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Nexus 6 Pre-Orders Were A Joke

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Earlier this month, Google announced the all new Nexus 6. Later, it confirmed a Nexus 6 pre-order date for  October 29th. Today, Nexus 6 pre-orders went live only to vanish minutes later leaving many consumers without a phone. We’re still not sure what’s going on over there at Google but today’s Nexus 6 pre-orders, if you can call them that, were a complete joke and a slap in the face to people who have been loyal to the Nexus brand for years. I’m one of those people.

For the last couple of months I, like many of you, heard rumors about the Nexus 6 from Motorola. As an iOS and Android user and someone who has owned every single Nexus smartphone not called Nexus S, I was pretty excited when Google confirmed those rumors earlier this month. I was elated when I learned the device would be coming from Motorola, a company that I’ve always liked and a company I always wished would make a Nexus device.

The Nexus 6, while big, comes with a ton of likeable features. Water resistant design, check. Massive Quad HD display, check. Speedy processor for games and multitasking, check. Gorgeous Moto X inspired design, check. Tons of carriers in the U.S., check. LTE, check. Lots of storage space, check. Vanilla Android 5.0 Lollipop, check.

So when Google announced Nexus 6 pre-orders for October 29th, I got excited but not as excited as I probably should have been. You see, I’ve been through this process before.

Nexus 4 Android 4.4.3 Review Early - 1

Two years ago, Google announced the Nexus 4, a device with a ton of likeable features, a stellar price tag, and a pre-order date. And when that pre-order date came around, I hopped online to try and order one and Google sold out. And then it sold out again. And again. It didn’t have Nexus 4 stock back until February and at that point, I was over it. It was an extremely frustrating situation, not just for me, but for many other Nexus users out there.

Needless to say, I was extremely nervous about last year’s Nexus 5 release. Google decided to cut out the nonsense though. Instead of offering a pre-order, Google simply put the Nexus 5 on sale. And I bought one, day one, like many other people, without any problems. To this day, the Nexus 5 remains one of my favorite phones and I look back fondly on the ordering experience. Still, I’ve been unable to shake what happened with the Nexus 4 and memories started to flood back in after Google’s Nexus 6 pre-order announcement.

Nexus5-Android5-4

That’s when the internal questions started rolling in: “There’s no way they could muck up another pre-order, not after what happened with the Nexus 4.” And “It’s a 6-inch phone and expensive at that. Google should be able to handle demand.” I also thought about the turmoil that’s supposedly been going on behind the scenes. And I thought about the million other phones I could buy with the money I’d be spending on a 32GB Nexus 6. And still, I was focused on today’s pre-order date. No way Google would let Nexus enthusiasts and buyers down again. Boy, was I wrong.

Today, the Nexus 6 went up for pre-order on the Google Play Store for a grand total of five minutes by my count. No warning, no announcements, no broadcasts from the Nexus Twitter account, no excitement from Sundar Pichai or any other Android leaders, nothing. I, like many of you, had no idea that pre-orders had even started. And by the time I tried to go order, it was too late. Sold out, gone. Nexus 4 all over again.

Here's how the Apple iPhone 6 Plus compares to the Google Nexus 6 as big screens face off in 2014.

There are terrible smartphone pre-orders and then there’s Nexus 6 pre-orders. If this isn’t the worst smartphone pre-order of all time, it’s got to be pretty darn close. And with that in mind, let’s run down the list of follies:

  • Google never announced any sort of pre-order time so no one had any idea when to pre-order the Nexus 6.
  • Google put the Nexus 6 up for pre-order without telling any of its customers.
  • Google sold out of Nexus 6 pre-orders in minutes maybe even seconds, who knows.
  • Shipping times are at three to four weeks for those that did get through. Oh, let’s not forget that the Nexus 6 doesn’t even have a confirmed release date. Anywhere.
  • The company hasn’t done or said anything to make it right. I can’t be the only one complaining about this, can I? Is it having production problems? If that’s the case, why not delay the pre-orders? Why push forth this half-baked excuse for a pre-order process? Why not take five minutes to explain the situation to customers looking to buy the phone?

That last bit, at least to me, is the most astonishing. Google’s said nothing. Silence, zilch, nada. Maybe pre-orders are coming back, maybe not. Who knows! That’s great business. Apple apologized for a software bug. A bug that lasted less than 24 hours. This Nexus 6 pre-order nonsense could last weeks and Google’s silent. I don’t get it. And maybe Google doesn’t either. Maybe it doesn’t care about Nexus users. Maybe it never did. If that’s the case, stop wasting everyone’s time.

