Protracted, almost studied, Incompetancve

I am one of those loyal BB saps out there who repeatedly went through the exercise of registering for getting advanced notice of the Passport availability in the US. Never heard anything at all back from BB. I wonder what was/is the point? I did receive additional emails from BB inviting me to register for notice of early availability for the Passport. Still nothing, so much nothing that I was pleasantly if mildly shocked to hear from Chen himself that the Passport would be available off contract in the US. I thought maybe I would get the long-awaited email later in that day? No. And of course the Passports instantly sell out on Shopblackberry and Amazon.

So okay. I come here, follow the MN guys on Twitter etc., so I learn, days and days later, that huzzah, the Passport is once again available on Shopblackberry, so I go and order and confirm! And just to be a nit I log back in afterwards to ensure that the device is actually in stock and available, rather than it just being another ride in the inventory clowncar. And it is still in stock and available on the site! Huzzah again. But wait, here comes an email, with the ominous words "Digital River" laced within, and it turns out all of this availability and in stock and confirmation of order and shipping date is true only in some sort of metaphysical sense. The device is, as it has always been, on back order. And it is also "confirmed" at the wrong price. Bumbling incompetence. BB can't even give a straight answer as to when it might be shipped. Maybe today? Then why are you sending me emails telling me its on back order? I don't like to pay off-contract prices but I am willing in this instance.

BlackBerry has once again managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with the Passport. I got the backorder email after ordering a PP that was supposed to be in stock. I'm moving in a few weeks, so I am forced to cancel the order, since I have no assurance the PP will arrive in time. When was the last time BlackBerry sold anything faster than they could make it?

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I get the whole pre registration thing being a waste of time. But did you really expect it to ever be more than that? I'm a bit frustrated with the availability as well but I have a feeling that they decided to go with a very small manufacturing capacity and run it at full capacity for as long as they can to get their unit costs down(less fixed costs allocations per unit) Unfortunately this didn't leave a lot of slack in the supply chain if they are only making 50k to 100k a week or something. Just speculation though

The second backorder on shopblackerry.com only happened because of the 25% coupon code that was passed around here, then on coupon sharing sites like slickdeals, etc. Probably was a snafu of some sort, but who knows. Today, the 6th of October was supposed to be the day the second large shipment arrived and when most backordered Passports would be sent out. Unfortunately it doesn't seen like they have... at least I haven't received any shipment notification for my 25% off Passport... lol

Luckily I already have one, and my wife isn't exactly a "must have that piece of technology now" type of person so it's not the end of the world. I do hope they start fulfilling most outstanding orders soon, because this is an amazing device that needs to be in the hands of anyone that actually took a chance on it!

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Originally Posted by Jtaylor1986

I get the whole pre registration thing being a waste of time. But did you really expect it to ever be more than that? I'm a bit frustrated with the availability as well but I have a feeling that they decided to go with a very small manufacturing capacity and run it at full capacity for as long as they can to get their unit costs down(less fixed costs allocations per unit) Unfortunately this didn't leave a lot of slack in the supply chain if they are only making 50k to 100k a week or something. Just speculation though

The sad truth is that no, I didn't really expect much to come from my per-registration. And I do understand that there are economic as well as institutional dysfunction reasons behind the mixed-up confusion about when we might actually get a device. But is it too much to expect, that once you've coughed up the digital cake and in-putted your payment information that you would at least be told when the device may arrive, in ballpark terms? The answer, I suppose is an even sadder, yes, even so, that is too much to expect. They have my money locked up (unless I cancel) so what's the rush on their end. Below is the image I associate with the device and with Blackberry. Someone ought to be working to not have the thing slide back into delay and obfuscation.

Agree BlackBerry messed up.

Forget the pre-registration pointlessness.

I ordered on the 24th from shop BlackBerry. Got order and invoice numbers. Got confirmation emails. No shipping notice, yet.

Order status website doesn't tell you anything but your order details you already know. No expected delivery date. No expected ship date.

No phone number for customer service for shop BlackBerry. Emailing results only in an automated email response saying if you want order status see the order status link at shop BlackBerry (which doesn't tell you status).

If I had some sense my order is still active and not lost in the system I would be happy. If I was given an expected delivery date, I would be happy.

I'm not satisfied.

Just had to vent.

Originally Posted by mmcpher

I am one of those loyal BB saps out there who repeatedly went through the exercise of registering for getting advanced notice of the Passport availability in the US. Never heard anything at all back from BB. I wonder what was/is the point? I did receive additional emails from BB inviting me to register for notice of early availability for the Passport. Still nothing, so much nothing that I was pleasantly if mildly shocked to hear from Chen himself that the Passport would be available off contract in the US. I thought maybe I would get the long-awaited email later in that day? No. And of course the Passports instantly sell out on Shopblackberry and Amazon.

