Sometimes people overthink the 'customer is always right' rule. You are ONE person...giving away a few reserved phones because you get there too late isn't going to create some huge PR ****storm that Apple can't undo, and they know that. Seriously...why are people so naive? Why do you think it's 'your' phone when you haven't even paid for it? If and when they run out of stock I wouldn't be surprised if they sell off a few reserved phones in the meantime. THEY DID IT TO ME and not just me, search the forums...others as well.
And I think you missed the point that it would be bad business in the long run. I doubt Apple the company sees any advantage in selling reserved phones to customers who didn't reserve. It is not good business and it is not good for them making money. Why?
1. If the iphone is in that much demand, they'll sell it easy the next day if you don't come in. So they really aren't losing money by not selling it to some one who didn't reserve it. They'll just sell it the next day.
2. It gives off a lot of bad PR and hurt feelings towards them. Apple does some of its sales by at least making the appearances of a company that cares (note, I didn't claim they cared, I agree, they are in it for the money. But their marketing strategy hinges on people assuming they have good customer service. Telling people you will hold a product for them and hten not doing it is quite the opposite of good customer service).
Sure, if they were Best Buy who doesn't make a point of selling by making the appearances of caring it wouldn't harm them too mcuh to do this (it still would harm them. There's plenty of people including me who won't shop there cause they've been burned there but Best Buy does more of their selling by being low priced or at least the appearances of low prices).
Where I will concede is that I could see a manager who doesn't see the big picture doing exactly what you claim will happen. This doesn't mean every store will do that or that Apple condones the managers doing that (they probably simply don't know).
And by the way, I work retail. I wouldn't *think* of selling something I told some one was on hold to some one else. I don't even know why I would do that. I could care less about some *******'s wrath who thinks i should sell some one's reserved items to him. I care more abotu the wrath of some one who has every reason to be pissed off (the person that I would have lied to if I sold the item I told him I'd hold). I doubt any of my coworkers would do that either. What they might do is not notice the hold tag on the item and put it back on the shelf or forget to put a hold tag on the item so it gets sold to some one else. But I get the feeling Apple has a better system than we do for reserved items
😉 (we just put notes on things we tell customers we'll hold for htem).
