Apple Ipad

I have always been an Apple fan. So when Apple announced that the Ipad was coming on the market, it immediately caught my attention.

Before the Ipad was officially launched in Singapore, I tried to order the Ipad from US directly and via concierge services such as Vpost and Globeshopper but was unsuccessful as Apple had ceased all sales via these concierge services to prevent overseas sales.

Hence when Apple launched the Ipad in Singapore, I was very keen to purchase one. However due to limited stocks, they were sold out by the time I reached the store. Hence, I tried the next best thing – ordering online from the Apple Store.

The above images used in this post belong to Apple unless specified otherwise.

The pros – there was no need to queue for hours

The cons – there was a waiting time of 3 weeks before the Ipad is ready for shipment.

I ordered the Ipad on 1 August 2010 and within 3 days, I had received an email from Apple confirming my order advising that the Ipad would be ready for shipment by 17 August 2010.

On 11 August , I received an email from Apple advising that the Ipad had been shipped out. That’s 1 week earlier than I had expected.

Apple also provided a DHL tracking number for me to track the shipping status.

However sad to say, the online shopping experience was marred by an irresponsible DHL delivery. When DHL first attempted to delivered the item, they claimed that no one was home and simply left a note in the mailbox even though my mom was at home the whole time. When I called DHL to enquire, they claimed that due to the tight delivery schedule, the delivery guys would sometimes leave a note if they think that there is no one at home. I was infuriated when I was given such an irresponsible reply. To make things worse, when my mom called the DHL number upon seeing the note left by DHL and arranged for a second delivery, the DHL did not even show up. When we called DHL to enquire, they replied with a nonchalant manner that they had rescheduled the delivery to the next day. And they did not even have the courtesy to call us to inform us about the rescheduling!!!

I was so annoyed by the irresponsibility of DHL that I ended up going straight to their warehouse to pick up the Ipad myself as I simply could not trust their services at all.

I was happy with the Ipad that I ordered but maybe Apple should consider using a better and more responsible courier service so as to provide the customer with a better overall online shopping experience.

Website : http://store.apple.com/sg

Delivery : Item delivery depends on availability of item. If item is available, delivery will take up to 3 days from date that item is shipped. A tracking number is provided for buyer to track the status of delivery.

Delivery Costs : Free.

Rating : 6 out of 10