'Huge demand' forces O2 to pull plug on iPhone 3G pre-orders

[AppleInsider]

O2 began taking pre-orders for Apple's new iPhone 3G through its website early Monday but was forced halt the service just hours later as UK consumers flooded the carrier's servers and quickly consumed initial supplies.

O2's pre-order system falls flat

iPhone 3G hopefuls awoke Monday to emails and text messages from O2 announcing that they could pre-order their new Apple handset beginning at 8:00 a.m. local time this morning.

"If you want to place your order, all you need do is click on the link below on your Mac or PC, select the tariff, select the iPhone 3G model and sign a new 18-month contract online," the carrier said in its messages.

Successful pre-orders were to be delivered by a courier on launch day, Friday July 11th, and customers were to be able to complete activation through iTunes from their homes.

Minutes later, however, O2's automated upgrade system for existing iPhone owners buckled under pressure and was taken offline, leaving those customers without a means of placing their upgrade order.

At the same time, the pre-order system for new iPhone customers continued to function without a hitch, frustrating existing owners who were suddenly at a disadvantage given that O2 said it was taking pre-orders on a "first come, first served basis."

Faced with these issues, O2 hours later would shut down its pre-order system completely. A message on the carrier's website now informs customers that due to "huge demand," iPhone 3G is currently out of stock online. Customers are asked to check back for more information on Thursday, July 10th.

O2's iPhone 3G tariffs

The UK carrier has priced the 8GB iPhone 3G at £99 and the 16GB model at £159 with a £30 monthly tariff that includes 75 minutes, 125 text messages, and unlimited data.

A £35 tariff offers the handsets at identical prices and includes 600 minutes, 500 text messages and unlimited data.

Customers who step up to the £45 tariff get an 8GB iPhone at no cost, or a 16GB model for £59. The monthly plan includes 1200 minutes, 500 text messages and unlimited data.

Either iPhone 3G model is free with O2's £75 top-tier tariff that includes 3000 minutes, 500 text messages, and unlimited data each month. All tariffs require that customers agree to a new 18-month contract.



O2 also previously announced that iPhone 3G will also be available under its Pay & Go subscription model at £299.99 for the 8GB model and £359.99 for the 16GB model. Full details are available here, though it appears that O2 has delayed this offering until "later this year."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Tantrum]

Same or similar thing will happen in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and Japan. At least in the first 10 days, there wont be enough iPhone 3G goodness to go around.

[SpinDrift]

I spent hours this morning trying to upgrade. I must have had well over 20 attempts with new upgrade codes. I even tried the failover page with no success. There was no system to enter an upgrade code of you had already been sent one. You had to request a new one each time. Total shambles and a useless system. The developers should have a lot to answer for.

The fact that existing customers were 'promised' to be alerted as soon as the system was active, but they pulled the upgrade system down, allowing only new customers to order their iPhones is shocking. O2 should be ashamed of how poorly they treated us.

What a bunch of ammeters. Come one Apple, is this really the type of network you want to be dealing with?

[SimonPickard]

God this stuff really winds me up.
Don't these people PLAN anything?

Fair enough have the contract phones with the networks but for God's sake sell UNLOCKED phones at the APPLE STORE. That way anyone that wants to spend a bit more up front to get out of having to deal with these muppet networks can.

I'm going to wait for 5 months and pick up a 32GB one. They might have sorted this mess out by then.

Simon

[nagromme]

I hope there IS a shortage (here in the US) to help me stick to my plan to wait 2-4 weeks

Because a) if any unexpected problems arise, the early adopters can find them and b) the phone will be $80 cheaper in one month (I don't currently have a mobile phone.)

[dagamer34]

Damn, O2's prices are amazing.

[Hutcho]

Originally Posted by nagromme

I hope there IS a shortage (here in the US) to help me stick to my plan to wait 2-4 weeks

Because a) if any unexpected problems arise, the early adopters can find them and b) the phone will be $80 cheaper in one month (I don't currently have a mobile phone.)

Your reasons are nonsense.

