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Nearly a month after first putting the Nexus 4 on sale Google is still suffering severe stock and PR problems, with the 16GB version of the phone joining the 8GB model in disappearing from sale again — and Google’s UK boss has been forced to apologise for the enormous mess.
The apology comes from Dan Cobley, the MD of Google UK. He explained that the stock issues are to do with “scarce and erratic” supplies from manufacturer LG, adding that the company’s not been doing a very good job of telling people what’s going on He sounds very apologetic indeed. Here’s a bit of Dan’s shame-faced email:
I know that what you are going through is unacceptable and we are all working through the nights and weekends to resolve this issue. Supplies from the manufacturer are scarce and erratic, and our communication has been flawed. I can offer an unreserved apology for our service and communication failures in this process.
There’s some minor good news, though, as Cobley says the Nexus 4 ought to start shipping again this week, but only to people who ordered their phones two weeks ago and were given a shipping window of 3-5 days. Those that had delivery estimates of before Christmas ought to get their Nexus 4s processed this week as well. [XDA via TNW]
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This is ridiculous, I demand a free Handset in compensation of having to wait for something that i havent ordered!
But seriously, you would hav thought they’d have learnt from Apples yearly Grabfest and stockpiled a decent amount before claiming that they were available again.
“I demand a free Handset in compensation of having to wait for something that i havent ordered!”
XD hahah
I think it’s a strategic move by Google to promote N4, I’m quite annoyed actually.
I highly doubt it’s a PR stunt. Especially considering how many people went onto his Google+ page to make a complaint. At least he’s admitting that there was a mistake on their half. Call me soft, but a sincere apology is good enough… For now.
I hope it’s a genuine mistake by Google and not a marketing strategy. I would rather wait a month for it to be honest
Free handset ROFL
It’s really shambolic, the whole situation and how they’re handling it. I did get an email a day after saying that it’ll be dispatched on the 19th but i’m not holding my breath. Shame on you Google, you should get spanked.
Well I’ve ordered one, and in all seriousness I want more than an empty apology. Some complementary Google Play vouchers would be ideal, as it costs Google barely anything and might encourage me to spend more money on Google Play.
I even rang Google up, directly after ordering, asking for my “2 day delivery” fee of £10 to be refunded as the stock situation is taking the absolute piss, but they wouldn’t, based on some sort of stock/dispatch/delivery technicality which doesn’t translate as “fair” for the customer in reality.
I did receive an email relating to the order the other day though, saying that my latest payment info has been updated, so hopefully that’s a hint at some sort of progress with my order.
i got an email the other day saying that my shipping costs will not be charged and i will also be getting some play store credits
ordered one with a 1-2 weeks windows 2 weeks ago. Got an email saying my card info was wrong, re entered it and have now been placed on the PRE ORDER LIST! As its American support all he could do was “keep an eye on it, and email if it changes”. Which isn’t good enough! I want UK support for my UK order!!!!!
I’m really pleased with my used One X that I bought instead. 23 months remaining warranty and 32Gb for less than an 8Gb Nexus 4. If I hadn’t been dumped off the Google payment platform I may have still been waiting for a phone.
It is a budget phone, I don’t care what they say, they’ve made lots of cuts to get it at that price point. The screen quality is poor, nowhere near as good as the competition, the sound quality is poor, the camera is quite poor and the sound from video is very very bad. The performance of the phone is very bad because the latest android sucks, people want a stock Android experience but anything else like TouchWiz or even the older Android performs better.
It has no LTE support, which to me isn’t important but it’s a major cut from the phone in this day and age. They’re probably designing that LTE chip out of the phone as we speak to put costs down. I reckon LG just used a load of old Optimus G hardware that didn’t sell to make it as they didn’t expect the Nexus 4 to sell much. However now they’re out of hardware parts, the new phones will probably be all new boards with no LTE left overs inside.
The is no OTG support, they’ve left out the 5v internal power support for it on the hardware side, it hasn’t been disabled via software.
Not to mention the build quality isn’t very good, the battery is glued onto the frame and the screen is basically sealed onto the frame too, so you have to realistically send the phone back and pay for a repair if you break it.
I just think it is a poor phone compared to the competition. I’d much prefer to just wait for what Samsung does with the Galaxy S4, at least with Samsung you know you’re getting great Software innovations and good Build quality. There is a time you couldn’t say that about Samsung but since the Galaxy S2 they’ve really turned it around.
Why am I not surprised that you listed all the negative points about something and ignored all the positive ones.
Yes, they’re purely the negative points, and some are made up fiction but some are valid.
I’ve watched 5 or 6 in depth comparisons on YouTube between the Nexus 4 and Galaxy S3 and in a nutshell the differences are:
SCREEN
The S3 screen has a cool hue and is over-saturated with colour but has better blacks. The Nexus 4 screen is easier to see outside, has warmer colour, but a less vibrant screen with less colour saturation. Pinch-to-zoom action is also more accurate on S3.
PERFORMANCE
Bit unpredictable, as the S3 ships in both dual and quad core models, where as the Nexus 4 has a slightly faster quad core CPU. In all benchmarks I’ve seen the Nexus 4 is better than the S3 (quad core), especially given the ‘top of class’ graphics card in the Nexus 4, which gives a much better frame rate in games. The Nexus 4 also offers a slightly smoother, more solid experience in general, but it’s marginal.
CAMERA
The S3 camera is better, but with slightly less realistic colour reproduction than the Nexus 4.
LOOKS
I also personally think the Nexus 4 looks a nicer phone design-wise. It has a cleaner, less fussy design, with no camera that sticks out or hardware buttons. The S3 has a plastic back and more curvy styling, which I don’t like.
OTHER
The S3 has a removable battery and SD storage. The Nexus 4 does not. The Nexus 4 doesn’t have LTE.
Personally, I think the £100-£200 price difference between these phones isn’t reflected in the differences, not to mention the Nexus 4 is the more powerful phone by quite a way, so it’s swings and roundabouts. I bought the Nexus 4 because I don’t need more than 16GB storage, and I don’t need a 4G connection at all, and I certainly don’t want to pay for a 4G contract.
My Nexus 4 shipped today! I ordered it on 4th December and was given a 1-2 week delivery time.
Yes! My Nexus 4 has been shipped too! Finally!
I’m getting it delivered to my workplace, so really hope it arrives by Friday, especially given the £10 2 day delivery charge, because otherwise I’ll have to wait until after Xmas to collect it from the courier.
Simplest solution would be to offer “Pre-orders” and damn how long you think it’s going to take.
Simply charge me when the damn thing ships. No more complaining, you get your near £300 when you ship and I get my shiny new phone when you can.
Well I got my nexus 4 today and had it ordered on the 4th with 1-2 week estimate. I had thought it wouldn’t arrive and emailed google yesterday at about 5pm as with two day shipping it wouldn’t have arrived.
The response came within 15 minutes and was in the form of a next day shipping confirmation and I got the phone this morning 17 hours later. Not bad at all. And the phone really does live up to its expectations so far it is truly excellent.