Apple to begin taking iPhone 5 Personal Pickup retail reservations in US tonight

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
While customers in international countries can already place a one-day reservation to get their hands on the iPhone 5 at an Apple retail store, the capability is set to come to the U.S. beginning tonight.

Pickup


Apple's retail employees have begun informing customers that Personal Pickups for iPhone 5 orders will begin this evening at 10 p.m., AppleInsider has been told. Customers will be able to purchase their iPhone 5 online, and stores with inventory will hold the purchase for pickup the next day.

Retail Apple stores across the U.S. are said to have begun receiving shipments of new iPhone 5 units on Monday that will be held for customers to reserve through the Personal Pickup program on Tuesday. One customer was told that the reservation program in the U.S. will be accessible via the iPhone 5 page on Apple's website.

An announcement about the policy change was reportedly made internally to Apple's employees on Monday. Word then began spreading as the day went on.

For now, Apple's website still says that iPhone 5 purchases are available on a first-come, first-served basis. In contrast, customers in other countries, such as the U.K., have the option to reserve an iPhone 5 and pick it up the next day at an Apple retail store.

U.S. customers who reserve and purchase their iPhone 5 will reportedly have just one day to pick up their purchase. If they do not, they will lose the handset and their money will be refunded.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    Plan to pickup my 5 million handsets later tuesday.

  • Reply 2 of 17


    How does this jibe with 3-4 weeks delivery?


     


    If I order today, do I pay now and get a pickup date of 3-4 weeks + 1 day?


     


    If so, Apple has established a new first in selling... "The Pay-Away Plan".

  • Reply 3 of 17


    Exactly.. What's the sense in "Pre-Ordering"? Although I Pre-Ordered on Saturday, not Friday, I'm being made to wait 2-3 Weeks, but if I Order Now from Apple, I can go into a Store and just pick it up? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all.. I'm almost better off canceling my PRE-ORDER and just buying one online now (AFTER PRE-ORDER) and picking it up myself?? I don't get it..

  • Reply 4 of 17

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Midway Flux View Post


    Exactly.. What's the sense in "Pre-Ordering"? Although I Pre-Ordered on Saturday, not Friday, I'm being made to wait 2-3 Weeks, but if I Order Now from Apple, I can go into a Store and just pick it up? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all.. I'm almost better off canceling my PRE-ORDER and just buying one online now (AFTER PRE-ORDER) and picking it up myself?? I don't get it..



     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Midway Flux View Post


    Exactly.. What's the sense in "Pre-Ordering"? Although I Pre-Ordered on Saturday, not Friday, I'm being made to wait 2-3 Weeks, but if I Order Now from Apple, I can go into a Store and just pick it up? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all.. I'm almost better off canceling my PRE-ORDER and just buying one online now (AFTER PRE-ORDER) and picking it up myself?? I don't get it..



     


    Here's the big question... You can't buy an unlocked iP5 yet... So your preorder had to pass an anal exam by the carrier to tie you, your phone number and the device to a contract.   If you cancel your pre-order, how long will it take the cancellation to percolate through the Apple/Carrier databases and free up your ability to buy another iP5 at the appropriate price?


     


    And, what about all those special "Activation Charges", etc.... do they double up on those?


     


    Anybody want to try and report back here?

  • Reply 5 of 17
    jccjcc Posts: 326member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Midway Flux View Post


    Exactly.. What's the sense in "Pre-Ordering"? Although I Pre-Ordered on Saturday, not Friday, I'm being made to wait 2-3 Weeks, but if I Order Now from Apple, I can go into a Store and just pick it up? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all.. I'm almost better off canceling my PRE-ORDER and just buying one online now (AFTER PRE-ORDER) and picking it up myself?? I don't get it..



     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


     


     


     


    Here's the big question... You can't buy an unlocked iP5 yet... So your preorder had to pass an anal exam by the carrier to tie you, your phone number and the device to a contract.   If you cancel your pre-order, how long will it take the cancellation to percolate through the Apple/Carrier databases and free up your ability to buy another iP5 at the appropriate price?


     


    And, what about all those special "Activation Charges", etc.... do they double up on those?


     


    Anybody want to try and report back here?



     

    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

    I did that on Friday. I cancelled the pre-order I had when I bought one directly at an Apple store.  At the time the Reps told me that it will be instantaneous but it turned out that it can take up to 72 hours for the system to credit you back the subsidy on AT&T.  That means I had to pay full price for the phone.  What the reps didn't know at the time was that you can call AT&T's customer service directly to cancel the pre-order and a supervisor can free up the subsidy right away allowing you to buy the phone with the subsidy immediately.  Now I'm stuck with a full priced phone until the store restocks as I actually have to return the the full priced phone and then buy a new phone with the subsidy. It's all very crazy.  Apple said that I couldn't just return the one I have and then re-purchase the same to get it on the subsidy as their system won't allow customers to buy returned items. Oh well.


