UK shipments for the OnePlus 3 have been delayed for almost two weeks, and the OnePlus company has replied with vouchers as compensation.
The OnePlus 3's launch has suffered a few hiccups along the way, including RAM and display issues, as well as misleading marketing branding, but the company seems to be making up for most of it sufficiently.
The reason for the delays has been attributed to "schedule misalignment" for the accessories and "slight output delays" for the smartphone itself, according to David Sanmartin, head of marketing at OnePlus for Europe.
While the company doesn’t exactly state this speculation, the delays may also be caused by the recent Brexit results, wherein trade agreements between the EU and the UK, and effectively, OnePlus and its suppliers, may have been affected as well.
In his recent post on the OnePlus forums, Sanmartin announced that people who preordered accessories for their OnePlus 3 handsets will have these orders canceled and refunded instead to avoid any further complications.
To compensate for the cancellations, the company will be sending out £8/10€ ($10.73) vouchers to affected customers, who can then use these coupons for future orders from the company. OnePlus will also be waiving these customers' minimum purchase requirements so they can qualify for free shipments, especially if they wish to purchase the necessary accessories for their OnePlus 3 after such items have been restocked by the company.
As for people who have been waiting for their own OnePlus 3 handsets, the company promises that all orders made before June 28 should be "fulfilled and shipped by Thursday."
There was, however, a slight confusion regarding when this supposed "Thursday" would take place. In one statement, Sanmartin specifically writes that "all outstanding orders will be dispatched mid-next week," meaning July 7, but a later update says that: "Orders will be dispatched tomorrow in the morning and afternoon. Last ones on Thursday," although we're not sure if he means Thursday of this week.
In one scenario, shipments will be delivered in batches across the coming days, which should end by Thursday of next week while in the second, all shipments will end by Thursday this week. Simply put, the first few updates were a bit too vague, as those failed to specify exact dates.
In any case, further updates on the post (dated June 29) detail that "all outstanding orders have been packaged" and have been delivered on the same day while others will be delivered on the morning of June 30, Thursday. Looks like it was the Thursday this week, after all.
Affected customers will also receive an online voucher for £16/20€ ($21.45), which will be sent to their email, along with free shipping privileges on their next order. All vouchers sent out by the company can be claimed on the company's website.
Those who received the wrong vouchers (or received none at all) and do not have their orders dispatched yet may fill out this form to notify the company. OnePlus also adds that the form should only be filled out once.
UPDATE: OnePlus explains that those who didn't receive their coupons either got the emails lost to the interwebs and or had it in their spam folders all this time. For those who received the incorrect coupon, another £8/10€ ($10.73) voucher will be sent to these customers, though, the company warns that these coupons cannot be used for the same purchase. Those who filled up the forms will get updates from the company in an email by June 30.
Lastly, those who have been receiving an "OOS pre-fix" in the "High-five" emails the company sent to customers will have these clarified on June 30 as well if whether "this means you are getting refunded for the accessories out of stock or if those are being dispatched later."
Meanwhile, here is the UK's reception of the OnePlus 3's "popup" launch in London:
