A little angry at Apple right now...

[V6Pony]

What happened here is really simple. You and tens of millions of people tried to order an iPhone all at one time. They broke all previous pre-order sales, making this the single biggest event of its kind. Ever. The computers and networks simply couldn't handle the strain of it all. I doubt they COULD have prepared adequately for it. It's really just that simple.

The OP said that Apple had accepted his order. Apple set a holding point for charging him for the IPhone in his banking account. He offered the contract and Apple accepted. Pure and simple.

If they could not have filled the order they should not have accepted it. Apple is in the business of selling Iphones. It's Apples responsibility to make this right. The OP did nothing wrong. To make the case that it's not there fault because of the amount of orders they received is absurd.

What's this called? Customer Service.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

The OP said that Apple had accepted his order. Apple set a holding point for charging him for the IPhone in his banking account. He offered the contract and Apple accepted. Pure and simple.

If they could not have filled the order they should not have accepted it. Apple is in the business of selling Iphones. It's Apples responsibility to make this right. The OP did nothing wrong. To make the case that it's not there fault because of the amount of orders they received is absurd.

What's this called? Customer Service.

It's called a computer glitch from overwhelmed systems. Pure and simple. How can they "make it right" when they sold every last iPhone they had? Take it from the person who got what would have been his if this went smoothly?

 

[pubmix]

Just got off the phone with the rep and the best they could come up with was to tell me to replace the order and she will send a request asking for the order to be prioritized. The funny thing is, she said its a possibility the request could be denied and even of it was accepted, the 4-5 weeks would be more like 3-4.

I'm kind of at a loss what to do. It seems ridiculous that even with this option there is still a chance the request could be denied even though it was a complete mess up on their part.

 

[toMACsh]

The bottom line is that they attempted to roll out a new iPhone, and missed the estimate of the number of units needed by several miles. They now have a situation in which many potential customers are going to be unhappy. Some will stick with them, some won't. You have to decide which camp you're in.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Just got off the phone with the rep and the best they could come up with was to tell me to replace the order and she will send a request asking for the order to be prioritized. The funny thing is, she said its a possibility the request could be denied and even of it was accepted, the 4-5 weeks would be more like 3-4.

I'm kind of at a loss what to do. It seems ridiculous that even with this option there is still a chance the request could be denied even though it was a complete mess up on their part.

How do you even know this was Apple's fault and not your bank? Or your carrier? Is it really going to kill you to wait a few weeks? Just pretend that it's not being released until November. Your friends won't point and laugh at you for not having it now. I usually roll my eyes when people throw out the "first world problem" response, but this is one of those if I've ever seen one.

 

[pigoo3]

I'm kind of at a loss what to do.

Sorry to hear that Apple couldn't come up with a better solution. As a couple of us mentioned already. There may be a lot more folks who have the same problem (let's say 50,000 or more). It's pretty hard to come up with a solution that will solve a problem for 50,000+ customers that won't end up causing more problems.

I think that the solution is…if you want an iPhone 6:

- reorder the phone…and wait the required number of weeks
- wait a while (say a couple months)…then just walk into a nearby Apple Store and buy an iPhone 6 (or order it online).

Stuff happens. Roll with the punches…and be flexible.

- Nick

 

[MacInWin]

I've been following this thread. My suggestion is to do what the rep says and see what happens. Every day you delay adds to the overall time between now and when your new iPhone appears. Who knows what the rep can do, or what Tim Cook might do if you followed the suggestion to send him a professional, crisp and concise email? Until you try it, you don't know if it will work, but if you just keep doing nothing, I'll guarantee you won't get a phone any time soon.

 

[RustProofCorn]

I would never buy another IPhone or Apple product. But that's just me. You made a contract with them that they broke. It is there place to fix it. If they won't. No more Apple for me.

Simple.

Seems more like an agreement than a contract. Nothing legally binding and all that. That is just how i see it however.

Now for all this other mess about blah blah I would never this and blah blah i would never that. I personally would be non compos mentis over this situation if it happened to me. And i would be trying to rectify it however I could. I would also understand that bottom line is stuff happens that isn't in my control. It even sounds to me that the CSR with Apple i genuinely concerned about the situation or else why would they call and make attempts to get him to re pre order. Sounds pretty sympathetic to me. I just don't know if feeding a already negative situation with more negativity is a healthy solution to the problem. I dont know maybe i'm just getting soft with age.

