[MojoRising022]

Well, three weeks have passed since many of us ordered our iBooks from Apple and for many of us, we still do not have the damn thing, nor do we have a concrete shipping date. While we are still within Apple's "projected" shipping times, some of us have our iBooks (some of us got them 48 hours after ordering) and others don't for no apparant reason and in no apparant order.

What we do have, though, is hundreds of postings from people who ordered their iBooks well after the 1st and have already received them. We have postings about people walking into the Apple store and snagging an iBook. We also have customer service reps who can;t tell us anything and when they do, it proves false almost immediately.

To my knowledge, not a single CD-RW or Combo has shipped and it also seems as if most of the custom orders are "Being Assembled". It looks like I am going to have to wait the full 5 weeks (at least) to see a simple stock system.

Please vent...I want to hear all of your frustration (it helps me to know I am not alone here).

[prodigy1387]

I am just as mad as you. I am very excited about my new iBook and was willing to wait until I saw how many people began getting them well before I will. I ordered a DVD/256 from macmall, and everytime i call, they say "end of the month or early june," i say "could that be this week?" they say "yes, possibly." if they don't get a shipment in this week, i cancel my order with them and go to my local reseller, they will have some because they get a few each week. either way, hopefully i will have my ibook this week.

[BrunoBruin]

Waiting is just too hard. As soon as I saw the new iBook I knew I was going to have to get one -- my first portable (well, unless you count my luggable 512K back in 1985). At first I thought I would wait until July, let them get any bugs out of the manufacturing process and preinstall OS X. That resolve lasted about a week. Then I spent a week debating whether to order from the Apple Store to get the 20GB hard drive or take the 10 from a reseller. Finally ordered on May 14 from ClubMac, and I cannot believe it has only been one week!

I try to keep calm by reminding myself that the Apple Store was (and still is, for all I know) quoting shipping times of 3-5 weeks, even on the stock CD-ROM and DVD models, so we are still within Apple's estimates. I'm jealous of the folks that got theirs already or bought them from retailers, but I could have gotten off my rear end and driven to Smalldog and bought one too (they're just an hour from me). I wanted to save a few bucks so here I sit.

A friend of mine who sells printing has a matrix for customer satisfaction. When awarding the job, all a customer cares about is price; when producing it, all they care about is the delivery date; and after they get it, all the care about is the quality. So look at it that way. Once we get our iBooks it will be like Christmas morning and all this waiting and agonizing will be forgotten.

I just want mine this week!!!

[ink]

Originally posted by prodigy1387:
I am just as mad as you. I am very excited about my new iBook and was willing to wait until I saw how many people began getting them well before I will. I ordered a DVD/256 from macmall, and everytime i call, they say "end of the month or early june," i say "could that be this week?" they say "yes, possibly." if they don't get a shipment in this week, i cancel my order with them and go to my local reseller, they will have some because they get a few each week. either way, hopefully i will have my ibook this week.

Well, I got mine today -- I ordered the DVD stock model on the 1st. I too was upset that many people ordered the exact same machine as I did even later than I did (one even ordered on the 7th and had his from the Apple Store by the 9th!!). I think ordering the AV cable with the machine slowed down my shipment, I can think of no other reason.

[tswan]

I'm with you all. Ordered dvd model on May 3rd and it's still "Being Assembled." Called the Apple Store last Thursday and was told that although she wasn't supposed to give out this information, mine was "scheduled for shipping in a couple of days." 4 (2-couples) days later still no shipping.

Meanwhile I could have driven to Boston and picked one up, and I'm sick of reading posts from people who ordered the same damn config later that I did and have already gotten theirs. Not to mention the people who were able to attend one of the store openings and got one with no waiting.

This is my first order from the Apple Store, and it will be my last.

[BrunoBruin]

This is my first order from the Apple Store, and it will be my last.

tswan, don't let this discourage you from the Apple Store. I have always had good luck with them -- I usually use them because I get the educational discount. On my iBook the discount was only $50 which wouldn't even offset the tax, so I went through a reseller. But my Cube order in January was very smooth, I upgraded the hard drive and got the Radeon card and they quoted 3-5 days for assembly and shipping and it shipped in two.

