Exclusive Offer?

[Lukalumen]

When I pre-registered on the Xperia 1 website, it said we will be the first to know when it's released and we'll get a special offer for it...

It has just yesterday been released in the UK with delivery on the 30th May... 

Why were we not informed and what about that special offer? 

[drlmiles1]

I think I know what the problem is with the delayed/absent "exclusive offer" for the Xperia 1 on the Sony UK e-store.

Sony has outsourced their e-store to a company called Brandpath Commerce Limited (listed in small print at the bottom of each e-store webpage). If you research the company, they offer e-store solutions to brands, including running campaigns. Sony are expecting them to run a promotion on this product, and Brandpath will have told Sony that they are doing so.

However (and I have some deep insider knowledge as to how this type of company runs and makes a profit) the company Brandpath may (allegedly) say the same thing to many different companies. They make their profits by making large promises to many leading companies, signing them up, but running far too small a team (so saving money=profit) to actually run all the campaigns and promotions properly. 

Sony have clearly already negotiated launch deals with varios companies (see above, and also Sky Mobile apparently have a launch offer). At the same time they will have told Brandpath to run a similar campaign. Sony UK think Brandpath are running the campaign, and this is why no-one in Sony UK has any information on the Sony UK e-store campaign. There seems no way of contacting someone (who will be quite high up in Sony UK) in Sony UK who is dealing with Brandpath to make them aware of the problems with Brandpath. They are the only person (or team) that can challenge Brandpath on their failure to deliver. 

Sony UK, Brandpath have taken your money, and are failing to deliver big time. You need to set up meetings with the Brandpath Sony e-store team to raise serious accountability issues, and arrange for robust and frequent reports on their delivery schedules.

[Jonas]

Hello everyone!

@drlmiles, The reply you received is very weird as there is a blog post about pre-orders being open for Europe (https://blogs.sonymobile.com/press_release/sonys-new-flagship-xperia-1-smartphone-available-to-pre-o...) and it even mentions the Xperia Online store, which should be the eStore (https://estore.sonymobile.com/gb).

@LukaStemberger, I'm afraid that I know more than what is available on the websites when it comes to offers/campaigns/pre-orders/release dates for markets other than the one I'm situated in, as this will always vary between markets and I was hoping that the support team for your market would have more information.

I have forwarded the case to hopefully receive some more exact information regarding the exclusive offer and I'll get back to the both of you.

[drlmiles1]

Thanks very much. Unfortunately this needs escalating high within Sony UK, to whichever team deals with Brandpath. It is Brandpath that are failing to deliver what they they have promised Sony UK. 

[Lukalumen]

Thank you, it really hurts to see Sony fail to deliver like this as I'm a big fan. Just going to Carphone Warehouse now to order it as I want to have it on the 30th.

[Jonas]

Hi again!

@drlmiles, without know the full context, I'm not sure who is at fault here. I can only apologize for how this has been handled so far and hopefully I can receive information which will clear things up.

@LukaStemberger, I fully understand that and I'm really glad to hear that some of the retailers/operators in the UK have some pretty sweet deals for the Xperia 1!

[drlmiles1]

@LukaStemberger I'm thinking of doing exactly the same

[Lukalumen]

I ordered it yesterday... 

Just my two cents... The deal I got is actually pretty good. 

I am now on Three, but they don't have Sony phones anymore?? After more than 5 years with them I had to switch networks. I went with O2 because they have free roaming all over the world, including the US, just like Three.

So for the new contract I'll pay 37£ x 24 months with 249£ upfront. That turns out to be 1137£ over 24 months.

With Three my contract came to an end, so I'm only paying 22£/month for service which turns out to be 528£ - I'd be paying this anyway.

With the deal I will also get the 1000xm3 for free which I already have lol, so I'll sell them probably getting around 250£.

So it's 1137 - 528 - 250 = 359£

That's how much I would probably get for the XZ3 if I sold it now, so it turns out I get it for free I'll probably keep the XZ3 as a backup phone though.

I hope it makes sense and it helps someone in the decision... 

[Lord_viridis]

---

@drlmiles wrote:

There is currently no guarantee that Sony have any intention of honouring an "exclusive pre-registration offer" that has yet to be defined for the UK Sonymobile store. 

Currently pre-orders are open for the Xperia 1 in the UK for :

Carphone Warehouse - contract/PAYG/SIM free - Headphones (limit of 1000)

O2 - contract only - Headphones (limit of 1000)

Vodafone - PS4 & Spiderman game

I'm actually getting so cheesed off with Sonymobile that I may not order it at all...

---

Actually, the O2 offer isn't limited to 1000, and is available on pay as you go, the headphones voucher is added to basket on checkout.

Worth also noting on O2 contract, the device plan element is only £630

[drlmiles1]

It's now 6 days until the official UK release of the Xperia 1, but there is still no sign of the "exclusive offer" on the Sony e-store. Brandpath, who run the store for Sony, have clearly promised this offer, but are completely failing to deliver, and no-one in Sony management seems to care.

I have been looking at the Carphone Warehouse offer, and may go with an EE contract through them.

It is no wonder that Sonymobile is failing so abysmally, when they cannot even manage a pre-release offer of their own flagship product

[drlmiles1]

Just read the (still present) UK pre-registration page again:

"Stay tuned with us to get the exclusive offer only for pre-registration when the product is arriving."

This actually doesn't make sense, at least to someone whose native language is english!