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legreve

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 22, 2010
244
0
Denmark
Oh well... I couldn't help facepalming over my friends story.
In short, he and I both ordered a 15" MBP and since we both ordered hi res screens it was supposed to go out from China (according to Apple rep).

Coincidentally our MBPs were shipped the same day, but he got an earlier delivery date than me. (today)
That bugged me at first, but apparently it's because the MBP needs to hook up with a bloody bag I ordered as well... in Holland. Doh! Last time I order extra items.

Anyways, this is the transport route he experienced with his MBP, and quick note... we live in Denmark:

China
> Korea
> Kazakstan
> Poland
> Around several cities in Germany
> Glostrup, a city in Denmark
> Kolding, a city in Denmark (70km from where my friend lives)
> Now... it's back in Germany ( 200km the opposite way ) and will be delivered on monday???!?!

I mean comon! That's incredibly stupid no matter how much you try to save money on bundling deliveries. He could have had it yesterday had Apple chosen to send it a more customer friendly speed and route. :)
So in short... considering the amount we as customers pay to get a decent computer, it's staggering how bad their delivery service is.
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,520
Some of those entries are likely not physical locations but locations where import paperwork occurs.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
Nah... that's nothing. Last year I was over the course of several months, I ordered several refurbished products from Apple.

I live on the West Coast of Canada. A day's drive north of California, where each of these products shipped from. Each one took a different route. I forget the exact details, but typically it might go something like this:

California -> Memphis -> Toronto -> Richmond, BC -> then local couriers 'til I got it. (I should add that Richmond is the big FedEx facility on the Canadian West Coast, and is home to the Vancouver International Airport. Once it's in Richmond it's in the hands of the local contractors. Usually.)

or...

California -> Chicago -> Montreal -> Richmond

or once

California -> Memphis -> Chicago -> Toronto -> Montreal (?!) -> Nanaimo (which is actually very close to where I live) -> Richmond (clear across the Georgia Straight) where it was put on a local contractor's truck that would have taken the ferry back to Nanaimo to drive down the highway to bring it to me)

The best one was....

California -> Richmond (Yay! Local contractor) -> Montreal :)confused: - it was 40km from in Richmond, now it's 3735 km away.) -> Richmond (again) -> Nanaimo (Hmm - local truck or back to Richmond - 50/50 odds with my history) -> Me.

I have an Apple book on order. It was in Richmond yesterday morning. I haven't checked yet today to see if it's heading east to sample Poutine or heading my way to try Sushi. I should look, but I'm afraid to.

Don't blame Apple. They just give it to delivery company and after that Apple has nothing to do with. Remember that FedEx was started by someone who presented the business model as part of their business degree, and the prof failed the business model that became FedEx. It makes no sense, and yet it makes money.

Cheers and Good Luck
 

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,661
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
There are sometimes honestly weird things because of the way big delivery companies are set up (for example, almost everything direct shipped from China by Apple goes through a hub in the midwest, even if it's going back to the Pacific coast), but I'm pretty sure at least some of the weirdness isn't necessarily physical locations but just an artifact of the way the tracking system works.

For example, FedEx had my recent MBP (direct shipped from China) taking 12 hours to go from Sacramento to Oakland (maybe a two hour drive at most), then going from Oakland to "out for delivery" in like an hour, which is impossible as I live 6 hours by car north of Oakland and even if it had been at the airport when scanned it'd still take more than an hour to fly it up and get it to the depot the trucks leave from. In this case it probably took that route, but not at the logged times.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
...
I live on the West Coast of Canada. A day's drive north of California, where each of these products shipped from
...
California -> Chicago -> Montreal -> Richmond

or once

California -> Memphis -> Chicago -> Toronto -> Montreal (?!)
...
California -> Richmond (Yay! Local contractor) -> Montreal :)confused: - it was 40km from in Richmond, now it's 3735 km away.) -> Richmond (again) -> Nanaimo (Hmm - local truck or back to Richmond - 50/50 odds with my history) -> Me.

...

Because it's Friday afternoon, and nobody (here) wants to do any real work I did some distance measuring. When my Apple shipments were in Montreal they were same distance to Iceland as to me, and the same distance to Venezuela as to me (+/- 100 km).

The package could have gone to Resolute Nunavut, and been closer to Montreal than I am to Montreal.

If the package had gone North, it would have had to go to Alert, Nunavut before it was farther from Montreal than I am.

I forget where in California the packages shipped from.... but even if they came from the California/Mexican border - as far away as you can get in California from where I live.... that spot is still nearly 2000 km closer to me than Montreal.

I have nothing against Montreal. I like Montreal. It has the best bagels and the 2nd best Poutine in the world. And Smoked Beef. But why ship so much stuff through Montreal that's heading for the West Coast? Sigh.

Oh well - back to work. Lets see how many New Yorkers are reading this thread.

-----

I know it's bad form to quote yourself, but I'm adding new content, so I hope it's ok. sorry.
 
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