Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Godzirra

macrumors 6502
"Request an iPhone reservation.
We’re sorry, but due to limited availability, we are not accepting iPhone reservations at this time. Please try again later."

Just got this message while trying to reserve in the UK. My 4th attempt. Is this just the "out of hours message" or is it a change in the process?

Have the same message and been trying for days now. The out of hours one gave the times you could reserve, this is a totally new one, and not nice at all :mad:
 

a.y.n

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2009
350
94
San Francisco
I think it's actually cheaper to buy the phone with a contract and cancel it the same day... It should work out like this:

32GB no subsidy: $749
with subsidy: $299+350(etf)+35(activation)+(80/30)(one day of service)=$686.67

Today I picked up my VZW iPhone, activated the phone with the VZW SIM, then went straight to the VZW store to cancel the account. No problems at all. It's unlocked (tested with ATT and Rogers SIM), and works great. One thing I noticed, I checked the unlock status on dev.mk before turning it on, and it said "LOCKED". But once I activated with VZW SIM, it changed to UNLOCKED immediately.

Good point. I thought about that too but it's far too much work to get my folks to go to 2 stores to do that. Also I might have to be there to cancel so it might not work.

Re: unlock status before and after vzw activation. You have me worried. I guess theoretically those of us who got them device only had the phone activated at one point before it was returned and repurchase. So it should be unlocked. But can anyone confirm? I won't get the phone til next month when my parents come to Asia.
 

i3six5

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2012
31
0
"Request an iPhone reservation.
We’re sorry, but due to limited availability, we are not accepting iPhone reservations at this time. Please try again later."

Just got this message while trying to reserve in the UK. My 4th attempt. Is this just the "out of hours message" or is it a change in the process?

I got the same message. All week I have not been able to reserve because it between 9-5 and work computer browsers are out of date. I wake up this morning and the same message appears! What's gives?
 

Lick

macrumors member
Aug 14, 2012
62
0
Just spoke with my folks who helped us buy the phone device only. They had some serious issues with Verizon and took about 2 hours to activate/return/repurchase. So just a word of warning when you guys try this. Make sure you have plenty of time.

So what did the process entail exactly? Did you have to sign up for a verizon 2 year plan and if so how were u able to get them to let u out of it when u returned the phone to repurchase as device only?
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
I got the same message. All week I have not been able to reserve because it between 9-5 and work computer browsers are out of date. I wake up this morning and the same message appears! What's gives?

I'm beginning to wonder whether their QC issues are worse than first thought. Maybe had to totally withdraw a batch from stock due to the damaged phones appearing in boxes.

If things are bad, then Apple may have decided to withdraw the whole batch rather than risk more damaged phones affecting their reputation. If the stock they do have us being used to fulfil existing orders, then that doesn't leave many for casual purchase.
 

Godzirra

macrumors 6502
I'm beginning to wonder whether their QC issues are worse than first thought. Maybe had to totally withdraw a batch from stock due to the damaged phones appearing in boxes.

If things are bad, then Apple may have decided to withdraw the whole batch rather than risk more damaged phones affecting their reputation. If the stock they do have us being used to fulfil existing orders, then that doesn't leave many for casual purchase.

Good points, better to save face now, than risk even more damaged stock getting into our hands.

Just a little bit frustrating when the local Apple store hasn't a clue and thinks the reservation page is still active :confused:

Spoke to mine this morning and they were surprised that it wasn't working and said to try later.
 

clukas

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
990
401
Sounds like you have the wrong time. ;)

According to the Apple website: Buy online between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.

Not in the UK. UK its 9AM to 5PM, and you are supposed to get an email the same day before 9PM whether you have been successful or not.
 

Lick

macrumors member
Aug 14, 2012
62
0
I think it's actually cheaper to buy the phone with a contract and cancel it the same day... It should work out like this:

32GB no subsidy: $749
with subsidy: $299+350(etf)+35(activation)+(80/30)(one day of service)=$686.67

Today I picked up my VZW iPhone, activated the phone with the VZW SIM, then went straight to the VZW store to cancel the account. No problems at all. It's unlocked (tested with ATT and Rogers SIM), and works great. One thing I noticed, I checked the unlock status on dev.mk before turning it on, and it said "LOCKED". But once I activated with VZW SIM, it changed to UNLOCKED immediately.

