[Nexus 4 General] Leo Davidson:
That seems most likely to me, too.

FWIW, I think *everyone* still has a right to be annoyed, even if Google do manage to meet the 1-2 Week shipping promise by the skin of their teeth.

Obviously this is not the end of the world, but it's not something to be pleased about, either. One or two mistakes are fine, and par for the course, but it shouldn't be possible to make such a long list of problems about ordering a single phone:

It's not just the shipping window:

Regardless of where we got in the queue when the store finally re-opened, we've all waited over a month from "release" to get this phone, (and it's not over yet).

Lack of communication meant actively babysitting the process:

Until just before it happened, there was a lack of communication about when the store would re-open, so people had to keep checking it manually. Heck, there were apps and webpages made to automate the checks. You know something is wrong when people go to those lengths.

You had to keep on top of things or risk it being sold out before you knew it was back on sale again.

Google's email notifications were unreliable (and nobody knew what to expect from them anyway). I definitely put my address in the box after the first store closure, and I didn't get it get the email about the phone going back on sale. I only knew via a friend who saw it on a tech news site.

Those problems still affect the bumper:

Who knows when we'll be able to order one.

Some kind of case seems needed, given the flat glass back is slippery and can be scratched if in directly contact with a table. Seemed like everyone knew this wasn't a great idea after the iPhone 4, but if you're going to go that way at least ensure people can buy bumpers to address it.

How hard is it to make more plastic things and ship them?

I've ended up buying a temporary case while I wait for the bumper to become available. (To be fair, half the problem is how poor the 3rd party alternatives are, although I can't help but think that's partly due to the supply problem: They need phones to test their cases on, and they need people with phones to sell the cases to.)

(Who knows when people can get a charging orb, either, although that's less important.)

Supply problems:

Google blame LG. LG blame Google. Nice.

No proper pre-order process to gauge demand, and demand was grossly underestimated given the spec/price and success of the Nexus 7 with similar characteristics.

The hardware problems people have reported are more worrying if there isn't enough supply to get a replacement out in a reasonable time. (I don't know if the various hardware problems are more widespread than with other phones, but I'd feel better knowing a replacement is a non-issue.)

The online store itself:

Come 5:05pm or whenever it was, the phone was in stock, then not in stock, then back in stock, then in your basket, then not in your basket, then in your basket again, then there's an error processing start again, then... That is ridiculous and Google need to re-write their store. It does not instill confidence when an ordering system is so inconsistent from one page-load to the next.

Those 4th Dec problems were there back on 13th Nov launch (and probably before that). They were discussed in some detail in articles on the Android news sites. It's bad enough it was broken, but when that was pointed out, why wasn't it fixed several weeks later?

Out-of-order shipping:

Another real WTF for the online store / backend, sending phones to people with month+ shipping times to people with shipping times of a few days.

(Are some 13th November people are still waiting, or have I misremembered that? Not sure enough to claim it as a fact.)

False or misleading information from CSRs:

Worse than the lack of communication is giving out wrong information. It added to the uncertainty and distrust. If the CSRs didn't know, they should have just said so.

Some CSRs said the phones would arrive last week. Some said January. To the same people.

Nexus 7 launch problems not addressed:

The previous problems from the Nexus 7 launch (things sent to the wrong addresses etc.) were never publicly addressed.

Adding to worries that nothing had improved and that there may be more problems lurking. That in turn means more checking forums etc. to keep a handle on things.

Money in and out:

Having to ensure funds are in the account over a long period of time, as they could be requested at any random moment. That's somewhat normal with an unpredictable ship date, if they only bill upon shipping, but...

Money was held and then released and then held again. The only valid reason to do that is if you think you're about to ship and something gets in the way at the last minute (like if a ship's cargo is lost in a freak accident during arrival).

Parcels that could turn up out of the blue:

In several reports from several countries, parcels turned up days before a delivery confirmation was sent out.

We weren't just waiting for a shipping email which we were told may come any time from last week through to January; there was, and still is, the chance the phone itself will turn up unannounced.

Knowing that, on top of the lack of communication, meant keeping an ear out for the door & being paranoid about missing the parcel if you're not there to get it, for the entire time.

Having to deal with the parcel depot/redelivery process, especially at this time of year, can be an ordeal. Knowing when to expect delivery is important.

Asleep at the wheel:

Nothing on this list has been properly explained by Google.

In fairness, some of these are global problems that may be hard to unravel, and Google should be busy trying to fix things and then explain them, not vice versa.

But they should've been on top of this from the start, before the problems added up. And, judging by previous problems with Google, I'm not sure we'll ever get an explanation or see evidence that the process will be improved.

How good do you feel about ordering another device from the Play store?

Probably some other stuff I've forgotten. It's hard to keep track of it all.

It would've been fine if we knew, reliably, when we could order the phone and when we'd get the phone (and when to be ready for a parcel to arrive and for money to come out of our accounts). Then you can make a call about whether to get the phone at the cheaper Google price with a longer delay, or pay extra to get it sooner, and then you place your order and wait for it to come. Instead, we've had a month of uncertainty and having to actively check things to understand what is going on. Placing the order was enough of a pain, but once that was done it should've been the end of it. Instead, since placing the order, it has felt like the phone could turn up at any moment between right now and next year.

Still, Google haven't broken into my house, kidnapped my cat and asked for another £290 as ransom, so I guess there is nothing really to complain about. :)