I’m packing my gadget bag for a short trip to Las Vegas to meet with some Sony product people and execs. One gadget I wish I could bring on this trip is the Mophie Juice Pack I ordered all the way back on December 4.

One of my least-favorite features of the iPhone is the battery is sealed inside and I can’t swap it out. Keeping it charged while traveling is especially challenging and I’ve given up watching movies on it because I’m paranoid I’ll drain the battery and not be able to make a call. The Mophie Juice Pack is an extended battery pack that doubles the iPhone’s runtime.

I was really excited to get a Juice Pack, but my experience with mophie has left a sour taste in my mouth and I doubt I’ll be ordering anything directly from the company again.

To start with, mophie didn’t even acknowledge my order for a week. Mophie had promised delivery by Christmas, but sent out an email on 12/4 alerting customers that they’d partnered with Apple to make the Juice Pack ‘Works With iPhone’ certified. They estimated a January delivery date.

I spoke with some mophie reps at CES 2008 and they said customers would have to wait until after MacWorld 20008 to get their hands on their Juice Packs. I still hadn’t received my Juice Pack a month later, so I emailed mophie customer service on 2/13 and received this response:

Xavier,

All mophie iPhone Juice Packs are still on Pre-Order. We apologize for the delay; we release how bad the product is needed by iPhone users. The good news is the mophie Juice Pack is the first external battery pack that Apple has approved for the iPhone. The partnership allows the Juice Pack to be “Made for iPhone”. In partnering with Apple our release date for the iPhone was unfortunately delayed. The expected release of the iPhone “Juice Pack” has been pushed to March 1st and all customer who pre orders the “Juice Pack” will be the first ones to receive they’re product.

Mophie makes some really cool iPod and iPhone accessories, but they need some help in the e-commerce department. I know the mophie folks are really excited about the whole “Made for iPhone” thing, but I think they need to focus more on customer communication and support.

When I order from other online stores I get an immediate confirmation email and prompt updates when delays are encountered. Why didn’t mophie email me immediately after it received my order? Why didn’t the company email me after it realized it would miss the January delivery date? I’m assuming the majority of customers who pre-ordered are still clueless about the “early March” deliveries.

I still want the Juice Pack and recommend others, but you should order from one of their retail partners instead of from mophie.com.

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