Just got back from an AT&T store in our mall after Apple's online store konked out. We showed up and were instantly 2nd in line, so I advise going there instead of Apple Stores. The AT&T guy said that some of the orders were going through in 5 minutes while others took a half hour, so there may be some glitchiness on AT&T's side of the equation. Ours didn't take long at all.
Isn't there some kind of load balancing script that emulates a projected number of queries / transactions to test the stability of the system? I think there is a legit QA Term for that but the word escapes my memory... too much hash here.
The guy at the AT&T store said that the iPhone 4 I ordered was guaranteed to arrive on launch day (6/24). But then I get a confirmation email from them saying the following:
Your iPhone has been reserved and is expected to ship on or after June 24, 2010.
What gives?
same verbiage was used with the iPad delivery. didn't mean anything. you will get it on the 24th unless your ups / fedex driver has an accident.
Apple's servers seem to be handling things fairly well. I hang up a little here and there when interacting with some seemingly Apple-related steps of the checkout, but it is the interaction with AT&T's servers where things get totally screwed up. It is plenty easy to order other things on their site and the Apple Store app was working marvelously.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stokessd
I call bullshit on this one. "Temporarily" implies that the phones are open again. I've been trying off and on for the past 7 hours and the phones appear to be permanently closed.
"Temporarily" is a fine word to use. Your argument assumes that the Apple phones will never come online again, and that's only going to happen if they go out of business?not a problem they're going to be dealing with as a result of incredible demand for their products.
I'm an Enterprise user, so my current data plan is unlimited Enterprise at $45/mo. On the Apple preorder screen, that plan did not appear as an available choice. So I spoke to a very nice AT&T customer service rep and was told that there was a "glitch" in the system which failed to show the proper choice to Enterpriser users, so I was directed to go into a company owned AT&T store. I certainly won't try that today. I wanted to let any other Enterprise users not to try to upgrade on-line.
It is a bit disappointing to get all excited over buying a product from someone then being told you can't because everyone else is trying to do the same thing.
I mean, we literally can't give Apple our money quick enough for these things.
It's not REALLY dissapointing.. you can just order it tommorrow or the next day. Your lack of patients is the only thing to be dissapointed about.
Settle down people, if you get your phone 2 days later then someone else its NOT a big deal.
Just got through to an Apple customer rep on the education store sales line (1-800-800-2775). Very nice guy. He told me that he's been on the frontlines fielding calls for the past seven hours and hasn't been able to process a single order (including his own)! He mentioned that all the "systems" are down (wasn't specific about whether it was Apple or ATT, nor about when it'll be back). He also mentioned that demand was "through the roof," but at the same time, he couldn't help wondering how Apple was selling any, if his experience as someone authorized to sell was the norm!
Go figure....
Looks like the sales today are primarily happening through Apple retail, not online, stores (or, if online, for new numbers for store pickup; if one is trying to port an existing number and have the handset delivered by Fedex, I guess you're -- I am -- out of luck).
I downloaded the Apple Store app for the iPhone (the one that was released today) and was able to reserve an iPhone 4 through it without any problem or delay. However, this app will not let you pre-order one for delivery to your home, but only reserve one to pick up at a brick and mortar store.
Ordered mine after 5 hours of bouncing of Apple servers. It seems that servers are recovering. Probably Apple decided not to consult with AT&T servers.
Looks like the sales today are primarily happening through Apple retail, not online, stores (or, if online, for new numbers for store pickup; if one is trying to port an existing number and have the handset delivered by Fedex, I guess you're -- I am -- out of luck).
I know a lot of people have said they've been out of luck, but I'd suggest at least trying AT&T's online store. That worked for me, though that was many hours ago (5:30 am eastern).
Apple's servers seem to be handling things fairly well. I hang up a little here and there when interacting with some seemingly Apple-related steps of the checkout, but it is the interaction with AT&T's servers where things get totally screwed up.
That was not the experience this morning. I kept hanging before it asked for my AT&T number, or the "we'll be back" message kept coming up. Once Apple took my AT&T number, it quickly verified my status. What is also interesting is I heard a number of accounts of people who chose pickup getting through and people who chose delivery having it crap out. It seems to me both companies got caught with their pants down.
There really is no excuse for this. I could come up with 10-20 ways to avoid this. The simple high level solution would be to simply take a minimal ammount of customer data, compile a list, and then do the verifications and collection of missing data (shippind address etc.) when you have free CPU cycles. The process was insanely back end intensive. Have they learned nothing in 4 years? You could also do a staggered pre-order. Oldest iPhones first, then 3G then 3GS upgrade elligible, then early upgrade then new customers. That would have been pretty easy to manage if they only allowed pre-orders through the new app for a day or two.
Don't care. This still falls on Steve and Apple. They've had 4 years to get this shit right.
I'm THIS close to just saying 'fuck it' and going with an Android phone. Really. And I have been a Mac diehard since 2001.
This is unforgivably gawd-awfully bad service.
Wow, all that because you couldn't pre-order...A device that won't be out til next week...A device that will be available until the next device replaces it next year...I can understand the enthusiasm but damn...
People are acting like Apple's going run out of iPhones today and the world will end on June 25.
Oh, I'm getting the iPhone 4. Whether I'll get it on the 24th or after that, we'll see.
