RSSBaltimore: No G1s available at T-Mobile stores, but no lines either
By Tim Conneally | Published October 22, 2008, 5:50 PM
With the iPhone, thousands stood in line, some for days, some in tents, waiting anxiously for the first boxes to be trucked in. How would the wait for the T-Mobile G1 phone be any different? Tim Conneally found out right away.
BALTIMORE (BetaNews, 11:05 am EDT) - I was greeted by a white UPS envelope leaning against my front door as I came home from walking my dog last night. It was nearly 9:00 pm, and when I had left the house no more than an hour before, no deliveries had arrived. How did I manage to get this package after e-mailing and calling the company with no response? How had I received my long-awaited Android G1 with absolutely no word from T-Mobile?
Flash back to the day pre-ordering began, when I filled out the form on the G1 site, deliberately selecting the brown model to wave in everyone's face. I entered my T-Mobile number and account name, and eagerly clicked on "Sign me up!" The next screen said I should check back for order status, which I did...daily.
After three days of logging into T-Mobile.com, the "pre-ordered" status disappeared and morphed back into the "Learn More" button, so I expected to soon find an e-mail from T-Mobile confirming the purchase. Nothing.
Another two days passed. Still nothing. I sent an e-mail to customer support to find out the status of my G1 to see if I needed to re-order it. No reply. By this point, the initial pre-registry had expired and the next batch of orders that were scheduled to arrive in early November were being taken. Rather than get the G1 after its launch date by mail, I figured I'd just go into the local shop and pick one up on October 22 and talk to people there who were also excited for the device.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the package waiting for me on October 21, though I couldn't help but shake my head at how it arrived before the order confirmation. To add to the confusion, when I opened the package, there was no receipt or packing slip, just the G1 in a box.
No complaints from me, as it was in my hands, installing loads of free apps and downloading Motorhead songs from the Amazon MP3 store.
Early this morning, T-Mobile's G1 availability announcement came across the wire, saying, "Customers can purchase and carry away the T-Mobile G1 at T-Mobile retail stores and select third-party stores in major cities where T-Mobile's 3G service is currently available...All T-Mobile retail stores will open early at 8 a.m. on Oct. 22 to give everyone the chance to experience and purchase or order the T-Mobile G1."
At least I could go and gauge the public's reaction by visiting a few local stores early in the morning.
Expecting lines, but not of "iPhonic" proportions, I visited three T-Mobile stores in Baltimore before 9:00 am. Each one was the same thoroughly depressing scene: lights dimmed, doors opened, bleary-eyed employees and not a single customer to be found. But that's not even the worst part.
There were no G1s.
Fortunately, the employees tended to be friendly and talkative despite having to clock in more than two hours earlier than usual to peddle a phone they didn't even have in stock. They all knew about the millions of pre-orders, and some had also heard of a store that was jammed with people already, though when asked, they couldn't say which it was.
When I told employees that my plans to buy a G1 this morning were thwarted by having one turn up unannounced, they usually laughed. But it turns out I was not alone. An employee of the Owings Mills location told me that the same thing happened to someone working at his store: A young woman pre-ordered her G1 and T-Mobile said nothing until it showed up.
I'm beginning to wonder if I received my Android phone for free, as even now, my T-Mobile account has not been billed, and my associated bank account has not either. If my situation, or one similar has happened to enough customers, this could be why the company retracted its 1.5 million pre-order figure and has granted everyone with a G1 free Internet until October 29, giving the company time to work out contracts and orders at its own expense.
Of course, the free G1 is just wishful thinking, but the question remains: if the device I received was somehow defective, and I went to exchange it today, would I be able to prove that I had even purchased it?
5:44 pm EDT October 22, 2008 - It looks like things weren't so dead elsewhere in Charm City. By 2:00 pm EDT, I had been to three more official T-Mobile stores, each presenting a decidedly different scene.
Located in a much more populous area in North Baltimore, the fourth store I checked out today still had a line of no less than 20 after nearly five hours and with four cashiers working. Unfortunately, the line situation was different from the iPhone launches in that all of these customers were actually waiting inside the store, and T-Mobile was not so keen on someone photo-documenting the event.
The T-Mobile stores I visited in shopping malls were both sold out, and reported doing so within the first hour and a half of business. Neither could disclose exactly how many they had sold, but an employee at the shop in the Towson Mall said it was quite a few.
FOR MORE:
- New York: G1 business is brisk, though maybe not booming by Jacqueline Emigh
- Seattle: G1s sell out, especially due to short supply by Angela Gunn
welcome to over-hypesville.
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|Haha! +1
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|"No G1s available at T-Mobile stores, but no lines either"
Did author of this article really expect to have those lines? Can I ask what gave him the idea that there might be any?
I mean, honestly, you BetaNews people already trying to generate hype on subjects where nobody expects any. But well, just in case I got some titles for future articles: "WordPress. Open source, but how open?", "Opera. Free, but how free?" and there's more where that came from ;|
Seriosly, guys, try to follow the "less quantity - more quality" motto.
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|I live in Pikesville, right between Owings Mills and the City. My contract recently expired and I had my choice of phone, I went with the Curve. BlackBerry is proven tried and true, no use risking getting a s***y phone when I could just get a newer BlackBerry.
