1. b121's Avatar
    OP: What did you want? Did you want to have Blackberry make millions of the phones and not have them sell? Having to write them down the product and losing hundreds of millions of items? That was tried before and how did that work out? I had to wait 4 months to get the car that I wanted as it had to be built and shipped from Japan. It was more than 600 dollars. Do people need to had so much instant gratification that if it takes 2 or 3 weeks that they freak out.
    Not to speak for him, but I think he just wants a planned shipment date. Is it 8-oct, 16-oct, 31-oct? I think that is very reasonable.

    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 08:47 PM
  2. xBURK's Avatar
    Well two days after the launch, Chen did say on camera that he was surprised by the 200,000 number.
    Although, I have not received anything from BlackBerry after signing up for Passport updates. Strange?

    "BB POWERED" C001C1D66
    10-07-14 08:47 PM
  3. ce71's Avatar
    OP: What did you want? Did you want to have Blackberry make millions of the phones and not have them sell? Having to write them down the product and losing hundreds of millions of items? That was tried before and how did that work out? I had to wait 4 months to get the car that I wanted as it had to be built and shipped from Japan. It was more than 600 dollars. Do people need to had so much instant gratification that if it takes 2 or 3 weeks that they freak out.
    I want an email from BlackBerry or Amazon giving me a clue of what I should expect.
    alternator77 likes this.
    10-07-14 08:47 PM
  4. ce71's Avatar
    You don't just stock the passport and have more inventory then you can sell. You replenish once it's sold out and it's better for them to do that. Not BlackBerry fault that you're too slow to purchase when it was in stock on their site.

    Posted via CB10
    When you start blaming paying customers for being too slow - you will not last.

    Fortunately for us, you're not in charge of BB.
    10-07-14 08:51 PM
  5. VIP30's Avatar
    I have a Bold 9870, Q10, Z10, and my daily driver is a Z30.
    Well, you kniw the waiting game then...

    STL100-1 / 10.3.0.1154 / 2100mAh
    10-07-14 08:53 PM
  6. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    Not to speak for him, but I think he just wants a planned shipment date. Is it 8-oct, 16-oct, 31-oct? I think that is very reasonable.

    Posted via CB10
    Since he bought from Amazon and not Blackberry, shouldn't it be a issue with Amazon's communications?
    10-07-14 08:55 PM
  7. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    I want an email from BlackBerry or Amazon giving me a clue of what I should expect.
    Who did you purchase it from? Amazon. Blackberry has no clue when Amazon plans to ship your phone.
    bungaboy, PygmySurfer and gfondeur like this.
    10-07-14 08:56 PM
  8. ce71's Avatar
    Not exactly... if their goal was to make as much as possible (screw the risk) then yeah, you would have been right.

    But I think their goal was to make some money while limiting their potential for loss. If they had produced a lot and it didn't sell, the company could have folded. With the strategy they have taken, they will miss out on some sales, sure, but they will have surpassed their targets. i.e., mission accomplished - Good Job!

    And if you think it is so easy to just produce another few hundred thousand in a few days... well, the worse thing would be to have the quality plummet if they cut corners to get more produced.
    It doesn't take much overhead to produce emails to send to customers who are waiting.

    Communication eliminates frustration.
    10-07-14 09:00 PM
  9. Kean Seng Yap's Avatar
    I accept the OP point of view.. but I do have abit to disagree..

    You already know the item is already on backorder..

    Yes bb should have at least have a better execution of their back orders and at least tell their customers of their estimated lead time..

    I think there's 2 sides to every story..

    1) I don't think u are the only one buying a back ordered passport.. maybe a few hundred thousand of you.. including orders from carriers from other countries as well.. so I guess this needs time..

    2) to what I understand with this sudden surge of demand.. bb has already won it's first battle.. they shouldn't even have fully sold out their first inventory even..
    That's why they are scrambling all over the place to produce..
    And in the midst of their production I think those back orders will be cut down as well.. and I feel as your turn comes they will just call and say it's ready for delivery and If you still want it..