Of course it was probably the only one on the assembly line...

Let's remember that this is a brand new product and it's probably hard for Apple to estimate exact build times or initial demand. And heaven knows what their ordering system is like when they seem to ship willy-nilly. (Anyone notice how the first personal deliveries and the first resellers seemed to be in New Hampshire and Vermont? Maybe they're going in ZIP-code order!)

We all just need something to distract us. Hey, just one more hour until Steve's fireside chat at WWDC!

I ordered a DVD/CDRW combo iBook almost 2 weeks ago. I was told then that it would be 3-5 weeks, so I know that I'm not even in that period of time now. What really gets me is the fact that there are people receiving their machine within 2 days of ordering it (btw, I ordered mine from the Apple Store via phone).

3-5 weeks seems to be a really long wait to get a piece of equipment out of the door. And yes, I'm aware of all the issues with new equipment and ship dates and all that. I just don't like it and I want it now. Actually I blame this all on Federal Express with their damned "positively absolutely having to be there overnight" motto that has now infected me! ;-)

Apple could really impress me by saying 3-5 weeks and actually shipping it in less than two. That would go a long way with me.

I played with the iBook in a store yesterday and it's even better than I hoped. This makes waiting even worse.

[tsubasako]

i thought i could let it go, but after reading the post about apple's new retail stores giving away hundreds of ibooks of ALL configurations, i have honestly NEVER BEEN SO MAD about any company's service in my LIFE. that is TOTAL CRAP. apple is punishing me for having the foresight to order during the first couple days. apple is punishing me for not living in virginia or california. people at the retail stores can place ORDERS just like the rest of us!!! i ordered early because i am LEAVING THE COUNTRY. they refuse to ship it to my new location, and they also refuse to ship it to my current location in any kind of acceptable time frame. apple said 3-5 weeks, yes, but they ALSO said first-ordered first-shipped. what a lie. i am so disgusted with them right now. their priorities are totally f--ked up.

[MojoRising022]

tsubasako...amen to that

It's not like this is the first time they've done something like this either. Regardlessof what it is that Apple puts out, ordering early is of absolutely no benefit. Other than the iMacs (and I am only making an assumtion here) when is the last time the announced a product that was actually ready to ship?

[usedmac]

I couldn't agree more. That's why I decided to wait.

[BrunoBruin]

Just checked ClubMac to see if there was any news on my order status...no.

However, the in-stock status of CD-ROM iBooks, which went from "no" to "yes" last week and then back to "no" on Saturday, is now back to "yes"!

[melman101]

I ordered my ibook 500/dvd from Powermax, a reseller who also takes trade-ins. I ordered my ibook on the 10th or 11th and got it within a week. I guess I was lucky.

Well, I called outpost this morning to correct the zip code that they had for my delivery address. I was also informed that they had the incorrect billing address ... guess they weren't planning to ship any time soon since I wasn't notifed.

I ordered on the 15th due to the person who has to approve it in my company was out sick for a week. My husband told me to "just wait ... see if there are any problems, there's plenty of time". Dork. If I had ordered the first week maybe I would be getting one of the 52 that outpost is expecting tomorrow! Instead I'm sure I'm well past the #150 mark.

I am considering driving down to Oregon to pick one up (no tax) from an apple retailer if it's not here before the holiday weekend.

*sighs* i need to stay away from this board. All these people with their books are making me sad

oh ... and something I forget ... unfortunately I think Apple is used to treating it's loyal customers like this. We are loyal ya know, they can do almost anything and get away with it, because we like Macs!

Sad but true.

[todrain]

I think that Apple is going to take at least the full 5 weeks for the CDRW and combo drive units. They are new drives, and Apple probably does not have that many of them at this time. They also want to make sure that they have some in their stores when they open (right or wrong, how would it look if Apple can't supply their own stores with product?)

I've already accepted the fact that I won't have a Combo drive iBook until mid-late June. I'm not happy about it, but it is the way it is.