My first real post since May, and I must confess I mostly want to kvetch about things. Specifically, Amazon. Upon traveling down to Houston the first time to handle my father’s affairs after his passing (something I don’t really want to talk about here, as I’m at heart a very private person — which has made keeping a blog with any meaningful content difficult), I found myself going hither and thither to take care of things, and handling a lot of calls/emails/web surfing on my iPhone. I’d say I used its communications functions more heavily in that first week than any other time since I bought it in January. And I discovered something I hadn’t realized before.
When you actually use your iPhone, to do, you know, things, the battery life does indeed suck. I was draining it within 8 hours of a full charge. Not great when you don’t have a car charger (more on that later). This was, quite obviously, a total pain, and seeing as I’m really starting to use the phone more and more as I continue to realize it’s potential for awesome, I decided to go ahead and pick up an external battery. As I mentioned previously, I really like the idea of an integrated case/battery pack, and right now the Mophie Juice Pack Air seems to be the best of the bunch.
I’d been holding off, though, because Mophies are expensive little things, and at the moment I’m not just dripping with disposable income. iPhone OS 3’s habit of eating the battery like a glutton at a buffet finally made me decide to drop the hammer on the purchase, though, on so on June 28 I placed an order with Amazon, which estimated a 1-3 week ship time. I wasn’t exactly thrilled having to wait a month, but considering how much money I was saving (no tax, free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime), I went with it. The local Apple Store didn’t have them in stock, either, and no one else seems to carry them that I can find.
About a month goes by, and I hear nothing, and it’s getting suspiciously close to the end of my delivery window. Then, a few days ago, I get an email from Amazon apologizing profusely and informing me there will be a delay, and asking if I would please confirm that I am okay with that. The new delivery window was August 13 2009 – September 02 2009. On their website, they now show a 1-2 month ship time.
I really wasn’t okay with that, and immediately cancelled my order. At this point I’m wondering if anyone can get their hands on one of these. I’ve been reading reviews and listening to podcasts of people who have them, so obviously there must be a way. I hadn’t wanted to do this before, because I knew it would cost me more money, but seeing as I actually want one of these things, I headed over to www.mophie.com and bought one through their online store. No sales tax, but 7+ dollars on shipping. I placed the order on July 27. It shipped July 28. I’m expecting it on Monday.
I’m not sure who to blame here, but there are obviously some supply chain problems with this product over at Amazon. I use Amazon to save money, so it’s rather irksome that I can’t get this product in a timely fashion from them, but can get it somewhere else for more money.
All that being said, if you want to save as much money as you can, there are some options. I’ve included a link to Amazon for the (very) patient, with the disclaimer that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you’re interested in the Mophie Juice Pack (a different product–bulkier, with slightly more battery and lacking the on-off switch that turns the battery on and off), here’s a list of sellers from MySimon.
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