Awaiting my iMac and Apple Tracking

[Cams]

I ordered my 24" iMac Extreme on 2 November and have been waiting patiently, checking Apple's frankly horrendous tracking page on a daily basis and seeing no change. Then, yesterday, I got the invoice from TNT through the door. I checked the status page today and it says:

Estimated Delivery Date 21 Nov 2007 (Subject to change)
Current Delivery Status In Transit to Customer - Shipment on Schedule 22 Nov 2007

So it's quite clearly NOT on schedule. But there really is nothing else I can do to track this. Apple's tracking page shows an Order Number, Delivery Reference Number, a Carrier Tracking Number and then it says Assigned Carrier NL DISTRIBUTION CENTER -- which is mildly better than Carrier details coming soon, or whatever the exact wording was up until today.

I guess that as the invoice came from TNT that they are the carrier, but I've tried tracking via TNT's site and got nothing. It's really not a good tracking system at all. I've used other tracking systems before where it tells me that it arrived in Luxembourg (my country) and is "out for delivery". Then I know that I can't take a shower, do the vacuuming or nip out to the shop for fear of missing the buzzer. But I'm having to do all of that today without really knowing whether it's going to arrive today or not. It's very frustrating. I want a shower and the living room really could do with being vacuumed.

Just wanted to vent a little. I really did expect Apple's tracking system (or their carrier of choice's tracking system) would be far more useful. As it stands, it's utterly rubbish.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Go ahead and vent, I have one coming and its been sitting in Reno Nevada since 9am on the 20th came out of sacramento then just stopped. I recieved my wireless mouse and Applecare yesterday but as of now its still in Reno? Either they lost it or the fedx truck has a flat tire.

 

[Cams]

They updated the site and I was able to go to TNT's site with the tracking number. It says "out for delivery" - woohoo! I have to dash out for about 15 minutes to pick up my daughter - what are the chances that it will arrive while I'm out? I'm putting a note on the door to say "TNT - Back in 5 minutes - please wait if you can"

So I could be iMaccing over the weekend!

 

[BruceEBonus]

I'm putting a note on the door to say "TNT - Back in 5 minutes - please wait if you can"

Tell me about it!. Despite regularly scanning the Tracking Page - the only information I got warningwise was an Inovice email from Apple and a note on the site saying "Out For Delivery".

My missus had to go to Sainsburys that morning. Had I gone with her I'dve missed the hamfisted TNT driver who arrived ten minutes after she'd gone. He roughly handled the iPod box (luckily it survived) to my horror ... and then my 24" iMac was handed over and hurriedly signed. I told him if there was any damage what should I do?. He replied "Contact the supplier, mate". Cheers

Well - I did. Because the guys at TNT who go round each box methodically with a toffee hammer - checking for LACK of damage had done their jobs well. They managed to bash one corner of the otherwise immaculate outer brown box which had transferred the force to the inner retail one and cracked the polystyrene within. I was NOT happy.

A £1150 computer thats taken that kinda force couldve been damaged despite initally not showing it - so I simply resealed it - got back on the phone and told a US After Sales droid (Michael #6) to get another one the boat from Shanghai pronto.

Well now TNT are taking it back today and Ive been told on the Apple site that its replacement is Ready To Ship.Hmmm. So gawd knows when it will arrive.I can trisk TNT gettng TWO chances to deliver it because if it survives the first one unscathed then no way will it get through a second attempt.

So I think my advice is .. when you see the Out For Delivery" alert thats your alert to shove a notice on the door saying "PLEASE MR TNT Man-Please deliver next door because I have a job/responsibilities/appointment/life and cant drop everything at ten minutes notice. Thanks."

So good luck. I hope yours got through their `inspection-box-bash' procedure radar and is a Preinstalled Leopard version (a mythical beast that has not yet been seen) and you are up and running this weekend.

Dont worry `bout me - a few more days is nowt when youve already been waiting a month to get on the first rung of Macownership!.

And on that happy note ... cheerio!

 

[jonnyb]

I can only echo the experiences of other poor souls here.

I ordered an iMac and an iPod on October 26 and then marvelled for the next three weeks at Apple and UPS's utter ineptitude.

