[MarkyP]

"Worse yet, get this, they've found out only TWO machines will be arriving!"


Funny - you said I was bullshitting when I posted this earlier...

[DVD Plaza]

Originally posted by MarkyP:
Funny - you said I was bullshitting when I posted this earlier...

When you posted that only 11 machines allegedly arrived for the whole of Australia in the first week? Not sure what you're talking about?

[MarkyP]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
When you posted that only 11 machines allegedly arrived for the whole of Australia in the first week? Not sure what you're talking about?

Sorry mate I didn't make myself very clear there ! What i mean't was that my reseller where I have my order said just what yours did . They showed me some shipping page from apple that showed how many orders there have been from customers Australia wide and how many have come in, and the fact that the next shipment only has 2 or 3 powerbooks due Tuesday/ Wednesday.
The thing is that my reseller told me that shipment is the total for the whole country, not just for them . The same for the 11 in the first shipment . After hearing your figures and the news from others in Qld. I realised they are obviously lying through their teeth to me .
So I phoned Apple Australia to try to get a straight answer . They asked me when my reseller placed THEIR order for the 17" powerbooks . I said huh? You see it turns out that although I placed MY order on Jan 15 th, the shop didn't put that order through to Apple Australia until some undisclosed time later, when they had recieved a few more orders. Apple told me they ship to resellers on that priority - and the fact that the shop in Brisbane who ordered on the day of the key note and recieved 16 already, bears that out. I was livid when I heard this because I leave the country to work overseas for 3 months in 2 weeks time and my reseller have no idea when they will get mine in. And get this - they told me in February that if I paid for it up front it would guarantee me one from the very first batch to come into the country . So muggins here did just that and paid the full price on Feb 15th ! And they have been stringing me along ever since.
Apple were actually very understanding and sympathetic and said they would try to help me out - so we'll see what happens . I'll keep you informed.

[DVD Plaza]

Hmmmm, someone else discovered that happened to them as well - can't remember if it was on this forum or another one though.

Exactly the same situation for them though - put in an order in good faith that you've got in early and are now "in order", but the store in question didn't actually process the order until they had xx orders. Thus, if Apple are honouring order, you're now a long way down the list.

This whole experience has left a very very sour feeling towards Apple - this machine was for home business use, which to me is serious enough as is, however if this were a corporate environment I'd be thinking twice about dealing with a company that could cause a quarter of a year delay and not even have the decency to tell its own companies what's going on. My intention to replace my web server running DVD Plaza with an xServe is 10000% over, let me tell you - if they can't even TALK about a delay, let alone causing a quarter of a year delay, then I have no faith they could deliver a replacement motherboard in an xServe (say there was a fault) quicker than 2-4 months... unacceptable.

[hlouey]

Originally posted by hlouey:
Hi all,

Just a quick update. My Tom Bihn Bag has come in from the U.S. I ordered it on Friday Morning (4th) and it arrived this morning (8th)

Its very nicely put together. I'm at work at the moment

But once home I will take some pics and get these posted. Though only on yahoo photos as without a Mac at the moment I can't upload to my .Mac account :-(

Regards,

Henry

Hi All,

As promised. Here are three pics of my Tom Bihn Bag. All I need right now is the 17" PowerBook to go into it ;-)

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/hlouey/ls...tos.yahoo.com/

Hope you like it. This seems a great Backback from my limited use over the last three days.

Henry

[DVD Plaza]

Methinks you forgot the pics

[Chuck1]

I got mine yesterday just like �tomic.

All I can say is: Wow.

Chuck.

PS - If I had to say anything slightly negative it would be how buggy the new iMovie is... I'm hoping for some major bugfixes very soon.

[hlouey]

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/hlouey/ls...tos.yahoo.com/[/url]

Link has been updated!

Thanks,

Henry

[Wet Jimmy]

I'm about to call the Apple Online Store and have another go at complaining, but I need your help -

Could all the Aussies who have received their 17"ers please post when and from whom you did so? When I placed my order with the Online store, I was assured that they are the first to get stock, especially the education group.

