My thoughts on the situation...

[Anonymous]

Just posted these words about the whole sorry iPhone situation to my Google+ and will post to my Blog later - thought you might want to have a read... If there's the desire for it from you guys, I'll post my other updates, including correspondence with the CEO's office at O2 throughout the week and today, later too.

"So, the iPhone 5 is out today. Many people will currently be tucking into their newfound gizmatrons of wonderment with the gaze of a young child being handed his most eagerly anticipated gift on Christmas morning.

But a number of O2 customers won't be, it seems.

O2 were late to the game last Friday (pre-order open day), opening up pre-orders very late in the evening, when most providers had been selling for the entire day already. The O2 community forums were an interesting read with lots of information being granularly fed and customers getting irate as their anxiousness to order through their provider grew.

All the while, O2's customer services, online chat Guru's and various other departments were apparently just giving whatever information they could seemingly make up by sticking their finger in the air and wiggling it around to channel the great god of bullcrap.

No two conversations were the same, no bits of information matched and nobody appeared to have a clue what was happening.

O2 eventually opened pre-orders and the floodgates were more or less broken down immediately as the masses flooded to place their orders.

One of the best bits of information came from a news post on O2's website, posted a full 24-hours after most other people had been able to pre-order their shiny new handsets, here: http://news.o2.co.uk/2012/09/15/the-iphone-5-is-coming/

One part of that post which many have read and believed (and still exists, and is still being referred to even right now by the @O2 twitter account and some of the customer services team and O2 online chat 'gurus'!), was this:

Q: When will my iPhone 5 pre-order be delivered?
A: If we get your pre-order before 4pm the day before launch, we’ll get it to you on launch day. The only exception to this will be those customers with an address in the Highlands and Islands.

So... you could pre-order right up until 4pm on the Thursday and still receive on the Friday launch day! That seems too good to be true! It is...

The O2 community forums (and other forums, for that matter) are awash with people complaining that they are not getting their pre-orders on Launch Day, today. Their informaton is coming from a mixture of things, such as the order status in their online accounts not changing from the ubiquitous 'In Progress' for pre-orders (where others are getting tracking information instead), conversations with O2 chat gurus and by calling up to ask.

An interesting thread to follow is this one on the O2 forums, currently standing at well over 130 pages and towards the end having LOTS of people angry with the service and misinformation being disseminated: http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple-iOS-Devices-iPhone-iPad/My-iPhone-5-Has-Been-Dispatched/td-p/2909...

This second thread follows a similar format: http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple-iOS-Devices-iPhone-iPad/Official-Pre-ordered-but-no-show/td-p/297...

And there are many other threads to boot, not to mention some of the tweets being posted to @O2 currently!

What's worse is that seemingly there is no rhyme or reason amongst the orders that are being sent out - it certainly seems that it isn't a 'first-come-first-served', as you'd expect. Some who ordered as soon as pre-orders opened are reporting that they aren't receiving theirs, whilst others who ordered days later are celebrating the fact that theirs has arrived. A very confusing and annoying situation, frustrations which are only escalating as I type this...

I've had my own annoyances with O2 throughout this saga too, which I'll not post here yet (I'll post separately later), but I am in dialogue with a chap in the CEO's office there, who currently seems oblivious to the problems and pretty much denies there's anything wrong. Being the kind soul I am, I have offered to collate some evidence for him... I'll update that all later, along with my other complaints to him too."

[Liquid]

You'd of thought the print outs would of been in order for when they pair up the lists to different models. However I've never worked in a warehouse so this is speculation

[Anonymous]

What about the opinion of loads of people who happily received thier iPhones today and haven't been on to bang on about how unhappy they are and how ridiculous the network is? 

Fact is that this forum is skewed more towards those who are unhappy than those who are happy.

