Reserve buyers: Apple won't tell you if they have enough

I had mentioned on another thread that I was going to call the night before to see if they have enough phones to cover reserves at my store and some people thought it was a good idea.

Well, I was near the Apple store last night so I stopped in to ask about it. Turns out, for some insane reason, Apple will not let you know if they have enough to cover the reserves. Even though they will obviously have them in by the night before and will easily know if they can or can't cover all reserves.

Based on the hype it's pretty clear they will sell out well before the end of the first day. And we already know that due to the system glitches last week that they took more orders than they could handle and a good number of people probably opted to reserve when they couldn't pre-order.

The whole thing is just frustrating and annoying, and I still think it's just poor customer service to to let a paying customer committed to buying know whether or not they can actually get their "reserved" phone.

It might just be your store, and I'm sure that most stores are just feeling overwhelmed right now and don't want to commit to anything.

But, I've also been reading a lot posts on Apple's forum and from a call to my Apple store who told me that they are expecting to have phones for every confirmed reservation on launch day.

So I wouldn't read too much into you were told because the people that work in the store don't always have the answers. I would imagine Apple has every intention of honoring all confirmed reservations.

Apple had a limited number of reservations at each store that in theory tied to what their inventory would be. Once those slots were filled, there were no more reservations available. Some people think they got a reservation because of system issues, but if you never got a confirmation email, then you probably really don't have a reservation. It's good to call the store and check.

That's weird, my store said that they are receiving all orders that they received on reserve, while only receiving a portion of those for people who have no reserves. If you ordered yours to be picked up at the store, apple will send that store your reserve, as with everyone else's who have done the same thing as you. The only people who need to worry are those who have no reserves.

idrinorbarsaku said:

That's weird, my store said that they are receiving all orders that they received on reserve, while only receiving a portion of those for people who have no reserves. If you ordered yours to be picked up at the store, apple will send that store your reserve, as with everyone else's who have done the same thing as you. The only people who need to worry are those who have no reserves.

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I would like to believe you, but if that were true they wouldn't need to put all of that contradictory "first-come, first service basis" language into my "reserve confirmation".

I guess all I can go on is what the guy told me. I asked if I could call the night before to see if they'll have enough for reserves and he said no without missing a beat, like he had already been asked a number of times. He made it pretty clear to me that they currently don't know if they'll get enough, and even when they do know they won't tell anyone. I'll just have to try asking anyway in case there is some sane/kind person working there that can actually tell me.

They put that there for legal reasons. What if something happened last minute, you know some idiot would sue. Same reason there's disclaimers on shipping statements.

Why not ask to talk to the manager rather than a disgruntled salesman who I'm sure is tired of being asked and doesn't want to he bothered.

fleurya said:

I would like to believe you, but if that were true they wouldn't need to put all of that contradictory "first-come, first service basis" language into my "reserve confirmation".

I guess all I can go on is what the guy told me. I asked if I could call the night before to see if they'll have enough for reserves and he said no without missing a beat, like he had already been asked a number of times. He made it pretty clear to me that they currently don't know if they'll get enough, and even when they do know they won't tell anyone. I'll just have to try asking anyway in case there is some sane/kind person working there that can actually tell me.

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First of all the "first come, first serve" goes for people who are pre-authorized to get the iphone, not one's who have reserved it. The one's who reserved get first dibs on the iphone, non-reservees will get the stock that is left for them(non-reserved phones). There will be 2 lines at every apple store 1 for reserves, and 1 for non-reserves. The folks who had reserved will have the option to change, for example, their 16gb reserve to a 32gb version, which will be pulled out from the non-reserved section and swapped with their 16gb. The people who are there first automatically get first dibs on altering their choice(if needed). That can only last for so long. After a while, you will get what stuck with what you reserved. It also means that if you did reserve, and did not show up the first day, someone who actually wants it will get to have it! You really do have till the end of the day to pick up your reserve!
Looks like the person you asked wasn't confident enough. Ask the manager, not the first person who greets you at the door. Good luck!

My Dad is a retired school teacher and he works at a local apple store here in Denver. All of the past iPhone releases and iPad etc the employees have NO clue how many units they are getting until the ups/fedex truck shows up with guards to watch over the item.

The managers may know but don't tell the employees squat and obviously won't give customers any answers.

Different apple stores around the country may have different policies regarding telling customers their expected shipping quantities but I think it's safe to assume all stores have the same rules regarding that.