Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What Have We Learnt in the UK Today?
- Thread starter nostrum
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Simple lesson. Don't buy on launch day.
There will be thousands of people buying the exact iPhone they want, when they want with very little drama, once the hullabaloo is over. All it takes is waiting a few days, maybe a week or so.
I don't know why people punish themselves like this.
There will be thousands of people buying the exact iPhone they want, when they want with very little drama, once the hullabaloo is over. All it takes is waiting a few days, maybe a week or so.
I don't know why people punish themselves like this.
you know....as much of an apple freak as i am, amongst most here....i think O2 are getting a rougher ride than they should be here...
dont get me wrong, they are not totally innocent here, but Apple havnt given them anywhere near enough stock to 'Launch' a Grade A product.
In fact, i think Apple have made some seriously bad decision's by launching all this product line in one day.
O2 have messed up there end no doubt about it, its clear they had limited stock from the start but expected to do a full on launch with it. Was never going to happen.
i think we learned the following :
O2 need to improve or risk Apple's wrath
Apple need to decide how big a company they are...and stop trying to overdo themselves
Were all so hyped up by these products that we lose the plot sometimes (esp on MR)
Its a defo BAD BAD day for Apple.....and not totally due to their own fault, but a BAD one for O2 as well..
one thing i do think was a major issue for us all, was the lack of info.
For whatever reason, Apple refrained from issuing info to us all explaining what was going on...i hope they learn from this shambles today.
dont get me wrong, they are not totally innocent here, but Apple havnt given them anywhere near enough stock to 'Launch' a Grade A product.
In fact, i think Apple have made some seriously bad decision's by launching all this product line in one day.
O2 have messed up there end no doubt about it, its clear they had limited stock from the start but expected to do a full on launch with it. Was never going to happen.
i think we learned the following :
O2 need to improve or risk Apple's wrath
Apple need to decide how big a company they are...and stop trying to overdo themselves
Were all so hyped up by these products that we lose the plot sometimes (esp on MR)
Its a defo BAD BAD day for Apple.....and not totally due to their own fault, but a BAD one for O2 as well..
one thing i do think was a major issue for us all, was the lack of info.
For whatever reason, Apple refrained from issuing info to us all explaining what was going on...i hope they learn from this shambles today.
I don't think people are blaming Apple as much as they're blaming O2.
The whole slow down was due to O2 not understanding how much demand there was going to be for the phones on launch day, even though they had a rough idea on Monday when they started pre-orders on the internet. Even though they had over 300,000 people registering for more information.
I think they'll try and palm this one off on Apple, but from what I can see, the blame lies squarely with them.
I'll be getting my upgrade from CPW next month. Fingers crossed O2 will have sorted themselves out by then.
The whole slow down was due to O2 not understanding how much demand there was going to be for the phones on launch day, even though they had a rough idea on Monday when they started pre-orders on the internet. Even though they had over 300,000 people registering for more information.
I think they'll try and palm this one off on Apple, but from what I can see, the blame lies squarely with them.
I'll be getting my upgrade from CPW next month. Fingers crossed O2 will have sorted themselves out by then.
Not entirely sure I learned it today alone but the loudest voices are those who aren't happy. There are a lot of people who need to chill a little and understand that things go wrong particularly with something on this kind of scale and that throwing their toys out of the pram over something relatively minor in the grand scheme of things just doesn't achieve much.
Yes, I was annoyed with O2 on Monday but I work in another major online retailer and I'm not sure what servers could realistically have stood up to what they were asking. Yes, it could have been better planned/marketed but I do think O2 recovered pretty well - there were a lot of 'failover' orders that successfully went through and showed up on doorsteps this morning for activation - including mine
Yes, I was annoyed with O2 on Monday but I work in another major online retailer and I'm not sure what servers could realistically have stood up to what they were asking. Yes, it could have been better planned/marketed but I do think O2 recovered pretty well - there were a lot of 'failover' orders that successfully went through and showed up on doorsteps this morning for activation - including mine
For me this was a lesson in 'marketing at the expense of competence'. Every technique was used to generate a frenzy of anticipation. It worked. It worked really well. The unfortunate impact was a total lack of ability to respond effectively to the demand that had been created. I'm sure the lesson here is something about going back to basics. For a company like Apple who are so obsessed with the customer experience, this is going to be a day they would rather forget.
Hello y'all .... to perhaps summarise what we can learn from today's 'Wee Joke' from O2 and CPW - theyre both as bad as each other... just because the latter lot are the 'retarded brother' of O2 doesnt let them off the hook any less ... here's a copy (shock, horror) of my post in a similar forum thread .. which seems to top the lot of folks' stories ... and even I cant believe it ... right .. deep breath here we go again!
