How accurate is the UK Delivery time estimate?

[Meep]

Hello,

First of all this question is really for UK people that ordered their Mac Pro's (or any Apple product really) through the UK Apple Store.

I know when you select an order and go to pay it gives you an estimated delivery date, for example today it said 14-17th because of my BTO options. How accurate is that estiamte (for example do things often come earlier or later?)

I would like to know as I'm currently in Uni halls and I'm going back home (where i'm getting it sent to) for the Easter holidays on the 15th and until then there'll be no one to sign for it during the day if it was delivered.

Also what would happen if it did come when no one was at home?


Thanks
Meep

 

[iBlue]

In our case, very accurate. It actually arrived a day early, IIRC. (it was coming from Ireland)

I think if you're not there they will put a note through your door to tell you and you can either try to arrange pick-up or have them redeliver.

 

[Beardy man]

In my case it actually arrived 4 days before the earliest ETA.

My only complaint (very minor in retrospect) was the total lack of tracking info until the day before it arrived.

So, you ask, would I have preferred better tracking and an on-time delivery? Nope. happy now

Still don't know where my came from (I'm assuming Shanghai as all the other Mac's I've ordered in the last few years have been Chinese) as the tracking only kicked in when it arrived in UK

 

[Meep]

In my case it actually arrived 4 days before the earliest ETA.

My only complaint (very minor in retrospect) was the total lack of tracking info until the day before it arrived.

So, you ask, would I have preferred better tracking and an on-time delivery? Nope. happy now

Still don't know where my came from (I'm assuming Shanghai as all the other Mac's I've ordered in the last few years have been Chinese) as the tracking only kicked in when it arrived in UK

Now if it came early for me instead of being over the moon i'd be worried what was going to happen to it until i was back to recieve it. I don't want my £1600 computer to be the goal post for the warehouseman's lunchtime 5 a side football match.

Also don't they send the product back to sender after a set amount of delivery attempts?

 

[Fingermouse]

In my case it actually ended up arriving 5 days early - which was a bit of a surprise considering it was CTO rather than off-the-shelf.

The tracking information was completely hit and miss - at one point the ETA changed from the 27th to the 19th (and this was on the 20th). It actually arrived on the 22nd, with real tracking information only available on the evening of the 21st once it was with UPS.

So - take a guess... Sticking a pin in a calendar at random is probably as good as relying on Apple's tracking... Sorry if that's not very encouraging!

 

[iBlue]

Oh yeah, the tracking is a joke. (they used TNT) Also be warned that the tracking number changes once it leaves Apple and gets into TNT's hands. You can call TNT and they're fairly decent about telling you what is going on with it. I don't think it will be a problem to figure out which day it is due to arrive and plan accordingly.

BTW, Most places have a 3 delivery attempts rule. They won't send it back to Apple on the first or second try.

 

[mypetfrog]

apple good - reseller bad

Apple has always been pretty good and always arrived 1 or 2 days early.

Resellers are a different matter though... ordered a Mac Pro fully specced that Apple said would ship in 4 days... took my reseller just over 3 weeks to delivery it!!

Useless!!

So I say go apple direct every time!

Ste

 

[Infrared]

In my case it actually arrived 4 days before the earliest ETA.

My only complaint (very minor in retrospect) was the total lack of tracking info until the day before it arrived.

So, you ask, would I have preferred better tracking and an on-time delivery? Nope. happy now

Still don't know where my came from (I'm assuming Shanghai as all the other Mac's I've ordered in the last few years have been Chinese) as the tracking only kicked in when it arrived in UK

The first two letters of the serial number will tell you where it
came from. CK = Cork, Ireland, etc.

More details here:

http://macfaq.org/serial.html

 

[Beardy man]

Hmm, that makes sense...

My MacPro which arrived early has a CK (cork) serial number but my old G5 iMac which took ages to arrive has a W8 (wait) serial number

 

[Meep]

This is kinda making me lean towards ordering it at the end of the week, that way if it does come 5 days early i'll be there to sign for it, but is it be possible to ring the courier up once i know they have it and arrange for them to hold onto it until i'm ready to recieve it???

I was also wondering if the people's who's Mac Pro's cam really early had any BTO options on them or if they were just stock?

 

[Beardy man]

My "2 day early" MP was BTO - 500gb HD, Airport Extreme card and 8800GT

 

[iBlue]

This is kinda making me lean towards ordering it at the end of the week, that way if it does come 5 days early i'll be there to sign for it, but is it be possible to ring the courier up once i know they have it and arrange for them to hold onto it until i'm ready to recieve it???

I was also wondering if the people's who's Mac Pro's cam really early had any BTO options on them or if they were just stock?

(I forgot to say when I replied) It was a BTO machine, arrived 1 day early. 5 days early is a bit too hopeful. Just order it now and sort out the details later. When TNT (or whoever) gets the package from Apple, you can call and find out the date of delivery and work around it. I'm also pretty sure you can pick a date of delivery if need be. OR call and arrange to pick it up. It's really not as big a deal as people make of it.

 

[Fingermouse]

My MP was definitely BTO (although Apple seem to call it 'CTO') - 500GB HDD / Airport Extreme, 2x HD2600XT and it still came 5 days early.

I think I was lucky here, though - Apple's ETAs do tend to be a little pessimistic but you can't necessarily plan for such an early delivery. Other orders I've had from Apple have all arrived before the ETA but the actual date seems completely random.

Your best bet is to keep an eye on the tracking information and yes, as soon as you've got a 'real' tracking number for TNT or UPS (Apple use either in the UK) give them a call and work something out. In my case, UPS were happy to deliver later in the day or would have accepted other delivery instructions (although your mileage may vary - I've also had UPS and TNT be entirely unhelpful on other occasions). Maybe that's why the UPS driver always looks so irritated when he arrives at my house...

 

[welshy1812]

My Mac Pro has arrived this morning, original estimated delivery date was 10-11 of March so around 5 or 6 days early.

I ordered the 2.8 octo, with the 8800, airport, wireless keyboard and mouse.

The tracking number for TNT was updated to the apple tracking site the day before (yesterday) so I was slightly caught by surprise that it was so early, thankfully someone was home to take delivery.

Can't wait to get home and play with it now!

 

[Meep]

Update

I ordered my Mac Pro on Thursday (Octo 2.8Ghz with 8800GT and Wifi) and it's already been shipped........... it did have an est delivery date of the 18th to 19th but now it's the 16th which is a Sunday, would they deliver on a Sunday?

What's the average time from you getting the email saying it's shipped to it landing on your door?

Also is there a way to find our where it has shipped from? As if it's coming from Ireland it's going to beat the 16th Est Delivery date where as if its coming from China then i might just have a chance to be home for when it comes.

 

[Mr.Noisy]

Mine was BTO, arrived a day early, which was the same day 3 x Hard drives and speakers arrived so i was a happy bunny for an extra day, i think it's more how quick the carrier will get the thing to you, mine came from Cork and was delivered by UPS
Judging by it's weight, i guess it's all down to 'who had 3 shredded wheat' before it's loaded on a truck