Microsoft Store Defective

[avasant]

Was on my laptop at 1pm EST to buy a Microsoft Band (as advertised by Microsoft).
Was logged in.
Selected size and then the add to cart button.
Next page displayed said your shopping cart is empty... then only option was to continue shopping.
I tried this repeatedly with the same result over at least 10 minutes.
Never worked.
Now the site displays that come back when it is in stock.
So I have some conclusions:
(a) the store site cannot handle higher volume and traffic
(b) do they have preferred users thereby excluding others?
(c) possible scam by Microsoft to draw traffic to the store but really no target product to sell (are they trying to get people to notice other products?)
Have to admit this has been a poor Customer Experience.
Would hope they get some better advice on delivering a better Customer Experience.
I would rate this very low and not brand enhancing.
Did others have a similar experience?
In the meantime I have no idea whether this product is any good???

 

[bulls96]

Yes I had a similar issue. The first few minutes I think the website got overloaded. Kept getting this screen.

I think they finally went thru after 10 mins and was lucky to get an order in.

Sent from my using Tapatalk

 

[11B1P]

I had a large and medium in my shopping cart. Only had one of the warranties in my cart and when I deleted the large to re-add it with the warranty, it was already sold out. Tried to order two mediums and couldn't get the order to go through. I saw ^ that screen alot. Missed out all together simply because I tried adding another warranty.

Really ticked at MS for this scheme. I think they are purposely selling a few at a time. My wife who is an iphone user actually wants one, which speaks volumes to me, especially when she rags me about my WP.

 

[bobsentell]

I was able to get through after getting the screen shown above. It just spammed it until I got the confirmation it went through. They said yesterday these would be in "limited" quantities and everyone was trying to order one from the same website at the same time. We basically did an unofficial DDoS attack on their server. Even Apple cannot handle that type a load (as every iPhone launch will attest).

I would not be surprised if Microsoft built this as an experiment and didn't have the confidence this would be a success. So they are scrambling to get their manufacturer to build them more. So as they come in, they are putting them up. But they probably learned today to allow their stock to build up a little more before opening online ordering again.

 

[NelsonF]

Very similar experience. At 1:05, I added the device into my cart, there was nothing indicating that it was out of stock. In my cart, I went to checkout and tried to finalize the purchase. On top, in red, a message came up that there was a problem with the order. Tried numerous times with no success. I figured if it gave me an order number that I was ok, I will simple call customer service and get it ordered through them. Ended up on hold for over 30 minutes until someone finally picked up only to confirm it was out of stock. I was livid, not because I was a unable to make the purchase but because I felt I was duped by Microsoft. I firmly believe they made so few of these devices to sell them out immediately to generate publicity. It just shouldn't be at the expense of the customer. What ticked me off was that my time was wasted by getting caught up in one of Microsoft's hyped stunts. I learned my lesson. If I decide to get this, I will do so when all this publicity nonsense is over with and the price is probably lowered by $50.

 

[darthhen]

Microsoft Store's servers probably couldn't handle all the traffic surge. I kept getting the same message as well. But I just kept placing the order. I finally did get one though. There is high demand for this right now so I'm not surprised everybody jumped on it when it is available for order. People shouldn't be surprised.

 

[ktsi78]

I also faced the same problems but eventually managed to pass one order through! However when I go to the order details a full 22 hours after the order was given I see that it is still in process.

What do you see?

 

[ljkelley]

It said out of stock at first, I just kept refreshing and then added the medium to my cart and was able to purchase. Nothing shipped yet though, I will keep you posted. They probably only had a few thousand to sell. I am usually lucky with these things. I got front row for a concert. Got one out of 30 for a meet and greet at another concert.

The trick is to be patient and use that F5.

 

[11B1P]

Are you people F****** serious? MS servers couldn't handle the traffic? What a load of BS. MS should have servers on top of servers. One of the largest corporations in the world should be able to handle the traffic better.

They simply only allowed a few hundred of each size to be sold, plain and simple. A marketing ploy at the cost of the consumers.

Where is the F5 on my Surface Touch keyboard?

 

[bobsentell]

Then there is no convincing you. You see evil and there will be nothing we say that can convince you otherwise. But I'm going to lay out the facts anyway. If you don't agree with them, that's your business.

Inventory has a cost. It costs Microsoft money to sit on products. Not only in inventory storage but also in the opportunity cost of not having those sales (and investors hate long inventory turnover and low return on inventory). The negative sale may work for smaller firms ("only one car in stock!"), but large corporations are in the business to make as much money as possible. In this case, the Band was stated by Microsoft to be designed as a model to license the technology to other firms (FitBit, etc) and I would be willing to place money on the idea Microsoft was not expecting this kind of response.

And why should they? The press love everything that has an Apple logo and Microsoft probably expected the press to blast this device too (as some have). So what history does Microsoft have that a device they launch in a press release at midnight would be one of the most sought after products of the season? Even if they called their manufacturer that day, it would take several days to ramp up production. It would take another week or so have enough inventory come in to even try to list the product on the website. And after the demand they saw Tuesday, I'd be willing to bet Microsoft waits until they have a larger supply to list it again to ensure more people have success.

