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iPad Shipping Delay - need advice

C

crh3ff

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 26, 2010
97
0
I would like some advice about what to do. I'm REALLY frustrated with Apple right now.

I ordered an iPad 3G on April 13th through the education store, using a tax-exempt business account. At no point did it change from "late April", the shipping status never changed to "preparing," etc. Until last night...when it flipped over to "delivered by May 20th."

I called Apple yesterday to ask them about why I wasn't getting mine on April 30th, and the answer I got was "we're working on getting them out." I told them I wondered if the educ discount was delaying me "educ customers are our priority." Obviously no help.

Any ideas here? I can't threaten not to buy Apple products, b/c that'd be a joke.

Oh...I bought a 13" MBP on the same day which also hasn't been delivered yet (supposed to arrive Monday.) Yeah, I'm "a priority."
 
Did you talk with a 1st line 'bot or someone who can actually solve problems? Seems to me if you ordered on the 13th that was well within the pre-order period to rec on launch day. Also odd they haven't shipped your MBP yet.

Could be they need to proc. tax-exempt orders manually & they don't have a lot of staff for that purpose. Just a guess. I'm with you that it seems bad business since they have no prob getting stock to stores. Can the retail stores do tax-exempt transactions? Might be an option if you have a store nearby.
 
I spoke with a person, but maybe I should call and bump it up. I don't know what my preferred outcome is except earlier shipping, though. I was wondering about the business orders being processed slower, etc and she was not helpful, just kept repeating "educ customers are our priority."
 
crh3ff said:
I spoke with a person, but maybe I should call and bump it up. I don't know what my preferred outcome is except earlier shipping, though. I was wondering about the business orders being processed slower, etc and she was not helpful, just kept repeating "educ customers are our priority."
Click to expand...

The front line "order takers" are just that. All they "know" is the script given to them and they are not allowed to deviate from it. To get any thing done you need to bump it up a level to someone who can make decisions.
 
Maybe I'll call again...it was a painfully long process. I was kind of wondering if anyone else was having similar disappointments.

The retail stores CAN do tax exempt transactions, but the Apple Store is an hour from where I work and the finance person would have to come to the store, ID in hand, card in hand, etc and set up an account. I can go to the store and get the educ discount, which I might do

Honestly, "skirting the tax" wasn't a big issue for me (so fu, downs)...having her buy it with the business account was her preferred way of doing it. I work for a university and have a fund that I have to use by the end of the academic year for academic-related purchases from which I get reimbursed; she wanted me to use the business card so the amount reimbursed was less (so THEY skirt the tax.)
 
It is standard for business / educational orders to be delayed. Trust me, I am as frustrated as you. We have 2 on order and shipping changed from late April to May 17 overnight. This is more of a delay than usual, but when you look at shipping estimates for almost all products you will notice a longer wait time for institutions. It sucks, but it's the way it has always been.
 
kes601 said:
It is standard for business / educational orders to be delayed. Trust me, I am as frustrated as you. We have 2 on order and shipping changed from late April to May 17 overnight. His is more of a delay than usual, but when you look at shipping estimates for almost all products you will notice a longer wait time for institutions. It sucks, but it's the way it has always been.
Click to expand...

Hm. That's pretty crappy of Apple. And contrary to what Ms. Unhelpful said yesterday "we treat educational customers as a priority" and I said "well, I don't really feel like that" and told her the sequence of events (ordered the MBP on the 13th when it said 1-2 days shipping and then immed upon ordering my order said 5-7, and I STILL don't have it, and then iPad stuff.) Maybe I'll just go buy one from the store, and when it FINALLY comes in just sell it on eBaye (how do ya like that, downs? I'll not only not pay tax, but maybe even MAKE money on it! Capitalism at it's best...)
 
We (me and the Admin of my school's Tech lab) ordered an iPad a few days after Pre-Orders were unleashed, and we got this past Monday. It was a 16GB WiFi, So educational institutes are definitely not priority.
 
