Mobile Phones & Broadband

[TinyJess15]

We understand the concept of if they get 5 and you are #7 on the list, you have to wait.  What many of us DON'T understand is being #1 on the list and still having no phone.  They have not gotten a SINGLE phone in stock to fulfill their pre orders for Sprint?  If that is the case, they should NOT have presold without knowledge of guaranteed inventory.  It's quite simple.  People are not angry because BB didn't get their supply from Apple.  People are angry because if they had not been misled to believe they would get their phones on the 14th or 15th, they would have gotten them from another source.  I stood in line at Best Buy to preorder on the 7th, and I could have just as easily done that at the Apple Store or Sprint Store and had my phone in hand on the 14th.  BB screwed this up, plain and simple.  Don't sell what you don't/won't have. 

[Soler25]

We know that a pre-order does not guarantee to get the iphone on the release date. BUT, how can we not get upset when bestbuy does not even get a shipment of the phone that we pre-orderd!!

[Unplugged]

"Apple sends them directly to the stores randomly."

Hopefully, the people who read your posts are not so naive to think you actually speak the truth. Do you really think that people are reading your posts and believe that although every other retailer was able to fulfill pre-orders, Best Buy just had a run of bad luck?

Anyone with a grain of common sense can see that Best Buy knew of its limited supply, knew that Best Buy would not receive iPhones, and went ahead and pre-sold iPhones it never expected.

[CrimsonRain]

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Unplugged wrote:
"Apple sends them directly to the stores randomly."

Hopefully, the people who read your posts are not so naive to think you actually speak the truth. Do you really think that people are reading your posts and believe that although every other retailer was able to fulfill pre-orders, Best Buy just had a run of bad luck?

Anyone with a grain of common sense can see that Best Buy knew of its limited supply, knew that Best Buy would not receive iPhones, and went ahead and pre-sold iPhones it never expected.

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It doesn't really matter to me if people believe me or not. It has been 2 years since I left Best Buy so my knowledge is outdated but somewhat relevant due to the fact that this practice of pre-ordering has remained relatively unchanged. People are mad. They want answers so I can only give them my insight. Don't believe me? Well, my life goes on like normal and people will continue to be without their iPhones while wasting time by posting on these forums thinking the more they post, the faster the iPhones will ship. Your last statement is hollow unless supported by proof, otherwise, it's just a conspiracy theory based on emotion.

Food for thought: If there was really some shady stuff going on at Best Buy regarding these iPhones, don't you think a whistleblower would have said something by now? Not all employees are loyal and some would post stuff like inventory counts and Black Friday ads before the designated time. Don't you think that one employee would have posted something by now? Oh that's right, it's because there is no shady stuff. The demand is higher than the supply at this time. Live with it.

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Soler25 wrote:
We know that a pre-order does not guarantee to get the iphone on the release date. BUT, how can we not get upset when bestbuy does not even get a shipment of the phone that we pre-orderd!!

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Because there is not enough to go around on release day. Mark my words, this very forum will explode with complaints of this very nature when the next hot item releases. There will never be a hot item release that goes smoothly. Why? Because some people will not get theirs on Day 1. #FirstWorldProblems

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TinyJess15 wrote:

We understand the concept of if they get 5 and you are #7 on the list, you have to wait.  What many of us DON'T understand is being #1 on the list and still having no phone.  They have not gotten a SINGLE phone in stock to fulfill their pre orders for Sprint?  If that is the case, they should NOT have presold without knowledge of guaranteed inventory.  It's quite simple.  People are not angry because BB didn't get their supply from Apple.  People are angry because if they had not been misled to believe they would get their phones on the 14th or 15th, they would have gotten them from another source.  I stood in line at Best Buy to preorder on the 7th, and I could have just as easily done that at the Apple Store or Sprint Store and had my phone in hand on the 14th.  BB screwed this up, plain and simple.  Don't sell what you don't/won't have. 

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I can't speak for your local Best Buy (or any other Best Buy for that matter) not getting any iPhones in for Sprint. I don't even know if Best Buy is allowed to carry the iPhone for multiple carriers or not. And if they are able to, why if, it is the case, that Best Buy did not receive an adequate supply for Sprint. Again, I don't know when exactly the definition of pre-order changed but whenever I pre-order stuff, I almost never expect to get it on release date. I did expect to get it before my friends and every other walk-in customer did though. This not only happens at Best Buy. This is an industry-wide pre-order practice. This happened with the Tickle-Me-Elmo at Target and Toys "R" Us, the iPad 2 at Best Buy AND Apple, and the XBox 360 at Gamestop. Microsoft was, at the very least, kind enough to let each GameStop know how many XBox 360s they would be receiving so they could give customers an accurate date. Apple, well just look at their corporate culture and know that they can get away with anything.