     


    So, to reiterate, if you're an AT&T customer and you pre-ordered. Make sure when you're at the Apple store to pickup a new phone, to call AT&T and have them cancel it and immediately free up your subsidy. You can then proceed to buy the phone directly from Apple at the subsidized price.  The pre-order has to not be in process or shipped status obviously.


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     
  • Reply 6 of 17


    Oh, I know.. You're right. I'm not going to cancel. I already have my Upgrade Fee tacked onto my next Bill through AT&T.. I am well aware of AT&T's upgrade policy and all of the waiting that can go along with it. This isn't my 1st iPhone (or my 2nd, or 3rd for that matter). For the most part, every time I've upgraded to a New Phone after completing my contract with AT&T, it's been relatively painless.. To me, Pre-Order means buying something before it's made available to purchase in store. I can understand the demand for the iPhone 5, but you'd think they'd just let stores be listed as sold out and they'd try to accommodate the people that pre-ordered.. That's just me, I guess...

  • Reply 7 of 17


    ..to be clear, I pre-ordered an AT&T Upgrade iPhone 5 from Apple's Site on the Saturday Morning after the initial pre-order went up..

  • Reply 8 of 17
    This whole thing was a mess. People have to wake up at 3AM to order, carriers had their own dedicated pre-order supply separate from Apple, so procrastinators got a jump on people that woke up early. And now, after products began shipping, somebody can pick up online and STILL get their phone before people that ordered in the middle of the night.

    This is just sloppy, and could have been alleviated if they would have had a 2week pre-order period and next-day-aired the shipments like they did with the New iPad.
  • Reply 9 of 17

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Midway Flux View Post


    Exactly.. What's the sense in "Pre-Ordering"? Although I Pre-Ordered on Saturday, not Friday, I'm being made to wait 2-3 Weeks, but if I Order Now from Apple, I can go into a Store and just pick it up? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all.. I'm almost better off canceling my PRE-ORDER and just buying one online now (AFTER PRE-ORDER) and picking it up myself?? I don't get it..



    It's my understanding that in most cases -- regardless of on-line back order status, all Apple Store's receive a small number of phones each day.  These can be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis by physically visiting your local store of choice.  When 'online reserve' options are allowed, you can also reserve a phone to be picked up the next day.  In all cases, your best bet is to be among the first customers when the store opens.  It's the early bird that catches the iPhone. 

  • Reply 10 of 17


    I completely agree.I order and hour and a half after preorders began and I had 2 week shipping. Yet people can still go into an apple store today to get the iphone 5,but yet I still have to wait for my preorder. How does that make any sense and what is the point in preordering then?


     
  • Reply 11 of 17


    Got tired of calling AT&T and Apple stores, so pre-ordered today. Just cancelled my pre-order in case this is accurate and I can order online tomorrow and pick it up at an Apple store on Wednesday or Thursday, that's a much better deal. Hope this is true, if not I can pre-order again and only get pushed back 1-2 more days. 

  • Reply 12 of 17


    I'm in the same boat, and in agreement. I ordered in-person from an ATT corporate store ~10:30 AM 9/14/12. I still see no status change beyond Processing. I just got off the phone with a CSR to find out when I *might* see my phone. Now, they're telling me "You should get it no later than 10/15/12"; gotta love the qualifying "should". :rolleyes: 


     


    Since the phone isn't likely even made yet, I asked if they could amend the color to white. Not without me waiting to finally receive it and send it back, starting the whole damn cycle over could it happen. Sucks that they all give the finger to those that pre-paid/ordered.

  • Reply 13 of 17


    I see a message on the site saying the 10pm starting point for next day reserve is available, but when you go through to order the phone, the in store pickup radio button isn't selectable. You can only order for 3-4 week shipment.

  • Reply 14 of 17


    guessing 10pm West Coast time... 16 mins to go.. getting ready to order mine.. pick up tomorrow.

  • Reply 15 of 17


    Ordered.. Pick up tomorrow... no wait in line.


    I got lucky.. not many available.  

  • Reply 16 of 17


    Guess I didn't see the 10PM notice and missed it, every store near me says "Unavailable for Pickup" so just have to keep trying until I find a store with new inventory, thankfully I live close to 8-10 stores. Still better than waiting 3-4 weeks if you're lucky enough to find a store at the right time for pickup.

  • Reply 17 of 17


    I am convinced that Apple is inept. I called the retail store yesterday to see if they had any iphones in stock. They told me to come in the morning. I drive 40 minutes to the nearest apple store, the same one I called, and they tell me they dont know when they will get any shipments. I got back home started a chat w/ an apple rep and he literally told me to go to the store b/w 4am-10pm to get a phone. I asked him if he meant 10am-4pm since the store near me opens at 10am and closes at 9pm, but he said no go to the store b/w 4am-10pm and some phones may be available. I think the rep may have meant to order it online during those times, but he was straight serious up about me just going to the store b/w 4am-10pm to get a phone. I am dumbfounded by all of this.


     


    My problem is that I just want to pay full price for the phone. Does anyone know what will happen if I pre-order, go to the store to pick it up, then cancel/return when they give it to me? Will they sell me iphone I just returned? Will i still be obligated by the contract to the carrier?

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