Firstly Apple's tracking system is rubbish. The further time went on the worse it got as my delivery estimate actually went backwards in time. So by the time Nov 13th rolled around I was being told it was 'on schedule' with a delivery date of November 8th. Great!

The first proper notice I had of imminent arrival was, naturally, the day it was out for delivery. I somehow managed to book a day off work at short notice and so I waited in. And waited. And waited.

I called UPS ten times that day and they assured me, even at 6pm, that it was still out for delivery. Eventually, during the tenth call, they thought they'd check the address with me. They were missing the first line of the address.

No-one seemed to think that was unusual enough to have prompted a call earlier in the day to check the address.

When I asked what time it would be delivered the next day they said 'Oh, anytime between 9 and 5'. Somehow, I remained calm and told the guy this was unacceptable in this age of satellite and mobile communications.

I eventually had to speak to a superviser as, while I was talking, the customer services guy started singing at me down the phone...'Dum de dum de dum...'

I was pretty dumfounded.

So the next day, I arranged for my partner to be in between 9am and 12pm but UPS didn't keep to that and I get a call saying 'we'll have to deliver between 6pm and 9pm'. OK, I say, and I even got a phone call from the depot to confirm this is the conversation I just had.

So, yep, you guessed it - they delivered it at 4pm! Luckily my partner was in so I got my package.

I got £50 credited to my card by Apple after I told them the entire sorry saga. What a shambles...

 

[BruceEBonus]

I got £50 credited to my card by Apple after I told them the entire sorry saga. What a shambles

Hello Jonny.

I also ordered a iPod and IMac to take advantage of the Back To School rebate offer for my daughter. Also on the 26th October to get a promised (by the sales guy) preinstalled Leopard machine (it wasnt)

Anyway I am still without a machine nearly a month later as my replacement is sitting on Shanghai docks with a seagull sat atop it pecking at the label!.

Like you - a UK Ireland guy said he was appalled at the faffing about I've had with this .. no preinstalled Leopard, a battered box and huge delay and has promised a "goodwill gesture".

Is there some kinda Apple going rate for compensation and was £50 good?

I am seriously considering asking for a EDU discounted Final CUt EXpress 4.0 (£55) or even better - that AND VM Ware Fusion or summat .... or can they issue out vouchers or ...?

If theyre anything like PC World Customer Services (shudder) .. then it really is a bit of a lottery on who you get on the phone (a Kansas-based, pretzel-popping, diazepam-o-phile OR a Dublin-sourced, top-o-themornin' upbeat human-voice) ... I hope it is the latter ....

Anyway - its nice to know it isnt/wasnt just me!

 

[jonnyb]

Is there some kinda Apple going rate for compensation and was £50 good?

I am seriously considering asking for a EDU discounted Final CUt EXpress 4.0 (£55) or even better - that AND VM Ware Fusion or summat .... or can they issue out vouchers or ...?

If theyre anything like PC World Customer Services (shudder) .. then it really is a bit of a lottery on who you get on the phone (a Kansas-based, pretzel-popping, diazepam-o-phile OR a Dublin-sourced, top-o-themornin' upbeat human-voice) ... I hope it is the latter ....

Anyway - its nice to know it isnt/wasnt just me!

Not sure what the 'standard' compensation is but £50 seemed reasonable to me at the time. I was expecting to be offered vouchers so the offer of cash was better.

Maybe I could have made more noise and got more but, frankly, by that point I was happy to finally have my iMac and I was feeling a bit drained by the whole thing. Your delay has been even longer so maybe you can feel you're entitled to a bit more.

One good thing, as you point out, is the Cork-based Apple people. Although Apple's systems are rubbish, the people there seem, for the most part, genuine in their sympathy and desire to help. And I could listen to that accent all day long...

 

[Albal]

These 'horror' stories aren't very reassuring.

I ordered an iMac yesterday to replace the dead home PC.

I know it was only ordered yesterday and all, but I was genuinely shocked at the amount of time it is going to take for the thing to arrive. Ordered 22nd Nov, due to arrive between 3rd and 6th of December. That is mad I think. We didn't do any 'customising' to the computer. Some yoik in a warehouse has to put our address on it and then put in the back of a courier van. Hey Presto.

