Sorry in advance for this long post, but maybe someone out there won't feel like they are the only one that got totally screwed by Apple with the 7.
I used to be on T-Mobile. I was on a regular consumer plan. That allowed me to get into the Apple Upgrade program when I purchased my 6S+. When you buy a new phone through the upgrade program (IUP), you have to find a phone at a store and reserve it. When preorders went LIVE, Apple screwed up and all of the people in the upgrade program were only allowed to pick from inventory that was going to be allocated to stores on Launch day -- not from the entire U.S. inventory allotment. Translation... no iPhone 7/7+s available in Jet Black, anywhere in the country. Upgraders were livid. We were told for a week after that, leading up to launch day, that Apple was going to finagle handsets for anyone who was affected in the preorder debacle. I called their special number and followed up with them all week. I was promised that they were going to find me a phone somewhere, even if it was a few days after launch. They. Never. Did. Anything.
The day after the preorder debacle, I went to Verizon and switched my 4 lines over from T-Mobile. The rep at the store put me on a business plan to save me even more money.
Fast forward to launch day. I heard inventory numbers were being adjusted early in the morning on launch day. I woke up at 6, and searched through the AppStore app. EUREKA! I found a 7+ 256 JB available at the Michigan Ave Chicago store. 90min away. I put it on reserve. 1030am reservation.... CHECK! I was damn excited. Today's gonna be a good day after a week of hell.
I drop the kids off at school, blaze down to the city. I had a photoshoot scheduled for 2pm back near my home, and was praying this would be smooth and by the numbers at Chicagos flagship store. I get down to the city, pay for parking and queue up in the proper reservation line. After 2hrs, i get into the store, up the stairs and into the next line. Finally, at long last, it's my turn... i get to the counter.
Told the sales guy what i had reserved and he went to fetch it. He put it on the counter in front of me. He then rips off my screen protector... "won't be needing this any more" he says. Then he has me disable Find My IPhone. Then verifying I have an iCloud backup, he wipes the phone in prep for the trade in. He gives me his handheld reader to enter my Verizon acct info. I do it. He takes the reader back and tries to get the new phone provisioned to the account. It. Doesn't. Work. He tries again. And again. And again. Nothing. Can't get into my Verizon account. Then he asks... "Are you on a business plan or something?" [gulp...] Yes. "Oh, well you can't upgrade any more if you're on a business plan. Your only options are to either buy the phone outright or walk away".
I had to walk away. I could not afford to spend $969 on a new phone and finish paying off an entire years worth of upgrade program payments for my 6S+.
I have never been more Furious. Not only did I not get the phone, but my $40 screen protector was destroyed and my phone was wiped.
So, I got back home, got my Verizon business rep on the phone and he placed an order for me on that day (9/16). When's it going to ship? Mid November. Oh well. Life at the back of the line sucks. I just wasn't meant to win this one.
At least I'll get $650 off my trade in.
And to be totally honest, If it weren't for the trade in deal the VZW is running, I would really care less about even getting the 7 and would just skip a year -- and that's saying a lot when coming from a huge Apple fanatic...
