Apple issuing refunds for Apple TV rush orders, citing delay
Some customers who paid Apple for expedited shipping on the soon-to-ship Apple TV are receiving emails from the company Thursday informing them that those shipping charges have been waived due to a possible 'delay.'
"Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping," Apple wrote in the emails. "Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment."
The email goes on to say that Apple has "processed a refund for the shipping charge on your order.Â*Please contact your card-issuing bank for information on when the Â*credit will be posted to your account."
Since introducing the $99 Apple TV makeover earlier this month, Apple has maintained that the streaming media hub would ship in "September." Similarly , early pre-orders for the device through the company's online store have and continued to list their status as "Ships: September."
As such, it's unclear whether the emails sent Thursday are a sign that the first Apple TV shipments will fall back to next month, or if Apple can no longer guarantee priority deliveries to those who requested it.
Apple at around 3:00 pm on Wednesday began authorizing the credit cards of those who placed pre-orders for the device, as it did roughly a week (8 days) before the iPad launched back in April.
Introduced at the top of the month, the Apple TV makeover is about 1/4th the size of its predecessor yet supports all the same I/O -- HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi -- while lacking its built in hard drive.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said Apple designed the new model to put an end to storage concerns. Instead of saving video purchases and rentals to a hard disk, the new Apple TV is based solely on a rental model where video streams live on demand from Apple's servers.
First-run HDTV movies will fetch $4.99, while single episodes of TV shows in HD will be available for 99 cents from Fox and ABC.
"Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping," Apple wrote in the emails. "Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment."
The email goes on to say that Apple has "processed a refund for the shipping charge on your order.Â*Please contact your card-issuing bank for information on when the Â*credit will be posted to your account."
Since introducing the $99 Apple TV makeover earlier this month, Apple has maintained that the streaming media hub would ship in "September." Similarly , early pre-orders for the device through the company's online store have and continued to list their status as "Ships: September."
As such, it's unclear whether the emails sent Thursday are a sign that the first Apple TV shipments will fall back to next month, or if Apple can no longer guarantee priority deliveries to those who requested it.
Apple at around 3:00 pm on Wednesday began authorizing the credit cards of those who placed pre-orders for the device, as it did roughly a week (8 days) before the iPad launched back in April.
Introduced at the top of the month, the Apple TV makeover is about 1/4th the size of its predecessor yet supports all the same I/O -- HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi -- while lacking its built in hard drive.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said Apple designed the new model to put an end to storage concerns. Instead of saving video purchases and rentals to a hard disk, the new Apple TV is based solely on a rental model where video streams live on demand from Apple's servers.
First-run HDTV movies will fetch $4.99, while single episodes of TV shows in HD will be available for 99 cents from Fox and ABC.
Comments
Could it be that they are shipping all at the same time. I have noticed that when you pre-order things from Apple they will actually ship early and then sit at the FedEx hub. They will then deliver to your home on the release day. Pretty handy really. Maybe that is how this is going to happen so there is really no advantage to paying for expedited shipping? Just a thought. I never pay for that crap on new release stuff due to I have always gotten them on release day regardless.
With them refunding the Rush Orders and no specific date stated I have to think this is not an artificial hold to release on a certain date.
I'm so ready to use AirPlay...
I used AirPlay audio to an AirPort Express... Nice!
Consider: a table in a corporate board room, a classroom or meeting room. There is an AppleTV box connected to a large screen HDTV. Everyone sitting around the table has an iPad. They give their KeyNote presos by streaming from their iPads...
... And the cost to the enterprise for all this "high technology"?
What?
$99 plus $499 per... That's a rounding error on my budget...
Q: M. President, how many of your employees will get iPads?
A: All of them... Of course!
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Q: M. President, how many of your government employees will get iPads?
A: All of them... Of course!
There, I fixed it for you
Instead of saving video purchases and rentals to a hard disk, the new Apple TV is based solely on a rental model where video streams live on demand from Apple's servers.
I am really disappointed that I can't purchase movies with the new Apple TV. True, I can purchase them in iTunes and then wait for them to download before streaming them to ATV, but that's a pain.
The rental model doesn't work well for families with kids. There are so few decent movies for young ones that they end up being watched over and over again.
I am really disappointed that I can't purchase movies with the new Apple TV. True, I can purchase them in iTunes and then wait for them to download before streaming them to ATV, but that's a pain.
The rental model doesn't work well for families with kids. There are so few decent movies for young ones that they end up being watched over and over again.
