Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I expect mine to prepare for shipment today. If not, I will be complaining to Apple tonight. 7 Business Days Fri, Sat, Mon-Fri - If Apple try to tell me they don't work on a Saturday, I'm calling BS
Some American orders which had the 7-10 business days despatch and a delivery estimate of 8th-11th Oct, were preparing for shipment yesterday! So I will be raging if ours don't get dispatched today or tomorrow....
 
West quay has space grey in all sizes. He had a fat wad of tickets and said they have 'plenty'

All other colours out of stock
 
I'm really unhappy with how Apple have dealt with UK online customers, I guess I might have a bit of undue entitlement disorder, but I ordered 3 mins after the store came up for me here (Store came back up at 12:10, my order was confirmed by email by 12:13).

Although Apple quoted 7-10 working days for dispatch which was fine and I didn't mind waiting at all for that safe in the knowledge that I'd be one of the first in the UK with an iPhone 5S, Apple will want to ship to their eager online order customers right?

Mean while 7 people in my office of 25 have got a 5S either from their network or from Carphone Warehouse. I felt like a right mug for ordering directly from Apple.

Yesterday at 15:00ish I had enough, Cancelled my Apple order, picked up a 3 pay as you go Sim from town (I'll get it unlocked as others have in this thread before putting my Voda Sim in), put an order on Carphone Warehouse for a Sim Free 32gig space grey. It got delivered this morning 5 mins before I started writing this (I'm in central Birmingham, I assume a DPD route must start near here).

Why the hell can CPW fulfil this order so quick and Apple can't? I think it shows real supply chain from problems at Apple. Yes they may have dispatched in the 7-10 working days window they quoted, but honestly I don't think that you should have to wait 3 weeks buying a phone directly when so many other suppliers seem to have loads of stock.

Selling 9 million phones in a weekend is impressive, but I wonder how many UK cancellations they've had and I imagine theres less margin in a phone sold by CPW than there is in one sold directly.



I must say, I totally agree with this post.

I have always 'pre-ordered' from apple, and got my order in at 00.01 on the 20th like a lot of other people. I was surprised that there seemed to be zero stock allocated for these orders and we would have to wait for a China despatch.

What was the point of Apple opening online orders at 00.01 when they had no stock to fulfil them. Given a 7-10 day despatch and subsequent 7 day delivery doesnt seem like much incentive to stay up until midnight to make that order.

I, too am seeing many other people getting their hands on a 5S quickly as we just watch our online order sit in limbo. I would prefer to buy from apple online as I dont want to join the queues at stores. I just checked the Carphone Warehouse website and it does indeed show silver and grey 5s available for immediate despatch 24 hour delivery. How are they getting plentiful stock when apple themselves are totally ignoring their online orders. I would be tempted to order from Carphone Warehouse if it wasnt for their greed in adding £50 to the phone - thats pretty disgusting really to take advantage and overcharge like that - I would rather wait 3 weeks to be fair.

What is hard to accept this time around, is that the UK online orders (even those dutifully made at 00.01) have the lowest of the low priorities. Its pretty irritating to see new launch dates quoted for USA minor carriers when they havent fulfilled the orders elsewhere first. Also, all this stock being used to re-supply carriers, and Carphone Warehouse etc etc - why isnt some of this being used to fulfill the online orders??

Very disappointing experience this time round. I have always been an advocate of doing the smart thing, and pre-ordering knowing that you will get your phone on launch day without the queues. Even this time I assumed that there was stock available for 00.01 (why open ordering at that time ?!) and that 'pre-ordering' at least meant immediate dispatch and we would get the phone a few days later at worst.

Maybe Apple are assuming that the die hard fans are all sourcing from elsewhere and they wont have to fulfil many of these online orders as they will all be cancelled eventually! Sadly, with my closest apple store being 30 miles away, and working full time I just dont have the option to tun up at a store at 9am on spec - although if i could I would give it a go rather than waiting for the limbo online orders.
 
I expect mine to prepare for shipment today. If not, I will be complaining to Apple tonight. 7 Business Days Fri, Sat, Mon-Fri - If Apple try to tell me they don't work on a Saturday, I'm calling BS

While I'm also impatient to get mine and feel that Apple have mishandled all aspects of the UK launch, my view is that when they say "business days" they are making the point that it excludes weekends. Otherwise they could have said "7-10 days". I can only get to Apple Stores in the evenings and by then all stocks have sold out. I'm mulling whether or not to drop by Meadowhall tonight on my way past but really don't see much point.
 
Anyone been able to find out anything from the Buchanan street Apple store?

We were thinking of going through today for the other half :)
 
I would be tempted to order from Carphone Warehouse if it wasnt for their greed in adding £50 to the phone - thats pretty disgusting really to take advantage and overcharge like that - I would rather wait 3 weeks to be fair.

My 32Gig Space Grey from CPW was the same price as from Apple. :confused:
 
While I'm also impatient to get mine and feel that Apple have mishandled all aspects of the UK launch, my view is that when they say "business days" they are making the point that it excludes weekends. Otherwise they could have said "7-10 days". I can only get to Apple Stores in the evenings and by then all stocks have sold out. I'm mulling whether or not to drop by Meadowhall tonight on my way past but really don't see much point.

