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iPhone X in-store pick up - chances NOT getting phone

laptech

laptech

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Original poster
I know from past experiences in-store pickup's have been sacrificed at the expense of those who have queued for days camping outside the store with the in-store pick up's stock being given over to the shop's floor stock so there is something for customers to buy rather than being told all stock has been used for in-store pickup's only.

So, what are the chances the same will happen to the iphone x, store managers realizing they underestimated stock levels and make the decision to use some of the in-store pickups to be sold as normal store units. Thereby in-store pickup customers being fed excuses that their phone was not delivered and they will have to wait 1-2 weeks while more are delivered.

Will you still wait or demand an instant refund?
 
I wish a MF would sell my pre-ordered and RESERVED iPhone X (which I ALREADY PAID FOR) to some random walk-in customer who failed to pre-order. Only way I’ll accept that is if I somehow miss my pickup window by several hours (which I won’t). Otherwise, bish better have my iPhone X.
 
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The phone is yours and has just been shipped to the store. It has been programmed for your number etc. I’ve never heard of them selling shipped to store phones. I ship to store because I don’t want to worry about being home to sign for it.
 
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laptech said:
So, what are the chances the same will happen to the iphone x, store managers realizing they underestimated stock levels and make the decision to use some of the in-store pickups to be sold as normal store units. Thereby in-store pickup customers being fed excuses that their phone was not delivered and they will have to wait 1-2 weeks while more are delivered.
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Roughly a 0% chance of that happening. Your order is your order.
 
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I don’t think that has ever happened, the store giving away preordered phones to non-preorders. An Apple Store employee would get fired for such a mistake.
 
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laptech said:
I know from past experiences in-store pickup's have been sacrificed at the expense of those who have queued for days camping outside the store with the in-store pick up's stock being given over to the shop's floor stock so there is something for customers to buy rather than being told all stock has been used for in-store pickup's only.

So, what are the chances the same will happen to the iphone x, store managers realizing they underestimated stock levels and make the decision to use some of the in-store pickups to be sold as normal store units. Thereby in-store pickup customers being fed excuses that their phone was not delivered and they will have to wait 1-2 weeks while more are delivered.

Will you still wait or demand an instant refund?
Click to expand...
Mine is reserved and this year they gave me a pick up time. I've had great experiences with this feature. I tend to use it whenever it's available as an option.
 
I know first hand that has never happened. How? Why? Well, let me take you back to 2016 when I had a reservation for my iPhone 7 Plus 256gb for instore pickup at 8:30am.

When I got there, people were buying phones that they had reserved, naturally.

The genius goes to get mine, comes back, and says, Mr. Melman101,we are very sorry but your phone hasn’t actually arrived at the store yet. Now, I was wondering why they wouldn’t just sell me one they had, but as mentioned your phone is your phone. They don’t just give anyone any phone.
 
melman101 said:
I know first hand that has never happened. How? Why? Well, let me take you back to 2016 when I had a reservation for my iPhone 7 Plus 256gb for instore pickup at 8:30am.

When I got there, people were buying phones that they had reserved, naturally.

The genius goes to get mine, comes back, and says, Mr. Melman101,we are very sorry but your phone hasn’t actually arrived at the store yet. Now, I was wondering why they wouldn’t just sell me one they had, but as mentioned your phone is your phone. They don’t just give anyone any phone.
Click to expand...
Oops! That was hopefully just a glitch in the system they later resolved.
 
The only time I’ve ever heard of that was when IUP started and you had to go in store to get approved for the program and get the phone activated. Many people complained their reserved phones weren’t there after waiting over an hour in the reservation queue line. Those phones weren’t activated yet so I can see how they could have been sold to someone else. Once the phone has been activated with your number it’s yours.
 
laptech said:
I know from past experiences in-store pickup's have been sacrificed at the expense of those who have queued for days camping outside the store with the in-store pick up's stock being given over to the shop's floor stock so there is something for customers to buy rather than being told all stock has been used for in-store pickup's only.

So, what are the chances the same will happen to the iphone x, store managers realizing they underestimated stock levels and make the decision to use some of the in-store pickups to be sold as normal store units. Thereby in-store pickup customers being fed excuses that their phone was not delivered and they will have to wait 1-2 weeks while more are delivered.

Will you still wait or demand an instant refund?
Click to expand...
Sorry but you are just repeating an Urban Myth about how in-store pickup works at Apple.

Dave
 
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Reason i made the thread is because i suffered this problem with an instore-pickup of an ipad 3 when they came out. The store was selling new ipad3's off the shelves but i was told mine had not come in yet and had to wait. I asked why not sell me one from the shelves then and they said they cannot because mine has serial numbers assigned to my account and it could not be changed.

I demanded an instant refund and got it.

It was then a few weeks later local media was reporting that pre-ordered units were being used as normal stock because the store had underestimated how many ipad3's would sell and thus they needed more stock to sell to walk in customers because it would be bad for the store if they had ques of people waiting to buy but had not enough stock.

Maybe due to the assignment of imei's and serial number and telephone number of the phone, it's not so easy to do the same as they did with the ipads.

Store was in London.
 
The stores will usually have 1-2 of each variant held back for DOA stock, if they where to sell your pre order you could kick up a fuss and get them to sell you one of those!
 
Any idea of what happens if you miss your pickup window? My girlfriend got 11:00 - 11:30 at one Apple store, and I got 12:00-12:30 at another down the road. I’d like to just drive together to get her’s then mine. Just concerned if they release the device if you miss that window.
 
AdonisSMU said:
Oops! That was hopefully just a glitch in the system they later resolved.
Click to expand...

Hahaha I forgot to finish the story. That's what happens when you are writing after pre-ordering an iPhone X at 3am. LOL

Basically, it was still on the truck being delivered to the store. They were tracking it. I had to wait an hour or two. But they gave me a free case. It happened to two other people as well, I believe. 🙂
 
brkane said:
Any idea of what happens if you miss your pickup window? My girlfriend got 11:00 - 11:30 at one Apple store, and I got 12:00-12:30 at another down the road. I’d like to just drive together to get her’s then mine. Just concerned if they release the device if you miss that window.
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No, the email they send you for picking it up says you can pick it up anytime, but if you miss your window you may have a long wait (meaning you may have to wait in the long line with the cattle rather than the short line for people with appointments, or at least the end of the appointments line).
 
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I wonder if you can switch from a home delivery and have them deliver it to the store and go pick it up? This option would be better for me since I don’t know if I’ll be able to be home waiting for delivery all day. I’m guessing not.
 
brkane said:
Any idea of what happens if you miss your pickup window? My girlfriend got 11:00 - 11:30 at one Apple store, and I got 12:00-12:30 at another down the road. I’d like to just drive together to get her’s then mine. Just concerned if they release the device if you miss that window.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat, I just have a little longer than you. I got 8:30am and 10:00am.

Mine is about a 20 minute drive. And I'm the creditor on both phones, so I must be there. I'm gonna go to mine early, like 8:15am. Hopefully I'll be out by 9am. And then I'll go straight to the other store.
 
Peanut207 said:
I wonder if you can switch from a home delivery and have them deliver it to the store and go pick it up? This option would be better for me since I don’t know if I’ll be able to be home waiting for delivery all day. I’m guessing not.
Click to expand...
Most carriers require that shipments go directly to the address on their file, so I doubt it.
 
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