Potential UPS website error shows iPhone XS delivery dates pushed to Monday

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited September 2018
This isn't the news you want to see if you ordered your iPhone XS at 12:01 AM PST and expected to have it arrive Friday. A number of new iPhone shipments processed through UPS are showing delivery dates pushed back to Monday, though the carrier in some cases is claiming the estimate is an error.

UPS tracking info


The issue appears to be exclusively with orders that were shipped via UPS rather than FedEx. One Twitter user said that UPS quoted a "customs issue" as the culprit for the supposed delay, while another said the estimate is a website error.

AppleInsider staff are among the many affected, with iPhone XS Max shipments initially set to be delivered tomorrow now showing delivery dates changed to Monday.

Apple Store order


Confusingly, Apple's own order status page still shows delivery tomorrow, contrary to UPS tracking information. This could be a database syncing issue, but UPS customer service has reportedly replied to at least one distressed early adopter, saying the Monday delivery estimate is erroneous.

According to one Twitter account a UPS representative chalked up the misinformation to a glitch in its system caused by the vast number of iPhone shipments being processed. The buyer was assured that their order would arrive on Friday as promised.

The contradictory statements issued by UPS representatives, and disparate delivery times quoted on UPS and Apple websites, leaves customers very much in limbo. Until the supposedly inaccurate website is fixed, or official confirmation from Apple or UPS is received, customers are unlikely to find out whether their respective shipments are actually delayed until tomorrow.

The scope of the problem is unknown, though quite a few people are taking to Twitter to complain about the issue.





Frustrated users have taken to Twitter -- pitchforks in hand -- calling out UPS for the non-launch day deliveries that they were expecting:

#UPS screwed up! Apple phones were supposed to be delivered tomorrow and now they're not coming till Monday

-- Cindy Golembuski (@goldengirl269)

Uh oh #Apple #UPS

-- Jeff True (@jtrue28)

#iphoneXsMax delivery delayed. #UPS very impressively saw my tweet, contacted me, looked into it and got back to me in less than 10 minutes. Delayed due to customs. I blame #Apple for not anticipating this issue.

-- Ron Mummaw (@rmummaw)
If you are eagerly awaiting your new phone's arrival, now might be a good time to double check the tracking info.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    voenixrisingvoenixrising Posts: 10member
    First World Problems.
    flyingdpbonobobmacapfelxbitmuthuk_vanalingamcaptmacguysweetheart777dewme
  • Reply 2 of 33
    damonfdamonf Posts: 229member
    Hey AppleInsider editors: same thing happened to me and another guy in another town in my state whose scheduled Friday Sept. 21 delivery also showed a delay to Monday, but also changed back to Friday like mine did. UPS caught wind of my conversation with him on Twitter and confirmed in a DM that it was just a technical error that’s being corrected. I then mentioned to their Twitter team that you’ve reported on it. They were already aware and were passing it along to UPS Public Relations. So maybe you’ll get an official response from UPS.

    BTW, shout out to the UPS Twitter team which was very helpful and professional.  I hadn’t even hash tagged or @‘ed them in my tweets, they just saw it out in the wild and replied very quickly.   Very good service. 
  • Reply 3 of 33
    patchythepiratepatchythepirate Posts: 1,254member
    I’ve had this happen with UPS shipments in the past when I’ve changed the shipping location from my home to a UPS pickup location. The date looks like it is pushed out, but it should arrive at the originally scheduled date. I called to verify this in the past, and they confirmed the error, and the package was delivered on the expected day. Hope that eases some anxieties.
  • Reply 4 of 33
    phillipd76phillipd76 Posts: 11member
    I checked my shipment just now. Although earlier 9/24 was quoted as the updated delivery date, it has now switched back to delivering Friday 9/21.
  • Reply 5 of 33
    damonfdamonf Posts: 229member
    FYI, as of right now (11:36 PM EDT on Thursday, September 20), a lot of the UPS flights from Anchorage, Alaska to the UPS Worldport in Lexington, KY are still in the air but will arrive within the next couple of hours: https://flightaware.com/live/iPhone One or more of these flights has Apple gear on board that originated from Hong Kong’s airport. 


  • Reply 6 of 33
    bshankbshank Posts: 254member
    UPS is subpar in every way. I always get deliveries no problem with FedEx, but with UPS there is always a problem
  • Reply 7 of 33
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,771member
    My daughter's was delivered today in Australia (but the Australia Post courier didn't even give her time to get to the front door before leaving a card and disappearing.) Pickup is available tomorrow.
  • Reply 8 of 33
    emoelleremoeller Posts: 555member
    I had this issue occur with my order @ 6:04 PDT and called UPS a couple of minutes later, which advised that this was a glitch in their system and that she showed my order still scheduled for delivery tomorrow.  As of  8:30 the UPS website has been updated to reflect this.

