iLife Up-To-Date needs up-to-dating.
I recently took myself across Tampa Bay to my local Apple Store, there to buy a new iMac. While I was there, I happened to mention to the manager that I was interested in iLife 09, and he assured me that, even though the machine I was buying didn’t have the latest version of iLife installed, it was eligible for Apple’s Up-To-Date programme.
That evening, I visited the Apple website, and made my way to the iLife Up-To-Date page. I input the iMac’s serial number, and all the other relevant information, and was told
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I clicked on the “chat now” button at the top of the page, and had a lovely conversation with a young Apple lady, who assured me that the serial number in question simply wasn’t in the system yet, and that I should look again the next day.
The very next day I looked again, and saw the same message. I chatted again, this time with a young man who actually managed to convey the shrugging of his shoulders via text message as he suggested that I try printing out an application form and posting it. Quite horrendously last-century, I thought, but I did just that.
And that brings us to today, fully a fortnight after I bought this machine. Its serial number still isn’t “in the system,” which makes me wonder what “system” Apple are using. The makers of WebObjects and the owners of FileMaker aren’t impressing me overly here. I’ve also tried clicking the “check the status of your order form” link, but that’s not much more helpful. Apparently that system doesn’t know me either.
And Apple, in their typically Trappist fashion, aren’t giving anything away. The Store section of Apple’s website gnomically states that the software “ships: January.” Well, January’s not long for this world. February is nearly upon us, and there are arses in Cupertino that quite clearly need to be got in gear.
In the meantime, all I can do is grit my teeth and wish that Apple would refrain from using the expression “pre-order.” Until they figure out how we can post-order, then that prefix is just a tad redundant…
Update
It’s 26th January, and the Mac-centric InterWeb is reporting that that iLife ’09 is to ship tomorrow. I tried again ordering my update online, and got the same lack of results. I again tried the online chat system, and this time Deborah L seemed more interested in selling me AppleCare than in trying to solve my problem.
Twenty minutes on the phone to Apple later, I’ve been assured that I’ll be getting a copy of iLife ’09 in the post as soon as Apple can get it to me. I’ll be posting a review as soon as it arrives and I get chance to have a good play with it.
Another Update
I’ve just had an email from AppleCare, telling me that my software will ship on the 30th, sans shipping and handling charges. Thanks, Scott!
Yet Another Update
A FedEx knock at my door yesterday morning — my copy of iLife ’09 was here. It’s rather good, too. I’ll be writing a full write-up as soon as a handful of outstanding projects are wrapped up. Thanks again, Scott!
Update The Fourth
It would be so lovely just to put this post to bed, but it simply refuses to give up. I was checking my online banking records this morning, as one does, and I noticed a charge from Apple for a little over ten dollars. The only thing I’ve bought lately — or indeed attempted to buy — from Apple has been iLife. It’s odd, though, that the status enquiry function of the iLife Up-To-Date page at the Apple website still has no record of having received an order from me.
I’ve put in a call to Scott at Apple Customer Care. I’ll be updating once again as soon as he gets back to me.
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