The Android-powered CherryPad was supposed to amaze us all with its amazing features and low, low price of $188. That said, folks who ordered a CherryPad probably haven’t seen it yet even though news of the device first appeared in September and most CherryPads should have shipped already. One reader, WCS, wrote us saying that he expected his pad to ship on October 15. That date rolled by and on October 20 he received a “tracking number” that tracks no existing package in the UPS, Fedex, DHL, or USPS databases. And then he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
He writes:
The Cherrypal “Support” forum (if you can call it that: replies to questions are not permitted, except by the Administrator, and it appears to actually be a polling platform) is increasingly showing posts from people who have received neither their Cherrypad nor their tracking number. In response, the Administrator claims the delay was caused by a typhoon in the Philippines and that everything is fine and users in California and Italy have received their units. Oh, and the “forum” cleverly substitutes the word “issue” when one types “scam”.
Today purchasers of the CherryPad received an email from Zecozi, CherryPal’s ecommerce provider, essentially saying “We’re not responsible but they guys at CherryPal are not scamming you.” Wrote the Zecozi rep:
I have nothing negative to say about Cherrypal as I believe their products are great and I am sure you would be happy with them once they arrive. My concern is that we are receiving many emails and calls form individuals who are not happy that they have not received their product yet and they think we are the ones who are shipping it to them. Our reputation is paramount to us and we want your experience to be the best it can be.
I have heard of no other CherryPads in the wild, at least models owned by actual purchasers. Could we have another fly-by-night deal going on here? Is it really that hard to ship a cheap OEM Android tablet from Asia?