"Merge in Transit" -- European DUers, beware!

<rant>

The evil lurking behind those three little words is almost unimaginable. But I am here to tell you, if you buy anything from the Apple Online Store, at least in the UK, either place separate orders for every single item (software AND Apple Protection Plans included; yes, that apparently comes in a box) -- or be prepared to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait, while your entire order is "merged," in some central distribution hub (in the UK, it's in Hinckley, Leics).

I made the mistake of ordering 2 computers at the same time; one a Mac Pro, and the other a MacBook Pro; both built to order. The Mac Pro & monitor have been waiting for gawd-only-knows how many days for the MacBook Pro to make it from either Amsterdam or Cork; or maybe it's all just been sitting in Hinckley for three days waiting to be given to UPS. (The location varies from agent to agent, and sometimes from minute to minute, at the charmingly-named "After-Sales Support" line.)

Either way, today was the last estimated delivery date of 13-16 November, and from what UPS tell me, they haven't picked it up yet. (And no, we aren't open on weekends, sorry.) When I advised the guy who answered the phone at UPS not to ever buy anything from the Apple website, he said, "You're, like, the 500th person to tell me that."

Lesson learned? I think I'll buy all future peripherals from resellers, and if I ever have to buy another machine, if I can't get the configuration I want from a reseller, I'll at least know to buy *only* one item per order - monitors, boxed software, etc,. will all be in their own separate orders.

That's *if* I ever get the ones I've ordered this time....

</rant>