Apple says 'working hard' to get iPhone X orders to iPhone Upgrade Program customers after...

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2017
Apple this weekend is contacting iPhone Upgrade Program customers who stayed up, or woke up, to order an iPhone X early Friday only to find the company's financial partner, Citizens One, was unable to process loan applications.




According to multiple accounts posted to Twitter, Reddit and other online forums, an unknown number of iPhone Upgrade Program members ran into problems with Citizens One shortly after preorders went live at 12:01 a.m. Pacific.

iPhone Upgrade Program customers are required to obtain financing authorization from Citizens One prior to placing a new phone order. A week before iPhone X preorders went live, Apple urged members to get a head start by filling out the requisite credit application, a process that would need to be completed before checkout.

Reports from iPhone Upgrade Program customers who applied for financing on Friday claim Citizens One was unable to verify their financial information, leaving their early iPhone X orders in the lurch or nullifying them completely. Others who did manage to make it through the order process failed to receive a confirmation number or email.

Making matters worse, Apple's default message regarding loan processing delays instructed buyers to wait before placing another order:
It looks like it's taking longer than usual to process your application with Citizens One. Please do not place another order at this time. We'll email you with an update within 8 hours regarding the status of your application. If your application is declined, you may need to reapply and place a new order. Please note that placing a new order will delay your delivery or pickup date.
With iPhone X stock in short supply, the snafu came at the most inopportune time for early adopters looking to snag a copy at launch. The apparent loan application problems prompted some to order an iPhone X outright, skipping the upgrade program altogether.

One iPhone Upgrade Program member told AppleInsider they placed their order at 3:39 a.m. Pacific for an initial delivery estimate of 2 to 3 weeks. Roughly three and a half hours after receiving Apple's "We're processing your application" message, the person was sent a notification saying the application had failed and that they should place another order. The second iPhone X preorder went in at around 7:30 a.m., yielding an estimated delivery date of Dec. 11 to Dec. 18.

It seems Apple is attempting to rectify the situation, or at least get to the bottom of what went wrong. In emails to customers that started going out late Friday, the company acknowledged the loan application issue, saying it is working on a solution.

Apple asks customers to reply to the email with their original order number. Alternatively, if members did not place a second order, the company instructs them to do so and send a reply with the newly generated order number.

Upon receiving a reply, Apple sends out a response email addressing customers by name and asking buyers to log into the Online Order Status webpage in three business days, or Wednesday, to check on their iPhone X preorder.

Whether Apple plans to update iPhone Upgrade Program orders affected by the Citizens One hiccup to honor original promised-by delivery dates is unknown. Also unclear is how many customers were impacted by the delay.

Apple initiated iPhone X preorders on Friday to expectedly high demand, with launch day supply depleted within ten minutes. Shipping estimates quickly slipped to 2 to 3 weeks, then 4 to 5 weeks until it hit the current 5 to 6 week wait time.

Leading up to Friday, analysts cautioned that iPhone X supply would be severely constrained until at least next year. Noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a note last week estimated Apple to have only 2 to 3 million units on hand for the phone's Nov. 3 debut. To put that into perspective, Apple sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 series devices over the course of three days.

In a statement on Friday, Apple said iPhone X demand is "off the charts," adding it is "working hard to get this revolutionary new product into the hands of every customer who wants one, as quickly as possible."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    Roxy BalboaRoxy Balboa Posts: 55member
    They had a week to get preapproved. They didn’t. They deserve what they got.
  • Reply 2 of 45
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    They had a week to get preapproved. They didn’t. They deserve what they got.
    I got pre-approval (after dealing with Bank One not having my correct ssn) and still had a delay: receiving an email from Bank One saying the loan was approved a number of hours AFTER placing my order in the middle of the night as soon as the app let me in. Only after which did I receive a confirming email from Apple with an order number, some time after that the order appeared in my account. 

