FYI- I posted this exact message to Apple's own forum. They deleted it in less than 5 min.
This really isn't a company I'd prefer to do business with.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
ATT [and Apple] drop the ball: Please rant here
- Thread starter animenick65
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
FYI- I posted this exact message to Apple's own forum. They deleted it in less than 5 min.
This really isn't a company I'd prefer to do business with.
Great job Apple!!!! 3+hours of iTunes telling me 1.1.4 is the current version!!!!! Funny, I checked all over their website and there is nothing about them pulling 2.0. I was shocked
I did my research, surfed the net, read the blogs, and called a couple of AT&T stores to gauge the stock of iPhones. Did my homework and confirmed by phone and internet that I was upgrade eligble. Also realized that Apple stores would be crazy busy and not able to fix any AT&T issues, and decided not to go to an Apple store.
Went to my local (Largo, FL) AT&T store at 4:30am, 7 people in line ahead. Knew this was a good thing, as my research suggested that each store was going to get about 20-40 iPhones. Had a great time with people in line, well worth the wait, lots of kidding around and joking. We even moved two chairs near the front back to the end of the line, these guys were in their A/C car while all of us were sweating in line. Somebody bought egg mcmuffins for all of us, and I had my 2G iPhone and a DVD player to pass the time. The line at 8pm was about 50 people, somebody didn't do their homework!
AT&T staff were great, went through the line at 7:30am, getting info about our upgrade eligibility and which iPhone we wanted. Very professional. Surprisingly, a lot of people ahead of me wanted a white iPhone, but good for me, I wanted a black 16gb. Went inside at 8pm, they had about 7 service reps to process everything. Activation did lock up, but after about 45 minutes all was cool, I had my iPhone 3G. They even traded out my iPhone for another one when I noticed a dented microphone mesh cover.
Everybody was cool and calm, great experience overall and much smoother than I expected. For such a great platform and high demand/expectations, Apple and AT&T overall did a great job, just to give another opinion.
Went to my local (Largo, FL) AT&T store at 4:30am, 7 people in line ahead. Knew this was a good thing, as my research suggested that each store was going to get about 20-40 iPhones. Had a great time with people in line, well worth the wait, lots of kidding around and joking. We even moved two chairs near the front back to the end of the line, these guys were in their A/C car while all of us were sweating in line. Somebody bought egg mcmuffins for all of us, and I had my 2G iPhone and a DVD player to pass the time. The line at 8pm was about 50 people, somebody didn't do their homework!
AT&T staff were great, went through the line at 7:30am, getting info about our upgrade eligibility and which iPhone we wanted. Very professional. Surprisingly, a lot of people ahead of me wanted a white iPhone, but good for me, I wanted a black 16gb. Went inside at 8pm, they had about 7 service reps to process everything. Activation did lock up, but after about 45 minutes all was cool, I had my iPhone 3G. They even traded out my iPhone for another one when I noticed a dented microphone mesh cover.
Everybody was cool and calm, great experience overall and much smoother than I expected. For such a great platform and high demand/expectations, Apple and AT&T overall did a great job, just to give another opinion.
Heres what pisses me off.
I'm a business client. new contract, never been with ATT. Went to the store at 7:30. Stood in line for 10 minutes and someone came and said they had x phones and I wouldnt be getting one (too far back) okay, no problem. Went back at noon to an empty store to confirm I needed to go there to get a phone
I drive up to Tice Corner tonight to the Apple store, theres still a moving line 60 people deep and growing at 6pm.
What gives? pisses me off
oh well, tomorrows a new day.
I'm a business client. new contract, never been with ATT. Went to the store at 7:30. Stood in line for 10 minutes and someone came and said they had x phones and I wouldnt be getting one (too far back) okay, no problem. Went back at noon to an empty store to confirm I needed to go there to get a phone
I drive up to Tice Corner tonight to the Apple store, theres still a moving line 60 people deep and growing at 6pm.
What gives? pisses me off
oh well, tomorrows a new day.
Well FWIW, I went by 4 AT&T stores around Houston today (including the "main" store on 59) all of which were long sold out of every version of the iPhone.