    For those on the edge.. which they could go to android or apple.. for bb it's by all means.. cause they have already exhausted all their inventory with nothing to sell.. and of course they will say thank you for liking our phones.. but since I can't provide you a phone please as a consumer u have the right to jump ship..

    U are a customer and u have the right and it's how you choose that right.. for OP I think you are still waiting cause you know PP is a darn good phone..

    But if you think you have waited enough, then by all means choose the phone that is not out of stock..

    I live in Malaysia.. passport launched I think 25th of sept.. but it's available only on the 10th.. can you imagine that...

    Cheers OP and the ultimate decision is still yours..

    Cheers

    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 09:02 PM
  10. byex's Avatar
    You can't get an iPhone for $600...hehehe

    Posted via CB10
    Ya you can. They come pre bent.

    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 09:04 PM
  11. ce71's Avatar
    Who did you purchase it from? Amazon. Blackberry has no clue when Amazon plans to ship your phone.
    I've signed up for notifications on the BlackBerry site (using several email addresses) and purchased the phone on Amazon because the buy button was disabled on BB. Naturally, I don't expect to hear from BlackBerry regarding my Amazon order, but I do expect to hear from BlackBerry about the backorder and/or hear from Amazon about my current order.
    10-07-14 09:06 PM
  12. bobshine's Avatar
    if you watched JC do the launch it was pretty clear he didn't have a LOT of faith in Passport. Perhaps he ordered conservatively thinking the Classic is where he's going to actually get some traction but this is a total screw up. Not only is BBRY missing out on sales, they are pissing off their customer base by using Digital River and their incompetent order and fulfillment systems. Many will give up on Passport and buy a competitor, many will just wait it out and have a sour taste for their BBRY experience, either way it is alienating both the loyal and potential switching user base.

    Poor execution is what BBRY can not afford, if they had ordered a 100,000 or so more phones they would have been able to support a longer sales cycle if Passport was a flop - but provisioning as tightly as it seems they have - they have blown their sales for a quarter when they could have been much stronger. This is actually supply chain mismanagement not any genius play for marketing or creating demand...it might be acceptable if the consumer was told, order now for October 15th delivery, or anything representing basic customer service. Outsourcing the sales to an incompetent fulfilment operation is the real sin here. It's actually more about the execution, communications and managing expectations than selling hardware.
    100,000 more is probably around 20 to 30M$ extra! BlackBerry can't afford to take such a risk.



    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 09:08 PM
  13. GalaxyUser3359's Avatar
    I have many years in retail, and an out of stock situation is a cause for alarm, especially so for a hot item like this one. When that happens, it's all hands on deck scramble to get more product and FAST. You can't sell it if you don't have it.

    My story - former Blackberry user who sought greener pastures a couple of phones ago. I now have a Galaxy SII, and the bluetooth/wi-fi quit on it. I can use it like that for a while, but I will need a new phone. Seeking something more well-built, I checked the Blackberry site last week and saw the Passport and it looked good. Obviously, I could not order it. I put in my e-mail and got no response. I called the company to find out when they could get it back in stock, and they had absolutely no idea.

    I will wait a little longer because I like the phone, or at least the theoretical idea of it. If nothing develops with the Passport in the next week or so, I will get another Samsung, and there are plenty of those.

    I am no Blackberry sycophant, so I really don't care that they under-produced in order to be cautious and preserve the company. If I was a BB stockholder, I would be pretty pissed. BB has the image of a tired old company whose best days are long behind it. Now that they finally have a product someone wants, they can't ship it? Can't ratchet up production? Heads should be rolling. Press releases should be releasing. I'm not seeing any of that.

    Those are basic retail concepts, and the neglect of the basics is a sure sign of incompetence.
    alternator77 likes this.
    10-07-14 09:30 PM
  14. 3800's Avatar
    I want an email from BlackBerry or Amazon giving me a clue of what I should expect.
    you ordered through amazon. BlackBerry isn't at all responsible. take it up with amazon. and you ordered a BACKORDERED product and are mad it's taking a while to ship. are you really that dense? I almost ordered a backordered Passport from Amazon too. then I decided to wait for them to go back in stock before I placed an order. I ordered from shopblackberry Friday night using the 25% off coupon code and my Passport will be in my hands on Friday. try exercising patience/common sense.

