UK MacBook Air Power Supply Strangeness

[Tyrannosaurs]

I've just had a slightly odd interaction with Apple.

I got a mail last night saying call them about my order - genuine mail, included order number and all.

Called this morning and they said that the new MBA which in the UK doesn't seem to ship with a power supply should do and they wanted to send me a free of charge one. I said I'd ordered one with the MBA and they said it wasn't on the order - I checked in the Apple Store app and they were right (it was gone and the price had dropped accordingly), but it was on the order confirmation e-mail so I had ordered it. The customer service rep couldn't explain this.

After a load of battering my head against a wall to understand what was happening, working out shipping and all (they won't send it to the store with the MBA), I shrugged and accepted the free power supply.

Looking at the UK Apple Store now, it still lists no power supply if you're buying a MBA (and no longer offers the chance to add one as part of the config the way it did before - though it is now offered when you add the MBA to the basket as an accessory you might be interested in).

But, anyone else going through this nonsense? Anyone have any idea what is happening and why?

(I suspect the root of this may be confusion that in the EU I believe there are rules about including power supplies to do with waste minimisation, and I wonder if someone forgot that the UK left the EU five years ago, but if that's the case updating new purchases so they include the power supply feels it should be trivial.)

(Another aside - am 99% certain that this isn't a scam of any sort. The order has changed on apple.com, they had the full order details including specification and address and so on. Also, scammers are meant to be slick and helpful and this was a **** show).

 

[kitKAC]

I wonder if someone forgot that the UK left the EU five years ago

Of course Apple know, the charger was already an optional extra with the M5 MacBook Pro relased last year. They just aren't going to make an exception for the UK.

 

[Tyrannosaurs]

Of course Apple know, the charger was already an optional extra with the M5 MacBook Pro relased last year. They just aren't going to make an exception for the UK.

I get that - and I suspect that Apple don't really care, they have the whole thing as a single fulfilment area.

BUT, why are they now saying they will give me a power supply? That seems to be the odd bit - it's not like I kicked off, I literally ordered the thing they've now giving me for free.

 

[theluggage]

BUT, why are they now saying they will give me a power supply? That seems to be the odd bit - it's not like I kicked off, I literally ordered the thing they've now giving me for free.

My guess:
They messed up your order and dropped off the PSU, caught the mistake and the easiest solution at that point was to throw in a free PSU. Their system treated that as a change to your order which they had to confirm with you. All the person on the phone would know is that there was a note on their computer saying “offer free charger”.

Last I heard the government was considering copy+pasting the EU charging directive in to UK law, so it makes sense for Apple to apply it.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

All the person on the phone would know is that there was a note on their computer saying “offer free charger”.

Highly likely.

Accept the free charger, move on with your life. Getting to the bottom of exactly what happened and why will cost you time & frustration you don’t need to expend - and very likely won’t give the answers anyway.

 

[JPack]

From a logistics perspective and marketing perspective, the UK is part of the EU market. Nobody really cares to differentiate the two.

When you place an order for retail store pickup, the specific Apple Store itself reviews the order as well. Sometimes, that can result in issues, changes, or errors. That is likely what happened in this case.