UPDATE: On 11/10 i went on the apple store chat and spoke to someone. He told me that the only update he had was that they extended it for another 48 hours which would mean that on 11/12 they would have an update. He guaranteed this by end of day on 11/12. By 11pm on 11/12 i had
not received any email/call from Apple with an update so i called them. Spoke to this lady who tells me that i should
NEVER have been told 48 hours. I immediately got upset. She said the standard is 4 business days which would make the 4th business day on 11/14 for an update. I told her i felt lied to and she said she totally understood my frustration and transferred me to an apple store manager named James. He told me the same thing that he totally understands how i feel and he's gonna be taking control of the situation and is going to escalate it so that it can get urgent attention. He also said Apple is probably hoping that UPS finds the phone and can still deliver it to me since it was so close to my home before it got "lost" hence the delay. I told him i am not waiting forever for them to
maybe find my phone and that I want a replacement. He sent me his direct contact details and said he would contact me when he gets back in office on 11/15 but i should hopefully get contacted on 11/14 since it is the 4th business day with an update on if UPS found the phone or if Apple is going to send me a replacement.
I got no update on 11/14 so on 11/15 at 3:30pm i called James. Got no answer. Called back to the normal customer service number and requested to speak to a manager. The guy gave me attitude as to why i would be requesting a manager and i explained that i was already dealing with one so i want to speak to another one. He eventually transferred me to Chris. Chris confirms that James didn't come into work today and so pulls up my information. He then asks me if i called UPS already. I said of course i did! He then looks at the date and then tells me he doesn't see why Apple is taking so long with this case as it could've been dealt with already. So i immediately got upset and told him how Apple's customer service is deplorable and i feel like no one cares
. He told me that James escalated the case with the same people that we were waiting on the update from (which is what he was supposed to do) BUT they haven't even read his email yet. I told him i need an answer right now because this is horrible news. He said that he would escalate it to his supervisor (who he was chatting with while on the phone with me) and have him look at it and then escalate it (this form of escalation is higher than the one James did). He said he would call me at 5pm with an update before he leaves the office. He said if i didn't hear from him at 5pm then he didn't get an update yet and would call me the following day.
At 4:50pm i got a call from a Texas number. It was Chris. He said he had good news which was that his supervisor got the case escalated and they have put in to send me a replacement and that i should now see it listed under my current order status online. He said because it was ordered the same way all phones are ordered, the system generated an automatic shipping time period of 3- 4 weeks and a Delivery date of Dec 14- 21 via 2-3 day expedited service but i must not pay any mind to that because his supervisor marked the order as a replacement which means as soon as one is released from the factory, my order would be attached to it and take precedence over the other normal orders so once it actually gets in the 'preparing for shipment' status i would see the delivery dates change dramatically. He said he's hoping for movement by tomorrow so he will call me tomorrow (11/17) at noon to follow up.
The waiting game continues...