okay, this will likely seem like a dumb question, but here it goes. I've never ordered anything from the Apple Store before. My mother's 50th birthday is coming up in October, and I wanted to get her a blue iPod mini. Right now on the Apple store, they are saying there is a four-week wait on the blue minis. My question is, if I order this mini now, will my credit card be charged immediately, or when the mini ships? The problem is I don't have the $250 in my bank account right now, but after my next payday there will be more than enough, but I wanted to get the order in now so that I will be sure to get it before her birthday. Thanks for answering my silly question!!!
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stupid apple store question
- Thread starter kwikdeth
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kwikdeth said:
am I missing something? if you pay with your credit card, what does it matter if you have the money in your account or not at that particular moment. you just need it there when it comes time ot pay the credit card.
Or maybe you're using an ATM card with the Visa logo on it. Which is not a practice I would personally encourage if you do a lot of ordering online.
I'm not too sure when you are charged, but if I were you I would borrow a credit card, then pay a person back. You don't want to overcharge a debit card by god knows how much. Just offer up your iPod to your credit-card friend as collateral . 
The Apple store charges about 24 to 48 hour before it ships. They do not pre-notify you.
You should get your order in if time is a concern. If possible, use a non-debit card just in case.
You should get your order in if time is a concern. If possible, use a non-debit card just in case.
Like everyone else said, your card is charged shortly before the item ships.
However, you might not want to take the chance and risk getting an over draw on your balance. Do you live near an Apple store or an Apple retailer that sells iPods (Comp USA, Target, Frys, BestBuy, etc.)? If so, you might just want to hold off on ordering and check out those places when you get some cash. I have been seeing iPod Minis around MUCH more frequently lately. Pretty much everywhere I go has them.
Good luck.
However, you might not want to take the chance and risk getting an over draw on your balance. Do you live near an Apple store or an Apple retailer that sells iPods (Comp USA, Target, Frys, BestBuy, etc.)? If so, you might just want to hold off on ordering and check out those places when you get some cash. I have been seeing iPod Minis around MUCH more frequently lately. Pretty much everywhere I go has them.
Good luck.
Well, I had the same question last week. I ended up ordering the 20GB iPod and the docking station Saturday night. The order was put into a status of open Sunday. And around 8am est today (monday) the status of my order was changed to "shipped". I checked the box that made them ship separately. The dock actionally shipped from the states. The iPod shipped from Shanghai, but the FedEx tracker said it missed the pick up cut off time. So I guess that won't be in transit til tomorrow. Well, anyways...I got an email for each item saying that it was "shipping". And received a 3rd email which was an invoice saying that the dock was paid for already. So since I didn't get an invoice mentioning the iPod, I'm assuming they only charged my card for the items that are actually in transit. I will check my card tomorrow to see how much they charged me.
Natalia81 said:
That was the same thing that happened to me when I bought my PB and AppleCare. I ordered both at the same time, but AppleCare was shipped before my laptop. I checked my bank account (used a debit card) and it showed where the Applecare had been paid for. Two days later when my laptop was ready to ship the money was withdrawed and I got the tracking number (after i got an email saying the transaction could not be completed due to the $500 spending limit on my card. I had that cleared up the next day and the laptop was shipped). So yes Apple withdraws the money before the product is shipped, not when the order is placed.
Note: something wierd about my order was the AppleCare and my laptop both shipped from Memphis TN and not form Asia. At least thats what the tracking showed.
Hmm, I'm not sure if there's something different with the Minis or with Apple Australia, but although previously my orders had been charged to the cards just before shipping, with my Mini I was charged almost immediately and had to endure the over 3 week wait out of pocket. Same with the 4g iPod too it seems.
Update:
Ok say my credit card was charged only for the iPod dock, which shipped first. Since my iPod didn't ship til late in the day and also invoiced at the same time, it will probably show up tomorrow on my credit card statement. So I guess they invoice each item separately as they ship.
Any one know how accurate FedEx is with their delivery estimates? For my iPod the ship date is Aug 16th and expected delivery is Aug 19th 10:30 am...this is coming from Shanghai to the east coast (US). Well, that is pretty fast, so I hope they are accurate on their estimates.
Ok say my credit card was charged only for the iPod dock, which shipped first. Since my iPod didn't ship til late in the day and also invoiced at the same time, it will probably show up tomorrow on my credit card statement. So I guess they invoice each item separately as they ship.
Any one know how accurate FedEx is with their delivery estimates? For my iPod the ship date is Aug 16th and expected delivery is Aug 19th 10:30 am...this is coming from Shanghai to the east coast (US). Well, that is pretty fast, so I hope they are accurate on their estimates.
There is an option to make sure that they ship everthing at once. but just to be sure, call 1800MYAPPLE and order over the phone. Take notes and then go shopping at your localish iPod retailers and cancel the original order if you write a check at the local place in the meantime. BTW, everytime I've bought anything from the AppleStore, the shipping was free and took one to three days, so be sure not to pay for freight. Amazon states front and center that they don't charge until shipment, but I'd stick w/AppleStore.