I wonder what business days they refer to anyways..foxconn? They work 7days a week. Apple? They surely work 6 days a week. Ups/dpd/ etc.? Well, all of those big couriers work/ dispatch/ deliver on saturdays.
 
I must say, I totally agree with this post.

I have always 'pre-ordered' from apple, and got my order in at 00.01 on the 20th like a lot of other people. I was surprised that there seemed to be zero stock allocated for these orders and we would have to wait for a China despatch.

What was the point of Apple opening online orders at 00.01 when they had no stock to fulfil them. Given a 7-10 day despatch and subsequent 7 day delivery doesnt seem like much incentive to stay up until midnight to make that order.

I, too am seeing many other people getting their hands on a 5S quickly as we just watch our online order sit in limbo. I would prefer to buy from apple online as I dont want to join the queues at stores. I just checked the Carphone Warehouse website and it does indeed show silver and grey 5s available for immediate despatch 24 hour delivery. How are they getting plentiful stock when apple themselves are totally ignoring their online orders. I would be tempted to order from Carphone Warehouse if it wasnt for their greed in adding £50 to the phone - thats pretty disgusting really to take advantage and overcharge like that - I would rather wait 3 weeks to be fair.

What is hard to accept this time around, is that the UK online orders (even those dutifully made at 00.01) have the lowest of the low priorities. Its pretty irritating to see new launch dates quoted for USA minor carriers when they havent fulfilled the orders elsewhere first. Also, all this stock being used to re-supply carriers, and Carphone Warehouse etc etc - why isnt some of this being used to fulfill the online orders??

Very disappointing experience this time round. I have always been an advocate of doing the smart thing, and pre-ordering knowing that you will get your phone on launch day without the queues. Even this time I assumed that there was stock available for 00.01 (why open ordering at that time ?!) and that 'pre-ordering' at least meant immediate dispatch and we would get the phone a few days later at worst.

Maybe Apple are assuming that the die hard fans are all sourcing from elsewhere and they wont have to fulfil many of these online orders as they will all be cancelled eventually! Sadly, with my closest apple store being 30 miles away, and working full time I just dont have the option to tun up at a store at 9am on spec - although if i could I would give it a go rather than waiting for the limbo online orders.

Sums up my own feelings very well. A colleague bought through O2 - who were saying they had low stocks last week - and received his phone on Monday. I would have ordered through them but was unimpressed with their Refresh offer as they also seemed to be trying to capitalise on the popularity of the 32GB models by charging more than Apple for them on most payment plans, although I think they may have brought the cost down since I first looked as they were charging £70 more for nearly all of the payment plans originally.

----------

I wonder what business days they refer to anyways..foxconn? They work 7days a week. Apple? They surely work 6 days a week. Ups/dpd/ etc.? Well, all of those big couriers work/ dispatch/ deliver on saturdays.

I don't think it matters what the manufacturers work - I took business days to mean Mon-Fri. Looks better than saying 10-14 days, which is essentially what they're saying when you factor in up to a week for delivery - overall delivery is/was up to 3 weeks after ordering.
 
Just visited Covent Garden store and they've already sold out of all silver/gold models, but they were still allowing people in the queue for space grey, if anyone is interested..
 
Passed through the front of Regent Street Store around 9 and the queue was far longer than the last time they restocked :O

For us the people who have to work and want a completely unlocked iPhone, I guess there's no other way than waiting for the eternal online order, as will be out of stock by lunchtime for sure :(

Pretty annoyed of how Apple is treating UK online customers.
 
Seriously Apple? Why couldn't you just delay the phone two weeks?

They really have ****ed up this launch. I can't believe they sold 9 million. I bet half of that the Chinese bought. Disgraceful how they keep treating UK customers. We get the price rises constantly. It's gone from £499 to £520 to £545 for a basic 16GB. We pay most and get it last.
 
So if the orders change from "Proccessing" to "Preparing to Ship" today or tomorrow I am guessing delivery by the end of next week is already out of the question?

Would chance my luck at an Apple store but live miles away from the nearest one :(
 
I expect mine to prepare for shipment today. If not, I will be complaining to Apple tonight. 7 Business Days Fri, Sat, Mon-Fri - If Apple try to tell me they don't work on a Saturday, I'm calling BS

Will be doing same. More of us start to complain then they might take notice. I ordered at 12.01 yet people can get one from Carphone warehouse before me. How does that work Apple?
 
No they haven't.

Says 629 on the page but add it to your basket.. and price goes up to 679.

EDIT: my mistake, you guys were talking about the grey.. stand corrected! although thats pretty sneaky with the silver, right?
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2013-09-26 at 18.31.02.png
    Screen Shot 2013-09-26 at 18.31.02.png
    225.9 KB · Views: 64
  • Screen Shot 2013-09-27 at 09.28.36.png
    Screen Shot 2013-09-27 at 09.28.36.png
    329.7 KB · Views: 74
I'm really unhappy with how Apple have dealt with UK online customers, I guess I might have a bit of undue entitlement disorder, but I ordered 3 mins after the store came up for me here (Store came back up at 12:10, my order was confirmed by email by 12:13).