There is simply no way there will be a drop in prices in the next 2 - 4 weeks. They did it with the first one and there was outrage. With the amount of emphasis they have put on the price, it won't move until the next revision comes out. And any problems found with the phone initially with be fixed with software updates, so you're at no advantage there either by waiting.

[Shogun]

Anyone still think the first gen iPhones will be worth more over time? I've got one, a 4 GB.

[irnchriz]

I am going to upgrade to the iPhone 3g but I suppose its not too bad having to wait a bit if you already have an iPhone as we should be getting the 2.0 software upgrade (with the App store) and mobile me on Friday.

[revs]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

Damn, O2's prices are amazing.

YOu also get access to the UKs top two Wi-Fi hotspot providers all inclusive too! Its great!

(Disclaimer: BT and The Cloud may not be "the UKs top two Wi-Fi hotspot providers", but they seem to be everywhere and are pretty huge! )

[Jensonb]

Total fail on the Pay/Go thing. Not available on that unti, get this, around CHRISTMAS

[JoeDRC]

i tried to pre order one this morning but encountered a slow site and when i did get round to paying, the i got a message saying there was a problem with my order

guess i'll have to go to my O2 store on Friday!

[gwilli]

My order seems to have gone through, and money has left my account, just gave them a call and they said it's all gone through. Just waiting for my confirmatin email now, apparently the iPhone lines have been seriously busy all day!

[modagoo]

Think Apple should intervene if it is the case that O2 only took money from new customers as implied by this post, this tweet http://twitter.com/SteveMarshall/statuses/851994929 and my own experience today.

'huge demand' cannot possibly be an excuse when they knew how many had pre-registered (and sent the texts!)

Seriously suggest o2 get on the blower to Cupertino, ensure they get the stock and rebuild a usable, light-weight shopping cart without the text authentication and heavy ajax... by Thursday!

What an outstanding case of chronic FAIL - seven years as an 02 customer has taught me this is perfectly normal operating procedure for them (and 99% of UK utility companies), but shouldn't things be a little different with Apple involved?

[columbus]

At least Rogers won't have this problem…

This is what happens when they give people a good deal on the tariffs.

[JoeDRC]

Originally Posted by modagoo

Think Apple should intervene if it is the case that O2 only took money from new customers as implied by this post, this tweet http://twitter.com/SteveMarshall/statuses/851994929 and my own experience today.

'huge demand' cannot possibly be an excuse when they knew how many had pre-registered (and sent the texts!)

Seriously suggest o2 get on the blower to Cupertino, ensure they get the stock and rebuild a usable, light-weight shopping cart without the text authentication and heavy ajax... by Thursday!

What an outstanding case of chronic FAIL - seven years as an 02 customer has taught me this is perfectly normal operating procedure for them (and 99% of UK utility companies), but shouldn't things be a little different with Apple involved?

its not the end of the world, worst comes to worst, you'll have to queue up and get one on friday

[quinney]

Originally Posted by SpinDrift

What a bunch of ammeters.

Yes, they should have been able to keep current with orders.

[Mr Underhill]

Actually i have a friend who works at O2 and he tells me the whole ordering online system is a sham. He says it's Apple's way of gauging how well the iPhone will be received. He told me that on the first iPhone launch they sent out millions of emails and letters to potential buyers but the price was too expensive and nobody took up the offer, hence the reduction in price.

He reckons Apple are not going to give them that many iPhones for the launch anyway and have asked O2 and Car Phone Warehouse measure early interest to gauge the response. Sounds like Apple are cacking themselves needlessly.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Shogun

Anyone still think the first gen iPhones will be worth more over time? I've got one, a 4 GB.

Your best best was to sell it while there was no supply for the last 2 months. Maybe in 50 years it will be a collectors item, but I wouldn't count on that. Now that it will be released this week and iTunes 7.7 presumably has to be released on Thursday, not Friday, in most time zones to have it available for the NZ midnight launch/

[Cho]

Well, the debacle that was the O2 system has made me decide to keep my old v1 iphone, and utilise the free v2.0 upgrade on Friday.

