Empty Promises. Horrendous Courier Service. Serious Lack of Communication.
In short, never buy with the Apple store (apple.com) just go in store if possible. It's really not worth the hassle, distress and disappointment.
The Premise
It all started innocently enough. On Wednesday evening September 9th I patiently waited for the closure of the apple store to re-open so I could buy my Macbook Pro in time for uni. During weekdays they usually do next delivery so I thought it would be on time for Saturday 12th - so Thursday (when I leave London an head up to Norwich) but with the onslaught of the new iPhone it was pushed back a day to Friday the 11th. But I thought it's ok - I trust Apple they're an outstanding enterprise and I assumed I was in good hands. Well I was so very wrong and as I type this post on September 20th I am still without my Macbook, meaning I have been waiting over a week for it now.
On Friday September 11th I received a text saying my order would be with me between 5:12 and 6:12 that evening. So it got to about 7pm and I decided to give Apple a call. All they could do was launch an investigation of some sort as to why I hadn't received my product. Thus I called DPD - the awful courier service - and I was informed that the delivery van had broken down and at 7:30pm there were about 60 orders in front of mine give or take. But all deliveries would still be attempted nonetheless. So at 8pm I gave DPD another call to see if they could give me a time that I could expect my order but was told that I would not receive it that evening. I then proceeded to ask if I could get it tomorrow and was told that the remaining orders would be attempted on the Saturday - but as I was leaving I asked if I could possibly get it earlier in the day or if there was any way for me to get it before I headed off to Norwich. Unfortunately the operator told me this was not possible - later did we find out we could have gotten our parcel but were given incorrect information.
So Saturday morning came about and I spent the morning eagerly watching the clock waiting for Apple and DPD's telephone lines to be open so I could see about my order. My mother spoke to DPD and was told that it was not possible to get my order at all as there was no physical way of getting to it. My mum explained to the operator that the item was needed today, but the operator had the cheek to blame us for not requesting to collect the item from the depot - despite the fact that I did in fact request this the previous evening. I mean how incredibly rude! I did then proceed to burst into tears whilst my mother requested to speak to a supervisor concerning the issue. As the unfolded my dad got onto the phone with our closest store (Westfields) and asked if it was possible to pick up the same product and send the other one back. But the store could not do this as the online store is separate and as far as Apple are concerned they did their bit - which was true. It was the courier at fault here. So I spoke the Apple and it was agreed that I would receive my order by the Monday between 8am-12pm at my new address. I had also gotten in touch with DPD via twitter and they said they needed Apple to confirm the change of address and they would be happy to comply.
Empty Promises
So Monday came around and nothing came. This was really starting to grate on my nerves as this was the only weekday I was sure of my schedule at what time I would be home to sign for the parcel. So I got in touch with Apple and DPD, but their excuse was that all the stuff that got communicated over the weekend only gets processed on the weekday so DPD couldn't get the item from London to Norwich and were very happy to blame Apple for this. Nonetheless I was told I could get my order the next day - so Tuesday but they don't notify you of the time frame until the day and low and behold - I WAS AT UNI WHEN THE ATTEMPTED TO DELIVER! I know what you must be think, girl go to the depot and pick up your order. I did look into this but it was 20 miles away and I'd only been in the city for about 48 hours and was new to the whole place - not to mention assignments for uni the next day. So I got onto the phone with Apple to see if anything could be done but nothing. I was told delivery would be re-attempted. I had also gotten very confuzzled because Apple had text me two different tracking numbers so I got in touch with them as well as DPD to get to the bottom of it and it seemed that they had different delivery address - the London one and the Norwich one. Stay tuned to see how that unfolds*.
On the Wednesday I called Apple to see if I could get my delivery which was due on the Thursday after 5pm in the evening since I knew I could stay home (and miss out of freshers mind you) to get my parcel. And I was told yes, absolutely we can do that for you. So I was elated and thankful that this was promised. I was not aware that this was one of the most hollow promises I would receive. *Thursday rolled on and I almost skipped to the house with glee anticipating that I could play with my new laptop that evening. But then mother called to let me know DPD DELIVERED THE ITEM TO THE OLD ADDRESS! For goodness sake. Nothing has gone right and now it's almost been a week since I should have been with my Macbook. So once again we called Apple and I was told that I would get the Mac on the Friday. But - you guessed it - as it turned out they didn't deliver then either. And upon calling Apple I was told now expect a delivery on the Monday September 21st with no clue as to what time they would come. I did of course request for the evening but with the experience I've had so far I didn't expect much. So when checking all the tracking it seems the one for the 21st was a replacement as Apple couldn't locate the one that was supposed to come up to Norwich.
It's Sunday morning (Spetmeber 20th) as I type this blogpost whilst on hold to Apple trying to get to the bottom of this. And it seems that the one I was told by numerous operators that would come this Monday won't be dispatched until the one at the old address was returned - obviously we didn't plan on keeping that one as well as the other one I'm supposed to get in Norwich. BUT APPLE NEVER COMMUNICATED THIS ONCE! Sensibly, mother wanted to hold onto it in case Apple failed in getting me the order in Norwich which is understandable given the issues we've had. I have now decided to let mother hop onto a train from London to Norwich to get me my Laptop so that I can definitely have it by this Wednesday - the 23rd mind you. I trust her services will not delay.
Final Thoughts
After all that palava I just wish Apple, as well as DPD communicated more. From telling us the delivery can broke down to letting us know we could request to pick it up from the depot. Or communicating that the processing of information wasn't instant to saying the order had gone missing and a replacement could only be issued once the one delivered to the wrong address was sent back. Important bits of information like this would have helped instead of nothing. And so much time wasted telephoning and being on hold. Communication is everything and you'd think a massive organisation with a reputation like Apple would know how to do this and how it can impact anyone's experience. At the end of the day it just felt like they didn't care. All they and DPD could say was sorry but offered not alternative that got the customer what they needed. If this is what it feels like to be the 'customer that comes first' I certainly won't be buying from Apple for a very long time if I can help it.
I really hope that this was easy to follow and rather coherent. Some details have been left out either because I've forgotten or they haven't been confirmed. I will be adding/editing this post so do come back if you feel like it to see how I get on.
It has been very cathartic getting this all out in this blogpost. Thanks for sticking with me if you made it this far (leave me comment saying if you did!).
Much love,
Margaret xXx
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