Apple sent wrong iPhone to me!

[lschwarcz]

ARRRRGGGGHH! Sorry but I have to vent for a moment here. After staying up late on the 6th/7th to pre-order two iPhones (mine and my wife's) and waiting a week FedEx delivers two small boxes this morning! YOO HOO! Open them up and start to sync and activate. Start with my wife's first (happy wife, happy life) only to discover that while Apple sent us the right model (black iPhone 4S 16GB) but they sent the wrong unit! The serial number for the phone doesn't match the serial number on our receipt and when iTunes starts the setup it has the wrong cell number!

Call Apple and after 2 1/2 hours on the phone their only solution is for them to send me a return FedEx label, return the phone and they'll then send us another! Not wanting to wait until next week to get this resolved I called our local Apple retail store (Los Gatos) and they said to come down and they'll figure something out. After another couple of hours there they came to the same conclusion that I'll have to send it back to Apple . So, it'll be some time until we get that phone working!

The only bright spot to all of this is that while I was at the Apple store I ran into Woz! He was super tired and really couldn't talk (he was up all night waiting in line) but was still very nice.

Sorry about all the negativity but I needed to vent somewhere!

Thanks,
Larry.

 

[BrianLachoreVPI]

Woz waits in a line - all night?

 

[sfam198]

I can't believe they can't just swap out the serial numbers in whatever system they are using to match serial numbers to phone numbers. I would assume that if you got someone else's iPhone that they got yours too. So really in the end, they probably aren't going to find "your" iPhone to give you. They would basically be issuing a new iPhone and doing the swapping of serial numbers anyway.

 

[sfam198]

Actually, now that I think about it, this is really poor customer service on Apple's part. For a company that prides itself on the total customer experience (both the product and the customer service now that they are running a retail operation especially) they should have given you a new iPhone on the spot and made it work for you. Whatever hoops they have to jump through on the backend are not your problem.

 

[Greg55]

Actually, now that I think about it, this is really poor customer service on Apple's part. For a company that prides itself on the total customer experience (both the product and the customer service now that they are running a retail operation especially) they should have given you a new iPhone on the spot and made it work for you. Whatever hoops they have to jump through on the backend are not your problem.

Agreed!

 

[lschwarcz]

Woz waits in a line - all night?

Yep. He doesn't get any priority for Apple products and had even pre-ordered two iPhones for home delivery! But, he likes the whole waiting out in line with all of the other Apple fans.

Steve Wozniak Is 1st In Line For IPhone 4S.

Larry.

 

[lschwarcz]

Actually, now that I think about it, this is really poor customer service on Apple's part. For a company that prides itself on the total customer experience (both the product and the customer service now that they are running a retail operation especially) they should have given you a new iPhone on the spot and made it work for you. Whatever hoops they have to jump through on the backend are not your problem.

Yep. That's what I thought. Being told by support on-line and at the retail store that I'll have to take many more days to get my phone for an error that was 100% their fault is really poor service. I really expected a LOT more from Apple. I figured when I called them the first time that they'd fix it or at least arrange for a new one to be waiting at my local store.

I had always felt that Apple does so many things so well and the only big issue I had was the way they handle the Apple ID (inability to merge or delete accounts). But, this takes the cake!

Larry.

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

Yep. That's what I thought. Being told by support on-line and at the retail store that I'll have to take many more days to get my phone for an error that was 100% their fault is really poor service. I really expected a LOT more from Apple. I figured when I called them the first time that they'd fix it or at least arrange for a new one to be waiting at my local store.

I had always felt that Apple does so many things so well and the only big issue I had was the way they handle the Apple ID (inability to merge or delete accounts). But, this takes the cake!

Larry.

Maybe they will make it up to you somehow if you explain your story to them.

 

[lschwarcz]

Maybe they will make it up to you somehow if you explain your story to them.

Yea, I'll see about that but my first priority is to get a working phone! Then I can worry about compensation for this totally unnecessary delay and aggravation caused by their error.

Larry.

 

[chas_m]

Woz most certainly would have received free iPhones if he had called and asked for them (he has received them in the past). He just didn't want to. He finds the waiting and hanging out with Apple people very enjoyable, and doesn't see himself as deserving of special treatment. He's very cool like that.

 

[Moboo]

ARRRRGGGGHH! Sorry but I have to vent for a moment here. After staying up late on the 6th/7th to pre-order two iPhones (mine and my wife's) and waiting a week FedEx delivers two small boxes this morning! YOO HOO! Open them up and start to sync and activate. Start with my wife's first (happy wife, happy life) only to discover that while Apple sent us the right model (black iPhone 4S 16GB) but they sent the wrong unit! The serial number for the phone doesn't match the serial number on our receipt and when iTunes starts the setup it has the wrong cell number!

Call Apple and after 2 1/2 hours on the phone their only solution is for them to send me a return FedEx label, return the phone and they'll then send us another! Not wanting to wait until next week to get this resolved I called our local Apple retail store (Los Gatos) and they said to come down and they'll figure something out. After another couple of hours there they came to the same conclusion that I'll have to send it back to Apple . So, it'll be some time until we get that phone working!

