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Whats it like at carrier stores on launch days?
- Thread starter BFW122083
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They typically have very, very limited stock as compared to Apple stores. People line up early, and they sell out rather quickly.
I know someone who went to a carrier store for the iPhone 4 launch, and they only had enough iPhones for around 18 people. She wanted a 16GB, but ended up getting a 32GB because it's all they had left, and after waiting for 3-4 hours, she didn't want to leave empty handed.
If you have an Apple store near you, I would go to an Apple. They have oodles more stock than the carrier stores, and yes, carrier stores, Best Buy, Walmart etc only get a handful of iPhones, leaving the people at the tail end of the lines disappointed. The worst part of all, by the time you find out they ran out at the carrier store, you head to an Apple, only to find out you're too late there too, because you wasted time in line at the carrier store.
I have an Apple store, Best Buy, Att, you name it, 20 minutes from me. I live north of Atlanta now and have never been here during a launch. When I lived in PA I was first in line for the i4 launch at the Apple store in Lancaster, even got on the news lol. I have a pre order at Best Buy, but am thinking about heading out incase that falls through. Cant leave the house until around 7 in the morning now though so I dont know if that will cut it at the Apple store here...
I also live in Atlanta and from prior experience that may not cut it. But you have 4 stores to choose from: Lenox, Perimeter, Alpharetta, Mall of Georgia...
Lenox will probably get the largest amount of stock but also the highest amount of traffic. I would probably personally hit the Alpharetta location.
My local AT&T wouldn't even let you in the door on release day unless you were picking up a reserved phone.
No walk-in iPhone sales at all.
No walk-in iPhone sales at all.
I live in Roswell, so Alpharetta is my store
The Best Buy I pre ordered from is right across the street from the mall too. I was thinking Ill try the Apple store and have Best Buy as my back up.
i have only been to the apple stores on launch day and from my experience the iPhone 4 by far was the biggest in store launch ever! there were so many people around the store the police had to come.
i think the 4s launch and iPad 3 launch was a little better executed and think maybe the 5 launch will be the same way to an extent. more customers are pre ordering on line these days
i think the 4s launch and iPad 3 launch was a little better executed and think maybe the 5 launch will be the same way to an extent. more customers are pre ordering on line these days
I live in Roswell, so Alpharetta is my store
I think you have a good valid plan! I live in the Atlanta area as well and have noticed that Apple stores seem to have greater stock on release days. I say go for it & good luck!
Depends the Apple store near me gets a huge amount of people since its in the middle of 3 major areas, even on a normal day it's so packed that it's hard to walk in, 4S release was insane ( or so I heard ) so my dad went to a Verizon store not far from it and there where only 14 people in line there 20 minutes to opening time.
Its so hard to judge what to do on forums because we are from so many different places. It would be cool if we could have threads for each state where people could share their experiences at different locations in the past. I know there is the launch meetup section, but that place is dead lol.
Do you know why it is dead? Because there are so many people from so many different places lol. So you get threads with only 1 or 2 other people on this forum using the same store as you.
I think that would be a good idea! It would take a lot of different threads, but would help a lot of people out.
I think the launch meetup threads are dead because not everyone wants to meet up, instead it would be nice to talk about where to go, etc...
Last year, I was in and out of my local Verizon store within 10 minutes. I got there around 6am and was like 4th or 5th in line. I found it to be very painless. I plan on doing the same thing this year.
Where was this Verizon store? Because most of the time I find that Verizon stores have long lines equally as much as Apple stores, just based on the stock to people in line ratio.
I don't know if Target did pre-orders. I work for Target and trust me I am glad I am on medical leave so I can avoid launch day there like the plague
I'm hoping if mine comes on the 21st, I can go to the stores in the afternoon and look for some temporary cases, hopefully the crowds will be gone by then. I hate things like black friday so waiting in line is not for me. i saw on the news this morning people were starting to camp out outside the Apple flagship store.
I live in Roswell, so Alpharetta is my store
North point was my stomping grounds back in the day!
Do not depend on best buy for your pre orders! I work at the Miami Beach store in Florida (which is the store with the biggest traffic in it's district) and we're only getting about 30 or so phones. Yesterday we got around 120+ preorders for the FIRST day.
A ton of people are going to be disappointed.
A ton of people are going to be disappointed.