Adventures in iPhone Cases!

[anon(4698833)]

So after waking up this morning and hanging out for most of the day waiting for UPS (finally came at around 8pm or so), it finally came and I was so excited I synced everything and decided I should probably order a leather case since I don't particularly like the Spigen case I ordered prior to getting the phone (looks cheap in my opinion). Went on the app and it showed the blue leather 6+ available for pick up at my closest mall...I was so stoked I clicked buy and hauled **** to the mall!

This is a picture of what I was met with when walking towards the Apple store (taken from Channel 2 news feed):

...cops had at least 5-6 people in cuffs along the sidewalk, and the line wrapped clear into the mall down both sides of the walkways. It was the most insane thing I had ever seen during an iPhone release...and there I was with my shiny new toy coming to get my case. If they mentioned the line, I was ready to hop skip and jump back to my car and just get it later.

Walked up to the lady at the front of the line and showed her my order info for the case and she called it into the manager, who waved me in and I felt like a damn VIP! Walked over, showed him my confirmation and everything...and he looked at me with this sad look on his face..."Sir, our system is so overloaded right now, it's showing stock we don't have for the cases...we haven't had a blue leather case for the 6+ since noon today..."

I was a little sad, but I understood...I just looked at 200+ people standing outside of the store still...some 10 hours after this whole day began, so why should I blow a gasket like so many were in line already (you could hear cursing, arguing and laughter coming from the line as they started breaking the news that there were no more iPhones of any sort). My first thought was "GTFO of here before you die." I politely said "It's ok man, your day looks like it's been hectic...I'll come back later next week to get it, no prob!" and shook the guys hand. He smiled, said thank you and looked as if I was the first to give him a break all day. I gladly did seeing the hell they were incurring.

I turned around to get out of that area as quickly as possible, as I started to see the Atlanta PD moving in to do crowd control as the Apple store employees began to explain to them what was about to happen...hundreds of people were about to get REAL pissed. As I was walking out, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned around...here's this small asian guy I had just received the bad news from, apparently he's the store manager, and he walks up to me and hands me a card with his name and on the back he wrote "Free iPhone 6+ case due to stock issue" and signed his name and put his number, he also handed me a display model black leather case and said "Take that as well, thank you for being so polite. You should probably go before it gets crazy."

I was taken aback...I wasn't expecting anything, and was just happy I had my device and wasn't part of the soon to be rioting crowd, LOL! I just kind of felt for the guy because it seemed like an awful day, and I know how that feels. So what do you know! Friendliness and patience payed off...two free leather cases for this thing, and all I had to do was NOT be an a$$hole.

Then...after I was safely away from the mall interior, their day got worse, I could see people pouring out of the mall starting ANOTHER line outside where the line this morning was, and it was a hundred deep before I even got past the mall on the road...yeeesh:

News Briefs: Bike path; Lenox shooting; iPhone 6 madness - Atlanta INtown Paper

(the shooting was apparently unrelated to the iPhone stuff thankfully)

...needless to say, I won't be going back tomorrow...or at all for a week or so. This black case will serve just fine until the chaos dies down!

 

[Designed4Him]

That's an insane story. I'm glad it worked out for you though.

 

[anon(4698833)]

That's an insane story. I'm glad it worked out for you though.

I'm just glad it didn't get out of hand and that APD seemed to have it fairly under control (besides people obviously voicing their distaste to the situation...at times loudly, lol!). Unless they get TRUCK loads tomorrow, these people are going to have a LONNNNNNNG weekend working at the Apple store.

 

[jdhooghe]

My gf works at Best Buy and it is amazing how childish, mean and threatening people can get when they don't get their way. I'm glad you made it out there alive and I'm sure the manager is thankful for that small glimmer of hope for humanity you gave him during such a ****ty day.

 

[Designed4Him]

I'm just glad it didn't get out of hand and that APD seemed to have it fairly under control (besides people obviously voicing their distaste to the situation...at times loudly, lol!). Unless they get TRUCK loads tomorrow, these people are going to have a LONNNNNNNG weekend working at the Apple store.

