AT&T iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Thread

[claypot33]

I ordered online through Premier at 7:45am on 10/7. All kinds of weird things with the order, including (like many others), not getting any updates to the order status after 10/8. I also realized on the 13th that the confirmation email I received had my old address, even though I moved almost 8 years ago, and AT&T has had my "new" address on their regular website ever since.

I tried calling AT&T on the 14th to ask what the status was and which address it was shipping to. As soon as I explained the whole situation, the woman I was talking with started claiming she couldn't hear me anymore (I was at work and have never once had a reception problem there). I could hear her clearly. Even though she had asked me for a callback number, she hastily told me a number I had to call and go through the menu for further help. By the time I got a pen in my hand, she had hung up and I couldn't remember the number. I want to believe she really couldn't hear me, but have my doubts.

At that point, I had an epiphany... as long as I have been waiting and as much as I want the phone NOW, it's just a phone. Really, it's just a phone. Even though I don't think I was treated fairly in this whole mess, it's just a phone. My 3gs still works, although slowly, but I can get by. There are so many worse things I could be dealing with right now.

Then last night, I got a shipping notice that it was going to be delivered today. Go figure. Of course, I'm out of town for the weekend, and whichever house it was delivered to, wasn't there to sign for it. So, Monday is hopefully the day. Luckily, I'm friends with those that live at the other address, so they're looking out for it too.

I hope those still waiting get good news soon.

 

[spizike231]

I was told 14-21 days from the day I ordered (evening of the 7th) and still on backorder :-(

Same here buddy.. just go do things to get your mind off of it like I am.. I know it's hard but at this point all we can do is wait. This sucks, but at least we all know we'll get it.. EVENTUALLY. Possibly a few days before the 5 comes out. Knowing AT&T

 

[evilstnick]

I would love to know how or who you talked to. I have been trying to 2 days to cancel my order and nobody will let me. I have gone to and called store after store and called 611 talked to supervisors and managers and nobody will let me.

I wish I could tell you :/

 

[Lithiumdiver]

Finaly.

Well i got so sick of waiting for my pre-order status to change that i went to my local apple store to see if they had a 16gb white in stock. They did. So i canceled right then and there and bought the one in front of me. Its been said before, but ill say it again: I will never pre order an iphone again. lol Best of luck to all of you.

 

[nomadmtb]

Oh man... It's really sad how many freakin' times I have checked the order status page. I probably check it every hour lol. Preordered in store on 10/10... Still on backorder (not really surprised). I am pretty surprised that some preorders from 10/10 are shipping.

 

[hnarula]

Oh man... It's really sad how many freakin' times I have checked the order status page. I probably check it every hour lol. Preordered in store on 10/10... Still on backorder (not really surprised). I am pretty surprised that some preorders from 10/10 are shipping.

Hi, My 2 cents for you, cancel the order & find it in stock. or preorder through apple.com they say 1 to 2 weeks , i think they;ll make your order shipped out in 7 days at most, or call u to pick up from store. Apple = management, we all know that, they know, what they wanna do, how and when exactly & we just follow the path they choose for us.

 

[atpup]

it is a good iphone

http://pppurl.com/RQc it is a good iphone

 

[TenaciousJello]

I ordered on 10/9 a 16gblack and a 32g black...just checked my status and the 32 went from 1 back ordered to 0. The 16 is still back ordered. I don't have a tracking number though. If I get this next week I'll be very surprised. I tried canceling locally and the store said no, they had plenty of 32 & 64 4s available. Last time I preorder.

I'm sincerely happy for you to be getting one of your phones. At the same time, I am so upset with AT&T that I ordered a 32g black on the 7th and I'm still back ordered.

 

[kas23]

Here's my information for you guys:

I originally preordered from an AT&T store on the first day of preorder. I ordered 2 iPhones at 10:30am EST. As a result, I am not getting these phones for 2-3 weeks. Since I wasn't going to go get my iPhones, I walked into the very same store and bought 2 of them hours after opening for full price. They had plenty - no lines. They wouldn't let me cancel my order (so I don't know how some people did this). But, they fessed up about the pre-order debacle. The in-store orders were not submitted to Apple until the day AFTER the pre-order. So, it was a big waste of time for those of you who raced to the AT&T store to pre-order your phones. They were never goi to be delivered. It really pissed me off, by but I think we all learned a valuable lesson: never, never pre-order from an AT&T store.

And for those who already had an iPhone 4 and are waiting for their new iPhone 4S, just relax. The iPhone 4S is extremely similar to the 4S, except it is moderately faster. If you can't wait for Siri, don't worry. Siri is not ready for Prime Time. There's a reason it is still beta. And Apple's Siri servers are usually unavailable anyways.

 

[carlos A]

when the bank cancels the order does it automatically cancel the order right away?

