Mountain of iPad pre-orders cause shipment delays - Page 3

So what're you going to do about it? You got free shipping, so you can't exactly get a refund.


You certainly couldn't have gone to one of those stores, purchased one, and then returned the UPS-shipped one once you got it. That's totally not an option.

This is an interesting question.

I suspect that, for these day 1 shipments, they were labeled and packed for the individual at the point of origin in China. Then, they are sorted by destination, palletized and sent to a drop off point near their destination.

This would seem to be the most efficient way to handle it with the least amount of excess inventory, fewest number of steps and the least chance of error.

Again this is an issue of expectations. They actually held up the delivery and then couldn't make it by the due date. That's a problem. They even listed a delivery time. It's bad customer service to miss a deadline.

People had every right to point it out with out being the target of misguided psyco analysis, insults and personal attacks. That's the bottom line.

Apple has how much in the bank?
About 100 billion!
Yeah,I can see fed ex exending into Saturdays.
CH CHING!

don't need one, don't really like the iPad. It's just a big iPhone ( which I have and like ) that is too big to hold with one hand, doesn't have a phone, and is too expensive for something that won't run real software.

Right I'm sure. I got mine the easiest though, it was delivered directly to my hospital bed at 12:30am, my friends and family all pitched in and found a store that sold it to them at midnight on Thursday. How sweat are they are, their probably secretly hoping I don't come home so one of them get it. I knew it, oh excuse me I better lay off of the Morphine pump. Anybody every have one those, when you get it your kind of afraid to use it because everyone might think your a junky but after my surgery tis morning my finger is glued on that damn button, ouchy. Sorry just rambling incoherantly.

I shouldn't be smug (Aw ... not really!), but woke up early yesterday morning and on impulse drove over to the Apple Store and got in line about 6:45, with maybe 40 people ahead of me. Another 30 or so showed up before the store opened at 8. The Apple people raised efficiency to a high art, distributing cards for customers' desired models while we waited. They also made sure everyone had a current Apple ID linked to their credit card. I was in the door by 8:08 and out by 8:14 with two 64GB 4G models, one cover and a new Apple TV. I didn't bother to have the store people set my iPads up. All it took was a swipe of the card, a signature, print the receipt and bag the stuff. Smooth. By the time I left, the line had dwindled to six. Home by 8:30. If I'd known the line would be so short I would have stayed in bed another hour!

You have a helluva family! Hope you feel better soon!

If you ask me nicely I'll recommend a few places where you can buy a fine new buggy whip.

Did I read this right? "As late as SATURDAY!?!?" The horror of having to wait one extra day (or a few hours) for one of the most anticipated gadgets in the planet's history.

Perspective much?

Good for you. So why are you here?

Good for you, This thread is about iPad shipping delays. Do you think we really care or need to know what you think of the iPad?

Pulled the trigger on two 16 gig wifi models for the wife and me online. We have no problem waiting til April 11th when they're scheduled to arrive. This is my wife's first iPad and I'm passing down my first gen to my 13 year-old. Suddenly feel very modern again. Woohoo!

I really feel for those that got messed around. Considering the mammoth undertaking of trying to get hundreds of thousands of iPads (perhaps a million?) into people's hands on one day it not surprising that some fell through the cracks.

I thought I'd be one of them, living in the sticks, but the ATV arrived around 10 and the iPad around 1.30.

This was my first launch day order, so perhaps it's a case of beginners luck.

One thing I found strange was that TV coverage of the launch seemed non existent this year? Normally SKY and others show the stores and ques etc, but not this year. I guess there wasn't enough people?

We ordered two 4G versions via the Apple Store on the day of announcement. Received an email Friday saying delivery is expected April 11

Good thoughts to you!


I had an auto accident in 1971 that resulted in surgery... and morphine...

Wow, what a warm, comfortable feeling -- like returning to the womb! I can certainly understand how it is addicting...

...there's a hole in Daddy's arm, where all the money goes...

Mine was packaged in a brown 'shipping box' with a label on it that showed shipping from near Ontario CA. Inside was the white iPad box, isolated from the shipping box with two pretty sturdy looking composite fibre-plastic 'bumpers'.

