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Plenty of 5S's available tonight!

B

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 9, 2008
1,769
788
So I got back from a business trip tonight at 8:30 and headed to the mall near my airport on the off chance that there may be a couple of reserved phones that didn't get picked up.

I walked in to a moderately busy store at 8:50 or so and said "I know it's a long shot, but do you have any iPhone 5s's?" The guy I was speaking to pointed to his colleague next to him who held up a stack that was almost 2" thick of cards! I couldn't believe it! I said "I know you don't have any gold" and they laughed. "How about silver?" "What carrier?" "Verizon?" "Only 64GB" "What else you got?" "ATT 32?" "Any 16?" "No." "I'll take an ATT 32" "Great! What Plan do you want?" "Oh I just want 'device only'...I have T-mobile." She scowled slightly disapprovingly. I said "I know it will work." She said "There are no unlocked iPhones." I said "I know you have to say that, but I know it will work...If it doesn't I'll return it....I would have rather gotten Verizon to be sure, but I don't need 64GB." She laughed and just said "Sounds like you've done your research." Bought the phone and when she was scanning it, there was some error and she said "It says it has the wrong SIM in it....I'll need to get you a different SIM from the back." When she came back I joked "I suppose there's a T-mobile SIM in the phone?" She laughed. Tried to sell me AppleCare. I declined. Said I know it's great, but I'll take my chances and I know I can alway do an out of warranty replacement for a little more than AppleCare plus deductible if for some reason something goes really wrong. She said "You've done your research" again.

Got home, booted up phone with a Mexican SIM card I have, then a Swiss one, then my T-mobile one. All worked. Backed up my old iPhone and am now restoring my 5S! Mission accomplished! First white iPhone. Gold's a bit too flashy for me, so happy this came through before the one I have ordered online did. I may keep it on order and see if I can sell it when it comes. If not, will just return it to Apple store. :)

Edit: Oh and when I got home, there was an ATT SIM in the phone, so I don't know why there was an error that made her get me a different SIM. Do they use a different one if you buy device only vs activation of the one in the phone?

I also told her I didn't expect them to have so many and she just said that so many people don't think they have them, so they haven't been coming in. I asked why they quit the online reservations and she said it was a nightmare for the store to keep track of what they had available to sell vs what were reserved....they had people lined up and waiting and they couldn't figure out if they could sell the people phones or not. Seems strange that the world's leading tech company can't keep inventory straight, but that's what she said.
 
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That doesn't really sound like they had "Plenty" available. But good for you
 
Sometimes wading through forum trolls, repetitive posts, and drama can seem too much, but then in instances like that it all becomes worth it! :)

I'm very happy with my white/silver t-mo 5s, congrats and hope you enjoy yours too!
 
tundotcom said:
What store is this?
Click to expand...

Store near the MSP airport....

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cchunk said:
That doesn't really sound like they had "Plenty" available. But good for you
Click to expand...

Well a 2" stack of cards at the end of the day seemed pretty good to me. I expected zero with maybe 3-4 people who didn't claim a reserved phone from yesterday. Was definitely skewed to Space Gray. Not sure what memory sizes/carriers were available there.
 
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BruiserB said:
So I got back from a business trip tonight at 8:30 and headed to the mall near my airport on the off chance that there may be a couple of reserved phones that didn't get picked up.

I walked in to a moderately busy store at 8:50 or so and said "I know it's a long shot, but do you have any iPhone 5s's?" The guy I was speaking to pointed to his colleague next to him who held up a stack that was almost 2" thick of cards! I couldn't believe it! I said "I know you don't have any gold" and they laughed. "How about silver?" "What carrier?" "Verizon?" "Only 64GB" "What else you got?" "ATT 32?" "Any 16?" "No." "I'll take an ATT 32" "Great! What Plan do you want?" "Oh I just want 'device only'...I have T-mobile." She scowled slightly disapprovingly. I said "I know it will work." She said "There are no unlocked iPhones." I said "I know you have to say that, but I know it will work...If it doesn't I'll return it....I would have rather gotten Verizon to be sure, but I don't need 64GB." She laughed and just said "Sounds like you've done your research." Bought the phone and when she was scanning it, there was some error and she said "It says it has the wrong SIM in it....I'll need to get you a different SIM from the back." When she came back I joked "I suppose there's a T-mobile SIM in the phone?" She laughed. Tried to sell me AppleCare. I declined. Said I know it's great, but I'll take my chances and I know I can alway do an out of warranty replacement for a little more than AppleCare plus deductible if for some reason something goes really wrong. She said "You've done your research" again.

Got home, booted up phone with a Mexican SIM card I have, then a Swiss one, then my T-mobile one. All worked. Backed up my old iPhone and am now restoring my 5S! Mission accomplished! First white iPhone. Gold's a bit too flashy for me, so happy this came through before the one I have ordered online did. I may keep it on order and see if I can sell it when it comes. If not, will just return it to Apple store. :)

Edit: Oh and when I got home, there was an ATT SIM in the phone, so I don't know why there was an error that made her get me a different SIM. Do they use a different one if you buy device only vs activation of the one in the phone?

