I'm in California (South Bay area) and none of the stores seem to have it in stock anytime soon. Was anyone able to get it shipped by this week, or get an in-store pickup? I know that people in the UK have already gotten the Pencil from stores....
Did anyone in the US buy a Pencil in stores?
I would check again later today. Today is the release date.pinged apple care support online and they checked and said for my zip (atlanta) there are no pencils available today. really sucks since people seemed to think today the accessories would hit stores...
I would check again later today. Today is the release date.
Questions:
Why is this happening?
Why do they trickle ship these too stores, and not have an orderly ordering system FOR PEOPLE WHO OWN THE TABLET?
Why are they making us waste time like this? Time is money.
Haven't they got enough of ours already?
Stop complaining. If it doesn't fit your immediate requirements, don't buy it.
Looks like you put the cart before the horse then. Apple didn't over promise and under deliver for you. They have delivered on their word so far. If your business is being compromised because of a gamble you took in purchasing these, then you have to eat it. Should your business have an ongoing relationship with Apple and are dependent on delivery of their products outside of what they are announcing to everyone else, maybe you need to communicate that with them and hope they can accomodate you.Hey fitshaced,
I own a technology research firm and we routinely buy hardware and software to evaluate the use cases for enterprise customers to integrate into their business processes, products and services. The Apple Pencil has key (non-replicable) features when paired to the iPad Pro but the issue of availability means we are fronting thousands for iPad Pros which we will not be able to fully test until the damn accessories arrive. The keyboard is less critical as most scenarios can be duplicated with third party bluetooth keyboards but really this is just a botched release.
Besides that when you buy as a business you are issued POs for the purchase which cannot be easily modified. So even if we find pencils on the shelves we must still follow through with the purchase of the original invoices and only then can we go through an RMA process. The net result is a massive logistical pain in the ass for a 99 dollar accessory.
So, before you go telling people to stop complaining or allude to the possibility that someone is complaining because they are petulant and unable to wait one or two days for something to arrive, time is indeed money, especially when analysts and engineers are on standby while other companies who have gotten their devices through more direct channels at Apple have been toying with them for months.
It's a stifling and anti-competitive practice. In other words, Apple is being a bit Microsoft about this obfuscation of accessory availability. This has usually extended across the product lines but this case is particularly tedious and I am willing to bet good money that it is all due to a false assumption on their part. (That barely anyone would be interested in the accessories so why not just seed a few into the stores and see how well they do.) As they got closer to release they got more and more positive feedback about the Pencil but by then the initial orders were placed with their distributors and ramping up production takes about 30 - 90 days.
Before anyone runs off half cocked and blames Tim Cook for this, I am also willing to bet good money that he is not directly at fault for this decision. This, to me, seems more like an oversight by the head of retail as they should be managing supply for the stores as well as store operations. Just my two cents.
Stop complaining. If it doesn't fit your immediate requirements, don't buy it.
Looks like you put the cart before the horse then. Apple didn't over promise and under deliver for you. They have delivered on their word so far. If your business is being compromised because of a gamble you took in purchasing these, then you have to eat it. Should your business have an ongoing relationship with Apple and are dependent on delivery of their products outside of what they are announcing to everyone else, maybe you need to communicate that with them and hope they can accomodate you.
What you have done though is jump the gun and raise a PO based on a guesstimate of when the pencil would be released. Did you assume that if you ordered seconds after they went live online you would bag your full order at the first wave of deliveries? Your situation is purely created by you and a risky business decision. I hope it doesn't have any impact on your company or your staff but no one is responsible for you feeling shafted by Apple but you.