Apple Watch Ultra - zero information, is this normal?

[bruja]

Hi all,

Don't know how normal or common this is but I ordered an early upgrade on the Apple Watch Ultra on 27th September and have heard literally nothing since. I paid around £560 in advance which comprised the early upgrade fee and the upfront cost of the watch, and placed the order over the telephone.

I called a week later to say that I hadn't received anything at all (not even an email) and the rep assured me that the order was placed and sent me an email with the order number on.

I am unable to track the order (I just get an error message) and there's obviously bee no SMS updates or anything like that at all.

So since ordering a month ago I've paid a fair chunk of money and then had absolutely zero communication, updates, emails, SMS or anything. At all. Is this normal? Do I just wait for a DPD notification on the DPD app at some point in the future and hope that I can work from home or take the day off to receive? Appreciate that with any new tech there's always a large queue on preorder and they're at the behest of the manufacturing lead times, but the complete lack of anything at all from EE is very disappointing and frustrating.

[Chris_B]

@bruja   What information can EE give you expect your order is on track and then that doesn’t really say anything.   

At present if you was to order today the waiting time is expected delivery in over 28 days and that can mean anything.   

[James_B]

Hi @bruja,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

Back orders are being dispatched on a first come, first serve basis as stock arrives from our supplier.

You'll receive a text message with tracking details as soon as your delivery slot is confirmed. If it isn't a suitable day for delivery, you can reschedule it via the DPD app.

Hope this helps.

James

[SonnyK]

What does ‘over 28 days’ even mean we need to stop accepting this as an ETA. Over 28 days can mean 29 days or 229 days. This is not how businesses work however this is how customers are being treated.

[Waters1234566]

Experiencing the same. They are so incompetent. I got told last 4 days my watch was in warehouse waiting to be picked up. And now it’s not in stock again. 
they also said if I cancel my current order and replace it there’s a chance I’ll get it sooner. 
So not sure where this first come first served sits in it all! Seems it’s a shambles for everyone all we can do is wait despite them taking money off everyone and offering no expected delivery still! 

[SonnyK]

It’s all gone downhill since EE was bought by BT poor supply management and even worse customer communication.

[Waters1234566]

Agree. Proper downhill even the signal is poor in my area now! Can’t be number 1 network for much longer! 

[bruja]

"What information can EE give you expect your order is on track and then that doesn’t really say anything."

Disagree - it tells me that a) they have my order, and b) they're still waiting for it. All infinitely better than absolutely nothing

[bruja · Accepted solution]

I thought I would update the thread here in case anyone else stumbles onto it.

I got home last night from work to a missed delivery from DPD which was an EE parcel. I had received no notification in the DPD app, no email, no SMS, nothing at all. I actually thought it was an old DPD receipt that I'd not thrown out by accident or something until I tracked it. 

I believe that part of the issue is that any updates are sent to the mobile number that the order is replacing (so in my case my current Apple Watch). The issue there is that number does not accept any texts or anything as it's merely there for billing purposes. So if EE were updating me by text message, any updates were being sent to a number that doesn't accept them.

Say for example I have a phone with number n and purchase an apple watch, the watch on my account will be showing number n2 which is there for account purposes only. Should I try to send a message to n2 it won't do anything because the only number linked between watch and phone is n. So, when I upgrade my watch to a new one, all updates/info/tracking are going to be sent to n2, the billing-only one. I strongly believe this is the issue why EE have all these angry customers thinking they're having zero updates or anything (myself included) when in actual fact they probably are, but to a number that cannot receive them. (Doesn't explain why I didn't receive any emails or anything.)

Also, when trying to change delivery by the DPD App (this was a DPD local parcel) it sent a message for 2FA to the number against which the order was registered (again, the number associated will billing only and thus not one that is able to receive texts) so I was unable to verify. I was, however, able to do it via the web browser on the main DPD site (not the DPD local one) - just in case this information is useful to anyone else.

[bruja]

Hi @James_B  - I think therein lies the crux of the problem for pretty much all the watch upgrade users. Because the Apple watch necessarily has a different number for billing/account purposes, and not the number linked to the phone all SMS updates are sent to a number that cannot receive them - I hope that makes sense?

So say for example I have a phone with number n and purchase an apple watch, the watch on my account will be showing number n2 which is there for account purposes only. Should I try to send a message to n2 it won't do anything because the only number linked between watch and phone is n. So, when I upgrade my watch to a new one, all updates/info/tracking are going to be sent to n2, the defunct one. I strongly believe this is the issue and then you have all these angry customers thinking they're having zero updates or anything (myself included) when in actual fact they probably are, but to a number that cannot receive them.