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iPhone 3G Remains Hard to Find

This is remarkable: nearly a week later and most stores are out of stock. I wonder if Apple planned it this way (to increase interest in the phone) or whether they simply didn't expect this overwhelming response.

I planned to get three iPhones today for a family plan, but it looks like that will be put off indefinitely. The nearest place I could get one is over two hours away (though there's an Apple store 15 minutes from my house). Ironically the only iPhones in stock in New England at the moment are white, the color so many people covet. I thought that would have been the color to sell out first.
 
As of Wed. line still this long at Michigan Ave store

I went by the Chicago Michigan Ave store yesterday and the line was at least 50 deep which is crazy because it was 90 degrees outside yesterday!
 
jayducharme said:
This is remarkable: nearly a week later and most stores are out of stock. I wonder if Apple planned it this way (to increase interest in the phone) or whether they simply didn't expect this overwhelming response.

I planned to get three iPhones today for a family plan, but it looks like that will be put off indefinitely.
Click to expand...

Last year, there were lines a week after the release date. I got mine the Friday following that date and there were about 15 of us in line. This year will be no different.
 
hexonxonx said:
Last year, there were lines a week after the release date. I got mine the Friday following that date and there were about 15 of us in line. This year will be no different.
Click to expand...

Except for the fact that these lines will be all over the world and not just in the United States.
 
hexonxonx said:
Last year, there were lines a week after the release date. I got mine the Friday following that date and there were about 15 of us in line. This year will be no different.
Click to expand...

um last year i walked into a AT&T store at 7:30 PM on launch day and waited in no line at all...... why exactly were you still waiting in lines a week later?
 
I decided to swing by the Apple store here in Jacksonville this morning just to see if by chance they had any (online indicator showed "no stock" for today when I checked last night). I got there about 30 minutes after they opened. There was a sign on an easel in the window saying "Sorry, iPhone 3G is not available here today". I stuck my head in anyway and there was AT LEAST 75 people in line inside waiting for potential delivery of some stock. :eek:

Unreal.

BTW, as I was leaving UPS was dropping off several large boxes to the rear of the store. Hopefully some of those folks are getting hooked up.
 
billyripkin said:
I went by the Chicago Michigan Ave store yesterday and the line was at least 50 deep which is crazy because it was 90 degrees outside yesterday!
Click to expand...

That's insane. Apple sure knows how to fool their customers into needing the latest and greatest :D
 
billyripkin said:
I went by the Chicago Michigan Ave store yesterday and the line was at least 50 deep which is crazy because it was 90 degrees outside yesterday!
Click to expand...

This may be because the Michigan Ave store is the only store in Illinois that has any phones in stock, so people who really want iPhones are heading there because it's really their only chance to get one.
 
InTheWoodlands said:
I still get:

"We're sorry, but the information you entered was not recognized by our systems. Your order may not yet be available or the information may have been entered incorrectly. Please try again."

Does this mean it's on backorder? I'm 100% sure that the information I'm entering is correct. Ordered mine Sunday at lunchtime.
Click to expand...

Make sure you put in your order # and THEIR zip code. If you put in your zip code it doesn't work. Put in the stores zip off of the receipt.
 
According to the two different people we spoke to over the phone at the Tyson's Corner Apple Store they have plenty of stock of all models ... if you have time to take the day off work and wait on line for 8 hours like my co-worker did yesterday. Forcing in-store activation is a disaster.

Chris
 
billyripkin said:
I went by the Chicago Michigan Ave store yesterday and the line was at least 50 deep which is crazy because it was 90 degrees outside yesterday!
Click to expand...

Anyone have any ideas if the Mich Ave store has them in stock all day or do they sell out for a particular day? I'll be in Chicago Friday afternoon and was hoping to stop by and pick one up. Anyone have an input how long it takes to get through a line of 50 people? An hour? Three hours? If I got in line at 6PM would I be able to get one? How about Saturday?
 
15 Minutes Per Phone Activation

nad8e said:
Anyone have any ideas if the Mich Ave store has them in stock all day or do they sell out for a particular day? I'll be in Chicago Friday afternoon and was hoping to stop by and pick one up. Anyone have an input how long it takes to get through a line of 50 people? An hour? Three hours? If I got in line at 6PM would I be able to get one? How about Saturday?
Click to expand...

Based on my experience each phone takes an ATTpple employee 15 minutes to sell and activate for you. The ATTpple stores are not running nearly as many employees doing activations as they did kickoff weekend. My store had 4 employees doing activations and they were doing about 16 iPhones per hour. A 50 person line is probably going to run you a 4+ hour wait to get a an iPhone. Yes, the in store activations is a disaster just like we all expected it to be. What was funny is that the Apple Store employees are none to happy to be doing AT&T's job for them by becoming cell phone activation geniuses. AT&T sure is getting a lot of employee hours out of Apple with this activation process. If they do this again on the iPhone Version III release, I will be shocked.
 
I was at the Apple Store near Union Square at about 8:00 PM in San Francisco and there was STILL a line of people waiting for iPhones!

They really should stop the in store activation process.
 
is there anybody in louisiana looking for an iphone today. ive tried calling almost all the att stores in louisiana that carry the iphone and im getting the same response, "sorry we are currently out of stock." i was going to leave now for the apple store because i heard they had some 8gb iphones in stock. but as i was on my way i called to check to make sure they did, and the apple store rep told me they was sold out of the 8gb
 
ugh

Practically impossible to get one in NYC if you are employed (read: work 9-5). They cut off the lines at all the Apple stores by 4 or 5 pm each day.
 
Uk

I got mine today, i dont think there are many left in the UK now, not untill the 25th anyway. Thats what the O2 website says anyway!
 
Overestimates on wait time

Got an 8GB in SoHo yesterday...

They estimated 4-5 hours, but it only (*only* :eek: ) took around 2. Plus I got to hold a cool Apple umbrella to shield myself from the sun. That said, they had no 16GB black when I got there (2:30ish PM), so maybe that's why the line was shorter?
 
lianjie said:
anyone know the status of apple stores in nyc? or at&t for that matter
Click to expand...

I checked online this morning & they claimed 2 of the 3 NYC stores had all models in stock. For AT&T stores I can't say for sure, but from what I have heard most of them are out of stock and don't expect more for weeks.

The best plan to me is just pretending the release is Aug 11 instead of July 11. I know I don't want to wait either, but it sounds like trying to get one the first few weeks after the release is going to be a real headache. I was in the neighborhood of my local Apple store last Sat & stopped by to see if I could get an iPhone, and the activation line was 2+ hours. I figure I'll drop by some Tuesday night in August and be able to walk right up and get one. If you are in NYC I bet you don't even have to wait that long - give it 2-3 weeks from release date. Or stop in to the 5th Ave store at 3AM on a weekday.
 
Agreed

cburton said:
According to the two different people we spoke to over the phone at the Tyson's Corner Apple Store they have plenty of stock of all models ... if you have time to take the day off work and wait on line for 8 hours like my co-worker did yesterday. Forcing in-store activation is a disaster.

Chris
Click to expand...

Yesterday I spent four hours on line there and left empty-handed after running out of patience. I figure I was two hours from getting in to the store. I had brought enough work to keep me busy for a while but not all day.

What was frustrating was not being able to get a straight answer from the staff walking the line to questions on how long the wait would be, how many people were supporting iPhone sales, and how long a standard transaction took. In fact they would not answer these questions.

My estimates were clearly off, which is my problem. But a little honest info from the staff would have helped me to make a decision earlier. If I had known early on that the wait would be over four hours I would not have started.

So be advised, at least for the next week or so, that the wait is long.
 
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