Kellen
Motorola would probably like to forget 2013’s Cyber Monday as quickly as possible. The day started with excitement over the Moto X deal they planned to kick off – $150 off full retail phones – but quickly turned into a disaster once their site buckled under the heavy amounts of traffic that flooded in minutes before the sale was to begin. Customers sat on their MotoMaker site for hours trying to get in orders and as they waited for some sort of word out of Motorola’s camp as to what was happening. We didn’t know much until we were 12 hours in, something their CEO is now apologizing for.
In a post to Motorola’s official blog, CEO Dennis Woodside has apologized to those affected by today’s site crash. He opened up about their misjudging of the demand for the Moto X (or this deal in particular) and admitted that their pre-sale site testing was not “sufficiently extensive.” You can read the full letter below.
The good news is that they believe they have found a solution to the problem and are ready to give this deal two more shots to make up for it.
At noon EST (9AM Pacific) this Wednesday, December 4, Motorola will once again kick off a $150-off promo for Moto X orders through MotoMaker. With the discount, custom phones will again be $349 off-contract, a deal that few should pass on. But just in case you can’t make it Wednesday, Motorola will add an additional deal day next Monday, December 9. They are doubling the quantity of phones available as well.
And last, they are extending the 30% off accessories special to these two days.
Tomorrow, MotoMaker will open again for regular business.
We owe you an apology.
I want to apologize to our customers and fans for the issues we experienced on our website with our Cyber Monday promotion. I want you to understand what happened, and what we are doing to rectify the situation.
First, we misjudged the overwhelming consumer demand for Moto X, which was far greater than we expected.
Second, our pre-sale site testing was not sufficiently extensive. Testing failed to reveal weaknesses caused by large volumes of concurrent orders flowing through the MotoMaker customization engine.
Thus, when we opened the promotion this morning, an extraordinary spike in concurrent orders caused our website to go down. We couldn’t fulfill orders. The site became unstable. While some orders were filled, many customers tried all day to place their orders, unsuccessfully. Customers were left frustrated.
We have since found a solution that we believe addresses the concurrent order issue. Motorolans are hard at work right now, implementing that solution.
Here is what we are going to do: Starting at 12 pm EST/9 am PST this Wednesday, we will relaunch the $349 promotion. To help make up for this major inconvenience to shoppers, we will also add an additional promotional day on Monday, December 9. We will double the quantity of phones available, while supplies last, to allow as many people as possible to take advantage of the promotion. We’re also extending the 30% off offer on accessories to these two days.
Please note that MotoMaker.com will open up for regular business tomorrow (Tuesday, December 3). We will stay the course on our regular sales as we restore our promotional prices for Wednesday and Monday.
Stay tuned to our Twitter, G+ and Facebook pages for more updates. We understand people want frequent communications from us so we will do a better job at keeping you informed.
On behalf of all Motorolans, I apologize for what occurred today. I appreciate your understanding as we get this fixed in time for Wednesday and Monday.
Posted by Dennis Woodside, CEO
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