Defeated, I dediced to swing by the Apple store in the Galleria on the off chance that they had a few left. I got there around 11am and the line was a couple hundred people long (literally). So I hopped in and all they could tell me at the back was that they had "no idea" how many iPhones were left and there was "no way to tell." Riiiiight.
So after 4 hours in line I get to the front and they tell me that have "a whole lot" of every version of the iphone left...mind you this is with a store FULL of clerks selling the phones nonstop since 8am. (My inability to activate until a 2 hours AT&T conversation and sitting in their "customer care" line for another 2 hours is another story).
But at the end of the day, I walked away with my black 16gb. All this to say that I think ol' Stevie is once again stroking his own back because he knows he's got the market locked. From the AT&T stores I visted, each only got a handful of iPhones, while just down the street he had created mass hysteria at the local Apple store as people lined up for hours upon hours to get close to their HUGE stockpile of iPhones. Why not just distribute it a LIL' more evenly? Just a lil'?
So who wins here? Apple or the people? Apple...again...
Defeated, I dediced to swing by the Apple store in the Galleria on the off chance that they had a few left. I got there around 11am and the line was a couple hundred people long (literally). So I hopped in and all they could tell me at the back was that they had "no idea" how many iPhones were left and there was "no way to tell."
Riiiiight.So after 4 hours in line I get to the front and they tell me that have "a whole lot" of every version of the iphone left...mind you this is with a store FULL of clerks selling the phones nonstop since 8am. (My inability to activate until a 2 hours AT&T conversation and sitting in their "customer care"
line for another 2 hours is another story).But at the end of the day, I walked away with my black 16gb. All this to say that I think ol' Stevie is once again stroking his own back because he knows he's got the market locked. From the AT&T stores I visted, each only got a handful of iPhones, while just down the street he had created mass hysteria at the local Apple store as people lined up for hours upon hours to get close to their HUGE stockpile of iPhones. Why not just distribute it a LIL' more evenly? Just a lil'?
So who wins here? Apple or the people? Apple...again...
FWIW, here in San Luis Obispo, CA, I first went to the ATT store. I was about 70th in line. About 9:00, a rep came out and let us know that they only had about 10 phones left, which means I was SOL. I drove 5 min to the Apple store, was in line about 1:10, and got the phone I wanted. They weren't able to register my phone, but I got right on when I got home 15 min. later. Not a bad experience at all.
Jenn
Jenn
I was in line at 5:00 and was about 80th in line and I didn't get my iPhone until 12:30, it went at like 1 person every 7-10 minutes or so. RIDICULOUS!!!
Horrific Day
I had a wonderful time at both AT&T and Apple store.
I arrived at the AT&T Store at 6:40AM California time. There were approximately 80-100 people ahead of me. When the store opened at 8AM there were 200 people behind me.
About 9:30AM I heard one rep tell another rep "I'll show you where the breakpoint is." Meaning that they found the point in the line (about 50 behind me) to send home because they would be out of phones.
About 10AM, they announced that they were out of the black 16Gb and only had a few left of the white. I finally arrived at the counter at 10:20AM. The rep went to check stock and came back after finding they just sold out of the white 16Gb.
I then drove 20 minutes to the Apple Store at the local mall. I arrived about 10:45AM. I then ended up standing (and sitting) in line until about 3PM.
When I got into the store, the rep tried to register my white 16Gb iPhone. The system went down mid-stream and screwed up the process of porting my Verizon number. I then spent until 5:10PM with the Conceirge service rep who finally fixed the program and registered my phone. I also was able to set up my Comcast e-mail.
I'm too tired now to play with my phone.
This is also my first post to the MacRumors forum.
I hope it gets better from here on out. 10 1/2 hours is a bit much for anyone. It better be a damn good phone.
I had a wonderful time at both AT&T and Apple store.
I arrived at the AT&T Store at 6:40AM California time. There were approximately 80-100 people ahead of me. When the store opened at 8AM there were 200 people behind me.
About 9:30AM I heard one rep tell another rep "I'll show you where the breakpoint is." Meaning that they found the point in the line (about 50 behind me) to send home because they would be out of phones.
About 10AM, they announced that they were out of the black 16Gb and only had a few left of the white. I finally arrived at the counter at 10:20AM. The rep went to check stock and came back after finding they just sold out of the white 16Gb.