On the technology side, if Microsoft had 10,000 Bands to sell and 1,000,000 people logged on at the same time to buy them you are going to have issues with the database keeping track of who has what in what cart. And Microsoft is not alone in this. I grab a bag of popcorn and visit the Apple forums every iPhone launch day and read about the troubles of Apple being able to keep up with their orders. And that is a product they know will be popular and build in the millions. Even Amazon is not immune to this. The day the Xbox One and PS4 preorders launched, Amazon had trouble keeping up with the demand and having an online storefront is all they do!

Can Microsoft improve? Yes. But I'd be willing to bet their store is a hole-in-the-way website they use for the few of us that actually prefer to buy directly from them. I'd imagine over 90% of Microsoft's retail sales happen outside of the online Microsoft Store. I bought my Xbox One at Costco. I bought my Lumia 1020 at AT&T. I bought my Surface Pro 2 at Best Buy. Over the last 18 months I have spent almost $2,500 on Microsoft products and only the Band, Xbox Live, and a few Surface accessories have I bought from the Microsoft Store online storefront. So when even your most diehard fans buy from other locations, why should Microsoft go through the expense of turning their website into "Amazon-lite"?

Microsoft is learning from all this. I would not be surprised if things go smoother next time. They will probably wait to have more devices that can be sold as well as open up another few ports on the sales server. I don't think they are purposely retarding the inventory to drum up hype. In fact, that would backfire as it gives the tech media time to coordinate their criticisms to ensure an open field when the Apple Watch launches. Microsoft's best hope is to flood the market as fast as they can and I believe they are. Right now, demand is just far outstripping supply.

 

[bulls96]

So i received an email just now from the the microsoft store.

"Dear Microsoft Store Customer,

Thank you for your interest in the Microsoft Band. Due to customer response, we no longer have any available for online sale. However, your local Microsoft Store may have some in stock through the holidays. Visit or call your local store. Find a store

To make it right, we're giving you a one-time promo code good for $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more from the Microsoft online store.*

To redeem your $10 off, go to http://www.microsoftstore.com, select what you'd like ($50 min), and add it to your cart. At check out, simply enter the promo code......."

But my order is already processed and have tracking info. Its currently in Ontario, CA, and in time to be delivered on Wednesday (excited!)

​I wonder if this went oujt ot everyone who tried to order and had those errors. I certainlyt hope it doesnt mean i wont ghet my band.

 

[iSingBass]

I received my Band on Thursday but also got that email just now. If you have tracking info you're probably good to go!

 

[avasant]

Stopped by a Microsoft store and was able to buy a band yesterday.
Shipment had come and it was no issue to buy one (no pre order involved).
Expect that will be the main if not only channel to get this device for many weeks.
Message with coupon indicates they did have a widespread problem last week.
Online store experience makes me wonder what will happen on Black Friday?
Has this online store ever had high volume demand??
If they start selling more high demand exclusive Microsoft products under $200 there may be no other channel alternatives???

 

[stephen_az]

Was on my laptop at 1pm EST to buy a Microsoft Band (as advertised by Microsoft).
Was logged in.
Selected size and then the add to cart button.
Next page displayed said your shopping cart is empty... then only option was to continue shopping.
I tried this repeatedly with the same result over at least 10 minutes.
Never worked.
Now the site displays that come back when it is in stock.
So I have some conclusions:
(a) the store site cannot handle higher volume and traffic
(b) do they have preferred users thereby excluding others?
(c) possible scam by Microsoft to draw traffic to the store but really no target product to sell (are they trying to get people to notice other products?)
Have to admit this has been a poor Customer Experience.
Would hope they get some better advice on delivering a better Customer Experience.
I would rate this very low and not brand enhancing.
Did others have a similar experience?
In the meantime I have no idea whether this product is any good???

Unfortunately, all I can say is join the club. It really is not, however, not a conspiracy. The online Microsoft Store is an embarrassment - have seen better managed and more efficient mom and pops selling miscellaneous stuff out of their houses. The essential problems are the system has never been able to handle volume and is set up such so items placed in a cart are not locked to that cart.

The volume issue has been there since the first Surface releases and it has never gotten better. The joke, of course, is that volume is not even that large - it almost seems like all they to have happen is get a reasonable interest and the system locks. Compare the situation to Apple's handling of volume in the millions to see how it should work.

That items are not actually in carts was something I learned officially from store management last week. They claimed that until a purchase is confirmed, it has not been removed from inventory. Of course, they also had the gall to say that is how all online stores work. BTW, they did not like it when I pointed out that is not how major online retailers work - most place a hold on items in a cart for a defined window and it is only if the window is exceeded is the item shifted back to stock. I then pointed out that all they had to do was go to Dell's Outlet (hardly a model of efficiency) and add a computer to a cart to see how real inventory systems work. No, they did not want to acknowledge that either - when Dell can do a better job, you are in really poor company.

Oh, there is one more essential problem. The retail program is simply incompetent from the top down. Largest software company on the planet worth many billions of dollars and they still run a bargain basement retail operation. Of course the $10 discount code makes it all better. Absolutely embarrassing....