Best Buy Expects 'Minimal Inventory' of iPhone 4 on Launch Day

[tsuehpsyde]

Posting from my 3GS that I bought at Best Buy. The pre-order and purchase went flawless last year (new customer). This year, I tried for 4 hours to pre order with At&T or Apple and their systems were completely screwed.

I walked into Best Buy (with no lines at all) and pre ordered in <2 mins. I predict my purchase to be just as easy. If not? I wait a week tops. Sure beats the mess Apple and AT&T had people deal with. Lol @ the haters.

 

[strangelogic]

Why would anyone buy via best buy or ATT knowing well that there was phones available to pre-order on the Apple website.

Some of us get bad service from FedEx and UPS... Some of us can't deal with the arrogant store employees in our area, Some of us like the other perks that other retailers give us for doing business with them, and - Some of us want the device without all the drama/hype - and in my case - totally willing to wait a few months if I have to, though I would prefer to have it sooner.

feels like a slow news day here. And - this thread really makes me see the cult of in a new light... 90% of the comments seem to be moaning about best buy, by people who didn't order there, and essentially questioning the intelligence of those who choose to do business with them... NICE

 

[bhsu21]

I hardly ever buy stuff from Best Buy. Compared to Amazon their prices are so much higher!!

 

[jaykid007]

Some of us get bad service from FedEx and UPS... Some of us can't deal with the arrogant store employees in our area, Some of us like the other perks that other retailers give us for doing business with them, and - Some of us want the device without all the drama/hype - and in my case - totally willing to wait a few months if I have to, though I would prefer to have it sooner.

feels like a slow news day here. And - this thread really makes me see the cult of in a new light... 90% of the comments seem to be moaning about best buy, by people who didn't order there, and essentially questioning the intelligence of those who choose to do business with them... NICE

Never thought of it that way! Now I know better.

 

[41qser]

Some of us get bad service from FedEx and UPS... Some of us can't deal with the arrogant store employees in our area, Some of us like the other perks that other retailers give us for doing business with them, and - Some of us want the device without all the drama/hype - and in my case - totally willing to wait a few months if I have to, though I would prefer to have it sooner.

feels like a slow news day here. And - this thread really makes me see the cult of in a new light... 90% of the comments seem to be moaning about best buy, by people who didn't order there, and essentially questioning the intelligence of those who choose to do business with them... NICE

You make no sense. Thanks for playing.

 

[DaREdBaRoN]

That is why I don't shop at Best Buy........

We no longer have to try to sell magazine subscriptions because no one ever signed up. But still a company tried to sell you something so you no longer shop there? There are plenty of legit reasons to not shop at BB but yours seems kinda dumb

 

[summerpeach]

Posting from my 3GS that I bought at Best Buy. The pre-order and purchase went flawless last year (new customer). This year, I tried for 4 hours to pre order with At&T or Apple and their systems were completely screwed.

I walked into Best Buy (with no lines at all) and pre ordered in <2 mins. I predict my purchase to be just as easy. If not? I wait a week tops. Sure beats the mess Apple and AT&T had people deal with. Lol @ the haters.

yeah, seriously. at least i wasn't among those who stayed up all night and still didn't get my reservation in. i took <10 minutes and if i don't get it on launch day, at least i had a full nights' sleep that night!

 

[summerpeach]

You make no sense. Thanks for playing.

actually, s/he makes perfect sense.

 

[Jamie 360]

I feel for those caught up in this, but it has to be said (and re-said):
bestbuy sucks and anyone who does business with them deserves what they get.

Have always hated Best Buy. The atmosphere sucks and their website is even worse. I miss Circuit City....always had good service there. But I have to admit, there is something hilarious about the iPhone being sold at Walmart. All I can picture is a 4.0 display stand right next to the Little Debbie section when you first walk in the store. And perhaps even pay for it in the garden section?

 

[Sean4123]

Some of us get bad service from FedEx and UPS... Some of us can't deal with the arrogant store employees in our area, Some of us like the other perks that other retailers give us for doing business with them, and - Some of us want the device without all the drama/hype - and in my case - totally willing to wait a few months if I have to, though I would prefer to have it sooner.

feels like a slow news day here. And - this thread really makes me see the cult of in a new light... 90% of the comments seem to be moaning about best buy, by people who didn't order there, and essentially questioning the intelligence of those who choose to do business with them... NICE

Best Buy is by far, without a doubt in my mind, the worst Electronics Store on the planet. Their staff is beyond moronic. They hire some of the worst people i've ever dealt with. There are websites DEDICATED to how bad Best Buy Sucks. You sound like this news has affected you a little more than you'd like to admit.

