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Home empty handed. Need to vent.

Jiddick ExRex

Jiddick ExRex

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 14, 2006
1,469
0
Roskilde, DK
Just spent two friggin' hours waiting in line for our small local Telia store to open so I could get my 16GB Black. What does the clerk say when I go to the counter? : Sorry, we're out of 16GB Blacks.

WTH?? I was the number 13 customer! How can they only order 5-6 16GB phones and then gather that that must be enough...??!?
Are they complete and utter morons? Did they not know that they were going to sell them???

I am just baffled at this nooby way to run a business when there's a line in front of the store half an hour before it opens.
To top it off, all Telia stores countrywide had their POS system go down for half an hour because it couldn't handle all their customers.

Damn I am angry and disappointed at them. This has been an utter failure of a morning today.

Rant over.
 
I had very similar, 10th in line and they sold out. Up till then they had been saying "we've got plenty for all day".
I walked out with nothing, they refused to reserve one from the next delivery, and I didn't want an 8gig.
 
Jiddick ExRex said:
Just spent two friggin' hours waiting in line for our small local Telia store to open so I could get my 16GB Black. What does the clerk say when I go to the counter? : Sorry, we're out of 16GB Blacks.

WTH?? I was the number 13 customer! How can they only order 5-6 16GB phones and then gather that that must be enough...??!?
Click to expand...

I can understand your frustration — but the stores did not "order" their shipment. The number available were allocated by Apple… go vent at sjobs@apple.com. ;)
 
I'm in precisely the same situation here. Number 15 in line at my local O2 store. Two hours later, their "we have plenty of 16GB models" turned into "we have sold out of 16GB models".

Apple are treating their customers like something you would want to scrape off of your shoe. You would have thought this would be a PR disaster, but no doubt the media darlings will be able to spin it all to their advantage.
 
Also back from 5 hours queuing with nothing*

Was queuing at O2 Islington from 7:00am, got pretty much to the front door only for a member of staff to tell us that there were no 16GBs left.
I hurried over the road to CPW, where i'd put my name on a 'reserve list' for a 16GB earlier in the week, queued for a further 2 hours to be told that they weren't honouring reservations. They've ordered me one, should arrive on Monday, possibly even tomorrow.

The whole thing has been an absolute shambles, such a waste of time with all the upgrade issues. They should have allowed everyone to provisionally 'upgrade' before today and then just allow people to go into the store and pick up their phones this morning. I have to say, despite all the stress and disappointment, the atmosphere in the queue was great!

*I say nothing, I actually got a very nice free Burrito from the nice people at mucho-mas.co.uk
 
I pre-ordered in an O2 store in Dublin. At least they called me last night and told me not to bother coming in. I was 25th on the list and they didn't have 25 phones. I asked the guy how many they had. He didn't want to tell me because he was embarrassed but I got it out of him in the end: 11.

11!
 
So many great positive posts to respond to.

Yeah, the atmosphere in my line was also great, we even joked with how sad it would be if they had no iPhones left when we got there. Oh the irony...

If the amounts were indeed allocated by Apple, this is just another checkmark on 'Pull yourselves together and be more customer focused you horrible horrible company'.
It's like the general point of view from Apple lately has been turned ever more inwards as they constantly keep opening up their own little niche markets with their own rules instead of actually focusing on the customers.
They take very few risks. It's annoying.
 
trying to buyone. they keep telling me the family plan I got in 2005 isn't compat and I need to select their new overpriced family plan. I don't think this is looking good for me.
 
That's bad. Why couldn't the factories produce more iPhones.

If this is the situation in a first world country, one of Apple's biggest markets, I wonder what it's going to be like here in South Africa...
 
dextertangocci said:
That's bad. Why couldn't the factories produce more iPhones.

If this is the situation in a first world country, one of Apple's biggest markets, I wonder what it's going to be like here in South Africa...
Click to expand...

Its not about factories producing enough phones. The stock is available, Apple has just decided to give lower numbers to their AT&T stores.

Its simple, fewer phones, higher demand (hello nintendo wii).

Your best bet is to just camp out for day 2 or just go in there everyday until you get one. They will be stocking units every single night.
 
lol this is why i refuse to wait in line for anything, i'll just stroll to the 5th avenue flagship store later this afternoon when the smoke clears and pick up my iphone. if they're out then i'll go tomorrow morning i have like 6 apple stores within 30 minutes, surely one of them will have it. :cool:
 
Well,

I went to o2 store and the queue was massive. They only had 12 16gb and they gave out tickets to the people in the queue so at least we didn't waste our time. Luckily I had reserved one at CPW and the guy called me at 7:45 asking if I still wanted it. Walked across.....then the credit check was taking forever so left without one, but collect it about 5 mins ago!!

I think launching in so many countries was a bit much and hence supplies were soooo poor.
 
Same issue at my local ATT store. Only had 20. I feel bad for those who waited so long then got the shaft.
 
Jiddick ExRex said:
Damn I am angry and disappointed at them. This has been an utter failure of a morning today.
Click to expand...
Were you awake when the original iPhone launched in the US last year with similar results when trying to buy from non-Apple retail stores? :confused:

Why would you expect different results this go-round? :eek:
 
Yeah, I'm pissed too. I showed up at 6:30 to the ATT store, was the 17th person in line. The store had 25 phones, 9 16gig black, 9 16gig white, and 7 8gb. I was 4 people too late to get the 16gb black. Had a ticket for the 16gb white, but there were 10 people in front of me at the time, and I was alrady an hour late for work. I prob could have waited another half hour, but my conscience got the best of me and I left to go to work. unfortunately, I value my job mo re than the phone. I'll prob be waiting another week given the lack of stock around.
 