Although Apple quoted 7-10 working days for dispatch which was fine and I didn't mind waiting at all for that safe in the knowledge that I'd be one of the first in the UK with an iPhone 5S, Apple will want to ship to their eager online order customers right?

Mean while 7 people in my office of 25 have got a 5S either from their network or from Carphone Warehouse. I felt like a right mug for ordering directly from Apple.

Yesterday at 15:00ish I had enough, Cancelled my Apple order, picked up a 3 pay as you go Sim from town (I'll get it unlocked as others have in this thread before putting my Voda Sim in), put an order on Carphone Warehouse for a Sim Free 32gig space grey. It got delivered this morning 5 mins before I started writing this (I'm in central Birmingham, I assume a DPD route must start near here).

Why the hell can CPW fulfil this order so quick and Apple can't? I think it shows real supply chain from problems at Apple. Yes they may have dispatched in the 7-10 working days window they quoted, but honestly I don't think that you should have to wait 3 weeks buying a phone directly when so many other suppliers seem to have loads of stock.

Selling 9 million phones in a weekend is impressive, but I wonder how many UK cancellations they've had and I imagine theres less margin in a phone sold by CPW than there is in one sold directly.

I also share your frustration and disappointment. I have been a loyal Apple user and fan since I started using a Mac SE back in the 1980's. I bought the first model iPhone and the first model iPad when they launched, and have upgraded each every other year.

I was a bit surprised when their were no pre-orders for the 5s, and it is now clear why. Apple has launched the 5s even though their supplies are severely constrained. However, I guess Tim Cook's goal was to ensure the 5s launch was even better than the 5 - Apple's investors wanted reassurance that Apple can still deliver post-Jobs, and Cook has delivered another recorder breaking sales weekend. As I understand it, those sales figures exclude online orders, so I guess prioritising brick & mortar stores was necessary to deliver the record.

There was some discussion earlier about why Carphone Warehouse etc seem to have more stock than AppleStores. It was suggested that the carriers all placed big orders some time ago which Apple is obliged to meet (otherwise Apple could have financial penalties). So the constrained stock has also been prioritised to meet third-party contracts.

So unfortunately this leaves the online orders last in the queue. I have also been tempted to order from CPW and cancel my online Apple order, but I really hate dealing with the likes of Carphone Warehouse. So I am sticking with my online Apple order for now... but if it hasn't dispatched by Monday I will probably bite the bullet and go elsewhere!
 
Why the hell can CPW fulfil this order so quick and Apple can't? I think it shows real supply chain from problems at Apple. Yes they may have dispatched in the 7-10 working days window they quoted, but honestly I don't think that you should have to wait 3 weeks buying a phone directly when so many other suppliers seem to have loads of stock.

You have no idea how business works.

Clearly Apple needs to ensure their customers (that's the likes of CPW & network operators) have plenty of stock to ship to customers. Apple relies on network providers & retail stores to push their products.

I've no idea if this is your first launch but the fact that they managed to sell 9,000,000 of these things last weekend (which shattered the previous record by the way) shows that there is nothing wrong with their supply chain. But the demand is high and they can only make so many.

The level of crying and feet stamping in this thread and on this forum is embarrassing. Apple set my delivery expectations within minutes of me ordering after midnight last Friday. They told me it will be with me on the 7th-11th October, that's fine by me. What would be unacceptable was if they didn't give me a date or promised a date that they couldn't meet.
 
Grrrrrr makes me sick that there is some kind of scalper ring leader in the apple store with 6x silver phones taking photos of his stash :-C
 
Just got to Regent's Street - massive one hour long queue. They only have all Greys left, but plenty of them. I'm glad i'll be getting it now ^_^
 
I've no idea if this is your first launch but the fact that they managed to sell 9,000,000 of these things last weekend (which shattered the previous record by the way) shows that there is nothing wrong with their supply chain.

You have no idea how many of those 9 million were orders on the Apple website, which have not been shipped yet. Making any judgement about the supply chain without that rather important information is not possible.
 
The level of crying and feet stamping in this thread and on this forum is embarrassing. Apple set my delivery expectations within minutes of me ordering after midnight last Friday. They told me it will be with me on the 7th-11th October, that's fine by me. What would be unacceptable was if they didn't give me a date or promised a date that they couldn't meet.

But a queue is a queue. It's no different to standing outside a store, and the scalpers queue jumping. Thats what it feels like when other orders are fulfilled before ours in the UK
 
I have also been tempted to order from CPW and cancel my online Apple order, but I really hate dealing with the likes of Carphone Warehouse. So I am sticking with my online Apple order for now... but if it hasn't dispatched by Monday I will probably bite the bullet and go elsewhere!

I have had no issues with CPW, the only inconvenience is that I have to pay a 15£ unlocking fee to three. Got my 64gb black next day.

----------

Just got to Regent's Street - massive one hour long queue. They only have all Greys left, but plenty of them. I'm glad i'll be getting it now ^_^

Good luck.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.