Because when I tried to CANCEL my order and order the "shipping in 1-3 business days" units they had, I couldn't do so. Then they went out of stock, leaving me waiting longer for something I ordered a day before many others. Especially when CS tells me its likely an ordering system issue where it told me 30 days so it won't allocate me a unit until next month (though frankly that seems odd).
Why didn't you just order the 1-3 business day one in addition to the 30 business day one, then cancel the 30 business day one once the order was processed? That is what I did. Remember, Apple doesn't charge your credit card until the item ships.
Btw, did you return your base mini yet?
I'm not expecting them to magically make find me a unit, but their "Sorry, its the computers fault!" reply twice now is annoying. Amazon gave me free next-day shipping when I ordered something that said "In Stock" but they had less than they expected so when stock arrived I got it next day. At least some kind of token "sorry about this" goes a long way.
Maybe it is semantics, but Apple never said the mac mini was ready to ship. They stated clearly it would take 30 business days for the mini to ship. So you ordered knowing that. You even stated in a previous post:
30 day shipping time is r-o-u-g-h though. Long wait ahead if it's true... Though I don't see why they would put them up for order if they are a month away?
If it really does take 30 business days, you knew that from the onset. If it takes less (which it hopefully should for you), you end up happy that it only takes a few business days to ship. But you knew it might take 30 business days. It wasn't like Apple left that info from the order only to be cryptic and send you an email after the order was placed.
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Well usually the item drops off the list really fast. You can't order and wait 30 business days. Very rare for this to happen. As for bad service if you used a gift card that is now frozen if you cancel you are screwed and waiting 30 business days with frozen funds is tough to do.
I buy many minis and to be able to buy and wait 30 business days has happened on refurbs 2 or 3 out of 100 times. MY guess is they had a glitch due to the date change 2012 to 2013. I could look at my old orders but I would be willing to say this happened to me 2011 dec to 2012 Jan.
This stopped the mini from dropping off the list and just reading out of stock.
see here is a refurb and it is just out of stock you can not order it and wait 30 days to get it. BTW I would buy 2 of these right now if I could. This is still a good htpc and a dvr with eye tv.
Sure you can wait 30 days. That is nothing new for Apple. When inventory is low and demand is high, Apple always has long wait out periods. Look at the new 27" iMac. All it says for shipping is January. Even the iPhone's and iPad's have had shipping estimates of 2,3,4 weeks when first released and inventory was low and there was a high demand. That is nothing new.
If Apple placed the refurb '12 mini i7 on the refurb section with "coming soon" people would start complaining about not knowing when they could order or not having the opportunity to order. People are able to complain about anything.
Apple was clear regarding the estimated shipping time. If you weren't happy with the timing, or couldn't wait that long, you didn't need to buy it. Apple didn't force you.