Mobile Phones & iPhones

[bluebliss909]

Like everyone else I feel completely let down that I didn't get my phone on launch day, but unlike everyone else (according to most of the posts I saw) I just really NEED to know JUST WHAT HAPPENED? 

My store (in SE Wisconsin) seems to harbor a bunch of great people as employees and I'm not going to bash them, rather I would just appreciate some education to their employees by corporate. ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY DIDN'T THE BEST BUY STORES GET THE IPHONE 4S 64GB ALONG WITH ALL OF THE REST OF THE IPHONE 4S'S. 

This seems to be the situation across the country and there are a ton of people extremely unhappy. All we are getting from the front lines (ie the employees) is that the Apple distributors didn't send them? Really? There's no information anywhere about why Best Buy didn't get the phone.

I believe that if we, the customers, got the information about why we didn't get our phones on the launch day, a lot of people would be less unhappy. Also an estimated time as to when we will finally get them would be much appreciated. (Maybe trying to remedy this in the future would be a good idea too)

To sum it up:

1. Why didn't Best Buy get the iPhone 4s 64gb with all of the other iPhones

2. Please let us know what occurred to make this happen

3. Please let us know when we will get our phones, or at least when Best Buy will

4. Apologize

5. Don't let this happen again!!!

[wheels87]

Very good post that sums up all of our frustration...LACK OF COMMUNICATION!!!

I have been a premier silver member of the Reward Zone since it started and have spent more than $30,000 at Best Buy over the last 8 years (they printed me a copy of my sales history recently) and consider myself a good customer.  Bottom line...I have not been treated well during this whole fiasco.  I do not necessarily blame the store employees, although, I have been directly lied to twice in the last week.  I blame corporate for not communicating the status of Sprint iPhone 4s's.

Corporate had to know that they were not getting any on launch day, yet they still advertised it as if they were.  This is called false advertising and is against the law.  The bottom line is that they simple decided to continue taking pre-orders without being truthful about it and that is not right.

As much as I love Best Buy and have defended them against attacks in the past, I no longer will be loyal to them and will now take my business elswhere whenever possible.  I have put my name on the list at my local Sprint store to get the next black iPhone 4s 64 GB and will definitely not be getting it from Best Buy.

COMMUNICATION IS ALWAYS THE KEY TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION!

[Odonusa]

Thank you for the post. I am in the New Orleans area and am having the same trouble getting an AT&T model. My friend and I preordered at the same time and her 32gb was in first thing and mine has yet to get here.

They haven't lost me yet but they are definitely losing points with me quickly.

[Mtmjr]

They didn't get no iPhone 4s 64gb at my best buy in Ocoee, Florida. And I was the first one to pre order the 64gb the best employee said.

[chaosalys216]

i live in sterling heights MI and have experienced similar problems. 

i ordered a black 64g (at&t) iphone 4s for myself and a white 32g (at&t) iphone 4s for my wife.  i arrived at the store 10 minutes after the store opened on the friday to pre-order.  i was informed that there weren't many people before me who had pre-ordered through any carriers.  the sales person who helped me said NOTHING about any type of snafu.  he even told me stories on how they overstaffed the store (utica MI) for the verizon release and that they sold less the 10 iphone 4's on release day.  he took my order and while taking it, the store manager (who the sales person advised me who had called) called him while he was helping me and informed him that the orders were to be filled in order received.  wham, bam i'm out of the store as happy as can be expecting to get my hands on the phone that will make my wife a little happy camper.  ok, i was pretty excited too.  well, on thursday oct 13th i get a call from "sam" from best buy around 8 pm and he tells me that my phone won't be there and they'll 'probably' get another shipment later in the day.  so instantly my blood begins to boil because i'm thinking to myself.......1.  i only went to best buy for the $50 gift card per iphone  2  if i knew that there would be ANY issue with me possibly not getting the phone i would've just ordered from at&t or the apple store.  3  i too have spent oogles of $$$$$ at best buy and have come to expect better.  finally 4th of all the way there was NO explination on WHY they didn't get either order just angered me further.  since my wife has called every day and has received 3 different excuses over the four days she has called (since thur night) 

i work with a lot of people who depend on cell phones and BELIEVE me.....each one will know about best buy selling items under the assumption i would've had it on launch day, and they can't even provide the item or a reason why they're not there.

whoever is in charge of the store/region/company should probably know how passionate people are with their iphone/apple products and shouldn't have led us on to believe that we would have one on lanuch day.  it's just bad business!  here i'm gonna take all these pre-orders and i have NO clue how many.....or even what we're going to get. 

finally i'm in the catch 22......do i cancel the order and lose my place in line with the possibility of getting it any day here (that's a liberal use of the phrase any day.....probably 2 weeks)  or do i cancel the order and go with the surefire at$t or apple and KNOW what i'm getting it?

from here forth best buy can $#&$ off with their pre-orders and products.....i'll go somewhere else.

