The hunt for white iPhone

So here it is the iPhone hunt post.

As I was saying and have said quite a bit on this blog I have wanted an iPhone for quite some time now, Darren talks of karma, well I think my karma transfered to my Nokia E65 and made it die in favour of getting the iPhone.

So you all know about last Tuesdays fiasco, well you do, kinda.

The thing is I knew they were going to be sold online at 9am that day, so I was sitting at home from 8.30 hitting refresh on the O2 iPhone page waiting for the forms to fill out, at 9.12 the forms appeared and I had quickly nabbed myself a 16 black iPhone, I went through the whole process name address, next page, credit card number, place order, next page, confirm order. I looked through what I had ordered to check it was all in tact and clicked the confirm order button, then the wait began 15 minutes later the page changed and told me that since I was not a prepay customer my order had failed.

Imagine the anger.

The 1 hour 15 minute call then happened and I spent the day in really really bad form checking out the O2 forums and the boards.ie forums to see what other people were saying, seems my frustration was also felt by a lot more people.

One thing I had read about on forums was that O2 did not seem to moving on the waiting lists that the O2 stores had, due to the fact that Apple were not delivering the stock as quickly as needed around the world, every single country was reporting low stock levels, Stores were getting deliveries of 3 or 4 phones a week, this was scandalous.

I had placed myself on 3 waiting lists 2 days after the phone was launched on July 11th, Grafton Street been the most prominent, so I decided to give them a shout to find out how far up the list I was after being on it for weeks.

Number 103!!!

I rang the other stores that had my name and was promptly told not to expect to get one until late Sept at the earliest!!!

So back to the forums I went and ranted a bit more about my unhappiness. A few people had written up that they were on no waiting lists and were visiting stores and getting phones. So I decided to hold a campaign at home to phone all the O2 experience stores on a nearly hourly basis to see if they had recieved any. Of course no was the answer I got, "when are you due deliveries" would be my next question, "apple don't tell us when or how many we will receive" was always the answer.

Strangely though even though no one had stock people were still writing on the forums about the fact they had just received an iPhone at such and such O2 stores, the same ones I had just spoken to.

I decided on Friday that enough was enough and its time to visit stores, O2 Experience stores were not holding any phones for anyone, and were selling them on a first come first served basis, so I assumed if any deliveries arrive just be there on Grafton street ready to pounce.

The guys in there told me lie after lie I figured out Friday afternoon, "no sorry mate no stock and don't think it will arrive today" 1 hour later "No luck, we are expecting some but could be today or tomorrow", 1 hour on again "at this stage they ain't coming and we have none here" can you take my number and ring me if they arrive, "no can do, you will have to just be here when they arrive and hope for the best, we are not taking names and holding phones for anyone"

Heres where the lying starts 1 hour later I pop back in after seeing a delivery van arrive with a big box just after 10.45, I was having a smoke so once I finished that in I went, the store was busy and what did I see behind the counter but iPhones, 2 of the guys including the manager who I spoke to the last time I was there were filling out the forms for customers, oh my god this it is, I thought, an iPhone will soon be mine!

The manager looked over to me he knew me by know, he was on the phone to O2 upgrading his customers phone, but I said in that whispered way "So they have arrived" to which I got this response "no this is one we were holding for this guy since yesterday" but but but what about first come first served did that not apply to which he just ignored me, blessed by the fact someone had come to talk to him at the other end of the phone.

I walked out disgusted, and have made a vow never to shop in O2 stores again.

But how did I manage to get one, well it seems luck was on my side, lets go back in time. At about 9.30 one of the other stores I knew were operating a first come first served policy was the carphone warehouse. Their main store is also on Grafton street, I went in and asked the burning question "any iphone?" of course I had a feeling I would know the answer. Sure enough "no sorry maybe tomorrow", just as I was about to walk out the manager walked over and took me aside. He told me that they were getting a big delivery in but the phones were been held for the carphone warehouses corporate customers. I asked about the fact that the carphone warehouse has not and will not hold iPhones for anyone. He replied I agree with you and have argued the case but this order has come from the directors, I am afraid I cant argue with them.

I was losing all hope until in a whispered tone he said "but listen mate, the Saint Stephens Green branch are expecting 3, get up there now and talk to the guy there, he may hold one for you!"

With that I thanked him and legged it up to Saint Stephens green shopping centre, in the tiniest branch I have ever seen of the carphone warehouse sat a guy, I told him "I have just spoken to the manager in Grafton Street and that he told me you were expecting 3 iPhones to be delivered this morning, any hope you can hold one for me" he told me the delivery was not there but to ring him back at 11.30 and he would fill me in more, I said fine but will one of those iPhones be mine, he said yes.

After the fiasco of the past few weeks, and the fact that CPW were not holding phones, I had a feeling he may have promised me something he would not be able to deliver upon, so back down Grafton Street I went hassling any O2 store I could find, checking to see if their stocks had arrived.

I stalked that same delivery van that dropped of the box to the O2 Experience Store up Grafton street following every single delivery it made heseemed to be stopping at all the mobile shops along the busy Street, until I saw him go into Saint Stephens green, where I walked behind the courier, eventually into CPW. The rep theresaw me and just gave me a smile, the iPhone had been delivered and was now mine!

My final installment of the iPhone will be, why you have to get one, you will not want to miss this.