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|oops, reposted by accident.
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|"With the iPhone, thousands stood in line, some for days, some in tents, waiting anxiously for the first boxes to be trucked in. How would the wait for the T-Mobile G1 phone be any different? Tim Conneally found out right away."
LOL. That's a no brainer. No other company on earth comes even remotely close to generating the type of hysteria and buzz when it releases a new product or an update to an existing product like Apple.
The Google phone appears to be a flop already. ^__^
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|"No other company on earth comes even remotely close to generating the type of hysteria and buzz when it releases a new product"
That is true. Most other companies don't need to. Unfortunately (for them, not for those of us exploiting stupidity) most consumers have no clue and even fall for it.
Apple is for losers.
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|Still debating switch to the G1 vs keeping my unlocked iPhone. It's a great phone to just give up on.
- Josh van Hulst
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|Was this thing advertised to the general public at all?
As far as I can tell the iPhone was targeted at the iPod mass market. I haven't seen any Android marketing besides talk in tech forums.
I'll give it some time for others to break it in since I need a reliable device but it definitely sounds slick.
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|I saw my first G1 commercial yesterday.
Talk about a complete lack of hype building up to the launch...
Not that there's much to hype about. There are fully functional phones out there for 1/4th the price...even unlocked. Of course, I didn't think the iPhone hype was warranted either.
*shrug*
I am biased though, as I still have this simmering hatred of all things cellular. ;)
Still looking for a decently priced, decently functional UMPC though. If they can sell a iTouch for less than $300, we should be able to get a Linux equiv (MIDLinux?) that's *more* functional (Wifi, decent camera, etc) for the same or less....right?
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|Yes but your problem is that you don't see a point in netbooks as far as I recall ;-)
Anyway, look into the BlackJack II. It cuts the crap and gets things done with a focus on communication. I think you can get it for free and it is matching or beating iPhone features (3G, GPS, push) except it has a real keyboard instead of touch screen. I think they actually just released a new version with touch but whatever... The G1 seems a step up on paper.
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|Most netbooks are too big. The iTouch is the right size, but not functional enough.
I don't want another phone, so the blackjack doesn't cut it.
It's simple, really... an MIDlinux UMPC device about the size of the G1 with the full qwerty (non touch) keyboard with Wifi, Camera, Web, Flash, and PMP capabilities. A flash-card and/or USB slot would be nice as well for expandability.
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|A netbook runs a real OS & applications and a dedicated 9" (not cheapo 10" with smaller screen) works very well as a compromise in my case for 5-6h.
Anything smaller I'd have in the pocket all over the place so I'd need long range connectivity. G1 seems perfect. Let's wait and see for a few...
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|MIDlinux is, last I checked, a real OS. :p
I don't really need long range connectivity as most of the places I hang out have wifi.
*shrug*
Just need to wait for one to hit under the $300 mark.
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|Well to each their pref. I tried several MIDs and always ended up frustrated. Not so with a netbook for a fraction of the cost. A real OS is one that can handle standard peripherals and software...
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|A real OS is one that can handle standard peripherals and software...
Linux isn't capable of handling standard periph's and software?
Wow....All this time I thought it did... ;)
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|"I'm beginning to wonder if I received my Android phone for free, as even now, my T-Mobile account has not been billed, and my associated bank account has not either."
It is billed on your NEXT billing cycle, which is when your plan changes and adds the G1 internet (if you pre-ordered). You should have gotten a letter showing that your contract has been extended for 2 years by now. Most people don't get any real confirmation of the order, you call Tmobile and ask for an order number, then use that at UPS.com OR ask them for a tracking number directly.
I got the phone yesterday in the early afternoon.
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|I recieved my G1 on the 20th. You will be billed for your phone next billing cycle. Also all G1 users have FREE Internet until the new data plan goes into effect Oct. 29th.
P.S: Why the hell would you think your going to get your G1 for free? What world do you live in. FYI, this was a really dumb article..
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|My point was that I received no assurance that I was even getting one...no order number, no tracking number, no receipt. These things are pretty standard in online mail-order.
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|Wow...arent you stupid, missing the entire point of the article.
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|"Of course, the free G1 is just wishful thinking, but the question remains: if the device I received was somehow defective, and I went to exchange it today, would I be able to prove that I had even purchased it?"
Yes, because your name, address and the phone number you upgraded/purchased the phone under is right on the big shipping sticker on that white bag that the phone came inside, not to mention the fact that they can SEE on your account that you pre-ordere/purchased it.
I think you're being a bit melodramatic. If you're trying to say that they didn't do things right, then just say it...and I would agree. I expected either a text/email confirming the pre-order and then a text/email informing me that it shipped, I got neither. But I did get that letter saying that my contract was extended 2 years, and as I mentioned before, I got all my info weeks ago from a phonecall to Tmobile.
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|here's a thought, the majority of folks who will buy a G1, or wait for a far better model aren't crazy fanboys and girls, who wait in front of a store for days in tents because they have other more important things to do with their time, its that simple.
that and the G1 is the first phone to sport the android OS, i think folks are waiting for another company to offer up more appealing hardware and that will happen eventually
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|and possibly a more appealing network. My last job used T-Mobile for their cell service, and it the Boston area, it's horrible.
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