Well just when you thought YOU had it bad .. listen to my tale of woe ... please sit down and make a stiff drink aforehand, mind ...
In Derby it was just as bad. One O2 store with about 40 outside .. the other with about 30 .. both CPWs only about 6 outside. So I joined that one for a new contract. Bad move. I was FOURTH in line and lost out to the last 16gb to get sold. Yup they had three. THEN I was told it would DEFF come tomorrow am. To the store for collection. I then waited for a credit check for 90 mins after being told they had no stock in their warehouse!!!! What a company. So I then used THEIR laptop to buy one ONLINE on the CPW site!. Thats the good news. Now its only at Stage Two and cannot be traced by the CPW desks in the stores. I just rang em and they said demand is so high processing is taking longer. Amazing. THEN to rub further salt in the wound the Derby Westfield lot told me that now there WAS stock in their warehouse. I said its too late - already ordered online. I hope. Finally .. the ultimate insult .. went into the O2 shop and they said theyd one unclaimed 16gb unit. But it was too late. Id given my PAC code and all my details online. What a farce. So now I have no idea if its coming tomorrow at all. O2 always have been the epitome of incompetence and yet they STILL use them. TMobile would never have allowed this to happen. Maybe I shouldve stuck with them and the upcoming Vario IV. At least you get service there. So now am in limbo. Will it come tomorrow?. Somehow I dont think so. And if not ...how DO I cancel it! Because its not even officiall recognised yet! Ridiculous. Only in the UK eh? And why? Cos we're a nation of whingers ... not complainers ... so we get what we get cos we deserve it! Aye weel!
Next: Well it gets worse. The guy from the CPW shop in Derby rings to say my 16gb online order is received and being sorted out ... for a Tuesday!!!! delivery. Great. So THEN I get a email seconds after saying .. Out Of Stock!. Jesus!. Can I cancel this order what? There is no relevant box in the order confirmation to do this .. and what if youve passed em your PAC code etc? This is most odd! And most annoying!
And finally, Esther:t got WORSE!!!! Just rang order team to find out what is happening! Unbelievably again ... she says this:
Thank you for ordering with http://www.carphonewarehouse.com.
We have now processed it through our secure systems, but are unable to despatch the item to you for security reasons. This order has now been cancelled.
If you still wish to make a purchase please call 0870 087 0870.
And thats the email quotation .. in other words my card details were not accepted because of the self imposed cockups in processing .. BY THEM!!!!
So now no phone no order ... and a day wasted. Bollocks. Might as well stick with TMobile and forget the iPhone. At least Ill be able to make calls!
Cheers for nowt O2/CPW! Who else could .. .
Say theyre open at 7.02 initially then 9am then open at 8 02
Supply THREE 16gb phones for the total Derby populace
Take your order for next day delivery
Take 90 mins to do it then find out no stock
Allow you to order a iPhone online with THEIR PC
Get email confirmation and text backup to confirm above
Say that processing may take longer than normal
A manager rings to say all going fine
Ring up CPW orders team to find out its not happening
Agreement is fully cancelled. No deal mate. Sorry!.
Tey say their order team are gonna ring me later to help me reorder.
Guess what? They havent ... fancy that!
in retrospect this may not be a bad thing. O2 cant run a bath. Let alone an Apple sponsored event. They are all over the place and fully unaccountable for their incompetence. Is this the kind of folks you want running a 3G connection, calls and worse - bills? Best I stay with TMobile and rough it with a HTC Raphael/Vario IV.
When Apple organise .. they organise. Sorted. Palm out to a crap company like O2/CPW ... it all goes heavenwards ...
STEVE JOBS!!!! Are you listening? Is it just me or is there a trend here ?
2007 IPhone Mk 1 Launch ... Cock Up
2008 IPhone 3G Launch .. Biggest EVER Cock Up
Common Factor ... O2
Other countries in similar mess ... NONE .... Work out the weakest link
Moral of the tale?. Either wait. Or dont bother. Suppose Ive saved £800 over 18 months but what a cock up . We really ARE a nation of zero vision.
Rant over (for now)
Initally I was ... angry/confused/bemused/reflective ... and have decided to probably stay on TMobile... get a PAYG phone .. bung in the SIM card .. have that converted to a reduced £10 pm contract with 300 min/600 txt Flext which I am on now. And maybe go for a eeePC and mobile USB stick for internet access. Ill save a few hundred quid intot the bargain too.
Poor old Apple .. they must rue the day they gave O2 the keys to their lovely baby product ... Why Steve .... Why? Once bitten, mate?. YOu really had no excuse for giving them another go.
