One Man’s iPhone Journey (phone not included)

A few weeks back I was at the VoIP Sizzles 2008 event in Dallas and the day it was over I told Robert Messer the founder of ABP and the Sizzles events that I have been trying to get an iPhone for the longest time. He told me he had a few on order and an extra one even. He said if I wanted I could come with him to the AT&T Wireless store that night and get one.

I was pretty worn out from travel and had to get up at 4:00 AM the next day so I passed on the opportunity. Messer is convincing but I was just too tired to go. I also kidded with him that the moment I actually get the iPhone, the never-ending saga of me getting an iPhone is over. I owed my readers more I thought to myself semi-smiling.

The funny thing is I had some meetings in the area that day and in-between, I had a spare hour and I called a few Dallas AT&T Wireless stores to see if they had any phones in stock. As luck would have it, none of the stores had it but every store I called asked if I want to order it and have it shipped. I wasn’t sure but I assumed the local stores would give me a Dallas number and I wanted a Connecticut number instead. So I passed.

I got to thinking, why do the AT&T Wireless stores in Connecticut not ask this question? At least the ones I called. I assumed they just didn’t offer the service.

After speaking with people who actually ordered these phones in Connecticut, I learned that AT&T stores will take an order for the phone. The funny thing is that although I have frequented the AT&T Wireless store numerous times and called them as well, not once did they mention ordering was an option.

So a few weeks ago I did order the phone and then I got an email saying I was charged for it and it further explained it had shipped to the store. I never got any indication that the store had received it but nevertheless my spider senses told me the phone was in stock and ready for me. I called the store and indeed it was there.

When I got there, the person who had answered my phone call greeted me and went to the back room to get my phone. He came back with no phone. He then did some things on the computer and went back to get the phone. This cycle repeated itself a few more times and then I jokingly said I expected him to come back with a box.

After a little while more he told me someone named Daryush Tehrani picked up my phone. My wife perhaps? I explained that I do not have a wife by that name and to my knowledge Daryush is a man’s name anyway.

I took the opportunity to tell the salesman that I preferred the black phone – you see I ordered the white phone because it ships in one week instead of three.

I was told the manager will call me in the morning to straighten this out and as I was leaving he mentioned that it is surprising that no ID is checked when you pick up your iPhone. He said they do always check in fact. This of course caused my brain to reboot and after it came back up, I asked how it could be possible that my phone went to someone else when it apparently was not me and the person had a different name (and potentially a different face). His brain subsequently rebooted so I left.

So I am now contemplating the whole situation with a smile. After all, how much more can I milk this story for? This saga has to come to an end soon.TMC has to be the only major media company that hasn’t yet procured an iPhone (remember this is for TMC Labs) and I want my readers to know that I promise to never ever tire until I get one of these things in my hands. In the mean time, keep reading and like me I hope you are enjoying the journey. But will it ever end?

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