Comments
AT&T is the most incompetent company in the US. I'm stuck with them because of my love for apple products.
The reason you cant place orders via apples website is because apple has to check to see if your eligible for a discount via AT&T servers.
As usual att servers are crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wake up Steve and go to Verizon a real phone company.
In the words of the great William S. Burroughs:
"Avoid fuck-ups. You ALL know the type. Anything they have anything to do with - no matter how good it sounds - turns into a disaster.'
The guy at the AT&T store said that the iPhone 4 I ordered was guaranteed to arrive on launch day (6/24). But then I get a confirmation email from them saying the following:
Your iPhone has been reserved and is expected to ship on or after June 24, 2010.
What gives?
same verbiage was used with the iPad delivery. didn't mean anything. you will get it on the 24th unless your ups / fedex driver has an accident.
Sheldon
I call bullshit on this one. "Temporarily" implies that the phones are open again. I've been trying off and on for the past 7 hours and the phones appear to be permanently closed.
"Temporarily" is a fine word to use. Your argument assumes that the Apple phones will never come online again, and that's only going to happen if they go out of business?not a problem they're going to be dealing with as a result of incredible demand for their products.
It is a bit disappointing to get all excited over buying a product from someone then being told you can't because everyone else is trying to do the same thing.
I mean, we literally can't give Apple our money quick enough for these things.
It's not REALLY dissapointing.. you can just order it tommorrow or the next day. Your lack of patients is the only thing to be dissapointed about.
Settle down people, if you get your phone 2 days later then someone else its NOT a big deal.
We'll live.
same verbiage was used with the iPad delivery. didn't mean anything. you will get it on the 24th unless your ups / fedex driver has an accident.
Excellent, thanks. As a lawyer, I appreciate cautious language like that (even though it is misleading). As a consumer, I think it sucks.
Go figure....
Looks like the sales today are primarily happening through Apple retail, not online, stores (or, if online, for new numbers for store pickup; if one is trying to port an existing number and have the handset delivered by Fedex, I guess you're -- I am -- out of luck).
Looks like the sales today are primarily happening through Apple retail, not online, stores (or, if online, for new numbers for store pickup; if one is trying to port an existing number and have the handset delivered by Fedex, I guess you're -- I am -- out of luck).
I know a lot of people have said they've been out of luck, but I'd suggest at least trying AT&T's online store. That worked for me, though that was many hours ago (5:30 am eastern).
Either way... doesn't hurt to try. Good luck.
In the words of the great William S. Burroughs:
"Avoid fuck-ups. You ALL know the type. Anything they have anything to do with - no matter how good it sounds - turns into a disaster.'
No, I put this entirely on Apple. Apple knew that ATT validation is/was/has been/would be a bottleneck.
Yet, Apple designed Apple's pre-ordering system to funnel through the known ATT bottleneck.
They should have been smart.
1) Explain that: To better serve you, this is a pre-order process, subject to after-the-fact validation with ATT."
2) Gather the data and place the pre-order.
3) Acknowledge the pre-order immediately, via email.
4) Perform after-the-fact validation with ATT
5) Send pre-order validation acknowledgement within 24 hours (with link)
6) Customer has 24 hours to accept pre-order terms, resolve issues (with already captured information), or let order expire.
Since most savvy users understand their status, I suspect a majority of pre-orders would be converted to real orders within 24-48 hours.
This would relieve the traffic on the servers, and pre-orders with issues could be readily resolved.
There are 9 days between pre-order and initial delivery. Why, not use 2 days to do it right.
As it is, wheels are spinning, buyers are getting pissed, ATT and Apple are getting stressed-- and very little is getting ordered!
ATT & Apple are accomplishing nothing and learning zero information for planning and shipping logistics.
.
Apple's servers seem to be handling things fairly well. I hang up a little here and there when interacting with some seemingly Apple-related steps of the checkout, but it is the interaction with AT&T's servers where things get totally screwed up.
That was not the experience this morning. I kept hanging before it asked for my AT&T number, or the "we'll be back" message kept coming up. Once Apple took my AT&T number, it quickly verified my status. What is also interesting is I heard a number of accounts of people who chose pickup getting through and people who chose delivery having it crap out. It seems to me both companies got caught with their pants down.
There really is no excuse for this. I could come up with 10-20 ways to avoid this. The simple high level solution would be to simply take a minimal ammount of customer data, compile a list, and then do the verifications and collection of missing data (shippind address etc.) when you have free CPU cycles. The process was insanely back end intensive. Have they learned nothing in 4 years? You could also do a staggered pre-order. Oldest iPhones first, then 3G then 3GS upgrade elligible, then early upgrade then new customers. That would have been pretty easy to manage if they only allowed pre-orders through the new app for a day or two.
Don't care. This still falls on Steve and Apple. They've had 4 years to get this shit right.
I'm THIS close to just saying 'fuck it' and going with an Android phone. Really. And I have been a Mac diehard since 2001.
This is unforgivably gawd-awfully bad service.
Wow, all that because you couldn't pre-order...A device that won't be out til next week...A device that will be available until the next device replaces it next year...I can understand the enthusiasm but damn...
People are acting like Apple's going run out of iPhones today and the world will end on June 25.
Oh, I'm getting the iPhone 4. Whether I'll get it on the 24th or after that, we'll see.