You know i was going to through this out there. It takes some time and all but if someone wants a iPhone 6+ enough they will be out there before the 4 weeks being predicted. they will trickle out a little at a time like always. you just have to make calls and be diligent in your quest. actually i enjoy this myself.

What is the difference between a contract and agreement

 

[harryb2448]

Ohh dear. if it wasn't for lawyers .. we wouldn't need lawyers!

 

[pubmix]

How do you even know this was Apple's fault and not your bank? I usually roll my eyes when people throw out the "first world problem" response, but this is one of those if I've ever seen one.

Well, like I said in the original post:

I called my bank and they said the authorization was sent back to Apple to charge my card (but Apple failed to charge it).
BOTH reps on the phone admitted that it was screw up on Apple's end. The manager even told me the initial $1 authorization charge went through just fine.

Now that that's out of the way, I was planning on this new phone Friday as I had an agreement with my brother to give him my current phone as I wouldn't need it any longer and he has an original iPhone 4 with a broken screen and dozens of other problems. Although my brother is understanding, this is the reason I am making somewhat of a fuss over this situation. We were planning on this for quite some time. Aside from that, Apple is (or was?) a respectable company that I thought had customer values. I really don't see the problem with calling ahead to an Apple store and setting one aside. Sure, this will screw someone in line out of a phone, but that's the potential risk you take camping out and waiting in line for a phone. This is why I pre-ordered the phone in the first place...

And to those saying "oh this could have happened to 50k+ people and they can't accommodate all of them," I feel like this would be something that would have made some even a small time news site. A quick Google search turns up nothing about cancelled phones except for those in the UK who pre-ordered through "Phones4U" (or something like that). Seems to be a very isolated incident.

 

[RustProofCorn]

BOTH reps on the phone admitted that it was screw up on Apple's end. The manager even told me the initial $1 authorization charge went through just fine.


And to those saying "oh this could have happened to 50k+ people and they can't accommodate all of them," I feel like this would be something that would have made some even a small time news site. A quick Google search turns up nothing about cancelled phones except for those in the UK who pre-ordered through "Phones4U" (or something like that). Seems to be a very isolated incident.

My guess is that at least 50k were affected like previously mentioned. The day of the pre orders websites were painting the intrimweb with buyers not being able to complete pre orders.

take a look at this link:'We're sorry:' Apple experiences numerous iPhone 6 preorder problems from crushing demand

while yours doesn't sound exactly like what is explained in the link above. it does have some similarities. like the 1 dollar CC charge. I mean possibly you just didn't receive the email like the other folks did that told them they needed to complete there order.

Whatever the case i sure hope this works out for you. I will be watching to see if you are posting from a brand new shiny iPhone on Friday.

Good Luck!!!

 

[V6Pony]

Well, like I said in the original post:

I called my bank and they said the authorization was sent back to Apple to charge my card (but Apple failed to charge it).
BOTH reps on the phone admitted that it was screw up on Apple's end. The manager even told me the initial $1 authorization charge went through just fine.

Now that that's out of the way, I was planning on this new phone Friday as I had an agreement with my brother to give him my current phone as I wouldn't need it any longer and he has an original iPhone 4 with a broken screen and dozens of other problems. Although my brother is understanding, this is the reason I am making somewhat of a fuss over this situation. We were planning on this for quite some time. Aside from that, Apple is (or was?) a respectable company that I thought had customer values. I really don't see the problem with calling ahead to an Apple store and setting one aside. Sure, this will screw someone in line out of a phone, but that's the potential risk you take camping out and waiting in line for a phone. This is why I pre-ordered the phone in the first place...

And to those saying "oh this could have happened to 50k+ people and they can't accommodate all of them," I feel like this would be something that would have made some even a small time news site. A quick Google search turns up nothing about cancelled phones except for those in the UK who pre-ordered through "Phones4U" (or something like that). Seems to be a very isolated incident.

pubmix you did nothing wrong. You did what Apple requested of you to the tee. Someone at Apple messed it up. Now they don't want to fix the problem. This bull about 50,000 cancelled phones is a figment of someone's imagination. If Apple does not want to stand behind there agreements. What's next. You can't tell me if Obama wanted a phone they could not come up with one. They just don't want to. Your business is not very important to Apple.

