Apple shipping. Has anyone managed to hurry them along?

[ascender]

According to the superb website at Apecode, my iMac has arrived at the European Distribution Centre in Holland over the weekend. However, according to Apple, its not going to be picked up until Thursday to be sent to the UK, for delivery next week.

Now, I know delivery is free, but I would have paid extra for the delivery if it was an option. As I upgraded the spec on the machine, I couldn't buy it locally so had to go direct to Apple. But now I've still not got a machine and its just sitting in a warehouse. Most couriers offer a 24 or 48 hour service from the UK to Europe, so why the delay?

Just wondering what Apple's customer service is like and if anyone has had any luck in getting them to chase up collection of the delivery from their EDC? Bit frustrating that absolutely nothing is happening with my order at the moment and I could really do with the machine asap for work.

Thanks,


Mike.

 

[scr]

I doubt that you can get Apple to speed up the shipping. IIRC it is TNT that handles the shipping between Europe and you, so I figure it would be pointless to call apple and try to convince them.

 

[ascender]

I doubt that you can get Apple to speed up the shipping. IIRC it is TNT that handles the shipping between Europe and you, so I figure it would be pointless to call apple and try to convince them.

Apparently mine is coming by UPS, so its whether Apple have to tell UPS that the package is ready to go, or whether UPS have just been given a date of this Thursday for example and will turn up then.

 

[NATO]

From experience of numerous deliveries from Apple and to be blunt, just suck it up. There's absolutely nothing you can do to speed up your delivery (and believe me I've tried with my own orders).

It's the single most infuriating thing about Apple's online store and unfortunately it's a necessary evil if you choose to configure your system from the base spec, or want to order with Higher Education discount.

I ordered a Mac mini yesterday as a media box for my TV and I configured it with 1GB RAM rather than 512MB. When I placed the order and saw the words 'merge in transit' in the shipping information, I cancelled it straight away and ordered a stock machine. I just don't have the patience to wait 2 weeks for a system to come from China simply for a trivial memory upgrade when I could recieve the system tomorrow and do it myself.

 

[ascender]

Even more annoying is that the tracking info on the Apecode site seems to be more up to date than the information that Apple have access to. Very funny being on the phone to a company and telling them that actually, the iMac has arrived in the country and isn't on a plane at the moment.

I think you're right though, no way round it, but its definitely disappointing. Of course, as soon as your order is built, you can't cancel it, even though its not left the country or is in another Apple warehouse. So its not like I can just cancel and try to source elsewhere.

Oh well, I'll know for next time!

 

[ascender]

Apparently mine is coming by UPS, so its whether Apple have to tell UPS that the package is ready to go, or whether UPS have just been given a date of this Thursday for example and will turn up then.

Well, i found out that its the former. Apple have to tell the carrier to come and pick it up. Not that it helps me at all, but at least I know now

See, this is when the internet is bad. In the days before the internet I'd just accept that it was a 3 week delivery period and I'd have no idea where the parcel is until it arrived on my doorstep!

 

[azzurri000]

My last Apple shipment (my replacement iPod) took a week longer to arrive than the estimated delivery date... they used DHL that time, and the service was pretty bad. I missed their first delivery, so I called them, and they said that they would be following procedure and coming again the next day (a Thursday.) Of course this never happened, so I called and bugged them and was "lucky" to receive it Saturday morning.

My other experience with receiving a shipment from Apple was last June. My AppleCare registration was delivered by UPS, and it came right on time.

I really hope my next shipments are not delivered by DHL... it's too bad we don't get to choose.