So okay. I come here, follow the MN guys on Twitter etc., so I learn, days and days later, that huzzah, the Passport is once again available on Shopblackberry, so I go and order and confirm! And just to be a nit I log back in afterwards to ensure that the device is actually in stock and available, rather than it just being another ride in the inventory clowncar. And it is still in stock and available on the site! Huzzah again. But wait, here comes an email, with the ominous words "Digital River" laced within, and it turns out all of this availability and in stock and confirmation of order and shipping date is true only in some sort of metaphysical sense. The device is, as it has always been, on back order. And it is also "confirmed" at the wrong price. Bumbling incompetence. BB can't even give a straight answer as to when it might be shipped. Maybe today? Then why are you sending me emails telling me its on back order? I don't like to pay off-contract prices but I am willing in this instance.

What the... this was a pocket post. Please delete.

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Originally Posted by aiharkness

Agree BlackBerry messed up.

Forget the pre-registration pointlessness.

I ordered on the 24th from shop BlackBerry. Got order and invoice numbers. Got confirmation emails. No shipping notice, yet.

Order status website doesn't tell you anything but your order details you already know. No expected delivery date. No expected ship date.

No phone number for customer service for shop BlackBerry. Emailing results only in an automated email response saying if you want order status see the order status link at shop BlackBerry (which doesn't tell you status).

If I had some sense my order is still active and not lost in the system I would be happy. If I was given an expected delivery date, I would be happy.

I'm not satisfied.

Just had to vent.

Sorry to hear...I ordered an hour after the announcement and got mine a day later to my surprise. I have had issues in the past with shopblackberry.com but in this case it was a pleasant transaction.

I might be missing something here as it has been a while since I called DIGITAL RIVER but isn't there phone number on the site under "Store Customer Service."

https://us.blackberry.com/customer-s...ontact-us.html

1-877-552-5532

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Originally Posted by aiharkness

Agree BlackBerry messed up.

Forget the pre-registration pointlessness.

I ordered on the 24th from shop BlackBerry. Got order and invoice numbers. Got confirmation emails. No shipping notice, yet.

Order status website doesn't tell you anything but your order details you already know. No expected delivery date. No expected ship date.

No phone number for customer service for shop BlackBerry. Emailing results only in an automated email response saying if you want order status see the order status link at shop BlackBerry (which doesn't tell you status).

If I had some sense my order is still active and not lost in the system I would be happy. If I was given an expected delivery date, I would be happy.

I'm not satisfied.

Just had to vent.

Customer service number is on the webpage. You might want to look again. But I have to say I'm surprised you haven't received your device or any email regarding your shipment. Perhaps it wasn't processed properly for some reason.

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Originally Posted by alan510

Customer service number is on the webpage. You might want to look again. But I have to say I'm surprised you haven't received your device or any email regarding your shipment. Perhaps it wasn't processed properly for some reason.

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When I purchased my Z30 earlier in the year, I tried paying with PayPal. This was flagged as a possible fraud transaction and got lost in the order verification process. I had to wait and call, wait and call, before 2 weeks later finally getting to speak to someone that knew what to do. In the end it worked out, but in this case the short supply of inventory is probably playing havoc on orders...not to mention the issue with coupongate. Just keep calling and talking to someone and kill them with kindness. You can always hammer them later after you have what you want. (IMO)

I remain awash and adrift on the dread Digital River, which is Blackberry's service vendor for ShopBlackBerry. Wonderful! What a hope they had! Good fellows on the whole, did their best you know. In Stock! Back Ordered! Rush Delivery! Shipping Second Business Day! Wut? Where is it, then? To the website! Findmyorder! There it is! Blackberry Passport- Black! Boxed Shipment! Boxed Shipment? What does that mean? That means, along the River Digital, only that the Blackberry Passport is a physical product. Which is good, I guess, because I don't like to feel empty-handed when I'm using my handheld, and don't like to feel empty-headed when I have it pressed up against my ear. And if it were some sort of virtual product, some service provided or license attached to a piece of software, I would feel an existential dread upon being back-ordered. Not at all, does Boxed Shipment mean that that the Passport has shipped in a box. What if we were to tell you that, when we said it would arrive by October 6 the latest, we really meant that it would arrive then in the warehouse, which is also a physical thing? Would that help you to feel better? Well, does that mean you would go ahead and ship it on the 6th? Oh we don't know that it means as much as that.

But that is not the question. What are we doing here, that is the question. . . .Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time! It's abominable! When! When! One day, is that not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we'll go deaf, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you? They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more.

John Chen - Pick up a phone and kick Digital River in the ***. You are losing what little brand equity BBRY has left. I will never order anything important from ShopBlackBerry or probably anything for that matter. I only ordered from this despicable Digital River on the small hope BBRY would make a greater profit from my purchase than if i bought it elsewhere. Assuming Expansys delivers as they say the will, despite overpaying for a Passport, I will cancel my order and just move on...

Why leave so many people hating interacting with your brand because of incompetent outsourcing... Digital River sucked in the past they continue to suck with great consistency. Fire them.

Digital River knows nothing about the shipments at all. They said mine would deliver on the 6th, I called on the 7th. I contacted BB directly the only way they offer via twitter, what a joke. They told me to contact DR, DR tells me to contact BB. Tried to call corporate, specifically said I have customer service issues. Could not get in contact with a human. Thanks

So I got the answer in one of the later posts above to my question...boxed shipment is part of the description, meaning physical object that is shipped, as opposed to digital download, and not a statement about status.

So indeed the order status page provides no status information.

Dang but I'm trying to be patient.