[todd]

Okay, I'm a little pissy after my experience with AT&T.. so I'll just vent a bit here.

Executive summary
- AT&T Mgr. refused to give basic information (do you have enough iPhones for all 20 people in line?)
- AT&T Mgr. lied about availability (iPhones are sold out all through the city)
- AT&T Mgr. intentionally tries to hide Apple Store availability to get more sales for his store.
- AT&T screwed up the order for the first guy in line, who had been waiting for hours. By the time he realized they gave him a 4GB phone, there were no 8GB units left.
- Apple store had many iPhones. Completed quick, easy, efficient transaction.


The long version:

I wasn't about to wait in lines for more than 15-30 minutes, but I headed up to the closest AT&T/Cingular store which was in an area I thought might not get a lot of traffic. There were about 20 people waiting in line at 5:55PM, so I joined in.

The AT&T rep came out and asked for a show of hands on how many people wanted 4GB vs 8GB. Almost everyone wanted 8GB, and by his grimace I saw that was going to be a problem. I asked him how many phones they had, and he said "I can't tell you that". I persisted, asking if it was worth while for those of us near the end to wait. He said "if we run out, we can process the order and direct ship to your home". So, now his intention was obvious.. keep as many people there as possible, and try to get more sales even after running out of phones. There were 4 or 5 employees, but for some reason they only allowed two people to enter the store at a time, and the transactions seemed to take forever.

Against my better judgment, I stayed in line. About 45 minutes later, they had slowly processed 10-15 people ahead of me. One of the earlier people came out and said they had run out. Shortly after that, the first guy in line returned. He had bought an 8GB iPhone and later found that they had given him a 4GB unit. Now all the 8GB units were gone.. The manager came out and asked if anyone in the line was paying cash and wanted a 4GB unit. One guy jumped at this, and they took his money, gave it to the first guy, and gave the cash guy the iPhone. Kinda shady to avoid a return..


The AT&T people said that no other stores in the city had iPhones left. (I had already tried to call the Apple store to see their status, but couldn't get through.) And they said they would do free next day shipping, and claimed that ordering in the store would be faster than online. I am in Eastern time zone, and I thought the online purchases might be closed until 6PM Pacific. So, I went ahead and ordered it there. The guy taking my order seemed like he had never used the sales system before, and it took 5+ minutes to complete my sale.


Shortly before I got in the AT&T store, some guy walked up and asked why we (the four remaining laggards) were waiting in line. He said "there's no lines at the Apple store at the mall, and they have plenty left". We had all seen coverage of the campers at the Apple store on last night's news, so we thought he was messing with us, or trying to get us to give up our spots in line.

On the off chance he was telling the truth, I drove over to the mall. There were a lot of people milling around the store, fondling the iPhones on display. I asked an employee if they had any left, and he pointed to the rows of iPhone bags behind the genius desk and registers.. there were over a hundred there on the floor. I picked up an 8GB iPhone, the Apple employees were plentiful, helpful, and efficient. The purchase took all of 40 seconds. Ithen zipped back over to the AT&T store to void my earlier transaction.

They voided my iPhone order without argument (I was a bit surprised at that). I explained to the manager that he was incorrect when he told me that there were no more iPhones in the city, and told him of the hundreds at the Apple store. He quickly called another AT&T store and began comparing notes with someone there. He first asked the other AT&T store if they had sold out (his earlier claim that there were none left in the city was complete BS.. he didn't even know the status of other AT&T stores). He dropped any pretense of looking out for the customer's best interest, and said to he other AT&T employee on the phone "we better hope nobody finds out about the Apple store, or we're not getting any more direct fulfillment orders".

Needless to say, I was not impressed by the Cingular/AT&T people. They were typical of most subscription sales organizations I've run into. They just seemed slimy, and clearly had little concern for their customers, as long as they got their commission.

[toconnor]

I had the same experience here. The AT & T store had a line around the corner at 5:00 PM so I decided to wait until later in the evening. I hit the store about 8:00 and sure enough they were all sold out. The one advantage was that the store was practically empty so I had some good hands-on time with the in-store demo units. When I was there they must have had a 4:1 employee to customer ratio. A lot of good that did. Later on I asked how many units they had to sell today and they said only 30 but 90 more are coming in on Saturday. We can take your order on-line, though, and have it to you by Monday. I said no-thanks, I'm heading to the Apple Store at Valley Fair.

