Apple Watch In-Store Reservations Available Beginning April 10

[macuserpl]

I've just had another chat with Apple Online, and i was told the best thing to do is check back on the 10th at 8:01 as more info will be revealed (see below screen shot of conversation)

EDIT For some reason i can't add the image, not sure how to do it from a screenshot

Upload it somewhere like imgur.com and insert into post.

 

[freediverx]

Just make a button next to the product's favorite ("heart") button that says, "yes, I like this product enough for you to automatically charge my credit card and preorder or ship it to me as soon as it's available." No more waiting up until 3AM EDT, or queuing up on line the night before at the local Apple Store. Automate the process and give us an preorder confirmation email we can wake up to.

You're missing the point.

The Apple Watch, like a new iPhone model, will have limited stock available on launch day. Not everyone who wants one will get one right away. That leads to the question, "Who gets them first?" The answer to that, of course, is "Whoever ordered them first." And that leads to the question of "How soon can I order one?"

With your suggested method, instead of a lot of people rushing like mad to order at 3AM on April 10, a lot MORE people would be doing exactly the same thing the moment Apple announced it was possible. Apple's servers would get crushed and the site would go down. It would be a huge mess and everyone would be pissed.

With he 3AM launch, Apple is reducing the initial load on their servers because a lot of people will not be willing or able to get up in the wee hours of the morning to place an order. However, their most fervent customers who want the Watch badly enough to order at such an inconvenient time will be rewarded by being the first to receive the watch, while those who waited even a few hours will likely find the product backordered for weeks.

 

[Dave245]

Upload it somewhere like imgur.com and insert into post.

Thank you, uploaded to imgur.com and inserted the link into the post.

 

[LukeBo]

Chat with Apple

I had a chat too on the UK Store. No relevant news. Read below.

-----
>Hi there. You're through to Tom. I would be glad to go through this with you today. So at the moment we would not have any information on that. As it stands you would be able to simply pre-order for delivery, or wait in line on the 24th in store. However keep an eye out on our website closer to the date. How does that sound?

>Yep. That's what I understood from the site. I saw that pickup will be available at your new Watch temporary store (Selfridges) but there's no mention of pickup availability in the stores, which is kind of strange

>Purchase and pickup will definitely be possible at all stores on the 24th. However pre-order/reserve and pickup remains to be seen. No worries I wish you all the best with your new Apple Watch! Have you already decided which one to go for?
------

 

[Totalkharnage]

I had a chat too on the UK Store. No relevant news. Read below.

-----
>Hi there. You're through to Tom. I would be glad to go through this with you today. So at the moment we would not have any information on that. As it stands you would be able to simply pre-order for delivery, or wait in line on the 24th in store. However keep an eye out on our website closer to the date. How does that sound?

>Yep. That's what I understood from the site. I saw that pickup will be available at your new Watch temporary store (Selfridges) but there's no mention of pickup availability in the stores, which is kind of strange

>Purchase and pickup will definitely be possible at all stores on the 24th. However pre-order/reserve and pickup remains to be seen. No worries I wish you all the best with your new Apple Watch! Have you already decided which one to go for?
------

I got the same generic reply but then pushed them based on what the Selfridges Apple watch store page said. The lady then went away to check and came back to say it would be reservable at all their stores (see image on previous post on previous page )

 

[Dave245]

I got the same generic reply but then pushed them based on what the Selfridges Apple watch store page said. The lady then went away to check and came back to say it would be reservable at all their stores (see image on previous post on previous page )

this would be good news if it means i can reserve on the 10th and pick up in store on the 24th 🙂 that would be my plan, failing that pre-order online on the 10th.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

and? That's part of the experience for some. My fed ex delivery isn't tyipcally until 1200 on apple D-day and I'll surely be in and out by then.

Cuz there is a difference between camping in line without a preorder vs. with one. With the latter you are seriously better off just getting delivery.

 

[Drag'nGT]

The upcoming AppleWatch in-store excitement and added foot traffic is going to overshadow the arrival of that other little marvel, that smaller, thinner, lighter, little dream machine that's perfect for ordinary day-to-day computing needs, that anticipated little rMB.

Does anyone else also have trouble deciding what color to go for…..?

And here I thought this move was just to pull traffic and discussion away from Samsung's S6 launch.