Jiddick ExRex said:
WTH?? I was the number 13 customer! How can they only order 5-6 16GB phones and then gather that that must be enough...??!?
Are they complete and utter morons? Did they not know that they were going to sell them???
Click to expand...

Yes, of course they knew they were going to sell them. I'm sure it wasn't their choice to have only 10, 20, 30 iPhones in stock. No way. Every store was allocated a certain number of iPhones due to limited supply, and massive massive demand. It's opening day of the 3G iPhone, and it happened in a large number of countries across the globe. Should we really be surprised?

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the stores didn't know exactly the exact number of 8 GB and 16 GB iPhones they were going to receive. These mobile phone companies are put into a rather tight position. They want as many iPHones as possible, they can't get them, they'll piss people (like you) off, and it's not even their fault.

Who's fault is it? Is it Apple's fault for not being able to manufacture millions upon millions of these phones before launch? Not really. That's the number of 2G iPhones that were sold in the US over many many months, so expecting a massive number of iPhones to be ready across the world for a single sales day is a bit unrealistic. ;) Is it your Telia store's fault? No way. How could it be? They want as many as they can get, but this is what they were given. Is it Telia's (the corporation) fault? Well, they're given the phones by Apple. Apple didn't have enough, Telia didn't have enough.

Just sit back, relax, and wait it out. You'll get it soon. You just won't have it now. ;)
 
aristobrat said:
Were you awake when the original iPhone launched in the US last year with similar results when trying to buy from non-Apple retail stores? :confused:

Why would you expect different results this go-round? :eek:
Click to expand...

*cough*

Does it look like I live in the US? Did you even read my post? :)

Nevertheless, Apple should have learned their lesson from last year's fiasco.
 
Abstract said:
Who's fault is it? Is it Apple's fault for not being able to manufacture millions upon millions of these phones before launch? Not really. That's the number of 2G iPhones that were sold in the US over many many months, so expecting a massive number of iPhones to be ready across the world for a single sales day is a bit unrealistic. ;) Is it your Telia store's fault? No way. How could it be? They want as many as they can get, but this is what they were given. Is it Telia's (the corporation) fault? Well, they're given the phones by Apple. Apple didn't have enough, Telia didn't have enough.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. It is Apple's responsibility as a company that both creates the demand and the product to make sure enough phones are in stock. I just had no idea (really, I didn't) that it would be sold out in my store that covers a whole small peasant island, filled with non-gadgetry folk.
On second thought, I can see how it would be difficult to maintain so high a stock when it's launched in 20 countries at the same time.

Abstract said:
Just sit back, relax, and wait it out. You'll get it soon. You just won't have it now. ;)
Click to expand...

That's what pissed me off even more. I was in front of the store at 9 am and then I realised that they first opened at 10 am (apparently the line was formed at 9.30). I could have chosen to stand there and actually gotten the phone but I didn't! Now who's fault is that? Certainly not mine!! :p
 
..

It's simple economics. ALLLLL electronic companies do it, limit the supply increase the demand.. but if you aren't happy you didn't get 16gb iphone, then do what i did.. arrive at 1030 the night before,, first in line garuntee of choice of iphones.. and if you say im crazy for doing that.. well at least i have my 16gb iphone now don't i.
 
dsenart said:
It's simple economics. ALLLLL electronic companies do it, limit the supply increase the demand.. but if you aren't happy you didn't get 16gb iphone, then do what i did.. arrive at 1030 the night before,, first in line garuntee of choice of iphones.. and if you say im crazy for doing that.. well at least i have my 16gb iphone now don't i.
Click to expand...

I think people overestimate the extent to which companies artificially limit supply. Certainly in the case of the 3G iPhone Apple could have sold several times the numbers of phones they have today and still have sold out comfortably (though they might have struggled to process them all, with O2's wonderful back-end systems in evidence one more).

Having an item appear so desirable that people who were otherwise not interested buy it on impulse when they find it in stock is one thing, but leaving lots of customers ready to part with money in the lurch is quite another - in many cases if you leave them too long, they'll take that money and spend it on something else.

I don't think Apple would be that silly.
 
Listen mate, you waited two hours and your angry -

I went to the launch at the Telia Store in Amagertorv in Copenhagen waited 4.5 hours. There were about over 400 people in line, and just after the first 90 to 100 people made their purchase the guy from Telia comes out saying they are all out of the Black 16GB.

The service was ok, not much water or popcorn was given but if you compare what happened in Sweden, Stockholm launch I'm pissed - they got a free t shirt:

From Macrumours . A swedish guy in stockholm:

My iPhone 16gb (black) has firmware 2.0 (5A345) and no, iTunes does not update it when it is connected for the first time.

Answers to other questions asked (and not asked):

Capacity for the 16gb when formatted leaves 14.6gb of free space.

When I purchased mine at the Telia store in Stockholm, Sweden last night, they did not open up the box. We were told to take it home and use iTunes to activate it. I stood in line from 7:45pm until 2:30am and Telia did a fantastic job of feeding us potato chips, juice, hotdogs, candy, coffee and tea, gave use chapstick and free t-shirts which have "I got one" on the front (in Swedish) with the Telia logo on one sleeve and Apple iPhone on the other sleeve. The lineup was huge and I would estimate it to have been about 4-500 people strong. One guy in the line brought a chello with him and played most of the night for anyone that wanted to listen.

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Click to expand...

Oh yeah and I did not get an iPhone - nether at the retail shops or the Webshop :(
 
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