Update: I called Apple corporate and went through all the different automated things until I finally was able to talk to a human. I moved up the totem pole a few times to speak with a manager and explained what happened.
Explained that most in my 8am group were denied. And that online hundreds of people with ridiculously good scores were being denied, and those with little to no credit were. I asked if the goal was to find people who had little good credit in hopes that they rack up fees, of course the answer was no.
I directed them to this forum, and other sites were hundreds of people were discussing it. They called citizens one with myself on the line and explained the situation. This was my final outcome:
At 8 am tomorrow, (because you can only do one reserve per 24 hours... So 24 hours from your reservation time if not 8am) make another appointment in store to get the new phone. Call citizens one 24 hours after their first attempt at processing your application. I received several emails regarding the financing so I can see when it was submitted. They at that time will have enough information from your application to tell whether you were legitimately denied (and the reasons) or if it was in error.
If it was an error, correct it and head back to Apple for round two. Unfortunately, they will have to pull your credit again and who knows... Two hard pulls in 24 hours may cause it to be denied again. But this is what Apple told me to do. Hopefully the bank can flag something to allow it to go through if it was an error.
Personally, if it is an error, I fully intend to dispute the hard pull.
