Watch with Stainless Steel Link Bracelet Orders

[AppleInBoi]

The fact remains that the shipping date was there smack dab in the middle of the screen before we placed the order so it is false to say there was no transparency with an indication that spending more money for the link bracelet would result in a longer wait, as the other member suggested.

Anyway, not ordering your first choice just because you won't receive it on launch day and regretting it for the other 11 months or however long until the next refresh isn't the smartest move.

I can wait and will. I haven't complained too much I don't think. But it sure is hard to see all these folks enjoying their Sport and SS milanese and us link folks are waiting a month.

I honestly think they should have had two release dates if they we're that far behind on the Modern buckle, Links, and Leather Loops.

 

[H3rman]

I honestly think they should have had two release dates if they we're that far behind on the Modern buckle, Links, and Leather Loops.

What difference would 2 separate release dates have made? You would still be sitting here waiting for your link while others are enjoying their sports & SS milanese...

 

[edlex]

What difference would 2 separate release dates have made? You would still be sitting here waiting for your link while others are enjoying their sports & SS milanese...

Pretty much it's exactly what's happening anyway.

 

[drwebber]

Another celeb with a link bracelet?

Pretty sure that's not even an #⌚️

 

[bunnicula]

I'm not sure, but they surely didn't arrive by April 29th

Nope. I still have 4/29-5/12 for my husband's link band.

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No they weren't. My link bracelet order still shows April 29-May 12 as shipping date.

And BTW it wouldn't be illogical to send the bracelets first.
When I placed my order at 3:02Am on the 10th I had the choice: the watch with link bracelet showed late May as shipping date while the bracelets showed april29th.
So I chose to order a WSB with my watch (delivered April 24th) and ordered the band separately as the shipping date was earlier that way.
Respecting the announced shipping date is totally logical.

Agreed. I'm guessing the bands ship faster than the watches because once they have the bands done, they go into single band packages faster than they get attached to watch cases and packaged up as entire watch units.

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I doubt it. They will put a priority on the watch combo. No bands are going out separately at the moment

If they were going to do this, it would have been reflected in the original shipping date estimates. Separate bands were always faster for the link than entire watch units.

 

[edlex]

If they were going to do this, it would have been reflected in the original shipping date estimates. Separate bands were always faster for the link than entire watch units.

If they ship the bands first before the watches people in here are going to have a royal sized conniption! Can't wait for the fireworks!

 

[bunnicula]

If they ship the bands first before the watches people in here are going to have a royal sized conniption! Can't wait for the fireworks!

Why? The people who ordered bands ALWAYS had an earlier shipping window, provided by Apple the night of launch.

I deliberately ordered my husband a SS BSB unit (got it at launch) and a separate link band (4/29-5/12 window) JUST to avoid the 4-6 week window provided for the SS Link watch.

I'll be pissed if they don't honor their shipping estimate for the band I ordered. Everyone could've chosen to order a watch that moved faster and a separate band if they'd wanted a faster shipping guarantee. They had the option.

I mean, I want people to get their watches fast, so if all the link watch people suddenly jump ahead of my order, that's totally cool by me, but it's already May 3rd, so Apple has 9 more days to send me a band to complete my husband's anniversary gift (our anniversary was the 30th, so I really hoped they'd make the beginning of that shipping window) and having my shipping window pushed out to accommodate watch purchases that had a later window isn't cool with me. My husband asks about his band every day. He's looking forward to receiving it, but he's glad to be enjoying his watch with the sport band already, of course.

Truth is, I don't think they expected the link to be this popular due to the price.

 

[edlex]

Why? The people who ordered bands ALWAYS had an earlier shipping window, provided by Apple the night of launch.

I deliberately ordered my husband a SS BSB unit (got it at launch) and a separate link band (4/29-5/12 window) JUST to avoid the 4-6 week window provided for the SS Link watch.

I'll be pissed if they don't honor their shipping estimate for the band I ordered. Everyone could've chosen to order a watch that moved faster and a separate band if they'd wanted a faster shipping guarantee. They had the option.

I mean, I want people to get their watches fast, so if all the link watch people suddenly jump ahead of my order, that's totally cool by me, but it's already May 3rd, so Apple has 9 more days to send me a band to complete my husband's anniversary gift (our anniversary was the 30th, so I really hoped they'd make the beginning of that shipping window) and having my shipping window pushed out to accommodate watch purchases that had a later window isn't cool with me. My husband asks about his band every day. He's looking forward to receiving it, but he's glad to be enjoying his watch with the sport band already, of course.

