Carphone Warehouse Fumbles iPhone Launch November 11, 2007
Read more Apple , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile Devices , Mobile phones , Smartphones , iPhone
The UK launch of the iPhone on Friday evening at hundreds of Carphone Warehouse outlets should have been a retail goldmine.
Instead, it was a shambles, according to PC Advisor, with many shoppers unable to get their hands on Apple's over-hyped phone thanks to Carphone's payment system crashing. Oh dear, this isn't what you need when the Apple bigwigs are in town and just about every TV station and journalist is zeroed in on the event like trigger-happy snipers.
For the first hour, or so, it is reported that cold and hungry shoppers couldn't flex their flexible friends since the Chip and PIN system crashed in many Carphone outlets. In the end, shoppers were finally allowed to pay cash - something not generally allowed by Apple for iPhone sales.
The problem was sorted out within the hour and not all stores were affected but, it's hardly the iPhone shopping frenzy Apple has been used to elsewhere.
More importantly, did Carphone make its own target of 10,000 sold in 4 hours?-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
It failed on me! Luckily for the staff i was the only customer queuing for an iPhone, so they didnt have to manage a queue. Can't imagine the chaos if there was a big queue of iPhone hungry fans!
yeah, it's always somebody else to blame, never the Apple cult itself.
Remember the exploding "Sony" batteries on MacBooks, the ATI graphic cards on freezing iMacs, the bad service by AT+T, etc.
Apple is spotless, blameless, uber alles!
depressing, cos they are about to become more powerful and more oppressing then the Dark Side itself!
They also told people (myself included) that the only place you could get insurance for the iPhone was from them and that O2 dont sell it.
Which is not true.
This is the last time I will buy anything from the carphone warehouse
I was 5th in the queue at 6:00pm at a central London Carphone Warehouse. After the doors opened five minutes late, there were just two salespeople in the store, so the first two people were up front being served. After 25 minutes of the staff fumbling around with the sales process, they then announced to both of them and the rest of the customers that not only had their systems died, but they would not let you have the iPhone without purchasing a CW insurance policy AND it was CW policy that you also HAD to buy at least 1 accessory for the iPhone at the same time. At that point I left and walked 5 minutes down the road to an O2 store and was dealt with quickly and even offered nibbles whilst waiting in their short queue. I have two other contract phones through CW - I will be cancelling them as soon as they run out of contract.
@Asher Pat
What on earth are you going on about, are you seriously trying to blame a problem with carephonewarehouse's payment system on Apple?
and I guess you mean the dark side is Microsoft, a company that clearly has been in breach of anti-competitive laws. Apple hasn't had to pay massive fines, the Mac still has a small market share, you're not locked into the iPhone, they don't do back handed deals with record companies like the Zune.
No, they're not perfect, but they're a hell of a lot better than most and at least push the rest of the industry forward.
Get a grip.
I think there is some confusion about what O2 actually is. Unlike Orange and T-Mobile O2 do not bill you directly for their service.
They are not allowed to.
In the interest of an open market (O2 and Vodaphone)have to let a third party issue their contracts and manage their billing. You will notice your bill will probably have something like Singlepoint, O2 Direct or CPWS (Car Phone Warehouse Services)
Guess what, O2 and Vodaphone shops are middle men! They are seperate companies specialsing in O2 products!) When a store like carphone warehouse offers insurance it is because O2 is in no position to insure a handset when it is only responsible for the network service. Any insurance offered by the O2 store will not be directly from O2 but O2 direct!
All this apple bashing is getting boring now! There are a hell of a lot of other handsets locked to specific networks, especially as launch deals (Just look in any mobile catalogue). Give it 6 months and all networks will be selling it.
Carphone Warehouse also gave me bad advice regarding insurance when I tried to buy an iPhone from them on Friday evening - I walked out and bought one Saturday morning from an o2 store which gave me v good service.
I'd report CPW if I had the time.
Really as much as I'd like to have one - the whole sales structure totally puts me off - I'm happy for you early sucke...adopters really I am, but do you not feel at least a little like you're getting the proverbial taken out of you?
> ..shoppers were finally allowed to pay cash - something not generally allowed by Apple for iPhone sales
>
They are sooo gracious... You people are insane. It's a low-specced phone with poor connectivity options.
This just further reinforces my opinion that someone's invented a particularly virulent form of sublminal messaging to which I am (fortunately) immune.
Did I mention 'get a life' ?
I love the iPhone - despite its minor flaws (I can't wait for the 3G version) it is an awesome gadget. That said, as big a fan as I am, there is no way I would get one from Carphone Warehouse - even if it were the only place I could get one. The guys at the Apple shops are far nicer, better trained and more knowledgable about the product.
Very pleased to see that the CPW insurance "misunderstanding" will receive the mass media coverage it deserves on tonight's BBC TV Watchdog: "iPhone targeted in Carphone insurance scam"
http://www.tech.co.uk/gadgets/phones/mobile-phones/news/iphone-targetted-in-carphone-insurance-scam?articleid=180567581