Apple is faking an iPhone day one "sellout" by obligating AT&T stores to hold not sell some in-stock units until tomorrow
My brother Mark recounts this experience he had this morning at a Boston area AT&T store:
Went to the AT&T store in Waltham, Mass at 9:45 (15 minutes before it was scheduled to open according to their site). There were about 6-7 dudes in line outside and one told me that they were “out of iPhones and only taking orders for delivery in 5-7 days.” I decided to stay in line anyway, and my decision to stay in line was confirmed to be correct as I watched a couple of customers trickle out with their new iPhones. Ten minutes later the line had grown to about ten and then the manager came out, invited all of us in for the moment we had all been anticipating for months.
The store had obviously prepared itself for the crowds as it was fully staffed and a large cooler of complimentary (non-promotional) Dasani bottled water was being emptied out and handed to me and the other excited shoppers. Then, things took a turn for the worse. Way worse… The manager got up in front of everybody and asked who was here for an iPhone. He then went on to explain that the store was only able to take orders for iPhones that would be delivered to the store in the next 5-7 days. They would take our money and when the iPhones came in we would get a call to come in and pick them up. If they were not picked up in a week, they would be shipped back and the charges reversed. He also said — and this was the kicker — that he had more iPhones in stock but he could not start selling them until Saturday morning due to his contract with Apple! And those would be on a first come, first served basis. In other words, Apple had manufactured a sell out of iPhones for the first day so as to generate “every store sold out of iPhones” hyproganda.
It’s one thing to actually sell out of your product. It’s another thing to manufacture a sell out of your product. In the age of YouTube, bloggers and accelerated word of mouth, companies must be punished for pulling this type of disingenuous disrespect for its customers. I am mad at Apple for taking me for granted! I loved my iPhone and was willing to shell out several hundred dollars for a 3G on Day one, but was turned away so Apple could get a nice sound byte on the news and the Blogs.
I am so angry that I am planning to vote with my wallet… I am going to wait and buy the BlackBerry Bold which is coming out next month.
- M. Feldman