I will keep you updated, on the hopefully and optimistically, good experience.

I remembered when I ordered my PowerBook in 05; they were an absolute travesty to deal with.

Let's hope for a good experience this time eh.

 

[BruceEBonus]

if you ordered yours on the 22nd I reckon your chances of a preinstalled Leopard iMAc better than mine that was Ready To Ship two days ago .. so hope its a mixed blessing.. the delay and the final `bonus' of a non-drop-in-disc machine. Which as another whinge o' mine!.How can Apple have such a backlog of old Tiger machines beats me.

 

[Albal]

Yeah quite possibly. I was hoping that it will be a pre-installed leopard.

Although secretly I want it to not a be a pre-installed version because I could install Leopard on my PB. Ha, sneaky. But meh.

Also the other hope that it isn't pre-installed is that I am not sure if I like leopard, having tried it in PC world. I am not going to open up the can of worms about this topic, but if it had 10.4 I would not mind one bit!

Ready to ship two days ago? So when is your delivery date?

 

[Cams]

Wow, great to see some follow up responses. Mine did indeed arrive today. I don't if it has Leopard pre-installed yet as I haven't had a chance to open it. I did however inspect the box before I signed for it and it looks fine. Phew! I've had a DOA PC arrive before and it's not fun.

And if you think this is hard, that was only the beginning. This is the second time I've placed the order (I cancelled the first due to ineptitude on Apple's part). I wanted a UK model and live in Luxembourg. It was a nightmare. Finally I got through to someone in Dublin who was extremely good to deal with and he threw in a 2-gig USB thumb drive for my trouble (Kingston DataTraveler). Living in Lux can really be a pain for many reasons, largest among them being the fact that you always end up dealing either with French, Belgian or Dutch branch offices cos Lux is too small to have its own. Not to worry though; I'm out of here in six weeks - for ever!

Will open the iMac box in about 3 hours. Looking forward to it!

Cams

 

[twig]

another horror story

I ordered a 24" iMac the day the Leopard up-to-date program was announced, along with a printer to get the $130 rebate. The computer was shipped UPS, got delayed in Shanghai, made it to Alaska, then got lost somewhere for a few days. It finally turned up, travelled around the US for a while then eventually made it to Canada. The UPS tracking system sucks - it didn't even change to 'out for delivery' until after the package had already been delivered. I'm still not sure why they even bothered to deliver it, as they had obviously left it sitting in a puddle for several days. The outer box was shredded, the plastic wrapper on the inner box was ripped, one end of the box was caved in, and both the inner and outer boxes were soaking wet. Without unpacking anything, I could reach in and touch the computer.

The printer - well, they kept delaying the shipping date, then finally 'upgraded' the printer to a lower model and shipped it before notifying me of the change.

I have to say, Apple customer support was excellent. Once I got past the runaround of being told to return it and order another (thereby invalidating the printer rebate offer), the supervisor I dealt with was incredibly helpful. She arranged for a replacement iMac (unfortunately still shipped via UPS) and ended up giving me the printer for free. In the end, it took a month, but I finally have a new iMac and printer and they're both working great.

If you can find anyway to avoid having anything shipped via UPS, do it!

 

[Albal]

Cams, glad yours has arrived. Must be pretty happy.

On the outside of the retail box did have written 'Leopard pre-installed' or some thing to that effect?

Twig - I think that courier services are pretty globally slap-dash. Irrespective of company. I think the complacency of some of the companies is worse than others. Your example being prime. The package sitting still for days is a pretty obvious case of passing the buck. And in multi million dollar (pound) businesses like these the buck is very unlikely to stop. It's good that you finally got your Mac too, though.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Yeah quite possibly. I was hoping that it will be a pre-installed leopard.

Ready to ship two days ago? So when is your delivery date?

I was told yesterday that my iMac was shipped yesterday. Thats Friday then. So all will come to a halt .. because unlike myself - the rest of the world doesnt seem to work Sat or Sunday. Sigh. Anyway I have been told that if its only one item in the order (which it is this time) then it goes `Fast Ship' .. IE no detours .. directly to TNT UK allegedly.

