ZackMorris | # 1 | 2012-11-13, 06:34 | Report

So I have a work phone that I have been using a Lumia 710 for almost a year. It's my secondary phone to my N9. I got the Lumia 710 for free so whatevers. My contract is up (not that I ever care for subsidized phones), and I was like ok let me order a Lumia 920 since I'll be reimbursed by my job.

The nightmare begins. AT&T has a promo free wireless charging plate and a phone for $99.99. I really want the Yellow Lumia 920, and it is an online only color. Ok no biggie I order it online maybe 5 hours after the phone goes for presale. It was supposed to ship today. Guess what. AT&T doesn't have it ready to ship. On top of that Walmart in the US now has the phone for sale for $49.99. Now AT&T is saying 7-10 days for the yellow phone to ship. When you see all those commercials for the Lumia 920 on TV, especially during the NFL games ( http://thedroidguy.com/2012/11/micro...-nfl-football/ ) they don't ever mention how much of a f|_|cking fail AT&T their "exclusive" carrier partner is. You can not get your hands on the exact phone you want. "We made one for each of us" is the refrain used in their marketing, yeah my as$. I go on a business trip for 2 weeks in 2 days and their exclusive distributor in the states drops the ball hardcore. Oh yeah that free wireless charging plate it is on back order also. Crap like this is why Nokia will never make a dent in the US market.

I loathe Apple and Android because of Closed OS and fragmentation, and honestly after using WP 7.5 I like it as my secondary phone, but releasing a product that is supposed to save a company (other than selling their mapping services) this release is a joke.

I love the fact that my primary is a N9, it got released I ordered it, and it showed up. Simple. Painless. The best phone I could've asked for at the time.

Lumiaman - you post constantly on this forum about how great WP phones are...step up kid, explain this debacle. Oh wait I should just get a black matte Lumia 920 and not the phone I want that is on every single advertisement from Nokia's FB page to the commercials they air during the highest rated televisions broadcasts in the US.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY NOKIA WILL FAIL IN THE US.

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Last edited by ZackMorris; 2012-11-13 at 07:02.

Dave999 | # 2 | 2012-11-13, 07:03 | Report

I think you should at least try it for a few days weeks.

juiceme | # 3 | 2012-11-13, 07:37 | Report

Well I guess it is not Nokia's fault that the US carrier they get involved with cannot get its act straight.

However I am thinking about this statement (yes, going offtopic here now);

In my mind iOS and WPxx are more closed than droid phones, you cannot modify the boot of those devices at all and they enforce their app store model strictly. Grouping Android with those is not meaningful, even as it is crippled in its default mode...

thedead1440 | # 4 | 2012-11-13, 07:45 | Report

In the supermarket business, the supplier is given access to the stock management system for his PLUs in his client's system so that the onus is on the supplier to replenish stock as and when needed...There are penalties for not doing a replenishment in time...

I'm sure that AT&T may have ordered that less as they didn't think they'll manage to sell it but I'm also sure Nokia have some sort of link with them using which it is plain apparent that your phones are "Sold Out"... In the tech industry this is even more obvious due to twitter which informs you faster than the system will update (~12hrs between updates) so what is Nokia doing to remedy it?

As usual they will go through 5-6 different communication channels and by the time their "democratic" process of decision-making comes to a decision it would be 1-2 weeks down the road...

juiceme | # 5 | 2012-11-13, 08:02 | Report

Well Nokia is famous for its "production machine", the factories can crank out devices in huge volumes (and low manufacturing costs) so I wonder what is the problem there. It has to be that AT&T has underestimated the demand and is not prepared to restock their supplies?

It might be that they are reluctant to take too many in the beginning as previous Lumia models sold so bad, maybe they are afraid they will have unmoveable stock at their hands later?

ste-phan | # 6 | 2012-11-13, 08:22 | Report

hi ZackMorris, agreed, what a fail system.
But the fact that you ordered and got delivered an N9 wasn't that your revolt against the exact system that got you trapped and frustrated again witht he L920?

At some point consumers need to free themselves form these combined deals.

-pay full but correct price for the phone (and treat it a a durable investment - not only till "end of contract")

-pay the correct price for GSM data / Telecom service subscription including fully transparent tariffs and be able to switch any day to another provider.

NOK may have teamed up with the wrong partner (again, its a habit of them) but it is time for consumers to choose for more freedom and transparency.

So I suggest we start with the small numbers of more informed people and move up to the TV commercial addict crowd.

I am curious to see which Telecom Partner will promote the future MSFT WP8 phones: also A&TT?

If I wanted an 920 would most probably already have it on its way, be it from somebody that carries it over from a more free market (like with N9) or I'd get it on-line auction or anything but not via a "carrier"...

mohannad | # 7 | 2012-11-13, 08:46 | Report

arent they outsourcing the manufacturing now?

tortoisedoc | # 8 | 2012-11-13, 09:04 | Report

They actually sell N9 in US. wow.

thedead1440 | # 9 | 2012-11-13, 09:20 | Report

It was for a period the business phone in the US by Nokia...

pichlo | # 10 | 2012-11-13, 10:44 | Report

@ZackMorris,
I do not live in the US and may not fully appreciate the cultural nuancies, but does the fact that there is a waiting list indicate that the product has been a success? (Edit: thedead1440 has already touched upon that in, post #4.)

@ste-phan,
Agreed. I have been on PAYG for 15 years. Never had a subsidised phone in my life. The last phone I had before my current N900 was the Treo 600 and I had it for 8 years. It is still in perfect working order (and in many ways better than the N900), but it does not have a WiFi and GPS. And I replaced it with a phone that itself is 3 years old already.

The upshot is, I do not need a new phone every 18 months. I need a new phone when the old one breaks or a new one offers some fundamentally new useful feature. A new design or a new version of the OS is not a fundamentally new feature; addition of WiFi is.