I have been lurking and watching this forum for updates on Sprint shipments for a few weeks now. I ordered a 7+ 128 JB and 7+ 128 Black on Sprint.com on 9/20, so my shipping dates were into November. I tried once before to go into an Apple Store to get my phone, but was told they could not do the iPhone Forever/18 month lease there. Well, after seeing someone post a screenshot of the available 7+s this afternoon I found that my closest Apple Store had both! Here is how my night went:
-I did an online chat with Apple Care and asked if the store was able to hook me up with Sprint's lease, or if the only option lease wise was Apple's. They told me online it isnt possible, but in store they could do ANY carrier leases.
-I reserved the Black for myself for a 5pm pickup, then tried to reserve my wife's. You can only reserve one per apple ID per day, so I tried to use her apple ID. By the time I completed the registration they were out of JBs
-I went to the apple store at 4:30 to make sure I wasnt wasting my time and canceling my order for nothing, they assured me it could be done.
-I sat on hold with Sprint Order Support for 35 minutes before getting to talk to someone. They canceled my 128 Black order and instantly reset my upgrade eligibility. I kept them on the phone while I checked in the MySprint app.
-By this time it was after 5pm and I was next up. The guy who helped me was the most patient person ever. I am really surprised he didn't just tell me I was out of luck. Things were moving along smoothly, the activation iPad he used got my account info and the option for an 18 month lease was there. We clicked it, it showed $0 due today and the same monthly price Sprint was quoting. Then we got an error message...It said my plan was not compatible with the device. (I have the Cut Your Bill In Half plan from when I came over from AT&T)
-He said he had just gotten an email about updated carrier plans. Sprint's section of this email said something about a new plan, the Unlimited something or other plan for $65/month. Obviously I didnt want to give up my current plan so we tried an online chat from the store's Mac since I didnt want to wait on hold for another half hour. They were no help, they kept acting like I owned the phone and tried to activate it.
-Finally the Apple employee called his Sprint rep. The rep said that she hadnt heard anything about only being able to use the new Unlimited plan to upgrade, but she would call National Sales Support. Meantime, we asked the rep if we could push it through with the Unlimited plan and have her switch it back right after. She agreed, but said the NSS team had to do it. They never called, so she escalated it to her District Manager. By now it is past 6 oclock and my wife started wondering why I had been at Apple for almost 2 hours.
-We were able to have the District Manager switch my line on our account to the Unlimited plan, but keep my wifes as-is. This allowed us to push the purchase through with the 18 month lease. He then verified that we upgraded and he switched my line back. He said that as long as one line still has the old plan he could switch it back, but not if both were switched at the same time.
-At 7:15 I walked out of the Apple Store with my brand new 7+ 128 Black that I was not supposed to get until 10/23-11/16.
Sorry for the long post. I just know a lot of us have been patiently waiting for Sprint. You do not have to! If you cancel your order make sure it is through Order Support because they can refresh your upgrade on the spot. I am now going to be checking that store's stock daily until the Jet Black is available again and the Apple employee, Sprint rep and District Manager are all aware we will have to go through this song and dance again.
I hope everyone else is able to get theirs soon!