Hmm I hadn't reconsidered this after the news came out that verizon version is unlocked...Don't they make you pay for the whole month? I feel like there has to repercussions toward your credit for doing it this way or else why wouldn't everyone do that.
 

ste1164

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2009
732
3
Tried to reserve a white iPhone 5 32GB in the metro centre or eldon square and I have had nothing for ages :(
 

Tom8

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2010
848
71
Tried to reserve a white iPhone 5 32GB in the metro centre or eldon square and I have had nothing for ages :(

I've been trying to reserve a black 16/32GB unlocked from both stores for a week now. I don't see the point in having a reservation facility if you're not going to provide phones. I've only seen 3/4 reports of successful reservations on this forum, and only 1 of them from Newcastle.
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
I've been trying to reserve a black 16/32GB unlocked from both stores for a week now. I don't see the point in having a reservation facility if you're not going to provide phones. I've only seen 3/4 reports of successful reservations on this forum, and only 1 of them from Newcastle.

I suspect that could be a contributory factor to suspending reservations. Presumably stocks in the UK are running very low. Hopefully they'll have another large shipment soon.
 

Tom8

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2010
848
71
I suspect that could be a contributory factor to suspending reservations. Presumably stocks in the UK are running very low. Hopefully they'll have another large shipment soon.

Yeah it says "limited availability"

In my opinion the way Apple are handling these reservations is stupid. Rather than make it seem like all stores could have stock, it'd have been much better for them to have listed stores that have reservation stock available. They could have just greyed out the stores on the drop down list that couldn't take reservations. That way at least people would know whether they stood a chance of getting a phone rather than just allow people to blindly apply and then get frustrated when they don't get a phone.

However them suspending the reservations does give me the faintest modicum hope that they're taking a biggest shipment to the UK and want to give all the stores enough time to update their inventory so the system can reflect that.
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
Yeah it says "limited availability"

In my opinion the way Apple are handling these reservations is stupid. Rather than make it seem like all stores could have stock, it'd have been much better for them to have listed stores that have reservation stock available. They could have just greyed out the stores on the drop down list that couldn't take reservations. That way at least people would know whether they stood a chance of getting a phone rather than just allow people to blindly apply and then get frustrated when they don't get a phone.

However them suspending the reservations does give me the faintest modicum hope that they're taking a biggest shipment to the UK and want to give all the stores enough time to update their inventory so the system can reflect that.

I guess listing stores that had stock would just mean everyone racing there and trying to get walk-in purchases. O2 did do that for the iPhone 4 (bought mine in Washington) but seem not to be doing it this year. I want to leave my options open in any case. It's my birthday next Saturday so was hoping to get myself an early present.
 

i3six5

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2012
31
0
The low stock could possibly mean 2 things:

1 - iPhone 5 launched in 22 more countries yesterday and that could be a possible reason on the availability and stock constraints.

Or

2 - As others have suggested Apple does not want to issue more damaged iPhones. So they have stopped supplying stores, while they resolve the manufacturing problems. Think about if all the new customers buying in 22 countries experienced major scuffing / dents out of the box, then I am sure they would googled it by now and we would have seen a huge surge in posts on the scuffed iPhone thread (just a theory)
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
The low stock could possibly mean 2 things:

1 - iPhone 5 launched in 22 more countries yesterday and that could be a possible reason on the availability and stock constraints.

Or

2 - As others have suggested Apple does not want to issue more damaged iPhones. So they have stopped supplying stores, while they resolve the manufacturing problems. Think about if all the new customers buying in 22 countries experienced major scuffing / dents out of the box, then I am sure they would googled it by now and we would have seen a huge surge in posts on the scuffed iPhone thread (just a theory)

Probably a combination of those reasons. Hopefully the UK will get a new shipment this week.
 

Tom8

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2010
848
71
I guess listing stores that had stock would just mean everyone racing there and trying to get walk-in purchases. O2 did do that for the iPhone 4 (bought mine in Washington) but seem not to be doing it this year. I want to leave my options open in any case. It's my birthday next Saturday so was hoping to get myself an early present.

Yeah that's understandable. Just feels like I'm trying to hit a dartboard in the dark at the minute. Hit & miss, except no hits and 20+ misses at reservations.