My thoughts are that some of the rumors that were about talking about some drop ships into SoCal and other 'hubs' were indeed true. I think FedEx picked up orders from the drop ships, stuck the shipping labels on them, and then fulfilled. Interesting that the outside shipping box does indeed have the serial number of the iPad on it, so all they'd have to do is scan the box, have their system marry it up to an order, off you go. I didn't notice when I was first able to track my order if it had the serial number in in, but after I got iPad I noticed the serial number was indeed on the 'invoice'/

UPS Order progress, (all scan times local):
Order processed @ factory: 09 Mar 0444hrs
Departure Shenzhen: 09 Mar 1350hrs
Arrival Louisville KY: 10 Mar 0014hrs
Departed Louisville KY 15 Mar 1707 hrs
Arrived Mt Hope Ont: 16 Mar 0525 hrs
Depart Mt Hope Ont : 17 Mar 0100hrs
Arrive Richmond BC: 17 Mar 0437hrs
Apparently loaded on delivery van as of 0731hrs today;
… but no delivery to be expected till Monday, as per the original guessimate on 09 Mar.

Cheers

And this has to do with delays in pre-order arrivals? Oh, yours is delayed until you gets a clue - got it.

I stopped by the local Apple Store in the morning yesterday and then again in the evening to see how things were going. It was packed as usual and plenty of people were walking out with the new iPad but the Genius Bar still had stacks of 'em waiting to be snatched up.

Based on what I'm reading, it seems Apple is a little off in balancing the inventory between the online pre-order and for the retail outlets. It's not quite right when people who preordered a week ago is getting it later than people who just walked into the stores on Friday.

To me it seems like much more of a limitation on shipping logistics rather than an inventory quantity issue. All the FedEx and UPS trucks in the country don't seem to be sufficient to deliver all that were preordered for launch day delivery. What difference would it have made if Apple put another 100,000 units available for launch day delivery since there is already trouble getting the current batch delivered?

Well, none of us have the numbers (online pre-orders vs. units sold at the retail outlets) so it's all speculation on our part. What we do know is that the physical retail stores have 'em in stock while the online pre-orders are now running weeks behind. This thread has a few people unhappy about the delayed deliveries - including an estimated delivery date of April 11 although the iPads were ordered on the announcement date.

I can't really blame Apple for this because forecasting demand is at best an educated guess - even with all the data-mining and exhaustive analysis of past metrics. It's also very likely that Apple may have excess number of WiFi-only 16GB model in black but not enough of, say, the 32GB LTE model for AT&T in white, etc. No one will ever forecast these numbers right. The best Apple or anyone can do is try to get it as close as possible and quickly adapt to what's really taking place in the marketplace.

I'd just go to the Apple store and pick one up and cancel my online order if I had to wait unitl 4/11.

I didn't get it yesterday as scheduled (via FedEx). We called Apple customer support today around 8:30am and talked with 'Siri'. She (?) actually did a lot... asked for our name, order number, tracking number and so on then finally ended up with connecting us to live person in Texas support center. The lady seemed to be pretty much aware of the delivery mess and helped us to make sure that it would delivered today. She also offered a freebee as a compensation for the delay. I guess Apple prepared for this freebee to everyone who complained to this delivery issue.
It was delivered today around 1:30pm. FedEx guy seemed pretty exhausted by the way.

mine (in Singapore) was delivered by DHL, seems unsurprising, except that it was delivered by a DHL guy in his own car on a Sunday afternoon! I guess they had so many to send out they just press ganged everyone they could into running them around and got people to deliver to the streets near where they lived.

Very nice it is too and quite a surprise, I had set myself up to expect it only on Monday. Thanks DHL.

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him. - Pablo Neruda

I mostly agree, though one thing I've noticed through the years is that "complaints" usually appear more intense and formal when they are written down and presented. I might be excited to receive a package in the mail, and might mock my own eagerness and silly anxiety, but the reason I don't share that concern with anybody is because...it is rare that there are other people who are ordering the same thing at the same time. More, if I presented that complaint in person to a friend, we'd probably joke about it. The written word acquires a kind of formality and stark seriousness that only efficient writers are able to overcome...so earnestness about one's package being late comes off as overindulgence when expressed "on paper." It's similar to how one can completely misrepresent oneself on facebook simply by having a primary photo of oneself holding a beer. Your friends might know you are not a drinker, but to anyone else you might be perceived as a drunk. Similarly, my friend might be a laid back guy and not materialistic at all...but if he is wondering about his package arriving, the written word might make his curiosity come off as formal demand and intense preoccupation. On paper it might seem like everyone is demanding a product, but when I look around me in real life, all I see is mutual excitement...and most of those people mock their own enthusiasm because they KNOW they come off looking like kids on Christmas day.