That's shortsighted of Apple. Teachers influence students (or their parents) and a prof using an iPad in class can encourage sales.
 
macpluslaptop said:
That's shortsighted of Apple. Teachers influence students (or their parents) and a prof using an iPad in class can encourage sales.
Click to expand...

Agreed fully...I think this is very poor PR for them to delay educational orders. Although, it doesn't seem to be affecting anything...
 
here's a thought...

anyone know how much of a cut Best Buy gets for selling the iPad? Meaning, could I cancel my Apple order and instead purchase it from Best Buy, thereby reducing Apple's profits some? I'd call first and tell them why I was going to do that; their service to me has been disappointing, and while they're still getting my money b/c I still want the device, someone else is getting a cut, too?
 
just curious, when i was reading the apple sales and terms,, it says tax exempt orders must call customer service. Did you by any chance call them when you ordered it?
Or were you just dealing with the regular sales number?
there are 2 different phone numbers one for sales and the other for customer service.
 
kes601 said:
It is standard for business / educational orders to be delayed. Trust me, I am as frustrated as you. We have 2 on order and shipping changed from late April to May 17 overnight. This is more of a delay than usual, but when you look at shipping estimates for almost all products you will notice a longer wait time for institutions. It sucks, but it's the way it has always been.
Click to expand...

Sounds a bit like Amazon and their free shipping--which I do use a lot. Sometimes it is as quick as paying for shipping--sometimes it takes a week or more for the order to leave Amazon. Guess those are the breaks for saving a few bucks.
 
racer1441 said:
The whole getting around the tax thing seems really shaddy.
Click to expand...

If it is really being used for a nonprofit or educational use it is not shady. We are looking at getting a classroom set and some for our admin team. But, when they get shipped at least 3 weeks later than the general public then there is a problem with that.
 
racer1441 said:
The whole getting around the tax thing seems really shaddy.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what "shaddy" means, so I assume you meant "shady." It's not shady, it's completely legit. I don't know the rules/regs surrounding it or the reason they do it. All I know is, I have a certain amount of money through my job that I can use towards job-related purchases (yes, this will be used both for personal and job use). To use that money, our finance person has to make the order. When she pays for it, she uses the business card, which is a tax-exempt account. It has nothing to do with me; I am just a lowly faculty in a large university...I don't make the rules. Can we keep the argument about whether businesses should get tax exemption or not out of this thread? This has to do with the fact that whatever your feelings on it, I am getting an iPad 3 weeks AFTER they told me I'd get it ("late April.")

As for calling them...yes, we did. You go through the online educational store, put in that you'll be using a tax-exempt business account (see, it's even set up on APPLE'S site that way...completely acceptable.) They then give you a quote, you call and place the order. That day, you get an order number/summary/etc.
 
Now a case we ordered for the iPad on Apr 7 has been delayed until JUNE 15, yes I typed that correctly - June 15.
 
crh3ff said:
the one I ordered personally is scheduled to come by May 13th
Click to expand...

The case I ordered personally on April 20 will be delivered May 3, whereas the iPad (64GB 3G) ordered through the Education store on April 17 missed the promised "late in April" delivery window and now has been changed to a May 17 ship date.

My experience with Apple Education store orders is that they frequently, if not always, seem to get second class service. However Apple Customer Service steadfastly denies that is the policy.
 
Just got off the phone with Apple (again.) Still no luck, but I did get a little more of an explanation. It appears to be an "allocation" issue. "Our warehouses are empty and we're filling orders as fast as we can." It sounds like maybe they didn't anticipate the demand for orders from the educational store and/or university ordering. When I expressed my frustration that I could go online and order one now and get 5-7 days shipping, he said "yes, consumer allocation is different than ours."
 
Don't you save like $25 (including the tax)?

Is that really worth the hassle? :eek:
 
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