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Apple Watch Being Returned to Apple

T

tmangenius

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 26, 2015
7
0
Anyone else have the situation that their Apple Watch (mine is Apple Watch 42mm with Black Sport Band) has been recalled (or returned to Apple by UPS). Mine was supposed to be delivered today (was actually going to pick it up from the UPS Store), but apparently Apple is having it returned to them. Neither UPS nor Apple can tell me what happened as of yet. I'm on the phone with Apple now and she's talking with UPS.

I'm in NYC and so is the Watch. So close yet so far away.
 
tmangenius said:
Anyone else have the situation that their Apple Watch (mine is Apple Watch 42mm with Black Sport Band) has been recalled (or returned to Apple by UPS). Mine was supposed to be delivered today (was actually going to pick it up from the UPS Store), but apparently Apple is having it returned to them. Neither UPS nor Apple can tell me what happened as of yet. I'm on the phone with Apple now and she's talking with UPS.

I'm in NYC and so is the Watch. So close yet so far away.
Click to expand...

Never heard of anything like this. Are you sure it isn't just a hiccup with UPS?
 
UPS and Apple won't tell you if shipper request for a return. You should be able to tell online via the tracking details as to who requested it.

If they shipper, Apple, did request a return, UPS won't tell you why as they won't and need to know why. Just a few clicks from Apple, the watch is going back to them.

My best guess is your credit card didn't go thru.
 
tmangenius said:
Anyone else have the situation that their Apple Watch (mine is Apple Watch 42mm with Black Sport Band) has been recalled (or returned to Apple by UPS). Mine was supposed to be delivered today (was actually going to pick it up from the UPS Store), but apparently Apple is having it returned to them. Neither UPS nor Apple can tell me what happened as of yet. I'm on the phone with Apple now and she's talking with UPS.

I'm in NYC and so is the Watch. So close yet so far away.
Click to expand...

Could me that Beyoncé requested a non gold model.
 
interesting OP. I wonder if it's due to the black band. The 38mm SG Sport (with black band) had no updates yesterday (at least no new shipments being sent out according to MacRumors posters). There's been a few threads about the black band not holding up quite well, not sure if those were anomalies or if they are having issues.
 
co.ag.2005 said:
interesting OP. I wonder if it's due to the black band. The 38mm SG Sport (with black band) had no updates yesterday (at least no new shipments being sent out according to MacRumors posters). There's been a few threads about the black band not holding up quite well, not sure if those were anomalies or if they are having issues.
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No, that's not it. All hell would have broken loose already.
 
Guess I didn't post the update. I just got off the phone with Apple. She called UPS to see what's going on and if I can pick it up. UPS stopped the return process and is supposed to call me within an hour to update me. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up later today.

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Nde said:
UPS and Apple won't tell you if shipper request for a return. You should be able to tell online via the tracking details as to who requested it.

If they shipper, Apple, did request a return, UPS won't tell you why as they won't and need to know why. Just a few clicks from Apple, the watch is going back to them.

My best guess is your credit card didn't go thru.
Click to expand...

I doubt they would ship it in the first place if my payment didn't go through. I used Apple Pay and can see the charge on my Amex.
 
tmangenius said:
Guess I didn't post the update. I just got off the phone with Apple. She called UPS to see what's going on and if I can pick it up. UPS stopped the return process and is supposed to call me within an hour to update me. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up later today.

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I doubt they would ship it in the first place if my payment didn't go through. I used Apple Pay and can see the charge on my Amex.
Click to expand...
UPS is very careful and detail oriented which serves us very well. It's one possibility that some of the information regarding processing of the parcel is incorrect. It doesn't happen often but a very similar thing happened to me. UPS and Apple sorted it out in short order and the package was delivered to me. I feel confident you'll be just fine.
 
Echoing previous sentiments: it's probably carrier damage. I've seen this before with other products. Fingers crossed that it's something else of course.
 
It turns out that UPS loss prevention decided that, because they couldn't fulfill my request to pick it up at a UPS customer center, they would return it back to Apple instead of just delivering it to the shipping address, which is my apartment. So, it wasn't Apple requesting that it be returned like I was originally told. I guess UPS is on higher alert because of all the watches shipping and want to cover themselves. It took 5 phone calls between me and Apple or UPS to figure that out. They're returning the package to Apple and Apple is going to re-ship it out to me. I assume I should have it this time next week. I'll just let it be delivered to my apt and wait patiently.
 