This appears to be far from the truth, and it's about time I stuck it to them with some facts and figures.

Cheers.

WJ.

[�tomic]

Originally posted by Wet Jimmy:
I'm about to call the Apple Online Store and have another go at complaining, but I need your help -

Could all the Aussies who have received their 17"ers please post when and from whom you did so? When I placed my order with the Online store, I was assured that they are the first to get stock, especially the education group.

This appears to be far from the truth, and it's about time I stuck it to them with some facts and figures.

Cheers.

WJ.

Picked up on 11/04/04 from Powermedia Systems

Ordered 1st week of Feb

[DVD Plaza]

Originally posted by �tomic:
Picked up on 11/04/04 from Powermedia Systems Ordered 1st week of Feb

Good god, I ordered mine nearly a month before that and I'm still waiting

[hlouey]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Good god, I ordered mine nearly a month before that and I'm still waiting

Well after snapping at a Apple Centre Employee yesterday about these delays. I have since concluded that even speculating is bad for me.

My revised deadline is May 17th. Thats the day that I leave for a 6 week RTW Trip. If its not there by this time I am cancelling my order and buying the damn thing in either San Fran or New York as I will be in both cities for a week during my time away

Henry

[�tomic]

There a million photos of 17" powerbooks all over these forums - Ive just just wouldnt feel right if it didnt show mine

PS dont mind the daggy furniture - these were taken at my folks house

[veryniceguy2002]

Originally posted by hlouey:
Well after snapping at a Apple Centre Employee yesterday about these delays. I have since concluded that even speculating is bad for me.

My revised deadline is May 17th. Thats the day that I leave for a 6 week RTW Trip. If its not there by this time I am cancelling my order and buying the damn thing in either San Fran or New York as I will be in both cities for a week during my time away

Henry

Might as well get it from US or Asia while you are on the RTW trip, unless you need it for tax duduction purposes (but then I guess you can still do tax deduction even if you get it from overseas?). Given the Aussie dollar is doing quite well since the 17" PowerBook annoucment during MWSF, you might be saving a bit more...

[hlouey]

Originally posted by �tomic:
There a million photos of 17" powerbooks all over these forums - Ive just just wouldnt feel right if it didnt show mine

PS dont mind the daggy furniture - these were taken at my folks house

Atomic,

Nice pics! Makes the one for my Tom Bin bag look quite amaturish

Regards,

Henry

[hsvgoku]

Atomic, that look sick. Congratz on the Al 17".

[DVD Plaza]

[Wet Jimmy]

A quick update. After a fiery email sent to Apple, I am now one step further down my journey of discovery. Apparently there is a fresh shipment of 17"'ers due "in a few days", one of which is allocated 100% to me. It's amazing how quickly I got a response - all it took was an angry two page email. Great customer service, there, Apple.

What's the bet it get's to Apple on Thursday, and then sits there for four goddam days over the easter break? Anyway, here's hoping...

[DVD Plaza]

About as likely as mine that was allegedly "on its way", yeeaaaaahhhhh...

[BrettOZ]

I have been following this thread for a while now, and I can't believe you guys are still waiting on your machines. Honestly if this kind of Customer Service was given from a smaller business, it would need to close up shop in the not too distant future - due to customers not putting up with this sort of nonsense.

I can understand why you guys are so angry, just goes to show Australia is not a key business area for Apple. Which is a real BIG shame!

Shame Apple Shame!

[Wet Jimmy]

Originally posted by BrettOZ:
just goes to show Australia is not a key business area for Apple.

Shame Apple hasn't come to MacNN and taken a look at our Aussie topic here - just take a gander at the number of replies and overall views! We may be few, but we DO kick ass

[�tomic]

UPDATE:

I went to pick up RAM for my powerbook toady from the Apple Centre Taylor Square in Sydney and they reckon they got eight (yes 8) 17" powerbooks in today but still have a huge backorder.

