Apple UK are SOOOOO poor.

[jacobj]

Does anyone else get really pissed off with Apple's delivery times.

I ordered my 4th gen iPod on the 19th July. I phoned Apple today to get a delviery date estimate and they tell me that it should be either Friday this week or Monday next. That's 19-22 days for a bloody iPod that I order 10 mins after it was made available.

What really pisses me off is that for days it said that it was being transported by TNT Express which would imply that the delivery would be quick. When I phoned TNT they informed me, in defence of themselves, that Apple actually ship via another company from Taiwan to Luxembourg, it is then taken over by Kuehne & Nagel who will deliver it to Holland and it will then be shipped to the UK by TNT Express..

What really gets my goat is that there appears to have been no iPods in the European delivery hub in the Netherlands. Typical of bloody Apple to ensure that the USA has them in the shops on the day and the poor bloddy Europeans don't get them until they can ship them from Taiwan. In other words, when ordering from the States you are generally ordering from a stock held in the USA and if the stock runs out your order is passed on to Taiwan. If you order from Europe, well tough, you'll have to join the GLOBAL queue.

 

[brap]

I should think they're quite rich, actually. Especially after the after-tax price increases we see over our American friends...

 

[billtanderson]

I've given up even looking at the order status on things I order from Apple UK, once it says something has shipped it can be weeks before delivery.

If I need something quick I'll get it from Cancom or MicroAnvika - luckily I have both in Croydon, or order it from the USA (haven't actually ordered Apple stuff from USA, but plenty of other things).

Lots of companies in the UK do not seem to provide good delivery services (I mainly blame TNT & SMS who I have a lot of bad feeling for after many undelivered items and wasted trips to hidden depots in the middle of nowhere.

Sorry for the rant.

I hope you have luck with getting the iPod soon.

 

[jacobj]

We need more UK residents to post their grievances here and then I can forward the URL to Apple. The principle of quality of service seems to be directly proportional to the size of the revenue generated.

Do Apple believe that because, in Europe, service is of a generally low quality that they can do this also.

I used to work in London for a v. large investment house where quality was everything. The principle was adhered to regardless of which market they traded in and they expanded into new markets faster than any of their other US counterparts...

Apple, pay attention... if you lead by example then you get the market and you only have to maintain it rather than fight for it... surely the iPod is an example...

 

[Solafaa]

Thats the problem i face with apple, everything i want i have to order from the US. There is an apple re-seller beside me but they often take more time to order stuff when if i would have dont it and they take extra money for there self.

Apple should atleast open or give investors a chance to open apple stores in major citys. There main point to this is that there are not enough customers in "that" area and the reason for that is because there are no sellers there and if there were they are CR4P.

 

[kerb]

i ordered an iPod yesterday

it will ship on or before wednesday then take 3-7 days to get to me apparently.

 

[kerb]

ahhh here we go



Dear Apple Store Customer,

Thank you for shopping at the Apple Store.

The demand for the product you ordered has been higher than anticipated.
We are shipping as quickly as possible, but cannot meet the ship date we previously
estimated for you. We now expect to ship your order by August 6th, 2004.

Your business is very important to us, and we apologise for any inconvenience
that this change may cause.

Once your order has dispatched, you will receive a Shipment Notification email, which
will enable you to track your order.

Answers to many post-sales questions can be found at the Apple Store Customer
Service website: http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/help/uk/consumer

Kind regards,

The Apple Store Team

 

[Brize]

The product availability issue is frustrating enough, but the shipping times are often excessive as well. I ordered a G5 together with a pack of DVD-Rs, and the G5 was shipped to Holland to merge with the DVDs before being flown to the UK. The whole process took about seven days in total. When I wrote to complain, I was told that the G5 would have shipped directly were it not for the additional item. The environmental impact of unnecessary shipments on that scale must be quite substantial. I would quite happily have waited on the DVDs had the G5 shipped directly from Cork, especially as it would have arrived sooner.

I also ordered a PowerBook on 23rd July, which shipped on the 28th. As of today, it still hasn’t arrived. It was shipped from Taiwan to Luxembourg, and will shortly be shipped from Luxembourg to Holland before leaving for the UK. I estimate that the total shipping time will be 9 days from notification. I should also mention that there are no extra items on this order. As such, there is no reason why it couldn't have shipped directly from Taiwan to the UK.

In addition, the tracking numbers that Apple provide are useless. I've phoned TNT a few times now and given them tracking numbers from Apple's site but they can’t use them to track parcels, as they often apply to earlier shipments in the chain.