That makes sense. I had the watch sent to my office, and have received many packages from both UPS and FedEx before. The delivery people on all these other packages (some of which were $$$ too) were content to let just anybody sign. For the watch, however, I had to sign for it in person and it was an actual release form (not the handheld scanner).
 
tmangenius said:
It turns out that UPS loss prevention decided that, because they couldn't fulfill my request to pick it up at a UPS customer center, they would return it back to Apple instead of just delivering it to the shipping address, which is my apartment. So, it wasn't Apple requesting that it be returned like I was originally told. I guess UPS is on higher alert because of all the watches shipping and want to cover themselves. It took 5 phone calls between me and Apple or UPS to figure that out. They're returning the package to Apple and Apple is going to re-ship it out to me. I assume I should have it this time next week. I'll just let it be delivered to my apt and wait patiently.
Click to expand...

That was ************. There are a few other threads popping up here with the same story. Some people had noted that they changed the destination to a UBS center, like you did (and I did), but others did not. So the watch is en route (from Harrisburg, PA?) and then Apple issues a claim to have it returned to a warehouse in Elk Grove, CA. So all of these watches are going all the way back to CA instead of some nearby strategic staging warehouse just to turn around and go right back out? They are doing something there. The speculation is either these Watches are defective or that the bands are mixed up. Apple is trying to correct something. It's just too odd that they would go to the trouble of suddenly pulling these, without notification, sending them back to CA, but keep our orders and charges.
 
wlow3 said:
That was ************. There are a few other threads popping up here with the same story. Some people had noted that they changed the destination to a UBS center, like you did (and I did), but others did not. So the watch is en route (from Harrisburg, PA?) and then Apple issues a claim to have it returned to a warehouse in Elk Grove, CA. So all of these watches are going all the way back to CA instead of some nearby strategic staging warehouse just to turn around and go right back out? They are doing something there. The speculation is either these Watches are defective or that the bands are mixed up. Apple is trying to correct something. It's just too odd that they would go to the trouble of suddenly pulling these, without notification, sending them back to CA, but keep our orders and charges.
Click to expand...

Yep this is exactly my situation as well. It is quite possible this is a UPS CC thing as I scheduled mychoice CC pick up. Every other person who got their watch delivered today did not do that, and those who did are in this position. This is rough
 
kharris8887 said:
Yep this is exactly my situation as well. It is quite possible this is a UPS CC thing as I scheduled mychoice CC pick up. Every other person who got their watch delivered today did not do that, and those who did are in this position. This is rough
Click to expand...

Well I've seen one guy who encountered this get his shipping date changed to June (the guy who started the "Watch returned to sender?" thread). If this is only about pulling it because the destination address had been altered then the lady who I talked to at the Apple call center should have no trouble keeping her promise to ship the watch back as soon as it arrives back at the warehouse. If my date changes to June then I'll know that they're sending me a different watch. That will mean either there was something wrong with the original watch or they have no problems putting it back on the pile at their discretion for the next customer in line without ever contacting me first. ( I asked the lady to send an email confirming what she intended to do, which she said she would --well, she never sent it.)

Even on their own Shipping Help page they say that an option after a first failed delivery attempt is to call the UPS CC and arrange a pickup. I've certainly done that with iPhones in years past. Who knew this would be a problem.
 
kharris8887 said:
Yep this is exactly my situation as well. It is quite possible this is a UPS CC thing as I scheduled mychoice CC pick up. Every other person who got their watch delivered today did not do that, and those who did are in this position. This is rough
Click to expand...

I didn't change a thing with my order or schedule a pickup but am still in the same position.
 
Good news

OK GOOD NEWS.

This is for the Return to Sender issue.

I just received a phone call from a representative on behalf of Tim Cook himself. (I had sent a letter to him last night complaining about this.) Long story short, Apple is aware of the problem. They still feel this is happening on UPS's end. They are sending replacement watches with a 5-7 day (probably business day) delivery date to all people affected. Your account may report a later shipping date (a la June) but this is a quirk of the Online Apple Store and does not reflect the true shipping date. She promised emails until the situation is resolved. She said Tim Cook is aware of the situation and that this has been "interesting" - they have never encountered this before (my paraphrasing).

Part of her email follow up: "Thank you for bringing your concern to our attention and taking the time to speak with me today! As discussed, I will set up a replacement and will keep you posted on the progress of the situation." She also gave me her number and email address, telling me I could contact her any time.

While this delay is disappointing, I feel better that they are trying to rectify the situation. And, hey, Tim Cook really does read his email. :)

---
Update:
Just received a new email (replacement) order confirmation.
 
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