[Arg0308]

No ATT 64 g. In NH either. No date or time on when they will be in. Got a call Thurs to come in Friday and pick it up. Got a call Friday it wasn't in. No reason and no apology.

[stormy3000]

My store in Fair Oaks Mall Virginia told me several things. First thing they told me the night before is they were waiting on the shipment and they would call me to setup an appointment. I never got a call so I went in when the open at 8AM. There were about 10 people ahead of me. After waiting for my turn (45 minutes) they told me sorry it's not in yet, but they know they have shipments coming in today and they would call me. Long story short it never came in and they took my money, wasted my time, and ripped me off. I have a 50 dollar gift card that I can spend at their store to purchase something else, but I am not sure I really want to buy anything from them anymore. I called the store today and they told me you’re going to be really mad at me, but we don't have the phone and we haven't heard anything from BestBuy corporate. I understand this product is in high demand however not communicating to your paying customers is equal to a child that has done something wrong and is hiding under their bed. You’re letting your sales reps and managers at the store take the brunt of angry customers with no information. What are you going to do to address this issue?

[diesel]

They didnt get any 64 gig versions in either.   Im in salt lake city and Utahs 12 best buys got not one 64 gig version of the phone shipped to them on launch day.  Im the sixth in line at my store for this model and the store got none the entire state got none, Nevada and Idaho had one store that got 2 64 gig versions each lol.  I really dont blame the local store.  I blame the idiots that are running best buy at a corporate level.  By the way there were no sprint phones at my store or in the state at any best buy stores either.  you had to go to a sprint store to get one or a radio shack or target.  I agree with what was said above that this whole situation was poorly managed at a corporate level and the people in the stores are taking the beating.  If the management at my company ran things like best buys corporate management they would be replaced.  I work for a publicly traded company and know that for a fact.  There is no excuse for the fact that Best Buy knew a week ahead of time by orders taken on the 7th that there were so many sprint preoders so many 64 gig version orders and even if those models were limited send out enough to cover some if not all of the preorders at each store first then worry about walk ins later.  And if there were not enough to cover those orders give the people that dont get one an explaination why and a date when they can expect there order to be fufilled.  Best Buy has dont none of that.  That is what good corporations do like Apple ......  they keep customers informed and are honest with them when they fail to meet the customers expectations.   Most people are reasonable and would be unhappy but if told the truth would accept it.  But when left hanging not knowing when if ever there orders will be filled and then having policies about preorders so screwed up and every store saying something different, then being lied to..............  That is what people get mad about.

[stephellis]

I understand that all of you are upset about Best Buy 'lying' to you about having these 64gb Iphone 4s', but you have to understand that Best Buy Mobile does NOT have a direct affiliation with Best Buy co. I currently work for Best Buy, and it couldn't be stressed enough about how much Best Buy Mobile is technically their own company and have nothing to do with the rest of the store. They have their own hours, and different management. So before you say 'I will never go back to Best Buy for what they did' and 'Best Buy shouldn't have lied to us', just consider that. The employees at Best Buy Mobile honestly had NO idea what they were getting themselves into with the whole Iphone 4s debacle. Best Buy as a company did not know they weren't getting any 64gigs, and of course neither did the employees. The employees were miserable on the release day because they got the most heat from upset customers, and it wasn't even the employee's fault. So everyone give Best Buy a second chance, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon did not inform BB much about who will have what and when. It was a lack of communication on the phone carriers part, not Best Buy's. 

[phatbhuda]

Nobody blames the store employees for not being told anything.

However it's entirely reasonable to not want to repeat a horrible shopping experience.  It doesn't matter who's fault it is.  There are other places to purchase iPhones from.  When I go to purchase my next iPhone, I will not be ordering mine from Best Buy.  They are incapable of getting the product I ordered in to sell to me in a timely manner.  It doesn't matter if it was Apple, ATT, Sprint, Verizon, or Best Buy's fault.  If I had ordered from Apple or ATT, I'd have my 64GB iPhone 4S already.

As it stands, the best response I've gotten from my local BB store is that they hope to get a shipment in tomorrow (Wednesday the 19th).

I've decided to wait and see how long it takes Best Buy to get my iPhone in.  Everyone else is sold out in my area, so I'd have to hop back on to a wait list somewhere else.  If I don't have a phone in two weeks, that might change though.