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U.K. Confusion Still Rife As To In-Store Upgrades!

CD3660

CD3660

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
5,483
2,797
Cheshire, United Kingdom.
I am getting thoroughly fed up!

I telephoned my local store (Wilmslow) yesterday and asked about stock of the 16GB model. To my surprise I was told that although they would have limited stock, none of it was for sale as it was reserved!

Today, I thought I'd give it another go, and the manager seemed to back down on the idea that the 16GB stock was reserved, but then said that they could not do upgrades in-store!

He was quite obviously clueless. At first he said that upgrades could only be done online, but when I told him about the email from O2 he simply said that they could not do upgrades in-store because they didn't have the right simcards!

Am I being thick or am I right in thinking that all iPhones come with the simcards already inserted. Even if they don't, can there be any difference between the simcard for a new contract and the simcard for an upgraded contract.

The problem here is the prospect of queuing outside a store for some considerable time tomorrow morning only to be told by some ignorant store manager that he can do nothing for you!

How I wish that I had never sold my v.1 iPhone!
 
Although many stores seem to have different information there has been alot said about in store upgrades.

The answer is 'yes' you can upgrade in store, as for the stock being reserved its up to the store manager but O2 & Apple have said there is to be NO in store reservations, its first come first served!
 
I had the understanding from the O2 website, that for an upgrade, they do nothing instore, they do your contract but then you go home and change the sim from your OLD iphone and put it in your new iphone using the included sim removal tool, and then activate the phone through itunes?
 
CD3660 said:
I am getting thoroughly fed up!

I telephoned my local store (Wilmslow) yesterday and asked about stock of the 16GB model. To my surprise I was told that although they would have limited stock, none of it was for sale as it was reserved!

Today, I thought I'd give it another go, and the manager seemed to back down on the idea that the 16GB stock was reserved, but then said that they could not do upgrades in-store!

He was quite obviously clueless. At first he said that upgrades could only be done online, but when I told him about the email from O2 he simply said that they could not do upgrades in-store because they didn't have the right simcards!

Am I being thick or am I right in thinking that all iPhones come with the simcards already inserted. Even if they don't, can there be any difference between the simcard for a new contract and the simcard for an upgraded contract.

The problem here is the prospect of queuing outside a store for some considerable time tomorrow morning only to be told by some ignorant store manager that he can do nothing for you!

How I wish that I had never sold my v.1 iPhone!
Click to expand...

Haha, I have just posted something very similar in another thread.

The O2 website is definately wooly (the term I used earlier), and even though the wording has changed on O2's website from being able to upgrade online to er, nothing, there is nothing anywhere 'official' from O2 to say 1st Gen owners can upgrade in store tomorrow. It's crazy!

I could try and ring my local store but I suspect the terms, left arm & right arm, and arse & elbow will come in to play!

- D

UPDATE:

Just spoken to my local store and you can UPGRADE in store if you have a 1st Gen iPhone. What is strange though is that he said they open at 8.02 whereas the O2 website says it opens 'normal trading hours', which I assume is not 8.02.

So I'm probably going to go, with 2 forms of ID and my account number and try my luck!

HTH
 
saeybia said:
I had the understanding from the O2 website, that for an upgrade, they do nothing instore, they do your contract but then you go home and change the sim from your OLD iphone and put it in your new iphone using the included sim removal tool, and then activate the phone through itunes?
Click to expand...

Correct....
 
See text in red:-

Thank you for your email. Matthew has asked me as O2 Sales Director responsible for iPhone to reply on his behalf. Up front, I would like to apologise for the disappointing and frustrating experience you had yesterday on our online shop.

At O2 we had said that we would keep all those who had registered their interest in Apple iPhone 3G up to date with the launch developments. We also used the registration data to keep Apple up to date on the phenomenal interest and to support our orders for the phones with them. We have been working continuously with them to get as much stock for the UK as possible. Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries. We are confident that over time we will start to get sufficient volume to meet demand, but it is likely that stock will be in very short supply for some weeks to come.

We opened the online shop yesterday, having only told those who had registered that it was available, to give them a chance to be one of the first to get their hands on the iPhone. This also meant that successful orders could be delivered to customers’ homes on the same day as the retail high street launch, 11th July. To put it in context we had over 200,000 people expressing interest and only a very small proportion of that number of devices available. Faced with this dilemma, we made it clear in the communications that to be fair to all customers the orders would be managed on a first come first served basis, as stock was limited. The response was so great that the online store completely sold out of iPhones within just a few hours.

We did also take steps to ensure our own customers were not disadvantaged by providing a stock allocation for them. We took as many upgrades orders from O2 customers as we did from the customers of all the other networks put together.

We run one of the busiest and most robust web stores in the UK. I appreciate that it is little comfort to you given your experience, but we had invested heavily to add a huge amount of additional capacity, 250 times its normal rate, and back-up systems. We tested this carefully in advance. The massive simultaneous crush, partly created by our open and honest communications approach with the registered community, exceeded even our worst case assumptions. Demand was at 13,000 orders per second. Frankly, we have to admit we just weren't prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is.*

The next opportunity to get an iPhone will be when the device goes on sale in the high street on 11th July. O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores will be taking new orders and upgrade orders. Apple stores will only be taking new customer contracts. Most shops will open at 8.02am but some stores, particularly in shopping centres where early access is not possible, will open as usual from 9am. The approach on Friday will also be on a first come first served basis. The amount of devices will vary depending on the store but will be on average a few dozen iPhones in each O2 or CPW store. We are expecting early queues and, like the online site, are expecting to sell out very quickly. Apple stores will have more devices. We will be receiving deliveries from Apple roughly once a week for the foreseeable future but it will be several weeks before stocks increase. We will release stock updates for the online shop as they become available.

