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Getting iphone tomorrow. When to go?

R

rhs7787

macrumors member
Original poster
I know apple opens at 8. I went to the Arden store in Sacramento today to get one, but after an hour wait the girl told me that I needed to be the account holder not just an authorized user. Kind of frustrating, but I figured I would just go back tomorrow.

Anyways, what time would you guys recommend getting there? Today I got there at 8 and there was surprisingly about 30-50 people ahead of me. I was thinking of getting there around 7:15. What has your experience been?
 
rhs7787 said:
I know apple opens at 8. I went to the Arden store in Sacramento today to get one, but after an hour wait the girl told me that I needed to be the account holder not just an authorized user. Kind of frustrating, but I figured I would just go back tomorrow.

Anyways, what time would you guys recommend getting there? Today I got there at 8 and there was surprisingly about 30-50 people ahead of me. I was thinking of getting there around 7:15. What has your experience been?
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Weird.... I'm not the account holder... just an authorized user... but they didnt give me any problems at the Apple Store in Miami Beach.

I'd say the earlier you go, the better.
I went in the mid-afternoon and ended up waiting three hours... although, that was 4 days after it was released, haha.
 
Yeah I read a couple people on here went as an authorized user, but the girl that was helping in line made it seem like there was nothing they could do unfortunately so I left. I'm sure I will get one if I go at 7:15, but I just feel bad having my dad wait there with me for so long.
 
rhs7787 said:
Yeah I read a couple people on here went as an authorized user, but the girl that was helping in line made it seem like there was nothing they could do unfortunately so I left. I'm sure I will get one if I go at 7:15, but I just feel bad having my dad wait there with me for so long.
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Just dont tell them you aren't the primary acct holder. Act like you are as long as your name is on the account it will go through. Hell, my middle name is on the account and I used my 1st name and it still worked.
 
sideline3 said:
Just dont tell them you aren't the primary acct holder. Act like you are as long as your name is on the account it will go through. Hell, my middle name is on the account and I used my 1st name and it still worked.
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Yeah I didn't know what to do. I was just going to try again by myself, but I don't want the same thing to happen. Do they not even start talking to people until 8? I was going to say I could go really early, wait in line, then have my dad just meet me there later, but I can see how a lot of people might get frustrated with that because "he" wasn't the one waiting.
 
sideline3 said:
Just dont tell them you aren't the primary acct holder. Act like you are as long as your name is on the account it will go through. Hell, my middle name is on the account and I used my 1st name and it still worked.
Click to expand...

I tried that on Launch day, and when it was my turn they refused to sell me the phone, saying I am not the primary account holder even though I told them i am an authorized user. I spent a total of about 5 hours in line only to find out that I cannot purchase one for this reason. I was extremely pissed.

I tried again next week, and this time I called Apple and talk to the manager. I told them my scenario and they told me i can get the iphone even if i am not primary account holder, as long as I know the last 4 digits of the primary accounts holder SS# i am fine. I then asked him how come this wasn't the case when I attempted to get the iphone on launch day and he told me that there has been a lot of miscommunication about that and that you don't have to be the primary account holder in order to get the phone as long as you have their info, you are fine.

Not everyone was on the same page and it still looks as though apple employees are all on different pages about this primary account holder issue. That is stupid, because some primary account holders could live in a different state. How are they able to show up? Dumb way to sell a phone. They are really making it complicated this time around.

I would call 1st and make sure before you wast another 2+ hours in line like I did.
 
rhs7787 said:
Yeah I didn't know what to do. I was just going to try again by myself, but I don't want the same thing to happen. Do they not even start talking to people until 8? I was going to say I could go really early, wait in line, then have my dad just meet me there later, but I can see how a lot of people might get frustrated with that because "he" wasn't the one waiting.
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Don't worry about that. As long as he's not getting a phone too, they should have no cause to complain. And even if they do, so what?

I would go really early, and when your time frame becomes clear, I'd call your dad. 🙂
 
I would get there early at least by 6 or 6:30 to be the first few people that way once Apple opens at 8 your dad can meet you there and walk in with you without him waiting a few hours, seems most Apple stores still have lines for iphones of 20 people first thing in the morning.
 
rhs7787 said:
Yeah I didn't know what to do. I was just going to try again by myself, but I don't want the same thing to happen. Do they not even start talking to people until 8? I was going to say I could go really early, wait in line, then have my dad just meet me there later, but I can see how a lot of people might get frustrated with that because "he" wasn't the one waiting.
Click to expand...

Hah, yeah actually that's funny because my dad met me over at the Apple store... not because he was getting a phone but just because we were going out to dinner after. Nobody had any problems allowing him in the line.
 
sideline3 said:
Just dont tell them you aren't the primary acct holder. Act like you are as long as your name is on the account it will go through. Hell, my middle name is on the account and I used my 1st name and it still worked.
Click to expand...

I'm just an authorized user and not a primary account holder. I called Apple store 3 times prior to going there. And they told me that it'd be fine as long as I was an authorized user, all three times.

I went there at 7:45am (store opened at 8). I was 15th in line. Got an iPhone with no problem and walked out of the store at around 8:30am

You should call them and ask. There should be no problem. That way your dad doesn't have to wait in line for you. Make sure though that you are actually an authorized user, call ATT to confirm that you can make changes to your ATT account.
 
our at&t plan is in my fiancé's name and i had no problem getting an iphone. my story is perhaps a case for going later- i went right at 8 am when they opened to snag a white iphone, and they told me they had none. i left, heartbroken, and called a different store about an hour away. i told them i was inquiring on their white iphone stock and that my local store was out. they were quite surprised because that store had earlier confirmed that they had white phones in stock. so i went back, around 10:30 am, and got my iphone. they were very apologetic. 😱
 
Thanks for all your guys help. I ended up just going with my dad. Got there around 7:30 and was done by 8:30. Not too bad I guess. They seemed to be really strict about the account holder being the one to sign up for some reason. I really dont understand why if you are an authorized user, but whatever. Enjoying the phone so far. Got the 16gb black for those interested lol. Good luck to everyone else who has yet to get one but plans on it.
 
The deal with most mobile providers and authorized vs. primary users usually comes down to covering their butts. With all of the stipulations around purchasing and setting up an iPhone I'm not too surprised.

In any case, glad you got it all taken care of, congrats!
 
They are just following the telephone laws which impose large penalties
on them IF an account holder complains he didn't want such and such getting a phone on his account and he didn't "authorize " it.

You'd be surprised how many kids use their parents credit cards etc. without their permission. Also a significant amount of identity theft originates from
within ones own families. Sad, but true.
 
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