USA GetOlympus Website Closed for 3 Weeks over Christmas Holiday

[SpecFoto]

Below is a copy of what started appearing on the GetOlympus dot com website. Site will be down for "maintenance" for 3 weeks. Must be some big changes coming to the website because of the JIP takeover.

"Need a new camera or lens by Christmas? Place your order by Sunday, December 13.
Due to planned site maintenance, GetOlympus.com will not be accepting orders from December 14, 2020 through January 3, 2021.
SHOP HOLIDAY DEALS NOW or save at your preferred Olympus retailer during the maintenance period.
Orders on GetOlympus.com will resume January 4, 2021."

 

[PhotoCal]

I don't think anyone should be surprised.

 

[John M Flores]

Timing is bad, especially since people ordering for the holidays won't have a place to direct, "Where is my package?!" questions. But there's a lot to do switching over to JIP - domain name change, rebranding/rebuilding of website, re-engineering of back end order processing, inventory management, etc...

 

[elwappo99]

I don't think anyone should be surprised.

I'm surprised.

I'd think you'd want to wait until the day before Christmas or so and grab any last minute shoppers who are using the free 2-day shipping. December 14th is like 2 business weeks before Christmas. Maybe someone ran the numbers and decided it was more important for the JIP takeover during that time.

 

[RAH]

I'm a little surprised because earlier folks were saying that Olympus often gives stock to their retailers before selling it from their own site, but that had seemed to be reversed when folks were saying very recently that Oly supplies of the 100-400 were showing up on the Oly store but NOT at B&H and people were cancelling B&H orders and ordering from Oly. Now, things are switching back, so that surprises me some. I don't mean that B&H is now apt to get the 100-400 (who knows?) but Oly cannot sell it when they are closed. I have a feeling that no one will have the 100-400 at least in the USA till after the holidays. Hope I'm wrong - I still have an order in at B&H.

 

[SpecFoto]

@RAH My order for the Oly 100-400mm lens was placed last Thursday at Get Olympus because B&H couldn't give a date for the lens to be in stock, and Amazon did not list it yet. Get Olympus said it would ship mid-December. On Sunday Amazon listed the lens in stock and could ship to be in my hands this week! I called Get Olympus this morning and they told me that the mid December ship date was still in effect, most likely shipping mid next week. I cancelled the order and reordered with Amazon, where I had a good size credit I wanted to use anyway. Don't know about B&H, but both of these others can get you the lens pretty quick, certainly before Christmas, if you act right away.

 

[PhotoCal]

I'm surprised.

I'd think you'd want to wait until the day before Christmas or so and grab any last minute shoppers who are using the free 2-day shipping. December 14th is like 2 business weeks before Christmas. Maybe someone ran the numbers and decided it was more important for the JIP takeover during that time.

Have you never seen video of people fighting over Cabbage Patch dolls?

Deadlines motivate people to act.
It's why infomercials pretend that there is a limited time on deals.

In this case, the deadline has moved up so it will likely motivate people to act sooner (and that pressure will lead to consumers buying more than they would normally).

Legally, there could be financial penalties for any foot dragging as part of the takeover.

Beside, Christmas is an manmade holiday. If you celebrate it at a different time that's fine.
There's no wiggleroom for well-crafted contracts.

 

[RichardC]

Luxury.

Anyone running a retail website will be well aware of the incoming aggravation around Christmas time. If you sell high ticket gifts, it's much worse.

If I could afford it, I would gladly close my websites down for two weeks over Christmas. It's the season of goodwill to all men, and rather a lot of hassle - requiring a close eye on the postal system performance and a willingness to micro-manage customer expectations. But closing isn't a real option. Two thirds of my customers are repeat orders. It doesn't matter how many tracked or express postage options I offer, or warnings about seasonal postal delays, people still order a week prior to Christmas by second class mail and then leave it until Christmas Eve to phone and beg for assistance.

I imagine that the handover of responsibility for GetOlympus's customer base has come at the worst possible time. However, they've not got that many lines to manage so there must be a lot of upheaval behind the scenes for them to just close. Are they directly owned by Olympus or are they an independent business under Olympus's banner?

 

[Jeffp3456]

@RAH My order for the Oly 100-400mm lens was placed last Thursday at Get Olympus because B&H couldn't give a date for the lens to be in stock, and Amazon did not list it yet. Get Olympus said it would ship mid-December. On Sunday Amazon listed the lens in stock and could ship to be in my hands this week! I called Get Olympus this morning and they told me that the mid December ship date was still in effect, most likely shipping mid next week. I cancelled the order and reordered with Amazon, where I had a good size credit I wanted to use anyway. Don't know about B&H, but both of these others can get you the lens pretty quick, certainly before Christmas, if you act right away.

