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Warning: Ordered iPod direct from Apple - got empty box

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raster said:
How is it, that EMPTYBOX man joined yesterday and is a macrumors regular, and I joined last year sometime and is still a Newbie???
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Because he has 50+ posts just today freaking out about his 2nd empty ipod box which could not have been lost by UPS! :confused:

I'd hate to break your UPS is the greatest bubble but fact of the matter is that UPS is terrible when it comes to losing items... my company ships out thousands of packages a day via UPS and we are constantly getting calls regarding lost and damaged product...

Why not just have Apple refund your payment and go pick one up at Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Wall Mart, Target, K-Mart, 7-11, circle k... or one of the gazillion other places that sell ipods...
 
I can simply say this:

The fact the something went wrong throught the shipping process is plausible. Sure, Apple could have stolen it, one of their little men working for them had it in for Apple and said "I...shall steal an iPod to get back at the American MAN!" (Steve Jobs..Bush..whatever), but you know what? Apple won't care, they can get you a new one and the difference will be that someone at Apple won't be able to buy a set of paperclips with the profits money for the lost ipod (and the guy without paperclips shall have revenge on the paper clip company...i digress...). Apple can send you a new one and not even feel it. This part of the story, as I said, plausible, but the chances are slim to none...really.

Shipping from one side of the world to the other can have issues. See, I never knew that some shipments I placed in a U.S. website ended up sending me stuff all the way from the other hemisphere (Gateway does this, apparently so does Apple). I know for a fact that they change carriers throughout the trip all the time. What is true is that if you choose FedEx to handle your item...nothing guarantees they will outside of the U.S. Who knows...maybe...uh.."China Express" handled your shipment before it got here. Kinda like USPS, they rely on companies like DHL for some international shipments, or even FedEx for other delivery options.

We all understand something here: Companies will do whatever they can to make money. If this means they will pay other companies to ship their crap before it gets to the U.S., they'll do it, specially if they are cheaper or if other companies just won't ship to a certain location.

One thing we must all understand (and i'm sure most of you do), people make mistakes, and maybe it was shipped empty as a mistake, maybe someone accidentally opened the box and the iPod fell in the Alaska sewer system, maybe some guy from UPS, FedEx, USPS, or whatever decided to steal it. ANYONE can steal, whether you are rich, poor, happy, sad, or Steve Jobs. (Who knows...maybe it was Gates!) See that's why we are human, not perfect. Whatever happened to your iPod, it will get replaced cause you know what? s*** happens. If someone stole it, great, good for them for not getting caught. Sucks for you, but at least you'll get your iPod in the end.

Besides, I never got my iPod stolen from me, cause I know i'd raise hell too if it did.

But on a final note, as I read all this and researched some facts myself, who knows, maybe you're lying, maybe you're not real, maybe love is nothing more than noxious gas that gets in our systems. Who knows really?
 
C.M.Sevilla said:
maybe love is nothing more than noxious gas that gets in our systems. Who knows really?
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Cosmic Radiation actually.


That's a shame about your Ipod. Did you use a credit card to purchase it? If so, your best bet is to call up Apple with your invoice in hand, tell them the problem that has happened, and hopefully they will be more than happy to fix the problem.

I know it's no consulation, because I would be upset at the fact that I would have to wait for my iPod to ship out again, instead of just having it the first time around and going on with my life.

Worst case, contact your Credit Card company and either ask them what to do/demand that they stop payment on the charge.
 
C.M.Sevilla said:
I can simply say this:

The fact the something went wrong throught the shipping process is plausible. Sure, Apple could have stolen it, one of their little men working for them had it in for Apple and said "I...shall steal an iPod to get back at the American MAN!" (Steve Jobs..Bush..whatever), but you know what? Apple won't care, they can get you a new one and the difference will be that someone at Apple won't be able to buy a set of paperclips with the profits money for the lost ipod (and the guy without paperclips shall have revenge on the paper clip company...i digress...). Apple can send you a new one and not even feel it. This part of the story, as I said, plausible, but the chances are slim to none...really.

Shipping from one side of the world to the other can have issues. See, I never knew that some shipments I placed in a U.S. website ended up sending me stuff all the way from the other hemisphere (Gateway does this, apparently so does Apple). I know for a fact that they change carriers throughout the trip all the time. What is true is that if you choose FedEx to handle your item...nothing guarantees they will outside of the U.S. Who knows...maybe...uh.."China Express" handled your shipment before it got here. Kinda like USPS, they rely on companies like DHL for some international shipments, or even FedEx for other delivery options.

We all understand something here: Companies will do whatever they can to make money. If this means they will pay other companies to ship their crap before it gets to the U.S., they'll do it, specially if they are cheaper or if other companies just won't ship to a certain location.

