AT&T iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Thread

[AJsAWiz]

I pre ordered the blk 64GB on 10/7 at the store at 1pm CST and was told it was backordered. at first they told me 14-21 days now they are saying 21-28 days. I got this response from AT&T online chat:

Tyemika G Jackson: Allow me to research your order today.
you: please do
Tyemika G Jackson: "Backordered" normally means that there is not sufficient inventory to satisfy an order. However, since the iPhone 4S is not released until 10/14/2011, every pre-order will show as backordered, there is no stock officially showing in the system until that date. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Tyemika G Jackson: I understand this must be very frustrating. At this time due to high volume of orders, your order is on back order. I can assure you we are working to have your device shipped as soon as possible. The device will be shipped within 21-28 days.
you: what was the point of pre order? so are you saying I will not get the phone until November???
you: 21-28 days of when?
Tyemika G Jackson: It can take 21-28 days before you will receive the device.
Tyemika G Jackson: After 10/14/11.

Whats worse, the line is over at the store and they still have stock! They will not let me cancel my order and get one from the store!!! I am soooooo upset you are not alone jubarri33!

This seems to be happening to quite a few people with pre orders. You have a right to be angry and upset.

 

[soconnor]

I purchased a 16 GB White iPhone 4s in the store on 10/7 @ 11AM only to have the same issue as others. I followed another post on here and went into the store to see if I could cancel my order. They said I could, as long as it's still pending. Now, they were out of the 16GB but I had to have it now, so I purchased a 32GB White iPhone 4s. So if you really want this phone now and you are one of those pending in store purchase, I recommend you make a trip to your AT&T store if you can.

 

[fotofan]

See my experience

Seriously? I had no luck over the phone but I'm gonna go over there right now and politely ask them to cancel my order and sell me one of their in stock phones.

I'll escalate it from there if the lowlevel rep says no.

The Westfield NJ store wouldn't budge. I hope you have a better experience.

 

[xian67]

Are any of you having trouble activating your phone? I heard the AT&T and Sprint servers are down. VZW is still up.

 

[jTreu]

I purchased a 16 GB White iPhone 4s in the store on 10/7 @ 11AM only to have the same issue as others. I followed another post on here and went into the store to see if I could cancel my order. They said I could, as long as it's still pending. Now, they were out of the 16GB but I had to have it now, so I purchased a 32GB White iPhone 4s. So if you really want this phone now and you are one of those pending in store purchase, I recommend you make a trip to your AT&T store if you can.

this really pisses me off. did the same thing, talked to a rep then the manager and both wouldn't let me cancel. wtf?

 

[Silus]

My wife just confirmed that mine was delivered 30 minutes ago. It was shipped via UPS and they just did a dump and run on the porch. Didn't knock or ring the doorbell at all. I'm glad we live in a safe neighborhood.

Now I just have to wait 4 hours to go home and play with it. heh

 

[Falcatraz]

Just wanted to post my experience in hopes that it may help a couple people here.

Preordered about 9am MST on 10/7 from premier website
Received confirmation within minutes
Nothing happened through today (backordered with no shipping estimate)
Went to the AT&T store and had a discussion with the manager. He tried to help but only got so far.
While there I called 611 and got a person. They spoke to premier support and got my order cancelled and my upgrade status reset within a few minutes.
Walked out of the AT&T store with a white 64gb.

Moral of the story is that if you push, they will cancel the order and reset your upgrade.

P.S. I have enterprise support through my company, but the ability to cancel orders is available to any of the reps.

 

[visualcondition]

Just got off the phone with ATT rep. I ordered on Sat 8th via premier. It went from attention over the weekend, and I called and they fixed it by doing credit checking, to a few days ago as preorder again. Last updated the 13th.

I got really excited because yesterday they officially charged my CC the full amount after the Auth expired, and everyone says they only do that when it's shipped.

So the rep said my order was "active" awaiting shipment. UGH. He got more details for and said that because there's like a million orders, things aren't being updated quick. Also, the best news, is that he said my iPhone is basically reserved and all ready to go in their warehouse, they're just waiting for fedex to come pick it up. Will get email when it's shipped.

Basically, I should be getting it delivered in the next few days. Sat maybe if they do a special overnight, most likely I'll be seeing it around Tuesday. So really good news that I won't have to wait a month! Hope that gives some hope to others.

