I ordered a mac mini and MS office bundle on Jan 6 from apple.ca/store.
The mini was a refurb.

I received on;

Jan 9 shipment notice for MS office.
Jan 12 delay mac mini till Jan 18
Jan 18 delay mac mini till Jan 26.

I was wondering will this continue for ever.
I purchased the bundle for the rebate.
WillI still be able to get the rebate?
Will Apple pay return shipping of the MS office software if I cancel the mini.
HAs anyone had a similar experience with Apple.
Any suggestions on how to handle this?

thanks John

I'm just guessing here, but maybe the Mac mini is being updated to the Intel soon which is why Apple delaying.

I have read many stories of people ordering a computer from Apple, only to be delayed and finally getting the next generation version: one of the editors from MacAddict listed her experience when discussing the new Intel macs (she ordered a B/W and got a G4 at no extra cost).

Please remember that I am only guessing, but it could be valid.

Also, Thinksecret.com reported that the Mac mini was supposed to be released by Jobs during the keynote.

I would recommend that you email Apple with regards to the rebate. It would be unfair if you can get the mini in time to qualify for the rebate. Apple may have diverted capacity to the new iMac and Macbook, impacting the mini production.

Since you ordered a refurb, I don't think you will likely get a newer version, unless an Intel Mac Mini makes its debut; in that case, you might get the mac minis that are being sold now, which is still pretty good.

Weird situation. If it's a refurb, it shouldn't be a capacity problem. One would think that they have the machine on-hand if they're offering it for sale as a refurb, but maybe I'm off base here.

In any case, I would call Apple about the rebate too. I'm not sure what the terms are. Do you have to have made the purchase before the end of January, or can it just have been ordered. Who cuts the cheque, Apple or MS? If the latter, you might have a problem if the computer arrives in February. Call Apple.

I just called apple and they said don't worry be happy! Hah
He told me to upgrade to another model so I wouldn't have to wait.
He would even upgrade me to 2 day shipping.
He then went on the web site and found another mini refurb for $100 more,
that was available. He then read me the specs.
I told him that was the same mini as I bought for $100 less.
He said that it has the same specs but a different model number.
I think it was a boxing week price that they now don't want to honour and are hoping I'll just cancel.
He also said that apple would pay the return shipping for the items already shipped.

John