iPhone 3G S buying at the Walt Whitman Mall, Huntington, NY
Driving to the Apple store at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, NY, I drove past an AT&T store which had no line and very few cars in the parking lot. When I got to the Apple store, it was a different story. There was a bit of a line or actually two lines, but nothing big. When I got to one of the Apple reps at the start of the line, I was asked if I pre-ordered. I had, and my name was on the list. I was told to stand on a line of only five people, the other line of people who had no pre-ordered numbered fourteen.
It was about 1:50 pm when I got there and I was curious to see how the Apple experience would differ from what I was accustomed to. The last few times I bought a cellphone, it was a slow, laborious process where the store rep had to take a ton of information from me, get a credit check, wait, find a phone, wait, get more information from me, wait, take the phone to the back to infuse it with life by chanting arcane spells and pushing arcane buttons, wait, hear a canned sales pitch on how the phone would be absolutely no good without a dozen or so accessories that they would be very happy to sell me, refuse, wait, sign a sheave of documents, wait, get the okay, a shopping bag and a receipt and finally leave the story after well over an hour. Let's see how Apple does it.
While waiting in the line with a bottle of Poland Spring Water given to me by an orange-shirted rep, I struck up a conversation with Angelo Vergara who was trading in his three month-old 16 GB model for the same capacity in a 3G S. He told me a story that made me do a double-take. Angelo could have upgraded a year ago according to his contract, but didn't. Instead, he bought his iPhone 3G a few months ago. To upgrade it would cost him $399. That sounded a bit steep. I asked him why he couldn't just cancel his contract, sell the 3G iPhone and pay the early termination fee, and then start a new contract along with paying only $199 for his new phone. He told me that doing so would lose his phone number which he was not wont to do. The net dollars spent would be close, but it seems like he was caught in an odd concatenated AT&T policy. When I got to the front of the line, I asked Jane, my sales rep if this was, in fact, policy and she told me it was. Seems somewhat fishy though.
Jane, a very friendly sales rep, asked me some basic questions and I signed her mobile point of sale machine. We then waited for AT&T activation. After five minutes or so, it didn't come, Jane asked another rep about this and was told to wait ten minutes and try again. She did and the system didn't let her proceed. Jane told me that the store was having trouble with self-activation (meaning pre-signing up on the Apple web site) and she would have to do it manually which would be the same procedure as if I walked into the store cold. Hmm, I thought, remembering the fun times I always had at Verizon.
Jane started over and input my drivers license number, my social security number and my MobileMe account information into her pad. Although I previously did this online, we had to go through which plan I wanted and such. I signed the pad another couple of times and this time it worked. My new phone number showed up. She asked me if I wanted AppleCare or a case, but no hard sell. Then she gave my phone to the activation guy who plugged it into a MacBook Pro and ten seconds later, the phone was activated and I was on my way out of the store.
After reading Victor's account, I was surprised that they didn't offer to set up email or offer me any other assistance. Since this is my first iPhone I didn't know if that part mattered or not. I turned out it didn't since I had basic email setup in about ten seconds.
From the time I entered the line to the time I left the store, forty minutes had passed. This was a lot less than what I had previously experienced, but not by that much. If the system had deigned to work, it would have taken about fifteen minutes.
Since I've never even played with an iPhone outside of the store until today due to a seemingly endless Verizon contract and my decision not to buy one until a 32 gb version was released, I'm an iPod virgin and I'm sure that many thousands are in the same boat.
I plan on writing about my experiences right from "jump street." If you are also new to the party, we can both celebrate and commiserate.
Let's hear your experiences, and please drop me a comment with questions and advice. It's not often I can play at being a Tabula Rasa, and I'm excited!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nick said 8:59PM on 6-19-2009
It's called an editor. You should use one.
Reply
Victor Agreda Jr said 9:49PM on 6-19-2009
The great thing about mistakes is that clearly you've never made one.
kyle said 12:29AM on 6-20-2009
no. the great thing about mistakes is that he is one!
Peter said 8:58AM on 6-20-2009
Please never write an entry again. :(
whitakerz said 8:59PM on 6-21-2009
victor,
are you not the editor in question. I know not who you are, but your large TUAW apologizes entry yesterday makes it sound like you are someone in charge.
I think nick is absolutely right, TUAW is much better than this entry.
Nick said 11:21PM on 6-21-2009
Whether I make mistakes or not is beside the point. I do not present myself as a writing professional. Were I to do so, it would be in my benefit to ensure that my writing appeared as professional as possible (no grammatical errors, etc). Posting content that is poorly written or poorly edited reflects negatively on your credibility as a news source.
