UPDATE: Some readers have mentioned in the comments that my experience is likely not typical and that given the large number of pre-orders, a few are bound to be mishandled. The point of the article is that AT&T intentionally diverted stock from pre-orders to in-store Launch Day sales, leaving the pre-order crowd in the lurch – all while promising Launch Day delivery until the very last moment – and then offering no (reasonable) way to get a phone that day, either by cancelling pre-orders or fulfilling with in-store stock. Mine wasn’t an isolated incident; not even close. While I am not going so far as to try to organize a class-action lawsuit, the fact that someone is doing so should give you an idea about how angry AT&T’s pre-order customers are about being lied to.
To get a better sense of the number of folks affected by this, have a look at these links:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1244833&page=274
http://www.bgr.com/2011/10/14/att-subscribers-complain-of-delayed-canceled-iphone-4s-pre-orders/
http://att.pissedconsumer.com/very-much-pissed-with-iphone-4s-order-20111024270234.html
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=8576093908&topic=20055
Like millions of folks, I too wanted to lay my hands on a brand-new, shiny iPhone 4S on launch day. However, I knew that I would be out of town and working at a customer site, so standing in line (as I would normally prefer to do) was out. So, I decided to pre-order the 4S, which, of course, would arrive at my house that Friday and be waiting for me when I got home that night.
Yeah. Not so much. Read on for the story of my pain and anguish.
PART 1: THE DECEPTION
So in to my local AT&T store I went on “pre-order day”. I was assured that pre-ordered phones would be sent via FedEx to arrive on Launch Day. Satisfied, I placed my order and went home, pleased that I would still be able to get the phone on Launch Day and, yes, a little happy that I would not have to wait in line. (I hate abhor waiting in lines. Seriously.)
Almost immediately, I got an email confirming my order, with a note that it would ship within “14-21 days”. I wasn’t concerned, as I figured that was the standard corporate disclaimer. Then again, I did feel the hair on my neck go up – foreshadowing? Yup.
I checked my shipping status on Sunday when I got the email containing the link to said info. I was in “Order Pending” status, with the items listed as backordered. That’s fine, it was obviously not released at the time, so I told myself to expect that.
PART 2: THE MISCOMMUNICATION
Fast forward to Wednesday. My shipping status hasn’t changed. The backorder status hasn’t changed. I call AT&T’s Customer Service to ensure that everything is OK. I am assured that since I placed my order in the store before 5PM on the first pre-order day that I WILL have my iPhone on Launch Day. Oh – and their system is slow to update, so I shouldn’t worry just because it hasn’t changed.
On Thursday, I noticed that the credit card hold for the charge for the iPhone had been released, and the funds were back in my account. This was expected; the folks at the AT&T store explained that they would put a hold on the card for the purchase price, and actually put the charge through when the phone shipped. However, since it would have to have shipped that day in order to arrive on Launch Day, I was a little worried. So, another call to AT&T Customer Service.
This one ended a little differently.
I was told that my phone had not shipped and would not ship for another week.
Excuse me?
Another WEEK?
Why did I bother pre-ordering?
Unfortunately, the Customer Service rep could only add that that is what she was told. OK, but what about what the Customer Service person told me the day before, that I was going to get it on Launch Day since I ordered before some apparent cut-off time? “I don’t know why you were told that, sir”, she said, “But we are being told that pre-orders made on the 7th will ship in one week.” When I asked about the possibility of canceling my order and simply buying one in person, I was informed that Customer Service had no ability to cancel an in-store order, and that “once an order is in ‘pending shipment’ status, then shipment is imminent, and the order cannot be canceled by anyone at that time”. She offered no explanation for why my order was in “pending shipment” status for 5 days at that point.
PART 3: BAIT AND SWITCH SHIPPING DATES
Launch Day. Lots of folks are talking about how they are tracking their packages that are out for delivery. Me? I’m still in the same “Pending Shipment” status, no charge on the credit card. Fellow iSource writer Jay is in the same boat, lost in the mess that is AT&T’s handling of this mess. He’s heard the same promises, and has the same level of disappointment. Finally, I stumble upon a forum thread at MacRumors in which a user responded to a post asking if anyone had an in-store order from AT&T ship yet. His reply:
“Nope, and my card hasn’t been charged as of this morning. I had a lengthy (and frustrating) discussion with the manager. They were told that due to the high demand of store volume last year for the 4, that AT&T changed their stock allocation to be mostly toward the stores and available on launch day…. those that ordered online before 4pmEST are in the first wave and will get it today, The next few waves go to the retail locations to have stock today. Then lastly, those who ordered in the store or after 4PM are pushed to the end of the line as low priorities. If you ordered on the store fairly early, expect it the week after next, by 10/28. if you ordered at the end of the day, expect it the first week of November. In-store is low priority. I don’t intend to frustrate or incite – just the info I was given and so far it looks accurate from this thread and the state of my order. 32GB Blk.”
(Emphasis mine)
After reading dozens of forum posts from both happy and very unhappy users at MacRumors and elsewhere, a pattern became clear:
* If you ordered online from Apple on Oct 7th, you got it on Oct 14th (Launch Day).
* If you ordered online or in the store from AT&T, you didn’t have it, and didn’t know when you would get it.