I hit the Apple Store at 9:00 PM (the one where Woz bought his) and there were no lines and tons of iPhones for sale. I just walked right in. Apple Employees were cheering and clapping, it was crazy. Good luck even trying to test drive an iPhone there, though. Advantage AT & T store for that one (no customers ha ha!!!).

So it seems like the Apple stores kept the lions share of the inventory for themselves as they should. Don't know how the on-line orders will fair or how long stock will last.

I'd only resort to buying at AT & T if (1) you don't have a local Apple Store and (2) you can't place an order on-line with Apple.com.

Todd

[hyteckit]

Yup yup.

Waited in line at AT&T store for 3 hrs and it was sold out just when it was my turn to get into the store.

Went to Apple Store at 11PM. No lines. Purchase 8GB iPhone in less than 3 minutes.

[DigitalEl]

I have nothing but praise for the AT&T store staff in Goodyear, AZ.

It was 109 today in the desert. They worked the lines with free bottled water, Chap Stick (WTF?) and fans like the ones old ladies use in church. They opened the doors precisely at 6, had 7 registers open and the line moved quickly. After waiting an embarrassing number of hours in the heat, once the sales started, I was out the door - 8 GB iPhone in hand - in just 10 minutes!

Good job AT&T Team Goodyear!

[icruise]

I had pretty much the same experience as todd, but in my case the AT&T store as the only place anywhere nearby that was selling the iPhone, so we had no choice but to get it there. I'm a little pissed at the whole business. The manager wouldn't tell us how many they had, and I think there were people who waited for hours and didn't get anything. That just sucks. And I had to settle for a 4GB model.

[::maroma::]

AT&T just doesn't have the same culture as Apple. They don't operate the same. They don't treat their employees the same way. And it shows, not just on a day like today but on just about any day. I've always had nothing but good experiences with Apple Store employees. Can't say the same for AT&T, or any other carrier for that matter.

[cliffom]

It was pretty much the same experience with me. Though I ended up getting my iPhone at the AT&T store, it was a horrible experience. The staff kept saying they didn't know how much inventory they had but passed out around 60 tickets for 8GB models and then started giving out 4GB tickets. I was #46 in line and was given an 8GB ticket. It turns out they ran out of 8GB models at 45 so I had to settle for a 4GB model, which wasn't a big deal. However, from the time the doors opened it was 2 hours until I finally walked into the store to check out. Their computers were bogged down but the employees were even slower! They were telling customers they were doing credit checks in order to "pre-approve" and"avoid any hassle when you get home". I declined having to do this at the store. It was taking anywhere from 7-20 minutes per customer to complete the transaction.

Their big sales pitch to people upset about not getting an 8GB model was "you can order it now and it will get shipped to you before the Apple and AT&T stores get their next shipment." At this point nobody knew that the Apple Stores had plenty of stock; The lines at the Apple stores were quite intimidating before 6pm so we were inclined to believe they were selling out as well.

I was a bit bummed that I didn't wait to get it at the Apple Store later on but I didn't want to bank on the chance of not getting one. I am happy now that I have it and am not the least bit sad I had to settle for a 4GB model. This is thing is beautiful.

[todd]

Sounds like the same deal all around.. I heard the AT&T Mgr telling people about the credit check thing too. I already had a Cingular/AT&T phone, so I didn't have to deal with that.

There were several people in my line that wanted 8GB units, but went with the 4GB when they ran out of 8s. Due to the way he was representing the situation, and lying about availability, they were not willing to wait and try elsewhere. For a product with a two year commitment, that's quite a penalty.

I'm still pissed at that AT&T guy.. I was quite persistent in asking or information, and he kept refusing or deflecting. After he refused several questions about quantity, I asked "Is it worth my time to wait here in line, given your amount of product". He went into the junk about ordering and direct shipping. So I said "if you tell us if we're wasting our time here, we can try other locations to see if they have more". He said something to the effect of "where you gonna go now? It's too late to get them anywhere else". -- I gave him every opportunity to help out the customers.. And at every turn he opted instead for his personal commission. This kind of crap is why people dislike cell carriers so much. It's a tossup between cell carriers and cable operators for who is worse to deal with.

