With plenty of company, I stayed up all night on the east coast and was able to immediately start trying to order an iPhone 4 when the Apple system opened at 4 a.m. I was having no luck, and when around 5:15 a.m. I saw a post saying that the att.com site was working well, I gave up on Apple and ordered our two phones from AT&T for home delivery, completing the process right around 5:30 a.m. Despite receiving a confirmation page and order number (which I printed out), I neither received a confirming email, nor was I able at any time on the 15th to see any record on the ATT order inquiry site. I reached an AT&T CSR on two different occasions, but neither was at all substantively helpful. That afternoon, still not be able to confirm that my order had gone through (the ATT site reported we were both still eligible for upgrade), I decided to try the Apple online store again, but could only succeed in making a reservation--so I reserved another two phones. That evening, when posters reported the Apple site becoming responsive, I tried placing a home delivery order with Apple first for my own iPhone (as a "Guest" since it wouldn't take my Apple ID password) but apparently failed since furthest I ever got was to click the final button which simply pulled up a "Processing" screen which hung on the spinny thingee (I'm sure there is a technical term) interminably. So, I figured I had failed and that I'd just wait until ATT either confirmed or repudiated my order number, and in the latter case would just show up early to pick up my reserved phones at the Apple store.
Surprisingly, though, about an hour later I received an email from Apple confirming my order for one phone as placed Tuesday evening, complete with an order number that was recognized by the order status page, and confirming delivery on the 24th.
The next morning, the 16th, I saw a post reporting that the AT&T site was updating order status, and when I checked I saw my order confirmed, but recorded as having been placed on the 16th, rather than in the early morning hours of the day before when it was actually placed. A bit later I received a confirmation email from AT&T acknowledging the order and advising it would filled in the order received--probably referring to some time on the 16th, more than 24 hours later than when it was actually placed.
So now I have an iPhone for me on confirmed order with Apple promising delivery on the 24th, an iPhone for me and another for my wife on confirmed order with AT&T, but with an order date that may not result in delivery on the 24th, and another pair of iPhones reserved at the Apple Retail Store.
My concern is that at some point Apple and AT&T will cross-check their orders, find two phones ordered for the same wireless number, and cancel one of them. If it turns out it is the Apple order that is cancelled, I may risk not receiving the AT&T phones until after I have to leave the country for six weeks on the 26th. Consequently, I'm thinking that perhaps the best course may be to attempt to contact AT&T and cancel the phone I had ordered for me, and to try to let the AT&T order for my wife go through whenever it delivers.
With all the chaos in the systems, I'd prefer to just wait for a shipping notice, but I'd hate to risk not being able to use FaceTime to keep in touch from Europe without having to drag my MBP, or to have to rely on the late-in-life short-charging battery in my 3GS during a long absence.
Any ideas or advice?
