iPad Pro Apple Pencil hunt: it's crazy!

[haruhiko]

I called the nearby Apple Store at 11:45am and they confirmed that there was stock and quite a number of it. Got away from office and arrived at around 12pm. When I asked about the Pencil the staff knew there was stock and checked for me using their iPod touch, one even went to the back to check.

Sorry sold out again. A customer just bought several of these.

Good job Apple selling to scalpers instead of your loyal customer. I will return my iPad Pro. Enough of this nonsense.

 

[David58117]

Find out when the store gets shipments (here theres one in the afternoon), and call shortly after that.

I did that, and got one right from the box after only one day of searching.

 

[masotime]

Hmmm... you're a little far away (HK) unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn't mind helping out.

 

[arbybaconator]

I called the nearby Apple Store at 11:45am and they confirmed that there was stock and quite a number of it. Got away from office and arrived at around 12pm. When I asked about the Pencil the staff knew there was stock and checked for me using their iPod touch, one even went to the back to check.

Sorry sold out again. A customer just bought several of these.

This has happened to me twice already - with the pencil being in stock, but sold out within my 30 minute drive to the store. Crazy!

 

[haruhiko]

Find out when the store gets shipments (here theres one in the afternoon), and call shortly after that.

I did that, and got one right from the box after only one day of searching.

Unfortunately my job nature tied me to the office desk for most of the day, so it's not possible for me to leave the office for an extended time during normal business hours.

Hmmm... you're a little far away (HK) unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn't mind helping out.

Thank you anyway! This community is really great but I live in the scalpers' paradise that's HK...

This has happened to me twice already - with the pencil being in stock, but sold out within my 30 minute drive to the store. Crazy!

I'm really tired of this game. Running around trying to give Apple money for a product it wants to sell to me. If anybody knew what I was doing this noon, I think they will consider me an idiot.

 

[roland.g]

Doesn't this belong in the iPad Accessories subforum?

 

[Zune55]

I called the nearby Apple Store at 11:45am and they confirmed that there was stock and quite a number of it. Got away from office and arrived at around 12pm. When I asked about the Pencil the staff knew there was stock and checked for me using their iPod touch, one even went to the back to check.

Sorry sold out again. A customer just bought several of these.

Good job Apple selling to scalpers instead of your loyal customer. I will return my iPad Pro. Enough of this nonsense.

Can you ask your family member or friend to look for it since you are busy at office. Maybe someone has different timings then yours?

 

[haruhiko]

Can you ask your family member or friend to look for it since you are busy at office. Maybe someone has different timings then yours?

Thanks for the input I'd rather not let my family members suffer the same over a product that they don't want.
It's so tiring

I think it ultimately depends on my luck... if I come across an Apple Store I may go in and ask (hopefully I can get it before my return window, otherwise the iPP is definitely going back... I need to test the Pencil with the iPP to decide if I want to keep it or not.)

 

[mcdj]

Apple doesn't care if you're a loyal customer or a royal scalper.

You may get the feeling they care if you call them or go to the store. But that's just a well crafted illusion.

What Apple cares about is units sold per day. To. Anyone. With. Money.

Do grasp that.

And be happy about it. There's a reason Apple's stuff works well and looks slick and makes you want it; they make truckloads of money and throw a ton of it at the R&D department.

 

[haruhiko]

Apple doesn't care if you're a loyal customer or a royal scalper.

You may get the feeling they care if you call them or go to the store. But that's just a well crafted illusion.

What Apple cares about is units sold per day. To. Anyone. With. Money.

Do grasp that.

And be happy about it. There's a reason Apple's stuff works well and looks slick and makes you want it; they make truckloads of money and throw a ton of it at the R&D department.

You're right.

I started to think that the Apple Store guy on the phone had no clue about the stock level or overestimated the stock level so he happily told me there were quite a number of Apple Pencils in the store. That was the first time Apple Store staff told me there was stock in a few days and I was surprised. I expected him to say out of stock and I wouldn't have gone there.

 

[sunapple]

Dutch / European online store MaxICT.nl suddenly had 5 Pencils in stock yesterday, so I ordered two (hehe). Stock's all gone now of course, but I'm expecting the shipment to arrive as early as today.

EDIT: They made a mistake, a miscommunication. Order delayed to 24th of December... No way.

 

[Macalway]

There needs to be some reshuffling of staff in the upper division. The handling of this borderlines incompetence. I'm sure this is insignificant to the 6 figure employees who have much more important things to worry about. I suggest making them answer a retail phone for a while

 

[AdonisSMU]

I called the nearby Apple Store at 11:45am and they confirmed that there was stock and quite a number of it. Got away from office and arrived at around 12pm. When I asked about the Pencil the staff knew there was stock and checked for me using their iPod touch, one even went to the back to check.

