I walked up to the counter and said “I like to buy an iPhone 4 please”
“Sorry we haven’t got any. Might have some on Thursday”
“Oh, OK, can I order one for Thursday then please?”
“No we don’t take orders”
“Eh?”
“Oh they’re in demand you know”
“Oh” (Dismayed) “I’ll go somewhere else then. That’s really shooting yourself in the foot that is. Bye.” (Leaves shaking head)

And I walked 50 yards to Carephone Warehouse, ordeed an iP4 and, lo and behold, I’ll have it Wed/Thu.

WTF is that all about with O2 then? What a bunch of eejits. Not annoyed, just baffled really. 😕

Can I have your crappy useless iPhone 3 please?

Thanks.

From their point of view, why bother with the time & expense of taking orders, when demand is still so high that they can sell their stock in a day from people just coming in off the street.

that was the case when the 3gs came out. i wanted a 3g so had no trouble buying it but loads of people were told this then.

if they can sell them all on thursday why would they take orders?

Can I have your crappy useless iPhone 3 please?

Thanks.

£150 is the price. Keep an eye on the classifides later this week. 🙂

they’ve been doing this with iPhones since day one – demand just doesn’t drop, so why bother taking orders when they can rely on footfall?

It’s called creating artificial demand. Lots of pictures of people queueing outside shops in the papers, when if they had just allowed them to order the phones….

I walked into o2 yesterday as a friend wanted to top up their phone. They had about 6 people behind the counter, 4 of which were doing nothing. My friend handed her card and money to a guy, and he stood behind the counter with it doing nothing for 10-15 minutes. We got bored, took the card and money back and left, and the guy actually looked surprised.

if they can sell them all on thursday why would they take orders?

Phhhhhhh…. Wild stab I know, but maybe so people that have better things to do can go back knowing they have one reserved rather than relying on blind luck and wasting their time? Especially existing customers……

CPW seem to understand this odd thing called ‘customer service’ though, and when I’m lashing out several hundred quid I’ll go where I’m treated best.

It’s called creating artificial demand

It might be, but in this case it simply hasn’t worked.

UNDRED AND FIFTY PAHYND?????

Pfft.

Apple are funny. Order a popular product like an iPhone, and they keep you waiting, yet a fully-customised Mac Pro took only a couple of days to arrive at my home.

I remember a few years back; I think it was an Ecks-Bocks or Playstation or something, but there was incredible demand for them, queues outside shops, people fighting over them, customers limited to one each, scenes of chaos on the news, etc. Consoles changing hands for many times the original price, on Ebay etc. Of course, loads of free publicity.

Turned out that there were thousands and thousands of them stacked up in warehouses around the UK. Distribution to shops was deliberately kept to a minimum. The company just wanted to create a buying frenzy, stimulate demand, as this meant they could sell them at maximum price instead of flooding the market and perhaps damaging demand.

Quite a common practice. Apple are experts at this…

The downside is, that shop staff, often on minimum wage if anything, have to suffer abuse, stress and sometimes even physical attacks. All for consumerist toot.

What a truly fantastic society we live in…

Apple are funny. Order a popular product like an iPhone, and they keep you waiting, yet a fully-customised Mac Pro took only a couple of days to arrive at my home.

It’s bugger-all to do with Apple. I could have had a new contract on Orange and walked away with one there and then at Phones 4U, they just didn’t have any O2 ones and I’d have had to wait a month to switch my number over as I’m in the last month of my contract. The bloke at CFW said they had 16gb ones in, but no 32gb ones. So he checked and said they had 300+ 32gb ones in stock at the warehouse.

It’s the O2 store trying, and failing, to be clever.

UNDRED AND FIFTY PAHYND?????

Yup. £150 delivered. VGC, boxed, virtually unmarked as been in case from new.
It’s a good price, for a quick sale. I’ve done my homework. 🙂

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-iPhone-3G-Black-8GB-Excellent-condition-/220680707736?pt=UK_MobilePhones_MobilePhones&hash=item3361985e98

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-iPhone-3G-Black-8GB-Mobile-Phone-/290488482470?pt=UK_MobilePhones_MobilePhones&hash=item43a2767aa6

you did good for voting with your feet. no excuse for poor customer service in this current economy (excuse the cliché).

It’s bugger-all to do with Apple.

You say that. If you want to pick up a Sim-Free iPhone from an Apple store you have to make a reservation. Or, like me, order on the net and have to wait till 2nd Nov for delivery.

If you want to pick up an iPhone from an Apple store you have to make a reservation. Or, like me, order on the net expected delivery is 2nd Nov.

If everyone did what I did and went to a better supplier, they’d soon change their tune. You’re a mug if you accept that, sorry, but you are.