Jesse said 9:05PM on 6-19-2009
Just last week I bought a 15" 2.8ghz MacBook Pro from the Walt Whitman Apple Store. I too was spared the hard sell on apple services such as one-to-one or AppleCare. The staff was nice and the whole buying process took only a few minutes. This store seems to have a very friendly staff. At the Leopard launch last year, they too handed out water to the people waiting in line. Apple service really is great!
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greggwsmith said 9:24AM on 6-20-2009
The Walt Whitman store staff is awesome. They have always been exceedingly helpful and even bailed me out when my MacBook Air HD died two days before a huge presentation.
a ham sandwich said 9:06PM on 6-19-2009
hey david! nice to see a local on tuaw for once! i love that apple store! ;)
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Kevitivity said 9:08PM on 6-19-2009
All of our local AT&t stores here in the Pasadena California were sold out of phones by 4 pm. However the Apple stores (just got back from the Apple store in Old Town Pasadena) have plenty. Waited in line for 20 minutes...
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Jason Magio said 9:13PM on 6-19-2009
Walk Whitman.. beautiful mall..
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thecompkid said 9:24PM on 6-19-2009
Hah, no way, I was waiting in line for an iPhone 3GS at the same exact time at the same exact Apple store. Dude, I was probably like 2 places behind you in line. I also got the 32GB black.
I also bought a 2.8ghz 15" macbook pro at that store last week like a commenter above.
This post is seriously freaking me out.
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David Winograd said 12:25AM on 6-20-2009
Very small world.
Luna Lovegood said 9:24PM on 6-19-2009
"I just got back from the Apple Store and...want to write a bit about the experience."
Jesus-effing-Christ. This is one of the worst log cabin life stories I've read on this blog.
"Jane started over and input my drivers license number, my social security number and my MobileMe account information into her pad. Although I previously did this online, we had to go through which plan I wanted and such. I signed the pad another couple of times and this time it worked."
There's a book in this storytelling. Go for it, Dave.
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mdezz said 10:08PM on 6-19-2009
jeez lighten up on the guy- so he might be new to blogging or whatever- who gives a shit. Anyway I upgraded my two 3g phones at that apple store last summer..nice experience
somethingorother said 9:39PM on 6-19-2009
Am I the only one who thinks Walt Whitman is rolloing over in his grave after having a mall named after him?
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kafoochy said 10:02PM on 6-19-2009
I'm not sure what the author means by the "fishy" policy. The AT&T contract is no different than any other wireless carrier. You agree to a multi-year contract in exchange for a hefty subsidy on a shiny new phone. When you can get another shiny new phone with another equally hefty subsidy depends on your loyalty as a customer. AT&T is actually being generous by allowing iPhone 3G customers to get another subsidy in such as short amount of time. When Angelo bought his original iPhone 3G, AT&T paid $400 of the cost of the $499 or $599 iPhone (yes, that's the price of the phone, just like the first gen). Why does it makes sense for AT&T to give Angelo another $400 three months latter? Is Angelo worth $800 out of AT&T's pockets for being a customer for only three months? The answer is no and this is why AT&T is being generous by allowing an "early upgrade" price. In regards to the termination fee, almost all wireless contracts have an early termination fee around $200 and what you do once you leave is up to you. If you don't port your number over to another carrier immediately, you loose it as it isn't anything tangible that you can own/buy or retain without a phone-line.
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David Winograd said 12:33AM on 6-20-2009
I understand all that and know the iPhone is highly subsidized. The amount was higher than Verizon was willing to take, but AT&T did and wisely so.
All I was pointing out that if they gave you a loophole like early termination, why not use it? Yes, early termination can cost AT&T some money in the early months due to the amount of subsidization of the iPhone, but it is policy.
The thing I thought 'fishy' was that they wouldn't allow him to terminate and reinstate with the same number.
ScottW said 9:21AM on 6-20-2009
Not fishy at all.
One thing is it's not so much the contract, as the waiting period imposed when buying a subsidized phone - which is typically 18 months. Meaning, buy a new subsidized phone from a carrier as a new customer and you are on a two-year contract - but you can pick up a new subsidized phone before your contract is up (which resets the contract, 'natch).
I always find it amusing when folks who expect the carriers to heavily subsidize the new shiny gadget get upset when the carriers work the situation to try and recoup that subsidy over time.
While I was in line yesterday for a little while (Atlanta, Perimeter Mall, everything went fine BTW), I learned that AT&T had in recent days changed their policy re: the 3G unit owners - allowing folks who had bought their 3G phones last year when it came out (i.e. around 12 months, not 18) to purchase the 3GS at the subsidized price after all. That's something they didn't have to do.
kafoochy said 10:06PM on 6-19-2009
I apologize for the incorrect stats in my above post, the iPhone 3G full price is actually $599 or $699 not $499 or $599
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