I also told her I didn't expect them to have so many and she just said that so many people don't think they have them, so they haven't been coming in. I asked why they quit the online reservations and she said it was a nightmare for the store to keep track of what they had available to sell vs what were reserved....they had people lined up and waiting and they couldn't figure out if they could sell the people phones or not. Seems strange that the world's leading tech company can't keep inventory straight, but that's what she said.
Click to expand...

something about the way you write really bothers me, but glad you ghetto rigged your phone and are happy, I guess
 
997.2 said:
something about the way you write really bothers me, but glad you ghetto rigged your phone and are happy, I guess
Click to expand...

Thanks for your critique. I'm tired at the end of a long day of work and travel and just wanted to get my experience out there, so wrote as quickly as possible. It's not the style I would have chosen for important correspondence, but it conveyed my thoughts and experience just the way they happened.

There's nothing ghetto about buying a device only phone and using it on any carrier.
 
BruiserB said:
I also told her I didn't expect them to have so many and she just said that so many people don't think they have them, so they haven't been coming in. I asked why they quit the online reservations and she said it was a nightmare for the store to keep track of what they had available to sell vs what were reserved....they had people lined up and waiting and they couldn't figure out if they could sell the people phones or not. Seems strange that the world's leading tech company can't keep inventory straight, but that's what she said.
Click to expand...
This has to be joke right are you serious Apple. Well there goes my hopes up for online reservations going back up my goodness really apple.
 
BruiserB said:
I also told her I didn't expect them to have so many and she just said that so many people don't think they have them, so they haven't been coming in. I asked why they quit the online reservations and she said it was a nightmare for the store to keep track of what they had available to sell vs what were reserved....they had people lined up and waiting and they couldn't figure out if they could sell the people phones or not. Seems strange that the world's leading tech company can't keep inventory straight, but that's what she said.
Click to expand...

nightghost said:
This has to be joke right are you serious Apple. Well there goes my hopes up for online reservations going back up my goodness really apple.
Click to expand...

They've done an online reservation system for the 4s and 5, too, but each time has been different. In 2011 you simply "reserved" a phone and completed the transaction in the store. Last year you actually bought the phone online (which severely limited the ability to do device-only purchases) and picked it up in store. Both years that was the only reliable way to purchase the phone when the system was up and running (i.e. they actively discouraged in-store walk-ins except in the last half hour each store was open).

I think the difference this year is that they tried to run the online pickups alongside in-store purchases (similar to what they do with the rest of the inventory). However, note that Apple rolled out in-store pickup only in the last 1-2 years, and it isn't "real-time." Often if you attempt in-store pickup for products such as Macs and iPads, particularly around launches, it will show pick-up dates several days into the future even though you might be able to just show up at the store and buy one in person. It seems Apple never really invested in a sophisticated retail inventory system. Maybe the lack of a full-time head of retail for more than 2 years (apart from the John Browett fiasco) is part of that.
 
ronaldcastillo said:
Anyone was able to get a Gold AT&T 5s at an Apple Store?
Click to expand...

Yesterday approx. 10:15 am I called the Apple Store in Honolulu, got through to a human quickly, asked if they got any gold 64g phones in, was told if I came down fairly soon I would probably get one. I got there about 30 min later, there was a line outside with about 20 people ahead of me and an employee going down asking what everyone wanted and giving out cards. Got a ATT gold 64g and was out in about 30 mins. Very easy. They must of had over 100 phones they had gotten in. On the other hand another Apple Store (Kahala) about 10 miles away didn't get any in.
 
koa said:
Yesterday approx. 10:15 am I called the Apple Store in Honolulu, got through to a human quickly, asked if they got any gold 64g phones in, was told if I came down fairly soon I would probably get one. I got there about 30 min later, there was a line outside with about 20 people ahead of me and an employee going down asking what everyone wanted and giving out cards. Got a ATT gold 64g and was out in about 30 mins. Very easy. They must of had over 100 phones they had gotten in. On the other hand another Apple Store (Kahala) about 10 miles away didn't get any in.
Click to expand...

Wow. I'm from Oahu too, gave Ala Moana a call today and apparently they only received one gold today. I'll keep checking throughout the week.
 
I don't have the attention span to read ops post but I really wanna know what it says because of all the thumbs up.

Would anyone kindly provide a summary? :D
 
How does an unknown quantity of silver 64gb Verizon in 32gb AT&T, in a random location (MSP? What am I a pilot?) even remotely translate into "Plenty of 5S's available tonight!"?

And WTF does a 2" stack of cards have to do with anything?

Seriously people, I'm sure these stories are crystal clear in your brains, but how about slowing down long enough to think about what you're typing for 60 seconds before hitting submit, so that others may understand you. Otherwise you're just clogging the airwaves here with a 2" stack of cards from MSP.

And remember, the world is slightly larger than your radius of vision. "Plenty" for you could mean zero 10 miles away. This shouldn't need explaining.
 
mcdj said:
Seriously people, I'm sure these stories are crystal clear in your brains, but how about slowing down long enough to think about what you're typing for 60 seconds before hitting submit, so that others may understand you. Otherwise you're just clogging the airwaves here with a 2" stack of cards from MSP.
Click to expand...
Ok, that was pretty funny.
 
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