[Star-Fire]

I experienced the same thing also, but I was the 12 person in line so I was pretty sure I would get one, only wanted the 4gb anyhow but by 6PM there were about 45 people in line and who knows if they got one, I wish I would have known the Apple stores had so many I would have just went there and got a MUCH better experience. Also when I got to go inside to get mine, I was already a AT&T customer (expired contract which I wanted to change to the $60 plan, but couldn't do that through itunes, hope I can at a store) the guy was trying to run a credit check on me! I told him I was already a customer, it took about 15 mins till a manager came up and told him just to ring me up all the while this line was waiting outside, so much for good help. Well I'm just happy mine activated in a couple minutes, I feel for those that are waiting 12 hours or more.

[Mrjinglesusa]

I had a great experience at the AT&T store on Duke Street in Alexandria, VA. Got there about 2:30 pm. There were about 12 people ahead of me. By 6:00 pm, there were probably over 80 people in line. The AT&T store employees came out and answered questions, joked around, brought us water, etc. We asked if they had enough for everyone and they said "You all should be fine, we've got quite a few". Opened right at 6:00 pm and let in the first 9 people (they had 9 kiosks to process purchases). As people left with their iPhone, they let someone else in. I was in and out by 6:15 pm with my 8 GB.

[lavar78]

I had a fantastic experience at the AT&T store in Yorktown, VA. I was first in line at 11:00 AM. No one really joined me until about 2:00 or so. They told us they had 30 iPhones. Although they wouldn't give us wristbands or anything, one guy in line gave out numbered index cards so we could maintain the line order unofficially. Everything was perfect.

[TETENAL]

What is the SAR value of the iPhone? Apple's tech specs site doesn't tell.

[UnixMac]

AT&T in Surprise AZ was outstanding.. fans, water, good humor and as much help as they could legally give us.. I couldn't ask for more.

[mduell]

You're not the only one with a bad AT&T experience:

The first comes from the University Village AT&T store at
4626 25th Ave NE, Seattle, WA (Phone 206-729-7184). When buying the iPhone yesterday, the store said all customers must by two accessories with an iPhone, but the accessories could be returned, opened, without a restocking fee. Add to that the fact that the salesman didn't even know a charger was included and tried to upsell a different charger to the reader.

The second, at the Hawthorne California AT&T Store at 5249 W. Rosecrans in Hawthorne California (Phone 310-725-9902), the store manager said customers were required to buy a "bundle" of accessories. The bundle, written up with magic marker on an unofficial sign, listed the 4GB bundle at $650 and the 8GB bundle at $750. The manager told the customer that they couldn't buy the phones without the bundle and that they could leave the store if they didn't want it. When asked if he could return the items, they said yes, but only tomorrow (today).

The third store, at Pike Street in Seattle, forced people to buy $60 worth of accessories (a case and car charger), and if you didn't, you'd get a voucher and the iPhone would be mailed to you some time next week. The reader eventually went to the Apple Store nearby, and eventually his friend (who stayed at the AT&T store) told him they stopped pushing the accessories.

[icruise]

That's outrageous.

[Kenneth]

AT&T employees tried to 'steal' campers yesterday in Bellevue Square, I stayed where I was since I doubt AT&T offered the same vibe as the Apple Store did.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by mduell 

You're not the only one with a bad AT&T experience:

The first comes from the University Village AT&T store at
4626 25th Ave NE, Seattle, WA (Phone 206-729-7184). When buying the iPhone yesterday, the store said all customers must by two accessories with an iPhone, but the accessories could be returned, opened, without a restocking fee. Add to that the fact that the salesman didn't even know a charger was included and tried to upsell a different charger to the reader.

The second, at the Hawthorne California AT&T Store at 5249 W. Rosecrans in Hawthorne California (Phone 310-725-9902), the store manager said customers were required to buy a "bundle" of accessories. The bundle, written up with magic marker on an unofficial sign, listed the 4GB bundle at $650 and the 8GB bundle at $750. The manager told the customer that they couldn't buy the phones without the bundle and that they could leave the store if they didn't want it. When asked if he could return the items, they said yes, but only tomorrow (today).

The third store, at Pike Street in Seattle, forced people to buy $60 worth of accessories (a case and car charger), and if you didn't, you'd get a voucher and the iPhone would be mailed to you some time next week. The reader eventually went to the Apple Store nearby, and eventually his friend (who stayed at the AT&T store) told him they stopped pushing the accessories.

That's BS and I guarantee that the managers of those stores will hear from corporate about this (if not get their asses fired). This was not corporate AT&T policy - this was INDIVIDUAL stores trying to increase their bottom line by taking advantage of a hot product launch.

