iPad 2 Launch Angers Customers, Reveals Holes In Apple Customer Service?

For a company that prides itself on providing great customer service, Apple AAPL has left a few customers angry over the way it handled the launch of the iPad 2.

Long lines were expected for what was being hailed as the most anticipated tablet of the year. While some iPad 2 seekers feared they would go home empty-handed, no one expected Apple – the consumer-friendly company – to mislead them. But at one location in southeast Michigan, there have been reports that Apple did just that.

Last Friday, eager buyers waited in the freezing cold for as long as seven hours just for a chance to purchase the latest piece of touch screen technology. Ten minutes before the new iPad was slated to go on sale, Apple employees came out of their well-heated store to pass out cups of coffee and hot chocolate. This nice gesture was followed by an announcement that the employees would return at 5:00 p.m. (the official launch time) to find out which models were desired. After that, they promised to tell the crowd if they had enough units to meet demand.

Several customers immediately asked how many units were in stock.

"Oh, we don't know," one employee responded.

When the clock struck five, the doors opened and a small number of customers were allowed inside. One by one, the front-of-the-line shoppers walked out of the store with iPad 2s in hand.

But the employees – who promised to assess the situation when the device went on sale – did not return to the crowd with any new information.

Roughly 30 minutes later, two employees came outside to announce that the AT&T T 3G versions had sold out. No other announcements were made.

Fifteen minutes after that, one employee returned to announce that there would be "no more Wi-Fi ones after this point, only Verizon VZ 3G available." He repeated himself several times before going back inside.

This was quite frustrating for the estimated 60 customers who walked away empty-handed after being led to believe they had a shot at getting an iPad 2.

"You know, if they had just been up front with me and said how many units they had, I could have accepted this," one customer remarked. "But they led us to believe that they might have had enough for everyone."

When I asked another customer about her launch day experience, she simply replied, "I didn't have one."

Was this an overreaction from shoppers who didn't get the device they wanted? Or were they actually on to something – was Apple being a little deceptive?

Searching For Answers

The next day, Benzinga returned to the Apple store to inquire about the launch day issues. First up: numbers.

“We can't give out that information,” one employee (an Apple store “specialist”) claimed.

“They don't even tell us how many units we're getting,” another added. When asked about the units that were already in stock, both specialists said that they are not given that information either.

Three other specialists gave the same response. So who does know how many iPad 2s were (and would be) in stock? The store manager, but he wasn't available for comment.

At press time, calls to Apple's corporate office had not been returned.

As far as the disappointed/angry customers are concerned, none of the specialists that Benzinga spoke to offered an apology. But they did politely reiterate that while pre-orders were not an option for the iPad 2, there is one way to guarantee you'll get one: order it online at Apple.com. However, those who go this route should know that they may have to wait as long as four weeks for their shiny tablets to arrive.

Widespread Problems?

Aside from brief mentions of disappointed shoppers who struck out on Friday and Saturday, there haven't been too many negative reports about the iPad 2 launch. As expected, Best Buy BBY, Wal-Mart WMT and Target TGT were under stocked. While the larger Apple outlets had enough units to sustain the massive crowds for a couple hours, the smaller stores sold out in less than 60 minutes.

This is likely what Apple wanted, and most techies seem to agree. After the original iPad fell short of expectations (300,000 units sold in one day versus the 400,000+ that analysts predicted), Apple was surely determined to avoid a repeat scenario.

Thus, it's not a stretch to assume that Apple purposely avoided shipping enough units to retailers, because “enough” is hard to gauge. “Enough” could have easily become “too many,” and then the headlines would read, “iPad 2 Fails To Sell Out.” Whereas now the headlines read, “iPad 2 Sold Out.”