Im not 100% sure if its right away, because my bank just declined their hold and when i called att they told me that there was an unexpected cancel

 

[Scott1012]

Pre-order successfully cancelled!

For all you folks in pre order hell, don't give up. I ordered the morning on 10/7 and still showed back order pending shipment status as of yesterday. I called up my local corporate AT&T store which told me they had 32s and 64s in stock (both colors). When I got there, I anticipated the line "You can't cancel once you pre ordered...period." So I was not surprised as this was the first thing he said.

Well, going by the experiences noted on this forum, I did not accept that answer and insisted that he calls CSR. He then obliged and was pleasantly surprised that the order which has not been shipped CAN be cancelled. He told countless people who came in previously no go.

I walked out with a 64G black 4S. First one ever....a convert from BB Torch. I can't put it down!

 

[jason330i]

hello, add one more to the cancelled preorder group.

ordered about an hour after preorders started from AT&T.

called on 10/10 to determine status, was told order was cancelled without giving me any notification.

reordered on 10/10 from apple website, showing 2 week delay.

on 10/14 drove by local apple stores, AT&T stores, best buy, all were packed with people. sold out of 16GB models.

on 10/15 called local apple store and they said they just received a few more.

arrived 15 min before store opened with a handful of people ahead of me.

received the last 16GB model they had in stock. cancelled the preorder.

wow, that was difficult.

 

[YoManStation]

Just saw an article from 9to5mac, they mentioned that apple this time has made enough iphone4S for the demand and there are plenty stock left at stores and some stores even have it stack up with no one waiting.

What does that mean that they made 'ENOUGH'? i bet you there are plenty of people out there including me that ordered from store and now still in backorder hell........
I do not want to read those stuff but it's just frustrating....
Keep it posted friends here at this post. Update as soon as store orders ship out.

 

[djransom]

Just saw an article from 9to5mac, they mentioned that apple this time has made enough iphone4S for the demand and there are plenty stock left at stores and some stores even have it stack up with no one waiting.

What does that mean that they made 'ENOUGH'? i bet you there are plenty of people out there including me that ordered from store and now still in backorder hell........
I do not want to read those stuff but it's just frustrating....
Keep it posted friends here at this post. Update as soon as store orders ship out.

There is no reason then that I or anyone else should have to wait 21-28 days to get a 4S with that being said. A week or 2 maybe, but a month is crazy when stores aren't even really moving units.

 

[baseball]

Going to a at&t sotre that i pre ordered from when they open at 12 and going to try to cancel my order. so who do i have to call when he tells me know, because a lot of people seem to be calling people in the store to tell the manager you can cancel.

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hello, add one more to the cancelled preorder group.

ordered about an hour after preorders started from AT&T.

called on 10/10 to determine status, was told order was cancelled without giving me any notification.

reordered on 10/10 from apple website, showing 2 week delay.

on 10/14 drove by local apple stores, AT&T stores, best buy, all were packed with people. sold out of 16GB models.

on 10/15 called local apple store and they said they just received a few more.

arrived 15 min before store opened with a handful of people ahead of me.

received the last 16GB model they had in stock. cancelled the preorder.

wow, that was difficult.

can you cancel a order at apple store that you ordered in a at&t store?

 

[tivoboy]

not AT&T

There is no reason then that I or anyone else should have to wait 21-28 days to get a 4S with that being said. A week or 2 maybe, but a month is crazy when stores aren't even really moving units.

IF apple made enough to answer what their expected demand was that still doesn't mean that they allocated more than X number to AT&T for pre-order or for subsequent purchases. It could be that apple has a much larger stockpile of iphone 4s, in stores or for order online and company's are not really setup to do inventory transfer from one entity to another.

What I think will happen come monday is, we'll see Apple.com projected wait time drop from 14 days to 1-2 days and later in the week at&t will start being able to do the same (shipments most likely destined for apple.com or apple stores will be routed to AT&T corporate instead)

 

[gsvar2004]

after seeing that some people have been able to cancel pre orders on the att forums i decided i would try one last time to cancel.

called and spoke to one csr no help ask to speak with his manager, who was also no help then ask to speak with the highest person i could speak to.

ended up speaking with the site manager who said he could not cancel because my order was already processing i was persistant on asking when i would receive or at least get more info on shipping and he couldnt tell me but did direct me to the internal office and said someone would contact the factory and i would receive a call within 24 hrs.

claimed because it was an upgrade it couldnt be cancelled but if i would have created a new line it wouldnt have been a problem.

 

[Luigi239]

after seeing that some people have been able to cancel pre orders on the att forums i decided i would try one last time to cancel.

called and spoke to one csr no help ask to speak with his manager, who was also no help then ask to speak with the highest person i could speak to.

ended up speaking with the site manager who said he could not cancel because my order was already processing i was persistant on asking when i would receive or at least get more info on shipping and he couldnt tell me but did direct me to the internal office and said someone would contact the factory and i would receive a call within 24 hrs.

claimed because it was an upgrade it couldnt be cancelled but if i would have created a new line it wouldnt have been a problem.

