- Hi, my name is Deborah. Welcome to Apple!
- Deborah: How may I assist you today?
- You: Hello. I have a few questions about the ipad
- Deborah: Sure! How can I help?
- You: I preordered a 3g ipad the other day. My email says ships by May 7th. But reports are that the 3g will be in the store 5 pm on 30 April
- You: I have a hard time believing that I wont get my pre order until after they are in the stores
- Deborah: I am happy to explain.
- You: ok
- Deborah: iPad Wi-Fi + 3G orders placed after April 19, will ship per the dates quoted on the Apple Online Store. As of today, iPad Wi-Fi + 3G orders will ship May 7.
- Deborah: Many of the store models have been reserved over the last month.
- Deborah: Due to overwhelming demand, the stores are no longer accepting Reserves.
- Deborah: It will be first come, first serve. With the excitement of the product, many locations will likely sell out.
- You: Mine was preordered on April 19th in the morning
- You: so according to you I should have in on 30 April
- Deborah: No. iPad Wi-Fi + 3G orders placed on or after April 19, will ship per the dates quoted on the Apple Online Store. As of today, iPad Wi-Fi + 3G orders will ship May 7.
- Deborah: You placed your order on the 19th.
- You: so you are telling me that even though I preordered mine, I will not get it until a week after the store gets it?
- Deborah: Correct. Pre-orders began in March. Orders will ship in the order they were received.
- You: Then what is the point of preordering? that is a terrible business practice and I bet you are going to have a lot of ticked off people. I know I am going to be if that is true
- Deborah: Keep in mind orders have been placed for a month as well as Retail Store reserves.
- Deborah: It is first come, first serve. Those that ordered or reserved earlier will receive the product first.
- You: I understand all that and that makes sense. but that has nothing to do with preorders shipping a week after the store recieves the item
- Deborah: To clarify, inventory designated for retail store release and online orders prior to April 19th has all been depleted.
- Deborah: New order or stock will ship as it is available.
- You: Then Apple should have stopped calling it preorder. A preorder is an order placed for an item not yet in the store, reserving their own personal copy before the release to the store, guaranteeing delivery on release date
- You: I do not understand how you all can justify a preorder shipping a full week after the store gets them
My convo with an Apple Expert re:3g Pre Orders /ship dates
- Thread starter Corey
- Start date
As Apple is trying to plainly put it, customers AND stores have already pre ordered 3G iPads. On April 19 the sum total of all those pre orders that matches April production has been allotted.
Now any on-line orders made will have to wait for new production and can not possibly be filled until after May 7.
Just because some one has the iPad 3G for sale doesn't mean the on-line store has access to these. I could put mine up for sale and someone could get an iPad 3G faster than waiting for more production. That is what a client of the retail Apple store faces. They get several thousand to sell and when they are gone, they are gone until more are made.
Apple has always run production about one to two weeks ahead of the product walking out the door. They do not have a large back room or warehouse stock that takes weeks to months to work through like many retail stores do.
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4phun, you're just a peach, aren't you? 
Yes, I understand what you, and what the Apple person was saying. What you don't seem to understand is the definition of a 'preorder'.
"A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, which has been a huge success. Pre-orders allow consumers to guarantee prompt delivery on the release date, manufacturers can gauge how much demand there will be and hence how large initial production runs should be"
So if on 19 April Apple had run out of stock then it should no longer be a preorder (implying the item would arrive on time and on the day of release) and should be just an order with a ship date of 7 May.
Yes, I understand what you, and what the Apple person was saying. What you don't seem to understand is the definition of a 'preorder'.
"A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, which has been a huge success. Pre-orders allow consumers to guarantee prompt delivery on the release date, manufacturers can gauge how much demand there will be and hence how large initial production runs should be"
So if on 19 April Apple had run out of stock then it should no longer be a preorder (implying the item would arrive on time and on the day of release) and should be just an order with a ship date of 7 May.
WishBone
iPF Noob
Corey,
Hate to say this but I think you're being a real jerk about this. Especially by blasting out some person in support who was trying very hard to tell you the facts of life as it applies to ordering a hot new product late.
I ordered my 3G 64gig one on March 12th. Apparently the iPad 3G production was sold out on April 19th with commitments to customers. Too bad, but you were too late to the game. Get over it!
Looks like you have 3 choices... order 1 and wait for May 7th, go to the Apple Store on March 30th and wait in line till 5:00PM with hopes they release some that people may have cancelled, or do both and if you are fortunate enough to get one on the 30th then sell the ordered one or cancel quickly.
It doesn't do one bit of good to call and argue the semantics with a customer service person when common sense tells you you simply missed the boat.
Personally, I'd go to the Apple Store and hope for the best.. I wouldn't be surprised if you might get lucky.
Hate to say this but I think you're being a real jerk about this. Especially by blasting out some person in support who was trying very hard to tell you the facts of life as it applies to ordering a hot new product late.
