Me and one other guy arrived at Washington Square Mall in Portland at 10pm last night. It wasn't until almost 4 AM that person number 3 showed up. Even by 7 AM when they let us in the mall, only about 50 people were in line for the Apple store. There were also about half as many people in line for the AT&T store.
I was the first one in to Apple and for the first 30 minutes, Apple's EasyPay devices couldn't talk to AT&T to do the contract. They kept getting "Server Connection Failed" after I gave them my existing AT&T customer details (last 4 of SSN, phone number, billing zip code). After about 30 minutes, it started working and I was sold my phone.
The Specialist that sold me my phone told me I could just go home to activate it if I didn't want assistance setting up an email account, etc. On my way out the door another Specialist (or was it a Concierge?) asked me if I had activated it. I said no, but that I was planning to do it at home. And so there I went. I was driving home after about 35 - 40 minutes in the store.
When I got home it took 3 tries to get Activation to work (between 9:30 AM and 10:15 AM PST). Even after the third try it said there was an error (-4), but then the phone had signal and asked for my VM password. iTunes then suddenly let me restore from the backup of my old phone. Finally it's almost finished transferring my music and I'll be done!
So I lined up to get a 3G iPhone at the AT&T store on Montague Street in Brooklyn, NY this morning at 6:45am. There were 40 people in line ahead of me. Okay, so far so good, right? The store opens at 8am. It takes 40 minutes for the first person to walk out with his phone. Okay, fine, there are some delays. No big deal. After about the 5th person walked out with his phone, the manager comes out and informs us that they've SOLD OUT of the black 16 gig phones.
Say what?
THEN when people start demanding an explanation, the manager comes out again and tells us that there was some sort of "exclusive waiting list" for those phones that you had to wait in line to sign up for two days ago. They had 150 black 16 gig iPhones on hand at opening, but after the last person left the remaining (145?) phones were spoken for by people on this "waitlist." People in line were outraged... Especially those that called or came into the store a few days ago to ask specifically if there would be any issues getting a phone. Everyone was told, no, there would be no problem.
There were very many unhappy people in that line when I left shortly thereafter. This is awful, awful business practice. Not only am I probably not going to be able to get an iPhone today, I'm really questioning AT&T's ethics and business practices now.
There is a small (tiny) AT&T store downstairs from my office.
I was quite surprised to see the line this morning. Probably 60 to 70 people. This is a small store, and normally they have less than five employees working. It's going to be a long wait for those people.
I didn't even see a line last year.
So, it seems people got "smarter", and the lines are spread out this year, instead of concentrated at the Apple stores.
I wouldn't worry about all the current issues. They'll be resolved within 48 hours and forgotten within a month... Long term, it's a good sign that the iPhone 3G is going to be a success.
Well, there were about 25 people in front of me when I got there at 6:50 EST. They had some people go through the lines before 8 am, though it seemed like pointless effort. One of the guys implied that they had around 40 phones (I assume this was total) and 8 of the 16GB ones. At 8:00 they started handling around 6 people at a time, and by that point there were roughly 75 people in line.
Promptly at 9:00 am they started having system problems (we guessed it was the Central time zone folks jumping into the fray). Right after that, I got the last black 16 GB iPhone G3. I was switching from Verizon, the guy asked if I had a recent Verizon statement with me (which I'd brought), and I didn't need to give him a password or anything to port the number. Given the system problems, they were just sending everyone home with the unactivated phones to activate them at home.
Took me a while at home to get iTunes to connect to activate it, but eventually it went through. I actually had a couple of messages come through from AT&T before the phone was activated (first was a text notification that the number had been ported, and then some welcome text message). Unactivated, it had this "emergency dial" mode where I assume 911 would've worked (maybe this is the same for the original iPhone).
I wouldn't worry about all the current issues. They'll be resolved within 48 hours and forgotten within a month... Long term, it's a good sign that the iPhone 3G is going to be a success.
That may be true but not necessarily. It could only mean that the 2.0 software and app store are off the chain.
Of course this "manager" was selling places in the line. Not surprised since its NYC (the home of shady electronic deals...)
However, this is not in line with company practice, and you should absolutely report the incident.
It really takes the fun out of it when they don't play by the rules, and you should take the 5 minutes to stop it from happening during iPhone 3.0
Quote:
Originally Posted by eSong
So I lined up to get a 3G iPhone at the AT&T store on Montague Street in Brooklyn, NY this morning at 6:45am. There were 40 people in line ahead of me. Okay, so far so good, right? The store opens at 8am. It takes 40 minutes for the first person to walk out with his phone. Okay, fine, there are some delays. No big deal. After about the 5th person walked out with his phone, the manager comes out and informs us that they've SOLD OUT of the black 16 gig phones.
