So, like I said, I ordered my Linux-based Eee PC from Amazon last week. Well, not really from Amazon, but from one of their partners through Amazon’s main site. That was five days ago (granted, that included a 3-day weekend), and I hadn’t received so much as an order confirmation email.
When I logged in to Amazon to check the status, it had changed from “will ship on 5/28″ to “will ship between 5/30 and 6/3″. WTF?! I knew that demand had been really strong for the new Eee, and I was worried that they had overpromised their supply (even though it said “In Stock” when I ordered) and that I was gonna be pulled into a never-ending “just a couple more days” cycle. So I emailed the company, asking what the dealio was and whether my PC was backordered, and said if I didn’t hear back today I’d cancel my order.
A short while later, I got an email from the company, explaining that demand was very high for that model, and Asus shipped the Linux models to the resellers 3 days late, but they did have the PCs in, and they were getting them out as quickly as possible, but they first had to account for all the serial numbers and match them up to orders to activate the warranty, but I was 100% guaranteed to receive one of those, and it would ship Friday or Monday, and they’d send the tracking numbers ASAP, and thank you for your patience and understanding, and if I had an “emergency need” for my Eee to let them know. Oh, and they attached two photos to the email, one of a stack of 100 Eees sitting in their warehouse, and one of a part number sticker off one of them, I guess to assure me they weren’t just full of b.s.
I politely replied back and thanked them for the info and said I understand these things happen. But really, why don’t companies offer up that kind of info voluntarily beforehand? I would think that any e-tailer these days should know that when they are dealing with “Internet time”, people expect to get at least an email order confirmation immediately after placing an order, then be kept in the loop on status changes or delays. Three business days after placing an order is far too long to let a customer go without feedback. And especially when you’re dealing with geeky early-adopter types who order Linux-based notebooks at first launch, we get highly impatient when we log in to see our order status and find it has changed without any explanation.
So, Amazon retail partner, thanks for the status update, but maybe next time it would serve us both better, and save you a trip to the warehouse with your digital camera, to just let me know ahead of time!
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