If there ever was a Cinderella story of the mobile industry, Motorola would be it. OK, maybe it hasn't quite slipped into the glass slipper, dispatched with the evil step-family and married the prince just yet. But it has — with the beloved Moto X, uber-popular Moto G and ridiculously budget-friendly Moto E — found itself back at the ball, at least. And while Motorola has had its share of dance partners, having been shuffled from Google to Lenovo, the story at least appeared to be playing out in the proper direction. But the past week or so finds Motorola flirting dangerously near midnight.

It started with the launch of the new Moto 360 smartwatch. Motorola's e-commerce platform has never been the most robust — that's putting it mildly for anyone who's ever tried to order anything on launch day — but this year it at least appeared to hold up better. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines That is, until a number of folks (myself included) received the following note from Motorola VP of E-Commerce Bjorn Kilburn, with the subject line "Sorry we're late": I am very sorry we're late delivering your customized Motorola device. We experienced technical difficulties with our ordering and shipping system. We are working hard to get your device to you as soon as possible, and we will send you an updated estimated shipping date as soon as we can. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I am grateful for your patience. And with that, the Moto 360 — some of them, anyway — hit a delay, and the horses started to turn back into mice.

A delay of a new product is one thing — abandoning others well before their time is another.