Is The Mailbox Reservation System Backfiring?

Jeff Weisbein -

Mailbox, the brand new email app for iOS, that some say will be revolutionizing the way you use email is currently experiencing some backlash on Twitter over its reservation system.  In order to accomodate the huge demand for the app, which has received a lot of praise and hype from many tech publications and tech influencers, the company setup a reservation system that people could signup for on a first come, first serve basis.

The way the reservation system works is simple, depending upon when you reserved your spot, affects when you get to actually use the app.  You reserve your spot “in line” with your iPhone’s phone number, it texts you a reservation number and private code that you have to enter upon installing the app on your iPhone.  The app then tells you where you stand in line, such as how many people are in front of you and how many people are behind you.  And then you wait, and wait, and wait…

So far the demand has been huge, there approximately 600,000 people still in line, waiting to be able to start using the app.  While the reservation system at first seemed like a really good idea to ensure the experience with the app was smooth and pain-free, it seems many people are starting to get a little frustrated with how long it’s taking to actually get to the front of the line and be able to actually starting the app.

Tweets such as the one below are starting to appear, as more people start taking to Twitter to share their frustrations. A simple search of “deleted mailbox” right now appears to bring up a handful of tweets from people who have deleted the app over the wait time. Will this trend continue? We’ll keep an eye on it.

 

One thing I noticed while searching Twitter was people wondering if people who have deleted the app still have their spot in line reserved? That’s a good question. We’ve reached out to Mailbox and will let you know when/if we hear back about that.

Additionally, we were lucky enough to get into Mailbox the other day and have a full review of the app.

Update: We’ve heard back from Mailbox, and they have told BestTechie that, “as long as iCloud is enabled, they won’t lose their place in line if they delete the app.” So there’s the answer to that, if you use iCloud and delete the app, you still reserve your spot in line which means others will not be moved up.