 

[JCT1212]

UK customers! Go to http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/selfridges/ , scroll down and you'll see an indication showing that reservations will commence on April 24th!
Image

This isn't on the Canadian site 🙁

 

[macuserpl]

I really can't understand why Apple is trying to confuse people. They do everything to misinfom their international customers. First they make an update to their US store "How to purchase Apple Watch" with reservation listed as one of the options. Then, they put some more hints on one of the UK retail store pages. Apple Support in UK gives diffrent answers then the German one. One Apple Specialist state with confidence that "reservation is not an option", while 5 minutes later other says that it will be an option. My question is why would Apple do it? Just to make more hype?

 

[CrazyForApple]

I'm lucky enough to live a couple miles from an Apple Store so I will be picking it up there.

 

[ForumSpy]

Good to know. I'll instruct my mother to swing by the local store to pick up my reserved watch edition after she finishes dropping off my dry cleaning, and hand washing my Ferrari.

Plebs.

/s

 

[Dave245]

Good to know. I'll instruct my mother to swing by the local store to pick up my reserved watch edition after she finishes dropping off my dry cleaning, and hand washing my Ferrari.

Plebs.

/s

I don't understand the need for this sarcasm and sneering at a product, if you don't like it don't buy it it's that simple.

 

[ForumSpy]

I don't understand the need for this sarcasm and sneering at a product, if you don't like it don't buy it it's that simple.

*sigh* You'll be standing in line with the other casuals pining over the watch sport.

/s

 

[Lushchicken]

I'm in the same boat as the other international forum members in this thread. Swiss and wondering, whether I will be able to make a reservation for the 24th (when I'll be in London anyway). I do have have the Apple Store app and even a UK account if need be. I can not, however, provide a UK credit card.

I was planning to wait for a Swiss launch (site says '2015', very vague). BUT some Swiss tabloid has just revealed that a Swiss watch manufacturer got trademark protection for the name Apple in connection with watches ages ago. And that trademark is still valid. 😱

Long story short: Swiss customers might be screwed (at least for a while). Of course it's a tabloid and it might be BS. But I've just checked and that trademark actually exists. So, guess if I want an Apple Watch, I will have to buy it abroad.

 

[Dave245]

*sigh* You'll be standing in line with the other casuals pining over the watch sport.

/s

And that concerns you how, my wanting to buy an Watch concerns you that much that you have to berate people on a forum.

----------

I'm in the same boat as the other international forum members in this thread. Swiss and wondering, whether I will be able to make a reservation for the 24th (when I'll be in London anyway). I do have have the Apple Store app and even a UK account if need be. I can not, however, provide a UK credit card.

I was planning to wait for a Swiss launch (site says '2015', very vague). BUT some Swiss tabloid has just revealed that a Swiss watch manufacturer got trademark protection for the name Apple in connection with watches ages ago. And that trademark is still valid. 😱

Long story short: Swiss customers might be screwed (at least for a while). Of course it's a tabloid and it might be BS. But I've just checked and that trademark actually exists. So, guess if I want an Apple Watch, I will have to buy it abroad.

A lot of people are wondering about this, myself included, I'm in the UK and planning on getting the SS version, but I'm not sure if there will be reservations for in store pick up. Failing that I will pre-order online

 

[HenryDJP]

Yes! I'd much rather pick it up in-store than have it delivered. Glad Apple has confirmed this.

I can understand this for people who can't wait and want it now....but I would rather have it delivered to avoid the crowded store. Reservation or not it will still be a circus in the Apple store leading people to wish they had just waited for delivery.
From my understanding on preorders they generally get delivered on the same day of release, provided it was preordered at the right time of course.

 

[Locoboof]

The only thing they don't know is when the reservations will start.

The BF had his store meeting and they got pretty much all the details but that one.

Basically it's like the reservation pass thing that they did with the iPhone, so unpaid reservation. But you book it from home. You can book in store if you get lucky and what you want is available. However not only are you booking a product, you are booking a pick up time. Basically they do not want lines hanging around the store. There is no standing and waiting to just run in and grab a watch. The hope is that this will also slow down the resellers.

Once you set your pick up time you get like an hours grace period for traffic etc. after that, your reservation is released for someone else to grab it if they like and you get to start over

This!! Makes total sense,thank you for clarifying for me. I remember when I returned my 6+ for my 6, I went to the store and got a reserve ticket. Just like you said,it "holds" that current item so no one else can purchase it before I do. It took away from their store inventory and held it for me.

