Google Handing Out $50 Play Store Credit Over Delayed Pixel Phones

Minor delays are not rare in the world of electronics, but that doesn’t mean customers are any less annoyed when they find out their much-awaited new phone will not arrive as soon as expected. So it helps when companies throw in free money to ease the sting of a delay.

The rollout of Google’s new Pixel smartphone isn’t going as smoothly as planned, so according to TechCrunch, the company is offering customers who pre-ordered the Pixel or Pixel XL phone a $50 credit to the Google Play Store as an apology for delayed delivery.

The phone, which went on sale Oct. 4, was expected to ship by mid-October to customers who preordered. But many buyers say on the Android Central forum that their order status is still listed as “pre-ordered” or “pending.”

“The supply issue is kinda ridiculous,” one poster wrote. “I have a ship date of end of Nov. The phone will already be over a month old.”

“Ordered mine day one and it’s still listed as preordered with a delivery date of 11/23….yet there are people that got their’s weeks ago. I don’t understand how this is working,” another buyer wrote.

Google addressed the delays in a letter to buyers this week, noting that “it’s going to take a little longer for you to receive your package than we expected.” The company did not specify just when the phones are expected to arrive at customers’ doors.

A spokesperson for the company tells TechCrunch that “pre-order demand has exceeded our expectations” and it is working to restock its inventory as soon as possible.

In addition to the higher-than-expected demand, Google also blamed a “shipment glitch” on the delays.

In an attempt to placate customers left waiting — in some cases possibly until late November — Google is offering up $50 in Google Play Store credits. The mea culpa will be sent to affected customers via email one their phone is delivered.

A spokesperson for the company said the credit offer was made to make up for “the inconvenience caused in the delay in shipment.”

Still, it’s unclear from the customer forums just who qualifies for the $50 credit. Some posters claim that while they’re still waiting for the Pixel phone, they were told by Google they don’t qualify for the credit because their order wasn’t “inadvertently canceled.”

We’ve reached out to Google for clarification on who will receive the credit, and will update this post when we hear back.

Google doling out $50 Play Store credits due to Pixel shipping delays [TechCrunch]

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