 

[AJsAWiz]

So, GREAT NEWS. I went into the AT&T store down the street from my house.. it's currently 10:43AM PST here in Cali, and well past the time of them selling out of these phones. I walk in and simply say "Got any left?" the lady gives me a frown and goes "No, we're sold out. Sorry." and I feel my day ruined. I pre ordered last Friday and am still back ordered, with my money back in my bank account and this could not have worked out for any better.

It turns out, even though they sold out easily in their FIRST shipment, carrier stores will most likely get multiple shipments of the phones throughout the day, and if you go in and talk to them and be polite, they might do what they did for me, for you. I won't say anything in specific because idk if it's against their rules or anything but let's just say that if a new shipment comes in (which she pretty much guaranteed me that it would) I will be a new iPhone 4S owner..

THANK GOODNESS for AT&T and their ability to screw things up when it comes to pre-orders.

..finally something to smile about on the "frown boat"

Apple drops the ball as well. I could not cancel my Apple pre order so I could not pick one up at AT&T today. They had a ton of iPhones to sell to those without pre orders. I shouldn't have pre ordered. I won't next time.

 

[iDShaDoW]

EDIT: Jeez, I'm blind, completely glossed over the different column fields... Guess I'll be calling up those Apple stores... But I'm in NoVA outside of DC so people probably snapped up all the in-store stock by now.

@idshadow
Check your order status here instead:
https://www.wireless.att.com/order_status/

When I tried that one it just says "In Progress" and "Pending Shipment" for all 3 statuses.

Is this one more accurate than the other 2 status pages?
(ie. https://www.wireless.att.com/business/order_status/
and logging into myAT&T and clicking "Order Status")

I've called a few AT&T retail stores and they all told me they're out. I'm about to try and call the 2 Apple stores in the area and see if they got anything...

 

[spizike231]

Apple drops the ball as well. I could not cancel my Apple pre order so I could not pick one up at AT&T today. They had a ton of iPhones to sell to those without pre orders. I shouldn't have pre ordered. I won't next time.

Idk why no one is able to cancel their pre orders.. my AT&T store didn't mention anything about cancelling it. I told them that I got my money back but its back ordered and she said "We just have to call them to see if they can cancel your order so you can get your money back to buy it." and i say that money is already back. She says "Then you're good."

 

[PTurner]

Credit Card Fraud hitch - AT&T authorized card multiple times

Just called AT&T… they said that even though I ordered my phone at 4am ET on 10/7 because my credit card rejected the hold to do a fraud check my order was bumped further back 'in line.' They said that my device only got to the warehouse today and I should receive my device "maybe today, maybe tomorrow or Monday." Basically they have no idea.

When I called to update my credit card they said that there was no issue and I would still receive my device on the 14th. I then got a 'confirmation' email. Then a day later I got another billing issue email, I called them up and they assured me that there was no billing issue - however the guy did warn me that it could be a Friday or Saturday delivery. Next time I'll just my AMEX. They told me today that a lot of credit cards rejected the hold - no clue why, maybe its got something to do with making a large purchase at 4am or something.

I was in the same boat and was relying on AT&T assurances by phone and reports from iPhone 4 buyers here who said AT&T order status could say backordered and it would arrive anyway. I had enough today and tried a chat (lower right corner on Order Status page). The chat was answered promptly and I was told it did not process with the rest of the 10/7 orders and I am in line with the 10/8 orders! There was no option to cancel or get put in the front of the line for the next shipment. If I didn't have grandfathered unlimited data plan, it would be bye-bye AT&T!

I had to talk to Chase to resolve the fraud alert on 10/8 and they told me AT&T tried to authorize the payment three times! I am a veteran internet shopper so it wasn't because I hit the order button too many times. It was AT&T's famous ordering system. AT&T Rep told me it happened to a lot of orders. Even when I cleared the problem with AT&T on 10/8, they ran it twice AGAIN because it shut my card down again. I won't bore you with the number of confirmations I received.

MY ADVICE: Drive to an AT&T store - ours had plenty with no wait at noon. I was able to "cross-upgrade" using an upgrade available on a family member's line on my plan. When the phone arrives (next year probably) I'll return it. Alternatively, pay full price and reverse it when it arrives.

GOOD LUCK!

And jtreu - I was upgrading from 3g too and had no SIM card problem at the store. It took a consultation between two reps to get it done, but no problem.

 

[iTabone]

Sigh FedEx. I thought you were better than UPS. It's already 2:15 PM and nothing.

 

[mrjump11]

jst got my 64gb black and 16GB white from fedex man at 11:11 am... tried to hide my excitement but the Fedex man knew i was f*ckin stoked!! lol

 

[fotofan]

It just goes to show

this really pisses me off. did the same thing, talked to a rep then the manager and both wouldn't let me cancel. wtf?