This in theory means it could be with me early next week. OR ....
If I look at the expected delivery date it is saying On or before the 1st of December! Jeez! A week to get here???.

Anyway thats about 3 days longer than previously estimated and even then theres no guarantee that the TNT Box Kicking Display Team wont have been doing a bit of practice on it yet.

If so then I shall demand at LEAST £100 rebate minimum to reimburse for the lost £100 Back To School promotion should I demand a full refund and buy from the Apple Store directly.

They took TWELVE days to refund the Mac Mini I ordered from them on the 26th of last month - so I dont really hold much hope for their communications internally. However .. this is TOO negative an attitude and by this time next week I may be typing this on a new - presinstalled Leopard machine .. or a Tiger installed Drop IN with a matching dent on each side. (Just so long as its matching .. nowt worse than just one dent)

I am always stunned how Apple can use dodgy carriers that must cost them $$$s every year - even the plain brown boxes are exactly that .. plain .. with no indication of whats in `em. I think the delivery guys think they are just ... Apples the way they treat them. And if they didnt get so many battered returns the money they saved could make .. cheaper iMacs!.

Anyway I know what I m doing this time round. Im ringing TNT every day to ask its whereabouts now that I have the tracking number which of course doesnt track on the website.

Apart from that . .nearly a month after first ordering.. I think pretty much everything has gone like a breeze ....!

 

[county mountie]

Oh dear... What have I done???

A few months ago my aged PC laptop started to feel the strains of old age - fighting viruses when you're old seems as much a problem for computers as it does us frail humans. I spoke to my brother-in-law and asked what spec PC I should get (he works in computing and is all things knowledgeable about PC's). His reply - get a mac!!

So after much deliberation trawling forums etc I decide that Apple has finally put to rest the iMac issues. I take the plunge and order an iMac - upgrading to 24" 2.8Ghz 500GB HD. I spend the next ten days (yes you read right) spending two hours a day 'on hold' trying to buy an iMac . I have to say the female Scottish automated message of "all our advisors are dealing with other customers" was at first soothing but after six hours became a real irritation.

Either Apple are selling iMac's like hotcakes in the UK or all their call centre staff are ignoring the phones. I decide to try another option on the phone and I am diverted to a very nice chap in the US who is very helpful and apologetic about the problems I am having and duly takes my credit card details for my new computing experience. I ask specifically when the order will be delivered, to which i am told it will be 'dispatched in three days'. Brilliant, in three days I will have my new iMac so I can immerse myself in the 'Apple' experience. I am soooo excited.

Phone goes down, I race to the 'account' page of the website to see if my order is on the system. It is - brilliant! Or so you think, until you notice that dispatch is due 22nd (three days), 'expected' delivery is 2th - 4th December.

Point of note here for our American cousins (although I feel some of my fellow countrymen may disagree). In the UK our understanding of 'Dispatched' is, your computer will be coming from our distribution centre to our couriers and it will be with you in three days time. Oh no, not Apple... Apple definition: in three days time your computer will come off our factory line (China) whereupon we expect (read anticipate) it will then take a further 10-14 days to be transported to a regional distribution centre (Luxembourg), passed onto our couriers and then delivered to your door.

I am now thinking - not a great start but if the Apple hype from their marketing and the upbeat attitude of users is anything to go by then my trials and tribulations to date may still be worth it.

we get to November 22nd ('dispatch day') and I log onto my account again to find that the dispatch date is now November 27th - WTF?? Anticipated delivery is now the 6th - 7th December!! Disappointment, now turns to frustration. I call first thing 23rd November and speak to very nice chap will southern Irish accent (Dublin?) who states that the computer is actually due for shipping today and details will be updated and I will receive an email later to confirm details- whew...

Come home from work, check my account - no email, dispatch date 27th, delivery 6/7 December So I phone sales support again, this time speaking to a 'not so helpful' lady from the US who states that Dispatch will not be before 27th and delivery 6/7 December. By now I'm frustrated, moving towards angry. I tell myself, this is not her fault, thank her for her assistance and put the phone down.

