First Time Ordering from Apple = Last Time Ordering From Apple

[soupcan]

My Ipod Touch preorder is the first time I've ordered something directly from Apple. It is also the last time.

Throughout this process I've been consistently underwhelmed and ultimately disappointed in the lack of customer service and accountability from Apple.

The Ipod Touch that I pre-ordered from Apple Canada on September 9th is still sitting in a warehouse south of Shanghai. It entered Fed-Ex's system a full day after the advertised shipping deadline and likely will not arrive until several days after I could have picked one up at Best Buy, Future Shop, etc etc.

This all is compounded by the fact that these units have been for sale at stores in the US as diverse as Costco and the Apple Store for more than two weeks now.

What's the lesson I've learned here?

It's true that I could have made the trip to one of these stores and cancelled my pre-order. That simple fact underscores my point. It's a much better, more reliable, and ultimately less frustrating decision to go to a retailer than to place trust in Apple to treat pre-orders with the respect and accountability they deserve.

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty small potatoes. But from a business standpoint, I think Apple has a long way to go when it comes to treating customers they way they want us to believe we will be treated.

[justblaize]

I've also been puzzled by what's going on with the iPod touch shipments lately. I can tell you that this isnt normal for apple. When the 2nd gen nano and the 5th gen iPod were released I ordered from apple both times and they both arrived pretty damn quick.

[soupcan]

I don't expect anyone at Apple to do anything about it (I called and let them know it was a frustrating situation and they said "I'm really sorry about that"), and that's fine. But it definitely tarnishes my opinion of them as a company who focuses on the user experience.

[jaymereid]

My Ipod Touch preorder is the first time I've ordered something directly from Apple. It is also the last time.

Throughout this process I've been consistently underwhelmed and ultimately disappointed in the lack of customer service and accountability from Apple.

The Ipod Touch that I pre-ordered from Apple Canada on September 9th is still sitting in a warehouse south of Shanghai. It entered Fed-Ex's system a full day after the advertised shipping deadline and likely will not arrive until several days after I could have picked one up at Best Buy, Future Shop, etc etc.

This all is compounded by the fact that these units have been for sale at stores in the US as diverse as Costco and the Apple Store for more than two weeks now.

What's the lesson I've learned here?

It's true that I could have made the trip to one of these stores and cancelled my pre-order. That simple fact underscores my point. It's a much better, more reliable, and ultimately less frustrating decision to go to a retailer than to place trust in Apple to treat pre-orders with the respect and accountability they deserve.

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty small potatoes. But from a business standpoint, I think Apple has a long way to go when it comes to treating customers they way they want us to believe we will be treated.


I really don't agree.The reps at my local bestbuy and fs are useless.At one point i did all my shopping there not any more.I have no issue at all with apple customer service.Items i have bought from them this summer.

1)Appletv
2)New classic.
3)Touch.

[paranoidxe]

Wait a minute you are complaining because it took a whole day to get it to fed-ex and now you are blaming apple because fed-ex is taking so long? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Really a day is not that long for it to ship. I've ordered a 5.5G on friday night its going to be here tuesday, I ordered my 1st gen nano on a monday it got here on a thursday..I don't think apple is too unreasonable when it comes to shipping.

[soupcan]

Wait a minute you are complaining because it took a whole day to get it to fed-ex and now you are blaming apple because fed-ex is taking so long? Doesn't make much sense to me.

The guaranteed ship date was the 28th. My pre-order went in close to three weeks prior to that (on the 9th). So I'm griping that they told me the 28th for three weeks, then missed it by a day which means they will also miss the guaranteed delivery date because they ran smack-dab into a week of holidays in China.

So I'm basically upset because my expectation of getting a product "first" (or at least on time with retail stores) has not been met in any respect.

I'm not ranting. But I did have high expectations from Apple. For a first-time experience, it was poor.

[owen-b]

You had a bad experience pre-ordering a product that wasn't released yet. I wouldn't use this to tar the whole Apple Store Online experience, though. Much as your disappointment is easier to handle by lashing out at Apple as a whole, it's pretty much an experience limited to this particular product as it was not yet released. Hardware and software pre-ordering is a very different kettle of fish.

In many ways you were the overall winner. People that pre-ordered waited longer but got devices that actually work properly :)

[Code Monkey]

When I pre-ordered from Apple I was more than underwhelmed as well, so don't let the apologists try to cover up what is standard because of how Apple ships their "hottest" goods. When Apple ships direct from China there is almost no way they can meet their claims. You get your notice when items are first shipped from the factory - what they don't tell you is that your item is actually just one unit in a large case of identical items. Said large case goes to a second place where they must wait for customs clearance - which might go quickly, or it might take a couple of days. Then they're shipped to a U.S. facility where they're broken out into their individual destinations and basically shipped a second time. Finally, they get to you.

When you order stuff that's well established in the supply chain, yes, Apple will get it to you quickly, but when you're dealing with stuff that's allocated before it's ever left the factory, forget it.

[JazzyMac]

I have to agree with op. One nano I purchased from ebay (low price), one from the Apple website for my nephew/niece. I paid the extra for the expedited shipping from Apple wait longer than way normal. Perhaps I'm just used to Amazon's quick shipping experience (not paying extra to wait longer).

[daleam]

So I'm basically upset because my expectation of getting a product "first" (or at least on time with retail stores) has not been met in any respect.

When you ordered, it never said anything about receiving your Touch before/with the retail stores.

I can sort of see where you're coming from, but the overwhelming majority of us pre-orderers have been blessed with avoiding the whole 'negative black' screen issues.

Would you rather have had an initial model, with a good chance of a defective screen, or wait a few weeks longer for a flawless unit?

That's how I've tried to look at this ... every cloud ...