See, I like a nice toy. But I want it to use, and if I can’t get one it’s no good to me, and I won’t be treated like an idiot.

You know, I might complain to O2. Just for a giggle. I doubt it’ll go anywhere, but I have the time on my hands……

It’s bugger-all to do with Apple.

It’s everything to do with Apple. They will carefully control the numbers of iPhones they send out to their retailers. It keeps demand high. I read an article on this about the same time as the Ecks-Bocks/Playstation thing; companies can actually make more money by selling units more slowly, as high demand means discounting to shift unwanted stock isn’t necessary.

Yet my Mac Pro, a much slower selling item, even more so in the custom option, was sorted far quicker than I thought it would be. Apple will pull out all the stops with high-end kit, as they know a customer won’t want to wait. If someone needs something, they will go with the quickest option, invariably. Consumer stuff like iPhones and iPods, they know people will want them badly, so will be prepared to wait.

iPhones are ridiculouly overprices anyway; either several hundred pounds for an unlocked one, or a spensive long contract. I can get a nice Blackberry free with a £12 a month contract that includes free calls and texts.

But who wants a Blackberry? The iPhone is where it’s at, surely? 😐

Aye complain to the MD. Keep it short and to the point, and name names. I did this recently on a piece of kit we ordered off inter-web from USA, figured out his name from the website and email addresses always follow a pattern.

He refunded me half the cost of the disputed kit and cc’d the sales pleb on all the emails, who then sent me the most carefully worded apology I have ever read (the words said sorry ma’am, the tone said rack off).

Def worth a punt !

Had an iPhone 4 for a few months now, and I’d think twice before buying another iPhone. It seems they just didn’t bother to test the hardware properly this time around. Aside from the much publicised antenna idiocy, there’s a much more annoying problem where it doesn’t reliably detect that it’s next to your ear and turns the touchscreen on, allowing your face to press the mute, speakerphone, hang-up, whatever buttons.

Doesn’t seem to have affected the demand for them though…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

If everyone did what I did and went to a better supplier, they’d soon change their tune

Well ain’t you the trailblazer.

You’re a mug if you accept that, sorry, but you are.

Apology accepted. The difference in my case is the iPhone I ordered is for my bro who lives in Athens. So as long as it gets here before 24th Nov when I am going over then I am fine with the arrangement.

Oh, and I am sorry, but you are coming across as a bit petulant and impatient. Sorry, but you are.

Aside from the much publicised antenna idiocy

Much publicised, but not really much reported by most users I know. Possible? Yes, but a constant problem?

there’s a much more annoying problem where it doesn’t reliably detect that it’s next to your ear and turns the touchscreen on, allowing your face to press the mute, speakerphone, hang-up, whatever buttons.

Fixed in iOS4.1 no?

What a truly fantastic society we live in…

Worst thing about our society is all the moaning gits who live here… 😉

Especially existing customers……

i phoned 02 up the afternoon it was released. I had one at 9am the next morning…

Well ain’t you the trailblazer

Well, it’s the truth, ain’t it?

Oh, and I am sorry, but you are coming across as a bit petulant and impatient

If they would have ordered me one, I’d have been happy to wait a few days, as indeed I am doing. It was their attitude and lack of flexibilty to en existing customer that made me go elsewhere. Other people must stand for it or they wouldn’t carry on doing it.

i phoned 02 up the afternoon it was released. I had one at 9am the next morning…

Interesting. Maybe the complaint I’ve just fired off will get somewhere in that case…?

oink oink flap flap flap oink flap oink…..

PDW. is the firmware on your phone up to date?. that was an early issue but should be fixed now. It’s never happened to me ( I mean the face hanging up thing)

It’s not such much the fact you can’t order, it’s the attitude of the staff. I’ve yet to be served well in a phone shop. My old phone a sanding got sent for repair 5 times in one year due to a fault with the mainboard. In one year I actually had the phone for 4 months in my possesion the phone spent the other 8 in repair. I refused to leave the shop on the 6th time it broke until it was resolved, in the end they terminated my contract and started a new one with a new handset and £157 towards the new phone.

I’ve yet to be served well in a phone shop.

You raise a good point. I have, but it’s been the exception rather than the rule.

Typically, you either can’t get any sort of service out of them as they’re completely disinterested, or they go completely the other way and you can’t get rid of the bastards as they follow you round helpfully reading out the labels on the displays to you.

It’s not such much the fact you can’t order, it’s the attitude of the staff.

That was part of it yes. Very unhelpful.

I’ve worked in retail were I’ve sold high demand stuff like when the Wii came out, I can understand why you can’t order, people order loads from different shops for eBay, and sometimes you don’t always get the agreed alocation if stock etc… But you need to be polite. Cougar I’ve never been followed round a phone shop, I feel left out!!