[Liquid]

That is very true. The unhappy tend to post more we all know if you keep posting the same thing over and over again then adding in all caps it makes things go your way much quicker:) haha

I'm still looking forward to more first impressions Unfortunatly the thread isn't that bush at the moment:;

[Anonymous]

Ok, to preface this I'll post the correspondence from today for now - this conversation is a continuation of a complaint (s)from the start of the pre-order process, which I made direct to Ronan Dunne, the CEO of O2 - hence why I was in contact with the CEOs office.

I'll omit names, etc, out of fairness to the employee.

Me:

"You say all the stock was sold on 14 September, when reading through the O2 community forums (which i frequent) shows that a number of people beyond the 14th have received handsets.

Indeed, there are some who ordered AFTER me that have received handsets, or have received tracking numbers.

Even yesterday, Chat 'Gurus' (I use that word very lightly), along with customer services, the @O2 twitter account and several pages on the O2 website were advising that people who ordered up to 4pm YESTERDAY, would receive their iPhones TODAY!

Indeed, a large number of customers are extremely confused. Some have received phones, some have tracking numbers, some show their order 'in progress' but still advised they will receive today, most have been given conflicting information. It's a very sorry situation.

The whole episode has highlighted what I would call severe communication problems internally at O2, and doesn't breed confidence with customers! I would suggest you take the time to read through the community forums on the O2 website and see the issues for yourself.

So, with that in mind can you tell Ne whet the ACTUAL situation is? Are orders places before 4pm yesterday going to be delivered today, as stated numerous times? When will I receive my order? If I don't receive my order today, why have others who ordered after me received theirs this morning (as evidenced on the O2 community forums)?

I look forward to your reply.

Regards"

CEOs office:

"Hi

I’ve checked your order again this morning and it still ‘waiting dispatch’. This means the phone will definitely not arrive today but will be sent as soon as we have stock.

I understand you and other customers may have been given conflicting information. This is largely due to the fact, that information available to our staff was changing on a daily basis. This is always the nature of an iPhone launch due to the extremely tight timescales Apple give us when they announce the new iPhone. We do our best to keep our customers informed as best we can, but inevitably mistakes will be made, and not just by O2.

One thing I can say with certainty is that all orders are being shipped in the order they were placed. I can’t really comment on other people’s accounts or what is posted on forums. The comments on forums are from customers and do not always represent fact.

However one thing that may explain why other people who placed orders after you, received their phone today, is the model of phone they chose. I can see you have ordered the 64GB model. It may be the stock of the 64GB model was sold more quickly than other models. But this is only speculation, I can’t say for definite.

Kind regards"

Me:

"Can I draw your attention to: http://news.o2.co.uk/2012/09/15/the-iphone-5-is-coming/

Specifically:
Q: When will my iPhone 5 pre-order be delivered?

A: If we get your pre-order before 4pm the day before launch, we’ll get it to you on launch day. The only exception to this will be those customers with an address in the Highlands and Islands.


This information has been communicated to customers even this morning by Chat 'Gurus', Customer Services and is a line constantly upheld by the @O2 twitter account even now. Many people ordered, even yesterday, based on this information posted, and repeated by staff, and many people are expecting their orders today (and will probably be disappointed).

Based on that line - and the information STILL being made by staff, I and everyone else who ordered before 4pm yesterday should realistically expect their deliveries today.

Here's an example of just one Twitter conversation with a customer in a similar position to me from this morning (an hour ago!):

‏@Fruitandfibre:- @O2 Just ordered my 64gb iPhone 5 upgrade online. It says 3 weeks delivery - is this realistic or can I expect it sooner?

@O2:- @Fruitandfibre Its up to 3 weeks

@Fruitandfibre:- @O2 is it likely I'll see it on launch day? MyO2 says 'in progress' but you've tweeted that if ordered before 4pm thur it will arrive fri?

@O2:- @Fruitandfibre As with our Q&A, it should be with you launch day Sam... woohoo! http://j.mp/RZh8Te

‏@Fruitandfibre:- @O2 still showing as 'in progress' on MyO2 with no tracking info. When am I likely to get it? 😞

@O2:- @Fruitandfibre Today!


