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Apple REFUSED to sell me an iPhone

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nikhsub1 said:
You guys are completely uninformed. This IS an Apple issue, I dealt with it myself. The problem is, Apple will NOT allow you to reserve a phone for in store pickup with the NEXT plan. It has NOTHING to do with AT&T, it's Apple. The workaround is as follows:

  1. Preorder the phone you want under a 2 year contract on a line that has it available but not the line you actually intend to use it on. If this is not an option, choose to add a line with a 2 year contract.
  2. Go to the Apple store when they say your phone is ready for pickup.
  3. Tell them you changed your mind and you want to buy it under next UNDER YOUR NUMBER.
  4. They will cancel the web order, create a new NEXT order and you will be on your way.
  5. For those Apple fanbois that say it is the OP's fault or AT&T's fault just stop posting since you are clueless. An Apple rep explained to me to do the above steps as a workaround.
  6. Enjoy your new iPhone.
Click to expand...

I'll give this one last try! I can't believe this will work. I feel I will get to the store, and have them deny me on the basis I cheated the system. But then again, I was given wrong information by them and wasted my time going after a product they wouldn't sell me. I Will keep the thread posted. If it doesn't work, Nexus 6 it is.

Thank you. Probably the only sensible response out of this thread.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
andrewlgm said:
Apple REFUSED TO SELL ME AN IPHONE 6 PLUS THAT THEY HAD IN STOCK.

I enjoy Apple and their tech. But what I really hate is the buying and shopping experience for an apple device. It is an absolute nightmare. Trying and attempting to shop for an iPhone 6 Plus for the past three weeks has been the most distressing shopping experience I have ever had. So much so, that I have given up for good.

1. First I paid ATT $200 to become eligible early for a NEXT upgrade. I placed an order for an iPhone 6 Plus that soon got an estimate of over 45 days. I cancelled the order, found two ATT stores that showed availability, called those stores multiple times to confirm availability and got NO ANSWER from them. Get there only to find out, their system shows availability for phones that have been ordered for someone else. How does that make any sense?

2. I check apple's 5th avenue store. A few days after constantly checking apple's stocks in NYC, I see they finally have them in. I go online to order and pick up in store, only to be informed ATT NEXT CANNOT BE DONE ONLINE. So I call the store's phone number to order via the phone and a representative (somewhere else in the US) tells me to go to the store since I can't do NEXT via the phone either. I travel 1 hour to Apple's NYC 5th ave store hoping they'll still have the phone in stock when I get there only to find out they're only selling to people who have pre-ordered online before coming in. I explain to two different blue shirts what I was told to do by an apple representative, and their only solution? Order online or COME IN AT 5AM NEXT DAY. WE CANNOT SELL IPHONES TODAY TO WALK INS. I ask both of them if they have the phone in stock, they say YES, but will not sell it to me.

I was looking forward to returning to iPhone after 2 years on android. I'm a long time Mac user, and wanted to complement my professional life with both an iPad Air 2 and an iPhone for easy document synchronization. But this experience has just ruined it for me. I just pre-ordered the Nexus 9, and will be pre-ordering the Nexus 6 at the end of the month. I'll continue to miss the iTunes store the most, but I can make it by without it.

These products cost a lot of money for customers to be treated this way.
Click to expand...



Never ever ever preorder from the carrier man. I preordered my 6 around 6pm on the 12th of Sept directly from Apple and yes I'm on the Next Plan. Phone was delivered on the 19th...day of release.
 
nikhsub1 said:
The problem is, Apple will NOT allow you to reserve a phone for in store pickup with the NEXT plan. It has NOTHING to do with AT&T, it's Apple.
Click to expand...

How exactly do you know for a fact that this policy is Apple's policy and not a restriction placed on Apple by AT&T?

The buy-on-contract/pickup/return/rebuy-on-next workaround has been posted here on MR several times as well as even in this thread previously. I confirmed it with an in-store employee yesterday, they do it all the time. A quick web search by the OP when finding out the order wouldn't go through would have revealed it, and the store employee would hopefully have explained it to anyone who asked nicely how to achieve the goal. Maybe they didn't know, or the encounter was brief or contentious, or some other reason why the OP didn't learn of the process while in the store. Would have been dead simple to order-on-contract for in-store pickup from a store computer and save the drive home.

The only issue with the workaround comes where you do something silly like putting in a fraudulent SSN since the contract purchase has to go through before it can then be cancelled.

----------
buellreaucracy said:
Is that a stroller? So this lady procreated? Wonderful.
Click to expand...

When I first saw that clip way back when I noticed the stroller... Always wondered if she had to resort to artificial insemination... :p
 
There are some posts where a simple "LOL" would be the best and most concise answer. This is one of those posts. Come at me, mods.
 
bpeeps said:
There are some posts where a simple "LOL" would be the best and most concise answer. This is one of those posts. Come at me, mods.
Click to expand...

