Apple Halts In-Store Pickup Option for iPhone 5s Orders in Online Store

MacRumors · Sep 24, 2013

Yesterday, Apple began offering in-store pickup for online orders of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, giving users the ability to check availability at their local Apple retail stores and place orders for immediate pickup at the stores.

But just 24 hours later, Apple has already removed the in-store pickup option for iPhone 5s orders, leaving shoppers with the options of placing online orders for delivery in October or visiting their local retail stores on their own to check on availability. In-store pickup of online orders remains available for iPhone 5c models.

The reason for the quick backtracking on the iPhone 5s in-store pickup option is unknown, although the company continues to experience very tight supplies, particularly of silver and gold models. With some Apple retail stores still experiencing daily lines of customers hoping to purchase from new iPhone 5s shipments arriving at the stores and even having to turn away customers, the company may simply have found that availability of in-store pickup is not yet broad enough to warrant offering the service for the iPhone 5s.

(Thanks, José!)

Article Link: Apple Halts In-Store Pickup Option for iPhone 5s Orders in Online Store

rwilliams · Sep 24, 2013

I went to the Apple Store to buy an iPad for work, and there were people lined up for the 5s. The employees told those in line that there were no AT&T or Verizon models at all (though some may arrive later in the day), no silver, no gold, and very limited numbers of the space gray for Sprint and T-Mobile. That line emptied out fast.

mightyneek · Sep 24, 2013

Well this is disappointing. It was very handy. Hope it comes back soon.

Minkintosh · Sep 24, 2013

I wonder if this is at all related to my in-store pickup experience yesterday.

Now that Apple has the trade-in program for new iPhone purchases it gets tricky when you want to do this with an online order with in-store pickup. I ordered mine online, with the intention of trading in my iPhone 4, and apparently there is no way to do the trade it in if you have already ordered the phone and have the trade in value go towards the purchase of the new iPhone.

Yes, they could have returned the phone in-store and re-purchase the phone on the spot, but if you are upgrading because you are eligible to upgrade, when you return the phone you may not immediately be eligible for an upgrade at that time. There was some 24 to 48 wait period for the AT&T system to reset my eligibility after the return.

At the very least, Apple needs to add a checkbox or something when you are ordering online and picking up in-store and you want to trade your phone in.

Overall, the experience took over an hour to pickup the phone that I had already ordered online.

ffmed124 · Sep 24, 2013

Apple really dropped the ball on this one horribly. I realize that many new iPhone 5S have been sold and it is hard to come up with a suitable number but knowing that this phone will be sold for sometime they should have stocked and or ordered a lot more then what they did. This is truly unacceptable! It would have been better to hold off until they knew they had an adequate supply to sell to their customers.

spazzcat · Sep 24, 2013

ffmed124 said:
Apple really dropped the ball on this one horribly. I realize that many new iPhone 5S have been sold and it is hard to come up with a suitable number but knowing that this phone will be sold for sometime they should have stocked and or ordered a lot more then what they did. This is truly unacceptable! It would have been better to hold off until they knew they had an adequate supply to sell to their customers.

They can only build so many of them each day.

rwilliams · Sep 24, 2013

I really think Apple was expecting to sell a lot more of the 5c model, and has been completely caught off guard with the demand for the 5s.

ffmed124 · Sep 24, 2013

spazzcat said:
They can only build so many of them each day.

Like I said, then they should have waited on the release date, there really is no excuse.

Trik · Sep 24, 2013

I would think that people ordering online could potentially reserve the last phone that a person in store was in the process of purchasing themselves. With the supplies so constrained, there is too much latency between when you purchase online / in store and their inventory system reduces the quantity by 1.

aapplephone · Sep 24, 2013

ffmed124 said:
Like I said, then they should have waited on the release date, there really is no excuse.

Apple wanted to sell good number of phones in current quarter which is ending on 9/30

raw911 · Sep 24, 2013

I'm glad I didn't cancel my order. Hell if had to go to Santa Barbara CA To get a gold 64gb AT&T.
Yea RIGHT.

bassfingers · Sep 24, 2013

Trik said:
I would think that people ordering online could potentially reserve the last phone that a person in store was in the process of purchasing themselves. With the supplies so constrained, there is too much latency between when you purchase online / in store and their inventory system reduces the quantity by 1.

The inventory available for personal pickup is handled differently than inventory available for sale in store. It is possible for a computer to be "sold out" inside the store with one sitting in the back waiting to be ordered online. Similarly, it is possible for the online system to list a product as unavailable, even though there might be several in the back of the store available to walk in customers

AWTTech · Sep 24, 2013

rwilliams said:
I really think Apple was expecting to sell a lot more of the 5c model, and has been completely caught off guard with the demand for the 5s.

I agree. They were expecting the cheaper model to sell more, which almost every company does.

----------

aapplephone said:
Apple wanted to sell good number of phones in current quarter which is ending on 9/30

I never thought about adding in the quarter. I was also wondering why they didn't wait. Trying to get the analysts to think Apple isn't falling into the gutters.