I too was hoping to get it resolved by the end of this week because I'm off to Uni on Saturday and my mum wanted to buy the phone on her card to get reward points, rather than me buying it with my debit card. So I don't feel like having to get a train journey home just to pick up a phone. If I can't get it sorted I might just take the hit & wait for a 5S as hopefully by that time the UK will have more 4G available and my iPhone 4 is still holding up well.

My main gripe is with Tesco refusing to release their tariffs until after preorders had slipped to 3-4 weeks. If I'd known they were going to be so poor I'd have just preordered sim free the day preorders went available.
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
Yeah that's understandable. Just feels like I'm trying to hit a dartboard in the dark at the minute. Hit & miss, except no hits and 20+ misses at reservations.

I too was hoping to get it resolved by the end of this week because I'm off to Uni on Saturday and my mum wanted to buy the phone on her card to get reward points, rather than me buying it with my debit card. So I don't feel like having to get a train journey home just to pick up a phone. If I can't get it sorted I might just take the hit & wait for a 5S as hopefully by that time the UK will have more 4G available and my iPhone 4 is still holding up well.

My main gripe is with Tesco refusing to release their tariffs until after preorders had slipped to 3-4 weeks. If I'd known they were going to be so poor I'd have just preordered sim free the day preorders went available.

I'm starting to think along similar lines as iOS 6 didn't brick the 4 like iOS 4 did the 3G.
 

clukas

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
990
401
The low stock could possibly mean 2 things:

2 - As others have suggested Apple does not want to issue more damaged iPhones. So they have stopped supplying stores, while they resolve the manufacturing problems. Think about if all the new customers buying in 22 countries experienced major scuffing / dents out of the box, then I am sure they would googled it by now and we would have seen a huge surge in posts on the scuffed iPhone thread (just a theory)

I so hope this is true. I decided to go with the white one due to the bezel issues on the black, but theres nothing worse than a damaged item out of the box.
 
Last edited:

bandofbrothers

macrumors 601
Oct 14, 2007
4,779
328
Uk
"Request an iPhone reservation.
We’re sorry, but due to limited availability, we are not accepting iPhone reservations at this time. Please try again later."

Just got this message while trying to reserve in the UK. My 4th attempt. Is this just the "out of hours message" or is it a change in the process?

I was just about to post the same thing.

I've tried 4 days in a row now without success.

Probably more that the apple shops don't get re stocking deliveries on a Saturday and Sunday.
 

clukas

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
990
401
I was just about to post the same thing.

I've tried 4 days in a row now without success.

Probably more that the apple shops don't get re stocking deliveries on a Saturday and Sunday.

Last time I was at the apple store, around Tuesday they said they get daily deliveries. But they are keeping some of them back for contract only purchases, making it more difficult for you to purchase sim-free. When I went they had them in stock, just not sim-free.
 

colleyvillesoon

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2008
41
0
Ordered a white 32gb whitet at 10:00 in Southlake, TX got the processed email right away and the "We're ready for you" email at 6:42 am today.
 

bandofbrothers

macrumors 601
Oct 14, 2007
4,779
328
Uk
Last time I was at the apple store, around Tuesday they said they get daily deliveries. But they are keeping some of them back for contract only purchases, making it more difficult for you to purchase sim-free. When I went they had them in stock, just not sim-free.

Don't understand why they would do that unless they get a kick back from the networks !

I visited my Local 02 shop who have the white 64 gb in but for contracts and upgrades only.

My local CPW have the 16gb black, 32 gb white and both colours in 64gb but all for contracts only. I prefer not to be locked into long contracts and to be honest I'd rather buy direct from apple. If you run into trouble with your handset the network high street shops run for cover citing "we'll have to send it off". At least the Apple store will open a minimum of two units to resolve most issues !
 

nyfliiboy

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
234
115
So last night while i was out i decided to check if any where available in nyc. At 10:30 there were 3 stores that had 32gb iPhone 5's. So i placed my order at the 5th ave store and within two hours had my confirmations and brand new iPhone. Coming from a 4 its the best thing ever.
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
Last time I was at the apple store, around Tuesday they said they get daily deliveries. But they are keeping some of them back for contract only purchases, making it more difficult for you to purchase sim-free. When I went they had them in stock, just not sim-free.

I suspected that might be the case but clearly in the UK now, they're not even doing that since you can't reserve contract or sim-free.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.