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iPhone 4 pre-order and ATT’s royal screw up

By Wayne Dixon Tue, Jun 22, 2010 @ 8:00 AM

As many have possibly read, AT&T managed to botch up the pre-orders for iPhone 4. Well, in my case, they screwed up royally. Let’s set the scene:

Tuesday June 15th:

Pre-orders are not being processed due to an AT&T error of some sort; whether it be a system down or networking errors or what have you. Everybody keeps trying and system finally start to come back online around 5:30 PM US Central Time. So, after trying all day, hurry and get my order in. I think, good, I have my order in — I’ll get the iPhone 4 on Thursday the 24th.

Wednesday, June 16th:

Receive a call from the Assistant Store Manager at AT&T, Nick, asking me to have my brother call the store regarding authorizations and the like. I call him and he straightens it all out with AT&T and he is good to go for Thursday the 24th.

Friday June 18th:

News blogs have information trickling in about iPhone 4 pre-orders being ‘prepared for shipment’. Being the compulsive checker I am, I checked mine — no change. I figure I will check again Saturday morning.

Saturday, June 19th:

Wake up — no change in shipping. Check periodically throughout the day, and still no change. Check at 3:00PM (10 minutes before our movie was set to start) — status of order ‘CANCELLED’. Being a bit irritated and hoping it was an error, I attempted to call Apple. Wait on hold for 30 minutes. Get disconnected. Try again for another 15 minutes. Give up due to missing 45 minutes of the movie.

Finish movie. Immediately call Apple and get through the first time (WTF?) and talk to the representative. He says there’s nothing that they can do and he’s not sure what happened.

Next try AT&T, call their support and talk to a nice lady who is apologetic. She’s not entirely sure what can be done, if anything. Head home after eating dinner and check on doing another pre-order. Type in all of the pertinent information and get the following error message:

4722953840 b735d37cdf iPhone 4 pre order and ATTs royal screw up

So, I try pre-ordering a phone with my brother’s phone number and get the option to pre-order. I have determined the issue. AT&T assigned my number to have the phone and not my brother’s line. (We’re on a family plan). At the least, I have figured out the reason my pre-order was cancelled.

Monday, June 21st:

I call AT&T and talk to the store manager, Gary. I explain the situation. He fully understands and wants to make it better. He offers to try and save a 32GB Black iPhone 4 but cannot promise anything. I said I would think about it. While talking to Gary I did get a glimpse of a few things. First off, he did admit it was their mistake. Also, while discussing Tuesday’s debacle, he stated that his store was on manual iphone pre-orders from the time the store opened. Meaning that the whole thing started before 8AM US Central Time.

So that’s where things stand at this moment. My plan of attack for Thursday is to head to the AT&T store early to see if I can procure an iPhone 4. If I am not able to get one on Thursday, I will just go ahead and order one from Apple and wait until it arrives. This, of course, is not the ideal situation, but honestly I can’t argue too much. I mean, afterall, it’s just a damn phone. Forcing myself to wait will be a good exercise in self-discipline. However, there’s no reason I can’t be grumpy with AT&T regardless.

4722964478 ccee0ed1c3 iPhone 4 pre order and ATTs royal screw up

  • David

    Same thing here for the most part. Was in line by 10:20 am, the minute I got into line the system crashed. I stood there for an hour only to be told that they have to manually write the order up, take my acct and CC info, and they will call me later in the day when the sytem is back up, my info in the system and my Iphone on hold.

    They call me back around 3pm and say “it’s all good! see you on the 24th” I have my receipt and hand written order in hand and figure all is right. days pass and no word. I figure I’m ok because they will not charge me until it has been shipped to their store. But yesterday I talk to a friend who ordered at another at&t store and tells me he received a confirmation email the same day the order was placed to let him know it was all taken care of… I received no email.

    I call the store yesterday at noon and explain my dillema. They say they will call me back after they research the problem. Still NO call back at 3 pm so I call back and am told that they are stil researching and will cal me back later.

    I finally get a call at 7pm and get tld that the majority of the preorders did not go through and that they are having a store meeting today to figure out how they are going to handle ht ebotched orders and that more than likely, a phone will be held for me with no problems picking it up, but that again.. they will call me back today to let me know.. I STILL have not received a call. This is the most f**ked situation i have ever had to deal with regarding any company

  • David

    OK..So here’s the update from my earlier reply.

    Finally received a call from the AT&T store that screwed my order up royally, and was told that because of the snafu, that because of the huge amount of preorders and the system crashin, Launch date has been moved back to Tuesday the 29th..their store wasn’t going to get the phone until Tuesday, and that she ALMOST guarantees I will get one since she will set one aside that has a post it note with my name written with sharpie on it. W T F?! no .. Launch date is still THURSDAY you just dont have enough phones to get me one..

    What a joke. I will NEVER deal with AT&T again. Next time I want something apple, I’ll go directly to the source. Dealing with AT&T has been an absolute nightmare. I’m going to take my chances and hit a few Wal Marts that day in hopes of getting one on the real launch date.

  • Matt

    Yup, the 15th, Tues, I go pre order.later that night ,a conformation. No problem. Sat the 19th I get an email from AT&T cancelling my order. I call them they tell me to call the store, I call, and get the run around. I’m sure,like me all you guys are iPhone heads since 07. You would think it would get better,but it just gets worse.( the process). AT&T or Apple really don’t give a crap about their costumers. The store manager promised me a phone Thursday, so when I got to the store,he said sorry,come back on the 29th and I will set one aside for you. OK how many times do I get someone peeing on my leg and telling me it’s raining? It’s sad. The other guys on here are right ,it’s just a friggin phone,but not the point,it’s how these SOB’s treat us. HEY If YOU break YOUR contract with AT&T,you can bet they will be up your ass in a second. What did we get? A pat on the head and a sorry as you get pushed out the door.So it comes down to your contract to them is binding,their contract to YOU means nothing.