iPhone 4s Bestbuy Preorder

[pirarre]

I went to bestbuy and preordered a Sprint model 16Gb White iPhone 4s. The BB worker told me that the first shipment is first come first serve. He said even if I preorder. He told me that they only have 4 preorders so far and I'm the 5th one. He must've thought I was going to say nevermind and walk out. But instead I asked him if the 4 preorders were for Sprint and he said no.

I find it hard to believe that you preorder a phone, which is suppose to gurantee you the device on launch day, only to be told it's first come first serve. On the paperwork that's attached to my receipt, it has an expected date of October 31. I hope this isn't the case and I be able to get it Friday.

Nevertheless, I took Friday off well before the iphone was announced this past Tuesday. So instead of me sitting home or lying in bed, I'll be at bestbuy at 5 am...maybe 6 am waiting in line or sitting in my car waiting for them to open.

For anyone else that preordered at a BB store, were told the same thing about it being first come first serve even though you preordered?

 

[kramjam]

Last year's pre-orders worked differently (I work for Best Buy Mobile.) Pre-ordering guaranteed you a phone on launch date. However this time around, the idiots decided to offers pre-orders, however, it doesn't secure you one on launch date. Whatever inventory the store gets on the 14th is sold on a first come first serve basis, regardless of if you pre-ordered or not. I guess the pre-order this time guarantees you a phone after the launch date shipment, if you don't want to wait in line or don't get one sadly.

Pretty stupid.

 

[Gjwilly]

I preordered from Target.
Guaranteed phone and an assigned time to pick it up.
They also take trade-ins of old phones.
Use their Red Card to pay for it and save 5%.
From what I can see, they've got a pretty good system.

 

[Applejuiced]

Last year's pre-orders worked differently (I work for Best Buy Mobile.) Pre-ordering guaranteed you a phone on launch date. However this time around, the idiots decided to offers pre-orders, however, it doesn't secure you one on launch date. Whatever inventory the store gets on the 14th is sold on a first come first serve basis, regardless of if you pre-ordered or not. I guess the pre-order this time guarantees you a phone after the launch date shipment, if you don't want to wait in line or don't get one sadly.

Pretty stupid.

I hear you. It doesn't make any sense.
Worst comes to worst I will get it 2 weeks late but what is the point or preorders when you're not gonna receive your phone on launch day?

 

[SeanZy]

My local best buy is not following this ridiculous way of doing things, and the manager said she is going to put aside all preorder iphones and only sell extras.

She didnt agree with the letter that corporate sent at all, and will do it just as they did last year. So happy

 

[pirarre]

Well, I'm gonna to go buy a folding chair and just prepare myself for a overnighter at the mall. The BB Mobile Rep said that they werent opening early, but I fjnd that hard to believe. If they don't, the mall is probably gonna have lines of people waiting to get the phone. Which may be a nusense for the other stores inside the mall.

When Gamestop (which is also in our mall) have a midnight release, the mall opens up and the line forms inside the mall, even though the store is closed.

I probably should have preordered at the actual BB store which is just 5 minutes away from the mall. I know for sure they're gonna open early and they might give presedence to preorders versus walk-ins.

What's the point of preorders if you're not being guaranteed one on launch day? I preordered the sprint 16GB white version, so I'll just take extra cash with me and if I have to I'd just buy a black model or a 32 or 64 GB model.

 

[pirarre]

I just went to the Bestbuy Mobile again inside our mall. He said that they're opening at 8am with a first come first serve. He also told me that they only have a total of 7 preorders thus far across the board (I'm number 5).

He told me that Saturday is the day that preorders get presedence over first come first serve. He told me that if lines are long on laucn day and I don't want to wait in lines, Saturday is the day for preorders.

You would think it would be the otehr way around, preorders get the phones on launch day while people that didn't preorder have to wait.

 

[jttran241]

I went to best buy yesterday and the rep told me the same thing and that launch day is reserved only for those who are in line and its first come first serve. there is no guarantee of when pre-orders will come in, it could be a week or two from launch day, they don't know. I decided to back off from the pre-order and wait in line on launch day.