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Motorola CEO apologizes for failed Cyber Monday promotion

Motorola CEO apologizes for failed Cyber Monday promotion

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dennis woodside stock
dennis woodside stock

After Motorola's $349 Moto X offer devolved into a public relations disaster on Cyber Monday, CEO Dennis Woodside has issued a formal apology to disappointed consumers everywhere. "We owe you an apology," reads the note posted at Motorola's official blog. "I want you to understand what happened, and what we are doing to rectify the situation." According to Woodside, Motorola badly misjudged demand for the discounted Moto X, which wound up being "far greater than we expected." The mistakes piled up from there, as Woodside says his company failed to adequately test Moto Maker before the offer went live. "Testing failed to reveal weaknesses caused by large volumes of concurrent orders flowing through the Moto Maker customization engine."

A massive spike in traffic and web orders quickly led to Moto Maker going down for the count. "We couldn’t fulfill orders. The site became unstable." Woodside notes that "some orders were filled" — likely referring to Developer Edition Moto X handsets that the company managed to successfully sell – but admits "many customers tried all day to place their orders, unsuccessfully."

Two more chances to buy Moto X for $349

Thankfully Motorola seems to have found a solution for the issues that plagued it yesterday, and is preparing to relaunch the $349 promotion for two days. As the company promised last night, the offer will run Wednesday, December 4th beginning at 12PM EST, and again on Monday, December 9th. "We will double the quantity of phones available, while supplies last, to allow as many people as possible to take advantage of the promotion," Woodside says. So if you didn't give up hope on a cheap off-contract Moto X, you'll have two more chances to get the Android flagship (and have it personalized to your liking). Woodside is also pledging that Motorola will do a better job keeping customers up to speed when problems like this occur.