iPhone Upgrade Program Causes Headaches on Launch Day Due to Limited Stock

I'm not even on the yearly upgrade cycle. I have the old school 2 year commitment where I get a discounted upgrade every 2 years, no phone turn-in required. The Apple website is telling me that sprint is requiring in store pickup to "make a deposit" and there are no stores available for pickup. Sprint is unable/incapable of helping, Apple isn't currently accepting calls or chat and my reservation expires at 4pm tomorrow :-(
 
very easy here....shoot the corporate att rep an email to tell him when we want. go open the box when they get here
 
kingofwale said:
100% of all iPhone lease members will want to get a new iPhone, Why not? they already paid for it.

so it's gonna be messy. Apple should've predicted this and start its production months before.
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You are so right. They created a program for people to update every year and they basically don't expect people to update.
And on top of the fact that there is no stocks anywhere available, you have to look at stores inventories one by one ! And if you were/are lucky enough to find a store with a phone in staock, by the time you'll be done with the appointment process, there is a good chance that somebody else bought it before you...

I am so pissed at them right now...
 
Yep! Same exact thing happened to me. I am in the Upgrade Program, so at 3am jumped right in only to see most models (and all black models) already "sold out". Then minutes later the "no longer taking reservations" popped up.

It all happened so fast, before I knew it, it was over. Next time buy me dinner first...

I feel like the Apple supporters in the Upgrade Program were given a very LOW priority with this launch.
 
Lepton said:
First time since 2007 I couldn't get a day one phone. I'm not happy at all. I've been an exclusive Apple developer since 1985 (those were the days, we paid more but got great discounts - now you get bupkis) and can't even get a phone to work with. Not as a developer, not as an upgrade member, just not. So sad.

But there is another problem. Say it takes a month to get the phone (OMG please no). Now I've paid an extra month on my old phone. And when the iPhone 8 comes out, I'll only have made 11 payments on the new phone, and therefore in every subsequent year I can't get a day one phone because I'm a month behind.

The whole situation is... not Apple. Not at all.
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You can always 'true up' the loan and pay off the extra month when you turn in the old phone. Now, whether we should ever have had to, is another discussion. But the being a month behind is not at all a show-stopper.
 
This is not at all true in my case. Was able to get a preorder in at 8am pacific time this morning with absolutely no issues. For those who are saying they can't get the more popular models/colors, really? Of course you're going to have a hard time with that. Did you expect no one else to want it also?
 
iPhone Upgrade Program members definitely got screwed. I could have pre-ordered a phone if I wasn't in the iPhone Upgrade Program.

At 3:01am est, all iPhone 7 plus models were sold out in both blacks and silver. It was like there were none available at all.
 
Iconoclysm said:
Please, this is one of the dumbest conspiracy theories going. Up until recently, every year Apple sold more than the last...I would tell you to educate yourself on this but it's common sense...
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Not a conspiracy you seem to be one lacking common sense. Must've angered you enough that you reply to two of my posts in this thread. 10 million sales in first weekend is not much in actuality. Large amount of those early adopters don't tip the scales for Apple as they are mainly fanboys who every iPhone. Time will tell if average joe cares enough to upgrade to the iPhone 6version 3.

I'm doubtful based on lack of innovation and removal of core feature while they pimp wireless without including wireless headphones. Many will wait for 10th anniversary and hope for headphone jack upgrade from abysmal screen and wireless charging. Can't tout "retina" anymore now that most manufacturers use oled and 1440p.
 
cardfan said:
Sounds like you are tied. Have to have a carrier to order it (being untied means Apple wouldn't ask you about a carrier). ATT/tmobile can't be used at cdma carriers.
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Is this true? I know buying new (no upgrade program) they require your carrier info for AT&T, VZ and Sprint. Wasn't sure if this was the case for in-store pickup. Toying with setting up a Verizon account now...
 
Lepton said:
First time since 2007 I couldn't get a day one phone. I'm not happy at all. I've been an exclusive Apple developer since 1985 (those were the days, we paid more but got great discounts - now you get bupkis) and can't even get a phone to work with. Not as a developer, not as an upgrade member, just not. So sad.

But there is another problem. Say it takes a month to get the phone (OMG please no). Now I've paid an extra month on my old phone. And when the iPhone 8 comes out, I'll only have made 11 payments on the new phone, and therefore in every subsequent year I can't get a day one phone because I'm a month behind.

The whole situation is... not Apple. Not at all.
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Exactly what I was thinking.
 