One thing we must all understand (and i'm sure most of you do), people make mistakes, and maybe it was shipped empty as a mistake, maybe someone accidentally opened the box and the iPod fell in the Alaska sewer system, maybe some guy from UPS, FedEx, USPS, or whatever decided to steal it. ANYONE can steal, whether you are rich, poor, happy, sad, or Steve Jobs. (Who knows...maybe it was Gates!) See that's why we are human, not perfect. Whatever happened to your iPod, it will get replaced cause you know what? s*** happens. If someone stole it, great, good for them for not getting caught. Sucks for you, but at least you'll get your iPod in the end.

Besides, I never got my iPod stolen from me, cause I know i'd raise hell too if it did.

But on a final note, as I read all this and researched some facts myself, who knows, maybe you're lying, maybe you're not real, maybe love is nothing more than noxious gas that gets in our systems. Who knows really?
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maybe lying to get his post count up? then to get enough posts to do business in the marketplace?
 
OMG! You have got to be kidding me!! Apple is not "forgetting" to ship you you're iPod!! I'd go to UPS and raise hell!!!!
 
ReanimationLP said:
Its REALLY hard for Apple to be stealing your iPod.
Since they dont manufacture them.
Quanta and ASUS manufacture them, not Apple.
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Yes, I know iPods are made in China but Apple accepted my payment and guaranteed me I'd get an iPod. It is possible that something is going on at UPS but that wouldn't explain why all the other stuff I order online gets here by UPS just fine. The only UPS shipments I've ever had trouble with were the two times I had iPods shipped here.

I know everyone here is an Apple fan but I still think it's a very good possibility that something is going wrong at some point in the distribution that has nothing to do with UPS. I did see from the shipping info that the iPod spent several hours in Ontario, CA. I have some limited information that Apple has a shipping depot in Ontario. If that is the case then if someone there is prone to theft then that could easily explain why I didn't get my iPod. Apple sending me a new iPod or refunding my money really doesn't solve the problem it just pushes it off for another day. :rolleyes:

I want to see this problem solved so that I can continue to order online with confidence and so that I can both ship and recieve by UPS and feel secure that items will get where they are supposed to go and to whom they are supposed to go to. :mad:

BTW - I used to be a MacRumors regular a couple of years ago. I still check MacRumors for news but I haven't been using the forums regularly. I'm not a newbie, I've been around since before the OS X Public Beta.
:cool:
 
PaRaGoNViCtiM said:
OMG! You have got to be kidding me!! Apple is not "forgetting" to ship you you're iPod!! I'd go to UPS and raise hell!!!!
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UPS is sending someone out on Monday to examine the box I received.
 
donga said:
maybe lying to get his post count up? then to get enough posts to do business in the marketplace?
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There have been many, many reports in the news about iPods being stolen on the subway, on the street, in schools, etc. Why would you assume that someone who works for Apple or at a distribution center that Apple leases wouldn't steal an iPod? It's probably happening all the time but we don't hear about it.
 
emptybox said:
There have been many, many reports in the news about iPods being stolen on the subway, on the street, in schools, etc. Why would you assume that someone who works for Apple or at a distribution center that Apple leases wouldn't steal an iPod? It's probably happening all the time but we don't hear about it.
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Yea... but you cant assume someone at ups stole it???

Anyway... the ipod goes for so much miles before it knock at your door that there's surely hundred of possible suspect for this... if not thousand. And we cannot denied the fact that an ipod is real easy to hide(would just look like a wallet) and that it's so popular that no one would look suspect to have one at jobs.(well, it's sure that having an empty ipod is kind of suspect thought...)

Plus, as other mentionned, since it happened to you 2 times there's more chance that it was done but a third party (UPS, and other local that could have manipulated the boxes.)

Personnaly i sugest you inform UPS of this, so if they tell their employes that they got a report of stolen ipod, well that may just be enought to stop them from stealing again.

Oh... and one last thing (feeling like jobs now... ;) ) You also mentionned that you got a couple of K$ worth of audio thing... well that surely wasnt stolen because a) it's usually too big and b) most "normal" people cant hear or see difference between High-end and a shitbox and your ipod was stolen cause it got the cool factor, very low risk of getting caught, high resalle price and so on....






All of that text is only my humble opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt, since im no expert and im only 17. And by no mean i want to flame you or your gentle UPS dude(our retired few month ago.. and its not the same now :( ).
 
emptybox - you don't get the point do you?

It's impossible for UPS to ship your iPod to you - Apple NEVER uses UPS and FedEx sure as hell would never hand it off to UPS to be shipped.

Seriously, quit trying to start rumors about Apple and UPS stealing your iPod when neither of those statements can possibly be true unless you ordered your iPod from anybody but Apple.
 
amacgenius said:
emptybox - you don't get the point do you?

It's impossible for UPS to ship your iPod to you - Apple NEVER uses UPS and FedEx sure as hell would never hand it off to UPS to be shipped.

Seriously, quit trying to start rumors about Apple and UPS stealing your iPod when neither of those statements can possibly be true unless you ordered your iPod from anybody but Apple.
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Actually, you are dead wrong. I got my mom's mini shipped UPS 2nd day air. :p

EDIT: I just found this link as well: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html#Shipping Options
 
amacgenius said:
It's impossible for UPS to ship your iPod to you - Apple NEVER uses UPS...
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I figured my previous post would be glazed over...