    Posted via CB10
    allsportsfan and gfondeur like this.
    10-07-14 09:35 PM
  15. Frosty_Power's Avatar
    Don't know what the big deal is, we are experiencing something iPhone users experience every year. Lack of stock. People will wait for something they really want. Apple expects to sell out every year, BlackBerry does not. This is a good thing for BlackBerry. Means they don't have boxes collecting dust in their stores. They will get some in stock soon and learn from this experience. I'm sure they were trying to gauge interest first before they produce large orders which would have been a big risk if they did that from the start. They haven't even released them out to many carriers yet. For once BlackBerry exceeded expectations. This is a great thing for a company trying to get back in the green.

    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 09:45 PM
  16. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    I've signed up for notifications on the BlackBerry site (using several email addresses) and purchased the phone on Amazon because the buy button was disabled on BB. Naturally, I don't expect to hear from BlackBerry regarding my Amazon order, but I do expect to hear from BlackBerry about the backorder and/or hear from Amazon about my current order.
    The notification is when it is back in stock. Is it back in stock yet? No. The link wasn't email me with a date when it will be back in stock. Blackberry isn't at fault.
    10-07-14 09:51 PM
  17. thecsman's Avatar
    I'm just waiting to see they stock the device consistently, and might get lucky and buy one with a discount code.


    Posted via CB10
    10-07-14 09:55 PM
  18. 50 Brent's Avatar
    I ordered a new Passport from Shop BlackBerry last Friday during the brief time period that they were available. They preauthorized the cost on my credit card. Shortly after they went out of stock online and stated they would ship Oct 6. I received an email that evening with similar wording. It's now Oct 7, the website shipping status hasn't changed, I have not received any further communication from shop blackberry (digital river) and my CC no longer shows the preauthorized payment. I'm OK with waiting, I just want to know what is going on. I traded in my Z10 on an S5 3 weeks ago and my quality of life has definitely taken a noticeable turn for the worst.

    Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
    backfire101 likes this.
    10-07-14 10:59 PM
  19. anon5990725's Avatar
    Well, Because of the good support and Awesome customer service from Apple this could be a great solution.
    If a company like BB did not do it is homework in understanding the market need before lunching such an awesome product then Yes, BB valid it's customers!
    As a customer I will need before and after purchasing support and the only company that is able to do that till today is Apple.
    So YES drop BB and go to any other option where your phone call and email got reply at!
    10-08-14 01:02 AM
  20. stooy leown's Avatar
    You don't just stock the passport and have more inventory then you can sell. You replenish once it's sold out and it's better for them to do that. Not BlackBerry fault that you're too slow to purchase when it was in stock on their site.

    Posted via CB10
    I purchased from buy now button. No work around to get an order in etc. And bang, 2 emails and then back order. So what is the problem there? Not my fault at all.
    OH, and it said "IN STOCK" not on back order.
    Posted via CB10
    10-08-14 01:18 AM
  21. zombieblackberry's Avatar
    You know, some people can't get water, food. Some people are hiding from bombs being dropped.......if anybody's life revolves around not getting the phone they want when they want it, well what a sad existence we have. It's almost as bad as Apple forums complaint about having to wait 2 weeks for delivery! As if they will die due to the wait?
    10-08-14 01:28 AM
  22. stooy leown's Avatar
    And to anyone who says, look at the Z10 write down etc. BAD excuse. Nothing on BlackBerry, but they are not ferrari, where "place your order and we will make and ship in a time period". This is the cell phone business. YOU make extra, the chance you have to take. There was a problem somewhere in this whole process.

    Posted via CB10
    10-08-14 01:30 AM
  23. deltact's Avatar
    Sure, it's frustrating to sit in an information vacuum. But consider the potential situation: BlackBerry is silent because they don't have any information as to when the next batch of Passports will start being produced. If this is true, it's better for them not to say anything, rather than make a promise that they can't keep. Just imagine the calls for John Chen's blood if he quoted 3 weeks and it actually took 5 weeks for the Passport to begin shipping.