I then drove 20 minutes to the Apple Store at the local mall. I arrived about 10:45AM. I then ended up standing (and sitting) in line until about 3PM.
When I got into the store, the rep tried to register my white 16Gb iPhone. The system went down mid-stream and screwed up the process of porting my Verizon number. I then spent until 5:10PM with the Conceirge service rep who finally fixed the program and registered my phone. I also was able to set up my Comcast e-mail.
I'm too tired now to play with my phone.
This is also my first post to the MacRumors forum.
I hope it gets better from here on out. 10 1/2 hours is a bit much for anyone. It better be a damn good phone.
My experiece at AT&T Store in downtown Minneapolis was as bad as my experience at the Apple Store in Rosedale Mall was good. 2 1/2 hours in line at AT&T, about 20 people had gotten in when they announced only 8 gb black left. AT&T reps were condescending and uninformative. Went to Apple Store mid-day, a long line but it moved relatively fast and the employees were friendly, helpful, handed out water, gave good indications of stock, etc. It took awhile to do a new account, and there were problems on AT&T's end, but the Apple employee (Will, I think) calmly worked it out with them and got us on our way. They turned what started out as a bad day into a good one.
Rule #1 of macrumors posting:
The unlockers are always right.
It's pointless to try to engage in a debate over it, so don't bother.
The unlockers are always right.
It's pointless to try to engage in a debate over it, so don't bother.
I can't confirm this, but I was told in line today that AT&T stores DID NOT SELL OUT... they can only sell so many phones as day so they can sell them thru the weekend... meaning Sat morning, they will be selling more.
I wonder if Mark is on a forum somewhere talking about the "idiot" customer who while standing in a line of 300 people asked him "Do you think you will have enough if I come back later today?"
I am in Bakersfield, California. We have four AT&T stores. I picked the one in the worst area, thinking people would be less likely to camp out over night. I arrived at 6:30am, and was about the 23rd person in line. Workers were handing out information and checking to make sure we were upgrade eligible, and it seemed really efficient and surprisingly simple. By 7:59am there were about 30 people behind me, and one who had been behind me, but managed to cut in line about 10 people in front of me. Before they even opened the doors the manager told us that he was out of phones. He had one white 16GB left and the guy two people in front of me in line took it. I have no idea how the manager estimated this inventory, but he ended up being wrong, and that guy didn't get a phone. He told us to stay in line and they would do "Direct Fulfillment Orders" for us, and we would get the phones either tomorrow or Monday. (delivered to the store)
Right at 8:00am the let about twenty people in the store. I think they had eight stations operating with AT&T reps. The first customer with an iPhone in hand didn't emerge until 8:45am. I thought it was only going to take 15 minutes? Each time a person left they would let one of us in. I only had a few people in front of me after they let the initial group in, but I didn't make it through the doors until 9:40am. It took them and hour and forty minutes to sell 5 or 6 iPhones. They were complaining about the system being slow, but most of the employees seemed a little "slow" too. The girl who helped me was really nice and set up my order for a black 16GB, that I should get tomorrow or Monday, I hope.
I thought it was odd that they only received 20 phones. I guess I shouldn't have. I think they had 10 8GB and 10 white 16GB. She said that it is in the best interest of Apple and AT&T to sell more phones in Apple Stores rather than AT&T stores, because AT&T store reps get paid commission on each phone that they sell and Apple Store employees don't. It isn't a huge commission but it adds up when you are dealing with the number of iPhones that will be sold, and it eats into their profit. Not sure how accurate her comment was, but it seemed plausible.
Well, I hope I have my phone within the next couple days.
Right at 8:00am the let about twenty people in the store. I think they had eight stations operating with AT&T reps. The first customer with an iPhone in hand didn't emerge until 8:45am. I thought it was only going to take 15 minutes? Each time a person left they would let one of us in. I only had a few people in front of me after they let the initial group in, but I didn't make it through the doors until 9:40am. It took them and hour and forty minutes to sell 5 or 6 iPhones. They were complaining about the system being slow, but most of the employees seemed a little "slow" too. The girl who helped me was really nice and set up my order for a black 16GB, that I should get tomorrow or Monday, I hope.
