Apple has egg on its face as Apple Card snafu pushed back iPhone 13 delivery times
According to social media reports today (via AppleInsider), some consumers had to improvise and find a new payment method for their iPhone 13 series pre-order. That's because Apple ended up with egg on its face as consumers trying to pay for their pre-order found that they could not use their Apple Card in order to complete their transaction using the iPhone Upgrade Program or through the Apple Store.
Apple Card issue might have forced some customers to accept a later delivery date for their iPhone 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max model.
One Twitter member with the handle @ItsEricP wrote "I don’t know what was going on this morning, but as an iPhone Upgrade Customer, who prebooked their upgrade and tried to pay with an Apple Card that would not process that payment, the checkout process was NOT what I’m looking for. Two big thumbs down @apple."
An Apple service agent supposedly posted this comment
Apple responded on social media by stating, "Some Apple Card Customers are temporarily unable to make iPhone Upgrade purchases using their Apple Card. If you've completed your purchase with a different card, you'll still get your 3% Daily Cash for this purchase. We’ll email you the details later," supposedly tweeted an Apple support agent. Those attempting to use the Apple Card multiple times ended up receiving multiple error notices.
The Apple Card was at the center of this morning's iPhone pre-order fiasco
The problem seems to be Apple's since the card is working for purchases at other places. Consider this tweet sent by @jcieplinski today. "Gee, my local breakfast place just let me order using the Apple Card. I wonder who else takes the Apple Card? Certainly not Apple. No. That would be silly." Techwriter Neil Hughes tweeted a series of rejection messages he received while trying to reserve an iPhone 13 model from the Apple Store.
Apple Store, let me count the number of ways you have failed me. pic.twitter.com/Oz1FAuaGGE
— Neil Hughes (@thisisneil) September 17, 2021
This had to be frustrating during a morning that is usually known for being hectic at best. And missing an opportunity to complete a transaction early in the morning could have pushed back the date when you will receive your new handset into October. If this happened to you today, perhaps you'll feel better by getting this off of your chest by leaving us your experience in the comments section below.
Some iPhone models won't be delivered until the second or third week in October
Some delivery dates are now stretched past the middle of October. For example, a randomly selected iPhone 13 Pro Max in Granite with 512GB of storage for Verizon will not arrive until October 18th through the 25th. The non-"Pro" iPhone 13 in Pink with 256GB of storage still shows a September 24th delivery date as late as 6 pm EDT.
Sure, most iPhone buyers are very impatient but if you had the entire transaction already planned out and you started early enough in the day to get a September 24th delivery date, we can't stress enough how it would suck to have your order pushed back because of an issue that was not only beyond your control, but was apparently Apple's fault.
The saying that "Man plans and God laughs" is also valid when it comes to pre-ordering a new iPhone. To avoid this in the future, you should have a second method of payment ready when you begin the pre-order process.
If you ended up an unwitting victim of the Apple Card fiasco today, we are hopeful that you can put it behind you; just look ahead to the day when the delivery man rolls up to your front door with your brand new Apple iPhone 13 series model whether that is a week from today or more than a month from today.
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