Not Happy with Apple

Buying Christmas gifts for loved ones is probably the hardest thing you can do during the holidays. On one hand, you can spend a ton of money only to realize that it isn’t what the person wanted. On the other hand, you can opt to spend as little as possible and still end up getting the wrong gift.

Lucky for me, I figured out what my wife wanted after she mentioned what one of her officemates won in a raffle. From that point, I knew I’d be getting her an iPad Mini for Christmas.

Unfortunately, instead of making a stress-free activity with this revelation, buying getting an iPad Mini was one of the most stressful holiday seasons I have ever had.

[I was not happy with Apple.]

Background

I actually wanted to get my wife a Samsung Tablet because I heard a lot of good things about it from friends and family.

Not only that, but I had a chance to play around with the Android Operating System and like the multitude of options available; this thing felt like the Linux system on my computer.

And though she did accede to my choice, I could tell that her heart was leaning more towards an iPad Mini instead.

[I don’t get it.]

It took a quick read on Manly and Girly Phones and Tablets to realize that not everything is about the hardware or software, so off I went looking for a white iPad Mini.

False Expectations

With Christmas being a couple of months away, one of the authorized Apple resellers was offering zero percent interest for twenty four months. And with a retail price of the lowest model at around PhP17,000, that just amounted to a little over PhP 700 a month for two years. Not bad at all!

So I approached one of the salesmen to ask how I could get it and I was very disappointed at what he told me.

It turns out that the zero percent interest for twenty four months scheme is only applicable to the older full-sized iPads. It was not available for the newest Apple models, which included the iPad Mini.

Not wanting to get the wrong gift, I naturally asked what terms the iPad Mini would have and he said that, depending on my credit card, it can be zero percent interest for as long as twelve months. That would amount to a little over PhP 1,400, still not a bad deal.

The problem was that the store had no stock of iPad Minis and they didn’t know when a new batch would arrive.

[What?!!! It’s Christmas and no iPad Minis?!!!]

So he just asked me to come back from time to time.

Still No Stock

Since it was still October, I was pretty confident that Apple wouldn’t miss out on the Christmas frenzy.

Sadly, October, November, December, and even January came and went. I’d visit various shops every week just to see if I could get one. And every time I make it to a store, I was told that stocks were sold out in as little as one hour. And they never knew when the next shipment would arrive.

So Christmas and New Year passed me by and I didn’t get my wife a gift.

[I was not happy with Apple.]

Black Market

Towards the end of December, stocks finally started to trickle in. The bad news was that each and every item offered was from the black market, having been imported from other Asian countries.

Not only did these black market units have absolutely no any local warranties, they cost between two to four thousand Pesos more than the authorized Apple resellers!

[I was really not happy with Apple.]

Being totally frustrated, I reopened discussions about getting an Android Tablet. A friend of mine suggested that I get the Asus Transformer Prime because it was a full-sized tablet and cost a little bit more.

Naturally, my wife agreed. But I knew she wouldn’t be as happy with it as I would be.

[So I trudged along.]

The supply in the black market got so good and I could find an iPad Mini just about anywhere. Every mobile phone dealer had them displayed on their window. But the price still remained sky high and the warranty was still non-existent.

After weeks passed, I seriously considered buying one from the black market. So I approached one of the better known places and asked how much it would cost.

Well, it turns out that the PhP18,500 they were charging was for outright cash payments. If I wanted to pay by credit card, it would cost me even more. And if I wanted to stretch the payment to at least three months, it would cost me even more than that.

[I was really, really not happy with Apple.]

Waited

As much as I wanted to get my wife that long-promised iPad Mini, my wallet dictated that I wait for it to be available at an authorized Apple reseller.

Besides that, I wasn’t willing to gamble thousands of bucks for something without a local warranty. My experience with black market items is that if they break down, you’re on your own. It doesn’t matter if the store offers a one year in-store warranty, if it isn’t supported by an official local distributor, you can kiss your electronic equipment goodbye.

So even after the New Year, I found myself visiting official resellers on a daily basis.

[I was really, really not very happy with Apple.]

Slow Trickle

Stocks started to trickle in by the second week of January 2013, but the most coveted models still sold out quickly.

The ones that remained were the 64-bit cellular versions that came in black. Tempting to someone as desperate as me, they were just too much money. Besides that, my wife wanted hers in white.

A few days later, I could finally buy the 64-bit cellular versions that came in white. Still tempting but still too expensive for me.

Then the white 32-bit cellular versions were available and I will say that it was really tempting. I could see us using the cellular version to download maps as we traveled around the country looking for vacation spots.

But then I was informed that there was no zero percent plan available. And plunking down PhP 27,000 all at one go was definitely out of the question.

[I was beginning to become angry with Apple.]

Got Lucky

On one fortunate visit, I was finally informed that one of each model was finally available for purchase.

By this time, I had researched all I could on the internet on what model to get and settled on the 32-bit cellular model in white.

Unfortunately, the authorized Apple reseller could only give me three months with zero percent interest. So I ended up getting the 32-bit Wi-Fi model in white instead.

[My wife was finally very happy with Apple.]

Final Thoughts

My wife hasn’t had the chance to enjoy her new iPad Mini yet. The first weekend she had it was spent having an iShield screen protector applied. Just to be sure, she didn’t use it for three days while the adhesive solution dried properly.

Now that it is dry, we will spend the next weekend getting her a nice case. She already spotted the perfect one and will be heading on back to the store first thing Saturday morning.

So far, she is happy with her iPad Mini. So I am happy too. I can’t say that I’m happy with Apple for putting me through all of that, though. This was the first Christmas I missed giving her a gift.

Since this is actually our first Apple product, you might be wondering if I’ll be getting another one in future.

[Though I’m not angry, I’m still not happy with Apple.]

Well, I’m not too sure about that. If I have to go through the same thing all over again, I just might end up going with my original choice, which is an Android. Then again, Apple might finally get their supply problem corrected and buying a new one won’t be such a pain.

So I’ll leave that question unanswered. For now, I just want to experience this iPad Mini before making any decisions.

[Speaking of experiences, where are those offline maps anyway?…]