Progress Reversed

Logitech finally released a decent mac-compatible USB webcam, which made me really happy since the old iSights were discontinued long ago and I had no luck finding one for any amount less than twice the original price or more on eBay. I had been looking to get some vision for my old Powerbook G4 and this new product surprised me because there really isn't a market for add-on cameras -- all Macs sold, for some years now, have a built-in camera. I knew I needed to grab one before they were also relegated to the trash bin, especially since this would make my portable time lapse movies a lot easier than trying to use a firewire connection to a clunky DV cam.

Of course, no one locally carried them except the Apple store, so on Sunday I called to confirm they had one in stock. Yes, they did, and I told them I would be down to pick it up. 20 minutes later at 4:30pm, I arrived to see security guards and rope barriers protecting the storefront. No, I couldn't go in and no, they were not accepting any new customers for the rest of the day. Could I not see the long, winding line out front of the store of people waiting to purchase an iPhone? "We stopped letting people in at 3:45PM, today."

"But I don't want an iPhone. I need to buy something else."
"Sorry -- you're out of luck. We open at 10:00AM on Monday."
"But I called ahead just twenty minutes ago. No one mentioned this."
"Sorry. Come back tomorrow."
"Will the store be back to normal, then?"
"I don't think so."
"When will you be back to normal?"
"We don't know."
"Well, you let me know when you guys get back to actually selling computers."

This was a full two days beyond the launch date! During the first iPhone launch, the store had a dedicated line and cashiers available for people interested in buying the phone, meaning if you wanted something else you were free to shop at your leisure. This time, the store obviously had some issues and I could just see past the wall of people to notice there were at least a dozen extra Apple staff on the floor, hands in pockets, doing nothing while a single cashier processed orders for the line of drooling 3G fans. I argued some more, trying to make my case and be nice, but had no luck. Angry that I burned all the gasoline for nothing, I went home and placed my order on Amazon with 2 day shipping.

I never pay for faster shipping. Somehow, taking my business elsewhere meant I would pay more simply to, uh, somehow make a statement. Yeah! See that, Apple? I paid extra to not buy from you!

Yeah.

So of course three days came and went with no familiar UPS diesel truck sound outside my door. Amazon's tracking happily declared that my order had shipped, was in transit, and would arrive in approximately -1 days. UPS tracking information stated "Billing Information Recieved", which means the box was never in UPS's possession and was probably sitting in an oil stain on the loading dock, but that someone in Amazon had printed a shipping label. A call to Amazon revealed that their policy is to have their customers wait a full seven days before processing a refund or reshipment. Had I wanted to wait seven days, I argued, I wouldn't have paid for two day shipping. No matter, it was on its way, I was assured, and I should wait.

Ugh.

The next day, I called back, seeing that UPS still did not have the package in their posession. This time, my arguments won and the kind customer rep said something obviously was wrong and that the package had been lost off the truck or the driver had eaten it. Would she like me to ship another, with free overnight shipping? Yes! When would it arrive? Tuesday. This being Friday, nothing would get out the door in time. I declined and had a refund processed instead -- I'd rather just go back to the Apple store (who had to be back to normal operations, I hoped), pay for no shipping, and just call it a day. I phoned ahead, checking to make sure they were still in stock.

"We don't carry that model."
"What?"
"I think we had some in, but... well, we have this other one. It's motorized!"
"I don't want that one, I need the one you said you had in stock last weekend."
"Uh, I don't... no, we don't have that one. You could order it from Apple online."
"Your online store doesn't have it."
"Well, you can wait awhile and see if we get more in."
"But-"
"Are you sure you don't want the motorized one? We have a bunch of them and they hardly ever sell. You're guarunteed to get one."

Have you ever been in traffic, trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and you're furiously changing lanes when you see any hint of forward movement but each time you make the transition to join the flow it suddenly stops and you look back to your old lane to find it suddenly making progress without you in it?

I called back to Amazon, hoping to get in on the free shipment deal. No, they couldn't un-cancel an order and I'd have to try place another one.

Sigh. I figure I might actually see this thing come November. If I'm lucky.