When I got to Sprint to pick mine up it was empty I was relieved. I just need a silicone case and I will be happy

 

[anon(4698833)]

My gf works at Best Buy and it is amazing how childish, mean and threatening people can get when they don't get their way. I'm glad you made it out there alive and I'm sure the manager is thankful for that small glimmer of hope for humanity you gave him during such a ****ty day.

There was a woman standing there cursing out one of the Apple store employees complaining that there should have been enough for everyone or nobody should have got one...I laughed, and the first thing that popped into my mind was "Sounds a lot like iMore sometimes!" :tongue:

 

[bassmonkeee]

Man--that is crazy! I was planning on heading to Lenox tomorrow to see about getting a case. You saved me a trip.

Good on you for being cool. It pays. They will be able to think back to your level headedness when they are dealing with the crazies.

 

[jdhooghe]

Man--that is crazy! I was planning on heading to Lenox tomorrow to see about getting a case. You saved me a trip.

Good on you for being cool. It pays. They will be able to think back to your level headedness when they are dealing with the crazies.

I agree. My GF even says that if customers are respectful to her, she goes out of her way to help them. If not, then, they can go to hell.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Man--that is crazy! I was planning on heading to Lenox tomorrow to see about getting a case. You saved me a trip.

Good on you for being cool. It pays. They will be able to think back to your level headedness when they are dealing with the crazies.

I'm hearing good things about Perimeter Mall...less chaos, but it's a lot smaller, so that might have a pull on how many cases they get.

My brother went to Cumberland mall (not for anything Apple related) and said they weren't even letting people into the store unless they waited in line or had a pre-order for something that they could confirm was on the shelf.

Lenox was an absolute nightmare though...you know that mall is tough to get around anyways outside because of it's location, but man, I've NEVER seen that many people so late into launch day. It looked like most places did before opening...at 9pm at night, about an hour before they closed up the whole damn thing! LOL! My happy a$$ is going to enjoy this black case for a week or two before trying to cash in my Mr Nice Guy voucher, LOL!

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

I am really proud of you for handling the situation the way you did. Apparently a lot of people aren't as cool. I think that we need to be more tolerant and kind to each other. To degrade another person over material things is just insane. And you are right, it does sound a little like iMore. People need to adjust their value system. And it's people like you that show others how it is supposed to be done. I'm glad you were rewarded for it too. Which is another issue. When people are nice, it usually isn't acknowledged which prevents them from being nice in the future.


Sent from my iPad Air using Tapatalk

 

[HankAZ]

There was a woman standing there cursing out one of the Apple store employees complaining that there should have been enough for everyone or nobody should have got one...I laughed, and the first thing that popped into my mind was "Sounds a lot like iMore sometimes!" :tongue:

Yeah, and they say there’s no sense of entitlement in 'Merica any more.

 

[HankAZ]

That?s an awesome story, Sean. Most of the Apple stores were zoos, like they are at every product launch. Sad that after waiting overnight and all day, many were going home empty handed, but ultimately, it is just a phone (albeit an awesome phone), and they will be making/selling more.

But this also shows that a good attitude is almost always appreciated. Even without the freebies, it was the right thing to do and the cool thing to do. Good on ya, mate!

 

[Trees]

I am really proud of you for handling the situation the way you did. Apparently a lot of people aren't as cool. I think that we need to be more tolerant and kind to each other. To degrade another person over material things is just insane. And you are right, it does sound a little like iMore. People need to adjust their value system. And it's people like you that show others how it is supposed to be done. I'm glad you were rewarded for it too. Which is another issue. When people are nice, it usually isn't acknowledged which prevents them from being nice in the future.


Sent from my iPad Air using Tapatalk

Agree. Kudos to Sean for being real and treating people with mutual respect and courtesy. Being kind and respectful no matter someone's role or job is always the best approach. Majority of the time in my experience people just want to do their job well, and to the best of their abilities. Being negative or aggressive is usually the ticket to poor or no service.