Today’s Nexus 6 pre-orders were a complete farce and I’m sure that the fun is far from over. I can tell you one thing though, I’m not playing Google’s games anymore. They just lost a customer and a long time Nexus user today. There are plenty of other phones out there with near vanilla software that’s less buggy than Nexus software. Phones out there that are just as cheap. Phones that are actually available when I go to buy them. And companies that treat their customers right.

25 Comments

25 Comments

  1. Abner

    10/29/2014 at 3:55 pm

    Boy, am i sad to give this one to you? 5’000% right about all of it. I’m almost an out-the-door Nexus user since Nexus S. Bad Move again, Google.

  2. jav1967

    10/29/2014 at 4:13 pm

    I don’t understand the author. If he knowledges that there are other way better phones than the Nexus 6, why is he so frustrated that he couldn’t get one?

  3. EricMNO

    10/29/2014 at 4:52 pm

    Whine much? Must be nice to have Not Able To Pre-order On Day 1 as your biggest problem. I know you’ll order a Nexus 6 as soon as you are able. And I know you’ll say nothing if pre-orders are available this week. Wah wah!

  4. Quentin Anderson

    10/29/2014 at 7:36 pm

    I understand the author’s frustration.

  5. Woodrow

    10/29/2014 at 9:39 pm

    Bravo. I’m glad you wrote this. This is a shoddy way to do business with your loyal customer base. The problem is a lot of Google fanboys think Google is a religion that can do wrong and they’ll act as if the most egregious behavior from is a-okay. It’s gotten worse than Apple’s alleged “cult” status.

  6. Shannon

    10/30/2014 at 3:59 am

    MMMMM, sour grapes, anyone?

  7. Otter

    10/30/2014 at 5:51 am

    People who were this determined about getting g this phone, like myself, are most likely going to wait and not get anything else.
    However, keeping your customers and fan base in the dark is a slippery slope towards losing credibility and respect. There’s no reason for that.

  8. db

    10/30/2014 at 6:48 am

    Google did choose hype as marketing strategy with announcement and preorder date so they better take frustration seriously caused by that even if it may sound fanboyishly.

  9. Spyder Dan

    10/30/2014 at 7:49 am

    It lasted seconds. I was auto refreshing the pages all day. The 32 GB, opened first. It went from coming soon, to out of stock. The 32GB was out of stock while the 64GB still said coming soon. Then the 64GB went from coming soon to out of stock. (15 Second Refresh Intervals). A pre-order should not have anything to do with actual supply. It gives the manufacture a goal to know what number to produce. If it was an order then it’s understandable to be out of stock. Google needs to communicate something and not call it a pre-order if you can’t order it. I might as well wait for Project Ara next year.

  10. lo

    10/30/2014 at 8:13 am

    You are not the only one… doesn’t make sense???? why would such a big corporation make such a mess of such a wonderful thing.

  11. fredload

    10/30/2014 at 9:54 am

    I am with you 100%. Google dropped the ball on this one big time! I hate to say it, but they really should take a page from Apple and learn how to better launch a device. The communication was non existent and left all of us wondering when the phone would actually go live for orders. I had my browser running refresh ever 30 seconds and it went straight to out of stock! I want to support Google, but this is not how I want to be treated. I agree with Adam, just tell us what is going on. It is just like everything else in life, it could all be fixed with “Communication”. People are understanding when they know what is happening. Give me not only the date the item goes up for pre order but the time and the possiblity of low stock. And don’t call it a pre order if you are going to run out of stock. Isn’t the whole idea of a pre order to take orders so you know demand? I will now step down from the soap box! Chalk me up as another pissed Nexus customer. Come on Google, get it together. You can do better.

  12. rob

    10/30/2014 at 10:35 am

    I just want to know how many phones they sold to see if it was a stunt or are we all wanting the best phone out on the market. We all know this phone is the future of phones because its google. Let’s hope they ran out because the carriers took all their supplies. Don’t worry we should all have one in our hands by December. Keep using that old phone just a little longer guys.

  13. NorCalGuy

    10/30/2014 at 11:10 am

    I was ready to jump IPhone ship and excited about Loliopop as seemingly first clean look & feel and smooth android OS.(with more HW and capabilities) Started believing in Google and liked my nexus 7 and playstore buying instead of carrier phones. But get strong sense there are as many blind Google followers as there are Apple followers. Why would this ‘nexus’ phone be so much better than all the other phones? dont see the differences anymore, this is no longer a developer phone. I may get a nexus 5 dropping selling my iphone 5s. Nexus 6 just feels same as samsung, htc or LG…. with much less marketing…. except the android commercials are really cool. 64GB nexus 6 for 750 vs 64GB Iphone 6+ for 850 vs Note 4 (which seems to be on sale for same non contract price)? Seems to me like samsung and apple know what they are doing. At least they can back up ‘out of stock’ with same actual sales numbers.