Only you can decide what to do next. One thing's for sure It's not your fault.

 

[TattooedMac]

She claims to have sent my case to some "team" who will determine where to go from here but from the sound of it, they want me to suffer from their own mistake (as the customer, none the less...) and I find that very irresponsible from a company with the caliber of Apple.

Im pretty sure Apple isn't trying to make you suffer. Its not in the Terms and Agreements to make you suffer, even if they did admit fault.

This happened to me when the iPhone5 came out. I live 300kms from the Apple Store and I didn't get one when they first came out, because I was selling my old one first. Even 3 weeks on, I had to "Pre-Order" the iPhone before, and I got a email saying its ready to be picked up on the day I wanted to get it.
Low and behold, I got there and they said, sorry Sir, "Blah,Blah, had to fix someones, blah, blah we needed yours, blah, blah" and I was pretty gutted. 300kms from home and no iPhone, but they said easiest thing was to order online and you will get it in 3-4 weeks.
So thats what I did.
Mistakes happen, and even if Apple is this big company, crap, happens.

Tell me this, if you Pre-Ordered a Music Album and it was accidentally not ordered, and they told you to ring their CSR and work out the details, would you be online whining about it ?? No didn't think so. !!

I'm not bashing Apple.

I've never heard of a company being so unconcerned and impervious to customer service.

It's called a computer glitch from overwhelmed systems. Pure and simple. How can they "make it right" when they sold every last iPhone they had? Take it from the person who got what would have been his if this went smoothly?

I tried to get online and pre-order this year, for the fun of it, then just look at the Buy Now button just hoping my numbers came in, and I couldn't pre-order a phone after 20 odd tries. Then I finally got one put into my Shopping Cart, and this was over a 4 hr period . . . .

There is going to be quite a number of people sitting in lines this year that are going to miss out, me thinks. There are Adverts in Australia with people paying up to $200 to sit in line from 3am the day of release . . . MADNESS I say !!!!

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Well, like I said in the original post:

I called my bank and they said the authorization was sent back to Apple to charge my card (but Apple failed to charge it).
BOTH reps on the phone admitted that it was screw up on Apple's end. The manager even told me the initial $1 authorization charge went through just fine.

Whoops... my bad. Regardless, the reason is just dead simple and is what I was explaining. They go through this every year. Every. Single. Year. Thousands of people's orders get lost because the demand crushes their systems. No matter how much preparation goes into this each time, the demand continues to escalate and cause these problems. They obviously need to come up with a better way of doing pre-orders... maybe just make everyone wait in line like the good old days. Speaking of which... on launch day, camp out at Best Buy or at your carrier's main location. They should have a handful on hand when they open.

 

[pigoo3]

Order another iPhone 6 and call it a day!

- Nick

 

[Sawday]

Can someone please explain the difference between 'pre-order' and just plain 'order'?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Can someone please explain the difference between 'pre-order' and just plain 'order'?

Simple, pre-order when a thing isn't released and you're on the list to get the first batch when it does release. Order when the thing is released and you get it shipped with whatever lead time there is..

The iPhone 6/6+ aren't released yet, so you pre-order now and you get one from the first batch that is produced in China and shipped.

The phone will be released on the 26th of this month. At that point, you can just Order one and wait the 3-4 weeks for the next production run in China before you get the phone..

Wait another 3-4 months and you can walk into your local carrier store and pick up the phone and walk out (this is usually my method)..

 

[pubmix]

Good news: so I ended up calling the Apple Store and talking to a manager and explained the situation. He was completely understanding and put me in the reservation list and set aside a phone for me which I picked up this morning. I am now a happy iPhone 6+ owner

So that bull**** the lady on the phone told me about stores not being able to set aside inventory was a complete lie and I will never rely on Apple phone support ever again.

 

[RustProofCorn]

Pictures or it didn't happen.

Congrats man!!!

 

[chscag]

So that bull**** the lady on the phone told me about stores not being able to set aside inventory was a complete lie and I will never rely on Apple phone support ever again.

Give her a break man! The woman was very likely following company policy. With hundreds of Apple stores here in the US alone, there was no way she could speak for any of the store managers or whether they would be kind enough to set a phone aside for you.

Just thank your lucky stars that you encountered a store manager who would do that for you. Don't bad mouth all of Apple support because of that. Enjoy your new iPhone 6+ and have fun. Loosen up man!