Sorry sold out again. A customer just bought several of these.

Good job Apple selling to scalpers instead of your loyal customer. I will return my iPad Pro. Enough of this nonsense.

I don't understand why Apple didn't do in store pickup for all items related to the iPad Pro since it's a new item.

You're right. I started to think that the Apple Store guy on the phone had no clue about the stock level or overestimated the stock level so he happily told me there were quite a number of Apple Pencils in the store. That was the first time Apple Store staff told me there was stock in a few days and I was surprised. I expected him to say out of stock and I wouldn't have gone there.

Always go to the store because thats the only way to get an accurate answer....and sometimes you'll need to ask several employees to get down to the truth. One employee might not know.

 

[Newtons Apple]

What few pencils there are, Apple is letting them trickle to the stores while my order for one sits there like something the dog left in the grass. Worst is they are allowing the people to buy multiple pencils so they can sell for double or triple the price on eBay.

Kinda poor planning on Apple part, I guess they did not think there would be interest in the pencil! Seems Apple is always keeping something in short supply at introduction.

Well it is not like they touted the pencil when advertising the IPPro

 

[AdonisSMU]

What few pencils there are, Apple is letting them trickle to the stores while my order for one sits there like something the dog left in the grass.

Apple would have to update their system to handle that use case. I suspect it's not an easy endeavor. Apple is a build to order type of company.

 

[the future]

Apple doesn't care if you're a loyal customer or a royal scalper.

You may get the feeling they care if you call them or go to the store. But that's just a well crafted illusion.

What Apple cares about is units sold per day. To. Anyone. With. Money.

Do grasp that.

And be happy about it. There's a reason Apple's stuff works well and looks slick and makes you want it; they make truckloads of money and throw a ton of it at the R&D department.

This is not exactly true, otherwise why would there be a maximum of 2 iPhones/customer when the new model is released?

I guess Apple was/is just surprised by the demand for the Pencil. And/or production yields are lower than expected, which seems quite possible considering how much technology they crammed into such a tiny space (see: iFixit teardown).

 

[haruhiko]

This is not exactly true, otherwise why would there be a maximum of 2 iPhones/customer when the new model is released?

I guess Apple was/is just surprised by the demand for the Pencil. And/or production yields are lower than expected, which seems quite possible considering how much technology they crammed into such a tiny space (see: iFixit teardown).

It seems that there is no limit per customer for the Pencil.

 

[magbarn]

It's because of eBay a---holes like the pic below.

 

[haruhiko]

Just checked all 4 stores by phone in Hong Kong, and visited one of them at 10:30AM. No stock in the store and all staff wouldn't check the inventory.

The staff on the phone said there hasn't been any shipment today, and unlikely to have further since they have already received today's shipment already.

 

[yicaiweng]

u should check with HK's forum tbh, the members of this forum are most likely from US and UK.

 

[haruhiko]

u should check with HK's forum tbh, the members of this forum are most likely from US and UK.

Sure, but as you may know HK is not famous for nice people.. I will try those forums anyway, although there hasn't been much discussion about the iPP and accessories. Probably most of them are busy buying up stocks for scalping?

Just wanna share my experience at this side of the globe to fellow MR members.

 

[yicaiweng]

Sure, but as you may know HK is not famous for nice people.. I will try those forums anyway, although there hasn't been much discussion about the iPP and accessories. Probably most of them are busy buying up stocks for scalping?

Just wanna share my experience at this side of the globe to fellow MR members.

Completely understand. I'm Chinese too. Well, good luck man. Keep faith in you.

 

[MH01]

Very disappointed we are back to a scenario where tense are being targeted by scalpers

Apple has to get their act together when launching new products. The pencil is the main selling point and it's almost impossible to get.

I'm glad I got mine, and if one of my friends gets a iPad pro who wants to use it for creative work, I'll part with mine, though really feel sorry for the people who bought this device for the pencil and may have to wait into the new year...

 

[haruhiko]

Find out when the store gets shipments (here theres one in the afternoon), and call shortly after that.

I did that, and got one right from the box after only one day of searching.

Called another store today after failing to find any again, and the staff recommended me to be there when the store opens. The store receives shipments even on Sunday. Not sure if what she said was right.

 

[maflynn]

I think its embarrassing that Apple could not produce enough Pencils to match the volume of iPad sales. I understand that it makes more sense to roll out the iPad Pro before black friday, even if that means constrained Pencil availability, but still, this date couldn't have surprised them too much and there's not much to a stylus compared to the complexity of the iPad.