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Nexus 4 (8GB) - Out of Stock
Also, I can't believe that Google of all people, can't run a store that can handle load. Instead, it's server errors and mysterious blank pages and "Sorry, a problem happened" pages. Disgusting.
I really don't think they care about this. This is the third time I have had this kind of experience with Google. Google IO 2011 and 2012 had the same sort of experience.
I have had a phone in my shopping cart at least 5 times, only to have it disappear. This is unacceptable.
Obviously not, since you keep trying to buy it (I'm not being glib; I mean this as a serious observation). As long as people keep trying to make them take their money, they have little incentive to fix it (but not no incentive, since it does damage the brand).
It certainly doesn't reflect well on them, though.
Who cares about the phone? I will be mildly upset for a few days about their lack of care in these matters, but I will move on.
It is unacceptable because its Google, and the image that they want to convey as a trusted partner in financial transactions. Do they really think that I (or anybody else) should trust a company that exhibits this kind of attitude towards transactions with handling my mobile wallet? Not me.
I went through the same issues as you, and most everyone else here. Not getting e-mailed that it'll be available for purchase, vague error messages during checkout, cart randomly getting emptied, etc.
Before it was available for purchase, I was on the fence about whether or not it was actually a worthwhile purchase for me. I ultimately decided it was, but Google did everything in their power to prevent me from giving them my money. Depending on how quickly they actually get new stock in, I will probably just end up deciding that I don't actually need the phone after all.
I tried to purchase the Nexus 4 via Chrome on my iPhone, but there was no Buy Now button on mobile. I even clicked the setting that said "View Desktop Version", which reloaded the exact same page. No difference at all and no Buy Now button.
I then tried Safari on my iPhone. Again, no Buy Now button. I had to use a desktop browser to even see the Buy Now button, then I had the exact same experience. I had the phone in my cart and then it magically disappeared when I tried to check out.
All in all, this was an awful shopping experience. The phone was for my wife, but not having any sort timeline for when they will again be available, I told her to just go to Verizon and buy the best phone they have in stock. Google will lose a sale in this...which is too bad. It looks like a cool phone, but they can't manage a supply chain or a webstore apparently. As a Google shareholder, that scares me a little bit.
Disgusting? That's a strongly negative word. Mistakes are made. Fail happens. Tell them about it, show them this thread, tell them we want them to fix it and be awesome.
Google does a LOT of things right. Let's cut them some slack here and see if they fix it and then talk about why it broke for us. Wouldn't that rule?
I agree that the UX for the error messages and the infrastructure crapping out was bad, but I think the marketing strategy of a limited supply selling out so quickly makes some sense (everybody's talking about it and the 2nd round will probably sell a lot of units).
I managed to make it all the way through on my third try. My first try got pretty close to the end before dying. I'm fairly sure that I didn't order two phones, but it's certainly possible that I did. I imagine it will be pretty easy to unload if that happened...
I am able to add the 16 GB version to my cart, however, I am unable to click the Proceed button without generating a Google Wallet window with an "Uh oh. There was a problem." message inside.
Given the resources and experience available to Google, the obviously high demand for a product such as this on launch day, and the absurd number of errors and issues at almost every step along the way, it's hard not to consider the possibility that Google is doing this on purpose. I mean really -- a caching issue that causes the phone to show as sold out every so many refreshes? Then again, all they'd really be accomplishing is making the "Play Store" look dumb and unusable.
Anyway, I digress. Here are some tips to getting through:
1) If you haven't ordered something via Google Wallet before, go here (https://wallet.google.com/manage) to fill out your payment info and billing address in advance. It's much faster and more reliable to do it here than to try to do it in your shopping cart while buying the phone.
2) Once the phone is in your shopping cart, just repeatedly click "Proceed" every second or two, even if the button is gray. Eventually you will get a popup that will let you order.
3) It's normal for the phone to have disappeared from your shopping cart if. Just go back and add it again. It's also normal for the phone to show as sold out. Just refresh until it says you can buy it again.