Truth is, I don't think they expected the link to be this popular due to the price.

You sound like a logical/rational person and I agree with you. I ordered the watch with the bracelet so it would be covered by AC+ and I was well aware of the longer wait. But as to "Why" people would freak out. Because when it comes to this launch logical and rational behavior has tended to take a back seat to desperation and fanaticism. I'm not saying they would be justified in their behavior, I just feel that it's inevitable.

 

[bunnicula]

You sound like a logical/rational person and I agree with you. I ordered the watch with the bracelet so it would be covered by AC+ and I was well aware of the longer wait. But as to "Why" people would freak out. Because when it comes to this launch logical and rational behavior has tended to take a back seat to desperation and fanaticism. I'm not saying they would be justified in their behavior, I just feel that it's inevitable.

You make a very good point. I'll probably want to avoid link band discussions here if they ship first.

Question: are the bands covered by AC+?

I got the impression that only cases were covered and I've not yet researched it further.

 

[UltimateSyn]

My bracelet order still shows april 30th-May 12th while my Watch with bracelet shows May 13th-27th. I ordered at 3:02 EST ON THE 10th, noticed the immediate 4-6 week window and ordered the Milanese Loop within 1 min after that. Then I ordered the Link bracelet separately on the 12th of April. Received the Milanese on the 24th. No movement on either the Link bracelet or watch, but no change in dates either. Still shows that the latest the Link bracelet will ship will be a day before the watch with bracelet will ship. Seems absurd

If they actually ship extra Link Bracelets to people who already have Watches before they send the Link Bracelet Watches.........

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

You make a very good point. I'll probably want to avoid link band discussions here if they ship first.

Question: are the bands covered by AC+?

I got the impression that only cases were covered and I've not yet researched it further.

Only the out of the box band that come with the Watch is covered by AC+. Bands purchased separately have their own one year warranty but you won't be able to get AC+ for them. Breaking the link bracelet purchased separately will cost you a cool $449

 

[bunnicula]

If they actually ship extra Link Bracelets to people who already have Watches before they send the Link Bracelet Watches.........

Why? My shipping window is 4/29-5/12 for a band. Apple had this prominently displayed on their web site at 12:03 AM PST on 4/10 when I placed Apple Watch orders.

If your shipping time is after 5/12, why would you be mad if someone with an earlier shipping time had their ship time honored by Apple, as agreed?

Why would you be upset unless Apple does NOT honor your ship time?

This baffles me.

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Only the out of the box band that come with the Watch is covered by AC+. Bands purchased separately have their own one year warranty but you won't be able to get AC+ for them. Breaking the link bracelet purchased separately will cost you a cool $449

Interesting. Yeah. That's an advantage. I think Apple should offer purchase protection for some of these bands. The Modern Buckle and the Link are really getting up there in price.

 

[jjohnson873]

Nope. I still have 4/29-5/12 for my husband's link band.

Odd that Apple would fulfill Link Band orders before their SS Apple Watch orders w/LB. But if they gave an earlier ship window for the Link Band, then they should keep their commitment.

I agree that it would be simple to place a Link Band in a case and ship it. However it would be unacceptable if Apple didn't make their 42mm SS LB shipment window due to shipping out all of their Link Band only orders before 5/13 and then running out of Link Bands for Watches. I guess I have until 5/27 to wait and see if Apple misses my ship window. We'll see how constrained the Link Band item truly is in the coming weeks.

t minus 24 days and counting.

 

[bunnicula]

Nope. I still have 4/29-5/12 for my husband's link band.

Odd that Apple would fulfill Link Band orders before their SS Apple Watch orders w/LB. But if they gave an earlier ship window for the Link Band, then they should keep their commitment.

I agree that it would be simple to place a Link Band in a case and ship it. However it would be unacceptable if Apple didn't make their 42mm SS LB shipment window due to shipping out all of their Link Band only orders before 5/13 and then running out of Link Bands for Watches. I guess I have until 5/27 to wait and see if Apple misses my ship window. We'll see how constrained the Link Band item truly is in the coming weeks.

t minus 24 days and counting.

I'm thinking they'll ship band orders the same time as watch orders, bumping up the watches.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Well my watch may arrive on the 12th as thats the first day of my window so hopefully I might see some status changes this week. Not holding my breath though

 

[bunnicula]

Well my watch may arrive on the 12th as thats the first day of my window so hopefully I might see some status changes this week. Not holding my breath though

I bet they'll start moving this week or early next.

