Apple Bumper Program: Good Case of Underpromise and Overdeliver

Leander Kahney ()

Apple Bumper Program: Good Case of Underpromise and Overdeliver

We’ve received multiple reports from readers that their free iPhone 4 Bumper cases are already in the mail, despite initial delivery dates in August or September.

I just got an email from Apple saying my own free Bumper case is winging its way to San Francisco. It is due to be delivered August 3, according to the tracking data. Apple initially said the free case would be delivered in September.

Good work Apple: Underpromise and overdeliver.

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About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone, News, Opinions |

  • http://tekunoloji.com Tekunoloji

    Yea, I got a confirmation yesterday from Apple telling me my black bumper would be here by August 3. It’s already shipped out. WOOT!

  • Wayne

    Mine came this morning. Yes! Well done apple. Original estimate date 3rd sept

  • George

    You are congratulating apple even though its their fault this solution had to be made.

    I’d call it over promise and under deliver…

  • Vicente

    Mine shipped and tracking estimates Agust 3rd delivery.

  • dylan

    I wish I could get a free case so I could use my phone ….but thanks to the HTC I can use my evo in any hand and hold it anyway lol thanks alot HTC for making a a phone that can actually function as a phone. My free case dreams are noe crushed

  • Wayne

    In all fairness i never had any problem in the first place. My iphone 4 works like a dream, so a free case is welcomed

  • http://Simonpricedesign.co.uk Simon price

    Mine came today and I am on the uk!

    Very impressive.

  • craig

    George – There never was a problem… Just whiners.

    Dylan – I can use my phone in either hand too. And it’s “a lot”, not “alot”.

  • SuperMoose

    Dylan, have you actually owned an iPhone 4, or are you just assuming that because the tech media has completely overblown an issue that a small number of people are experiencing, that the iPhone is completely unusable without a case or having to hold it in some odd way. Most iPhone owners are not experiencing the issue or are even able to replicate the issue.

    If you couldn’t hold the iPhone (without a case on it) and make calls on it, every single person with an iPhone 4 would have returned it. So far barely anyone has returned their iPhone.

  • aluisi

    Umm Sorry but Apple messed up my shipping.

    DHL
    Current Status: INTRANSIT
    Tendered on: 7/26/2010 12:00:00 AM
    Estimated Delivery Date: 08/03/2010

    07/26/2010 SHIPMENT PICKED UP MIRA LOMA, CA (that is out by Riverside, CA ohhh a good 40 or so minute drive from me I am in Orange County, CA)

    07/27/2010 IN TRANSIT CARSON, CA (Yup DHL drove the case past where I live and took it to Carson north of where i am. That is right above Long Beach, CA. a whole 20 min drive)

    So i assume now that the case is going to sit in Carson till 08/03 because that’s the delivery date. I am glad to get it before September but come on couldn’t the get a better shipping company.

  • aluisi

    Ohh now I am mad I just missed this. Apple dropped off my case at a US postal service place. They sent it out to MIRA LOMA, CA to DHL

    Your shipment was accepted/picked up at 12:54 PM on July 27, 2010 in SANTA ANA, CA 92799\

    Santa Ana, CA is literally down the street from where I live. So the case came from down the street from my house. Why could they have let us pick them up from the apple store.

  • Dan

    I’m in the UK and I ordered on sat and got it this morning.

  • Jed

    Never had a problem with my iPhone 4, just a bunch of people whinging at Apple because that is what they like to do IMHO! Apple responded well and are giving free cases to everyone, regardless of whether you whinge or not! Don’t see the other phone manufacturers doing the same thing, even though their phones have exactly the same issues!

  • IcyFog

    I received my refund last week for the bumper I purchased.

  • Forest

    Aluisi,

    All shipping companies operate a number of different types of facilities. Sort facilities, service centers, hubs, etc. It was picked up by a courier who works from a service center, because it is not far enough away to be flown through DHL’s hub-and-spoke network to a hub, it is trucked to the nearest sort facility, then will either go to the correct service center for your area or (more likely in this situation, since it is likely being shipped as Global Mail) it will be turned over to the USPS for final delivery.

    Shipping companies can’t staff every point in their network for every function of the shipping process, it is too costly, none of them do this.

  • solar

    My wife hates her iphone 4 I love my iphone 4. Hers drops every call mine has never dropped a single call. Go figure.

  • Forest

    Also, Leander… Check your email for some possibly urgent info!!!

    Forest

  • dd

    Add me to the anecdotal evidence that the antenna issue is a NON-issue. Just picked mine up today. Put it in the death grip (yes, I made sure it was done correctly) and had it in that group for over 4 minutes. Bars went down… and up… and down. Call quality never deteriorated and obviously never dropped. I know I’m just 1 person but we, with working phones, really aren’t liars. Still, I’ll take a free case because naked $300 phones make me nervous.

  • John B

    I called to change my order from the Belkin Clear Case to the Black Bumper so I could receive my case sooner. Apple showed the bumper would come after the Belkin case, so he left both cases on my order. Let’s see which comes first!

  • Liarto

    Placed order on Friday delivered on tuesday very impressed seeming te demand for them! Never experienced the problem myself but a free case is a free case :)

    Also from uk. Well done apple on your swift damage control.

  • Sactown News

    Mine was scheduled to be delivere on Aug 3rd as well. It actually arrived two days ago. I am very pleased with the way Apple is handling this!

    Smartphones have had reception issues since I had an HP, 10 years ago.

  • Rich

    Ordered July 25, estimated delivery Sept. 2.

  • firesign3000

    Dylan – Troll fail. Try not just parroting other Android fanboys.

  • Sam

    My Griffin case isn’t shipping until September 21st. Damn.

    On the plus side, I don’t have any reception issues with my iphone 4, and I managed to cram it into a soft case for my old 3G, so it’s not a big deal.

    And to Dylan: You’re on Sprint. Not Verizon. Not AT&T. Not even T-Mobile. Good luck even finding a location with service.

  • Gazoobee

    Geez, now you’ve managed to generate three stories out of this total NON-ISSUE of the ship dates for cases. A quoted time of 3-4 weeks for an Apple case, and 4-6 weeks for a third party case is not a crisis or even unusual. In fact it’s shorter than the average time of pretty much anything you order off the Internet.

    But hey, don’t let that stop you from manufacturing a completely bogus story and then building on it week after week. Were not really interested in the facts, we just come here for outrageous remarks and other entertainments. We actually like to give you page hits for publishing stories that make no sense and fooling us into reading them.

    Keep up the good work guys! Those advertising dollars are what’s important after all.

  • Ferd

    Amen to Gazoobee. Kahney, Brownlee and Co. are only good for sensational headlines. They don’t even discuss Mac stuff anymore.

  • http://www.mjweber.com Michael J. Weber

    But I want an orange bumper!

  • Shane

    I got my free bumper yesterday.

  • Rich

    I’ve had my IPhone4 for a week and am ready to send it back. Drops half the calls I make/receive everyday. Time to go back to my 3GS again.