I ordered my 3G 64gig one on March 12th. Apparently the iPad 3G production was sold out on April 19th with commitments to customers. Too bad, but you were too late to the game. Get over it!
Looks like you have 3 choices... order 1 and wait for May 7th, go to the Apple Store on March 30th and wait in line till 5:00PM with hopes they release some that people may have cancelled, or do both and if you are fortunate enough to get one on the 30th then sell the ordered one or cancel quickly.
It doesn't do one bit of good to call and argue the semantics with a customer service person when common sense tells you you simply missed the boat.
Personally, I'd go to the Apple Store and hope for the best.. I wouldn't be surprised if you might get lucky.
Hate to step into this, as I am not sure that anything will satisfy your frustration (which I completely understand). I think the misunderstanding comes from the term pre-order. This solely means that you are ordering before the item is available. It in no way guarantees delivery on the release day (Wikipedia is not an authoritative source). It gets you into Apple's queue to receive the next available per the sequence of orders.
Another way to think of it is that Apple had one hundred thousand (made up number) iPads arriving on the 30th. 25,000 are being sent to the physical stores (Apple or Best Buy) the rest were available to the first 75,000 who placed pre-orders. On the 19th, the last of these orders were received, and they began assigning from the next batch of iPads scheduled to arrive on the 7th.
You now have a choice, try your luck on the 30th by waiting in line at an Apple Store. Or sit tight and wait for the UPS man to get to you on the 7th.
Hope it all works out for you. I am sure your iPad is out there somewhere waiting for you.
Another way to think of it is that Apple had one hundred thousand (made up number) iPads arriving on the 30th. 25,000 are being sent to the physical stores (Apple or Best Buy) the rest were available to the first 75,000 who placed pre-orders. On the 19th, the last of these orders were received, and they began assigning from the next batch of iPads scheduled to arrive on the 7th.
You now have a choice, try your luck on the 30th by waiting in line at an Apple Store. Or sit tight and wait for the UPS man to get to you on the 7th.
Hope it all works out for you. I am sure your iPad is out there somewhere waiting for you.
I would agree with you IF that info had been known. The order was placed on the 19th before Apple changed the ship date on the site to 7 May. It was only that afternoon after getting a second email from Apple that a ship date of 7 May appeared.
If that had been clearly stated when I was ordering or they had said that any order placed at that point would not be a preorder but would be in the next wave of shipments, then I would have fully understood and agreed that I was too late to the game or common sense on missing the boat.
But no where did Apple say that the 3g production was sold out and only did that info come out later after my order was placed. So as far as I, and anyone else placing an order at that moment, knew there were no delays, production had not sold out, and it was still a PRE order.
If that had been clearly stated when I was ordering or they had said that any order placed at that point would not be a preorder but would be in the next wave of shipments, then I would have fully understood and agreed that I was too late to the game or common sense on missing the boat.
But no where did Apple say that the 3g production was sold out and only did that info come out later after my order was placed. So as far as I, and anyone else placing an order at that moment, knew there were no delays, production had not sold out, and it was still a PRE order.
This device sure creates alot of emotion huh? Maybe it is magical after all. And Corey, sorry you missed the first round cutoff bro, I'd be pissed too. But hey man, you only have to wait a week longer. Some of us have been since the real preorder started. So here's the deal, wait a couple of weeks or cancel the order and try your luck in the store. Sorry again dude...
gentlefury
iPF Noob
I don't understand the confusion...preorders started in march...on april 19th all units became delayed...if you ordered a wifi on April 19th you didn't get the device on the 3rd...people ordered before you...they get theirs first...I don't understand why you are upset. If you ordered yours in march and got it after someone that ordered theirs in april you would be pretty upset too.
You must have missed my reply above.
No, I did not know to expect it until May 7th. No where on the Apple site did it say May 7th. It never said May 7th at any point when I was ordering. May 7th was never even mentioned until I got a 2nd email from Apple that evening.
Had it actually said May 7th when I placed the pre order I would have understood.
gentlefury
iPF Noob
You still don't seem to understand that thousands of other people pre-ordered theirs before you...you really think apple can guarantee all pre-orders arrive on the first day?? There is a limit to how quickly they can be produced.
You should have pre-ordered a few weeks earlier and you wouldn't be in is situation.
Absolutely I understand that thousands ordered before me and they should get theirs way before I do. That has never been an issue for me and would be silly if it was.
If you read my original post you will see that I do not understand how Apple could take pre orders but then not deliver a preorder until a full week after the store receives the item. Again, it fails to be a preorder and is just an online order at that point. I totally agree that there is a limit as to how many can be produced but again, that was never communicated anywhere when I ordered.
True that I should have ordered sooner but I also do not consider myself to be ‘in a situation’. I will get an ipad either way, it is just a matter of when and the principal of it all.
gentlefury
iPF Noob
I understand your point, but I think that is because they will have mostly reserved units in the store and the few first come first serve units are to accommodate cash buyers that can't have pre-ordered...all seems fair to me.
As was said you could always just cancel your order and test your luck at a store.