 

[Statusnone88]

We no longer have to try to sell magazine subscriptions because no one ever signed up. But still a company tried to sell you something so you no longer shop there? There are plenty of legit reasons to not shop at BB but yours seems kinda dumb

I worked for best buy for 2 long years. 6 months of those selling to people. I hate best buy as much as anyone else, but they are NOT the worst retailer on the planet. There are a lot of decent, knowledgeable kids in there. I also worked for a GNC... You wanna talk a money hungry company? Work for GNC for 2 months.

tl;dr best buy sucks, but they're not THAT bad (comparatively speaking)

 

[ChrisMurrayOU]

Sure glad I live in a college town during the summer and probably didn't have too many people do pre-orders in my Best Buy. If I don't get one even though I was "guaranteed" to get it on launch day, maybe they'll throw a $20 gift card or something my way. Hey, it would be one less Christmas present to buy.

 

[hancock]

unfortunately I had to pre-order through best buy since apple's and att's websites were essentially down by the time I started trying to pre-order. I am 7th in line at best buy though so maybe that is minimal enough for me to still get one...

 

[ChrisMurrayOU]

Best Buy is by far, without a doubt in my mind, the worst Electronics Store on the planet. Their staff is beyond moronic. They hire some of the worst people i've ever dealt with. There are websites DEDICATED to how bad Best Buy Sucks. You sound like this news has affected you a little more than you'd like to admit.

Ever heard of Ultimate Electronics? It's like $5k for a vacuum in that place. Have no idea how they stay in business. They might be worse than Best Buy. Maybe.

 

[ChrisMurrayOU]

And hey, for the people who know your place in queue at Best Buy, did you just call and ask?

 

[DustyLBottoms]

Best Buy is by far, without a doubt in my mind, the worst Electronics Store on the planet. Their staff is beyond moronic. They hire some of the worst people i've ever dealt with. There are websites DEDICATED to how bad Best Buy Sucks. You sound like this news has affected you a little more than you'd like to admit.

Which is why I shop at the Buy More.

 

[splashnader]

Android hasn't outsold iPhone. Anywhere. Data speaks. Period.

Usually when somebody starts off a sentence with the word Gee, everything that follows will be sarcasm.

 

[Russiaone]

OK, some smart-elleck took my previous answer, so know I have to make something up on the spot to contribute to this topic...

ORBA SQUARA!

 

[ceiph]

i understand some people may not like bestbuy but for alot of people it wasnt a first choice, after apple wouldnt let me pre order, only reserve, and att wouldnt sell the phone in the premier store i figured why not check out bestbuy. I was first in line and no hassles, Come launch day if bestbuy fails i have my apple reserve to fall back on but bestbuy allows authorized users while apple wants the account holder there.

 

[cvaldes]

Usually when somebody starts off a sentence with the word Gee, everything that follows will be sarcasm.

"Usually" is the operative word.

You devalued your response by invoking this exception.

 

[Vudoo]

I stopped by Best Buy on my way home and it took me 5 mins to pre-order and I'm number 42. If I don't get my iPhone on launch day, big deal. It's just a phone and it's not like I don't have a phone that I can't use. I just got the iPhone 3G last year and it still works.

Now why Best Buy? I didn't want to deal with the issues of pre-ordering through AT&T or Apple. Not to mention I get reward points with Best Buy. It's not much of a discount, but it all adds up. I'm a Silver Reward member for 2 years now and have gotten hundreds of dollars back. I'll find the cheapest price locally and Best Buy price matches it. If they are not the cheapest, I'll order it on-line.

I've been following this iPhone 4 craziness and it's amusing how people are getting all work up about something that will be replaced in a year by something newer and better. I guess if you don't have a full time job, you have time to camp out. And if I was going to take time off of work, I'll be vacationing some where nice instead of waiting in line.

 

[Psiklops]

Man, I wish people would stop using the term "pre-order" as it relates to picking up the phone in the Apple store. There is no "pre-order", only a "reservation", that you can get at an Apple store. For a full explanation of your purchasing options see this post on Apple's discussion board.

 

[Dobbs2]

Why doesn't everyone calm down until launch day. This isn't a Bestbuy thing. Apple originally allotted a certain amount to my store. Well about a week ago apple changed the amount after we had taken pre-orders. We had a store wide memo that told us to not take anymore until further notice. Now, we have more in transit to our store then what apple's adjusted amount. Just wait till launch day to freak out.

 

[rynep]

Are we sure they aren't just talking about the White version. Could be a typo? It's not like it would be the first omission from these guideline sheets.

Hey, I walked into best buy on pre-order day and was 10th. I better get a damn phone Thursday!

 

[lamar0607]

And hey, for the people who know your place in queue at Best Buy, did you just call and ask?

They had me fill out a piece of paper with my name and number and in the top right corner they hand wrote in "8". They have barcodes scanned on the paper into their computer and then they photocopied the paper for themselves and gave me the original.