The launch week for the HTC Vive (our full review here) could have been better. Even before the first units arrived, some customers had to deal with processing issues, and HTC also had to handle shipping and communicating with customers. But it seems that most of the problems were resolved.
The shipping issues started as early as Monday, the day before the Vive’s launch. Some users paid for express shipping on their Vive, but they received economy shipping, which meant it took longer for the Vive to reach their front door. HTC apologized for the mishap and said it will refund the shipping costs to affected customers within five to 10 days of the shipment.
There were also some issues with communication. HTC Vive “channels,” one of which is its Twitter page, had some conflicting statements when compared to HTC Care, the company’s support center. However, the problem seems to be resolved, and HTC Care and the HTC Vive social media channels are all on the same page now.
The company also set up a page to answer the most pressing issues from customers. This includes topics such as when users can expect the bundles, as well as the expected delivery date.
HTC said that each customer’s Vive will be shipped “in the month noted in your order confirmation email.” Other than that, the exact date is unknown. This is due to the company’s “first in, first out” policy for fulfilling orders, which means that there’s a digital queue of sorts based on when you placed your order. However, this policy didn’t start off smoothly.
“There were a small number of orders at the beginning of April that were processed out of sequential order,” the company said. “However, we have corrected the situation, and all future shipments will be sent in the order in which they were received.”
With that problem out of the way, HTC reported that its order fulfillment process is on time and without delays, and customers can check their confirmation emails for the expected arrival date.
Still, the HTC Vive’s launch was rocky, to say the least. Even though most of the issues were resolved, it’s not exactly the best image for a company that’s been touting its revolutionary product for the past year. Nevertheless, boxes of HTC Vives are finally headed out of the door and on the way to their new owners.
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