Its like having Keira Knightley or Uma Thurman in yer movie... its GUARANTEED to bomb ... so DONT DO IT!... Grrr(now im at the angry stage again)
Ive decided to ... on the recommendation of another reader.. take it to the magazines. .. this cant be allowed to go unheard! Aye! Cheers!
Thats it. Now you can go!
Well just when you thought YOU had it bad .. listen to my tale of woe ... please sit down and make a stiff drink aforehand, mind ...
In Derby it was just as bad. One O2 store with about 40 outside .. the other with about 30 .. both CPWs only about 6 outside. So I joined that one for a new contract. Bad move. I was FOURTH in line and lost out to the last 16gb to get sold. Yup they had three. THEN I was told it would DEFF come tomorrow am. To the store for collection. I then waited for a credit check for 90 mins after being told they had no stock in their warehouse!!!! What a company. So I then used THEIR laptop to buy one ONLINE on the CPW site!. Thats the good news. Now its only at Stage Two and cannot be traced by the CPW desks in the stores. I just rang em and they said demand is so high processing is taking longer. Amazing. THEN to rub further salt in the wound the Derby Westfield lot told me that now there WAS stock in their warehouse. I said its too late - already ordered online. I hope. Finally .. the ultimate insult .. went into the O2 shop and they said theyd one unclaimed 16gb unit. But it was too late. Id given my PAC code and all my details online. What a farce. So now I have no idea if its coming tomorrow at all. O2 always have been the epitome of incompetence and yet they STILL use them. TMobile would never have allowed this to happen. Maybe I shouldve stuck with them and the upcoming Vario IV. At least you get service there. So now am in limbo. Will it come tomorrow?. Somehow I dont think so. And if not ...how DO I cancel it! Because its not even officiall recognised yet! Ridiculous. Only in the UK eh? And why? Cos we're a nation of whingers ... not complainers ... so we get what we get cos we deserve it! Aye weel!
Next: Well it gets worse. The guy from the CPW shop in Derby rings to say my 16gb online order is received and being sorted out ... for a Tuesday!!!! delivery. Great. So THEN I get a email seconds after saying .. Out Of Stock!. Jesus!. Can I cancel this order what? There is no relevant box in the order confirmation to do this .. and what if youve passed em your PAC code etc? This is most odd! And most annoying!
And finally, Esther:t got WORSE!!!! Just rang order team to find out what is happening! Unbelievably again ... she says this:
Thank you for ordering with http://www.carphonewarehouse.com.
We have now processed it through our secure systems, but are unable to despatch the item to you for security reasons. This order has now been cancelled.
If you still wish to make a purchase please call 0870 087 0870.
And thats the email quotation .. in other words my card details were not accepted because of the self imposed cockups in processing .. BY THEM!!!!
So now no phone no order ... and a day wasted. Bollocks. Might as well stick with TMobile and forget the iPhone. At least Ill be able to make calls!
Cheers for nowt O2/CPW! Who else could .. .
Say theyre open at 7.02 initially then 9am then open at 8 02
Supply THREE 16gb phones for the total Derby populace
Take your order for next day delivery
Take 90 mins to do it then find out no stock
Allow you to order a iPhone online with THEIR PC
Get email confirmation and text backup to confirm above
Say that processing may take longer than normal
A manager rings to say all going fine
Ring up CPW orders team to find out its not happening
Agreement is fully cancelled. No deal mate. Sorry!.
Tey say their order team are gonna ring me later to help me reorder.
Guess what? They havent ... fancy that!
in retrospect this may not be a bad thing. O2 cant run a bath. Let alone an Apple sponsored event. They are all over the place and fully unaccountable for their incompetence. Is this the kind of folks you want running a 3G connection, calls and worse - bills? Best I stay with TMobile and rough it with a HTC Raphael/Vario IV.
When Apple organise .. they organise. Sorted. Palm out to a crap company like O2/CPW ... it all goes heavenwards ...
STEVE JOBS!!!! Are you listening? Is it just me or is there a trend here ?
2007 IPhone Mk 1 Launch ... Cock Up
2008 IPhone 3G Launch .. Biggest EVER Cock Up
Common Factor ... O2
Other countries in similar mess ... NONE .... Work out the weakest link
Moral of the tale?. Either wait. Or dont bother. Suppose Ive saved £800 over 18 months but what a cock up . We really ARE a nation of zero vision.
Rant over (for now)
Initally I was ... angry/confused/bemused/reflective ... and have decided to probably stay on TMobile... get a PAYG phone .. bung in the SIM card .. have that converted to a reduced £10 pm contract with 300 min/600 txt Flext which I am on now. And maybe go for a eeePC and mobile USB stick for internet access. Ill save a few hundred quid intot the bargain too.
