Apple Media Exchange, Banana skin?

I have one of the last iBooks to come without a DVD Drive (dumb I know,
but it saved quite a bit of cash at the time) so have had to go through
the Apple media exchange process.

I bought a copy of Tiger on the 14th of May, did the application online
and sent off my details, plus photo copy of the receipt. That was three
weeks ago. Allowing for the delay for postage, two and a half weeks.
Since then, nothing. No credit card debit, no e-mails of any kind,
absolute silcence.

So today I phone and speak to a nice Irish lady who tells me that the
media exchange team have been overwhelmed with the demand and that there
is a three week backlog. On further questioning I find that the first I
will hear that the order has been completed is that I will see my card
debited or the CDs arriving through the door.

If the order has been lost in the post, I will never know.

I am not happy about this for a number of reasons:

1. I had to go through this wretched process in the first place. Apple
must have some clue aboout how many people bought CD only machines, how
many of those people are likely to want to upgrade and make the CD
version available for order through the online store for what must be a
pretty big user base. Not through bricks-and-morter not, just by online
order.

2. Even if they didn't want to make it available by direct order, they
could have staffed the media exchange team to the level needed to
respond in a reasonable time to the demand.

3. Why on earth did I have to enter an e-mail address if they never use
it to tell me anything. Apparently it's not even used for notification
of despatch.

4. I have to send my unprotected credit card details through a postal
system where theft is becoming rife (two credit cards sent to my house
were stolen this year) which no indication that the letter has arrived.

I now have to phone back in two, yes two, weeks to check whether the
order has been received and processed.

Sorry for the rant but this is a complete disgrace. I love my iBoook to
bits. It has excellent ergonomics, it's bomb proof, has fantastic
battery life for a four year old design (640Meg RAM, 700mhz) and Panther
****es all over any version of Windows you care to mention.

But can I get a copy of Tiger I can install on it?

Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh,

Andy

Emily Jackson wrote:
>>>>>>"Andy" == Andy Mulhearn <> writes:
>
>
> Andy> 1. I had to go through this wretched process in the first
> Andy> place. Apple must have some clue aboout how many people bought
> Andy> CD only machines, how many of those people are likely to want
> Andy> to upgrade and make the CD version available for order through
> Andy> the online store for what must be a pretty big user base. Not
> Andy> through bricks-and-morter not, just by online order.
>
> Andy> 2. Even if they didn't want to make it available by direct
> Andy> order, they could have staffed the media exchange team to the
> Andy> level needed to respond in a reasonable time to the demand.
>
> First, I feel your pain.

A bitch isn't it.

>
> I've told anyone who would listen that Apple should have asked people to
> prove they needed the CDs (via a System Profiler printout or something)
> and allow them to order the precious disks from Apple directly.

That's what I said when I phone first time. No, you have to order the
DVD you can't use. When you've paid for it, send us a copy of the
receipt we already have and £10 and we'll send you the cds we could have
sent youin the first place. I'm sure it's a fraud concerning Royal Mail
and profits.

>
> Andy> 3. Why on earth did I have to enter an e-mail address if they
> Andy> never use it to tell me anything. Apparently it's not even
> Andy> used for notification of despatch.
>
> I was e-mailed a notice that my order had shipped.

Hopefully I'll get the same

>
> Andy> 4. I have to send my unprotected credit card details through a
> Andy> postal system where theft is becoming rife (two credit cards
> Andy> sent to my house were stolen this year) which no indication
> Andy> that the letter has arrived.
>
> I had to send my order form *twice* via the USPS (had to send a
> corrected order form because the CC details on the first form were
> wrong). The second form was sent Express Mail--I wanted to make darn
> sure they got it. I shudder to think how much this escapade has cost
> me--the original $129 + overnight shipping from Amazon, then shipping
> the DVD to Apple Priority Mail insured, then sending the second order
> form Express Mail. *Then* the package sat in the local PO for a *week*
> (they're suppose to put a notice in my PO box); if I hadn't asked about
> it at the PO window, it might still be there.

That's not pleasant. It would almost be worth buying an external DVD
drive, which I'm considering because this iBook has to last me another
year before I'm allowed to upgrade.

>
> Andy> But can I get a copy of Tiger I can install on it?
>
> If you get tired of waiting, you can check eBay. During my wait, I saw
> two sets of Tiger CDs sell--one for $96 and one for $78.

No chance. I'm not allowing some **** to profit that way.

Thanks for the response.

Andy

Andy Mulhearn wrote:

> I have one of the last iBooks to come without a DVD Drive (dumb I know,
> but it saved quite a bit of cash at the time) so have had to go through
> the Apple media exchange process.
>
> I bought a copy of Tiger on the 14th of May, did the application online
> and sent off my details, plus photo copy of the receipt. That was three
> weeks ago. Allowing for the delay for postage, two and a half weeks.
> Since then, nothing. No credit card debit, no e-mails of any kind,
> absolute silcence.
>
> So today I phone and speak to a nice Irish lady who tells me that the
> media exchange team have been overwhelmed with the demand and that there
> is a three week backlog. On further questioning I find that the first I
> will hear that the order has been completed is that I will see my card
> debited or the CDs arriving through the door.
>
> If the order has been lost in the post, I will never know.
>
> <snip>
>
> Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh,
>
> Andy

The Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" Media Exchange form that I downloaded says the
order for CDs must be mailed by July 9, 2005. What is this all about? How
do you replace your Tiger DVD with CDs after that date?

Emily Jackson wrote:

[snipped]

>
> You're welcome. I didn't realize you were British, so you might not have
> understood my ramblings about the USPS (United States Postal Service)
> and Express Mail (guaranteed overnight delivery, *very* expensive).

S'okay, I've travelled and ordered stuff from the US so am familiar with
the USPS.

Andy