    And an extra two weeks with my geriatric 7 Plus?? I expect I’ll survive. 
    edited October 2017 GeorgeBMachysteriaasdasd
  • Reply 3 of 45
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,198member
    I'll bet you won't see AT&T do anything special to reinstate orders it cancelled for stupid reasons, like not being able to verify a shipping address... when it's the account billing address!
    Always buy from Apple if you can--their service is so much better than the carriers'.
    edited October 2017 80s_Apple_GuyGeorgeBMacretrogusto
  • Reply 4 of 45
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,309member
    cpsro said:
    I'll bet you won't see AT&T do anything special to reinstate orders it cancelled for stupid reasons, like not being able to verify a shipping address... when it's the account billing address!
    Always buy from Apple if you can--their service is so much better than the carriers'.
    They have in my experience, although it wasn't easy. It was like having another job. Making call after call to find out no one there knew what the hell is going on. Took a few weeks to resolve. This was for the jet black iPhone 7+ with $650 trade in for my 6 last year. 
    Compare that with Apple who has had issues before with iPhone upgrade program. They have their own CS team that handles those issues and can "miraculously" find a device for you that is "unavailable" for everyone else to resolve the issue.
    Carriers don't care, that's why their customers are not loyal anymore. Why be loyal when it's not appreciated or even considered?
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 5 of 45
    martinmartin77martinmartin77 Posts: 1member
    Roxy Balboa said:
    They had a week to get preapproved. They didn’t. They deserve what they got.
    Oof. Let’s just hope you’re not anyone’s parent or boss... so quick (literally) to pass down judgment when you’re not fully informed. 

    Among the recipients of these messages were people trying to enroll in the iPhone Upgrade Program. Preapproval was only available to those already enrolled in the program.
    RenderdogGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 6 of 45
    bambuhiphopbambuhiphop Posts: 19member
    So, I got this email. Didn’t know about the pre-approval thing. Placed my original order at 12:06 am. Got through the whole process and then got that message. Woke up to an email that my order failed. Got the order issue email and placed a new order. Estimated time on that order was 12/18. Checked in on my order tonight based on response from an additional follow up email, and order now says 11/3 delivery and preparing for shipment, which was the delivery date from my original order. We’ll see what goes down this week...
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 7 of 45
    payecopayeco Posts: 581member
    His happened with my wife’s order. Got the email Friday evening and replied right away with the second order number from placing a second order earlier that morning. Just checked her shipping status and she has now been bumped up from the 5-6 weeks window to the 2-3 weeks window.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 8 of 45
    pukohpukoh Posts: 1member
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    gatorguy
  • Reply 9 of 45
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    It’s the Apple Upgrade program. 

    GeorgeBMacsuddenly newton
  • Reply 10 of 45
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    did these people have their credit frozen (from Equifax breach) and forgot to unfreeze it and now are complaining?
  • Reply 11 of 45
    RenderdogRenderdog Posts: 5member
    I believe the source of the problem, for me, was that my Discover Card decided not to allow the transaction to go thru. As a new Apple Upgrade program applicant, I could not pre-qualify (I tried). Once I received Apple's “processing problem” email the next morning, I ordered a phone from AT&T, buying it outright for Nov 3 delivery, and their checkout alerted me immediately that my card didn’t work, so I switched to a different one which worked. So perhaps Apple's use of third-party financing is the root of this issue.

    I have no idea why Discover decided my Apple purchase was "unusual activity", since I buy from Apple using that card all the time. I was waiting until after this purchase to freeze my credit. I’d prefer Apple’s upgrade program, so I’m hopeful they'll improve the December delivery date on that new order. Otherwise I may just keep the phone from AT&T, supposedly to be delivered Nov 3rd. Though in the past AT&T has slid their promised delivery dates.