    My experience with UPS has always been better than FedEx  - the fact that UPS was aware of the issue within minutes and corrected it demonstrates this again for me.

  • Reply 9 of 33
    TrueNorthTrueNorth Posts: 21member
    AT&T screwed up on me, too! They shipped to a wrong address! When I ordered thru their app, it displayed the correct delivery address and I checked out. When I got an email today saying they had shipped, to my horror It showed an old address from years ago! I live in Texas and they shipped to New York! So my delivery may now be Tuesday!!!! 
  • Reply 10 of 33
    anomeanome Posts: 1,493member
    iqatedo said:
    My daughter's was delivered today in Australia (but the Australia Post courier didn't even give her time to get to the front door before leaving a card and disappearing.) Pickup is available tomorrow.
    SOP for Australia Post. He may well have not had the thing in the van, just the card to drop off.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    bradbhanesbradbhanes Posts: 7member
    Basterds, I stayed up until 3am on order night to ensure I received our families new iPhones on Friday the 21st or tomorrow. I was a walking zombie the next day I was so tired from staying up that late, but I was happy I had my order completed by 3:05 am and garunteed one of the first ones to get my phones on the 21st.  Isn’t this why we all stay up all night to ensure our phones arrive first and on time? Now UPS is f’n all of us. If I knew they would do this I would have just waited until the next morning to order my phones and gotten some sleep. UPS sucks and I’m sure there are lots of very angry people at UPS now, rightfully so!!!
  • Reply 12 of 33
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,226member
    bshank said:
    UPS is subpar in every way. I always get deliveries no problem with FedEx, but with UPS there is always a problem


    I agree with you. Amazon.com used to use FedEx for international express deliveries and over the years I've never had any problems with the parcels. Now they've switched to UPS and it's a pain. The delivery times are lengthier and their customer service isn't up to snuff.

    Thankfully, Amazon.co.uk still uses FedEx.

  • Reply 13 of 33
    big kcbig kc Posts: 138member
    People complaining and coming unglued - on Twitter? Hard to believe! Mine was pushed to Monday, now is back to Friday. When it gets here, it gets here. I'll somehow manage to survive the weekend if it doesn't show tomorrow.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 14 of 33
    chaickachaicka Posts: 257member
    UPS is one of the worst freight service I have experienced for the last 3 years for any Apple or branded purchases. DHL service and system has improved so much now it’s back to among the top. Best of all, interactive and ease of reschedule with granularity such as specific time slot. UPS don’t even use any smart technology and rely on traditional mode of communication. I have submitted sufficient feedbacks to the extend that I don’t get any Apple delivery via UPS anymore.
  • Reply 15 of 33
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    voenixrising said:
    First World Problems.
    And big ones.
  • Reply 16 of 33
    markandrew2688markandrew2688 Posts: 5member
    I just got a update from UPS instead of my phone arriving on Monday it now changed to Saturday... Woohoo can't wait!!! FYI the Apple watch serious 4 is backorder until 10/17 to 11/21 
  • Reply 17 of 33
    felix01felix01 Posts: 290member
    chaicka said:
    UPS is one of the worst freight service I have experienced for the last 3 years for any Apple or branded purchases. 
    You ever see an outbound shipment UPS van in front of a jewelry store? Nope. Businesses who depend on accurate tracking, on-time deliveries (excluding acts of nature type situations of course) and a very low percentage of lost packages don't contract with the low bidder...UPS. 
  • Reply 18 of 33
    captmacguycaptmacguy Posts: 13member
    Mine went from China to Alaska to Kentucky back to China, and then started the trip back to the States.  My guess is it hit Kentucky and some customs form was wrong, so it had to go back to China for the proper paperwork.

    It left Kentucky again this morning, and the tracking data says it will be delivered today, but my Apple Watch Series 4 left Kentucky yesterday morning and took over 12 hours to get to my home state... So I highly doubt UPS will manage to get the iPhone here today.

    I wonder who screwed up the paperwork, Apple or UPS..?
  • Reply 19 of 33
    captmacguycaptmacguy Posts: 13member
    voenixrising said:
    First World Problems.
    So true.  I wouldn't be worrying it at all except for the fact that I'm out of town for a week, so now have to get someone to pick up the iPhone for me, and I cannot return the old one (Keep it New plan) until I get back.  I'm hoping Apple doesn't penalize me for returning it late.  I'll be calling them later today to check on that.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    namechanged - contact staffnamechanged - contact staff Posts: 48member
    It depends if you look at the mobile web "mini internet" version vs. the "regular internet". Mine shows Monday on my phone but Friday on my laptop.
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