Moreover, if you went to either the Apple Store or an AT&T store in person Friday morning, the lines weren’t very long, and they had stock. Yes, that’s right, AT&T didn’t ship phones to those who had already plunked down cash, but merrily sent them to the stores for folks to walk in and buy, lickety-split. Nice.
PART 4: DECK THE MALL WITH BLOOD AND VENOM…
Now frustrated, I managed to get enough time during my lunch break to pop over to the local mall near the client where there was an Apple Store. I decided that if the line was short enough, I would just buy the phone there and then convince AT&T to cancel my order since I already had one and would be refusing delivery. When I arrived, I was shocked to see that the line was only 10 people long. I got in line, got a ticket for the model that I wanted, and went inside to buy the phone. Everything went great, until the Apple Store guy determined that AT&T had my upgrade locked up, and that he couldn’t clear it so that I could buy the phone for the upgrade price. He suggested that I go to the AT&T store in the mall and get them to clear it up. “WHERE ARE THEY?”, I snarled, as smoke began to erupt from my nostrils. He told me, offered to hold on to the phone for me until I got back, and wished me luck. I moved with furious purpose to the AT&T store.
When I arrived, I was again surprised to see that there was one person in line, and that people were walking out with iPhones. The young lady I spoke to quickly surmised that she wanted nothing to do with me or my situation (not that I blame her), and delivered me forthwith to the manager.
The manager was apologetic. He was sincere. He sincerely apologized that he couldn’t cancel my order. “No one can”, he said. He also said that he was not able to simply fulfill my order from his in-store stock. I removed his spleen through his esophagus told him that this was unacceptable. He sadly concurred, but told me that my only option if I wanted a phone immediately was to buy one at full price (and we’re talking $900 for a 64G iPhone), and he assured me that I could return the shipped unit and get my money back when it arrived. I grilled him mercilessly; would I be able to return it at the AT&T store near home even though I was purchasing it in another State? He assured me this was the case. And I can just have the SIM in my iPhone 4 moved to my wife’s account? Again, he confirmed that this was an accurate rendition of the facts. Running short on time, and wanting to get back to the client (rather then get into the back of a police car), I swallowed my anger pride and bought it.
PART 5: FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME SEVERAL TIMES….
So, home I went with the 4S. That night, I prepared the old iPhone 4 for my wife with all of her settings and media, and called AT&T Customer Support to get her account switched to it. After the normal wait on hold and preliminaries, the Customer Service Rep went to do the deed. But, (of course), there was a problem. The manager of the AT&T store at the mall had permanently deactivated the SIM card in the iPhone 4 when he set up my service on the 4S. The only thing to do was to go to the AT&T store in the morning and have the SIM swapped out. I snarled a “Fine” into the phone and thanked her.
The next morning, with the fire in my eyes fully recharged, I set out to the AT&T store. As soon as they saw me come in, the AT&T folks looked at each other with that look they use to silently communicate amongst themselves that the customer from hell has just arrived, appears to be carnivorous, and might potentially incinerate any one of them with a stern glance. One, (I’ll call him “Unlucky”), bravely took one for the team and came over to assist me.
After a summary explanation of the pain points experienced thus far, compounded with a not-quite-stated accusation that the store had been complicit in selling me a phone that they knew would be delivered late and lying to my face about it, I informed Mr. Unlucky that he was about to:
* Immediately activate my wife’s phone
* Swear a blood oath that the “shipped” (ha ha) phone would be immediately accepted for a full refund, despite having been purchased in another State
* Find some creative way to make me forget that I was contemplating torching the store and switching to Sprint
To his credit, Mr. Unlucky stepped up and made it happen. He got everything working, talked to the store manager to ensure that there would be zero issues returning the wayward pre-order phone, and gave me 50% off any accessories I might like. As it happened, the wife and daughter needed Otterboxes, so I made them happy as well. Mr. Unlucky did emphatically deny that the store had any discretion over where their allotment went to, and that the decision to screw the pre-order folks was made at a higher level (which one, he didn’t know). When I informed him that several managers had confirmed that they did indeed have that discretion, he opined that perhaps in other areas of the country this was the case, but certainly NOT in his store.
PART 6: THE RETURN OF THE JEDI iPHONE
The following Friday (the 21st), the pre-order iPhone finally showed up. The next day, I took the box (never even opened it) to the AT&T store and, lo and behold, Mr. Unlucky was there. Now, my wife had pretty much figured that I would encounter resistance trying to get my refund, but I explained to her that not only did I have Mr. Unlucky’s promise and that of his manager, but that at that point that hadn’t really seen me ANGRY yet. Once I saw Mr. Unlucky, however, I knew that it would work out OK; and it did. He even gave me a $50 credit on my account for the hassle.
PART 7: WE DON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN
The bottom line is this: AT&T massively screwed up the iPhone 4S launch with a management blunder worthy of RIM. Quite frankly, the only reason that I didn’t cancel my account and move to Verizon or Sprint was the mere fact that I really do value the ability to talk and surf at the same time. Of course, should an LTE-capable iPhone become reality, I’d have little reason to stick around, since LTE is capable of handling voice and data simultaneously. However, even if I stay with AT&T, I will never – ever – order another phone from them. While they the local store may have partially appeased me, I no longer trust anything that is said by pretty much anyone at AT&T – except, of course, Mr. Unlucky.
Did you pre-order an iPhone 4S from AT&T? What was your experience? Let us know in the Comments.
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