I just don't understand the need to be the first to get something like this.....it wasn't any cheaper, there were no freebies, like BT headsets etc.
We go to the Apple Store for guaranteed stock. Rogers Plus and the authorized resellers like Best Buy got about a dozen average, some even just a half dozen 16Gb ones. We go on the launch day so that it's not sold out. We want it now because it's already launched in the U.S. and other countries so we know what we are buying feature-wise.
__________________ Gary
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Original Apple eWorld member Apple user since 1982 Yorkdale t-shirt #3! Eaton Centre #7 Sherway Gardens #5 Pacific Centre Fairview #5 Got any OS9 educational/kids' software?
We go to the Apple Store for guaranteed stock. Rogers Plus and the authorized resellers like Best Buy got about a dozen average, some even just a half dozen 16Gb ones. We go on the launch day so that it's not sold out. We want it now because it's already launched in the U.S. and other countries so we know what we are buying feature-wise.
RIGHT.....but that not really what i am getting at. The phone is the same price today, and next week, and in September. What i don't get is the urgency. Sure for some items i will go on release day and pick up a new video game or DVD, etc but i won;y kill 15 hours of my day to be the first with one.
Different strokes for different folks. I want an iPhone 4 REALLY bad....and when i can walk in and out of a store in 10 minutes with one i will get it.
RIGHT.....but that not really what i am getting at. The phone is the same price today, and next week, and in September. What i don't get is the urgency. Sure for some items i will go on release day and pick up a new video game or DVD, etc but i won;y kill 15 hours of my day to be the first with one.
Different strokes for different folks. I want an iPhone 4 REALLY bad....and when i can walk in and out of a store in 10 minutes with one i will get it.
I think the concern is that, after the first batch of phones it could take weeks or months to get more supply in stock. People don't want to wait that long.
I know I WANTED to get one because I had sold my 3GS and if I didn't get an iPhone 4, I wouldn't have a cell phone for weeks/months.
That being said, next year i'll hang on to my iPhone 4 until well AFTER the launch of the 4GS/5/whatever so I can just walk in and pick one up stress free.
Do the Apple stores in Toronto actually still have iPhone 4's left for walk ins to buy?
Eaton Center is sold out of both sizes, and only has enough stock for those that were in line yesterday, and given a white card to reserve it.
I arrived at 7AM this morning, and they started letting people in at 8:30AM. I got in around quarter to 9, and was out by 9.
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For me and a lot of people, I believe a big part of the purchase is the excitement a new cool gadget brings. Gadgets are a really fun hobby for a lot of people. It's fun, exciting getting a new iPhone when it just comes out. It's the same thing with sports season openers, or the first day of fishing for those who like those things.
Having said that, I'm going on Wednesday. :-)
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I arrived back to Sherway Gardens at 1:25pm and was almost immediately greeted when I came upon the line. I identifed myself as a returning customer from the previous day and was informed that I would be pulled out of the line with a special queue to process persons like me.
After about a 40 minute wait, I was called in and we began the process of upgrading and activating my new phone. The process was somewhat smooth and I was finished, making my first call at 2:41.
I'm a happy camper again.
__________________ Gary
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Original Apple eWorld member Apple user since 1982 Yorkdale t-shirt #3! Eaton Centre #7 Sherway Gardens #5 Pacific Centre Fairview #5 Got any OS9 educational/kids' software?
As some might of read in the Sherway Gardens thread, I left the Apple Store (line-up) after 9 futile hours of waiting.
I arrived at 5:45am and left at 2:45pm. In this span, I guess that this Apple store might have sold 300 iPhones, quite possibly less. The hold-up? The Rogers/Fido system.
Whatever they were using for processing upgrades kept constantly crashing or their servers were down. At 7:30am, an Apple employee serving coffee, pastries and water was estimating a two hour wait - this proved to be totally wrong.
At the 8 hour point I cornered an Apple supervisor who was pulling non-contract purchasers from the line. I asked that if the Rogers/Fido systems were so problematic, why were there no creative contingencies being employed to get people the iPhones and activating later.
We had heard many horror stories. A person who lined up at 1:30am and was 20th in line, waited an hour and a half to get inside and then had another hour and a half for their new activations. The activations/upgrades were taking anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours, but averaging over an hour. Couple that with the 10am barrage of authorized resellers, corporate stores and the Western Apple Stores activating, the situation was bound to get worse.
That was us. WE got there actually closer to 1am. The iPhone is working great now and was worth the wait, i myself am considering purchase (i went with a friend.)
-tpcm
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I experienced my 3rd year in a row of Rogers systems failure. You would think that over a 36 month period that Rogers would introduce VPN from all of their locations and dealerships so that packets could be prioritized and made efficient instead of using best effort Internet connections which grind to a halt as the day unfolds across a country with multiple time zones. VPN is easy to do and they control their own network with multiple aggregation points in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Costs would be low given it's their network. This year they didn't have to contend with the iTunes slowdown because the U.S. launched before Canada. There's really no excuse for not bothering to improve except that Rogers doesn't care about customer experience.
Having said that my independent Rogers dealer is fantastic. They gave me a heads up that they were getting a small shipment. I arrived in line at 7:45, kibitzed with the 5 people in front of me, had a few laughs, and offered my sage advice to everyone that the Rogers systems would crash and be unresponsive by the time the store opened at 10. Staff took orders and when every phone was sold they told the rest of the line that they had sold out and that they didn't know when more stock would come in. Seven of us were let into the store as staff diligently worked the phones and terminals to try to process new accounts and upgrades. Timbits were provided free. I was number 6 to be processed and was out of the door at 1:30 with the phone not fully activated. My 32g iPhone kicked in at 5:10 and all was right.
In the end the launches are always great events and you meet fine people with varied interests. The one thing that never changes is Rogers abuse of its customers. Their lack of attention affects not just new iPhone clients but everyone else who has a need for a non-Apple phone because the system gets bogged down. My dealer lost sales on Friday that they would normally be able to capture.
So Nadir, Ted Jr., Melissa, you run a Billion $ company, with a fine network, lots of in-house talent and know how but you consistently fail to perform on iPhone launch day year after year. It's 2010 and you now have competition. Stop acting like a smug monopoly and start delivering better customer experience or face the consequences.
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