Yeah, I’m disappointed with some of the “inconveniences” this new device has over the previous model.
Things I would have liked to have seen with the last event:I can’t really fault Apple for not being able to secure the networks directly for rentals as it’s a complex system they have. At least with the apps we could get Hulu, BBC and others that won’t likely show up on the TV until Apple adds an App Store.
PS: More than an AppleTV, I think Apple is missing the boat with an Apple Home Server. The Time Capsule’s single HDD is designed for making a copy of your LAN’s HDDs, but it’s not exactly great for centralized storage for a LAN and offers no remote access capabilities. Windows Home Server is actually quite good in this regard.
Q: M. President, how many of your government employees will get iPads?
A: All of them... Of course!
There, I fixed it for you
Sigh... True... More's the pity...
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Sigh... True? More's the pity?
The ?government? addition to your post makes think of this line from Carl Sagan?s Contact, the film not the book.
First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?
I am really disappointed that I can't purchase movies with the new Apple TV. True, I can purchase them in iTunes and then wait for them to download before streaming them to ATV, but that's a pain.
Seriously? Something that's still faster than leaving your house and going to a store isn't convenient enough?
Search for "everything is amazing and no one is happy" on YouTube. Your the guy on the plane when the wifi goes down
And since I don't have my new Apple TV yet, I can't test it but I would be shocked if you couldn't start watching before it's done downloading like in the current Apple TV.
On another note the HP MediaSmart Windows Home Servers can stream protected AAC contet - I can't wait to try it with the new Apple TV - if it works then I wont have to have a Mac on to stream my content.
Yeah, I?m disappointed with some of the ?inconveniences? this new device has over the previous model.
Things I would have liked to have seen with the last event:I can?t really fault Apple for not being able to secure the networks directly for rentals as it?s a complex system they have. At least with the apps we could get Hulu, BBC and others that won?t likely show up on the TV until Apple adds an App Store.
PS: More than an AppleTV, I think Apple is missing the boat with an Apple Home Server. The Time Capsule?s single HDD is designed for making a copy of your LAN?s HDDs, but it?s not exactly great for centralized storage for a LAN and offers no remote access capabilities. Windows Home Server is actually quite good in this regard.
A home server/TimeMachine is needed -- but it needs only to be a caching/staging device for the Cloud.
I have about 25 TeraBytes over 15 HDDs -- it's a real PITA to manage... Just one power failure away...
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"Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment."
Excuse me: "have not been"? Didn't anyone ever teach them not to split an infinitive?
"...we may not have been able"
Sheesh. Do I have to do everything around here? ;-)
Early Adopter
I am really disappointed that I can't purchase movies with the new Apple TV. True, I can purchase them in iTunes and then wait for them to download before streaming them to ATV, but that's a pain.
The rental model doesn't work well for families with kids. There are so few decent movies for young ones that they end up being watched over and over again.
Really? I think it simplifies purchases. No need to synch down to iTunes on your computer, just buy it from there like you mentioned. Heck, with VNC on my iPad I don't even need to go downstairs to my iMac to make the purchase. As an AppleTV user for over a year the only thing I store on it's hard drive are some music videos and photos. All my movies are streamed on demand from my Mad which gets backed up regularly.
Introduced at the top of the month, the Apple TV makeover is about 1/4th the size of its predecessor yet supports all the same I/O -- HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi -- while lacking its built in hard drive.
Not correct. Gone is the component video output. For early HDTV buyers like myself, that's a dealbreaker. I have a 61" Sony, a great TV, but it came out before HDMI was common. It works great with the original Apple TV. But it'll never work with the new one.
So the new $99 Apple TV requires either a new TV or an expensive HDMI-to-Component adapter, neither of which I can justify for a $99 product.
The original Apple TV had line-level (RCA connector) audio out, which is also lost in the new model.
Oh for the days when Steve would give a release date and you'd actually be able to walk to your local Apple Store and pick tjhe item up on the date specified.
Things I would have liked to have seen with the last event:
Or purchase from your AppleTV for your Mac to immediately download and stream to the AppleTV.
Developers get annoyed if they're told to recompile for so many options. Better to wait until developers are demanding it (and in the meantime invite select developers).
Or just an AppleTV program which replaces FrontRow on any Mac, with full AppleTV capability!
Interesting! A nano-style remote would have been feasible (extra $150?). I'm surprised they didn't say "you have to have an iPod Touch at least, otherwise it doesn't work".
I do think Apple could do brilliant stuff in the home automation area (or just the universal remote area!)
I'm surprised