Poor old Apple .. they must rue the day they gave O2 the keys to their lovely baby product ... Why Steve .... Why? Once bitten, mate?. YOu really had no excuse for giving them another go.
Its like having Keira Knightley or Uma Thurman in yer movie... its GUARANTEED to bomb ... so DONT DO IT!... Grrr(now im at the angry stage again)
Ive decided to ... on the recommendation of another reader.. take it to the magazines. .. this cant be allowed to go unheard! Aye! Cheers!
Thats it. Now you can go!
That the O2 servers can't cope with every till point in the country carrying out a transaction simultaneously. Whilst it wasn't O2 or Apple's finest hour, it wasn't totally unexpected and in a month or so it'll all be long forgotten. Given how few and far between big phone launches are, the systems not being upto the job shouldn't really be a surprise.
O2 are now saying it may be 2-3 days until mobile services are activated.
Don't you just love them.
Don't you just love them.
O2 are now saying it may be 2-3 days until mobile services are activated.
Don't you just love them.
Aye! No sorry .. we dont. Theyre tossers and you HAVE to use em .. to get an iPhone .. and to REALLY rub it in... Apple have just bunged an ad on the telly for the 3G iPhone! That was thoughtful! Cheers for reminding me of my day of hell .. "Which Im sure we'll all forget in a week"
Unfortunately my memory isnt quite so short!
We have learnt that it is fantastically funny to be sat in a queue outside an o2 shop in the pissing down rain at 9 in the morning, to have a man come out and say "Sorry, we've sold out of 16gb iPhones", to then watch half the queue in front of you groan and skull off empty handed
We've also learnt that with o2s cock up, a well managed store will still let you in and out with your iPhone in no more time than it would have usually taken.. Less infact, as they couldn't approve my contract in store, so let me pay for and walk away with the handset to sit at home to wait (instead of in the most dreary shop second only to Natwest bank)
Actually, after speaking to the sales rep, after he kindly rang me up later on to inform me of the contract progress and ask if I was enjoying the iPhone, they still had some 8GBs left for the sales team to have at the end of the day!
We've also learnt that with o2s cock up, a well managed store will still let you in and out with your iPhone in no more time than it would have usually taken.. Less infact, as they couldn't approve my contract in store, so let me pay for and walk away with the handset to sit at home to wait (instead of in the most dreary shop second only to Natwest bank)
Actually, after speaking to the sales rep, after he kindly rang me up later on to inform me of the contract progress and ask if I was enjoying the iPhone, they still had some 8GBs left for the sales team to have at the end of the day!
As far as I can tell from other iPhone threads, it's not just O2. AT&T had activation problems, Rogers had activation problems, Apple had major activation / iTunes problems which all boils down to one thing.
Absolutely shocking planning on everybodys part and as a previous poster mentioned, Apple really isn't into letting these sort of problems happen, so I think that they should take most of the blame as the iPhone is their product.
Absolutely shocking planning on everybodys part and as a previous poster mentioned, Apple really isn't into letting these sort of problems happen, so I think that they should take most of the blame as the iPhone is their product.
Sorry, not really a valid excuse. O2's servers only managed to fail spectacularly on the upgrade orders, which had a highly predictable load. It's more than possible to set up a system that could handle that load, even if by handling it you accept a given number at any one time and redirect the rest to a holding page.
O2 instead decided to throw everyone directly at a stupidly high-bandwidth ordering page which required the sending of SMSs every single time, which of course snowballed out of control as the system failed and everyone spent 6-7 hours repeating the first part of the process rather than completing any orders. Their high-bandwidth backup kicked in at the wrong point and was simply a *second* ordering page (which probably should have been the default option as it was obviously lower bandwidth), which still failed...
Don't forget - O2 aren't just a mobile phone retailer, nor even just a network. They own and operate a large internet service provider as well... lack of communications competence shouldn't really be a valid excuse...
And why take the system offline entirely once stock is exhausted, rather than simply state clearly that orders will come as stock is available and it might not be for a few weeks? Many people (myself included) would still happily place an order to be fulfilled as stock is available and really don't want to have to continually check to see if the site is back up, nor go and stand outside a store at 5am on the off-chance that they get the model we want in stock that day...
They screwed up, and I have every right to be annoyed at them (and indeed, accuse them of being a bunch of incompetents). Meanwhile I'm not throwing any toys around, I'll wait patiently for a chance to actually buy a phone - but the reason I don't have one right now is largely because O2 are useless and not because of some unavoidable technical problem or because of production shortages.