The only bright spot to all of this is that while I was at the Apple store I ran into Woz! He was super tired and really couldn't talk (he was up all night waiting in line) but was still very nice.

Sorry about all the negativity but I needed to vent somewhere!

Thanks,
Larry.

Same thing happened to me. I ordered a 3GS for my son and the 4S for myself -- both arrived yesterday. Luckily, they sent me the correct 4S and I had no issues configuring it. However, the 3GS they sent me has a serial number different than what was on my receipt. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with Apple this afternoon and was told to try configuring it in one hour (they were aware of the issue and he put in a "request" to have it fixed). His "request" only worked to get me off the phone, the 3GS still shows a different mobile # when I try to configure it in iTunes. This is 8 hours later. I guess I'll try the Apple store but based on your experience, it may not do any good.

 

[Design Teacher]

Same thing happened to me. I ordered a 3GS for my son and the 4S for myself -- both arrived yesterday. Luckily, they sent me the correct 4S and I had no issues configuring it. However, the 3GS they sent me has a serial number different than what was on my receipt. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with Apple this afternoon and was told to try configuring it in one hour (they were aware of the issue and he put in a "request" to have it fixed). His "request" only worked to get me off the phone, the 3GS still shows a different mobile # when I try to configure it in iTunes. This is 8 hours later. I guess I'll try the Apple store but based on your experience, it may not do any good.

I had the same issue with my son's iphone 3GS that was delivered on friday. I called Apple and At&T numerous times and neither could help me activate the line. After reading your post, I checked the serial number from the invoice and sure enough they don't match, maybe we got each other's orders lol. I'm also planning on heading to an apple store to get this resolved. Hopefully it all works out.

 

[lschwarcz]

Solved!

ARRRRGGGGHH! Sorry but I have to vent for a moment here. After staying up late on the 6th/7th to pre-order two iPhones (mine and my wife's) and waiting a week FedEx delivers two small boxes this morning! YOO HOO! Open them up and start to sync and activate. Start with my wife's first (happy wife, happy life) only to discover that while Apple sent us the right model (black iPhone 4S 16GB) but they sent the wrong unit! The serial number for the phone doesn't match the serial number on our receipt and when iTunes starts the setup it has the wrong cell number!

Call Apple and after 2 1/2 hours on the phone their only solution is for them to send me a return FedEx label, return the phone and they'll then send us another! Not wanting to wait until next week to get this resolved I called our local Apple retail store (Los Gatos) and they said to come down and they'll figure something out. After another couple of hours there they came to the same conclusion that I'll have to send it back to Apple . So, it'll be some time until we get that phone working!

The only bright spot to all of this is that while I was at the Apple store I ran into Woz! He was super tired and really couldn't talk (he was up all night waiting in line) but was still very nice.

Sorry about all the negativity but I needed to vent somewhere!

Thanks,
Larry.

Well, the saga is over! After being brushed off both on the phone and at the Apple store I went back down on Sat and spoke with the store manager. I explained that from my perspective I don't care what's wrong with the phone. All I care about is that I bought a new iPhone with the AppleCare+ warranty and I couldn't activate it. Whether the issue is a defective chip, connector, circuit board, port or just a configuration issue, I should be covered under the Apple warranty. And, it shouldn't matter if I bought the phone on the website or any local Apple store.

In the end the manager did a return of the phone I had received at full price and sold me a new one at full price (along with the AppleCare+ warranty).

So, I ended up walking out the door with another new working iPhone! Although my wife missed the whole new iPhone/out-of-the-box on release day experience she now has a working phone and it's only a day late.

I understand the point of the store that this really was a situation that was out of their control I’m still left with a bit of a sour taste for the customer service I experienced from Apple over this. Apple is supposed to be the leader in customer service and quality products. While every company out there occasionally will make a mistake how they handle it is what separates the great companies from the merely good ones (Hello Cisco!).

For Apple, this is strike two (strike one is how they handle deleting or merging Apple IDs but that’s a whole separate topic for a different thread).

And, in defense of this local Apple store (Los Gatos, CA) when I got turned down for any solution on Friday I did not get to speak with the store manager. I only got to talk with some higher level associates (or whatever Apple calls the sales staff). So, I’d like to publicly give thanks to Mark Macsurak, the Los Gatos Apple Store manager who worked to find a solution on Sat and had me leaving the store with a working iPhone!

And thanks to everyone here for their support and suggestions! Hopefully everyone else who’s having issues gets them resolved quickly!

Larry.

 

[zweihuffs]

Same thing happened to us

We experienced the same problem. Before we had a chance to activate the phone, we got a phone call from someone in TX, saying she thought she had my hubby's phone, since his phone number came up when she tried to activate it. Funny thing though...we did not have her phone. We ended up calling the Apple Store's customer service line, and after a long process, they are going to be shipping another phone ASAP. They promised we wouldn't be put at the end of the line of people who were waiting on one. (I'll believe that when we get the phone). Seems like such an easy fix, just to assign the serial number on the phone we have to my hubby, but they say that can't be done. They gave us a FedEx return label for the phone we have to return. We just wonder how many others has this happened to?