[Azzgunther]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

That's BS and I guarantee that the managers of those stores will hear from corporate about this (if not get their asses fired). This was not corporate AT&T policy - this was INDIVIDUAL stores trying to increase their bottom line by taking advantage of a hot product launch.

Individual stores that are the AT&T's face to the world, as far as those customers were concerned. And I'd add that this kind of shadiness is what I've come to expect from them after they refused to deal with me for roaming charges incurred in the middle of my city (The plan covered everything in a 100+ mile diameter around my city, the bills showed me frequently roaming IN THE MIDDLE of Madison). End result: I payed a few hundred dollars to learn that AT&T is greedy scum and now I give that info out to people for free.

I was disappointed that Verizon wouldn't play ball with Apple because this AT&T thing is going to detract from Apple's image in many people's eyes, what with their crappy customer service and inconsistant networks.

[stray8]

Kind of on a tangent but... I actually decided to try the 'direct fulfillment' route considering the at&t store I went to sold out like 4 or 5 people before me. I only got in like at 5:20 or so and kind of hoped for the best being 34th or so in line. Drove right over to the UTC Apple store in San Diego and even tho the line was averaging 20 people at a time I had my iPhone in a matter of 10 minutes.

Activated it and tried to call this morning to cancel the direct fulfillment, and they kept asking me for my mobile number, etc. I told them mine (which was cingular) and that there was no relation between it and the order but she didn't seem to have a clue and transferred me to a line where someone could open up the state my telephone number is in (I still have a PA number via family plan even tho I live in CA now).

Anyway, I called back and spoke with someone else who explained to me that the only way to cancel the direct fulfillment was by refusing delivery. I pushed the issue considering how ridiculous that seemed but she assured me that once refused and recieved back at the warehouse my credit card would be fully refunded.

Later in the day I had to swing by my office so I stopped at the at&t store since it's only a few blocks away. I didn't have my receipt but I explained to them the situation and they managed to cancel the order within a matter of minutes. Kind of an obnoxious sequence of events but I wonder how many other people are in the same boat.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

That's BS and I guarantee that the managers of those stores will hear from corporate about this (if not get their asses fired). This was not corporate AT&T policy - this was INDIVIDUAL stores trying to increase their bottom line by taking advantage of a hot product launch.

Oh absolutely. But it shows how little control AT&T has over their retail stores.

[MacHeadChef]

I was in SOHO, NYC Apple Store at around 7:30PM on 6/29 and there were no line waiting to get inside to buy the iPhone. I went inside to checkout the iPhone and play with it too. I didn't buy one yet and left the store. After dinner at around 10:30PM, my wife and friend decided to go back to the Apple store and that's when we bought 2 iPhones. Apple had plenty of iPhones left that night, as I was looking behind the counter, I could see a couple hundred iPhones available. On 6/30 I went back to the SOHO Apple Store and there were more people there in the afternoon. I notice upstairs where they were selling all the iPhones were all gone. But they still had some downstairs near the entrance at the cash register.

[MacHeadChef]

Being in the Apple Store in SOHO was excellent, the sales person on the floor was very friendly and helpful and answered any questions you might want to ask. With all the questions I asked the Apple sales rep, I never got a dishonest answer from them.

[darksol360]

LOL, same experience guys! Was in line at my local AT&T store for about 45 min (there was only about 40 of us). Rep cam out and said they only had 30... boo! Anyway, nearest Apple Store was 1 hour away. Almost double thought it, but went for it anyway (I'd be getting there almost 2 hours after launch!). Low and behold, walked in, played with the iPhone (amazing), and joked to the Apple kid, asking when they sold out. "Uh, there not sold out, dude", he says.

Got my two 8GB iPhones right there. I actually wish I just went straight to the Apple Store for the experience as well. The next big launch of hardware (sorry, I don't see Mac Geeks everywhere lining up for Leopard, lol)., I'll be there, Apple handled and executed it perfectly!

Hmmmm, so whats next? Oh yeah, Macbook Pro with "Finger Tip" gesture on larger trackpads! Or iMacs with a touchcreen "fingerpad" interface? No, no, 20 and 40GB Widescreen touch iPod? 12" Macbook Mini and Pro? (I could go on for days...)

