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According to the At&t rep that I spoke with, they were originally given specific instructions to inform customers that iphone orders would take "5-7 business days" for delivery from the point where you ordered the phone through Direct Fulfillment.

Then, as orders increased, the time-frame became "7-10" business days. This is the time-frame I was given.

Now, orders for the iphone 3g are back-ordered...and it will here is what they are told to tell customers now.

Iphones ordered on Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th will begin to ship on July 14th. This does not mean all of them will ship, but it does mean they will start to ship from the beginning of the list and work their way down the list. This is why some phones were shipped from the 14th to the 16th.. and will continue to ship as they become available.

Now, iphones that were ordered after sunday the 13th will be SHIPPED 10-14 business days after the day they were ordered. Emails will come out when they are shipped, and nothing else can be done.

This is total crap. If I had known it was going to be that long, I would have never ordered my iphone.... instead, I would have gone through the apple iphone store about 45 minutes from my house WHERE THEY ARE STILL AVAILABLE.





To make things worse, I called the apple store.
Question: "Hey how many iphones do you have available in 3g, black 16gb"?
Answer: "I don't know, I didn't bring my crystal ball to work today.... do you know how often i'm asked that"?

Question: "Ok... so, i'm going to let that go. Well, can you tell me if you have any available and if you have a long line... do you THINK it's worth my hour drive to come get one... do you THINK you'll have one for me when i get there?"
Answer: "We have a line, we have some available, i'm not sure what else to tell you".

Thanks At&t and Apple for taking my money, making me run around, and ultimately wait it out... for what? I don't have anything but stress to show for this large scandal.

Just in response to this, I feel your pain. I too have had a HORRIBLE experience at an apple store. I dont know who these people think they are.. I'm including a complaint letter I sent to them about the situation i experienced there.


-- BEGIN FLAME MAIL --

To Whom it May Concern,

I'm writing this email as a formal complaint about my experience at your Apple store on route 73 in New Jersey, on Saturday, July 12th, 2008.

On Friday around 6PM, I called the Sagemore Apple store in regards to purchasing an iPhone, and signing up as a new AT&T customer. The associate told to me that they were very low in stock and he was not able to guarentee a phone for me when I got there. He said, however, that I could check out the website after 9PM to see if there will be stock available the next day.

I checked the website after 9PM at www.apple.com/sagemore and saw that they will be available on saturday.

On Saturday I arrived at the location twenty minutes before the store opened. I saw people inside the store, and people entering the store so I figured the store had opened early. As I walked up to the store, an older man was walking up behind me so I held the door for him, and we both walked into the store together.

I will, to the best of my memory, include the discussion that I had with the sales associate who approached me:

Sales Associate (SA) : Hi how can I help you?
Me : I'm pretty sure you know what I'm looking for (joking)
SA : If you looking for an iPhone, we dont have any. (blatant)
Me: Oh! well I called up yesterday and was told by an associate to check the webstore after 9pm to see if you guys would have stock and it said that you would! (with confusion)
SA : Well, we dont. (blatant)
Me : Oh! Hmm well am I able to order one and have it shipped to me?
SA : No.
Me : Do you have any idea when you will be getting your next shipment?
SA : No. Oh and by the way, tell your dad (referencing the older man I held the door for) that we are closed.

The sales associate immediately turns his back to me and walks away.

I called up an AT&T store later that day, and even though they did not have stock, they were extremely friendly, and knowledgeable, and was happy to order my iPhone and set me up with a 2 year plan.

This was my first time entering an apple store and I honestly feel like I was mistreated and discriminated against. I have never in my life, by any sales associate in any retail store, felt as belittled as I was at the Apple store. I hope you, after reading this, can bring resolve to this issue, and the unfortunate situation I've encountered at the Apple store.

--END FLAME MAIL--


Nice people huh?
 
AT&T Screws me over

GET THIS.

I waited in line at my AT&T store, got in there around 10am and they had JUST run out. Like the guy in front of my got the last one. So the woman that was helping me told me that I could do a direct fufillment order and that the phone would be delivered to the store with my name on it. I said sure might as well.

I hadn't heard anything all week, so I went back into the store today. Talked to a different guy and explained the story to him. He asked me if i had a recipt, or if I had paid for it. He told me that he couldn't find my order in the system. I said "No, the woman just took my information, and told me they would let me know when it came in." He looked stunned for a second, then said to me "wow....that sucks man."

So he finally REALLY took my order and said I would be waiting 11-21 days. I cannot believe the incompetence of those workers there. Specifically that woman who took my order. All this week I have been waiting, just like the rest of you....except I really had nothing to wait for! I made sure I talked to the manager, and he told he it would be taken care of. I wonder if there is anything else that they'd do for me.....free accessory or something.



If nothing else....this should make most of you feel better about waiting. At least yours has been on the way!
 