This morning out of morbid curiosity I check my account - IT'S BEEN DISPATCHED - OMG.

So my Apple experience to date... Trepidation, followed by excitement, followed by disappointment, followed by frustration, followed by anger, followed by confusion.

Mr Apple, if you or your marketing people are reading this - "is this the Apple experience that you hype up so much???". I bought YOUR hype - my experience to date does not support your marketing. I appreciate that there are tens and hundreds of thousands of happy customers. I try not to be influenced by negative experiences on forums.

I accept the one day delay in DISPATCH, but will look to see if I receive this product in a reasonable time in good condition (TNT - please take care with my iMac).

Come on Apple - you want us to buy into the Apple Lifestyle, with repeat custom of integrated great product design. If you want that, then make sure your customer experience justifies our confidence in your product support and customer service. You need to get the good design to experience it. Good design does not guarantee repeat business. I appreciate that some Apple fans would think I'm being unreasonable here, but I feel that I am not because of the emotional frustration that a supposedly straight forward transaction has generated. I am paying a premium price for a less than transparent process and poor customer support.

Please note: the staff in the customer service centre have been great - very polite and helpful (in 2 out of 3 cases). It is not their fault that marketing, sales and distribution cannot get their act together. So if you are having a similar experience do not take it out on some poor soul in an underpaid job in a call centre - they're doing their best...

Apple - the jury is out on my behalf but, you screw up again, and I will spread the word that Apple sucks...

I will endeavour to keep you all informed of my experience from here - I genuinely hope it improves

 

[wellmac]

Yeah the tracking is a bit rubbish but...

I ordered an iMac towards the end of October. The expected delivery date was Nov 17th. It was a custom build. I was a bit disappointed that it would take so long. Still, Dell aren't much better.

Despite the hard time trying to track the order, it was actually delivered a week earlier than anticipated! It does get easier to track orders as they get closer to the UK.

The problem is that Apple use different courier firms. Mine was delivered by UPS and not TNT and it's not obvious which one they will use (In the end I just tried the tracking number on all the main couriers).

Hang on in there, it'll be worth the wait. The iMac is fantastic.

 

[Albal]

Nice reply County Mountie. Figners crossed it comes Monday/Tuesday eh!

It is such a shame that Apple can't sort this part of their company out. I think it leaves much to be desired. If it's for a present then you have to oder very very early to anticipate this poor service. A shame really, seeing as companies like Amazon get it right pretty much every time. It makes you wonder...

I just checked my order status and it now says that it is 'Prepared for Shipment. So I assume from that they have made it, packaged it and are now awaiting the departure of the ferry/plane/rodent powered contraption.

Also, it would appear as though Apple are batching shipments together. If yours, County Mountie, is due to ship on the 27th Nov (compared to mine: 27th - 29th Nov) and due to arrive on the 6th - 7th Dec (compared to mine: 3rd to 6th) then it would appear that our items are batched together and are going to ship at the same time...

It sounds like you got pretty lucky Wellmac. Are you from the UK?

BruceEBonus - I'd have to agree with those compensation claims, and I think I will ask for much the same.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Thought id post a update here on my tracking, its now one town over and says for delivery today only I didnt think FedX delivered on Saturday unless its marked saturday delivery?

 

[county mountie]

Thank you Albal. I'm trying to be upbeat and hope this is just a minor setback. You're right though - if Amazon can get it right, then maybe Apple should be doing some head hunting and getting rid of some of the obviously overpaid and ineffective directors of those departments that fail the Apple brand.

 

[Albal]

I'm sure it is just a minor set back. Fingers crossed eh!

My order has now changed to: Shipped. However the estimated delivery date is still the same. It looks as though, so far, I am having a good experience.

 

[BruceEBonus]

my Apple experience to date... Trepidation, followed by excitement, followed by disappointment, followed by frustration, followed by anger, followed by confusion.

Well! In my case it was/is:
Excitement (at the thought we're saving £100 on the Back To School promotion before Oct30th) plus £150 discount and new operating system,etc. Further excitment at the promise of it arriving only 10 days time with preinstalled Leopard. Doubt. As I realised this was not gonna happen. It took longer and had a Drop In Disc. Confusion. Because there were no email updates as to the imminent arrival of the iMac. Bafflement.