I picked up a 512Mb chip for $290 which isnt too bad. I needed this chip before tomorrow as I am going intrastate. For those who are interested, Zytech is offering 512Mb RAM chips for the PB17" for $241 which I think is a great price. You can find it here - just click on RAM and you will find it.

http://www.zytech.com.au/

[�tomic]

Originally posted by Wet Jimmy:
Shame Apple hasn't come to MacNN and taken a look at our Aussie topic here - just take a gander at the number of replies and overall views! We may be few, but we DO kick ass

By the way, is there local forum group where we can all chat. I mean an Aussie forum for Aussie Mac freaks? As much as the waiting shitted me to tears, I really enjoyed following the delivery of this Powerbook with you guys.

[Wet Jimmy]

Good question... I'd certainly be interested in a local place to chat. I've scoped out local user groups too, but I think the geek quotient may be too high for me.

Any Sydney-siders up for a "cafe-meet" once we all have our 17"ers?

And on that note, my Apple Store Order is now saying "Partially Shipped". Looks like everything BUT the PB 17" is on it's way to me... Which kind of screws up my salary sacrafice plans as everything I want to claim has to be on the one invoice.

Apple strikes again.

[Martyb]

I too am waiting in the wings. I have tried not to spend too much time looking at the sites that will only depress me. I am glad to have you guys to watch as well. Apple rang last week to offer me Keynote. I guess that it is something. I'll keep watching and keep you informed. I ordered mine in early march.

[DVD Plaza]

Geesh, given I've waited since January you'd think I'd be offered an iPod... but I get offered zip, nada, nothing but "1 more week" - better than "2 more weeks" I guess, but for %&#^s sake I'm STILL waiting!!!!!

[Martyb]

As promised. Here are three pics of my Tom Bihn Bag. All I need right now is the 17" PowerBook to go into it ;-)

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/hlouey/l...otos.yahoo.com/

Where can I find info about the Bags.

and how do I make this quote thing work?

[DVD Plaza]

Your link doesn't work?

Regarding Australian Mac forums guys, I've often hunted around for one but never found any - hence hanging around here

[�tomic]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Your link doesn't work?

Regarding Australian Mac forums guys, I've often hunted around for one but never found any - hence hanging around here

Hmmm.....maybe its about time we had one of our own. Im gonna do some hunting around and see what I can come up with.

[spathi]

Aus apple forums would be great, even an aus portal? (news & forums).

I can quite possibly donate some webspace..

anyway, here is my weekly update from palaeographics:

Hi,
We are expecting some in later this week.
Thanks for your patience.

no mention of whether mine is in that shipment, but atleast they are comming i suppose.

[BrettOZ]

spathi

Q. Just curious, Why are you going through Palaeo ? are there no Resellers up there on the Sunshine Coast ?

[hlouey]

Originally posted by Martyb:
As promised. Here are three pics of my Tom Bihn Bag. All I need right now is the 17" PowerBook to go into it ;-)

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/hlouey/l...otos.yahoo.com/

Where can I find info about the Bags.

and how do I make this quote thing work?

Marty,

http://www.tombihn.com

These guys are absolutely the best company I have dealed with in respect to online purchases.

Let my know how you go.

Regards,

Henry

[Wet Jimmy]

Originally posted by hlouey:
Marty,

http://www.tombihn.com

These guys are absolutely the best company I have dealed with in respect to online purchases.

Let my know how you go.

Regards,

Henry

I'll second that. Tom Bihn has been great, and they make, bar none, the best notebook sleeves on the planet.

[spathi]

Originally posted by BrettOZ:
spathi

Q. Just curious, Why are you going through Palaeo ? are there no Resellers up there on the Sunshine Coast ?

There is an AppleCentre up here, I emailed them a few times and tried calling but i couldn't get in contact with them, and I wanted to place an order asap. (i didn't know Infinite Systems existed, I probably should have looked into it a bit more).

The Powerbook is being bought via salary sacrafice, and we needed an invoice before we could order (we being my girlfriend and i). At the time palaeo was the quickest option, as we could use the companies CC and just order it online.

I'll say this for them though, they have very quick and efficient tech support.