Say what?
THEN when people start demanding an explanation, the manager comes out again and tells us that there was some sort of "exclusive waiting list" for those phones that you had to wait in line to sign up for two days ago. They had 150 black 16 gig iPhones on hand at opening, but after the last person left the remaining (145?) phones were spoken for by people on this "waitlist." People in line were outraged... Especially those that called or came into the store a few days ago to ask specifically if there would be any issues getting a phone. Everyone was told, no, there would be no problem.
There were very many unhappy people in that line when I left shortly thereafter. This is awful, awful business practice. Not only am I probably not going to be able to get an iPhone today, I'm really questioning AT&T's ethics and business practices now.
I can't believe this year is actually worse than last year. You would think they learned something. I also don't get these people who wait on these lines, can't you wait to tomorrow?
Anyone foolish enough nowadays to go into a store with a big wad of cash to buy a multi-hundred dollar item (or almost anything more than $10), is living in the past. Why would anyone other than a drug dealer, pimp, or iPhone re-seller want to pay in cash?
No Apple store nearby - so I went to the local ATT shop. They only got 30 or so phones. The last person to physically walk out of the store with a phone had been there since 9:00 PM the night before. Obviously, Apple is stockpiling the phones for their own stores. Great, if the nearest Apple store isn't several hundred miles away.
Still, they let me order one that they claim will be here in 3-7 days. We shall see.
Has anyone gotten the home activation to work on a PC? I've tried at least 10 times so far and no luck. I downloaded the latest version of iTunes today.
I keep getting the message:
We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The
network connection was reset.
Make sure your network connection is active and try again.
For all of Apple's great engineering and marketing, I am at a complete loss why Apple decided that their customers must go to an Apple store for iphone activation. I live over 100 miles from the nearest Apple Store. . I have no desire to drive a 200-mile r/t for the activation. I thought that Apple was trying to be a "Green" company. Forcing users to use petroleum and drive seems counter intuitive to me. Do you think that Apple getting users into the store will increase sales? I'd like to see the data behind such a decision. Perhaps the iphone is for people that only live in urban areas, given the 3G coverage. cmr
Anyone foolish enough nowadays to go into a store with a big wad of cash to buy a multi-hundred dollar item (or almost anything more than $10), is living in the past.
What an ignorant, moronic comment! How about this instead: Anyone foolish enough nowadays to pay with a card for every trivial purchase and having every aspect of their location, travel patterns, consumption habits, spending habits and more, tracked to the Nth detail is living in the past! If you think you're immune to the issues because you "don't do anything wrong", you just haven't kept up on what's happening.
Fortunately, more people are becoming aware of the problems, slowly, but surely. Some day there will be a backlash that will probably swing too far the other direction, but it will take many years and many well-publicized cases of misuse. And then eventually there will be an equilibrium reached where there are limits put on the type of data that can be gathered and stored and/or commonly-available anonymous "cash cards". There are ways to fix the system. In the meantime, people (especially here in the U.S.) value their convenience more than their privacy. Trust me, the next generation won't be so naive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2
Why would anyone other than a drug dealer, pimp, or iPhone re-seller want to pay in cash? You have to give your credit card number to access iTunes anyway, and you have to give your SIN number to get a contract for the phone.
Yes, and so in this particular case there really isn't any reason to pay with cash unless you are not the main account holder (maybe too young to have your own CC), or you've messed up your credit so bad you can't get a card, etc.
This is unbelievable. Why could they not have a website where you can sign up for a contract and then order your phone online? There is absolutely no reason for this that I can tell other than AT&T is paranoid. I hope forcing customers to purchase a phone in-store really hurts their sales, this is just dumb. What about those of us who live far away from an apple or AT&T store? We have to drive 30+ miles to get a damn phone? For as smart as Apple is with creating amazing products, I can't believe they can be this dumb when it comes to actually selling them. I am seriously considering not buying one if I'm forced to drive to the damn store. What a hoax.
Serves Apple right for the decision to have only in-store activation! I'm sure they won't be doing that again! Don't be so strick Apple, it will only bite you in the ass.
Comments
I was the first one in to Apple and for the first 30 minutes, Apple's EasyPay devices couldn't talk to AT&T to do the contract. They kept getting "Server Connection Failed" after I gave them my existing AT&T customer details (last 4 of SSN, phone number, billing zip code). After about 30 minutes, it started working and I was sold my phone.
The Specialist that sold me my phone told me I could just go home to activate it if I didn't want assistance setting up an email account, etc. On my way out the door another Specialist (or was it a Concierge?) asked me if I had activated it. I said no, but that I was planning to do it at home. And so there I went. I was driving home after about 35 - 40 minutes in the store.
