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Taiwan launch was terrible.

shamash

shamash

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 19, 2008
594
22
Portland, Oregon
I waited around in lines, watched some stores have presales and some stores not, waited in line for 45 minutes just to be told that they have no watches and people are just waiting to try them on... Every store had a different problem (and I went to 3).

Now I'm waiting for the website to go down so I can (attempt) to order online. Let's see if it actually updates at 1:01pm. My guess is another failure.
 
"將於 6 月 26 日下午 1:01 之後提供"

It's 1:02 pm and the website hasn't even gone down for change/maintenance. THANKS APPLE.
 
I just got it on the website. I type in Chinese too slowly on my phone haha, it's better with the computer.

Annoying though, it says 1 working day to ship, but it won't arrive until next Wednesday. I guess they're shipping them from Hong Kong.

The nice thing is, I ordered the 42mm black sports, and it was 1-2 weeks to be delivered in the states, so A+ on only having to wait less than a week!

I really wanted it today, but I guess I'll be fine to wait a few days haha.
 
shamash said:
I just got it on the website. I type in Chinese too slowly on my phone haha, it's better with the computer.

Annoying though, it says 1 working day to ship, but it won't arrive until next Wednesday. I guess they're shipping them from Hong Kong.

The nice thing is, I ordered the 42mm black sports, and it was 1-2 weeks to be delivered in the states, so A+ on only having to wait less than a week!

I really wanted it today, but I guess I'll be fine to wait a few days haha.
Click to expand...

I ordered a 42mm SS BSB.... Delivers next Tuesday. For Singapore store. Let's look forward to our watches!
 
Nice! I was really stuck between the SS and black sports, but I really like the look of the black watch with a white sports band, so I'm going for it. I figure I can possibly do stainless in gen 2.
 
shamash said:
Nice! I was really stuck between the SS and black sports, but I really like the look of the black watch with a white sports band, so I'm going for it. I figure I can possibly do stainless in gen 2.
Click to expand...
I had issues with reports of chipping on the space grey after extended use.. And decided just go for SS.
 
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Haha, it's funny. I think there are SO many reports, that we end up listening to the ones we like more. Like, I saw those too, but it seemed a lot rarer than the reports of scratching on the SS and the sapphire crystal being more brittle.

Honestly, I'm upgrading from an LG G-Watch (the first edition) which is mostly plastic, so anything is going to be a huge upgrade to me. I think if I don't like it, I have 7 days to return it with no questions asked in Taiwan as well. Maybe 14 still because of Apple, I don't know.
 
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Of course I can't stop refreshing the page to see when it gets out of 正在處理項目 (order processing). I don't even know what the next step is. The last time I ordered off the Taiwanese Apple store online was to get a snow leopard DVD a couple years ago haha.

I'm surprised I was able to navigate my way through buying a watch. Hopefully it doesn't end up getting shipped off to Japan :p:D
 
shamash said:
Nice! I was really stuck between the SS and black sports, but I really like the look of the black watch with a white sports band, so I'm going for it. I figure I can possibly do stainless in gen 2.
Click to expand...
Nice! That was my original plan (minus the white band) but it got de-railed for numerous reasons, so I have a 42mm SS now. However, I think the watch is quite pleasing aesthetically so I have no issues with having to have paid the extra $200. Quite pleased with my watch, and unlike my phone I think I can probably stand not to upgrade it every year.
 
Yeah, the extra $200 isn't really a big deal for me either. I actually want to have it be a bit lighter, and not have to worry about it.

I also really like the black watch, and while $200 upgrade to SS isn't a big deal, the $700(?) upgrade to black SS is haha.
 
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shamash said:
Yeah, the extra $200 isn't really a big deal for me either. I actually want to have it be a bit lighter, and not have to worry about it.

I also really like the black watch, and while $200 upgrade to SS isn't a big deal, the $700(?) upgrade to black SS is haha.
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I totally get the weight thing. I wore watches back when I was younger, then stopped for several years as I didn't want to buy one myself. Fast forward to a couple years ago and I bought a MK watch that was quite nice but was heavy, especially to someone who hadn't worn one in years. Switching to the Pebble lightened that load quite a bit, to the point where I'm used to having weight on my arm... I kind of feel weird without it. That being said, I can definitely feel the weight difference between the Sport and the SS version, but it feels negligible to me in the day-to-day and doesn't bother me while working out either, but I can understand that other people might be more sensitive to that.