[DVD Plaza]

Well I gave in, as if I'll get a call, and called AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN... last week I was told it was definitely now finally on its way yet Monday comes and goes, Tuesday comes and goes, now it's the middle of Wednesday.

As usual, the sales guy puts me on hold for a few minutes whilst they suss things out - then the store manager picks up the phone instead (she's taken most of my calls lately and apologised for the insane delay). So, of course, she's obviously delivering bad news yet again... "It arrived yesterday".

WTF did you just say? "It arrived late yesterday, we've been really flat out though so we haven't even opened it or anything".

You're %^&#$ joking? "No, it's right here".

I'll be right there!!!

[spathi]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
So, of course, she's obviously delivering bad news yet again... "It arrived yesterday".

WTF did you just say? "It arrived late yesterday, we've been really flat out though so we haven't even opened it or anything".

You're %^&#$ joking? "No, it's right here".

I'll be right there!!!

congratulations!! its good to hear that it's finally made its way to you i know its been a long time coming!

[Wet Jimmy]

This IS the day for good news! I just got a call from the Apple Store Online and my PB 17" is being picked right now, and will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!

Aside from that, my spare battery, power adaptor and Kensington lock just turned up. The battery looks pretty slick, and I LOVE the way you can clip on the extension cord to the power adaptor. Great design.

Anyway, I still can't believe the way that Apple, as a company, handled this Powerbook fiasco. I'll be overjoyed when I receive the powerbook tomorrow, but I'll still be carrying a deep disklike and a sense of dismay regarding Apple... This may be the first and last Powerbook I own.

[spathi]

Originally posted by Wet Jimmy:
Anyway, I still can't believe the way that Apple, as a company, handled this Powerbook fiasco. I'll be overjoyed when I receive the powerbook tomorrow, but I'll still be carrying a deep disklike and a sense of dismay regarding Apple... This may be the first and last Powerbook I own.

Excellent news! congratulations

This is the first Powerbook I'll own, im also extremley dissapointed in the way this has been handled by Apple. Although i wont say I'll never buy another Powerbook, i think after all of this it'd have to be pretty damn impressive for me to contemplate getting another one in the future. Even then I wouldn't pre order, i'll just wait until they hit the stores (lesson has been learned!).

Im hoping when the PB does turn up its just so fantastic it'll wash the sour taste away.

[MarkyP]

Originally posted by Wet Jimmy:
This IS the day for good news! I just got a call from the Apple Store Online and my PB 17" is being picked right now, and will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!

Aside from that, my spare battery, power adaptor and Kensington lock just turned up. The battery looks pretty slick, and I LOVE the way you can clip on the extension cord to the power adaptor. Great design.

Anyway, I still can't believe the way that Apple, as a company, handled this Powerbook fiasco. I'll be overjoyed when I receive the powerbook tomorrow, but I'll still be carrying a deep disklike and a sense of dismay regarding Apple... This may be the first and last Powerbook I own.

What a day ! I called my reseller this morning to see if there was any news - nothing . Called Apple Australia - nothing, except they told me that all orders placed before 1st March would be filled by the end of the month. I was very unhappy with this as I am going overseas at the end of the month. So I was sitting there stewing for about an hour when the phone rings - It's my reseller : IT'S HERE !
I got round there in about 2mins (thank god there are no speed cameras on the way) and now here I am back home with it!!!! They were as surprised as me at the shop as they had no notification it was coming - even Apple who I had just spoken to didn't tell me - it just turned up!
I am currently transferring files from my old ibook via firewire - 5 gigs worth of itunes in 45 mins. I have tried it in my Crumpler Crisp suit and it fits perfectly too . So I am stoked.
Feel free to ask any questions...

[DVD Plaza]

Wouldn't you know it, I've ended up with a machine that needs DOAing... ejecting a CD causes the disc to stutter out in about three stages, then stops barely 1/4 the way out - not enough to grab the disc, in fact if you try grabbing the teensy bit of the sides you simply push it back in further... only way to grab a disc is to put your fingers on the top and bottom (thus touching the disc's surface) and pull it out.

