GeForce 6800 delays
At this point, I'm working under then assumption that my GeForce 6800 will not ship "on or before September 17", but the question is, what is the best thing to do if it doesn't?
My notification email from apple was pretty clear, no small print, no maybe:
"The 2.5DP G5 will ship with an ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB SDRAM card and a stand-alone NVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL Graphics Card Stand-Alone Kit by September 17th. "
My order status online tells a different story, however (10/29/04). Of course, I don't think this is correct based on 2 apple representatives (both supervisors) telling me not to look at the date in the store, but to trust email notifications only.
There are obvious legal precedents about online order processing and shipping, notably the July 27th, 2000 'Project TooLate.com' ruling where 7 major online retailers were fined 1.5million for failing to live up to delivery schedules and promises they made.
(See
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/features/toolate.htm for more information)
The only question is, how do we still get the special $450 price for GeForce 6800 cards if Apple cancels our order or we decide to take 'the rest' of our business elsewhere? It gets pretty sticky, since Apple's promise included some non-MSRP price breaks on the NVidia cards to get us our computers sooner, and I think that the emails asking us about how we would like to accept delivery constitute a contract between us.
I'll keep you folks updated on what happens tomorrow, but it is pretty likely that apple will do something illegal tomorrow by not sending me a third delay confirmation email. It may even be illegal already, since the FTC rule has a specific clause about renewed definite dates of buyer's specific consent:
Provided, however, That where the seller previously has obtained the buyer's express consent to an unanticipated delay until a specific date beyond the definite revised shipping date, pursuant to paragraph (b) (1) (iv) of this section or to a further delay until a specific date beyond the definite revised shipping date pursuant to paragraph (b) (2) of this section, that date to which the buyer has expressly consented shall supersede the definite revised shipping date for purposes of paragraph (b) (2) of this section.
(i) Any offer to the buyer of said renewed option shall provide the buyer with a new definite revised shipping date, but where the seller lacks a reasonable basis for providing a new definite revised shipping date, the notice shall inform the buyer that the seller is unable to make any representation regarding the length of the further delay.
(see
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/mailrule.htm)
I'm not exactly sure what the 'reasonable basis' was for apple to have made the September 17th promise to me, but if they miss it after I 'expressly consented' to a 'definite revised shipping date', I don't think they can re-delay it and will have to cancel it, in which case I think they would break the contractual agreement about the simultaneous purchase and special pricing. Perhaps I'll call the FTC on Monday to see what they think about Apple's practices...
BTW--the G5 is awseome... I just want the video card I ordered delivered to me in a timely manner, and for Apple to live up to its obligations!
