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Initial Iphone 4 Launch: How many people were turned away??

J

Jcloud8

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 27, 2010
53
0
So im trying to figure out how im going to get the verizon iphone the day of the launch. I did a chat with a verizon wireless agent and they said that if you pre-order it WILL NOT ship until the 10th.

So my question is, how early did people start to camp out of your local apple stores and about how many people were turned away? also did they do a special opening and open up earlier than normal? reason i am asking is because i have class at 11...my Verizon store said they will be opening at 7 am but that they wont be getting that many devices.

any and all information is greatly appreciated.
 
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Why don't you want to pre-order if you have class at 11? You get your phone a day or two later and can activate on iTunes the minute you open it up. Sounds like a much better time than sitting in some lame line in the middle of winter. Guess I'm not that big of a fanboy. Can you pre-order for store pickup? It sounded like the pre-orders might even ship earlier than the 10th.
 
He also said that if you preorder on the 3rd, you will not be charged until it ships, so I'm thinking that it still takes the money from your card and holds it until they charge you. I asked when they were shipping. He said the day after the 3rd.
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Seems someone called and asked VZW about pre-order shipping. This would mean those of us who pre-order would have our phones prior to the "public" release which makes sense so they can reduce the amount of in-store activations. Might be the best way to do it.
 
macjunkie33 said:
Seems someone called and asked VZW about pre-order shipping. This would mean those of us who pre-order would have our phones prior to the "public" release which makes sense so they can reduce the amount of in-store activations. Might be the best way to do it.
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ive gotten 2 different responses from 2 different reps so im not sure whats actually going to happen. i had one say they will ship the 4th, and the person i spoke to recently said the 10th
 
Im up here in canada and people are STILL getting turned away for the iPhone 4. Most locations get about 3 or 4 every few days and you have to be there a while before the store opens or else you wont get one. If you REALLY want it opening day then you better be there early morning....
 
For iPhone 4, I lined up around 8:00 PM or so the night before and was maybe around 100th in line. I got out of there with a phone around noon IIRC. Even the pre-order pickup line was at least a couple of hours long pretty much all day, but at least you were guaranteed a phone if you pre-ordered.

Of course, who knows if the Verizon version will have same stock levels, etc.
 
My iPhone 4 came in the mail the day before they hit stores. On release day I went to the Apple Store by my house and connected to their wifi and did facetime calls with friends to show them all the people still there. That store had people in line starting the night before. I got there at 6pm and there were still over 200 people in line. I would just preorder. You don't want to deal with those lines.
 
The iphone 4 launch here was absolutely insane. We got in line at 5 AM and got our phones at approximately 9 pm. The verizon iphone line should be much lighter, but use common sense. Pre-order if at all possible, reserve if at all possible (if they do that again) and get there as soon as is reasonable. Consider scoping the location out the night before to see if security is allowing a line, how much of a line there is, etc.
 
Sherifftruman said:
For iPhone 4, I lined up around 8:00 PM or so the night before and was maybe around 100th in line. I got out of there with a phone around noon IIRC.
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:eek:

Wow brotha'... that is some SERIOUS dedication you displayed :)

Thank god Apple releases the new iPhone in the summer instead of in the winter otherwise people might hurt themselves ;)
 
I got mine day zero (day before launch) with shipping, I'd be really surprised if pre-orders didn't ship until the 10th. Isn't it coming out the 4th? And really, some things are worth skipping class or work for.
 
Sherifftruman said:
For iPhone 4, I lined up around 8:00 PM or so the night before and was maybe around 100th in line. I got out of there with a phone around noon IIRC. Even the pre-order pickup line was at least a couple of hours long pretty much all day, but at least you were guaranteed a phone if you pre-ordered.

Of course, who knows if the Verizon version will have same stock levels, etc.
Click to expand...
For the iPhone 4 I pre-ordered through ATT. Walked in store on release day activated phone and was out the door in less then 45 minutes.

It was nice since ATT did not have stock for walk-ins till about a week after launch. It made it very hassle free. Waiting in line for anything is not worth it if you have the option to preorder and pick it up or have it delivered.
 
The CSR reps are clueless really. The Suits keep them in the dark for a reason but it really just ends up causing more chaos. I speak from experience. In a past life I was a CSR for a large U.S. bank. You wouldn't believe the crap that comes out of CSR's mouths when there is some type of new promotion getting ready to be launched.

Thing is one CSR will hear what the CSR next to him is BS'ing a customer with and the fire just spreads from there. By the end of the day, ever CSR on the floor believes it to be FACT. :).

In their defense though, it is a thankless job with some ruthless supervisors. When you're faced with a customer asking about something that nobody has a clue about how to answer, they don't want to appear stupid so they take the little info they DO know and roll with it. :).