By the way, did anyone's screen have a protective sticker over it? My 800DVI, and my DOA'd 1GHz, both had one to peel off but my 17" did not. Maybe they don't do it anymore, but seemed strange...

1 dead pixel...

[Wet Jimmy]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
All kinds of bad **** happened...

Man, you really do have my sympathy. That just sucks so much ass it's not funny.

Still.. can it get any worse? It's all uphill from here! Heh.

[hsvgoku]

Hmm...i am pretty sure they come with the thin film of plastic protection when you first got it.

[Wet Jimmy]

Well, I should get mine tomorrow. I'll confirm this if you like.

[Wet Jimmy]

Still waiting on the baby...

My empty desk....

[MarkyP]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Wouldn't you know it, I've ended up with a machine that needs DOAing... ejecting a CD causes the disc to stutter out in about three stages, then stops barely 1/4 the way out - not enough to grab the disc, in fact if you try grabbing the teensy bit of the sides you simply push it back in further... only way to grab a disc is to put your fingers on the top and bottom (thus touching the disc's surface) and pull it out.

By the way, did anyone's screen have a protective sticker over it? My 800DVI, and my DOA'd 1GHz, both had one to peel off but my 17" did not. Maybe they don't do it anymore, but seemed strange...

1 dead pixel...

I can't believe this sh*t you are going through !

My powerbook also has 1 dead pixel which I will try not to notice - it's over to the side - so not too bad . The screen did not have a protective sticker on it - only the plastic cover over the keyboard area and plastic bag it was in.

It also has this 'sizzle' but you can only hear it when you put your ear right over the keyboard so I don't know what all the fuss is about if this is what everyone has . To me it is as perfect as I hoped .

[DVD Plaza]

Some good news - after inserting and ejecting CDs/DVDs 20-30 times (no kidding!), it slowly began to (progressively) get better and better... to the point where the last 2 or 3 ejects have been perfect. Will try another 10 or so to be sure.

Regarding the screen sticker, I confirmed with an Apple techy that there isn't a sticker on the 17" screen.

[MarkyP]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Some good news - after inserting and ejecting CDs/DVDs 20-30 times (no kidding!), it slowly began to (progressively) get better and better... to the point where the last 2 or 3 ejects have been perfect. Will try another 10 or so to be sure.

Regarding the screen sticker, I confirmed with an Apple techy that there isn't a sticker on the 17" screen.

Good Luck ! maybe it is just the 'brushes' in the opening slot loosening up .

[Nebuchadnezzer]

I too had a bit of a saga...

After calling Apple and my reseller DAILY for the last couple of weeks (ordered straight after keynote) I was finally told today that I was 80th in the queue STILL!!!

I wandered in to Next Byte (not where I ordered it from) to have a peek at the demo and they had one IN STOCK.

MINE!!

I'm afraid my other order will have to go to another punter.

The machine is flawless- no stuck/dead pixels YET.....

Fast, and sooo quiet, too
You gotta love the keyboard....

I'm in love It was ALMOST worth the wait.

[Martyb]

Thanks for the info. Is there a local reseller?
Marty

[hlouey]

Originally posted by Martyb:
Thanks for the info. Is there a local reseller?
Marty

Hi all,

You know somethings been troubling me whislt reading all this thread.

First up is the issue of some Apple Centres receiving stock of 17" PB's before others. An Example I see is NextByte and Infinity receive shipments before others. My Apple reseller has received no shipment of PB's at all (other than the demo model). Is this favoritism by Apple on some resellers over others perhaps??

Second is hearing of people who have placed orders thru the online store seemingly receiving there machines before the channel receives stock? Again favoritism??

Third, When I rang the customer service hotline I asked a specific question. What are you going to do to compensate customers that have ordered there notebooks early but have had to wait (and still) wait for stock? There answer is nothing can/will be done. So..... why am I hearing of members here getting free copys of keynote as compensation? Again the only consistant is, and yes you guessed it. These member ordered from the online store!

Call it sour grapes, call it venting, call it whatever you like. Something fishy is going on. I am not happy

Regards,

Henry