All,
I’m active duty military and a longtime Verizon Wireless customer and I’m really frustrated with the recent Verizon launch of the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s gotten so bad that I have actually started researching other carriers because I’ve had enough of this.
During the iPhone 6 Plus prelaunch (12 Sep), I was unfortunately not able to upgrade since my contract wasn’t officially up until 12 Oct 2014. Although I would have loved to pre-order at this time, I had to wait….that was, until I got an email from Verizon Wireless on 18 Sep 2014 inviting me to upgrade early.
Since this was the night prior to the official in-store launch, I figured that pre-ordering would be futile…so I did what a lot of longtime customers & diehard fans did….I took leave from work, went to my local Verizon Wireless store (Dulles 28 - 22000 Dulles Retail Plz, Ste 172, Dulles, VA 20166) at 0330am that morning before the 0800 launch and waited in line for 4 hours and 30 minutes until the store opened. I was very excited because I was #9 in the line and I thought that I had a real great shot of getting a new 128GB, Space Gray, iPhone 6 Plus sometime after 0800EST.
The excitement outside the store was palpable as we grew closer to the store opening. The line progressed fairly rapidly, but I could already see some disappointed faces inside the store from those customers being helped in line ahead of me. When it was my turn to go in, I was exhausted from not sleeping…but excited to get my new iPhone 6 Plus. That was…until I was told that this store didn’t receive any. To say that I was beyond upset and disappointed would be an understatement.
As a “consolation,” I was told by the technician I was working with that he could order me one online that day (19 Sep) and that I would probably have it within 2 weeks. At that time, I was very upset about the whole experience…but I reluctantly agreed to place the order. He also informed me that if I found one at another store before the order was fulfilled…that I could just contact customer service and cancel the order.
Here I am about a week later and when I go online to check the status of my order…it states that it won’t even SHIP until 31 Oct 2014. I just can’t express how frustrated I am with this experience! After waiting all night for this phone, I literally walked away with nothing and who knows when I am going to receive my phone at this rate. How about offering your customers who were turned away a voucher guaranteeing them a phone in-store if that store gets the order in prior to online fulfillment? I have to take time out of my day every day to call around to every Verizon store in my area to see if they have gotten any addition phones in…what a waste of their time and mine.
At any rate, today I have begun researching other wireless carriers and if they can guarantee me that I will have a new 128GB, Space Gray, iPhone 6 Plus prior to the Verizon fulfillment…I am going to cancel my order. I just wanted to write and see if there is anything else Verizon Wireless Customer Support can do for me before I do so….
I frequent the iPhone forums. You would not believe the AT&T horror stories concerning pre orders and such. Actually, Verizon has done well. They've all had issues. The demand for these phones was much higher than expected. Switching carriers will only complicate your problem.
I have a couple of friends who are on AT&T that actually were able to get their iPhone 6+'s in store on the day of launch. I have another buddy who moved over to T-Mobile yesterday from Verizon...he had to order online vs. in-store, but is receiving his new phone by 6 Oct. I'm not pleased....
I echo what Ledsteplin has said. My nephew was actually able to pre-order his 6+ 64GB Silver from AT&T on pre-order day and actually had placed his order by 2:13am. Even with getting in that early he still won't receive his new phone until late October. So I agree with Lepsteplin, I believe that since you're already "virtually" in-line for a phone...moving now would only complicate things. Apple is still showing 3-4 weeks, Sprint 4-6 weeks, and AT&T showing 28-35 days. Seems like unless you happen to luck up and find a place who has one...then there will be a wait regardless of which carrier you choose to go with. I'm not trying to persuade you to stay with Verizon as I have no horse in this race...just something to think about before you make any kind of change out of anger and frustration.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
