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In-store reservation process on 9/25
- Thread starter kjotwani
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To be fair, there is barely any open space for multiple lines at that location and were probably told not to for security/space reasons. The employees should give out tickets according to reservation time though.. that's pretty incompetent otherwise..
I can also agree with @justdefend, this was a very smooth process for reservations. I'll be doing this from now on with the iPhone Upgrade Program. I was in and out in less than 20.
How busy was it there and how bad was the parking? I have my reservation at 1:30 at the Ardmore store.
Dead. The line only wrapped to the side of the store not the back where the parking lot is. I was in and out in 20 minutes and that included my 5 minute wait in line.
Same situation in Munich.
I used lunchbreak at work. Left even a bit earlier just to be sure not to miss my appointment. I got two mails reminding me to come to the store and speak to a store employee at the agreed time.
Yeah, "the reservation line is outside, you have to stand in line"
He said the phone is going to be held for 3h. He guessed they needed 5min per person. The line was ~50 people long. That's a longer waiting time than 3h.
Even though there were indeed less people than in the previous years, their reservations didn't work out as planned at all.
I certainly left without a phone since I didn't plan for on waiting for more than 15mins (can't call me naive, that's what Apple's reservation notification email suggested...twice).
Ah well.
Painless at Apple Store Calgary.
Apple Store people came out around 7:15 AM and told everyone what's up. Walk-ins would be given appointments. People with reservations would be brought in based on their reservation time, in order.
They lined up the 8-8:30 crew first. I was 8:30-9. Once they got in, a clerk came out within a minute and brought me in. By 8:15 AM I walked out with a brand new 6s Plus, SG, 128 GB
Easy peasy.
Apple Store people came out around 7:15 AM and told everyone what's up. Walk-ins would be given appointments. People with reservations would be brought in based on their reservation time, in order.
They lined up the 8-8:30 crew first. I was 8:30-9. Once they got in, a clerk came out within a minute and brought me in. By 8:15 AM I walked out with a brand new 6s Plus, SG, 128 GB
Easy peasy.
It wasn't too bad at the Apple Store in Grand Central. There were a lot of people though. They have ropes set up at the entrances, and only let people with the correct reservation time through. I showed up at around 0850 for my 0900 appointment and I was let through.
They had two lines set up in order to get your phone. These two lines snaked around twice. People without reservations waited in a third line. If you have a reservation, you get put directly into the one of the two lines. Once you snake around the first line twice, you then get put into another line that snakes around twice, but then once you reach the front of the line, you were helped. People with reservations got put directly into this line process, and then place about 10 people without reservations into this same line. So basically they mixed people with reservations with people without reservations, but they prioritized people with reservations. I was out of the Apple Store in about 40 minutes. Not too bad, but could've been done better.
They had two lines set up in order to get your phone. These two lines snaked around twice. People without reservations waited in a third line. If you have a reservation, you get put directly into the one of the two lines. Once you snake around the first line twice, you then get put into another line that snakes around twice, but then once you reach the front of the line, you were helped. People with reservations got put directly into this line process, and then place about 10 people without reservations into this same line. So basically they mixed people with reservations with people without reservations, but they prioritized people with reservations. I was out of the Apple Store in about 40 minutes. Not too bad, but could've been done better.
Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA is much better than I thought it would be.
My reservation wasn't til 1pm, but I showed up just after 8am just to see if they'd take me. I spoke with someone who appeared to be a manager and he said I could come back in an hour or so, after they took care of the initial rush of walk-ins. I did tell him that the reason I was early was because I got called into work, and he was very nice and accommodating. Now just waiting at Starbucks for that hour to go by!
My reservation wasn't til 1pm, but I showed up just after 8am just to see if they'd take me. I spoke with someone who appeared to be a manager and he said I could come back in an hour or so, after they took care of the initial rush of walk-ins. I did tell him that the reason I was early was because I got called into work, and he was very nice and accommodating. Now just waiting at Starbucks for that hour to go by!
SF, Stockton St. About 75 people in the reservation line. The street construction doesn't help either.
I just got in line at my Apple Store. I'm 20 minutes early for my reservation and they checked me in and put me in a separate line. I'm 9th in this line. The unreserved line probably has 100 people in it. They just handed out bottled waters and have a coffee station which is cool of them. We'll see how long I end up waiting.
Same in Central NJ. I had a 9am reservation. Got in line about ~ 8: 20-8:30 ish and despite a speed bump ( transferred to a business account for the lower monthly at work (BYOD) and that cause me to be unable to do the AUP, but bought full price and was done by 9:10. This included set up, and Apple Tech putting on my screen saver. Love those guys! Very well organized. I heard they had 1000 phones reserved for reservations. Crazy!
Couldn't have been any easier... at the Toledo store, they organized the reservation line by time on the reservation. You were welcome to stand in line if you had a later one, but if someone came in with a time earlier than you, they got to move in front of you.
There were some great stories people were coming up with just walking up and expecting to get right in and grab a phone. The level of ignorance out there just amazing to me.
There were some great stories people were coming up with just walking up and expecting to get right in and grab a phone. The level of ignorance out there just amazing to me.
Can anyone who bought the T-Mobile phone full price with a reservation chime in- do you have to provide account details, or can you just purchase the phone since it's 'contact-free'? Just curious. Thanks.
Just came from my Apple store in Santa Rosa, CA. There was only 20 people in line. 5 for reservations. i was out of there by 8:30. The perks of living in a small town north of San Fran. These phones are SICK......Even people with 1pm reservations were helped at 8:00am......
glad you have your phone now! Did you have to open the box and activate it or you just pay and walk away?
Am I going to have a problem trading in my old iPhone for credit towards new phone? Sounds like they might not have time for that.
Arrived at 7:50am for 8:00-8:30 appointment (57th street 5th Ave NYC)... Total chaos and mayhem.. Approx. 400 people for the same reservation!!! I can't begin to tell you about my experience, but I will say that the Apple iPhone upgrade program places a HARD inquiry on your credit report (not soft as I was told from the store manager and from calling corporate). I did get my phone after 3 hours of being misinformed and the rep keying in my ss number incorrectly.
You would think this location would be the most organized! They go through this every year... Did they really budget 400 people per time slot???
Not long after I posted, the line started moving and I waited about 10 minutes before I was helped. The transaction went quickly and the whole thing took about an hour and fifteen minutes door to door. I'm very happy with how my store handled everything.
8:30 - 9 reservation time at King of Prussia - got there about 10 minutes early, there was a pretty long line for walk ins but only 3 people ahead of me in the reservation line. Waited only a couple minutes before being taken into the store. Was out within 15 minutes on the upgrade plan. They were having some issues with their checkout devices disconnecting from the server but besides that it was a totally smooth and painless experience. Never saw more than 5 or 6 people in the reservation line at one time.
they give you the box, and they can setup it up with you or you just take it. i just took it home cause i am on iOS 9.1 beta 2 and couldn't set it up, but cause of my plan they activated it before i walked out...