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I can understand this for people who can't wait and want it now....but I would rather have it delivered to avoid the crowded store. Reservation or not it will still be a circus in the Apple store leading people to wish they had just waited for delivery.
From my understanding on preorders they generally get delivered on the same day of release, provided it was preordered at the right time of course.

Maybe I'm in the minority,but I love going to the store. The crowd,the super excited staff,the friendly service. I really enjoy seeing other people enthusiastic about a product as much as me. Also,the last two iphone releases I've made some great friends. We still talk "via Facebook" to this day. I really enjoy the whole experience.

 

[Monique1]

Just you wait and see. This iWatch thing will flop... just like that $1.29 water-in-a-bottle fad that started way back when.

Oh wait... 😱

 

[iChrist]

Cool.

Is there any word yet on when the thinner version will be available? Probably this holiday season with a $50 price drop and 20% more battery. That way they can squeeze in 2 sales in 1 year from the early adopters.

 

[fretdevil]

This sounds like an extremely good idea at first, and pretty obvious to implement something like this, it doesn't take into account the limited supply they have when a product initially launches. You still need a way of deciding who comes first, and who is served first.


Apple could, in theory, make the products depending on the number of "hearts" but then what if a good chunk of people cancel near the end?

That said, they should really make their infrastructure better. There's no excuse now. The first couple of times were sort of understandable, but it's 2015 now. Apple should know better.

For his scenario to work, the customer would have to be informed of the "No Cancellation" policy that exists for this product.

Every database transaction has a Date/Time stamp. This could be used to form the queue.

Apple has a real problem in that all of the innovative minds are in Design and not Marketing. Tim Cook is just resting on the laurels of what was once "Apple". He really needs to go away.

 

[mdelvecchio]

What I still don't get is that Apple already has all of our hundreds of millions of credit and debit cards linked to our iTunes and Apple ID accounts, yet they want us to manually jam their servers at the stroke of midnight or 3AM to place an order they know we already want.

We're automatically billed for our monthly subscriptions to iCloud, iTunes Match, in-App Purchases, Newsstand, etc. So, how about this? Just make a button next to the product's favorite ("heart") button that says, "yes, I like this product enough for you to automatically charge my credit card and preorder or ship it to me as soon as it's available." No more waiting up until 3AM EDT, or queuing up on line the night before at the local Apple Store. Automate the process and give us an preorder confirmation email we can wake up to.

Is Apple still so insecure that they need to generate media headlines that "lines are out the door" and "the servers couldn't handle the capacity" of everyone trying to place online orders? If Apple is all about the positive customer experience, having to go through this periodic ritual can't be a totally positive experience for everyone.

Frankly, I've been doing this for eight years since the first iPhone and iPad releases, and I'm a bit tired. I would appreciate someone on Apple's backend systems or infrastructure to accommodate something like this to be done. Billions of dollars of profit every year, and they still stick to a rudimentary preordering/purchasing process. How much more in profit would they benefit from if they automated their own processes?

It could be kinda like a Kickstarter thing, make your pledge as soon as it's up, and the cards all get charged in one shot upon the end of the campaign. Simple.

What you've described is no different than what happens today. In your scenario you can click a button to say "yes I'd like to buy this". Ok. And how are those orders filled? First come, first serve. Ok. And when does that button become available? Day X. Now -- put it all together...starting on Day X, orders can be placed, which are fulfilled in a first come, first served basis. You've just described pre-order day.

You can't invent a way of accepting orders that doesn't start on a certain day/time. And people are going to get up early to make that time, since any new product is always constrained by limited inventory since they don't appear out of thin air. Thus there will always been lines for new popular products.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Apple has a real problem in that all of the innovative minds are in Design and not Marketing. Tim Cook is just resting on the laurels of what was once "Apple". He really needs to go away.

What absurd nonsense. Under cook's leadership the stock is at an all time high and profits and sales are thru the roof. Cook's brought Apple to a super precise state of JIT inventory that ensures they don't have excess product sitting around in warehouses. Their operational excellence is unprecedented.

The only "real problem" Apple has is they can't make the stuff fast enough. Oh, and counting all the dough.

 

[FASE]

You cannot get the dark stainless steel without the link bracelet. Please confirm because that really sux!

 

[mrgraff]

If only there were other successful watch sellers in the world that had a working business model that Apple could base their rollout on…