Filed under: iPhone
O2 iPhone pre-orders not going well
O2, the sole provider of the iPhone in the UK, sent out emails and text messages to its customers offering to send them the new 3G handset to arrive on Friday, the worldwide launch date.
Figuratively billions of people wrote us to say that the site was crushed under the load of people trying to purchase the iPhone 3G. Moreover, O2 very quickly sold out of the 16GB model, leaving only the 8GB version on offer. Now, O2's website says that all models of the iPhone 3G are "currently out of stock online."
Customers are encouraged to "come back on 10 July for more information." Instead, many are participating in an Apple Discussions thread about it. From the responses in the thread, it appears that a few people were actually able to complete the purchase process, but are waiting for a confirmation email.
In other O2 news, the company announced that Pay & Go plans for iPhone 3G will be available "later this year."
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stuart said 11:05AM on 7-07-2008
Brother just ordered his through Car Phone Warehouse without any problems.
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Jacob B said 11:09AM on 7-07-2008
The only place to upgrade was on the O2 site.
new customers can go to Carphonewarehouse.
Jacob B said 11:08AM on 7-07-2008
I think my order went though.
Took hours, and was a pain with the code having to be resent to my mobile every time i tried.
I ended up with a screen saying "Thank you for your order. We are processing this and will contact you if there are any complications
with the details you have provided."
Fingers crossed for Friday.
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Matt Aitken said 11:42AM on 7-07-2008
I got through eventually, after trying for several hours. Only ended up getting through at about 230, though i got the same message as you. It's pretty poor that you don't get a confirmation email... who knows whether one's on its way or not!
TomWBrowning said 11:42AM on 7-07-2008
Same situation. Fingers very much crossed.
TomWBrowning said 12:31PM on 7-07-2008
I emailed O2 customer service asking if the order went through, they say they'll get back to me tomorrow.
guilt+1 said 11:13AM on 7-07-2008
I just ordered through CPW and it seemed to go ok. I did ask to get it sent to the store though just to be doubly sure I'd get one.
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Mike said 11:16AM on 7-07-2008
Absolute bloody shambles. I've been trying to secure an upgrade since 9am.
Who's betting that, of those that managed to place an order, the lion's share are new users?
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Jacob B said 11:36AM on 7-07-2008
I called O2 at one point as I was having problems.
At the time it stated on the site for new customers that the 16gb version was unavailable, I asked the person if this was the same for upgrades and he told me that they were still available for upgrading customers.
When I checked both the upgrade and normal store seemed to go offline at the same time, so i don't think new customers got better service than upgrades.
It's just a pain that upgrading can only be done online. I'd stand in queue for hours if i knew i'd get an upgrade on Friday.
Mike said 11:46AM on 7-07-2008
Yeah, I'm holding out for a 16Gb White. If this is how they're going to treat their existing customers, I may not bother.
The 2.0 update on Friday will keep me happy for a while.
Jacob B said 1:28PM on 7-09-2008
Hi,
Just checked on my O2 account online and I'm getting an iPhone delivered on Friday.
they say 13,000 people a second were trying to pre-order
Robert Brown said 11:27AM on 7-07-2008
I received my text this morning at 8.30am and experienced massive problems trying to order an upgrade.
I placed an order 15 times (where they collected my address, account and credit card details). I actually received 3 upgrade codes from O2 to enable me to complete the order process. Finally I managed to complete the process but as of 4:20pm GMT I have not received confirmation so basically I have idea whether I have managed to secure an upgrade or not.
Wouldn't you think that O2 would consider drip feeding text messages to people who registered to upgrade rather than text 1000's of mobiles at the same time.
I contacted O2 in my frustration and found out that since 8.30 this morning they sold 250,000 iPhones and they are completely out of stock for online sales. Apparently new stock will be arriving in two weeks.
I then contacted Carphone Warehouse. For new iPhones (without an upgrade) you can purchase online. However people who wish to upgrade must wait until Friday.
I am not impressed with the upgrade process so far.
If O2 are reading this you have a load of disgruntled customers to appease some how. But.. I doubt they will care if they have just sold 250,000 today alone.
AAArrrrghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jacob B said 1:20PM on 7-07-2008
I have about 20 codes on my mobile.
The codes seem to mean nothing as far as the order being confirmed. you had to actually complete the order. But many times either the site did not refresh allowing me to enter the code, or the code didn't get txt to me.
David said 1:50PM on 7-07-2008
Absolutely shocking. Constant crashing. No confirmation. Site was pathetically basic.
Jacob B said 1:28PM on 7-09-2008
Hi,
Just checked on my O2 account online and I'm getting an iPhone delivered on Friday.
If you filled the forms out I suggest U check online and see if it did actually work.
they say 13,000 people a second were trying to pre-order
Alex P said 11:33AM on 7-07-2008
I had these horrible issues on the upgrade site this morning, fortunately though, I spoke to a guy in the O2 store who says they are definitely doing upgrades in store. :) Guess I'll be there at 8am!
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Jacob B said 1:30PM on 7-07-2008
Hi,
I've just phoned O2, who have told me they are not doing upgrades in store on Friday, it is only new customers.
What store did you talk to.
Jesse said 11:37AM on 7-07-2008
So by "Not going well" you mean, it is going way to well and the demand is bigger than they expected?
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Stu J said 11:44AM on 7-07-2008
Same here - sent TUAW an email explaining my joy at 8.00am (got text about 7.50) and then spent the next four hours of work time (lol, thank god for internet at work) trying to order it. I filled in a basic form about three times - but have received nothing.
Needless to say I shall be at the O2 store from about 5am on Friday!!
where's my new iphone i was promised mr. o2?
stu
(oh Alex - good to hear they are offering upgrades in store!)
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Dan Bryant said 12:16PM on 7-07-2008
I tried to get one starting from 8am (UK time), after several errors, I managed to snag a 16Gb at about 8:30am.
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