Apple's Developer Tool Kit return process isn't going well for everybody

Posted:
in macOS edited March 2021
Developers worldwide say that parcel companies refuse to collect some Developer Transition Kits, but accept others, and at times demand their return from the wrong address.




For a company that can time a million deliveries across the world, Apple is proving peculiarly poor at arranging collections. According to developers, their packaged-up Developer Transition Kits are being refused for not having shipping labels which are supposed to be provided by DHL in this case.

Repeatedly, developers are saying that if their DTK was collected, they have no proof that it was. And, many add that Apple's instructions may include a collection date, but mostly suggest it will be sometime in the next couple of weeks versus a specific day and time.

A man has taken away the DTK with no label, and I have no paperwork to prove it, but I do have a photo of somebody in a DHL uniform collecting the parcel. I am almost certain I will need that when Apple claims I never returned the DTK and threatens to shut down my dev account

-- James Thomson (@jamesthomson)


James Thomson, developer of PCalc, has recounted how parcel firm DHL initially refused to take his because it lacked a shipping label. "I got them to phone head office who just confirmed they do have a label, it just never got printed and put in the van."

Steve Troughton-Smith also had to get DHL to check the details. "Well, DHL did take my unlabeled DTK box," he said on Twitter, "but only after double-checking that they were expecting an unlabeled box."

Others have been commenting on Thomson and Troughton-Smith's tweets, recounting more and varied tales of collections made or not made.

"For at least one person in Europe, they didn't get any notice of the DHL pickup of the DTK, they just turned up at the door," wrote Thompson. "In this case, the wrong door, since they had moved"

Some people got a knock at the door, others got 24 hour notice by text as normal -- and others are waiting.

"[In the UK] there isn't a way to schedule when it's being collected," says Thomson. "Just they'll turn up sometime between Monday and the end of the month."

Some developers are amused at the chaos, but others are concerned because they're leaving unlabelled parcels waiting to be collected. There is a fear that some will go missing and Apple won't accept that the developers haven't held on to them.

In our inquiries on the matter, DHL appears aware of the reported issues, and is taking steps to rectify the problem. We have also learned that there is a specific telephone number to contact DHL regarding matters like a change of address that Apple will provide, upon request.

The initial demand for the return wasn't exactly smooth either. Apple initially offered a $200 rebate off the purchase price of an Apple Silicon Mac in exchange for returning the DTK. Then after protests, it upped that to $500.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    DHL? 

    I guess you get what you pay for Apple. 

    I’ve had nothing but horrible experiences with DHL in the past. The worst was back in the 90’s Apple had licensed their name to a company that was making watches that looked like the candy colored iMacs. I ordered a few and when the delivery arrived, I saw the driver get out of her van and throw an open cardboard box on my doorstep and when I asked why is this opened, she yelled back “That’s how they shipped it!” Uh, ok. 

    To me this seems disrespectful towards the developer community when they could have easily used Fedex. 
  • Reply 2 of 7
    If you look at the Terms agreement for this program, it specifically says that Apple will supply a return address for the DTK and that the developer is responsible for mailing it to that address within 30 days of being notified that it needs to be returned. Not sure why that would be confusing. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 7
    Popped mine into a UPS collection box. I did take a photo showing the package, label and box but Apple received it the next day and a week later, as promised, I got the Apple Store coupon. The coupon is just a button on the same web page you use to print the mailing label. You have to click it just before you make your Apple Store purchase. I am holding onto mine as I expect there will be some very tempting products from Apple this year. I am pretty much over the moon with the performance of the M1. I can't wait to see what the M2 will be like.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 7
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,000member
    DHL today is not the same as DHL of old.  At least for getting packages from Japan it is the best.  In Europe DHL has another meaning since DHL is owned by the German post office (which was privatized) and so some of the post office parcel services, at least in Germany, are run under the DHL name.   But are not connected to the DHL express logistics system. 
  • Reply 5 of 7
    If you look at the Terms agreement for this program, it specifically says that Apple will supply a return address for the DTK and that the developer is responsible for mailing it to that address within 30 days of being notified that it needs to be returned. Not sure why that would be confusing. 
    It depends on where you live. In the US, Apple provides a link to a label that you have to print yourself. In Europe (including the UK), DHL is supposed to provide the label.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    jdb8167jdb8167 Posts: 626member
    If you look at the Terms agreement for this program, it specifically says that Apple will supply a return address for the DTK and that the developer is responsible for mailing it to that address within 30 days of being notified that it needs to be returned. Not sure why that would be confusing. 
    These are EU & UK developers. The process is different there for some reason. In the US I haven’t heard of any issues. Print the label attach it to the shipping box and drop it off or have it picked up. The biggest issue is how to remove the original labels on the shipping box. (Cover them with paper or tape).
    edited March 2021
  • Reply 7 of 7
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    If you look at the Terms agreement for this program, it specifically says that Apple will supply a return address for the DTK and that the developer is responsible for mailing it to that address within 30 days of being notified that it needs to be returned. Not sure why that would be confusing. 
    What a ridiculous post. Apple emailed every developer and provided instructions for returning the units. In this case it arranged for DHL to pick them up, and told developers to hand them to DHL. In the US it emailed UPS labels, and told developers to drop them off at any UPS location.  
    watto_cobra
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