  14. BL4Z3D247

    10/30/2014 at 6:28 pm

    Nexus = unlockable bootloader, root, custom kernels with no hassle and quickly. There always have and always will be large developement for these phones because of this. Now, certain carriers and manufactures provide ways of unlocking the bootloader of other devices but Nexus devices have always had this ability being a developer device. Coming from an OG Droid and wanting to keep the ability to OC my phone via custom kernels so I went straight to the G-Nex, then the N4, then the N5. This has always been my reasoning for buying Nexus devices and I love modding things. :)

    • Bill

      10/31/2014 at 5:39 am

      BL4Z3D247 – Exactly. I buy Nexus because of the unlocked bootloader and root. Can’t even guess how many times I’ve tried 1 too many apps or a mod such as Xposed and ended up deciding to reflash the factory images and restore minimal set of apps from Titanium Backup.

      I’ve read about how carrier crap is going to be on the data partition rather than the system partition so that it can be completely removed. Does anybody know for sure that a Nexus 6 bought from AT&T iwill allow unlocking of the bootloader with the simple fastboot command and be able to restore factory images and receive updates directly from Google? If so, I’ll buy the darn thing there.

      • BL4Z3D247

        10/31/2014 at 12:20 pm

        Yes, any Nexus device has an unlockable bootloader even carrier sold Nexus devices. Google wouldn’t let that carrier sell then otherwise. I know this because I got my G-Nex from Verizon and my N4 from Tmo. Both bootloaders were unlockable via fastboot. OTAs will be pushed out the same as a Nexus 6 bought from the Play Store. A Nexus is a Nexus, G-Nex was really the only rough experience I’ve had with Nexus but I mostly blame Verizon and their Commy ways.

  15. BL4Z3D247

    10/30/2014 at 6:35 pm

    Oh, and yes I know about GPE devices. I like the fact that nobody I know has the same phone as me. It’s the whole reason I don’t have an iPhone.

  16. SiliconAddict

    10/30/2014 at 10:26 pm

    Don’t even get me started. I’m pissed enough right now I want to take a swing at a Google exec. I spent all day from midnight pretty much hitting F5. And I don’t know where this 5 minutes came in. I literally saw the website update the promo for the free 6 months of music, F5, F5, F5….still coming soon, 30 seconds later F5, sold out. There was no 5 minutes. At one point it showed up, hit add and next…sorry there is nothing in your cart.

    From what I understand the jack wagons at Google are holding the phone stock back for the carriers. Which is complete and total BS since if I get my phone through Verizon there WILL be shitware installed on it and a 50/50 chance of the bootloader being encrypted and the inevitable update only coming through Verizon, guaranteed to be the last damn carrier to release the update. No seriously, punch someone at google right in the damn nose for this.

  17. Brian

    10/31/2014 at 5:53 am

    I have never owned a Nexus, and now I doubt I ever will. Refreshing every couple of seconds, once I knew how fast they were going, I managed to get one in my cart only to have it yanked away after proceeding to checkout. I had one, virtually, for about 1 second.

    I have strong doubts about getting a Nexus 6 before the end of the year, so I ordered a Moto X Pure. Saved some money, got it in black like the 6 should have been, and it should be here next week. Not seeing any really great advantage the 6 has over the X Pure… especially after this fiasco.

  18. YHWH2112

    10/31/2014 at 6:29 am

    Google allowed “Developers” around the world first shot at buying the phone and thats why none was left for the google play store customers…google didn’t expect the developers to HOG up and almost buy them all…thats why google has been silent!

  19. Grab Boyd

    10/31/2014 at 7:21 am

    You are forgetting that even apple, which has been doing this over several product cycles for years and who, unlike google is a tier 1 mobile phone OEM, still has this problem and did so with iphone 6/plus. Google is not even into h/w- they are simply reselling HTC/samsung/asus etc devices on play. I suspect that Google leaves the situation of dealing with supply and demand to the real OEMs and if anything, they are the ones to blame.

  20. Nelson

    11/01/2014 at 8:42 am

    I AGREE 100% I have an iPhone 4S and was looking forward to changing over not just my phone but my wife’s too. I had been refreshing every couple of minutes but lunch time came around and when I got back to my desk the preorder was over! Very disappointed. Thinking of going with something else now. Boo Google!

  21. chance williams

    11/01/2014 at 5:43 pm

    BRAND New 3 month XBOX Live Gold Membership card giveaway going on this month! DOnt miss out!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko_-ssDagAo

  22. rambo6

    11/01/2014 at 9:59 pm

    I was on the site beginning very early on the 29th. I’m upset too. I had no problem ordering nexus 5 or 7, but the Nexus 6 preorder was ridiculous. I’ll wait a week or two and then buy Note 4.

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