Say Hello to my new 3G...

So on the way home from work last night I stopped by the Apple Store to see if I could buy a 3G dock. (they're evidently hard to find) While there, (still out of stock) I asked if they had any iPhone's. The girl (cute... sorta Ellen Page looking) said they had one 16GB left and it was white. I told her to go get it.

While waiting in the one person iPhone queue (me), I quickly called AT&T and asked them about my Direct Fulfillment. 1. Where am I in the list? (#52), 2. What is the realistic time frame to get it? (21-30 days) 3. Can I cancel? (yes)

I decided to cancel my direct fulfillment at AT&T. I had originally wanted a black iPhone but I didn't hate the white version, after all, all of my iPods have been white.

Anyway...

While waiting in the queue a lady walked in (I'll call her Mary), she had apparently driven two hours after calling to see if they had phones in stock. She said she even called ten minutes before she arrived to reconfirm they still had stock. Mary was told by another "orange shirt" (Apple Employee) that I had taken the last one.

Ellen came back by, I asked how long it will take, she said it should be a few minutes... she pointed to a guy (let's call him Mike) who was walking in while I was pulling up, getting his iPhone.

Mary was disappointed and pissed off. She threw the word fuck around a few times. The orange shirt told her that there were several things that could go wrong with a 3G purchase and that she should wait to see if the transaction completes.

After walking around and talking to a couple of more orange shirts, Mary eventually made her way to the queue area where I was standing. "Do you have good credit? They said they do a credit check on everyone and if you can't pass the credit check they won't sell you the phone."

A little taken back by her brazenness, "Actually I'm just upgrading my current iPhone and am already an AT&T customer... they don't need a credit check."

"Well, no offense, but I hope something goes wrong with your order." she replied

Another iPhone guy came out of the back and came to assist me. The process is way more complex than it needs to be and is quite annoying. It has to be activated in store, no online sales, no cash orders, etc. I had to bring a State Issued photo ID, Credit Card, Social Security Number, DNA swab, urine sample and my first born child (sorry Alyssa!)

About half way through the process I was watching Mike with his iPhone guy. I couldn't hear what was going on but I could tell by his body language that his purchase wasn't going smoothly. While my guy was entering my credit card manually (their handheld computer thingy could not read it.) I walked over to the Mary. I told her that it looks like Mike's purchase is falling through. This was confirmed by Mike leaving the store without an iPhone in hand. She was very thankful, and if SHE passed the credit check perhaps she was lucky enough to get his iPhone.

END OF LINE

PS I'm still looking for a dock.