Warning for ordering Apple products through Noel Leeming/Dickens Data

Early July, I paid $8,000 for a Mac Studio from Noel Leeming. They don’t keep these in stock, so it had to be ordered. I was told 2-3 weeks.

A couple of weeks later, I went back to check on the order. They contacted their distributor, Dicker Data, who couldn’t provide an ETA.

A month later, I called again. Same story: they checked with Dicker Data, still no ETA.

Now more than two months after paying, I called again. This time, Dicker Data apparently wanted the order cancelled, with no explanation.

I went into the store to discuss it. The explanation I was given was that the M3 Ultra 96GB had been replaced by an M5 Ultra 96GB, so they couldn’t fulfill my order. My options were a refund or paying another $3,500 for the replacement model.

I took the refund.

I understand delays happen, but being quoted 2–3 weeks, having to chase every update, and then getting this outcome after more than two months is pretty frustrating. They had my entire $8,000 the whole time.

I looked into Dickens Data, turns out they seem to be a major distributor for Apple products, unfortunately not practical to boycott Apple entirely but I'm going to see if I can use other channels in the future.

Already made a complaint to the commerce commission.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?