    As a consumer it's easy to execute decisions immediately on a whim. This is unrealistic in the commercial manufacturing realm:
    1. If BlackBerry is using a third party assembly plant, they need to sign a new assembly contract. It takes time to negotiate such things, and I'm sure they are more involved than the biggest contract most of us have ever seen.
    2. BlackBerry needs to purchase hardware components. This means separate purchase contracts for each component, unless it already has parts used in its other smartphones. Brand new parts include: the Snapdragon 801, the screen, the keyboard, the metal frame and the plastic body. More contracts to negotiate and sign mean more delays. The manufacturers of these components would then be scrambling to figure out whether they could meet the requests, and will be in turn contacting their suppliers of high purity silicon, liquid crystals, stainless steel, etc.

    If Apple gets its launches correct, it's because they made the decision to start the production run well ahead of the product announcement. Most of the latest iPhones are not manufactured in the week between the announcement and product availability in store, but at least weeks beforehand. You can then back-calculate when the associated contracts were negotiated and signed. My guess is that it will take at least a few weeks more.

    That said, it doesn't hurt to send a message along the lines of "Thank you very much for your order. Unfortunately the level of demand for the best BlackBerry ever was completely unpredicted, so we have sold out of the stock allotted for your region. Please rest assured that we are working around the clock to have a Passport in your hands as soon as possible. We appreciate your continued patience and look forward to the day when you will be able to Work Wide." Easy, cheap and is part of building customer relations.
    shakingthrough and dietertong like this.
    10-08-14 01:37 AM
  24. brunolovesbrit's Avatar
    Try to understand that it wasn't safe for BlackBerry to throw millions of Passports out there like they did with the Z10/Z30/Q10.

    It's frustrating that you can't buy it right now but it'll be available for you to get it very soon at least we can be happy they're selling lol

    Posted via CB10
    scrapmetal58 likes this.
    10-08-14 01:38 AM
  25. shakingthrough's Avatar
    Here is why I am frustrated. And by the way I ordered mine from BlackBerry on the day of the launch and received it 2 days later. And yes I love it. But I am irritated at the negative experience that so many others have had. Most of us on this forum, and I suspect the vast majority of those looking to purchase a Passport, either previously or currently use a BlackBerry. We are part of the less than 1% BlackBerry market share or whatever it is these days. Not only that, but we still have an element of interest in BlackBerry, unlike those who are waiting for their contract to end so that they can jump to a competitors' device. We recognize that the Passport could be the first thing in a very long time to gain BlackBerry some traction again. And most of us not only want to purchase the device, we are looking forward to proudly showing it off to those we know, possibly converting others to try it as well. We want to help lead the resurgence.

    I know little about marketing or supply chain management. But when the leaders at BlackBerry were plotting out their strategy around the device, didn't they say "what will our plan be if it is a flop?", and didn't they say "what will our plan be if it is a hit?". Due to the unique nature of the device, shouldn't there have been some type of contingency plan in place if in fact it took off right away, which it seems to have done? I understand that they didn't want to have unsold devices as an expense on the balance sheet, but you also have to be able to pounce on an opportunity when you get one. Turn the cautious miscalculation into a positive. Why aren't we seeing ads or interviews with company leadership that show the device, send a message that the initial run has been an unqualified success, and ask the public for patience while the company produces more? That would not only help reassure those who were waiting after placing an order already, it would likely generate interest among those who had not even heard of the Passport before. "Hey look at that odd-looking device that has sold out. I must need one of those too. Put me on the list."

    I am sure it is not only frustrating to not be able to get a Passport, the entire buyer experience seemingly has been botched for many, in part due to lack of communication. Why couldn't BlackBerry have at least a standard email go out penned under John Chen's name thanking the customer for their interest and purchase, explain the back-order due to the success of the device, give an estimate of when the buyer should expect to get the Passport, and maybe even throw in a free basic case or something as a thanks for their inconvenience and patience? Most of us want to see BlackBerry do well and have satisfied customers. It is frustrating to not be able to fully bask in the good news that the Passport should be.
    ce71, rcab, shell_gwn and 2 others like this.
    10-08-14 01:43 AM
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