I thought it was odd that they only received 20 phones. I guess I shouldn't have. I think they had 10 8GB and 10 white 16GB. She said that it is in the best interest of Apple and AT&T to sell more phones in Apple Stores rather than AT&T stores, because AT&T store reps get paid commission on each phone that they sell and Apple Store employees don't. It isn't a huge commission but it adds up when you are dealing with the number of iPhones that will be sold, and it eats into their profit. Not sure how accurate her comment was, but it seemed plausible.
Well, I hope I have my phone within the next couple days.
I have a good one. I called AT&T 3ti
We this week make sure I was elligible for upgrade and was
Told yes I was only to wait n line for 3 hours at apple to find
Out I wasn't apple was great and called them for me and five total hours lAter I had my phone and 3 free months of service from AT&T because of their mistake!
We this week make sure I was elligible for upgrade and was
Told yes I was only to wait n line for 3 hours at apple to find
Out I wasn't apple was great and called them for me and five total hours lAter I had my phone and 3 free months of service from AT&T because of their mistake!
Marksman...I've on skimmed this post, but how you're attempting to defend AT&T in todays escapades is beyond me. Not one single thing went smoothly today, whether it was iTunes faltering (not AT&T's fault) or Apple having to shut down numerous stores with ample supply and lines around the block because AT&T was shutting down their account setup services for the night (Completely AT&T's fault). This is AT&T's biggest day of the year...keeping your servers up around the clock would have paid for itself many times over tonight.
I guarantee the Apple and AT&T PR departments could not have imagined a worse launch to the iPhone 3G. You can try to spin it any way you like, but the first release had issues and you're supposed to learn from your mistakes, not exacerbate them the second time around. Both companies get two emphatic thumbs down for today's effort
I guarantee the Apple and AT&T PR departments could not have imagined a worse launch to the iPhone 3G. You can try to spin it any way you like, but the first release had issues and you're supposed to learn from your mistakes, not exacerbate them the second time around. Both companies get two emphatic thumbs down for today's effort
on line at apple store 5th ave. A lot of angry people here because people have been waiting for 4 hours, and due to AT&T 's servers, they can't activate people after midnight. About 300 angry people here and apple store employees saying to wait in line until 700am when AT&T servers will be back online.
I got in line at the AT&T by my house at 9:20AM, 2 1/2 hours later I walked out with a white 16Gig in my bag! The personnel were quite friendly and informative. They came out several times to let us know how many phones were left...I should not have gotten one, but I stayed in line to get my name on a list, and by the process of elimination, I got the very last phone in the store, could not believe it! They did tell us they only had 60 phones today, would get more tomorrow, but not 60.
No yellow on my display at all, so far I am loving it...it all went smooth as clock work for me, in fact, it went so well, I almost went to buy a lottery ticket, too...LOL
I wanted to add, when AT&T started jamming up trying to activate the phones, they decided to just let us have them and activate them at home on ITunes. At first, I couldn't get thru, either, but a couple of hours later I tried again, and it went thru smooth as glass! I'm glad they had the sense to do that, versus holding everyone up for hours and hours! I was extremely pleased with the service I received today, too bad it couldn't have worked that way for everyone!
They did tell us they only had 60 phones today, would get more tomorrow, but not 60. No yellow on my display at all, so far I am loving it...it all went smooth as clock work for me, in fact, it went so well, I almost went to buy a lottery ticket, too...LOL
I wanted to add, when AT&T started jamming up trying to activate the phones, they decided to just let us have them and activate them at home on ITunes. At first, I couldn't get thru, either, but a couple of hours later I tried again, and it went thru smooth as glass! I'm glad they had the sense to do that, versus holding everyone up for hours and hours! I was extremely pleased with the service I received today, too bad it couldn't have worked that way for everyone!
it's really sad to see this thread go the way of petty bickering, but I guess what can you expect.
I opted not to go out and get a 3G iPhone today, and it seems like I made the right decision. I just with this server thing would get worked out. I want to get meself some 2.0
I opted not to go out and get a 3G iPhone today, and it seems like I made the right decision. I just with this server thing would get worked out. I want to get meself some 2.0
I still don't get why apparently New Jersey is the only state unworthy of having stock replenished in the AM. They're wiped out practically everywhere that is not close to NY, and I surely am not making a fool of myself and driving hours upon hours for one.