I did take the plunge yesterday. Yes, I decided to order or preorder the iPhone 5. I wasn’t due for an upgrade on my AT&T contract, but I weighed my options and I decided to go for it. It wasn’t as easy a decision as one might think, but that was because of the financial considerations. However, the deed is done.
The “story” here, though is my adventure actually preordering the iPhone 5. This is more for the sake of entertainment than anything educational, so if you feel off topic is not of interest, you surely don’t have to read this post.
I had a client to train in the morning and then my following one canceled because of illness. So, there I was just after 10 in the morning with my chance to preorder my phone. I decided to call AT&T directly to place the order in the hopes of somehow haggling or shaking a better deal than paying full price for the device. I knew using the online avenue would have been easier, but I really wanted to talk to a representative and give it a shot as far as working at some sort of better deal. As much as I had promised myself after my iPhone 4S experience that I’d never order another phone from AT&T directly again, I thought it would be my best option to place the preorder this time around.I had no idea that AT&T was experiencing over 2 hour waits on the phone. I had read that the first batch had sold out within an hour and that shipping dates were pushed back to 2 weeks. Still, that didn’t bother me at all. I just had no idea that I would be on hold for what turned out to be some 2 hours and 20 minutes.
I had a lot of things to do around here in the office, so I just put my phone on speaker and went about my tasks. Yes, I confess that I even practiced quickly being able to grab the phone and switching it the speaker option off a few times. This is a Panasonic cordless phone, and there is a button on the left side of the device in the second row to toggle it off of speaker.
I couldn’t believe it as the minutes passed. I completed my notes for my morning client, prepared my notes for my first afternoon one and checked my mail as the phone kept repeating all of the AT&T promotional material. I found it amusing that they were advertising some HTC phone for music, which, I imagine, very few, if anyone, waiting on the line was eager to order. However, I can repeat the entire range of messages in my sleep at this point as I heard them so many times over and over again while I waited.
I moved on to reading some technical articles and checking RSS feeds. Then, I looked at my Fantasy Football teams and made a few changes to my lineup based on podcast recommendations. and other sources. Eventually, it was lunch time, so I grabbed my phone and went downstairs to make myself a sandwich in the kitchen and enjoyed that back at my desk with my trusty phone in easy reach. I was astounded by the waiting time, but I became determined to hold on and stick it out.
After I ate my lunch, I decided, just for the heck of it, to go to the Apple Online Store and start the preorder process there just to see how it would go. I confess that the waiting was starting to annoy me, and I had a 1 O’clock training session that was quickly approaching. I told myself that I wasn’t actually going to order the phone, as I still wanted to talk to a rep to try to earn a better price. The online store was showing me only eligible for the full price for the 16 GB iPhone 5. While I was there, though, I decided to preorder the new iPod Nano, which occupied just a few minutes.
Then it happened. I heard the promotional material suddenly end and then the sound of my call being transferred to a live representative. Of course, at that very moment, I was in the midst of stretching, and I reacted with a jolt. I quickly reached across my desk, grabbed my phone and fumbled to press the left most button in the second row from the top on the phone. I heard a representative in the midst of introducing himself, and I couldn’t press that button fast enough to my liking.
As I did so, something instinctively didn’t feel right, and when I brought the phone up to talk, I realized the problem. Yes, I had put the phone down upside down on my desk when I had returned with my lunch. Thus, I didn’t actually press the button to turn the phone off speaker. Instead, I had effectively disconnected the call …..
It’s funny what goes through ones mind in those moments after one makes such a monumental blunder. There was the instance of utter disbelief followed by a wave of pure frustration and disgust. For just a second, I nearly hurled the phone across the room in a fit of rage and anger. I simply Couldn’t believe I had done it. After all that waiting, and I had lost the call out of my own stupidity.
Then, I found myself doubling over with laughter. I don’t know why, but the entire episode just struck me as something out of a sit-com. I knew of about a half a dozen friends or family members who would have tortured me mercilessly. It was the kind of thing I could imagine myself teasing someone else over having done, but never envisioning myself doing it. Maybe, it was out of the sake of some sort of psychological defense, but I laughed at myself for several seconds and slowly placed the phone back on its stand.
Well, since I had the Apple Online Store page still open and there was the, Continue Shopping, link present, I did just that. I preordered the iPhone 5 via the Apple Online Store and added it to my order with the iPod Nano. It took all of about a minute to accomplish. The process was fully accessible and painless ….
So, there was 2 and a half hours wasted. At least, I got a lot of things accomplished and even enjoyed a delicious turkey sandwich. I know I ended up paying full price, but there was NO WAY in the world that I was going to call back later to place the order. I had two clients to train, so I wouldn’t have been able to do that until well after 3:30.
The expected shipping date for my iPhone 5 is the 28th of September. Once I have the phone, I will, of course, post my thoughts and observations about it. I will also do so for the iPod Nano when I have that in my possession.