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iPhone 4 pre-orders plagued by AT&T problems

Apple started taking pre-orders today for the new iPhone 4 - well, it tried. It should come as no surprise that AT&T service problems plagued the process.
Written by Sam Diaz, Inactive

How does AT&T even manage to stay in business?

Starting today, users can start pre-ordering the new iPhone 4, but as a post on Gizmodo - with multiple updates - points out, the pre-order process is too much for AT&T to handle. Then again, given how it's handled its shortcomings on the service side, this really should come as no surprise.

Also see: AT&T melts down again; will Apple ever learn?

And this isn't even one single problem. Consider some of the horror stories that some folks are sending into the site:

  • Online orders being confirmed as successful, only to receive an email from AT&T saying the order encountered an error.
  • Credit cards being charged multiple times - but the order still not processing.
  • Orders that are confirmed as being successful but then that even the pre-order process is too much for AT&T to handle.
  • Security breaches where customers are gaining access to the accounts of others.
  • Orders that have taken three hours to process.
  • AT&T problems leading to similar problems on Apple's site.
  • AT&T stores shutting down completely - the whole store - because of pre-order problems.

At this point - three years since Apple first released the iPhone on an exclusive basis with AT&T - one might think that Apple would recognize what a bad business move it is to stayed tied to AT&T as its exclusive service provider.

Once again, let's hear it for being an Android-Verizon customer.

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