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What to say to NOT have your phone opened at store?

lookn4wifi said:
I bought a 4S at the Apple store. The sales associate started into the shrink wrap and I asked if I could open it at home. He said he wanted me to open it in the store to insure there were no issues activating it. I didn't want to insist on unboxing it at home since insuring it was functioning properly seemed like a good idea.
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That is a good idea.

I never been to an Apple store, since the closest one to me is about 3-4 hours away. If i were to go to one though, I would Expect for them to let me open it myself at home.

I'm talking about AT&T stores, I have no idea what they have to type into the phone? They type something in, make a test call etc. With iPhones and Androids I've purchased.
 
I work for an indirect (not ATT) and we are told to always open phones for the customers, to ensure contents are indeed actually in the box... nothing's worse than having a customer come back saying the phone wasn't in the box or any cord wasn't in the box and theres nothing you can do about it.
 
There are few reasons they do it, and it does work with the vast majority of people - regular, non OCD people.

* Make sure everything is there
* Get it activated
* Get it working so you do not have to make another trip back

But, not required.
 
In my experience Apple lets you leave with it unopened unless you need help setting it up. When I picked up my 4, I was asked if I needed help setting up my phone. Told the sales girl no and after swiping my cc, she handed me the unopened box and I was on my way.

I've had my last two iPhones pre-ordered and shipped since then so I don't know if policies have changed.
 
vastoholic said:
Apple store actually let me cut open the plastic wrap on my iPhone 4 and do the unboxing myself. At the time I was just thinking "okay, whatever." I asked him why he didn't just do it, and he mentioned that a lot of customers like to be the first to open their new product. Makes sense.

I don't know what a carrier would need to enter as all phone ordered online ship ready for the customer to activate by themselves.
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Oh I can relate to this.

I had an iPad 2 die on me and when they brought out the brown-box replacement the Genius was trying to check it out while it was still wrapped in the protective sheet. It responded to touches well enough, but the home button was being a pain to deal with along with the wrapping interfering with getting the sim slot open.

I told him to go ahead an unwrap it and check it was an OK replacement. He told me a lot of customers get really bent out of shape if they take the product out of the protective plastic. I told him I'm not that anal-retentive over a couple of fingerprints and go for it.

The relief on his face told me volumes about what some people must be like at these stores.
 
I bought a second iPhone 5 for my brother who couldn't wait in line at the Apple Store and got it unopened. I just told her that I was buying this for someone and that he would rather activate it himself. She said no problem, I paid and took the sealed box with me.
 
Charadis said:
This. Just picked up mine today after reserving it last night, and the person who activated it didn't even open it; I ended up opening it in the car anyway just in case there were any problems.

-C

Sent from my iPhone 5
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Literally did the exactly same thing! Except it turned out my phone had a nick...
 
Why would you want to insist at opening it up at home , unless your doing an un boxing video i'd suppose.

Personally I would want to open it up in front of the employee to ensure the accessories are complete, and that the handset is in A1 condition and boots up Ok etc.
 
It depends if you come across as a noob, they will be insistent to set it up for you so you have no worries. But if you come across as tech savvy they will trust you to know what to do when the time comes and will respect your preference to unwrap and unbox it yourself.
 
Bobby Corwen said:
It depends if you come across as a noob, they will be insistent to set it up for you so you have no worries. But if you come across as tech savvy they will trust you to know what to do when the time comes and will respect your preference to unwrap and unbox it yourself.
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Not from what I saw. The Apple Store "blue shirt" realized quite quickly I had done all my research on the device, including knowing pricing, plans, upgrade rules, and all my current call plan info. As busy as they were selling phones, he still wanted to take the time to make sure the device I got was in good shape and activated fine.

I could have easily done the job myself, but figured "what the hell" because if anything was wrong with it - dead pixels, scuffs - it wasn't my problem. It would have been a lot harder walking in after an hour or so to do an exchange, argue with them over where the damage came from and then be told there are no replacements.
 
bandofbrothers said:
Why would you want to insist at opening it up at home , unless your doing an un boxing video i'd suppose.

