Two lines, reserved and not, long wait, wrong line, bad information
Got to the Ardmore, PA store at 6:00. I did not have a "reserved" iphone, but instead had gone through the process to purchase which ends with telling you to go to the Apple store. Confirmation email does not say "reservation" nor does it say "preauthorization".
Waited until 7:40 near the front of the line when an orange shirt coming down the line checked and discovered that I was not listed as having a reservation. Told me to move to the "other line" which did not exist when I'd arrived at 6:00, but was now dozens deep. I showed my printed confirmation email, and he told me it was no good, and he got his manager. Manager told me that it was simply a preauthorization and thus I needed to wait in the other line with others that had no reservation (nor did most of them have the "preauthorization" either -- they were just walk-ups). I reminded him that I'd waited since 6:00 and I should not be placed after those who'd just arrived nearly 2 hours later. He said "sorry" and offered no further choices.
I think Apple could have handled this a lot better by making it clear that what I did online was a preauthorization, that the reservation line was already max'ed out, and that if I went to the apple store today I should not go in the reservation line. Instead, it just said "congratulations, you're almost done, just go to the apple store and complete the process" which led me to believe that I had at least some sort of reservation, if not a reserved phone itself. Still, I admit it was my fault for not checking with an orange shirt when I first arrived, though there weren't any around at that time anyway.
I think the manager of the apple store could have handled it better too, by recognizing that I had waited since 6:00, and that due to their lack of clarity on which line I should be on -- remember, there was no other line at that time, and when it did start I couldn't see it because the line I was on wrapped around the building -- I should have been either moved to the front of the other line or simply taken in turn the next time people from the other line were brought in to handle their purchase.
Finally, I certainly could have handled it better by trying to get an orange shirt to confirm that I was in the right line earlier than I ultimately did. But I suggested to the manager that when I first went online, I should have been notified that I could not get a reserved phone, that I was merely getting preauthorization, and that I should not wait in a reserved line if I went to the store.
As it turned out, I had to leave because the other line was far too long for me to wait in at this point. So I'll have to go back.
Waited until 7:40 near the front of the line when an orange shirt coming down the line checked and discovered that I was not listed as having a reservation. Told me to move to the "other line" which did not exist when I'd arrived at 6:00, but was now dozens deep. I showed my printed confirmation email, and he told me it was no good, and he got his manager. Manager told me that it was simply a preauthorization and thus I needed to wait in the other line with others that had no reservation (nor did most of them have the "preauthorization" either -- they were just walk-ups). I reminded him that I'd waited since 6:00 and I should not be placed after those who'd just arrived nearly 2 hours later. He said "sorry" and offered no further choices.
I think Apple could have handled this a lot better by making it clear that what I did online was a preauthorization, that the reservation line was already max'ed out, and that if I went to the apple store today I should not go in the reservation line. Instead, it just said "congratulations, you're almost done, just go to the apple store and complete the process" which led me to believe that I had at least some sort of reservation, if not a reserved phone itself. Still, I admit it was my fault for not checking with an orange shirt when I first arrived, though there weren't any around at that time anyway.
I think the manager of the apple store could have handled it better too, by recognizing that I had waited since 6:00, and that due to their lack of clarity on which line I should be on -- remember, there was no other line at that time, and when it did start I couldn't see it because the line I was on wrapped around the building -- I should have been either moved to the front of the other line or simply taken in turn the next time people from the other line were brought in to handle their purchase.
Finally, I certainly could have handled it better by trying to get an orange shirt to confirm that I was in the right line earlier than I ultimately did. But I suggested to the manager that when I first went online, I should have been notified that I could not get a reserved phone, that I was merely getting preauthorization, and that I should not wait in a reserved line if I went to the store.
As it turned out, I had to leave because the other line was far too long for me to wait in at this point. So I'll have to go back.
macs, iphone, Mac OS X (10.5.7)