Do you really think apple giving wrong information to prospective buyers highly interested in buying their products is funny? I think your comment is insignificant.
 
Whiners never win.

If you wanted the phone that bad, preorder it. It was very clear when the preorder started there wasn't going to be an unlimited supply. Then complain about how apple sucks because your phone carrier sucks. I guess I wanna know what you expect. Everybody will not bend over backwards for you and you have to do your own due diligence.

Should've ordered it and waited like everybody else who was just a little late to the party
 
andrewlgm said:
I'll give this one last try! I can't believe this will work.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, as I mention above I confirmed this process with an in-store employee yesterday while I was there looking at the sizes/colors. When the right config shows up as available and I've decided I will in fact upgrade I'll then know for sure.


Probably the only sensible response out of this thread.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I believe GoCubsGo and perhaps one other poster mentioned this previously in the thread. You did sort of set the tone as an anti-Apple bash rather than a please-help-me though, so the responses aren't surprising.
 
andrewlgm said:
Do you really think apple giving wrong information to prospective buyers highly interested in buying their products is funny? I think your comment is insignificant.
Click to expand...

You complaining is insignificant. Pot is calling the kettle black here.
 
Bigj1288 said:
Whiners never win.

If you wanted the phone that bad, preorder it. It was very clear when the preorder started there wasn't going to be an unlimited supply. Then complain about how apple sucks because your phone carrier sucks. I guess I wanna know what you expect. Everybody will not bend over backwards for you and you have to do your own due diligence.

Should've ordered it and waited like everybody else who was just a little late to the party
Click to expand...

Reading comprehension... People on NEXT in NY could NOT pre order online on the Apple site.
 
This is not an AT&T issue. This is an Apple issue. I have gone in multiple times and been told they won't sell a phone directly to me unless I reserved or was there for opening. It has frustrated me to no end, but it seems to be the worst early in the phone's life, like the first three months until inventory catches up. This has happened to me at multiple stores.
 
Gryfter said:
Reading comprehension... People on NEXT in NY could NOT pre order online on the Apple site.
Click to expand...
So then, pre-order on the AT&T website, which is what he did to begin with. Wait the time that it said, because I know people that got November ship dates and got their phones the first week of October.
Just have patience. If you can't, then you kind of deserve to not get the phone you want when you want it. Nowhere does it state that Apple will have a phone for everyone that wants it, especially with the demand being so high this time.
For the OP, once again, sorry the Apple employees gave you bad information, but you have to take some blame yourself. You changed your mind and caused the situation you are in now.
 
This thread really should have been over after the "enjoy your Nexus" comment. The OP is mad at an Apple Store policy so is going to choose to wait and buy an inferior phone rather than wait for the phone he clearly wants. Cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 
temna said:
This is not an AT&T issue. This is an Apple issue. I have gone in multiple times and been told they won't sell a phone directly to me unless I reserved or was there for opening.
Click to expand...


As Doctor Egon Spengler said, "Don't cross the streams"...

The AT&T implication is about Next financing for online orders for in-store pickup. You can order Next online for delivery. You can buy in-store with Next. Just can't order online with personal pickup.

I don't think anyone was blaming AT&T for Apple disallowing walkup purchases of stock being held for next-day walkup sales or being held for online purchase / instore pickup sales. That's clearly on Apple.
 
mercuryjones said:
So then, pre-order on the AT&T website, which is what he did to begin with. Wait the time that it said, because I know people that got November ship dates and got their phones the first week of October.
Just have patience. If you can't, then you kind of deserve to not get the phone you want when you want it. Nowhere does it state that Apple will have a phone for everyone that wants it, especially with the demand being so high this time.
For the OP, once again, sorry the Apple employees gave you bad information, but you have to take some blame yourself. You changed your mind and caused the situation you are in now.
Click to expand...

Point was if there's stock available in store, why wait for the pre order through AT&T?

Plus there's plenty of people who pre ordered with AT&T within days of the pre order launch and still haven't gotten their phones... It's a nightmare pre ordering through AT&T...
 
Gryfter said:
Reading comprehension... People on NEXT in NY could NOT pre order online on the Apple site.
Click to expand...

Here is a clue; maybe I didn't mean pre order online. Maybe, by some strange miracle, there was an ANNOUNCED date you could travel to the apple store and pre order in PERSON. I have heard that worked for a few people. If you are fully dependent on online ordering then this would be an issue. However, most people have these things called legs and they can move themselves to the store with them and place your order like that. face to face with a human where they can tell you for FACT if they have the phone instead of reading it on a website.
 