GET THIS.

I waited in line at my AT&T store, got in there around 10am and they had JUST run out. Like the guy in front of my got the last one. So the woman that was helping me told me that I could do a direct fufillment order and that the phone would be delivered to the store with my name on it. I said sure might as well.

I hadn't heard anything all week, so I went back into the store today. Talked to a different guy and explained the story to him. He asked me if i had a recipt, or if I had paid for it. He told me that he couldn't find my order in the system. I said "No, the woman just took my information, and told me they would let me know when it came in." He looked stunned for a second, then said to me "wow....that sucks man."

So he finally REALLY took my order and said I would be waiting 11-21 days. I cannot believe the incompetence of those workers there. Specifically that woman who took my order. All this week I have been waiting, just like the rest of you....except I really had nothing to wait for! I made sure I talked to the manager, and he told he it would be taken care of. I wonder if there is anything else that they'd do for me.....free accessory or something.



If nothing else....this should make most of you feel better about waiting. At least yours has been on the way!

So you couldn't track any progress on the cingular.com/order_status site right?
 
Store Stats

At My ATT&T store, 35 phones were ordered on Friday. Of the 18 that have shipped:

2 on the 13th
5 on the 14th
9 on the 15th
2 on the 16th

This looks ominous, none of the remaining backorders have switched to "shipped" yet today. Think I'm gonna go to the Apple Store.

How did you find these stats?
 
called att store (addison, tx) and asked about why the money was debitted back into my account and he said thats probably the banks choice, but he told me to expect a call really soon
 
called att store (addison, tx) and asked about why the money was debitted back into my account and he said thats probably the banks choice, but he told me to expect a call really soon

LOL...seems like AT&T learned the vague and smug technique from some of the Apple employees. A-nnoying!
 
i order mine at ATT store on tuesday, and they already charged my card even tough ATT site is showing it in backorder :eek:

Should i expect my phone sooon

PS: i used a debit card
 
i order mine at ATT store on tuesday, and they already charged my card even tough ATT site is showing it in backorder :eek:

Should i expect my phone sooon

PS: i used a debit card


I ordered on the 11th, was told my card (debit) would not be charged until it shipped, the 14th (first business day afterwards) the card was charged, mine hasn't shipped yet.
 
i order mine at ATT store on tuesday, and they already charged my card even tough ATT site is showing it in backorder :eek:

Should i expect my phone sooon

PS: i used a debit card

They put a hold on your funds, but the charge doesn't necessarily go through yet - in other words, those funds are not available but haven't been removed from your account. The charge isn't supposed t go through until the item ships.
 
Sunday Orders

Thank God there are other people in the world that feel the agony of obsessively checking your status order!
I placed my iphone order on Sunday and was told it would be here by Tuesday. Well, Tuesday has come and gone and still no phone!
Has anyone that placed their order on Sunday recieved their phone??
 
How did you find these stats?


Simply enter in your order number on the AT&T tracking page. When your info comes up, look at the order number on that page. By going up or down(i.e. if you're 7234, enter in 7233, etc.), entering in just those four numbers, along with the zip code of the store you sop at, you should be able to see who's been shipped & who hasn't as well as what days the shipments were made. I went through the list until I found when the orders for July 11th started & ended. Turned out to be 36 total orders. I did the same thing for the 12th because I knew anything ordered after that would automatically get the 10-21 day bit. So far, nothing ordered on the 12th has been shipped either. I'm one of the 13 who ordered on the 11th who haven't received their phones.
 
Thank God there are other people in the world that feel the agony of obsessively checking your status order!
I placed my iphone order on Sunday and was told it would be here by Tuesday. Well, Tuesday has come and gone and still no phone!
Has anyone that placed their order on Sunday recieved their phone??

I'm with ya

I placed my order for two 16 gig phones on Sunday at about 2:00 pm.
 
I felt like such a stalker, but I checked the orders ahead of me and I don't see that they are being shipped in any particular order. The 10th person ahead of me had their order shipped, but the next 8 people before that hadn't had theirs shipped yet.
Strange system they have at AT&T...:rolleyes:
 
I felt like such a stalker, but I checked the orders ahead of me and I don't see that they are being shipped in any particular order. The 10th person ahead of me had their order shipped, but the next 8 people before that hadn't had theirs shipped yet.
Strange system they have at AT&T...:rolleyes:

Yep same here, looks fricken random. Girl 10 orders ahead of mine got hers. There is a woman that has ordered 2 phones under her name but only one was shipped out (the later order). My 2 phones are 5 orders apart and none of which have shipped.

There sure are a lot of us waiting for phones. CLS time? I'm down!

REPOST:
To see the order numbers surrounding your own.