I am sorry that you haven’t been successful in getting your hands on the new iPhone and once again I would like to apologise that the experience you had wasn’t as we wanted or you deserve. All I can do is reassure you that we will continue to work closely with Apple to get as much stock as possible for the UK. We will also continue to use the principle of first come first served as stock becomes available for both online and in our stores as we feel that is the best way to be fair and equitable to the many tens of thousands of other customers also desperate to get one.

Thank you

Stephen Shurrock
Sales Director
O2
 
Kerching said:
See text in red:-

Thank you for your email. Matthew has asked me as O2 Sales Director responsible for iPhone to reply on his behalf. Up front, I would like to apologise for the disappointing and frustrating experience you had yesterday on our online shop.

At O2 we had said that we would keep all those who had registered their interest in Apple iPhone 3G up to date with the launch developments. We also used the registration data to keep Apple up to date on the phenomenal interest and to support our orders for the phones with them. We have been working continuously with them to get as much stock for the UK as possible. Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries. We are confident that over time we will start to get sufficient volume to meet demand, but it is likely that stock will be in very short supply for some weeks to come.

We opened the online shop yesterday, having only told those who had registered that it was available, to give them a chance to be one of the first to get their hands on the iPhone. This also meant that successful orders could be delivered to customers’ homes on the same day as the retail high street launch, 11th July. To put it in context we had over 200,000 people expressing interest and only a very small proportion of that number of devices available. Faced with this dilemma, we made it clear in the communications that to be fair to all customers the orders would be managed on a first come first served basis, as stock was limited. The response was so great that the online store completely sold out of iPhones within just a few hours.

We did also take steps to ensure our own customers were not disadvantaged by providing a stock allocation for them. We took as many upgrades orders from O2 customers as we did from the customers of all the other networks put together.

We run one of the busiest and most robust web stores in the UK. I appreciate that it is little comfort to you given your experience, but we had invested heavily to add a huge amount of additional capacity, 250 times its normal rate, and back-up systems. We tested this carefully in advance. The massive simultaneous crush, partly created by our open and honest communications approach with the registered community, exceeded even our worst case assumptions. Demand was at 13,000 orders per second. Frankly, we have to admit we just weren't prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is.*

The next opportunity to get an iPhone will be when the device goes on sale in the high street on 11th July. O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores will be taking new orders and upgrade orders. Apple stores will only be taking new customer contracts. Most shops will open at 8.02am but some stores, particularly in shopping centres where early access is not possible, will open as usual from 9am. The approach on Friday will also be on a first come first served basis. The amount of devices will vary depending on the store but will be on average a few dozen iPhones in each O2 or CPW store. We are expecting early queues and, like the online site, are expecting to sell out very quickly. Apple stores will have more devices. We will be receiving deliveries from Apple roughly once a week for the foreseeable future but it will be several weeks before stocks increase. We will release stock updates for the online shop as they become available.

I am sorry that you haven’t been successful in getting your hands on the new iPhone and once again I would like to apologise that the experience you had wasn’t as we wanted or you deserve. All I can do is reassure you that we will continue to work closely with Apple to get as much stock as possible for the UK. We will also continue to use the principle of first come first served as stock becomes available for both online and in our stores as we feel that is the best way to be fair and equitable to the many tens of thousands of other customers also desperate to get one.

Thank you

Stephen Shurrock
Sales Director
O2
Click to expand...

My thoughts on this are where the 'wooliness' comes in - what is an 'upgrade'? Is it an O2 customer with any phone other than iPhone or someone with a 1st gen. iPhone? However saying that, as I posted above, my local store has said that 1st gen. iPhone users can upgrade in store.

Knowing the confusion which has gone on this week, I suspect the same confusion will still reign tomorrow!

- D
 
I just called my local store who confirmed they would be doing upgrades for existing iPhone users tomorrow. The girl I spoke to wasn't allowed to discuss specific stock levels but when I said I wanted a 16Gb one she said they had had a lot of people ringing and planning to queue early and advised me to call next Tues/Wed when they should be getting more stock. Madness - I think i'll leave it a couple of weeks to settle down, play with the new firmware a bit then upgrade once the fuss has died down a bit.
 
alFR said:
I just called my local store who confirmed they would be doing upgrades for existing iPhone users tomorrow. The girl I spoke to wasn't allowed to discuss specific stock levels but when I said I wanted a 16Gb one she said they had had a lot of people ringing and planning to queue early and advised me to call next Tues/Wed when they should be getting more stock. Madness - I think i'll leave it a couple of weeks to settle down, play with the new firmware a bit then upgrade once the fuss has died down a bit.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am starting to think like that now ... just waiting for the final piece of the jigsaw - got MobileMe. Got some Apps. Just need the firmware now!

Saying that, I may just set my alarm for 6.30 in the morning :D

- D
 
Same story in Manchester, some stores have stock reserved. Others "no we don't do upgrades". There's only a couple of city centre stores that seem on the ball - they're gonna be so busy though!

I'm waiting two weeks.
 
ANTMUZ said:
Same story in Manchester, some stores have stock reserved. Others "no we don't do upgrades". There's only a couple of city centre stores that seem on the ball - they're gonna be so busy though!

I'm waiting two weeks.
Click to expand...

I recommend anyone finding a store taking reservations drops Matthew Key a line at O2 to let him know what his workers are up to! His email address is matthew.key@o2.com.
 
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