It arrived purely coincidentally when I happened to be in and on my day off. Then crashing Disappointment when the TNT guys had `taken it round the back' for a bit of a seeing to. Anger as I talked to Michael 6 (the US AfterSales Droid/Answering Cyborg) who emotionlessly retook the details and said a replacement machine was to be resorted. Encouragement as I talked to a great UK Sales Irish guy who empathised with my ongoing plight and promised me a `goodwill gesture' after this palaver is sorted. Annoyance as the `updates' currently vary wildly. It really has taken a further two weeks and really will be over a month since I first ordered.

Anyway - a new update ... "Shanghai Consignment Received At Transit Point"
is the new information to me. I rang Apple .. again.. a helpful Irish guy - who said TNT were handling the package (oh dear) and gave me THEIR reference number.

I rang TNT and they actually knew of it!. THey said it was still in Shanghai but was being sent directly to Nottingham for delivery next Wednesday. Hmmm. Im at work. So its a case of shoving a notice on the door telling `em which neighbour to drop it off to. Great.

With the topical news that TNT are involved in the handling of the missing Social Security discs - maybe their management have said to their Staff "no more box-bashing lads. We really have to do a fingertip search for these discs for the next seven days". In which case my poor ol' iMac might avoid the toffee hammer-wielding drivers ....

I am crossing both sets of fingers .. and hoping that:
The iMac IS a preinstalled Leopard machine. Probably odds of 3:2 against
The iMac is not pre-whacked by the couriers. Odds about 50:50
And the thing powers up and hasnt got freezing/screen issues. Odds 2:1 For

Then I'll be most happy and it'll have all been worth it.

BUT I know if I dont accept due to the latter two being bollocksed .. then it'll be a case of a refunded and returned machine and off to Sheffield Meadowhall Applestore and I'll get my equivalent £100 back that way .. via compensation and probably more - a Final Cut Express or summat - to compensate the fact Ive been worked over for a month for no purpose.

You have to laugh!. Ahem. But at the same time be impressed by the fact the Mr Jobs' `babies' are SO good that people STILL want to go through this rigmarole to get the best OS and machines available. Well done Apple! Hmmm.

Right .. thats my (new) groans'n'moans out the way ... next!

 

[Nordichund]

I think the difference from buying from amazon etc. is that they already have the goods in stock, they are not coming directly from the factory in China.

Each time I've ordered from Apple I've always found that as soon as my shipping number appears on the TNT tracking service the product arrives very quickly, no matter what estimate day of delivery Apple gave me. The big time delay seems to be from when the product is dispatched at the factory to when the carrier actually picks it up. That is one of the great Apple mysteries, however I suspect that there is a backlog which causes the problem.

I've read about people ordering their iMac and having it delivered within a week, others have had to wait a month. I'm now waiting for my replacement iMac which should be dispatched on Monday. My last iMac was ordered on Sept 27th and I received it on Oct 15. Mind you TNT were very effective calling me up in the morning to pick up my defect iMac, they offered to take it away the same afternoon.

However having said all this, I remember when I ordered my old Dell, I think I had to wait 2 weeks just to get it from Ireland. I don't think it's just Apple which suffer logistic problems.

 

[BruceEBonus]

I'm now waiting for my replacement iMac which should be dispatched on Monday. .

Nordberg!.

Why have you had to have a replacement iMac by the way?

 

[Nordichund]

.

Why have you had to have a replacement iMac by the way?

I was unlucky with the screen suffering from the dreaded gradient issue and backlight bleeding.

I still love the Al iMac though and even though it has caused me a great deal of hassle I must state that Apple Customer Service is excellent.

 

[ceres]

I was unlucky with the screen suffering from the dreaded gradient issue and backlight bleeding.

I still love the Al iMac though and even though it has caused me a great deal of hassle I must state that Apple Customer Service is excellent.

..so far I´d say. I am in the same position as you awaiting my replacement unit. Next week we will know.