Nexus 5: How the order process works

1 November 2013, the day when Google made the Nexus 5 available to us all. However, judging by the comments on our earlier post about the Nexus 5 availability, not everyone has had the most enjoyable journey through the ordering process, so we thought we’d document what we experienced when going through the order process this morning.

Chris attempted a purchase this morning at around 6.30am, of a single Nexus 5 32GB in Black. After adding the device to the shopping cart and proceeding to the checkout, the process was super easy, however like many, the message received back from the Play Store wasn’t promising. I was advised my order hadn’t processed in time, and that the Play Store would confirm my order within fifteen minutes.

However, by around 7am, Chris still hadn’t received anything, and wasn’t sure what was going on. A quick check of Google Wallet confirmed what the Play Store order page was showing, the order was ‘Pending’, but no email had been sent or received. A quick check of the bank statement showed Google Wallet had processed an ‘authorisation’ against the credit card, but had not processed the transaction yet (meaning the funds had been pre-authorised but not actually transferred to Google yet).

Sensing something wasn’t quite right, Chris cancelled the first order and placed a second order. This time, the order processed immediately and instead of a “please wait fifteen minutes” message, an email was received shortly after confirming the order was processed, and would ship in the next few days:

Again, the credit card had been authorised, and Google Play showed the transaction as pending (shown below), but the email confirmation convinced us that everything was as it should be.

Some people are starting to receive shipment notifications today (1 November). How will you know whether your order has shipped, too? Pretty simple, you’ll receive an email advice from Google which looks something like the email below:

If you believe you’ve missed an email notification, you’ll be able to log into the Play Store (or Google Wallet) and view your order, where, if shipped, the status should have changed from Pending to Shipped. Once that status changes, you’re looking at one or two business days until your Nexus 5 arrives in hand… so for the lucky supplier of the image above, a Monday or Tuesday delivery is looking really good.

You may also know that your Nexus 5 has shipped when Google Wallet finalises its charge against your credit card, however even if they clear funds from your card today, you won’t see this until (at least) tomorrow, or more likely Monday, on your internet banking, so we don’t consider this is a really reliable indicator.

Also, bear in mind that Rob ordered early, less than ten minutes after orders opened at around 5.10am AEDT, and so those of us who ordered at a more sensible time (like after 6am, or after 7am) might be waiting a bit longer for stock to be allocated to us and shipped. Our estimates of a Wednesday/Thursday delivery next week look pretty good.

Some FAQs

Some of our commenters on our previous story noticed a few issues, and rather than reply ad-hoc in the comments there, we’ve posted a few of the more common issues here, and what we know:

It’s been more than fifteen minutes and I haven’t received an email yet.

Don’t panic. First of all, check your order in the Google Wallet and Play Store order pages, and ensure that it shows ‘Pending’ as the status, as shown above.

We’ve seen some reports of orders showing as cancelled after a fashion without email notification. As long as your order shows as Pending in those two pages, your order should have been received, and should still be okay.

Note that neither Google Wallet nor the Play Store Orders page show a confirmed shipping date. This will only come in your email.

If you haven’t received it straight away, don’t panic. We’ve heard reports that the email might come up to an hour or two after your order is placed.

What about shipping dates?

First thing this morning, the order page was showing shipping on 5 November 2013 (i.e. Tuesday next week at the time of writing). This means those first in should receive their devices towards the end of next week with shipping from Hong Kong.

Mid morning, presumably with first stock exhausted, shipping times blew out to further into November. Now, a few hours later, we’re seeing shipping dates three or four weeks away.

Unlike last year’s Nexus 4, though, the Nexus 5 hasn’t — yet — sold out. You can still order now, and you will likely receive your Nexus 5 by the end of November. This is unlikely to stay the case though, and given the hype surrounding the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4, we’re predicting a sell out before the end of the day, or certainly within the next day or two.

If you delay, you will probably miss out for awhile.

I think Google might have cancelled my order without telling me.

Again, check what Google Wallet and Play Store say; as long as your order shows as pending, you should be okay. Experience suggests that the order will remain as pending until the device ships, whether that’s on 5 November or later in the month depending on when you ordered.

You _SHOULD_ receive an email advice if your order gets cancelled for want of stock, but from what we know, there’s still sufficient stock available AT THE MOMENT to meet demand, and so instances of orders being cancelled at Google’s instigation, rather than at customer request, should be very rare.

Is there anything else you’d like us to cover or discuss about the ordering process? Let us know.