[bjk]

Oh yeah--same deal here too, but just at the first AT&T store near where I work who sold the same baloney bill of goods that these other posts have said. They ran out in under an hour after playing games at how they "couldn't divulge their quantities". They portrayed the Apple Stores as not having any higher quantity (which I now know was a bunch of baloney). It really was wrong at how misleading they were about everything. They had people placing orders touting it would be there faster than from Apple. (while all the while the Apple Store 20 minutes down the highway had TONS in stock). But being in the totally opposite direction from home for me, I opted not to take the chance, because I wasn't going to drive around all night at this point, under the misleading information being given. I headed home, but then figured it wouldn't hurt to check the AT&T store near my house. Well, they were out of the 8GB, but still had 4 gb ones, and I said GREAT, I'll take one! At least at this store there was no charade-they didn't try to twist my arm to buy it, or tell me that if I wanted to hold out for the 8GB one, I'd have to order. In fact, they seemed glad that I was just genuinely pleased that I was walking out of there with a gorgeous new phone. And happy I am!

[Star-Fire]

I just got a automated call from AT&T for a satisfaction survey on the salesperson and the general transaction, so I guess I got to voice some sort of opinion.

[brschetgen]

I seem to be in the same boat as almost everyone else here. To my great dismay, we've got no Apple Store here in eastern Iowa so I was forced to endure the nightmare known as AT&T. After driving 70 minutes to the store, I waited in line from 5:00 until approx. 7:30 when I was finally allowed into the store. I was told that the guy in front of me had got the last 8 GB model and I had the opportunity to buy the last 4 GB or order via direct fufillment. I bought the 4 GB and they pushed the pre-approved credit. I didn't want to but finally told him to go ahead and do it. It only took him four tries to get it done (awesome I know) and I was finally on my way. During activation I only had to call AT&T four times before I got it activated on Monday afternoon... Boo AT&T.

Now that the nightmare is over I LOVE everything about the phone. Yay Apple!!!

[todds6776]

I waited in line for 4 hours for one in Madison, WI, and they ran out two people before me. The management claimed they "didn't know" how many phones they had. They convinced me to get the phone shipped directly to my home because I'd still get one "even before the stores get more." Once I started the process, they told me I had to go with $15 extra shipping in order to actually get the iPhone quickly. Now I keep checking the online status and nothing has changed. I know I won't actually get one shipped until Thursday or Friday at the earliest.

The WORST was the "iCare@Cingular.com" email that I got about how much they cared about my order.

[icruise]

That sucks, man.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

That's BS and I guarantee that the managers of those stores will hear from corporate about this (if not get their asses fired). This was not corporate AT&T policy - this was INDIVIDUAL stores trying to increase their bottom line by taking advantage of a hot product launch.

Like I said...

Gizmodo reports AT&T is explicitly stating that forced accessory purchase is not a company-wide policy and that that 'no one is required to buy accessories in order to get an iPhone.' The company is also reportedly taking disciplinary action against AT&T retail outlets that enforced the purchase requirement.

[mduell]

Unconfirmed: AT&T Sent Internal Memo Requiring iPhone Accessory Purchase? - Gizmodo

for AT&T, even if this isn't true.

[icruise]

I'm still struggling with the fact that I could only get a 4GB model, and I've considered just paying the 10% restocking fee to get the 8GB. That is, if I can find one. I've tried calling the local AT&T store to see if they have any stock of the 8GB model, but they won't tell me over the phone if they have any. This is even though I've explained the situation and they know that there's no point in me coming in and ordering it from their "direct fulfillment" since I want to return the old one, and the new one needs to come before the first 14 days are up. It's maddening.

If only the nearest Apple store wasn't 3+ hours away...

[icruise]

I convinced my wife to stop by the AT&T store just to check if they had any 8GB models, and they actually did. So she bought one for me and I called AT&T to help me switch it over. They didn't really know how to do it, but looked into the matter and were able to talk me through it. Basically, you just have to set up the new phone to replace your old one, and they may have to change the IMEI number in their computers as well.

iTunes asked me if I wanted to restore the data that was in my old phone to my new one, so I did that. All in all, relatively painless. Now to return the old phone and eat the $50 restocking fee... Oh well, at least I got to play with it the last week.

[mjs975s]

There is a HUGE diffence in corporate culture but I keep convincing myself that the iPhone is worth dealing with AT&T's ineptness. AT&T support is rude, accusational, and short whereas Apple Support goes above and beyond to try to make you happy and compensate for AT&T's lack of customer service skills. Anytime you're not getting anywhere with AT&T, asked to be transferred to Apple and they will either take care of it directly or conference AT&T back in and take care of it that way. Any chance I get I let the individuals at Apple know that AT&T is a horrible partner but that I realize they did what they thought was best for Apple & the customer.