Iconoclysm said:
The reason you need to be in store is to apply for another "loan". This really needs to change, use Apple Pay somehow to guarantee the loan.
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So if you upgrade evey year they make you apply for a new 24 month loan each time? Makes sense, but I don't think being in this program should require a hard credit inquiry every 12 months after the first year, unless you had late payments the previous cycle. If all payments were made on time it should be a soft pull.
 
Stratus Fear said:
They aren't generally asking to be treated as special. Folks in the IUP who wanted to be able to do an online pre-order like everyone else were instead forced to do reservation for pickup, and for a lot of people, the stores in their area aren't getting any of the models they wanted at all. They are clearly at a disadvantage to people who buy outright, or use carrier's upgrade programs like AT&T Next, which allows online pre-order from apple.com on upgrade.
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Fine, but I just think "loyal customer" is not the right word here. Anyone who buys a product is a customer, and all customers should be treated equally.
 
CE3 said:
If you upgrade evey year they make you apply for a new 24 month loan each time? Makes sense, but I don't think being in this program should require a hard credit inquiry every 12 months after the first year, unless you had late payments the previous cycle. If all payments were on time it should be a soft pull.
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Each time it IS a new loan. However, I understood that people who were starting the process this year could do it all online. Wasn't that the case?

Those of us that started last year need to have a store reservation because they want us to bring the old phone to the store (even though the terms state we don't need to). I think that will be done away with one of these years.
 
kingofwale said:
100% of all iPhone lease members will want to get a new iPhone, Why not? they already paid for it.

so it's gonna be messy. Apple should've predicted this and start its production months before.
Click to expand...

I am sure they would have increased production sooner if they could have right? (Obviously there is debate whether they are creating artificial supply constraints to make it look like they are in high demand). There is probably something to it but not sure I fully buy in. They are a business that wants to sell as many phones as possible. If they don't have phones to sell, what what's the point?

I think it was reported that they were having yield issues in mass production due to the new water resistance requirement.
 
The problem with this program is that you need to make an appointment and enter an Apple Store. There are only so many Apple Stores around the world and they only have a certain amount of employees to deal with these appointments.

Each one takes 10 to 30 minutes because you need to show your ID, setup a direct debit, hand over your old phone, have them inspect it and hand you your new one.

It's not like they can make time out of thin air or have a million stores to handle the influx of people who'll want to upgrade. They seriously need to think about moving the program online or at-least partly online. That is how all the carriers handle phone upgrades.

I signed up, got my phone and upgraded twice without even stepping foot into any of my carriers stores. That's efficient and it guarantees everyone gets their phones in the launch month.

My friend called today to ask if he could make an appointment for the iPhone Upgrade Program, it would be the first time he'd have enrolled in the program. They told him the earliest appointment would be October 25th. If he went in on that date and placed his order he probably wouldn't get a phone until December.

To me this program while good value on the surface is flawed due to the approach (requiring the store visit for every person who enrols). There's just no way Apple can work through such a high amount of customers who want to use the program in its current form.
 
ProMod said:
Apple never admits fault of any kind.
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Except in 2010 during antennagate when they gave everyone a free case or in 2007 when they gave all iPhone early adopters a $100 iTunes giftcard since they lowered the price from $599 to $399 in two months.
 
This was exactly my experience too. Spam-refreshing the site, as soon as it opened, there were no iPhone 7+'s available in anything but Rose Gold @ 256GB in any store in Colorado. Best I could do was to reserve matte black 256 GB iPhone 7, set up an appointment for 8 AM on launch day, and hope that they'll give me different inventory than what I reserved. Fingers crossed.

I can see the logistical nightmare of having to supply every local store with enough inventory, but at the same time iPhone Upgrade Plan users are getting hosed. Those customers that want a new iPhone every year (the entire point of the program) are obviously going to want them on launch day.
 
I don't know if the upgrade program is a good idea. What if Apple releases a phone you don't like, or just isn't up to snuff? what happens then?

This program just locks you down!
 
Apple screwed the existing Apple Upgrade Customers. We can't preorder online and there is no reservation waiting list available at the stores. All we can do is to checkback on the 17th. This is not right. In my opinion they did it deliberately. That way you will make your September lease payment on your old Iphone and they will have to credit less towards the repayment of your old phone to Citizen's Bank. My payment is due on 9/25 (I was one of the first who got Apple Upgrade Program last year on the release day). Also if you are still unsuccessful in securing the new IPhone by October..., you will have to make one more payment to Citizen's Bank. Apple has no incentive to make it easier for the Customers who have Apple Upgrade Program in place. Keep making your payments and we will take your phone in November..... That's 3 additional $$$ payments that you will have to make under the old phone contract to Citizen's and 3 less for us to repay your old phone before we give you a new one.
 
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