I ordered a few weeks ago from Amazon and they are telling me Dec 16th for a ship date. BH still out of stock.

 

[whereSs]

hmmm wonder how they'll honor returns on the kit that they sold that can supposedly be returned within 30 days of delivery...

 

[SpecFoto]

I ordered a few weeks ago from Amazon and they are telling me Dec 16th for a ship date. BH still out of stock.

On Saturday morning I checked and Amazon had still not listed the lens for sale, so they must have gotten stock, or notice of, late Saturday or Sunday.

Just checked Amazon now and new orders can be delivered on Monday the 14th. This morning I could have gotten it by Wednesday the 9th if I was a Prime member, but this Friday was fine and the shipping was free.

@whereSs, If you mean Amazon they have extended return policy during the holidays, anything bought in Nov or Dec can be returned until Jan 31.

 

[MetilHed]

...

@whereSs, If you mean Amazon they have extended return policy during the holidays, anything bought in Nov or Dec can be returned until Jan 31.

I'm guessing he means Olympus, whose as mentioned above, website will be down for 3 weeks? And not wondering about how Amazon will be handling returns.

 

[whereSs]

I'm guessing he means Olympus, whose as mentioned above, website will be down for 3 weeks? And not wondering about how Amazon will be handling returns.

yeah, I mean Oly... I bit on one of the renewed deals, but that's also in part because I haven't been able to go to any camera stores to try in person

 

[PhotoCal]

I'm betting there are people who would use the Olympus website who have no idea about the upcoming transfer.

Think about it:
The last time you bought something (online or in person) did you scour the company's website for news releases and corporate info?

I hope the Learn Center stays active beyond January. That is such a good resource.

 

[ac12]

Timing is bad, especially since people ordering for the holidays won't have a place to direct, "Where is my package?!" questions. But there's a lot to do switching over to JIP - domain name change, rebranding/rebuilding of website, re-engineering of back end order processing, inventory management, etc...

That would be BAD planning.
I have been involved with major computer system conversions, and it does not take three weeks to do a system change.

You can do a LOT of stuff without bringing down the site.
The JIP site can be built and tested off-line, static data preloaded, then final data transferred over at the last hours/day.

The complication is that this is going from Olympus to JIP, so not as easy as doing it within the same company.

So there is something else going on.

 

[SpecFoto]

That would be BAD planning.
I have been involved with major computer system conversions, and it does not take three weeks to do a system change.
You can do a LOT of stuff without bringing down the site.
The JIP site can be built and tested off-line, static data preloaded, then final data transferred over at the last hours/day.
The complication is that this is going from Olympus to JIP, so not as easy as doing it within the same company.
So there is something else going on.

Keep in mind there are 79 different websites Olympus Global has worldwide between Asia Pacific-the Americas-Europe, Middle East and Africa. Many different languages and regulations to adhere to. We don't know how many markets JIP is going to sell in but I don't think JIP has huge teams working on this, in my mind 3 weeks is probably optimistic.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Will it even be “get Olympus” when the website comes back? I bet it’ll auto direct us to whatever the new site is. Hopefully more creative than “get jip“.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

But there's a lot to do switching over to JIP - domain name change, rebranding/rebuilding of website, re-engineering of back end order processing, inventory management, etc...

A lot of that would've already been done and just waiting the cutover/go live date though.

I love speculation like this. We have next to no background information here.

For all we know, sales might have been slow this year, more as a result of economic downturn rather than anything to do with JIP rumours and Olympus decided it was more effecient to close down for the period.

 

[Angus Gibbins]

Keep in mind there are 79 different websites Olympus Global has worldwide between Asia Pacific-the Americas-Europe, Middle East and Africa. Many different languages and regulations to adhere to. We don't know how many markets JIP is going to sell in but I don't think JIP has huge teams working on this, in my mind 3 weeks is probably optimistic.

That's small fry, with proper planning and project management you could do the cutover over a weekend.

 

[John M Flores]

A lot of that would've already been done and just waiting the cutover/go live date though.

I love speculation like this. We have next to no background information here.

For all we know, sales might have been slow this year, more as a result of economic downturn rather than anything to do with JIP rumours and Olympus decided it was more effecient to close down for the period.

Deal was announced late September, giving the JIP about three months to make the changeover. Depending upon the size of their team, they could be working right up to Dec 31 to get things done. According to the deal, they may need a full content review to excise the word Olympus from all the product photography and text. And they may not bring over any of the current website anyway, choosing instead to build a new website from scratch on whatever platform they are using for VAIO. Time flies when you're developers are sitting on their hands waiting for content reviews and legal reviews.

As I've said elsewhere, the Olympus early cutoff may as much to do with Olympus not wanting to be dealing with returns, missing orders, and other customer service issues past Dec 31.