Apple really should sort out their European shipments. They need to ship directly where possible, in order to minimise environmental impact and provide customers with shorter delivery times. If this isn't possible for any reason, they should only send shipping notifications once the package is with the final carrier, and include tracking numbers that can actually be used by the customer to track the package!

Grrrr.

 

[jamesduk]

I, like Brize, have just ordered a Powerbook. It shipped on July 26th and still hasn't arrived.

I spoke to Apple this evening and was told I should have it by Tuesday / Wednesday. It's been such a frustrating wait.

 

[sparks9]

Well the product has just been released, and it's in high demand. I'm sure if you waited a month or so the delivery would be much faster.

One of the 2 largest electronics chains here in Denmark is selling iPods/Mac stuff so I just bought mine there (2G, not 4G)...

 

[jacobj]

Well the product has just been released, and it's in high demand. I'm sure if you waited a month or so the delivery would be much faster.

One of the 2 largest electronics chains here in Denmark is selling iPods/Mac stuff so I just bought mine there (2G, not 4G)...

If you browse postings on this site you will notice a trend. Those that live in the US received the orders in 2-3 days and those in Europe wait 2-3 weeks.

There is no excuse for this. To add to my earlier post, when TNT finally did receive my iPod, Apple had failed to attach key paperwork which delayed my order further. When my iPod finally arrived on the 6th of August (19
days after ordering) I cancelled my order and sent it back. I refuse to be treated as a second class customer because I am not part of the biggest market.

 

[mpw]

If you browse postings on this site you will notice a trend. Those that live in the US received the orders in 2-3 days and those in Europe wait 2-3 weeks.

There is no excuse for this. To add to my earlier post, when TNT finally did receive my iPod, Apple had failed to attach key paperwork which delayed my order further. When my iPod finally arrived on the 6th of August (19
days after ordering) I cancelled my order and sent it back. I refuse to be treated as a second class customer because I am not part of the biggest market.

I fully appreciate your not wanting to be treated like a second class customer but I assume the reason you sent the iPod back was because you’d already sourced an iPod quicker from elsewhere rather than any principles. I read your post reviewing the 4th generation iPod you’d received prior to the 6th in another thread.

Nice to know there are at least two Mac users in Jersey.

 

[jacobj]

I fully appreciate your not wanting to be treated like a second class customer but I assume the reason you sent the iPod back was because you’d already sourced an iPod quicker from elsewhere rather than any principles. I read your post reviewing the 4th generation iPod you’d received prior to the 6th in another thread.

Nice to know there are at least two Mac users in Jersey.

I did source it from somewhere else. TNT estimated a delivery date of the 14th so I went somewhere else. When I arrived back at work it was sitting on my desk. I decided that I would rather reward the local store than Apple and so phoned Apple to take it back. I now have every intention of sourcing products from stores other than Apple. I admit that I am still buying apple products, but I hate the idea of that little extra profit margin going to them.

I have, on a few occassions felt like switching to a MS PC, because Apple annoy me frequently. If I could find a 3rd way I would

 

[Abstract]

If you browse postings on this site you will notice a trend. Those that live in the US received the orders in 2-3 days and those in Europe wait 2-3 weeks.

Even Canada gets their Apple stuff a bit slower, and we're right beside them!!

Since we're all paying more than US customers do for their products, you'd think that they would treat us a bit nicer. And Global queue is right. I hate that. Why not just have everyone on the same queue? All the iPods are coming from the same 2 places, anyway.

 

[satty]

Apple's Customer Relationship

ahhh here we go

Dear Apple Store Customer,

The demand for the product you ordered has been higher than anticipated.
We are shipping as quickly as possible, but cannot meet the ship date we previously
estimated for you. We now expect to ship your order by August 6th, 2004.

...

Thank you for shopping at the Apple Store.

I ordered an iPod mini on 07.07.2004 and as shipping date the 26.07.2004 was given. On the 27.07.2004 I got the mail above telling me that they would ship on the 06.08.2004 and on the 05.08.2004 they tell me it will be 09.08.2004 - hopefully.

All in all I am pretty much at the end with Apple UK...

First (about half a year ago) they didn't fix a crack caused by opening and closing the display of my Powerbook; not even with Apple Care (good question for what you pay those additional 270 £). Then the technicans - actually, I don't think they have experienced technicians in Holland, where they send the Powerbook to - failed to spot a short in my power cable and they did send me two new power adapters. I did send the old and one new power adaptor back and to my big surprise Apple charged my credit card - without informing me, like a bunch of "criminals" - for the two power adaptors. I had to complain for weeks to get the money back and then the amount was over 10 £ short. So another couple of complaint eMails, more promises and I didn't see the money so far.