    Update: Apple has changed my "Delivers" dates from Dec 11-18 to Nov 17-24.
    edited October 2017
  • Reply 12 of 45
    2old4fun2old4fun Posts: 239member
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    I can only assume you have limited financial knowledge. There are many financial reasons to obtain a loan to purchase something rather than to buy using ones own money. Apple sells bonds to pay for stock buybacks rather than using their billions of dollars. Maybe you could research the reason why.
    GeorgeBMacapplepieguymike180s_Apple_Guy
  • Reply 13 of 45
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Two years ago when Apple first started the Upgrade Program, I went into an Apple store to buy four iPhone 6S for my family. It took more than an hour of messing around with Apple, Citizens One and American Express before I was able to purchase the second two iPhones. Apple said I could purchase four but a combination of American Express seeing me spend too much at one time (they thought my card had been stolen so they put a lock on my account) and Citizens One not getting the memo allowing me to buy four, it took much longer than necessary -- and this was at an Apple Store, not on-line at midnight where every second counted. As others have said, my credit cards have never been declined or seen as unusual activity when dealing directly with Apple.

    This fiasco for some people is another reason why Apple should become the bank and carry their own credit program. People should have been able to have everything properly pre-approved days before actually ordering so they could simply click an Upgrade Program purchase box when ordering and have it work with no delay. There's really no excuse for it not to have been streamlined and work without any problems.
    Renderdog
  • Reply 14 of 45
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member

    2old4fun said:
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    I can only assume you have limited financial knowledge. There are many financial reasons to obtain a loan to purchase something rather than to buy using ones own money. Apple sells bonds to pay for stock buybacks rather than using their billions of dollars. Maybe you could research the reason why.
    You're actually not really taking out a loan, you're spreading out your payment over two years (I don't see a 0% loan as being a loan). It's the same thing most people used to do before the Apple Upgrade Program, just through their cellular provider. Everything was spread out over two years, making it easier to pay. @pukoh must either be new to the US or a kid who's new to buying on time. 
    GeorgeBMac80s_Apple_Guy
  • Reply 15 of 45
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    I don't get why, in today's world of everything going on the card -- and cards carrying credit limits of $5-10K - why this would get hung up with a credit approval from a no-name like "Citizen's One".

    It sounds like unnecessary processing and unnecessary hassle. 
    Apple needs to modernize its processes.
  • Reply 16 of 45
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    Hint: Do your research before posting, especially a first post unless you're just trying to troll. This is an upgrade program designed to allow customers to upgrade their phone every year, not specifically a finance program. It just goes through a credit approval process, which is in my experience, no different from going into Verizon (US) and they checking your credit before letting you purchase a phone, especially one of that expense. 

    Also, nearly all phone plans today make you pay for the phone over time...so if that is a "loan" to you, then I guess nobody should spend money on that phone. 

    Lastly, who the hell are you to say what someone spends their money on? If I or someone else wants to take out a $1000 loan to get a phone then thats up to them, not you. Last time I looked, you weren't their father...
    JFC_PA80s_Apple_Guy
  • Reply 17 of 45
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    Matching costs to depreciation is in fact, the right way to use money if your revenue stream is stable (you got a stable job, or a stable retirement)
    Cash is something you concentrate on things that need to be consumed right away and can't be spread out, the rest should be invested.

    For this redistribution, companies and people must have access to those low credit rates.

    This doesn't apply to credit cards with 20%+ rates.
    Spreading it out by using high rate credit and then have to rolling over the amount you couldn't pay into the next month.
    That would indeed be bad and that should only be done in case of emergencies (emergency car repairs for example).
    .
    The financing costs in the Apple case are pretty low, much lower than using a credit card which many people use when buying their phones "outright".





    JFC_PAbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 18 of 45
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member
    A company of Apple's caliber can surely find better partners in financial services. Why not, say, a partner like American Express or Discover, instead of some dime-a-dozen company with which the financial services landscape is littered. 
  • Reply 19 of 45
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member
    pukoh said:
    If you need to get a loan to buy a phone, you probably shouldn’t be spending that money one a phone. 
    If you are financially foolish enough to not understand the notion of an opportunity cost to the use of one's capital -- such as when someone is willing to give you a two-year interest-free personal loan -- your money probably is not going to last very long. 
    beowulfschmidt
  • Reply 20 of 45
    AJ MAC25AJ MAC25 Posts: 6member
    Time for a change in the process. A few ideas here: https://www.cnet.com/news/preordering-is-broken-and-heres-how-to-fix-it-iphone-x/
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