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Waiting in line .... the realities

Oh, no. The AT&T reps were clueless. In fact, I got opposite answers from 2 AT&T reps in the same store! Even my friends at the Apple store will be the first to admit that anyone that reads this forum has more up-to-date info than they do.

As a result of my conversations, I'd like to point out that I do think it's odd that the stores are overstaffing for the entire weekend if they won't have product to offer anyone.


On the other hand, I got a Wii on day 1 by taking the precaution of getting in line early, even though rumors were that supplies would be plentiful. If you have tried to get a Wii recently, you know how that turned out.
 
The Viking said:
1. Before camping, make sure the store has "line police" that keep a list of who is in line, and do periodic checks to make sure the same people are in line, to prevent (grrrr...) place-saving jerks. If they do not offer such a thing, the first people in line assume the responsibility.
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What's wrong with place-saving? Both my Mom and I are buying iPhones. I live an hour and half away from her but plan on driving to Orlando where she lives so we can work at getting iPhones together. Our plan so far is to rotate turns of waiting in line as we hope to get there early in the day. Why would this be wrong?
 
The Viking said:
Oh, no. The AT&T reps were clueless. In fact, I got opposite answers from 2 AT&T reps in the same store! Even my friends at the Apple store will be the first to admit that anyone that reads this forum has more up-to-date info than they do.

As a result of my conversations, I'd like to point out that I do think it's odd that the stores are overstaffing for the entire weekend if they won't have product to offer anyone.


On the other hand, I got a Wii on day 1 by taking the precaution of getting in line early, even though rumors were that supplies would be plentiful. If you have tried to get a Wii recently, you know how that turned out.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you on the staffing comment. I believe that each store will most likely get between 100-150 phones. MOST people who walk in to a wireless store are looking for a phone for FREE so even if they had 100 iPhones, that should last a while. A lot of people are interested, but I'm betting few will buy. Your typical consumer will never go for a data plan....it's just too expensive.

Arc

PS - I'm still camping out..hehe.
 
haha be thankful that you can even plan to wait in line! there's a lovely TBA for the Australian release!
 
ShellyFM said:
What's wrong with place-saving? Both my Mom and I are buying iPhones. I live an hour and half away from her but plan on driving to Orlando where she lives so we can work at getting iPhones together. Our plan so far is to rotate turns of waiting in line as we hope to get there early in the day. Why would this be wrong?
Click to expand...


Let's say inventory was limited to 50 phones. There are 50 people in line. Your mom would be the 51st person to arrive, but she would be able to make a purchase, while the person that arrived before her, but went to the back of the line, does not receive one.

Now, imagine that on a large scale. People holding 2 or 3 places, so that half of the front of the line arrived after the people in the back of the line. The people toward the back of line would constantly be moving back in line, because of these inconsiderate people.

That's why someone needs to keep an updated list if supply is constrained. Or you can just be first, and then there are no problems!
 
MacDryCleaner said:
Do you think if you are in line (or have somebody standing in line for you) by 10am you would be 'safe' or is the general consensus that overnight is the way to go?

To me, overnight is ridiculous. But I would be willing to have a place in line when the malls open.

Opinions?
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This isn't a PS3 mr. i-just-registered-today-as-I-see-an-impending-product-to-waste-time-camping-for-and-sell-on-ebay.


grow up
 
TenaciousPZ said:
This isn't a PS3 mr. i-just-registered-today-as-I-see-an-impending-product-to-waste-time-camping-for-and-sell-on-ebay.


grow up
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Um...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133005-c,iphone/article.html

How many PS3s have been sold so far? Maybe 6.5 million or so? (5.5 as of 3/31)

This is much worse.

Just called a store in McHenry, IL. They don't know how many they will have, he expects lines to form overnight and they will let the masses know how many will be available so people don't waste their time. Also, they will have 3 demo units to play with in store.
 
The Viking said:
Let's say inventory was limited to 50 phones. There are 50 people in line. Your mom would be the 51st person to arrive, but she would be able to make a purchase, while the person that arrived before her, but went to the back of the line, does not receive one.

Now, imagine that on a large scale. People holding 2 or 3 places, so that half of the front of the line arrived after the people in the back of the line. The people toward the back of line would constantly be moving back in line, because of these inconsiderate people.

That's why someone needs to keep an updated list if supply is constrained. Or you can just be first, and then there are no problems!
Click to expand...

While I understand your point, keep in mind the opposite may also occur. You'll have those that bring friends along to keep them company while they wait. Also, there will be some that will stand in line just for the hoopla and to be one of the few to try the iPhone on that first day. There have already been posters on this forum talking about doing both of these, bringing friends or waiting just to try the device.
 
Going to the bathroom

My wife said she would rescue me so I can go to the bathroom now and again. I thought about going to a smaller town but that makes it harder for my family to help me out.

Anyone planning in Ann Arbor making plans?
 
In the case of waiting at a Cingular store, I'm going to guess they won't allow lines to start forming until they close the store at 430. I'd call the store you're planning to wait at and see if that's the case.
 
terrrrrible said:
In the case of waiting at a Cingular store, I'm going to guess they won't allow lines to start forming until they close the store at 430. I'd call the store you're planning to wait at and see if that's the case.
Click to expand...

I'll check on Monday to see if they have a policy. One advantage of the Apple store is they will probably be more organized in terms of line handling.
 
When Apple does a product release, they close the Apple Store for an hour or 2 right before the release time. The majority of the people in line are actually normal shoppers there to buy an ipod, or get their mac fixed, not people there for the product release. This was at least the experience for 10.4 release.

I thought it was so funny that most of the people walked right up to the "genius" bar with a broken apple product or a question, and skip the whole clapping/cheering apple employees thing! lol
 
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