It's like registering for Google I/O - we would all LOVE to throw hundreds of dollars at Google for one of their products, but for whatever reason, we can't.
For all that is holy, why can't Google show to folks outside US/Canada at least some specs and promo pages of the device? I'm not even asking for ability to put a preorder, but why are we left only with the silent void with literally nothing but "Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet"? What a brilliant way to disappoint people and divert thousands of potential customers away.
Considering the troubles they've been having keeping the thing in stock, I doubt "diverting potential customers away" is really a huge concern for them.
The specs and promo page are available at google.com/nexus. The play store really doesn't have anything other than a buy button.
The 8 GB version now shows availability and the 16 GB version does not. It is not clear what is happening with regards to site/infrastructure issues or sold out status of the 16 GB version.
11:05 CT
The 16 GB version briefly showed itself as available. I successfully added it to my cart. But, I immediately received an error when trying to check out.
11:10 CT
Both the 8 GB and the 16 GB are not showing availability.
12:06 CT
Because I kept seeing them become available on and off over the past hour, I had a feeling it was an infrastructure problem. Every 5 or 10 minutes, I logged out, logged in, saw that they became available, added them to my cart, tried to check out and received an error. That led me to believe that they're just having issues.
I was able to successfully order both the 8 GB and the 16 GB at 11:57 CT and 12:04 CT respectively.
Clearly, the cries of "SOLD OUT" being heard across the web are incorrect.
I had to keep hitting the "Proceed" button dozens of times in order for it to succeed. Finally got the Google Checkout popup to work properly and completed the order.
If you see it being marked as sold out, refresh or clear cookies. Apparently it's a caching issue.
Edit 12:10pm ET: caching doesn't seem to make a difference; may actually be sold out now. Surprised at (a) high demand and/or low inventory, (b) that Google struggled to keep the site responsive.
I'm not surprised the site wasn't responsive, just look at Google IO ticket sales for the last two years. It's kind of amazing that an internet giant like Google can't figure this out.
I had it in my shopping cart after multiple errors on the site, only to have it disappear, and now its unavailable again. Seriously Google?
If Google expects people to funnel their financial transactions through them, they have to get this kind of thing right. This is the third time they have proven unfit to handle this kind of rush.
So. Any word on how many were available, and when they'll get more in stock? A lot of people are pretty disappointed right now. I was able to get it in cart only twice out of many attempts, and never was able to proceed to the next step.
I had an order for a 16GB go through and got a receipt in my email just now. @ 2:10PMEST.
I refreshed the page repeatedly until the string "Add to Cart" was found in place of "Notify". When this happened my browser window popped up and I got a notification from OS X notification center saying it was time to fill out my order. It worked flawlessly.
My fiance and I had to tag team the site to finally get an 8GB after the 16GBs ran out. Got a confirmation number and receipt, but haven't received the confirmation email yet.
It's like trying to get a bag o crap, but with a phone!(tm)
I managed to order one, after struggling with the checkout process for around 10 minutes @ 11:50 ET. I think I have seen at least three different types of errors, on the cart as well as during the payment stage.
Added it to my cart, kept trying to proceed with the order but it kept saying there was an error (in their ajaxy way) until it showed an empty cart and on the product's page the "in stock" changed to "coming soon".
It was available and I think I managed to get one. I have yet to receive an email confirmation, but it shows up in my list of past purchases from Play. I bought it around 8:40 PST.
The last page should say "Thank you. Your order has been placed, and you will receive an email shortly with the details of your purchase."
To the right is a link that says "Order Status". Right click on that to open in a new tab. That will contain your order number, which should be enough for you to resolve any problems with your order.
I haven't received my email yet, almost 15 minutes after ordering, but I will be saving a copy of that order status page...
Also, I can't believe that Google of all people, can't run a store that can handle load. Instead, it's server errors and mysterious blank pages and "Sorry, a problem happened" pages. Disgusting.