Same sort of experience. I talked with a CSRs higher up and she told me there is no way to cancel the preorder once it is in progress, the only thing that I could do was to refuse the shipment. She did tell me that I should get mine around next friday, and that no preorders were worked on over the weekend.

The best thing she could offer me was buying the iPhone at full price and then returning the one being shipped back to an AT&T store, but I don't trust that it would work out properly.

 

[Middiebear]

It's actually pretty easy to cancel a pre-order for a customer if the original order was placed through a customer service representative.

First thing is you have to make sure you're calling the original department in which you placed your order.

Different departments within AT&T have different billing systems and different access within those billing systems.

If you placed your order through a CSR, you should be able to call back and the CSR should be able to go into the billing system and cancel the pre-order and reset the eligibility all within the same call.

It is also important to note that the cancellation can only be done if the device has not been shipped out.

If you originally ordered online then don't waste your time trying to speak to customer service about canceling your order. We're lucky if we can even pull up the online orders, especially if they're on backorder... You have to contact the online department in order to look into modifying those orders...

 

[narimonk]

Still just chilling here, Just goes to show you everyone gets screwed in these situations, I work for Apple and I can't even get one yet, I almost feel like I shouldn't have pre-ordered, and just gone to the store on Friday instead.

 

[simsarah]

If you originally ordered online then don't waste your time trying to speak to customer service about canceling your order. We're lucky if we can even pull up the online orders, especially if they're on backorder... You have to contact the online department in order to look into modifying those orders...

This is part of what frustrates me most about the whole experience. I don't have my phone, and that's irksome (especially considering the semi-functional 3gs I've been limping along for the past four months or so) but ultimately no different for me than if Apple had announced last week a release date in November. I'd still wait, and I'd still renew with AT&T (most likely, as I wouldn't have this recollection of this CS nightmare.) Unfortunately, I've spent hours bothering perfectly nice people (and the CS reps, aside from the one who told me that I should just go cancel my service if I was so pissed, have been incredibly nice and professional) who are totally unable to help me, unless in some bizarre crap-shoot I get the right person in the right poorly-delineated department. It's just ponderous, corporate madness!

TL;DR: AT&T cs reps on the forum, thanks, and sorry. I know it's not your fault, and there's no way they're paying you enough right now.

 

[EkehMayu]

Agree with the trend,
You have to hold a shotgun to the people's head to have AT&T help you at all.

Have my phone being sent in Monday.
(shotgun not littoral)

I realize not everyone has this personality trait though.
But I have an idea.


What I really wanted to say though, and please spread the word, as these pages go by like toilet paper:
"REVIEW the store's that did and did not help you."
This problem can be mostly configurated next year if by Google search we know of the bad and the good AT&T store's.

Spread this to your friend's and other thread's/forum's.

Reviewing will only have a bigger impact in the future, particularly with app's like Siri.
If an AT&T store or otherwise really caused a problem or saved your life, the power is in your hand to direct the customer's.

Many of us seem to have learned the lesson to camp instead of pre-order. Having the right store at our back's though would make this a fairy tale and not a tragedy.

Please, just take a moment to review the store's that did/didn't help you.
I think it's the best way to end this dilemna and save it from happening next year.
Even now, if a person can discover a well-reviewed store, he/he may receive their iPhone sooner than later.

 

[Zinger107]

Same sort of experience. I talked with a CSRs higher up and she told me there is no way to cancel the preorder once it is in progress, the only thing that I could do was to refuse the shipment. She did tell me that I should get mine around next friday, and that no preorders were worked on over the weekend.

The best thing she could offer me was buying the iPhone at full price and then returning the one being shipped back to an AT&T store, but I don't trust that it would work out properly.

My status yesterday for my 32 went from back order 1 to 0... I received my shipping notice this morning. Leaving from fort worth via FedEx, standard overnight due tue. They have it but looks like it won't actually leave until Monday. I did order this on 10/9 and it processed yesterday so they are actually working on preorders over the weekend. I have a 16 on order it is still back ordered. Good luck to all in what's turned out to be frustrating for many.

 

[TenaciousJello]

Same sort of experience. I talked with a CSRs higher up and she told me there is no way to cancel the preorder once it is in progress, the only thing that I could do was to refuse the shipment. She did tell me that I should get mine around next friday, and that no preorders were worked on over the weekend.

The best thing she could offer me was buying the iPhone at full price and then returning the one being shipped back to an AT&T store, but I don't trust that it would work out properly.

Yeah I feel the same way... too much money to risk it.

 

[hansvon]

My bank is now not showing the charge from AT&T and the money is back in. What does that usually mean?