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

I got the bad news call, too. Like others I just missed being in the first wave. There are no Apple stores here so I'll wait for the next shipment to Best Buy. My store didn't know when that would be but I'm guessing it will be the 29th since that's when AT&T expects to have more.
 
Well I got a call from BB this morning and they left a message cause I was busy.

I was #12 & #13 when I walked in there around 11:15am on the 15th. I was out in less than 5 minutes.

I have my appointment to pick up the phones tomorrow at 8:30am.

Just wanted to say Ha to all those that were saying buying from BB was the worst idea because they weren't getting any. Those who say BB has bad prices just don't know how to shop there...price match!
 
:( No phone for me unfortunately... Normally I would be highly irate but it's not their fault, it's Apple's... So now I have more time to wait for mine... That's fine, atleast I'll know all the good and bad about the phone before I get mine and I'll have my case... :)
Still sad tho :( but that's life...
 
Cheers to Best Buy this time!

Well, my preorder was filled, although it took a second shipment of iPhones delivered this morning (launch day morning) to fill it. Was told early this morning that I did not receive one and would have to wait 5-7 business for the next shipment, then got a call around lunch that my 32GB phone had arrived.

Oh, happy day! :)

Aside from the antenna issue (which I experienced on both a 16GB and a 32GB) phone, the iPhone 4 is a nice piece of work indeed. I ordered a black Bumper case to be arriving in 5 - 7 days, so the antenna won't be an issue then.
 
C'mon, enough is enough

I am going to rant here so if you don't want to hear it, then move on right now....

I stood in line for all three releases of iPhone. the last release (3gs), they sold out, and I had to wait. I called every AT&T and Apple store in the Phoenix Area, and no one had the iphone. So I waited, and waited. I then got one from an AT&T store after being told they would not have any for another two weeks. It was white, but that was OK. The point is nobody knows how many phones each store will get, but everyone knows they will not receive enough, and they will have to deal with pissed off customers.

I ask every one of you to abstain from purchasing an iphone for at least a month. I feel Apple is intentionally shorting stores to keep the cool factor and demand high. Please stop buying into this ridiculous marketing tactic until they start to treat their customers like real people and not the frenzied cattle we show ourselves to be. I can wait, it will save me the headaches, and frustration. I would bet real money that if we as customers stopped standing in line for their phones, a lot of extra inventory would suddenly appear to meet the demand.

Not to mention the insult of having AT&T raise their cancellation fees to keep customers at bay in case Apple offers the iPhone to another carrier.

So to recap, we, and I include myself, will stand in line for a (CELL PHONE) for hours, be frustrated with the new release and wait for software updates for it to work properly, agree to outrageous cancellation fees from the carrier, complain about the injustice corporations levy upon us, and then go ahead and do it anyway.

Not this time. I will wait until I can walk into a store at my leisure, and pick up the iphone 4 when I feel like it. that is what shopping is supposed to be about, catering to the customer to get their business, not the other way around.
 
mangohippo said:
So you're telling me that a retail giant like Best Buy, the nation's largest electronics store, can't determine exactly how many iPhone's each store will have? I think Apple, AT&T, and now Best Buy need to reeducate themselves on exactly what a pre-order is. I'd hate to be one of those people who pre-ordered at a Best Buy and have to be told how their effort to pre-order a product (with a deposit) was essentially worthless. I guess I also would hate to be one of those Best Buy employees who has to hand back someone's $50 deposit as a Best Buy gift card and tell them they "probably won't receive an iPhone within the next month". I sincerely hope Best Buy employees have dental insurance.
Click to expand...

A lot of this issue has to do with UPS or FedEX delivering the product. I am confused lately how phones got delivered early where Apple seems like they have been sticklers for specified delivery dates.
 
zipperfoot said:
I am going to rant here so if you don't want to hear it, then move on right now....

I stood in line for all three releases of iPhone. the last release (3gs), they sold out, and I had to wait. I called every AT&T and Apple store in the Phoenix Area, and no one had the iphone. So I waited, and waited. I then got one from an AT&T store after being told they would not have any for another two weeks. It was white, but that was OK. The point is nobody knows how many phones each store will get, but everyone knows they will not receive enough, and they will have to deal with pissed off customers.

I ask every one of you to abstain from purchasing an iphone for at least a month. I feel Apple is intentionally shorting stores to keep the cool factor and demand high. Please stop buying into this ridiculous marketing tactic until they start to treat their customers like real people and not the frenzied cattle we show ourselves to be. I can wait, it will save me the headaches, and frustration. I would bet real money that if we as customers stopped standing in line for their phones, a lot of extra inventory would suddenly appear to meet the demand.

