When Google first announced their new Chromecast media streaming device about a month ago, they apparently didn’t expect the device to be in such demand. After selling out almost instantly and being wiped from Best Buy shelves in a matter of hours, the device has been hard to find. However, this afternoon the Play Store stock and availability appears to be stabilizing.
After the first few days of being available the Chromecast was quickly removed from the Google Play Store, then later that week it returned with 2-3 week shipping delays, which then turned into 3-4 weeks. So basically you could order, but probably wouldn’t get it for an entire month.
Then there’s Amazon, who stated orders would be arriving in mid to late October, then retracted that statement and reported that most should ship within a few weeks. Basically, the device has been selling like hot cakes and no one can keep enough in stock.
Well, this morning the Play Store appears to finally have additional stock, as Google’s changed the shipping date from nearly a month to just a few weeks with all orders shipping by September 3rd. For those eager buyers that don’t want to fork over the extra cash on eBay, we’d recommend quickly hitting the link below and grabbing one right from Google for $35.
The Chromecast is only getting started, and many developers are hard at work improving it. Just check out the new AirCast app that was released this weekend.
VIA: Play Store
It was always available with shipping in around 2-3 weeks. But if you had a pending order and went to the chromecast page while logged into Google it would say not available. To prevent people from placing more than one order. But once your order ships when you visit the page it says its available again. You must of ordered it a couple weeks ago and it finally shipped.
And again not available in the UK, shitty Google selling policy… Good stuff but Google did not learn anything in the past…
Ordered a chromecast on the play store about 3 weeks ago along with a new Nexus7. Nexus7 said “ships by July 30”, chromecast said ships in 3-4 weeks. “Not a big deal”, I thought to myself. “I’ll have several weeks to play around with my tablet before the chromecast arrives”. Right?
July 30th came and went, August 2nd came and went and yet still no shipment notification for my Nexus7. So I call google’s support line and they tell me “oh yea, we only ship complete orders, so your Nexus7 won’t ship until we have chromecasts in stock again.” (which is stated absolutely nowhere during the purchasing process)
REALLY Google? Even though my order status explicitly says “ships by July 30th” next to the Nexus7? “Yes sir, that date is misleading, if you don’t want to wait for the entire shipment, you’re going to have to cancel your order and order them separately.” Wait, so you can’t even just separate them for me? “No sir, you have to cancel the entire order.” Which would put me at the back of the line for a Chromecast again.
Fantastic job Google.
Who runs retail that way?
Cancelled my order, stalked my Local Best Buy for a few days, and had both a Nexus7 and Chromecast in my hand 3 days later.
Love their products… can’t say anything good at all about their retail experience or customer support.