In fact, I have just been personally advised by the O2 Twitter account that I will get a text with tracking info on soon and not to worry!

Many others are reporting similar conversatons across all channels. I would suggest this isn't because 'information is changing on a daily basis' but more because the information given internally is poor and no-one - including yourself - seems to know the basis of fact here.

I also contest that they are going out in order - take a read over the forums and there are MANY examples of people ordering the same spec of phone and getting them today (or having tracking confirmations for today) whilst people who ordered at launch on Friday have been informed not to expect theirs (or not given any tracking information, and order still showing, like mine, as 'in progress' on the My O2 site).

Would you like me to compile a list of feedback from across the channels for you? Perhaps that will finally open your eyes to the apparent clustermess that O2 is going through - and I suspect you wil be receiving a heck of a lot of complaints as a result.

Thanks"

CEOs office:

"Hi James

I do understand that our web site indicated you would receive the phone today. I can only apologise for this and assure you the phone will be shipped as soon as possible. But it’s impossible for us to send you the phone before we have stock available. Therefore this email conversation is not going to achieve anything.

Kind regards"

- At this point I emailed the guy in the CEOs office a screenshot of the @O2 twitter replying to me and telling me that I would be receiving my iPhone today!

Me:-

"I still think the while saga has been handled terribly by O2 overall and the issues continue even now, with nobody apparently wishing to take ownership and sort of out.

The O2 twitter account, chat gurus and customer services are all STILL giving conflicting information. I realise you can't get my phone to me (or countless others) earlier, but O2 are still telling me (and countless others) that they will get them today. It's the miscommunication piece that I am making you aware of and that needs looking at, and I feel you, and O2 as a whole, are not taking notice of that or dealing with it.

There were obviously going to be a few issues with arguably the biggest tech launch of the year, but O2s handling of it has, in my opinion, been an abomination and very disappointing. There is very likely going to be quite a backlash on this subject.

Regards"

[Anonymous]

You do realise that the CEO won't read this (even if it were appropriately shorter)? Things that go to CEO offices of large companies, like O2, go to a group of advisers to reply.

CEOs will be more interested in their own internal data - CSAT ratings and survey responses, percentage of calls answered (PCA), internal surveys and reports, volume of closed and completed sales etc etc. They will also have reason for contact data, web data and resourcing data. This is what drives business improvement opportunities and change.

Long rants rarely do.

Stating the facts succinctly backed up with data tells a much more coherent story.

Whilst it's good to get things off your chest, the most you can expect is an apology and maybe some weasel words.

O2 will get the rest from their own data - if they are minded to learn anything from this (and every) major launch.

[jonsie]

^^ +1

[Anonymous]

@CJB - absolutely. Having previously in my younger days worked in a CEOs office for a communications company, I am aware how it works.

Trust me, I now have some direct contact information for Ronan Dunne, so I've saved the pertinent bits for actually speaking to him.

However, I think it is important for people to feedback, especially at as high a level as possible and as comprehensively as possible, to give an organisation the opportunity to sort things out.

Doing it this way gives you a special insight into the attitude of the company as a whole, especially at a higher level, I think the experiences of many, and the responses given, are quite telling in that regard.

[Anonymous]

This is a great thread. Keep up the good work. Like I've said in other threads, I dont care that I haven't received my iPhone5 today. It is the lack of care and actual attention that O2 have given customers today. They told everyone that they will receive their phones today, then back tracked on launch day. I'd much prefer O2 were honest and helpful to their customers, the amount of money most of us pay O2 each month, it's a bit of a joke they would treat the faithful as badly as this just to gain a few extra customers.

[Anonymous]

Interestingly the chap in the CEOs office was replying to me quickly yesterday, but I didn't get response to my last two emails to him, last one sent at about 3pm yesterday afternoon.

Don't think he's talking to me anymore... 😕

Oh, well.

[Liquid]

he's a CEO probally doesn't work after 3 on a Friday haha:) see if he replies on Monday.

To be honest I'm impressed he replied at all you wouldn't get that from a lot of companies.