Not to mention the insult of having AT&T raise their cancellation fees to keep customers at bay in case Apple offers the iPhone to another carrier.

So to recap, we, and I include myself, will stand in line for a (CELL PHONE) for hours, be frustrated with the new release and wait for software updates for it to work properly, agree to outrageous cancellation fees from the carrier, complain about the injustice corporations levy upon us, and then go ahead and do it anyway.

Not this time. I will wait until I can walk into a store at my leisure, and pick up the iphone 4 when I feel like it. that is what shopping is supposed to be about, catering to the customer to get their business, not the other way around.
Click to expand...


Stay strong brotha!! Keep fightin the good fight :D
 
"Where to begin... Well I guess I'll begin with the fact that I did go to Best Buy in XXXX,XX on the Tuesday to get my preorder in for a black 32gb iPhone 4. I happily walked out with my receipt and the false hope of having an iPhone shortly... Sadly, over the next few days I began noticing that my precious preorder was nothing more than a mere heartbreaking piece of paper... I began reading that Best Buys wouldn't have enough phones to even fill their preorders... I called several times up until the day before launch to find out any news I could... Starting out being told "we have 40 on order and we stopped preorders @ 33 so we'll have walk ins available you WILL get yours on launch day"... Yay!!! No :(
Sadly enough the day after that "we are only getting in 12 16's and 2 32's"... Again, I was hopeful... Till about 9:06pm Wednesday night my phone rang and with disheartening news... I was not to get my shiny new phone so my daughter could inherit my 3GS... She's more pissed than myself about it but here I am complaining because of all the reports that Apple stores had SOOOOOO many phones people were just skipping out with them having no preorder at all... I am very saddened with Apple that they could not see to fulfill their phone obligations to Best Buy... It's not Best Buys fault that Apple kept 1000's of iPhones from their intended fans that went with the express intent to get an iPhone at their favorite electronics store... There isn't an Apple store near me that I can just drive down the street and purchase one... I go to Best Buy because I have the rewards card and I like their customer service (atleast at my store, I do NOT know about others and their own experiences)... In anticipation of my new phone I ordered a case and a new skin with pictures of my 3 precious kids on it to put on the back as I have done with all, and I do mean all, the models of iPhones that have come out... I began with the "2g" and currently am at the 3GS... I have become such an Apple fan my husband, mother and daughter all have iPhones... No it doesn't have all the features of other phones but it's lasted this long and does so much already... I will continue to be an Apple fanboy as much as those around me but I am very frustrated at not getting my phone that I was "guaranteed" by Best Buy because Apple had said so...
Sincerely
A very unfulfilled preorderer...."


I know that this email (yes this was my email to the complaint department) probably won't get any attention but still made me feel a little better about it... I will be happy when I finally get a call to come get my phone but I felt the need to email them...
Happy iPhone 4'ing to all those that were lucky enough to get theirs :)
 
iMistress166 said:
...but here I am complaining because of all the reports that Apple stores had SOOOOOO many phones people were just skipping out with them having no preorder at all...
Click to expand...

That is a tough pill to swallow. Doesn't make much sense, huh?
 
SeaFox said:
I wonder which makes you a bigger target for thieves. One has an Apple logo on it, the other you can see what is being carried.
Click to expand...

It's probably 50/50 but atleast with me I take everything out of the bag and put it in my purse before I leave lol
 
SeaFox said:
I wonder which makes you a bigger target for thieves. One has an Apple logo on it, the other you can see what is being carried.
Click to expand...

I left the store with my phone in a biohazard cleanup bag and still had to stab seven men on the way to my car. :eek:
 
The post was a half-joke. Obviously stores want to advertise that you just shopped in their business, I was really remarking how the store's aren't really thinking about the increased danger they put their customers in with their fancy bags. Think how much safer shoppers would be if stores all just used plain paper bags for purchases. Plus the stores would save money on all the custom printing and stuff they do now.
 
SeaFox said:
The post was a half-joke. Obviously stores want to advertise that you just shopped in their business, I was really remarking how the store's aren't really thinking about the increased danger they put their customers in with their fancy bags. Think how much safer shoppers would be if stores all just used plain paper bags for purchases. Plus the stores would save money on all the custom printing and stuff they do now.
Click to expand...

Boy could my Ops manager at the last best buy I worked at complain about the cost of bags! Lol! (7 years ago, I wonder how much they cost now?)

Sorry not everyone got their phones. :(
 
I find it ironic that my case for the iPhone 4 came in on launch day but it sits in my purse empty lol... Anyone have any delivery dates for new phones to BB?
 
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