I spent 2 hours on 10/7 trying to pre-order on Apple's site ... once I got through (around 2:40 am Eastern) the problem I had was that they kept trying to add a plan when I was simply upgrading a phone in my family plan. This kept happening so I jumped over to the ATT site to pre-order and no problem ... I was able to complete it at 3:10 a.m. on the 7th!
I thought I was in the clear ... then disaster!
I kept checking the status of my order (or trying to) and the system kept saying that I didn't have an order! So on the 10th I called ATT to see what was up. Well, 4.5 HOURS and 11 CSRs (yes, that's right, eleven of 'em) later, I was told that the credit card issue had been resolved, I would be receiving my iPhone 4S as expected, i.e., "You won't lose your place in the order que" and "We've been told to tell customers that those who pre-ordered their phones by 4pm on the 7th would be receiving them on the 14th." Oh, and I had a CSR from reg ATT side on the line with me when most of this happened - she couldn't believe what she was hearing and even spent >45" on hold with me waiting for a supervisor in the Online Dept!
Meanwhile, I've spoken with the reps at the ATT Store who tell me that it's a good thing I pre-ordered when I did because anyone who pre-ordered after the 7th wouldn't be getting a phone on the 14th unless they walked into Apple or ATT Store to get one there. Otherwise, it was a 2-3 week wait! They said that all customers were being advised to not pre-order after the 7th IF they wanted their phone on the 14th.
Then I get a notice from my crcd company that they think the iPhone charge is a Fraud ... and freeze my card. When I call them, they tell me that ATT has attempted to verify the card no less than 8 times, and tried to charge my card at least 2 times, when one time each was all that was needed! These repeated attempts on ATT's part are what triggered the fraud protection and froze the card. As a result, ATT has once again suspended my order! When I call ATT on 10/12 to discuss the issue, they tell me one conflicting story after another about what went wrong and whether or not I'll get my phone by 10/14. So I tell the rep, listen, since the crcd hasn't been charged/reserved, I still have the option to get my phone at Apple or the ATT Store on Friday, the 14th, when the iPhone 4S is released, so can you please verify where my order stands and not finish the order/place it on the credit card until you can ascertain from a manager what the status of my order is.
The ATT rep had the audacity to suggest that all of the iPHone 4S orders had frozen all credit card companies and it wasn't their fault and, as a result, ATT would likely delay my shipment by at least 2-3 weeks! I told him that I didn't stay up all night to pre-order only to wait 2-3 wks for a phone that others, who hadn't pre-ordered, could walk into a store and buy on Friday. I reminded him that I needed to verify with a supervisor (yet again) that I would be receiving my phone on Friday the 14th or I would simply cancel the order and show up at the store. Under no uncertain terms was he, at that point, to secure my credit card, without me knowing a firm delivery date. The rep ran it anyway against my explicit instructions (to say that I was livid would be an understatement and this after spending over 6 hrs – at that point – on the phone w/ATT reps ... and then he put me on hold for 2 hours waiting for a supervisor who never came on the line ... the call to the Online Dept (eCommerce) was disconnected after I had been on hold waiting to speak with a supervisor for a total of 2 hrs & 7 min!!!!! I immediately tried to reconnect with the Online Dept only to get a recording saying that they were closed for the day and to call back tomorrow!
But wait! I then called back a few more times and tried to get through to a few more CSRs ... each of whom seemed eager to help at first but then pass the buck and make excuses and give me the run around for the better part of another 2 hours. I contacted a supervisor in Customer Service, hoping that he might be able to engage in a peer to peer interaction with a supervisor on the Online Dept's side more expeditiously than my waiting for over 2 fruitless hours on hold. I spent more hours on hold at ATT with one CSR or another than I care to think about ... over the 2 days of trying ... a total of 4.7 hrs on 10/10 and 4.8 hrs on 10/12 ... that's a lot of my precious time wasted and unnecessarily.
Oh, but I'm not done yet! I called back to Customer Service and, after another 35 min round with a front line CSR, got through to a Floor Supervisor named Fernando M in LA. After going through the whole story yet again, he promises me, gives his word, tells me he's not just blowing smoke and really wants to make sure to help me get my phone (after he makes a point of telling me he will not be giving me any further credit for my troubles - another supervisor on 10/10 granted me some minor account credits for my troubles that day - $25 & waived the $18 upgrade fee for the 4.5 hrs - but why Fernando felt the need to impress upon me that I shouldn't expect any more allowances, even when I hadn't said boo about the additional 4.5 hrs + I had wasted yet again going around in endless circles w/ATT). So Fernando basically promises me his word of honor, which I press him for because in my experience the word of a CSR is pretty meaningless (I have way too much experience in this area), he adamantly promises to call me back by 2:00 p.m. CST today, 10/13/11 ... it's now 6:25 p.m. CST and I haven't heard a word from him or anyone else at ATT. In fact, the status of my order is still "Backordered" Worse yet, they've now held the money on my credit card captive so that my only recourse is twofold:
1) I call my credit card company and tell them that the charge is fraudulent - I explicitly told the rep I wanted verification of a delivery date before moving forward, given all the double talk and back peddling I'd been getting from everyone at ATT about pre-order delivery
OR
2) I wait the 2-3 weeks for the phone to be delivered, refuse the delivery, wait the 3+3+10+ days for the phone to be processed through ATT channels before they issue a refund ... but that is their evil plan, is it not? Make it as difficult and painful as possible to cancel an order (I'm not sure this abides by the 72 hr rule or not) so ppl will simply give up and go with the ATT flow! BTW, this option ties up my money so that I won't be able to go to the store and upgrade my phone (the cell # is already placed in an upgrade status due to the pre-order) and I don't walk around with an additional spare $425 (really, $850) in my pocket to "buy" two new phones. Corporate Greedy America at it's finest!
And I want to point out that the CSRs expressed no sincere empathy or real desire to make sure that the issues I was having were resolved to my satisfaction (except for Jackie - who was a doll, and a couple of first line CSRs that don't, in fact, have the decision-making power to effect a change) ....
Contrast this to my recent experience with Apple:
2 new Mac Book Pros & 2 new iPhones over the course of 1 week ... to my complete satisfaction ... Bending over backwards to help me and make sure that I was taken great care of. Apple actually cares about their customers and retaining them. ATT should not be treating loyal customers of over 21 years in this manner ... it's as if we don't matter to them. All their prattle is empty rhetoric when they cannot deliver true Customer Service ... never mind honor their word to loyal customers! This has been a real fiasco of epic proportion ... lies, lies, and more darned lies. Is it too late to jump ship to Verizon?
Anyone getting an iPhone 4 just now is already at the bottom of the food chain. I mean, OMG, that's more than one year! 