Why is it that phone shops, and car dealerships in my experience, don’t have staff which have any product knowledge? O was looking for a phone for my wife and had checked out a few basic specs of some. I was going past a phone shop so thought I’d go in and ask about them a bit more. The staff didn’t even know the basic specs never mind the slightly more in depth stuff I was wanting to know. They just walked round the phones looking at the labels then referring to their catalogue. It was the same when we looked for a new car a bit back. I had a quick look round the forecourt as I was after a certain engine with a manual gearbox. Couldn’t see one so asked a salesman if they had one. The bloke then walked me round each car I had already looked at peering inside to look at the gearstick (and in one case couldn’t even tell if it was an auto or not). He then asked me about 5 times during this period what I wanted, as he clearly couldn’t be bothered to remember. I left wondering how he ever sold a car at all.
Surely if a new product comes in you take a bit of time researching what it can and can’t do and remembering a few key points. There isn’t that many phones available at any one time so it wouldn’t be hard. Similar with the cars, surely at least every couple of days or at least once a week you’d go round and have a look at what cars you had in so you have a reasonable stock knowledge and could get someone to a car you could sell them as quickly as possible.
I used to work in one of the big DIY retail chains and could take you to, and have at least a basic knowledge of the product and if it would fit a customers need, pretty much most of the 10,000 products we had in store. If I didn’t have that I wouldn’t have been able to help anyone.

Cougar I’ve never been followed round a phone shop, I feel left out!!

Perhaps it’s just me then (I’m thinking that a lot today), but some of the most aggressive salesmen I’ve ever encountered have been in phone shops. The Link used to be terrible for it.

Can I have your wife’s tiny bike please?

Robdob > I can understand people not being able to field every question sometimes, phones especially are a fast-moving market, but I just wish they’d admit it.

In your example with the cars, the guy clearly didn’t know the answer so could’ve saved you both a lot of time by going “I don’t know, sorry” or, heaven forbid, “I don’t know, but I’ll try and find out for you.”

In the phone shops (and a lot of highstreet electronics retailers are guilty of this too), you ask for more information on a product and they read the gorram display card to you!! What, do you think I can’t f’kin read now?!

God it grinds my gears, it’s making me cross just typing this.

Best customer service ever was a Porsche, i was browsing a coffee table book while my gf was looking at cars and they let me keep it, they also didn’t have any dr pepper in the fridge so sent beloved a crate which was nice. Good service should be a blueprint.

Highstreet electric shops know all the ins and out of selling you insurance on your new 9.99 toaster though don’t they

I’d hate to work in a phone shop, they get endless time wasters going in and talking about the latest phones, but unfortunately they’re not on PAYG yet blah blah blah…

At least it keeps me free to browse without being hassled by a salesperson.

there’s a much more annoying problem where it doesn’t reliably detect that it’s next to your ear and turns the touchscreen on, allowing your face to press the mute, speakerphone, hang-up, whatever buttons.

Fixed in iOS4.1 no?

Nope. If anything I’ve had it happen more since the 4.1 “upgrade”.

As I understand it, they moved the sensor compared to where it was on the 3, and are now trying to bodge around it with software.

iPhones are ridiculouly overprices anyway; either several hundred pounds for an unlocked one, or a spensive long contract.

When I got my highly rated, but in reality utter crap N95, they were £455 sim-free, and frankly not worth even half that. A break-down of the component costs of an iPhone put the basic cost at somewhere around £290-300. That’s just the cost of the components; screen, memory, battery, etc. That doesn’t include R&D, manufacturing, profit, dealer mark-up…
That cost was worked out by an independent body in the States, so they are pretty accurate. I don’t think the iPhone is overpriced for what it’s capable of. Regarding certain issues, as I always have some sort of case to protect an expensive investment I’ve never noticed any antenna issues, but then I don’t live in Chicago, New York, San Fransico or other American city served by a single iPhone network and suffering network overload, and the proximity sensor issue is similarly something that hasn’t affected my phone. If there is an issue that’s not fixed by a software update then it should be returned to the shop and a replacement obtained. That’s what a warranty is for. There are millions of iPhones out there, common sense says that a certain percentage will be faulty. Nothing is perfect, but rather than go back and sort it out with the retailer some people would rather snivel on a forum.

A break-down of the component costs of an iPhone put the basic cost at somewhere around £290-300

$180 actually.

I used to work in a phone shop a prided myself on my product knowledge at the time. I used to sell what the customer wanted/needed rather than what the commision was on, my % on the insurance selling were poor as well. I struggled to sell what I didn’t belive in, much my bosses annoyance.
I nearly went back in to selling mobiles last month but changed my mind at the last minute.
The service in a lot of phone shop’s these days is lacking and I think this is down to a lot of them not getting paid commision these days.