Well its over 2 hours later and I'm still here at the Apple Store. So whats been happening? I got here and there was still a huge line for the 4S, but since I wasn't buying one, I went to the front and started talking to the guy helping people at the door. He told me that because I ordered it at store.apple.com I couldn't get a brand new replacement since Apple Retail was a whole different entity, and that the best they could do would be to get me a service replacement (what ever that means), but that would take 30 minutes. They also told me that I could call 1800MYAPPLE and try to figure stuff out with them. So I figured I'd call the number, and arrange for them to overnight me a new phone and then get out of the store. But no, the guy on the phone said the quickest return/replace he could get me would be 4 weeks at best (and that some people who preordered won't even get their first phones until November). So yeahhhh... **** that option. So I started trying to deal with the Apple Store trying to get that so-called service replacement. After a while of thinking and having meetings, the guys got me a brand new 4S, still sealed and everything (something they weren't supposed to do, but I'm not going to complain). They then directed me to the sales people to check out, but they couldn't do so because they couldn't switch my ATT registration to the new phone because of the whole online/retail difference. They went back into their back room to see what they could do, and about 45 minutes later came out saying that they switched my phone, but since it wasn't a conventional replacement just to be on the safe side they said I should check with the ATT reps (who conveniently were there to deal with issues). So I go to them, they ask me for my number, last 4 digits of my dad's SSN (he is the primary account holder), and zip code. Now comes the fun part, they told me I am not authorized to do anything on the account because I am not an "authorized user" whatever that means. I told them that I am infact an authorized user, I have an account, I have a password, I have full control of my plan, I can upgrade, add new lines, delete lines, change rate plans etc. They said that is different and that an "authorized user" is one that has control over things that effect the financial side of things - not just have a login. I repeated that I have full access to every aspect of the plan and can do anything, but wasn't good enough for them. I argued with them for a solid 10 minutes saying that I do have full control of the account and that I can even delete my dad's line if I so wanted to, but they said that because I'm not my dad, and thats that. So I then called my dad to get me added to the account, but thats taking ages since everyone is calling ATT right now. My family has been with Cingular/ATT for over 12 years now, and this is the first time we're having issues with them trying to pull this kind of crap.
tl;dr summary, the Apple guys are amazing, they jumped through hoops and bent all the rules to get me a new phone ASAP. The ATT reps and their goddam bureaucracy are the ****ing devil.
. But oh well, I came out of there with everything working, so I'm going to be thankful for that.