Our iPad arrived inthe USA (Anchorage) at 10:35 pm EDT Saturday for scheduled Monday delivery!

Do you think that if Steve Jobs was still around, the new iPad would be identically the same size as the iPad 2? Would he have allowed it to grow slightly thicker? Just wondering. The miniscule amount is negligable in reality.

1) Yes.

2) Yes.

As we've seen from the first to the second iPads the display size stayed the same so Jobs clearly was fine with the same size between releases. More to the point, when you have a non-windowed OS you need to keep the display the same size.

Yes, Jobs would be fine with it getting thicker because Jobs was part of the 3rd gen iPad's creation. He would have green lighted these options before he stepped down as CEO. But you don't have to take my word for that, you can just look back on the history of the iPhone to see that the 2nd and 3rd gen were thicker than the original iPhone. You can also see that the iPHone has gotten heavier several times over it's short existence.

Does Apple like to make things thinner whenever possible? Sure, but to improve the user experience, not to deprove it. Adding the Retina Display was a goal this time around and having a larger battery was a requirement for that to happen. If the size and weight doesn't outwigh the display for you then there is always the iPad 2.

That extra .030 of an inch in thickness and 1.1 ounces more in weight I'm sorry apple is doomed!!!!

I was on the phone with FedEx at around 2pm PT after I saw the delivery exception on the tracking website. The FedEx agent said that they had a special arrangement with Apple to attempt to deliver as many packages until 8pm on Friday, and then that if they didn't deliver mine by then they would try to deliver on Saturday. I was pretty annoyed to hear the news that I might be getting my iPad on Saturday (but really, it's not the end of the world, I'm not going to act like it is worse than it really is). Then while on the phone I got a knock on the door... it was FedEx with my iPad *before* the 3pm time (even though the system showed a delivery exception). Go figure.

Went to the local Apple store at 10:45 this morning - stood in line with three other people until 11:00 am (by then - the line was about 20 people). They had plenty of the New iPads available in all configurations. Talked to a few of the employees who said that this was the most well stocked launch since the iPhone 3GS. According to them, they have sold "tons" and still have plenty available. I figured I would just be looking today and ordering on line (and getting the iPad in a few weeks).

I'm certain the new iPad was most likely near finalized from an engineering perspective before Steve passed on.

If he was opposed, I don't think Tim Cook would have released it.

Same for the next iPhone.

I ordered mine late, so I got an original estimate from Apple saying ships by Mar 19 and arrives the 26th I thought it'd be Fed Ex because I ordered a smart cover along with and that arrived via Fed Ex on the 16th.

Then I got the email telling me the iPad had shipped as well, via UPS with an estimated delivery of 10:30 am on the 19th (today!). Knowing I'd be at work then, I tried whatever I could to get them to just hold onto the package since my employer is located very close to UPS's local sorting center. They told me they had to fail to deliver it first and only then could I pick it up which would have meant hanging around after work until it made its way back to their facility. Anyway they wound up beating their delivery time by 45 minutes AND they left it with my landlord so I'll be able to pick it up right when I get home in like four and a half hours.

Anyway UPS did a hell of a job getting it here, but their customer service is weak.

Really I was thinking the same thing. Don't the Apple stores have them in stock or is it a case of none to be found anywhere?

Oh thank you, it's tough because I'm not completely closed up as they have to do multiple surgeries. Sorry if I grossed anyone out. I think the toughest part is watching my family and friends go threw this too. I'm constantly bounced between my room and the ICU and that's tough to see. Thank goodness for these tablets though right. Even though I'm covered head to toe with things in me I can still reach out to the world. Your situation must have been mind numbing, just laying there in the early 70's with no internet, nooooooo. Well at least you were high, the pain medication sure does help. I can't sleep on it though, but I guess tripping half the time is also like dreaming.

what was the freebee?

Best wishes for a speedy recovery-- good that you have family and friends there with you.

They are the best but I have this feeling that I'll be paying them back for the rest of my life. Remember that time when we bought you that iPad. Sorry mommy no mothers day card remember that time we bought you an iPad. Then of course there is the sorry sweety I have a headache, with the fast reply remember the time I bought you that iPad. Yeah, who really wins here, though I do like the higher resolution.