Tag Archives: iPhone 4S

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #4

This will be the final update on the iPhone 4S order as AT&T finally delivered on the order placed over 3 weeks ago. To make sure everyone understands my frustration with this whole process, I want to make a few things clear. I wasn’t frustrated at the simple fact that I was going to have to wait a long time to receive the phone. If I was told the wait would be 21-28 days from the order date, I probably wouldn’t have placed the order. But I did place the order because I was told it would take approximately 7 days. It wasn’t until after accepting the terms and conditions of the order that the delivery date was extended to 21-28 days. Then AT&T refused to let me cancel the order, which was somewhat of a slap in the face. Was I being unreasonably?

On Sunday night, shortly after posting the third status update, I submitted a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is the second time I used the BBB due to what I felt was improper business practice. To my surprise Tuesday turned into a big day. Tuesday morning the AT&T website noted the order was fulfilled and the phones were being delivered the next day… from Texas of all places. This got me wondering as all previous Apple product orders started in China. Later Tuesday morning I received an email forwarded from my brother. It was an email from the AT&T Office of the President. He apologized for the inconvenience and noted the phones were being delivered. He also left us a voice-mail on the home phone.

At first I was wondering if this was just a coincidence, but then I remembered there’s no such thing as coincidences. Well, at least that’s what Gibbs has taught me on NCIS. My brother and I went back and forth on whether to push things a little bit with AT&T. Specifically because it shouldn’t take a complaint with the BBB to have a company acknowledge a problem in their treatment of a customer, but we decided to just let this one go for now.

So my new iPhone is now patiently waiting for me at home. In the immortal words of Bart Scott… Can’t Wait!

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #3

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #2

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Ladies and Gentleman – I’m going to tell you a little story about how my brother and I are getting screwed by AT&T. Here’s a play by play account of how we are now being told the iPhone will be delivered between 21 to 28 days from the day the order was placed, a full 2-3 weeks after the date originally noted by AT&T.

October 7 @ 12:01 AM – My brother goes online in an attempt to order 2 iPhone 4S’, one for each of us. After 1.5 hours of not being able to get through to the AT&T system, he finally decides to go to bed.

October 7 @ 9:30 AM – An order is placed online with AT&T for 2 iPhone 4S’. A confirmation email is received noting a delivery date of approximately October 14.

October 8 @ 7:55 AM – We receive an email from AT&T noting our order was cancelled. AT&T is unable to determine why the order was cancelled. We’re told the delivery date will continue to be October 14. so we place a new order.

October @ 10 AM - My brother calls AT&T as he has not yet received the Terms and Conditions email. At this point he is told that the email will not be sent until 24-48 business hours. My brother asks how is the phone going to arrive on Friday if that is the case. He is told it will not be delivered on Friday, but early next week sometime.

October 11 (Morning) – We receive an email to accept the Terms and Conditions of the order and it is signed right away.

October 12 – I receive a voice-mail from the AT&T Fraud Department requesting to verify a new phone was ordered to replace my current phone. I called on October 13 only to be told I can’t verify the order due to not being the account holder. I ask why they called me instead of the account holder. Turns out my brother called on October 12 to clear things up and is told that the phone will still be received 7-14 days from order date. My brother is not happy and voices his displeasure, but would rather not wait in line at a local Apple or AT&T store.

October 17 – After not hearing anything for a few days and having trouble verifying the order online (even with an order number, a shipping number and confirmation email) my brother calls AT&T to get an update, at which point he’s notified delivery will be between 21 to 28 days from the order date. AT&T has no record of the original order noting delivery around October 14. Offers to send them the email we received are rebuked. Specifically, they say it doesn’t matter now. Like hell it doesn’t! An attempt to cancel our order is also rebuked due to having already accepting the Terms and Conditions. Somehow AT&T is allowed to change the terms of the order, but we can’t. Seems a little one sided to me. I’m sure if we asked them to review the recorded phone conversations we would also be rebuked. Either that or they’ll say the recordings were cancelled, uh, I mean lost.