I wouldn't be so sure about getting a guaranteed iPhone 4S by going elsewhere. You should check out the Verizon support forums. People are just as furious over there about not receiving their iPhones.

[TinyJess15]

Actually, I can personally say you can go somewhere else and get an guaranteed iPhone 4s, because I reserved my two through apple.com on Wednesday night at 9PM and picked them up last night at 5.  They don't have EVERY phone EVERY night, but after a day or two of checking in at 9PM online, you can probably reserve your phone easily and get it the next day.  They only had the White 16gb available the night I went on, but they had 4 or 5 options available for Verizon and AT&T. 

The Sprint rep there had some trouble because we needed to change over our plan to a data package, and it took about an hour and a half because they couldn't change the plan without adding the iPhone, and couldn't add the iPhone without changing the plan first, so the Apple rep gave us the choice of any two cases in the store to compensate us for our time.  

We didn't complain or make a big deal about the time, we understood that sometimes it takes a while if there is a problem, but the sales rep just told us to go pick out two complimentary cases ($30 and $40 value) while they were working out the problem.  We were so happy to be getting the phones that we would have sat there all night until they got them set up, but we were even happier that they clearly valued and appreciated our time.

Then, they took us to setup our phones, walked us through setting up our iCloud, email, etc., and even put on our screen protectors we had purchased and made sure they were perfect.  That is the kind of customer service you return to.  Going to BB today to get my "pre-order" refunded. 

When you go to pick up your iPhones from Best Buy EVENTUALLY, do you think they will offer you ANYTHING for the time you've waited?  Probably not, but I bet they'll try to sell you every accessory under the sun.  I didn't get a hard sell on anything at Apple.  We spent two hours waiting in the Apple store and they were offering us something without even so much as a complaint or impatient glance from us.  How many times have we all complained to Best Buy and haven't even been offered a consistent EXPLANATION?  Do yourselves a big favor, jump off the BB ship and go somewhere that will appreciate your business and deliver what they promise.  And if you do happen to buy your phone from Best Buy, at least make the right decision and get the AppleCare+ instead of Black Tie.  Trust a company that values their customers, not one that deceives and misleads them.  

[sr1982]

@TinyJess15 I posted this in another thread, but this is what I think happened.

So from the get go the pre-order of the iphone 4S was very different. We were pre-ordering a phone, but we were told it didn’t guarantee we were to get the iphone on launch day. Best Buy originally said that launch day will be “First come, first serve.”

When we heard this we immediately started getting upset wondering why we pre-ordered a phone we weren’t guaranteed to get. Looking back this should have been a huge red flag, but we all over-looked it.

I feel the reason this launch day was originally “First come, first serve” was because Best Buy knew all along they were going to get a very limited supply if any iphones. They set this up so we, the ones who pre-ordered, wouldn’t catch on. They thought we would think they were flying off the shelves. We would have thought that because we weren’t guaranteed to be the first ones to get the phone so we wouldn’t have actually known people weren’t getting the iphone.

Well fast-forward to all of our complaining about the pre-order and then the pre-order policy changed. When this policy changed we then started getting conflicting stories of what exactly was to happen. I think the upper management realized they were going to have a bunch of people know they didn’t get any iphones in stock. Heck, I still call random stores and the Mobile Department tells me they are “Sold out.” I always follow up with, “Are you sold out, or did you not get any?”

Bottom line is we should have known something was funny when the pre-order process didn’t get you a phone right away. Sprint allowed pre-orders that actually got you the phone right away, as did Apple. Instead I was blinded by the excitement of an iphone on Sprint.

Sorry for the rambling on, I sure hope it makes as much sense to you as it did to me.

[TinyJess15]

Sr1982, I did read this on another thread, and I like your theory.  No matter what the circumstances, the fact remains that Best Buy has been intentionally misleading from day one, and we should all respond by not giving them our business anymore.  The more I read about this company (here, on FB, and reviews all over the internet, and not just about iPhones), the more happy I am with my decision to not give them my business anymore.  Hopefully others will do the same.  

[sr1982]

I wish I could go elsewhere but seeing as they talked me into trading in my phone on October 13, to make the next day easier and quicker, I am stuck. Yes they did get me the $197 trade in value instead of the $75 now, but I am forced to wait till they get the iphone in.

[TinyJess15]

Yet another bait and switch.  At least you secured your value.  Hopefully when everyone cancels their pre-orders because they were able to get a phone through other sources, it will help speed up when people who are stuck like you get their phone! 

[Dj61310]

Brian is the ruddest store manager i have ever delt with! He doesnt know how to handle customer issue, speaks down to the customer, and doesnt care that he is rude, I will no loner do business with best buy store # 175, they never have anything in stock, and dont do anything to help you, made a purchase at this store and everything is missing out the box???!!! i also paid in advance for a 60" tv and Tablet that I ahvent recieved. im disgusted by the way BEST BUY handles customers, also reporting to the BBB!!!!