When I got home it took 3 tries to get Activation to work (between 9:30 AM and 10:15 AM PST). Even after the third try it said there was an error (-4), but then the phone had signal and asked for my VM password. iTunes then suddenly let me restore from the backup of my old phone. Finally it's almost finished transferring my music and I'll be done!
16GB, White, in case you're curious.
Say what?
THEN when people start demanding an explanation, the manager comes out again and tells us that there was some sort of "exclusive waiting list" for those phones that you had to wait in line to sign up for two days ago.
There were very many unhappy people in that line when I left shortly thereafter. This is awful, awful business practice. Not only am I probably not going to be able to get an iPhone today, I'm really questioning AT&T's ethics and business practices now.
I was quite surprised to see the line this morning. Probably 60 to 70 people. This is a small store, and normally they have less than five employees working. It's going to be a long wait for those people.
I didn't even see a line last year.
So, it seems people got "smarter", and the lines are spread out this year, instead of concentrated at the Apple stores.
Promptly at 9:00 am they started having system problems (we guessed it was the Central time zone folks jumping into the fray). Right after that, I got the last black 16 GB iPhone G3. I was switching from Verizon, the guy asked if I had a recent Verizon statement with me (which I'd brought), and I didn't need to give him a password or anything to port the number. Given the system problems, they were just sending everyone home with the unactivated phones to activate them at home.
Took me a while at home to get iTunes to connect to activate it, but eventually it went through. I actually had a couple of messages come through from AT&T before the phone was activated (first was a text notification that the number had been ported, and then some welcome text message). Unactivated, it had this "emergency dial" mode where I assume 911 would've worked (maybe this is the same for the original iPhone).
I wouldn't worry about all the current issues. They'll be resolved within 48 hours and forgotten within a month... Long term, it's a good sign that the iPhone 3G is going to be a success.
That may be true but not necessarily. It could only mean that the 2.0 software and app store are off the chain.
However, this is not in line with company practice, and you should absolutely report the incident.
It really takes the fun out of it when they don't play by the rules, and you should take the 5 minutes to stop it from happening during iPhone 3.0
So I lined up to get a 3G iPhone at the AT&T store on Montague Street in Brooklyn, NY this morning at 6:45am. There were 40 people in line ahead of me. Okay, so far so good, right? The store opens at 8am. It takes 40 minutes for the first person to walk out with his phone. Okay, fine, there are some delays. No big deal. After about the 5th person walked out with his phone, the manager comes out and informs us that they've SOLD OUT of the black 16 gig phones.
Say what?
THEN when people start demanding an explanation, the manager comes out again and tells us that there was some sort of "exclusive waiting list" for those phones that you had to wait in line to sign up for two days ago.
There were very many unhappy people in that line when I left shortly thereafter. This is awful, awful business practice. Not only am I probably not going to be able to get an iPhone today, I'm really questioning AT&T's ethics and business practices now.
Bad day for Apple, MobileMe is a begged mess.
Anyone foolish enough nowadays to go into a store with a big wad of cash to buy a multi-hundred dollar item (or almost anything more than $10), is living in the past. Why would anyone other than a drug dealer, pimp, or iPhone re-seller want to pay in cash?
Cash is king, baby!
Still, they let me order one that they claim will be here in 3-7 days. We shall see.
I keep getting the message:
We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The
network connection was reset.
Make sure your network connection is active and try again.
Anyone foolish enough nowadays to go into a store with a big wad of cash to buy a multi-hundred dollar item (or almost anything more than $10), is living in the past.
What an ignorant, moronic comment! How about this instead: Anyone foolish enough nowadays to pay with a card for every trivial purchase and having every aspect of their location, travel patterns, consumption habits, spending habits and more, tracked to the Nth detail is living in the past! If you think you're immune to the issues because you "don't do anything wrong", you just haven't kept up on what's happening.
Fortunately, more people are becoming aware of the problems, slowly, but surely. Some day there will be a backlash that will probably swing too far the other direction, but it will take many years and many well-publicized cases of misuse. And then eventually there will be an equilibrium reached where there are limits put on the type of data that can be gathered and stored and/or commonly-available anonymous "cash cards". There are ways to fix the system. In the meantime, people (especially here in the U.S.) value their convenience more than their privacy. Trust me, the next generation won't be so naive.
Why would anyone other than a drug dealer, pimp, or iPhone re-seller want to pay in cash? You have to give your credit card number to access iTunes anyway, and you have to give your SIN number to get a contract for the phone.
Yes, and so in this particular case there really isn't any reason to pay with cash unless you are not the main account holder (maybe too young to have your own CC), or you've messed up your credit so bad you can't get a card, etc.
they were out of stock at ATT this morning