You might expect something like that, if you trade with dodgy people on eBay, but definitely not when dealing with a company that has - according to American polls - the best computer customer service. So I assume the polls are simply a joke or every Mac User outside the US is as mentioned before only 2nd Class for Apple.

satty

 

[evil_santa]

I have only had 3 items from the apple store, 2 refurb ipod & final cut express trade in, the first ipod was sent by post (not recorded with ipod sticker on the box)! & final cut express was deliverd quite promptly, but TNT would only deliver mon-fri & the Heathrow TNT office is not open on a staturday, I would have thought that if any TNT office is open on a saturday it would be the heathrow one. I had to take the morning off work to go get package. To wind me up even more TNT kept leaving phone messages on my phone telling me that i had not picked up the package!!!!! The second refurb ipod got delivered by TNT on a saturday morning at 8.30am!!!! much to my suprise, I think this was because it was the saturday before xmas, so my wife got her present on time!

I usualy buy from Jigsaw24 If its instock & ordered before 4pm or is it 5pm it will be delivered the next day & i can pick up from city link office on a saturday.


My big gripe at the moment is amazon.co.uk they keep delivering by parcel force when i am expecting them to deliver by first class post. this adds about 4 day to the delivery time

 

[jacobj]

I have benefited from Apple UK's ineptitude. I ordered an Airport Express unit on the 20th July (2 weeks after a friend) and was given an estimated shipping date of 17th August. I wasn't happy about it, but then I knew the little unit would be popular so I wasn't too bothered.

On the 30 July I received an apologetic email from Apple informing me that due to the popularity of the product my original estimated shipping date could not be kept and that my new date would be 02 Aug.

And so it was and, amazingly I had it by the 5 Aug 2004. As far as I am aware, my friend is still waiting..

Should I be happy?

 

[Nermal]

Apple NZ seems to be pretty quick - I ordered a Power Mac and received it the next day. They must've had it in stock, I don't know whether iPods would be in stock.

 

[erik1975]

It sounds like everyone in the UK who had an open Apple Store order got the 'We're sorry about the delay' email. MY Powerbook was originally not supposed to ship until today, but the email came last week saying sorry, not until 06Aug now! I still have yet to get the item shipped email, but on Friday the machine arrived into Luxem. from China.

I hope to get it by Wednesday, but I doubt it.

I used to live in the States and can say that not ALL shipments arrive in 2-3 days. There is usually an options for ground, or express shipping for a higher fee.

I think we pay more for Apple products here becuase we have to pay the salaries of the 1,263 different people around the world involved in shipping our product! (none of these people being competent! except the apecode guy!)

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Same in germany,

I ordered the 4th gen iPod the day it came out and the estimated ship date is August 16th !

 

[Brize]

I think we pay more for Apple products here becuase we have to pay the salaries of the 1,263 different people around the world involved in shipping our product!

Outstanding!

 

[jacobj]

Out if interest, what is the average wait when phoning the UK and US stores.

I usually have to wait about 15mins although the record was 2 hours 38 mins trying to ascertain what was happening to an iPod I had in for repair.

 

[Mord]

ive had nothing but quick delivery my ipod got to me in 3 days from my order (this is a 3rd gen refurb) and one of my dads freinds recently ordered a 4th gen 40Gb ipod and got it 3 days latter, and on a side note my ibooks logic board was fixed promptly out on a monday and got it back on thursday, outstanding. the only thing i can think of is when i told them that one of my dads freinds is freinds with steve jobs (which he is ) when they muddled up my ipod order when they sent the last refurb one to someone elce after i told them they said they will ship me a new one at no extra cost.

the prices do piss me off but next time my freind who lives in san fransisco comes over (in september) he will be bringing me a nice 12" powerbook

 

[Claretkid]

It doesn't get better

Ordered a MacBook on 20th August, delivery 3-5 days. They took my money. They then changed the dispatch day to 4th Sept and gave a delivery date of 14th.

The Tracking numbers on the website don't work, because dispatch is actually from China to them, not from them to me.

Waited 3 weeks already, another week to go, no delivery date (or even estimate) yet and the only thing they can do is tell me to 'revisit the website' which continues to tell me nothing.

I've been a PC user for 17 years and this is my first Mac. Its probably going to be my last. I've never had such appalling serrvice in PC land (even with Time Computers!)

Seriously disgruntled, theres no excuse for it. Completely tarnishes their 'superior' image IMHO.

 

[majorp]

wow, did you resurect this exactly 2 years later on purpose or was it coincidence?