Indeed! When the watch was first announced, prior to any pricing, I was immediately attracted to the Milanese Loop and the SS/SB Link Bracelets. Once the prices were revealed... well, the dream of the LB was definitely dead to me. I could afford it, but I couldn't justify paying that much more for just a band; one of the few times where the Apple tax was finally too much for me.
 
Yeah. It's especially hard when I just got my yearly bonus, and could even spring for the black SS one if I *really* wanted it.

But again, first gen and such. I have been using an LG G-Watch for the past 6-7 months or so, which was nice when I used Android but frustrating when I went back to the iPhone. I know I like the idea of a smart watch, I just don't know how much I'm willing to spend on one that will be outdated in a couple years.
 
shamash said:
Yeah. It's especially hard when I just got my yearly bonus, and could even spring for the black SS one if I *really* wanted it.

But again, first gen and such. I have been using an LG G-Watch for the past 6-7 months or so, which was nice when I used Android but frustrating when I went back to the iPhone. I know I like the idea of a smart watch, I just don't know how much I'm willing to spend on one that will be outdated in a couple years.
Click to expand...
True. I had/have some minor apprehension with going too crazy with extra bands as well because I worry about how long they will be applicable. I would hope they wouldn't change the band connection for at least 5 or 6 generations, if at all, but there's never a guarantee with Apple as they were willing to even scrap their 30-pin port when going from 4S to 5. An extra $150 for a ML or LL is much more reasonable than the extra $500 for the LB... thankfully I've become more frugal in the past 5 years or so!
 
shamash said:
Of course I can't stop refreshing the page to see when it gets out of 正在處理項目 (order processing). I don't even know what the next step is. The last time I ordered off the Taiwanese Apple store online was to get a snow leopard DVD a couple years ago haha.

I'm surprised I was able to navigate my way through buying a watch. Hopefully it doesn't end up getting shipped off to Japan :p:D
Click to expand...
Mine's preparing for shipment ! :D
 
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I'm excited for it haha. My only complaint is that I don't have it right now!

What were you doing in TC? It's a *TOTALLY* different place right now. Like, where I live was a farm like 10 years ago. It's a huge city now haha.
 
Also: Anyone know about AC+ in the Asian regions? I can't find it on the Taiwanese website. Can I call the US Applecare line and order it?
 
Funny listening to you guys talk about having to wait a few days to receive your watch after ordering, when most people in the US didn't get their watch until a month+ from their purchase date.
 
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Haxley said:
Funny listening to you guys talk about having to wait a few days to receive your watch after ordering, when most people in the US didn't get their watch until a month+ from their purchase date.
Click to expand...

Lol, that's true, but I had to wait over 2 months after people in the US just to order.

I just figured that if Apple can ship it to me in 1 business day, they could have given stores more. There were only 2 stores that carry the Apple Watch in my city (the 2nd biggest city in Taiwan). One store got no stock, but had watches to try on. The other store had about 50 watches, most of which were 38mm.

It's beyond me that they have the stock to ship within a day, but the only store in a city of 3 million+ people can only get 50 watches on the release day. I think it's fair to be upset and call it a botched launch. Especially when the launch is months after the launch in the US.
 
Also, most stores in the US now have enough stock that you can walk in and pick up just about any watch. It's not like the product is new just because it's just now being released in Taiwan.
 
shamash said:
Also, most stores in the US now have enough stock that you can walk in and pick up just about any watch. It's not like the product is new just because it's just now being released in Taiwan.
Click to expand...

There are barely any states, let alone stores (like 4 Apple stores) that have the Apple Watch stock in the United States.
 
Are you kidding? I checked almost every day to see if my mom could pick one up (she was just in Portland) and I checked multiple watches, including the "harder to find" black Sports watch, and every day they were in stores. You just have to go online at 8am and set up an appointment.
 
You said, "Also, most stores in the US now have enough stock that you can walk in and pick up just about any watch."

This is not the case. There are literally 4 stores in the US that you could walk into right now in Hawaii and Alaska and buy a limited selection of watches. Sure maybe if you log on at 8am and the store got stock that day, you may be able to reserve one for yourself. But you cannot simply 'walk in and pick up just about any watch'
 
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