Anyhow, I'm not standing in line. The chances of an individual store selling out are WAY higher than ordering online from a central warehouse.

I'd also agree that if you order on the 3rd you'll see the phone on the 9th probably. If you order on the 10th, probably the 11th, maybe the 14th.
 
chrmjenkins said:
The iphone 4 launch here was absolutely insane. We got in line at 5 AM and got our phones at approximately 9 pm. The verizon iphone line should be much lighter, but use common sense. Pre-order if at all possible, reserve if at all possible (if they do that again) and get there as soon as is reasonable. Consider scoping the location out the night before to see if security is allowing a line, how much of a line there is, etc.
Click to expand...

I camped out overnight for mine and my wife's iPhone 4. I got to the store around midnight and finally left around 3pm the next afternoon. It was exciting and overall a great time while the store was closed. Once it opened and we started seeing how long it took to get the phone it pretty much sucked.

I must say, I wouldn't do it again. I'd just order online and wait for them to come in the mail.
 
I think i got lucky.

I left it until 4:45 before i decided to go ahead and upgrade to the ip4. (I actually forgot all about the fact it was launch day)

I just called my network supplier, signed up for another 18 months and got my iphone delivered a day later, less than 24 hours to get to me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ucfgrad93 said:
I must say, I wouldn't do it again. I'd just order online and wait for them to come in the mail.
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Same here. I waited in line from 6 am until 10:30 am, and while I had a good time meeting the people, there's no way in hell I'd ever do that again. All of my phones from now on will be delivered.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
I camped out overnight for mine and my wife's iPhone 4. I got to the store around midnight and finally left around 3pm the next afternoon. It was exciting and overall a great time while the store was closed. Once it opened and we started seeing how long it took to get the phone it pretty much sucked.

I must say, I wouldn't do it again. I'd just order online and wait for them to come in the mail.
Click to expand...

I know a guy, he does this FOR EVERY iPhone release. Maybe it's normal? I just think it's insane. I mean I love my Apple & Macs but, no way.
 
Just preorder and have it delivered. You'll get it before any fool standing in a line. Enjoy. :D
 
whiteyanderson said:
I know a guy, he does this FOR EVERY iPhone release. Maybe it's normal? I just think it's insane. I mean I love my Apple & Macs but, no way.
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I can't think of any other product that has this type of following... crazy stuff :rolleyes:

Black Friday yes... but thats not for one particular product.
 
whiteyanderson said:
I know a guy, he does this FOR EVERY iPhone release. Maybe it's normal? I just think it's insane. I mean I love my Apple & Macs but, no way.
Click to expand...

Some people do it for the experience. You can meet interesting people and have neat conversations. You get to share in the collective excitement. And the apple store will usually give you three meals (we were there long enough to get all 3).

I would do it again, but I'd definitely reserve and get there earlier (despite mall security telling us that we wouldn't be allowed).
 
You can probably get some more info (if not enough people respond to this thread) from some of the threads in the meet-up section of the forum; I know a lot of us discussed this there last summer.

I got to my Apple store at 5:30 am because they weren't letting people into the parking lot before then, and after they finally let us into the mall, they were already telling people who hadn't reserved their phones that they might as well go home and try coming back another day or later on. They had 2 separate lines, one for walk-ins and one for people who'd reserved (not preordered), and I still ended up waiting about 6 hours. Toward the end of my time in line, they were taking 4-5 reserves for every 1 walk-in.
 
Blueline29 said:
They had 2 separate lines, one for walk-ins and one for people who'd reserved (not preordered), and I still ended up waiting about 6 hours. Toward the end of my time in line, they were taking 4-5 reserves for every 1 walk-in.
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LoL this reminds me of theme parks when you can buy the front of the line pass for rides. Man I hate when people were smart and got it while I'm stuck in the 2 hr long line ;)
 
I remember preordering my AT&T iphone and got it a day before everyone else. On launch day it was quite humorous seeing all those idiots stand outside still waiting for the iPhone on launch day... at night!
 
soulreaver99 said:
I remember preordering my AT&T iphone and got it a day before everyone else. On launch day it was quite humorous seeing all those idiots stand outside still waiting for the iPhone on launch day... at night!
Click to expand...

Some of us idiots tried to preorder for 7 hours on the day orders started but couldn't due to rampant Apple & AT&T server and account-verification issues. This idiot took a reservation as the next-best alternative.

IMG_0360.jpg
 
i just had another person from verizon say they WONT ship until the 10th if you preorder. Me bieng the electronics nerd that i am i will prob just go up there at midnight and hope i dont get turned away.

does anyone know how many people got turned away? and would i have a better chance going to the apple store or verizon store?
 
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