I received an iPod mini (for my sister) from UPS. In a plain brown box, also with ACI as the return address/sender.
 
amacgenius said:
Then explain how his iPod went from FedEx over to UPS? FedEx and UPS arn't on friendly terms IIRC.
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Actually, UPS has contracts with many major carriers, and occasionally a UPS pallet makes it onto one of FedEx's 5X Shanghai-LAX flights.

Plane geekery at it's finest.
 
Sorry about that devilot. Anyways skoker I heavily doubt this is what happened to emptybox - I think he's just trying to start smut about Apple stealing products from people...
 
skoker said:
Actually, UPS has contracts with many major carriers, and occasionally a UPS pallet makes it onto one of FedEx's 5X Shanghai-LAX flights.

Plane geekery at it's finest.
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I find this very hard to believe... there is no way that fed x shipmet is tossed on to a UPS plane and shipped as a fedx package to someones doorstep via UPS.... (or the other way around as you stated) these companies are direct competitors... I could see a fedx & ups package sharing the same 3rd pary flight from point a to point b but would eventually be broken out to either company for final delivery...
 
emptybox said:
There have been many, many reports in the news about iPods being stolen on the subway, on the street, in schools, etc. Why would you assume that someone who works for Apple or at a distribution center that Apple leases wouldn't steal an iPod? It's probably happening all the time but we don't hear about it.
Click to expand...

Well, I had an iPod 3G 30GB disappear on me while in transit. However, it was the shipping company DHL that time. The iPod managed to make it all the way to the local depot before "disappearing". When I spoke to Apple, the CSR wasn't all the surprised. I mentioned that they really should be using more generic packaging (the box that the iPod is shipped with is the exact same shape as the iPod itself, just a little larger). Another friend I had also had a iPod disappear in transit, via FedEx. Both were ordered via the Apple Store. This I believe is part of the issue. iPods are small, expensive and their shipping boxes are EASY to identify when shipped from Apple direct. For comparison, Amazon ships iPods in generic cardboard boxes and among all orders I know of, none have disappeared.
 
Look, we all know that Apple took his iPod to preload it with the 17 minute Ice Age 2 trailer. Perhaps they decided to put Garflield the movie on it too, and that's why he still doesn't have it. Those usb transfers take time.
 
How do you know the box wasn't tampered with? It isn't difficult to use a box cutter to cut the tape, get the iPod out of the box, and seal it back up with a piece of tape. I've done that several times when I reuse a box I had to ship something. You'd never know it was used twice.

Why steal your iPod and not the audio equipment? 2 reasons:
1. The iPod is smaller and thus, easier to steal.
2. The iPod is easier to sell. Put it on eBay with a Buy it Now for a reasonable price and it'll be sold before you know it. Everyone wants an iPod. Professional audio equipment? Not so much and not as high of a demand. It would be harder to sell, and the longer a thief has the stolen goods in his possession, the better chance for him to be caught.
 
amacgenius said:
Sorry about that devilot. Anyways skoker I heavily doubt this is what happened to emptybox - I think he's just trying to start smut about Apple stealing products from people...
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Agreed, but it does happen. Remember that UPS DC-8 that crashed about a month ago in PHL that I showed you pictures of? There were pictures of FedEx boxes in the wreckage.
 
Yeah. Validation!

nydoofus said:
Well, I had an iPod 3G 30GB disappear on me while in transit. However, it was the shipping company DHL that time. The iPod managed to make it all the way to the local depot before "disappearing". When I spoke to Apple, the CSR wasn't all the surprised. I mentioned that they really should be using more generic packaging (the box that the iPod is shipped with is the exact same shape as the iPod itself, just a little larger). Another friend I had also had a iPod disappear in transit, via FedEx. Both were ordered via the Apple Store. This I believe is part of the issue. iPods are small, expensive and their shipping boxes are EASY to identify when shipped from Apple direct. For comparison, Amazon ships iPods in generic cardboard boxes and among all orders I know of, none have disappeared.
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I knew I wasn't the only one! I did some looking around and this kind of thing is a day-to-day problem in the jewelry business. Have a look-see at the link below. One of the things they mention is that thieves are now wise to the initials Co.'s use to disguise shipments (like ACI = Apple Computer Inc.).

http://www.jewelersresource.com/Business/Road/ShipTips.html
 
yg17 said:
How do you know the box wasn't tampered with? It isn't difficult to use a box cutter to cut the tape, get the iPod out of the box, and seal it back up with a piece of tape. I've done that several times when I reuse a box I had to ship something. You'd never know it was used twice.
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In the shipment I got last week, the box was obviously tampered with. The bottom of the box had been opened and resealed with similar but not exactly the same type of tape. I didn't notice this at first because I got 3 boxes from UPS that day and the guy handed them to me in a stack.

However, in the shipment I got in early February the box was immaculate - no way was it ever opened. I examined that box carefull - I kept turning it over and over and looking inside because I just couldn't believe my eyes!
 
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