 

[rgood0810]

So I was among that madness at Lenox and that picture was after the madness died down from the morning around 4am a couple of people started running to the door so all 100 people followed! When the security came and told us to go back to the line that's when he'll broke loose because the people that didn't run now said they were in the front of the line. And the people that were in the front wanted their spot back. So everyone was arguing and it was a lot so the police were called and ended up getting us in some kind of order. Thankfully the guy that I was standing with most all of the night was kind enough to grab me and let me be back in front of him making me number 17 in the line. ( he knew we weren't going for the same iphone so he didn't car) most people were fun and nice but others were assholes but it was a fun experience!

 

[anon(4698833)]

So I was among that madness at Lenox and that picture was after the madness died down from the morning around 4am a couple of people started running to the door so all 100 people followed! When the security came and told us to go back to the line that's when he'll broke loose because the people that didn't run now said they were in the front of the line. And the people that were in the front wanted their spot back. So everyone was arguing and it was a lot so the police were called and ended up getting us in some kind of order. Thankfully the guy that I was standing with most all of the night was kind enough to grab me and let me be back in front of him making me number 17 in the line. ( he knew we weren't going for the same iphone so he didn't car) most people were fun and nice but others were assholes but it was a fun experience!

Good to hear you made it out (and I assume you got your phone too, lol!)

The crazy part is, at 9pm, it looked EXACTLY like that picture (as the people started flooding out after they ran out of devices). There had to be at least 250 people waiting in two lines (I can only assume one for the regular 6 and one for the 6+). It was, by far, the MOST people I have ever seen at an iPhone release, so I can only imagine what it looked like in the morning!

 

[agarwal.apar]

Wow, that's crazy man! Glad you got a case.. Nice gesture from the store manager!
Happy playing with 6+

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Funny how you say you felt like a VIP because when I got to the Apple Store in the morning and was one of the few with a reservation, an Apple guy took me and about 15 other people inside to the reservation line. I couldn't stand the whole line just looking at us like "what did they do to deserve going ahead in line" because some people don't understand the concept of reservations.

When I got in and was activating the thing the guy helping me asked if I wanted a case and I hesitated and decided yes. What crossed my mind was "what if I say no and decide I want a leather case tomorrow or something and am met with this hell?" So I just got one then and there.

There was a good presence of L.A. County Sheriffs already outside but I was cautious in walking out. I decided that instead of putting my phone back in the box, I'd put it in my cargo shorts pocket and carry the box in my hand in case anyone tried something stupid. It didn't help my cause when the Apple guys along the line were yelling "congratulations on your new 6+" as I was walking away. Way to rile up a crowd.

I did have to park far but got to my truck without a problem. Restored on iTunes from my MBP in the car and took off from work. By the way, a couple of sheriff units were patrolling the parking lot probably to let their presence be felt to people who were there to maybe try something stupid. They got around to my area twice.

 

[blueshapti]

Great experience. You should take in several dozen donuts and coffe for the store employees next week.

 

[CycloneFW]

I was a little sad, but I understood...I just looked at 200+ people standing outside of the store still...some 10 hours after this whole day began, so why should I blow a gasket like so many were in line already (you could hear cursing, arguing and laughter coming from the line as they started breaking the news that there were no more iPhones of any sort). My first thought was "GTFO of here before you die." I politely said "It's ok man, your day looks like it's been hectic...I'll come back later next week to get it, no prob!" and shook the guys hand. He smiled, said thank you and looked as if I was the first to give him a break all day. I gladly did seeing the hell they were incurring.

Sean, as someone who used to work retail and have seen my fair share of irate customers, I thank you. Especially on major days like this, Black Friday, and others, retail personnel really do feel like the bottom of the barrel and we very much notice when the person in front of us has a nice smile and is kind to us!

 

[anon(4698833)]

Sean, as someone who used to work retail and have seen my fair share of irate customers, I thank you. Especially on major days like this, Black Friday, and others, retail personnel really do feel like the bottom of the barrel and we very much notice when the person in front of us has a nice smile and is kind to us!

I had no reason to be unhappy really, but I get it when people get frustrated about not getting what they want...how they react after the fact separates children from adults, and I'm sad to say, I couldn't really distinguish between the two as I left the store and listened to the line of people going crazy.

I'm going to go in next weekend maybe and try to get the case...planning to bring a few dozen krispy kream with me, because you know what? That case doesn't mean much to me, but maybe that doughnut will get someone through the day!