So, I think AT&T is pretty much telling us to go screw ourselves. What kind of crap customer service is this?!?! I haven’t read anything online about this happening to anyone else, but would welcome getting some feedback from customers that are getting the same runaround. Customers shouldn’t be treated this way. I think this has another Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint written all over it. It seemed to help the last time I submitted a complaint.

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update

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It’s been a little over a week now since the iPhone went on sale for pre-orders. This past Friday the iPhone was official made available to all those brave souls willing to wait no line at an Apple Store or other retail store lucky enough to be able to sell the iPhone 4S. Following the pre-order of the iPhone 4S on October 7 I wrote about the potential for it to be delivered on October 14th, as noted in the confirmation email my brother received. From what I understand, there are people out there playing with their new iPhone 4S’. I’m not one of them.

On Saturday, the day after the pre-order was confirmed, my brother received an email notification that our order through AT&T had been cancelled… for no apparent reason! A phone call to AT&T later we were able to re-pre-order (pretty sure that’s not a real word) the iPhone 4S. The AT&T representative noted we would still receive the iPhone as scheduled. Yeah, right! I remember thinking I’ll believe it when I see it, especially reading online how the wait went from receipt on October 14 to delivery in 1-2 weeks.

On Thursday, one day before the original delivery date, I received a voice mail from AT&T Fraud Department noting an order had been placed to replace my phone. My current phone was right next to me when I received the voice-mail, so I’m under the impression they never actually called, but left a voice-mail. This reeked at the time of a tool to extend the delivery date by AT&T, but have no proof other than the fact that I have yet to receive the phone. When I finally got a hold of AT&T on Friday they wouldn’t let me verify the order as I’m on a family plan and am not the account holder. My question is, why did they call me and not the account holder?!?! My brother made the phone call to ensure everything was straightened out, but not before I got pretty peeved at AT&T at their actions through this whole process. It’s now Sunday and we have yet to receive notice that the phone is being delivered. When I go online to check the status of the order the AT&T system doesn’t even recognize the order number. Instead I get this message:

OS001: We apologize for the inconvenience. We cannot complete your request at this time. Please wait at least 24 hrs from placing your order, before checking the status of your order online. If the problem persists, please call us at 1-888-333-6651 for further assistance. NOTE: An email may have been sent to your email address on file. Please check your email which may have additional information about your order.

This whole process is a joke and, as a result, so is AT&T. But that’s nothing unusual, they have the same hiccups (to say the least) every time the iPhone goes on sale. If I get back to California on Friday, October 22 and the phone has not yet been delivered my service will be changed to Verizon or Sprint. I’ll accept a limited data plan over the unlimited plan if I have to. To say the least, my brother, who is waiting (im)patiently for the phone to arrive, is even more aggravated at this process than I am. Even if it arrived already, I still wouldn’t be able to use it until I return to California.

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Confirmed

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It’s been over 3 years since I bought the iPhone 3G, which I’m still begrudgingly using today. For a gadget junky like me the current iPhone has outlived it’s usefulness. So there was no doubt I’d try to get my pre-order in as early as possible. My brother, who is in the same boat with his iPhone 3G, and being a night owl, attempted to get the order in just after midnight when the phone was made available. After an hour and a half of not being able to get through to the AT&T service, he decided to call it a day. Not knowing the outcome when I woke up at 5:30, I was left waiting until he woke up to find out. It wasn’t until 9:30 this morning that I finally got an email with the confirmation, which noted a delivery date of October 14th, with an * next to it. I’m thinking it will be another week or two after before I get the phone delivered.

I decided to go with the 64 GB option for multiple reasons. First, the phone takes HD video, which will take a lot of space on the phone between syncs with my computer. And second, I’m hoping the 64 GB will not sell out as easily due to the price, which might result in an earlier than expected delivery.

One side note to add, it seems I’ll be able to keep the unlimited data plan, which is a nice bonus even though I don’t usually hit the 2 GB limit on the current available plan, but an extra $5 is worth it in the event I want to listen to Pandora for an extended period of time. Can’t wait!

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