OK so I had an infuriating saga with UPS and Apple.
TLDR; : UPS claims that Apple has restricted deliveries such that: a) Apple has disallowed weekend deliveries and b) Apple has disallowed pickups at UPS customer service counters, and I believe, any other pickup point.
Whole Megila:
- First, all shipment info I received from Apple or UPS indicated "standard delivery", without any indication of "signature required". Of course it would make sense for signature to be required. UPS claimed it is at their discretion, maybe even driver discretion.
- I pre-ordered when pre-orders opened, and expected Friday, 9/20/24 delivery.
- UPS attempted delivery (at 11 am) outside the provided delivery window (12:30-5:30), and did not knock loudly enough, and though I was home with window open maybe 20 feet from the door, I did not hear. A notice was left.
- A supervisor at dispatch center said the driver "would try" to attempt a same-day delivery later in the day, but no one showed.
- Around 7pm, I contacted dispatch center and was informed they no longer have pickup counters, and could not promise even an attempt at a Saturday delivery.
- I contacted UPS, and they informed me of above in TLDR.
- UPS Shipping info said delivery 2nd attempt would be Monday afternoon (9/23/24)
- Apple "post-sales" department wasn't sure about said restrictions but said if that's true, there is nothing they can do about that and refused to involve a supervisor. They could open some kind of tracking procedure but that would take 48 hours or more so I was advised just to wait for Monday.
- I contacted UPS again by phone and waited a good hour for a supervisor, who quickly said she would "request" a Saturday delivery. UPS dispatch was to call me in the morning to tell me if possible. In the morning, no one called.
- Until around 9:00 am, the tracking status said "processing", and then it changed to out for delivery.
- I received it about 11 am, while looking out the window most of that time for the UPS truck, and intercepting the driver in the driveway.
Needless to say a frustrating experience and tho it worked out in the end:
- It took a great deal of pushing.
- I remain curious about the restrictions in TLDR. Is Apple too cheap to pay for weekend delivery if necessary? If so that's truly lame for the cost of the device. Amazon does it for items of any value. Especially lame considering the release / delivery date was a Friday.