Normally I'd be in the "oh brother" camp on this one, but my place of work (an educational institution) got burned as a result of a similar shipping delay, so I was similarly irked by these delays.
We have need for a high end portable computer to do some video editing work on more than one site, and after seeing the success I had with my own MBP, some leftover funding from a grant for the previous fiscal year was approved to buy an MBP for this purpose. The fiscal year ends on July 1, so we HAVE to have this money spent by then, or we must return the unused funds. There are no extensions; that's just bureaucracy for you.
We were perfectly happy with the pre-Santa Rosa specs, but our order was placed on June 7, right when the new models hit. No problem: we were told our MBP, the only mod being a glossy screen, should arrive between June 22 and June 29. At worst case, it should arrive with a couple days to spare.
Well, the 22nd rolls around, and we get an e-mail from Apple: there's been a delay and now the MBP won't ship until July 3 at the earliest. In short: this means we're screwed.
Despite frantic phone calls, there was no resolution. No, Apple would not just send us an invoice so we could still apply it to that fiscal year's funds. No, they would not ship us an older version even if we knew the differences and were fine with it. No, we could not cancelt he order and try to get a refurb, because it wouldn't ship in time either.
End result: the MBP arrived on the 7th of July, we had to give back $2,100 in unused grant funds, AND because we still needed that MBP, ended up paying $2,100 out of the next fiscal year's funds.
It wasn't that we needed the MBP immediately, however Apple has been telling people (and businesses) they will get their ordered equipment on a certain date, and it's not arriving on time. If the delivery estimate had been more realisitic from the start, we would've been prepared and used that money on something else, while buying the MBP with current funds just like we ended up having to do anyway.
Some decisions on how money is spent is time-sensitive, and delays can cost real money.
Of course I'm still a "switcher" and we're happy with the MBP, but now we know a little more on how to deal with Apple:
1. AppleCare is mandatory
2. Good build quality is optional, so inspect everything with a fine toothed comb, and
3. Never trust your hardware to arrive on time. If your purchase hinges on a deadline, find an alternative.
