Eager customers who have stayed up for the 1am online launch of Apple's iPad 2 have been met with countless error messages rather than order confirmations.

Not only were dedicated Apple enthusiasts disappointed to find out that they'd have to wait 2-3 weeks for their brand spanking new device to arrive, but many have complained that has been impossible to actually place an order at all. They are constantly being given the same message when trying to pay for their products: "Oops," the site continually states. "An error has occurred during your session. Please return to the Store Menu to continue shopping."

Although the site has been retaining customers' basket information, numerous retries end up in the same failed loop.

So far, Pocket-lint is yet to hear from a single person who has completed a transaction. Indeed, we have been trying to complete the process ourselves, to no avail.

Maybe queuing for two days on a tatty London street was the right idea after all.

UPDATE: We actually managed to get a "processing" screen... And then it failed again.

UPDATE 2: As many have stated, changing their Apple Account to a 1-click account has allowed them to get through the process - although the confirmation email is unlikely to turn up any sooner than 90 minutes later. However, it seems even this method is now troubled too.

When we tried to access our own account details we were met with Apple's general "we'll be back soon" page. Sigh.

Hopefully, when the site returns, this whole mess will have been sorted out.

UPDATE 3: At 2.19am, our payment finally went through.

A very faint and feeble "woo-hoo". Goodnight all. Or good morning, to be precise.

Now just a 2-3 week wait. Lovely.