IP: close to losing it...

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: "Marshall Rose" <mrose () dbc mtview ca us>
To: "Dave Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Cc: "Marshall Rose" <mrose () dbc mtview ca us>
Subject: close to losing it...
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 17:35:45 -0800
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3155.0

to recap: motorola has missed three customer shipdates for their iridium phone. finally, the sales rep calls on monday 
the 21st and says it shipped on friday the 18th: "you'll have it today". the sim card shows up in a fedex letter on the 
21st, but no phone. since we are, after all, talking about a company that has missed three shipdates, the common wisdom 
says that they missed their fourth. fine. so, voicemail is left for the sales rep saying no phone has arrived.
 
to continue: the sales rep calls on tuesday the 29th and asks how the phone is working out. what phone? sales rep calls 
around and finds out that the phone was shipped, on the 18th, via some company called "bax global". bax global says 
they tried to deliver it on monday the 21st, but no one was home.
 
odd, considering that clueful shipping companies (e.g., fedex, ups, dhl) don't seem to have any problem leaving it at 
the leasing office where they can get an adult signature. even more odd considering that bax global didn't leave a note 
or call or even send a letter during the 8 days it's been sitting in their warehouse.
 
so, on the 29th, bax global says they'll deliver it on the 30th and leave it at the leasing office. on the 30th, they 
don't show. a call late on the 30th reveals that there is a $25.68 charge on the package, so they won't deliver it 
unless someone is willing to give them a check. fine, come by on the 31st and there will be a check at the leasing 
office.
 
odd, considering that they didn't mention this on the 29th.
 
so, another voicemail is left for the sales rep. having reached the sales rep in person would have been much more 
satisfying as proper manners do not allow one to vent on voicemail.
 
at this point, it is reasonable to conclude that the whole motorola iridium thing is some kind of neo-sadism for the 
early-adopter set. i just don't get it: these guys have failed to execute bigtime in the wireless arena: they lost the 
innovative mindset to nokia and qualcomm and they can't even manage to ship things without it turning into situation 
charlie-foxtrot. 
 
/mtr