The invite-based sale model of smartphones has never been a popular one, and there is good reason why. Even after OnePlus said that its invite system for the OnePlus 2 is ‘improved’, it doesn’t look like its sitting too well with many customers. One such person, Jake Cooper, had queued up for OnePlus 2, at a waitlist rank of 9,000. A few days later, he found himself at waitlist 70,000, pegged back because of OnePlus’ way of rewarding waitlisted customers who send out referrals.
Cooper, knowing how internet systems work, sent out referral mails to disposable mail IDs, and used Python and cache busters to speed past more than almost 50,000 people, reaching a rank of 1,694. Cooper had tweeted to OnePlus stating his situation, and the entire incident. With OnePlus not responding to him, he decided to make his story public. Cooper has stated in his blog that he is an ardent fan of OnePlus, and an existing user of OnePlus’ previous flagship, the OnePlus One. Despite being a long time user and also having participated in promotional contests and giveaways, his refusal to spam inboxes of his contacts with OnePlus referrals highlights an aspect of a flawed invite system, which might become a serious deterrent in buying cellphones in future.
The next-generation ‘flagship killer’ OnePlus 2 was launched on June 28, with a short VR program and launch events across its markets. Among the number of upgrades OnePlus has provided to OnePlus 2, one of them, notably, was the invite system. OnePlus seemed to adopt a loyalty-based framework for rolling out the very first invites, giving preference to “early patronizers” and active participants of OnePlus forum discussions. The new reservation list was also stated to have a first-come-first-serve basis of operation, meaning that customers will be prioritized based on how early they sign up for the product irrespective of sending referrals out to friends and colleagues.
With Cooper’s story coming out in the open, we cannot help wondering how many prospective customers, who aren’t as adept as him, are being pushed down the queue because of the referral system. He has also stated that he will bring his post down if OnePlus asks him to. Until then, it stays live. Thanks, Cooper, for sharing this!