Buying iPhone 4S at Apple Store: can I use it right away?

Hi all,

I am confused about the process of buying the iPhone 4S.

I was planning to buy my 4S on October 14th in an Apple store, and I wanted to go with a Verizon plan. My questions are:

- Can I walk out with everything working? i.e. can the Apple store activate my Verizon plan somehow and set up everything?

- I want to go with a 2-year plan to get a discount on the iPhone. Will I be able to get this discount in the Apple Store, or do I have to buy it at its default retail price?

If either of the two is impossible, I understand that I can also buy the phone directly at Verizon on the 14th, but I was hoping to go to the Apple store because I wanted to camp out overnight with a few friends.

The iPhone 4S will come with iOS 5. That means it will work right out of the box, with no computer required.

I only have experience with AT&T but I assume it's the same with Verizon, when I bought my iPhone from the Apple store I got the discount with no issues.

Apple store will help you set everything up.

Ok so I went to Verizon store to talk them about this too.

They told me that if I buy my phone at Apple, I will have to come back to their store as well later in the day to activate it too, because they "have to scan it in" or something.

... ? sigh...

Intuitively, that seems to make a bit more sense to me, because if I buy it from Apple then Verizon has no way of getting my information-- mailing address, VISA number, the plan I'm getting, etc etc..

Call the Apple Retail store near you to verify, but I STRONGLY suspect the Verizon store is lying to you.

They (all cell phone store employees, not just Verizon) do that. A lot. Particularly if they are "franchise" stores and not "company" stores.

Bottom line: only deal with Apple Stores or company provider stores when it comes to dealing with iPhones. Saves you a LOT of grief in the long run.

chas_m you were right. Apple can set up everything-- I've asked in 2 separate stores, and I read about it much more now.

The people I spoke to at Verizon were simply lying to me. Which is weird because I talked to two of them at the same time, so it's not like one of them went rogue or something. They were both in on it, or just both strictly confused.

The store is an actual Verizon store, not just an affiliate.

What's even funnier is that one of them told me something along the lines of:
"If you want, I can try to hold one phone for you on Friday" -- why would he say that? The whole thing was just very fishy.

andrejk said:

-- why would he say that? The whole thing was just very fishy...

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In a word -commissions. You buy from Apple or anyone else, they miss out on their commission. Cynical, but sadly true.

OMG I can't stand Verizon and ATT reps. Can't wait until we have to deal with Sprint too... hope they're smarter than the other two. Yes, you WILL be able to have everything working right on the spot, given that everything with your credit checks out and that you're eligible for an upgrade etc..

Verizon and ATT are constantly misleading and misinforming their customers. For the most part, the reps at stores simply don't want to deal with anybody. They'd rather just get paid to do nothing, or so it would seem. I guess the clear contradiction here is that this is a chance for said Verizon reps to make extra commission on launch day. Sleazy.

Doug

Doug b said:

OMG I can't stand Verizon and ATT reps. Can't wait until we have to deal with Sprint too... hope they're smarter than the other two. Yes, you WILL be able to have everything working right on the spot, given that everything with your credit checks out and that you're eligible for an upgrade etc..

Verizon and ATT are constantly misleading and misinforming their customers. For the most part, the reps at stores simply don't want to deal with anybody. They'd rather just get paid to do nothing, or so it would seem. I guess the clear contradiction here is that this is a chance for said Verizon reps to make extra commission on launch day. Sleazy.

Doug

Click to expand...

I agree and disagree. The problem with most reps comes from them when they are part of a franchise. ATT/Verizon/Tmobile?Sprint franchise stores have some of the most conniving people I've ever seen. If you want good service, go to an actual corporate store. Almost guaranteed awesome service. That's where I just got my iPhone4S.