Rocketman · Sep 24, 2013

Current shipping estimates are October. If Apple is selling so many they have an overwhelmed fulfillment cycle, then perhaps they should take long term reservations worldwide. And double production.

What if Apple made a Mac-Pro 2014 like Mac Mini or Mac Midi? The Pro is already micro at 6.6 x 9.9".

AWTTech · Sep 24, 2013

aapplephone said:
Apple wanted to sell good number of phones in current quarter which is ending on 9/30

I never thought about adding in the quarter. I was also wondering why they didn't wait. Trying to get the analysts to think Apple isn't falling into the gutters.

dlondon · Sep 24, 2013

I think they should switch to reservations/pay and collect only. Save people travelling to stores when there is no stock for them. The Apple website currently directs people to stores yet several stores in the UK have not received any stock since selling out on Friday.

Fair enough the stock is limited but be honest about it rather than allowing people to pay to travel to stores which have no stock. Even when you call, there are at least 8 callers ahead of you and if the store did say that there was stock, you're an hour away and they're likely to be sold out.

Bring back reservations like previous years please.

skier777 · Sep 24, 2013

ffmed124 said:
Like I said, then they should have waited on the release date, there really is no excuse.

What difference does it make, either everybody has to wait, or some people have to wait.

Also the retail stores can only sell so many in a day, releasing a supply that would totally fill the demand would cause utter chaos...

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Rocketman said:
And double production.

And be stuck making twice as many phones as they can sell come December.

raw911 · Sep 24, 2013

Had I'd know apple was gonna pull that in store pickup crap I'd not orderd at 3:01am est.

everything-i · Sep 24, 2013

ffmed124 said:
Apple really dropped the ball on this one horribly. I realize that many new iPhone 5S have been sold and it is hard to come up with a suitable number but knowing that this phone will be sold for sometime they should have stocked and or ordered a lot more then what they did. This is truly unacceptable! It would have been better to hold off until they knew they had an adequate supply to sell to their customers.

In the early stages of a release there are always going to be shortages of popular products. Even if Apple can get 200,000 phones a day made which is a lot, there would still be huge shortages world wide. I am constantly amazed how well these things sell and as the number of territories they launch in simultaneously increases the problem gets worse.

ValSalva · Sep 24, 2013

everything-i said:
In the early stages of a release there are always going to be shortages of popular products. Even if Apple can get 200,000 phones a day made which is a lot, there would still be huge shortages world wide. I am constantly amazed how well these things sell and as the number of territories they launch in simultaneously increases the problem gets worse.

It is amazing how many iPhones are selling. I thought the market would plateau a bit more than it has.

The demand for the 5s must really have surprised Apple given the release of the 5c which they must have thought would divert some of the demand for the 5s.

And the simultaneous China release is making things worse. Maybe by the end of next month supplies will be significantly less constrained.

J4B3 · Sep 24, 2013

FWIW, I checked out the Apple Store this morning and, of course, there was still a long line of people waiting outside for iPhones. I can't help but wonder if Apple will give these "dedicated" people priority over those who simply walk to the front of the line and walk out with an iPhone.

trevorplease · Sep 24, 2013

Disappointing, instead of taking 5 seconds to check periodically if they have models available. Now I have to spend 5 minutes and pester their in-store call centers for three different stores when I want to see if they've become available.

iPrabhu · Sep 24, 2013

Minkintosh said:
I wonder if this is at all related to my in-store pickup experience yesterday.

Now that Apple has the trade-in program for new iPhone purchases it gets tricky when you want to do this with an online order with in-store pickup. I ordered mine online, with the intention of trading in my iPhone 4, and apparently there is no way to do the trade it in if you have already ordered the phone and have the trade in value go towards the purchase of the new iPhone.

Yes, they could have returned the phone in-store and re-purchase the phone on the spot, but if you are upgrading because you are eligible to upgrade, when you return the phone you may not immediately be eligible for an upgrade at that time. There was some 24 to 48 wait period for the AT&T system to reset my eligibility after the return.

At the very least, Apple needs to add a checkbox or something when you are ordering online and picking up in-store and you want to trade your phone in.

Overall, the experience took over an hour to pickup the phone that I had already ordered online.

Were you able to trade-in your old phone or you just picked the one you ordered?

dlondon · Sep 24, 2013

J4B3 said:
FWIW, I checked out the Apple Store this morning and, of course, there was still a long line of people waiting outside for iPhones. I can't help but wonder if Apple will give these "dedicated" people priority over those who simply walk to the front of the line and walk out with an iPhone.

I'm beginning to think Apple does give a...... about their customers. Their arrogance is that they'll always be someone else to purchase the item.

D3TSURA · Sep 24, 2013

J4B3 said:
FWIW, I checked out the Apple Store this morning and, of course, there was still a long line of people waiting outside for iPhones. I can't help but wonder if Apple will give these "dedicated" people priority over those who simply walk to the front of the line and walk out with an iPhone.

Don't think they could do that unless they canceled your pickup order.

I just got back a little bit ago with my iPhone 5s that I ordered for pickup last yesterday. Walked right past everyone in line and was out the door in 5 minutes.

Apple Halts In-Store Pickup Option for iPhone 5s Orders in Online Store

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