I doubt very much that I will be staying with O2 once my contract has expired, too.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Your best best was to sell it while there was no supply for the last 2 months.

D'oh!

[MarkAllan]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

Damn, O2's prices are amazing.

I take it you mean amazingly expensive? I'm on O2 just now with a 12 month contract which only costs £20 month and includes 400 any time any network minutes, 1000 SMS (or 250 MMS or a combination thereof) and a handset. What's the incentive for me to pay for the phone as well as an extra 15 quid per month and end up with fewer minutes and SMS and lose the ability to MMS altogether?

I don't understand the iPhone hype at all. I really don't get it.

[kresh]

Originally Posted by quinney

Yes, they should have been able to keep current with orders.

hehe, I got it

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by Hutcho

Your reasons are nonsense.

There is simply no way there will be a drop in prices in the next 2 - 4 weeks. They did it with the first one and there was outrage. With the amount of emphasis they have put on the price, it won't move until the next revision comes out. And any problems found with the phone initially with be fixed with software updates, so you're at no advantage there either by waiting.

Easy there... He's just saying that 1) he won't have to deal with any of the potential problems since, as you pointed out, there are software updates and 2) he's not saying the phone is going to sell for $80 less, he's saying it's going to cost him $80 less because right now he's not paying a dime for a cell phone so - that's $80 that he would have spent

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Shogun

D'oh!

Check eBay, maybe you can still sell it. After all, there are only 22 countries getting the 3G iPhone come Friday. I offered free worldwide shipping with insurance (cost about $35) to appeal to those in countries who won't have access to the iPhone. I had an 8GB model that I bought for $400 and sold for $485. The buyer was from Slovokia (a popular country for scammers) so I wouldn't ship unless he would use an 'eligible' address so I could be protected via PayPal.

He was quite vocal about assurances that he was not a scammer, but when I after I refunded his money I heard nary a word from him, even though I then offered the device to him for $400 via a money order. I re-listed the device and added a stipulation that the address be confirmed/eligible for seller protection. Since I did this only last week, which was only 12 days until the new iPhone release i put in a Buy Now price of $440... it sold within a 2 hours of listing. Oddly, it was sold to the UK.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

I don't understand the iPhone hype at all. I really don't get it.

Usabilty aside, you have to look at the cost of the handset. Since O2 is offering the iphone for either £99 or for free, and the full retail price is considerably higher, you have to compare it to the full retail price of the phone they gave you for free.

[allstaruk]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

I take it you mean amazingly expensive? I'm on O2 just now with a 12 month contract which only costs £20 month and includes 400 any time any network minutes, 1000 SMS (or 250 MMS or a combination thereof) and a handset. What's the incentive for me to pay for the phone as well as an extra 15 quid per month and end up with fewer minutes and SMS and lose the ability to MMS altogether?

I don't understand the iPhone hype at all. I really don't get it.

I kind of hear what you are saying -- but I think a good thing to bear in mind if you are comparing is that you also get access to the internet at near broadband speeds - anywhere.

So for the extra £10 / mo. it might be worth it for some, even you.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

I take it you mean amazingly expensive? I'm on O2 just now with a 12 month contract which only costs £20 month and includes 400 any time any network minutes, 1000 SMS (or 250 MMS or a combination thereof) and a handset. What's the incentive for me to pay for the phone as well as an extra 15 quid per month and end up with fewer minutes and SMS and lose the ability to MMS altogether?

I don't understand the iPhone hype at all. I really don't get it.

Nope - he's saying they are, compared to virtually every other country, cheap. Very cheap... Granted the 30 plan is crap but the rest are pretty good rates - even with the exchange rate of USD to GBP being 2:1. The 600 min, 500 text plan is (including exchange rate) cheaper than AT&T's 450 mins, 200 text plan. 35(x2)GBP vs 75USD and you get 33% more mins and 150% more text's...