Got to: https://www.wireless.att.com/order_status/order_status
Enter your Verification method, Order number/confirmation number
OR Use what ever means you like and grab the order number off of the results page.
For example I use my Home/work contact number so that I can see both orders then I grab the order number for one phone off of the results page
You'll get something like this...
www .wireless.att.com/order_status/order_status_results.jsp?fromwhere=order_status&vMethod=ordernum&vNumber=YOURORDERNUMBER&ZipCode=STOREZIPCODE&x=32&y=12
^YOURORDERNUMBER is your order number and STOREZIPCODE is the stores zip code.
Increase and decrease the order number by a few digits and you will quickly notice that there is no ryhme and no reason to who gets their phone.
 
I feel your pain

On July 11th, I woke myself up earlier than I've been in years (college sophomore) and got in line at the AT&T store at 7:30 AM, very proud of myself. 3 and a half hours later, someone 5 people ahead of me got the last phone, and when I got into the store they told me about this direct fill option. I thought great, I'll do this and have my phone, just walk in and set it up. Wrong.

On the 12th I got an email saying it had been put on backorder, and I would get an email when it was shipped. Today is the 17th and guess what? STILL NOT SHIPPED.

I called my store to ask what was going on, and they informed me that they've been filling direct order phones for the past 2 days. So people that came in after me, and did not stand in line for 3 and a half hours now have their phones, while I'm still waiting.

Needless to say I'm about to roll a grenade through the store's front door.

On top of this, they tell me even though I've PAID for it, they will only hold the phone for a week. I'm going on vacation sunday for 2 weeks, as is everybody on the account. After informing the store rep of this he said "Oh...that's not good. Well...we should have your phone later this week, call back."

Great. Thanks iJerks.
 
I am so happy and relieved to see so many others in the same boat as I am. I echo all of your frustration about this situation.

To recap my own story identical to so many of you, purchased the iPhone 3G last Friday the 11th at around 6pm, was told it would arrive no later than Tuesday. Went to the store Tuesday and the somewhat rude assis mgr lady said that my status was "unknown." I told her that I have no idea what that means, but she kept repeating. So finally I said, "look, i'm not exactly unhappy that the phone isn't here, I understand there's a big demand etc, but what I'm angry about is that you can't give accurate ETA's."

AT&T need to realize it's about expectations. If I was told 7-10 at the beginning at least I wouldn't be dissapointed.

and yes, i check the order status page obsessively I can't help it!
 
i got the following from another forum website. i found it very interesting especially the fact that proves they are not going in order. in my store, a person who ordered a phone on sunday is getting his before mine. i ordered on friday. but read the following and decide for yourself...

The lack of organization on both sides makes me question the change management abilities of both companies.

I want to keep away from this DF dirge…but I just can’t :smileyhappy:. I get comfort by the kindred folk on these posts. Thank you for all of the support the last few days. Is it wrong to expect good customer support and a well thought out deployment strategy with the iPhone?

When applicable, please pardon some of the repeating information on what you know about the process. Here are some quick facts about my experience (yes, call me a waambulance lol)

* Been a Cingular/AT&T customer for over 11 years.
* Spoke to 3 different AT&T reps prior to 7/11. Each confirmed I had no discount or problem with my combined plans that would prevent me from going to an Apple store.
* Apple store 15.2 miles from my house/AT&T 0.2 miles (Northern Illinois).
* 13th in line at Apple store Northbrook. 16g Black in Hand 5 minutes after doors open.
* Activation process slow with errors for 1.5 hours, Apple associate calls AT&T twice. First call: AT&T says I had some discount on my account from a former employer and need to go to an AT&T store. Apple associate asks if I can get a new number without a discounted plan…AT&T rep says yes. More errors with new activation. Second call: AT&T confirms that because I have bundled products (dish, phone, internet) I need to go to AT&T store. OMG!!!
* Drive to AT&T. Sold out. AT&T store sales guy tells me I would have got one if I was as early as I was at Apple.
* Swallowed the jagged little DF pill at 11:36 on 7/11.
* Current: DF order NOT shipped. More than 45 iPhones sent to the AT&T store after mine.
* Called AT&T store sales associate. They confirmed they received 16g black iPhones for folks that ordered after me. Had no reason for it..and just as dissapointed.
* Called AT&T again to see why. Lots of excuses and dancing (on their part). Here is the fun part…they said they could have taken the discount “checkmark” off my account. It would take 4 hours to process and show at Apple stores as eligible (no blockades), but I could get a phone there if I wanted. Yeah…like I want to risk that being true and error free.
* Now waiting.

Hope the rest of your week is great.
 
does anyone see any shipments for today (7/17)? i have been checking my store's queue and i see no shipments today, yet anyway.


My store has recieved shipments almost everyday this week. But this is an AT&T store not an Apple store. I'm not sure which you were in asking about...
 
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