Other iPhone 12 Pro Max in-store pickup and potential Covid lockdown

[ManuCH]

Hi everyone,
I usually pick up my iPhones in-store because I love the experience (and I love near one). I live in Switzerland.

Currently stores are open in my area, but some areas have begun closing stored for a "mini Covid lockdown". Now I'm unsure as to what I should do.

Does anyone have experience as to what happened in their country if pre-ordering an iPhone for in-store pickup while stores were still open, and then a lockdown was put in place, closing stores? Or didn't that happen anywhere yet?

I wonder if Apple has a backup plan and would allow customers with in-store pickup orders to have their orders shipped in a priority way, or if I would have to restart queuing all the way from the back, potentially waiting well into December to get my iPhone.

Yes, it's a first world problem and completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but of course I still want to plan everything at its best 😊 I was also thinking of ordering one via mail, and one for in-store pickup, then just return the one I don't need, unopened, for a refund.

Any thoughts?

 

[edk99]

Why not just order one via mail and have it delivered?

 

[Christopher Kim]

I don't think this ending up happening in North America during the window between pre-orders and when they were available.

I know some people still did the store pick-up option as (assuming stores are open), guarantees you get the phone at a certain time and you don't have to play the waiting-for-delivery game.

I live in Toronto, and just to be safe, I got my 12 Pro delivered to my house (whereas in the past, I always did an in-store pick-up). Honestly, if you order right at pre-order opening, you're 95% likely to get the phone delivered on 1st available day. Yes there's a small 5% chance that there's a shipping issue and you get it a day or 2 later, but in my view, that's a small downside risk vs going in-store and potentially having COVID-shutdowns mean you can't get the phone for an unknown period of time. Plus delivery means no risk of having to go out to the store either.

To me, it was an easy decision to just get it shipped to my home.

 

[ManuCH]

Why not just order one via mail and have it delivered?

I just like the in-store pickup experience. Also, I'm afraid of delivery delays. I have often experienced a very slow check-out in the online store, potentially creating delays if you can't complete the transaction in time, while the in-store delivery is handled by a completely different system which is way faster.

I don't think this ending up happening in North America during the window between pre-orders and when they were available.

I know some people still did the store pick-up option as (assuming stores are open), guarantees you get the phone at a certain time and you don't have to play the waiting-for-delivery game.

I live in Toronto, and just to be safe, I got my 12 Pro delivered to my house (whereas in the past, I always did an in-store pick-up). Honestly, if you order right at pre-order opening, you're 95% likely to get the phone delivered on 1st available day. Yes there's a small 5% chance that there's a shipping issue and you get it a day or 2 later, but in my view, that's a small downside risk vs going in-store and potentially having COVID-shutdowns mean you can't get the phone for an unknown period of time. Plus delivery means no risk of having to go out to the store either.

To me, it was an easy decision to just get it shipped to my home.

Thank you for reporting about your experience!

 

[LonestarOne]

I just like the in-store pickup experience.

I would agree if this were a normal year. It’s nice having the Apple people right there if there’s a glitch in the process. But this year, Covid-19 is going to put an extra strain on retail stores. In the best case, in-store pickup will be slower than years past. In the worst case, there’s no limit to what could go wrong. Your best bet is to rely on delivery this year.

 

[zachy85]

I pre-ordered and got instore pickup on launch day for the 12pm here in NC, it went very smoothly. The mall was practically deserted on Friday morning and they were letting very few customers in at a time and only if you had an appointment.

 

[Shadowbech]

Typically if say you did an in-store pick up option, and determined that Apple Store is going to be closed, they typically will keep it open for few days to allow customers to pick up whether it's a repair. or product pick up. At least apple store near me did that 3 times in the past due to the surge in cases. I had something on order for an in-store pick up and Apple Store called me giving me the heads up that I had 3 days to pick it up.

I would say, just order it and have it delivered to your home as that would be the safer bet.