Personally I would want to open it up in front of the employee to ensure the accessories are complete, and that the handset is in A1 condition and boots up Ok etc.
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Not necessarily at home, but would certainly prefer handling it myself. Verizon guy opened and activated my first ip5 on launch day when I bought at Verizon corporate. My heart nearly died every time he placed it on surface without factory plastics while checking/waiting on computer. He also through away the factory cover plastics and box shrinked wrap.

When I got my AT&T ip5 at apple store, I carefully opened it myself in my car, slitting 3 sides of the bottom of the shrinked wrap so it would stay on and protect the top box cover. I also retained the factory plastics on phone until I arrived home to apply my Skinomi full skin protector; my phone is virtually unscathed, and my AT&T ip5's shiny Apple icon has no scratches, unlike my Verizon phone (which I'm returning or selling this week anyways). :)

-C
 
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So is the general consensus that the stores try to insist on opening it in the store and activating it then, but it's definitely possible to insist back that you want to open and activate it at home?

I'd rather do that because I'm trying to cross-upgrade with my mom's line and the Apple people told me that I need to physically bring my dad (who is the person that owns the at&t account) to the store if I want to do that. And I mean I really don't want to involve my whole family in buying a phone, so I'd rather just get the phone to my house, unbox it there and call at&t and have them sort it out over the phone, which seems to be pretty straight forward as opposed to Apple who told me to basically bring my whole family to the store and all this identification just for a damn phone.
 
I worked for AT&T for 3 years (iphone 5 launch just happened to be my last day) and went through 3 launches. The reason we were told to open the phones and make sure they are working is because if the phone is defective right out of the box we can swap it out as an OBF (out of box failure). But once it leaves the store, if you bring it back with a defect of some sort we have to send you to the Apple store. They handle any and all warranty issues, per their contract with AT&T.

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aimee.elizabeth said:
So is the general consensus that the stores try to insist on opening it in the store and activating it then, but it's definitely possible to insist back that you want to open and activate it at home?

I'd rather do that because I'm trying to cross-upgrade with my mom's line and the Apple people told me that I need to physically bring my dad (who is the person that owns the at&t account) to the store if I want to do that. And I mean I really don't want to involve my whole family in buying a phone, so I'd rather just get the phone to my house, unbox it there and call at&t and have them sort it out over the phone, which seems to be pretty straight forward as opposed to Apple who told me to basically bring my whole family to the store and all this identification just for a damn phone.
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Are you an authorized user on your dad's account? If not then the only way to purchase the phone as it full retail price. Otherwise, you will need your dad, or some other authorized user on the account, to go with you.
 
brianbunge said:
Are you an authorized user on your dad's account? If not then the only way to purchase the phone as it full retail price. Otherwise, you will need your dad, or some other authorized user on the account, to go with you.
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Well I have access to our at&t account, and the first time I went to the Apple store, one of the guys just told me to add myself onto the account and then I'd have to bring some form of ID that they can take. But the second time I called the same local at&t and asked them about it again, the girl on the phone told me that I'd HAVE to bring the account holder into the store, even though I mentioned a few times that I am able to be an authorized user on the said account.
 
Charadis said:
SIM should already be installed. It was that way when I got my 16gb AT&T ip5 at the apple store and the 32gb Verizon ip5 that I got at a corporate Verizon shop.

-c
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And yet they charge $35 to "activate" the phone :rolleyes:
 
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ixodes said:
The carriers train their employees to open the package, quickly glance inside to insure all items are present, and be sure your set before you leave.

I've developed a personal relationship with the Mgr of both my local Apple & AT&T stores. It's easy since I'm a frequent buyer, therefore I see them every month or so. It probably wouldn't work if I only went in once a year or so.

Because of this, I get great service. They know my preferences, as a result they are careful to be sure the phones, computers & accessories I buy are all in sealed unopened packaging. They know I'm not going to complain that they didn't do their job, like some customers do when things don't go their way.
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I walked into the apple store to pick up. I told the girl do not open, she said no problem. You dont need a special relationship.

At the ATT store, I would simple insist before its brought out. They do not need to open to activate, and neither do you.

I would never walk into a ATT store....talk about disorganized. I order online from ATT or walk into an Apple store.
 
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