[henryblackman]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

I take it you mean amazingly expensive? I'm on O2 just now with a 12 month contract which only costs £20 month and includes 400 any time any network minutes, 1000 SMS (or 250 MMS or a combination thereof) and a handset. What's the incentive for me to pay for the phone as well as an extra 15 quid per month and end up with fewer minutes and SMS and lose the ability to MMS altogether?

I don't understand the iPhone hype at all. I really don't get it.

It's called the data and WiFI. Does your plan include either of those? No. Upgrade to 600 mins, add the free WiFi and then add data, and you're basically at a very similar price.

The iPhone is pretty good value all in all.

[MarkAllan]

Originally Posted by allstaruk

I kind of hear what you are saying -- but I think a good thing to bear in mind if you are comparing is that you also get access to the internet at near broadband speeds - anywhere.

So for the extra £10 / mo. it might be worth it for some, even you.

Yeah, I suppose it might be worth it for some people, but I have to say that I can't remember the last time I was so desperate to look something up on the web that it couldn't wait til I either got to work or got home. It's clearly a very popular item though, so I'm obviously not the target audience. Still, I'm not a total loss to them as Apple managed to wangle the money out of me for an iPod touch!

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Check eBay, maybe you can still sell it. After all, there are only 22 countries getting the 3G iPhone come Friday. I offered free worldwide shipping with insurance (cost about $35) to appeal to those in countries who won't have access to the iPhone. I had an 8GB model that I bought for $400 and sold for $485. The buyer was from Slovokia (a popular country for scammers) so I wouldn't ship unless he would use an 'eligible' address so I could be protected via PayPal.

He was quite vocal about assurances that he was not a scammer, but when I after I refunded his money I heard nary a word from him, even though I then offered the device to him for $400 via a money order. I re-listed the device and added a stipulation that the address be confirmed/eligible for seller protection. Since I did this only last week, which was only 12 days until the new iPhone release i put in a Buy Now price of $440... it sold within a 2 hours of listing. Oddly, it was sold to the UK.

That's good news for me. Thanks for posting!

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by Jensonb

Total fail on the Pay/Go thing. Not available on that unti, get this, around CHRISTMAS

Really? Oh arse. My trusty SE p910i gets to live another 6 months and I'd been dropping it a lot 'accidentally' along with hints about my birthday on the 16th too.

[ad4m.phillips]

This is ridiculous. People who already have an iPhone can ONLY upgrade online. So why the hell are they letting people who can go into any O2 or Carphone Warehouse store and pick one up pre-order??

[monstrosity]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

Really? Oh arse. My trusty SE p910i gets to live another 6 months

Oh god, I have one of those, such a brick.

[Carniphage]

Originally Posted by quinney

Yes, they should have been able to keep current with orders.

There will be a revolt!

C.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Carniphage

There will be a revolt!.

What do you have in mind, something similar to the Boston Tea Party? That seemed to be effective.

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

Yeah, I suppose it might be worth it for some people, but I have to say that I can't remember the last time I was so desperate to look something up on the web that it couldn't wait til I either got to work or got home. It's clearly a very popular item though, so I'm obviously not the target audience. Still, I'm not a total loss to them as Apple managed to wangle the money out of me for an iPod touch!

The thing is, the internet browsing on the iphone is shit hot. Which means that you are far more likely to browse the web on the go than you would ever have been with a shitty browser as shipped by Nokia et al.

[quinney]

Originally Posted by Carniphage

There will be a revolt!

C.

Many people will be shocked if that happens.

[GeekLawyer]

Originally Posted by quinney

Many people will be shocked if that happens.

I'm not as bright as you guys, but I'm charged up by the conversation.

[MacGregor]

Originally Posted by MarkAllan

Yeah, I suppose it might be worth it for some people, but I have to say that I can't remember the last time I was so desperate to look something up on the web that it couldn't wait til I either got to work or got home. It's clearly a very popular item though, so I'm obviously not the target audience. Still, I'm not a total loss to them as Apple managed to wangle the money out of me for an iPod touch!

Yes, but if you had one for one month, you'd find out that it isn't about being desperate to seeing something while on the road. It is about developing the desire or the assumption that you could.

Do you want to go back to black and white monitors?