What seems to be happening in the OP's case is multi-system failure due to, in this case and in others, an anomaly in the collective system; ie. that comprising the ordering and purchase, the despatch and delivery, and the post-delivery/non-arrival of the ordered product – a non-arrival of the products from Apple to customer despite limited existing system information purporting otherwise. In this case, the OP did not receive his laptops and has suffered from the consequence of insufficient post-ordering/tracking diligence and rigour and thus an exploitable and exploited system; a loophole.
If there is wilful disdain by the parties involved (other than the OP) of anything anomalous (though in this case, such non-arrival of the ordered product is clearly also occuring elsewhere and with others, so a recurring anomaly then, ripe for further understanding and prevention), or if there is a lack of professional interest, even wilful ignorance in pursuing a better understanding of where systems are failing, then it is of course all too typically human though nevertheless shameful.
Apple must at some level be aware of the partial failing of its methods in getting products to customers via courier. The courier company involved in the specific failure(s), the police (when asked to assist the individual victim of the failures), banks – all are merely supporting an existing failure of policy and practice in which sufficient investment in and commitment to a fair and appropriate resolution are lacking.
It is a bad look on all counts for these organisations and one can surely legitimately ask, when does one give up on such companies? And what does it take for such unreliability to undermine and eventually destroy an existing system. I am baffled at the lack of effort and imagination, and indeed, the actual disdain and wilful ignorance on the part of Apple in this case. The examples detailed in this thread underline how vulnerable we all are as consumers, and clearly whatever systems put in place to facilitate our modern marketplace, one in which all these companies trade, are now simply insufficient to deal with the 'anomalous' exploitation and theft that occurs.
It has been tedious to read particular posts in this thread which seem to express disbelief in or, absurdly, to blame the OP, when it really is quite simple: a guy ordered a couple of computers and ended up instead falling down the rabbithole of modern consumer practice with its inherent weaknesses and inability/unwillingness on the part of the merchants and services involved to deal with individual cases like the OPs (and others') when they go bad.
Such failures happen in modern life across the board – in the legal world, in health care and many other arenas. In the UK we are still processing the quite immoral behaviour of Fujitsu and Post Office employees, the result of which innocent subpostmasters suffered a profound miscarriage of justice, including loss of jobs, imprisonment, major health issues due to stress, loss of reputation etc. It is one of the worst such corporate occurences in the UK, and sadly confirms that if humans behave as their worse selves rather than their better selves, then one can guarantee that some poor innocents will go through hell as a result.
Returning to the OP's cause, it's time for Apple to step up on his behalf now. There are surely good people at Apple who can think different! One of them needs to do so now and help the OP out. C'mon, Apple!
