collapsed like a mom and pop store site trying to deal with a hot item. They are still messing up, no pre-order option, no expected delivery date, just a ‘Check back soon’ message.
    Thank you, Google, remind me again that my time is worthless.
    I think this level of ineptitude cannot be accidental.

    1. Devin Cofer says:

      As annoyed as I am with Google, this doesn’t make sense.

      Google had a plan with this phone, even if it is likely to recuperate money from advertising and app sales. That plan depends on people buying what they chose to sell. If the plan was to get around the carrier model in the US by getting more and more people interested in unlocked phones, which means harder times for carriers and a push towards more data plans, then it depends on them getting those devices out there.

      If Google wanted to sell a low stock at first and slowly trickle devices for whatever reason, they have no need for subterfuge. Just say production is slow, blame LG, and have a pre-order system, then brag about how many people are lined up for a device.

      As someone who’s called in maybe five times, everyone there is running around like headless chickens. Nobody has the right info, it’s all a mess.

      Hanlon’s Razor — Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

  9. Mine has just arrived around 35 mins ago I will upload a link to unbixing and indepth review add me on fb/YouTube/google+
    Heard somewhere new stock is arriving the 24th of November keep your eyes peeled guys !!!!

  10. TJ says:

    Google need to fix their shopping cart!
    After struggling to add the Nexus 4 in my shopping cart, It got “stolen” from it twice!! . After trying again and again, I finally received an order confirmation but then my order was cancelled for no reason – CB management glitch from Google.

    Great job Google 🙁 … but I am not giving up and will wait for the next batch (I hope they already figured out what went wrong and learned from this whole ordering mess).

  11. Mr Angry from Carlton says:

    Another rubbish experience with the Google site, I actually had a 16 gig N4 and the rubber bumper in the basket and it would not let me proceed to check out, then I noticed that the Nexus had been deleted from the basket ( not by me!! ) and all that was left was the bumper, what use is that ffs!!!

    Then you look on Ebay and some greedy articles have a 16 gig on there for over £480 !! a cool £200 + profit, that really bugs me when people who genuinely want them can’t get there hands on one, what’s even more mystifying is the fools who actually pay that sort of money!!

    Google massively screwed up this launch, they knew the amount of people who registered an interest and failed to cater for the demand.

    They have no system to register an order on a cronological basis so you take your place in a queue ( slower but fair to all ) and then they just leave you hanging in mid air as to when you might get another “15 minute chance” to order another one, as they will probably sell out just as quick again the second time around, or the third, fourth etc.

    Can’t see many people getting there hands on one of these until mid to end of January.

    If Google don’t handle this better the second time around it could backfire on them and drive frustrated buyers into the arms of a HTC one X!

    Come to think of it ???,………that’s not a bad idea………………

    1. ajc88 says:

      I love how the people on some of the listings say ‘I accidently bought a Nexus 4’

      So you accidentally put it in your basket, inserted your card details, put in your address, pressed pay and DIDNT think to cancel your order after wards?

      Who are they kidding, someone who WANTED the phone for a fair price got screwed over so they could make a tidy buck.

      Why on earth they didnt do pre-order is beyond me, everyone is happy then.

  12. ajc88 says:

    I dont understand how they could have SO few units, i’d say almost any person who was interested would use the ‘notify’ me section and whilst they shouldn’t necessarily order that many devices it should of given them a pretty good idea how popular it was going to be.

    I had the nexus 4 in my basket about 10-12 times and got on there literally the second the store changed to buy now, got to the payment screen, failed… safe to say I ended up with no phone at the end of it.

    Very dissapointed with how an online giant like Google handled everything and even more so that it will be a minimum of 3 weeks before they fulfill back orders, what about those of us that didn’t even get chance to order one!?

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