There are some people who realize that it's an unfair situation and will work to correct it and keep a customer happy. And then there are obstinate managers like the one in Westfield NJ that I just left that won't lift a finger to help you because they already have you locked in and don't care that you're unhappy. Believe me, I will tell so many local residents about this experience that it will hurt their business.

 

[Nicky G]

I'm holding on phone w/ AT&T now, rep is trying to get through to the Premier dept. to see if they can cancel the online pre-order I made 8am eastern on the 7th, which is still backordered. Looks like Premier was the problem for me, even though I received a confirmation email at 8:36am on the 7th saying my order was in and to expect phone on the 14th, for some reason AT&T is showing my order date as the 8th, which pushed me into the second tier, thus the backorder. I am just trying to cancel the order so I can walk into my local store which has them in stock and get the damn phone today.

At least my phone rep seems very understanding and is really trying to help here.

 

[SteveMc]

So, I was in the same boat as the other folks who got stuck @ 'the back of the line' thanks to AT&T's crappy online system. Decided to stop by the local store - no line, every model but 16GB white in stock, and they were able to cancel my online order no problem (took a while, but it got done). Doing an iCloud restore now...

 

[stwebb]

I'd print out some of the positive transactions and take these to the store and prove changes CAN be done!

 

[jpeg42]

this really pisses me off. did the same thing, talked to a rep then the manager and both wouldn't let me cancel. wtf?

.

 

[hushmartin]

Well, I solved my problem. Went to ATT store. 2 people ahead of me. I told them rep my problem and that I wanted to cancel my preorder. She said that couldn't be done from the store. Fortunately, the 2nd line on my family plan was eligible for upgrade, so used that one and swapped phone #'s. They told me to bring the pre-ordered one in for a refund and reset of eligibility once I get it.

Actuallly a pleasant experience and they seemed to have plenty of stock. Phone in hand.

Yes Thank you!!!!! I dont know why they cant trade what they have on hand and canel the order. It does not make sense. Especially since it was supposed to be first come, first serve. I helped him send his order in on the 10/10 that how i know. he called me 10 minutes ago, asking me if i got mine, because he got his. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? Just called the front office and nothing for me. Theres 3 AT&T stores around me with plenty of phones but no thank to AT&T I have to wait 21-28 days. because i Ordered on 10/7:???

I have my white 64gb 4s! .... but not from my day one preorder. I went to the store, they had plenty of stock. I explained my situation and they did something interesting for me: They sold me a phone at full price, and when I get the preorder (that can't be cancelled) I take it back to the store and they will refund it, and what I paid on the in-store purchase, down to the normal subsidized price. They have an actual procedure in place to do this, but it did take a bit for them to look up information about it and get it done. So, I am basically trading them my future shipment for an instock one.

Let me add that I had the opportunity to deal with people who are OBVIOUSLY Att's best employees!

 

[hellomms]

At least you got a text. I ordered on he 7th and its showed boed ever since. And I got no email, no text, no carrier pigeon, no smoke signal, no telepathic message, nothing.

You should try the store, I went and got it.

Now going through ATT's stellar Customer Svc to cancel...not easy.

 

[Tarheeltiger]

I purchased a 16 GB White iPhone 4s in the store on 10/7 @ 11AM only to have the same issue as others. I followed another post on here and went into the store to see if I could cancel my order. They said I could, as long as it's still pending. Now, they were out of the 16GB but I had to have it now, so I purchased a 32GB White iPhone 4s. So if you really want this phone now and you are one of those pending in store purchase, I recommend you make a trip to your AT&T store if you can.

I did the same thing with the same phones. The store I went to was very helpful.

 

[Ariz]

Are any of you having trouble activating your phone? I heard the AT&T and Sprint servers are down. VZW is still up.

I'm a Premier customer and had no issues activating;

 

[stwebb]

I did the same thing with the same phones. The store I went to was very helpful.

I'd take a copy of this post to my local store as proof it is being done!!!

I'm pissed and my phone is on a UPS truck!

But I'm happy mine is en route!!!

 

[ZBoater]

You should try the store, I went and got it.

Now going through ATT's stellar Customer Svc to cancel...not easy.

I'm porting over 4 lines, two iPhones and two dumb phones. I'd rather sit tight and wait until they get to me. I'm not in a hurry. My iPad 2 is keeping me entertained...