Gryfter said:
Point was if there's stock available in store, why wait for the pre order through AT&T?

Plus there's plenty of people who pre ordered with AT&T within days of the pre order launch and still haven't gotten their phones... It's a nightmare pre ordering through AT&T...
Click to expand...
Because, stock in store is really hit or miss. You have to get there early enough to be sure to get in the reservation line, or you are SOL.
It's going to be this way for a little bit, until the demand drops off or the supply picks up. Could be tomorrow. Could be November. Is OP willing to chance it? Doesn't seem like it. He wants to walk in and just have his pick of iPhones for his carrier (AT&T iPhones seem to the be rarest of them all at this point)
 
nikhsub1 said:
I was told by more than one apple employee that this was the case.
Click to expand...

Interesting. What did they claim was the logic behind enacting that policy? I don't see where there's a benefit to Apple from the policy while the benefit to AT&T seems pretty clear.
 
Bigj1288 said:
Here is a clue; maybe I didn't mean pre order online. Maybe, by some strange miracle, there was an ANNOUNCED date you could travel to the apple store and pre order in PERSON. I have heard that worked for a few people. If you are fully dependent on online ordering then this would be an issue. However, most people have these things called legs and they can move themselves to the store with them and place your order like that. face to face with a human where they can tell you for FACT if they have the phone instead of reading it on a website.
Click to expand...

Right, so walk to an Apple Store at 12am PDT or 3am EDT, back on Sept 12th... From what I know, there's only 1 Apple Store that's open 24 hrs... Is that what you meant? When pre orders started, you could ONLY PRE ORDER ONLINE...

Point is Apple made it difficult for people on NEXT to pre order for in store pick up and it shouldn't be that way... People who pre order with 2 year contracts can do it online just fine and with the way AT&T been pushing NEXT, it shouldn't be that way...

The system is lousy, not the people with NEXT who want their phones...
 
Gryfter said:
Right, so walk to an Apple Store at 12am PDT or 3am EDT, back on Sept 12th... From what I know, there's only 1 Apple Store that's open 24 hrs... Is that what you meant? When pre orders started, you could ONLY PRE ORDER ONLINE...

Point is Apple made it difficult for people on NEXT to pre order for in store pick up and it shouldn't be that way... People who pre order with 2 year contracts can do it online just fine and with the way AT&T been pushing NEXT, it shouldn't be that way...

The system is lousy, not the people with NEXT who want their phones...
Click to expand...
The fact that it was impossible or difficult to pre-order if you're a Next customer doesn't mean that it is an AT&T issue? AT&T is the one who drove that train, no doubt. Considering the program, if you want on it then you should order from AT&T. I considered it, even with cash in hand, but I opted to stick with my current carrier.
 
andrewlgm said:
Apple REFUSED TO SELL ME AN IPHONE 6 PLUS THAT THEY HAD IN STOCK.

I enjoy Apple and their tech. But what I really hate is the buying and shopping experience for an apple device. It is an absolute nightmare. Trying and attempting to shop for an iPhone 6 Plus for the past three weeks has been the most distressing shopping experience I have ever had. So much so, that I have given up for good.

1. First I paid ATT $200 to become eligible early for a NEXT upgrade. I placed an order for an iPhone 6 Plus that soon got an estimate of over 45 days. I cancelled the order, found two ATT stores that showed availability, called those stores multiple times to confirm availability and got NO ANSWER from them. Get there only to find out, their system shows availability for phones that have been ordered for someone else. How does that make any sense?

2. I check apple's 5th avenue store. A few days after constantly checking apple's stocks in NYC, I see they finally have them in. I go online to order and pick up in store, only to be informed ATT NEXT CANNOT BE DONE ONLINE. So I call the store's phone number to order via the phone and a representative (somewhere else in the US) tells me to go to the store since I can't do NEXT via the phone either. I travel 1 hour to Apple's NYC 5th ave store hoping they'll still have the phone in stock when I get there only to find out they're only selling to people who have pre-ordered online before coming in. I explain to two different blue shirts what I was told to do by an apple representative, and their only solution? Order online or COME IN AT 5AM NEXT DAY. WE CANNOT SELL IPHONES TODAY TO WALK INS. I ask both of them if they have the phone in stock, they say YES, but will not sell it to me.

I was looking forward to returning to iPhone after 2 years on android. I'm a long time Mac user, and wanted to complement my professional life with both an iPad Air 2 and an iPhone for easy document synchronization. But this experience has just ruined it for me. I just pre-ordered the Nexus 9, and will be pre-ordering the Nexus 6 at the end of the month. I'll continue to miss the iTunes store the most, but I can make it by without it.

These products cost a lot of money for customers to be treated this way.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that Apple is really gutted that they've lost you as a customer. Have fun with your Android.
 
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