 

[First Post G]

I'm thinking they'll ship band orders the same time as watch orders, bumping up the watches.

I think that makes sense. I won't get angry if the bands go out before the watch/band combo, but don't think it makes any sense to do so. So I feel like the 4-6 week window was being conservative and the watches will ship before the 13th.

 

[bunnicula]

I think that makes sense. I won't get angry if the bands go out before the watch/band combo, but don't think it makes any sense to do so. So I feel like the 4-6 week window was being conservative and the watches will ship before the 13th.

I think that's a logical assumption. Let's hope we see movement next week on both.

 

[spinboy]

The thread for the 4-6 week orders is starting to show posts by folks with the SS BSB and being charged/preparing for shipment. I think this is the first movement I've seen for the SS (non ML) watches. Hope we're next.

 

[fischersd]

The thread for the 4-6 week orders is starting to show posts by folks with the SS BSB and being charged/preparing for shipment. I think this is the first movement I've seen for the SS watches. Hope we're next.

There's been lots of SS with sport bands shipping.

The links, modern buckle and leather loop haven't shipped yet (believe there's a few other configs as well).

 

[spinboy]

There's been lots of SS with sport bands shipping.

The links, modern buckle and leather loop haven't shipped yet (believe there's a few other configs as well).

I realized that after I posted, confused the SB with modern buckle.

 

[gameboy213]

Another celeb with a link bracelet?

Not the apple watch though

 

[jonfarr]

You make a very good point. I'll probably want to avoid link band discussions here if they ship first.

Question: are the bands covered by AC+?

I got the impression that only cases were covered and I've not yet researched it further.

I don't think this is true at all. I was told during my try on that AC+ is ONLY for the watch its self. It does not cover bands at all. She was pretty specific about that.

I also ordered a SS w/ BSB and then ordered the link bracelet separately. I want both bands and wasn't sold on the link until I did my actual try on and then had to order one.

 

[IamHermann0069]

If you look at other corporations, such as Toyota. When they launch a new vehicle, everything is ready to go. If you look at most company's product launches, if they miss their market window, they can lose millions of dollars. At over $751B Apple now has the largest market capitalization value in the world. I expect more from such a company. They can afford to do things other companies in the world simply cannot do due to the amount of cash, resources, leverage and ability they wield.

That is not true. I work in Finance for a GM dealership. We launched the 2015 Yukon earlier this year. At launch, we did not get ONE Yukon shipped to our dealership (even though we had 20 ordered). A couple dealerships in town got maybe 1 or 2. There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Even as they started shipping, it was everything but the Denali package (most of our store's pre-orders were Denalis). We had customers that waited over 8 months for their vehicle before it was delivered to the dealership. Some of them backed out of our deal thinking it was our dealerships problem and they could get one elsewhere. Other people hung in there and said "We want it, but it gets here when it gets here." We had zero control over it.

Obviously I understand that these are two different product launches, but the idea is the same. People came in and pre-ordered $78k vehicles and didn't get them until 8 months after they were due. GM was doing everything they could but unfortunately "Denali specific" parts were on constraint. The vehicles were essentially finished but waiting for a couple of the parts to come in before they could ship. Meanwhile, many of the customers who ordered less expensive trim packages have been enjoying their vehicles for months!

We ordered the Denali package of the watches and my guess is the bands are holding it up, but who knows. Apple did not say ALL MODELS AVAILABLE on the 24th. They did not mislead in any way. My finance's 38mm sport watch (which was ordered 3 minutes after my 42mm SS LB) shipped on the 24th which is what was promised on the order. UNFORTUNATELY, my watch said May 13th-24th from the beginning. It is extremely annoying, and I find myself checking the order status several times a day hoping for a change with no luck. Again, I am extremely frustrated with the delay as my fiancé absolutely loves her watch, but I knew the date when I ordered that model. Unfortunately that is the configuration I wanted from day one so I guess I will deal with it.

If the watch happens to ship earlier, GREAT! I can start enjoying it and stop checking my account obsessively. Now, if the 24th rolls around and I don't have the watch, Apple is in the wrong and should do something to make it right. Here's to hoping it doesn't come to that.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I don't think this is true at all. I was told during my try on that AC+ is ONLY for the watch its self. It does not cover bands at all. She was pretty specific about that.

I started a dedicated thread on this. Apparently a number of Apple store employees are misinformed, just like the "Apple Specialist" reps who informed forum members that the Sport comes with two full sets of bands.