Ludwig Wendzich

My experience with the iPad 2.

On March 25 I made my way to the local JB Hifi to line up for an ipad2. We had no idea whether the store was even stocking iPads because no such announcements had been made (I could have gone to line up at Yoobee in Newmarket but everyone would be going there and I was less interested in lining up and more interested in getting the device.)

At the store, the employees wouldn’t tell us whether they were selling the iPad or not (at first it was just me but after about ten minutes there were 3 of us waiting.) The store employees also wouldnt let us form a line, I am pretty sure each new person suggested forming a line and every time the store employees said they wouldn’t have a line. It soon became clear that they would be getting iPads but at this point it seemed like they were already either on hold for other people (maybe employees or special customers) or they really didn’t think they were getting very many and they wanted to sell the ones they were getting to customers who they could upsell to.

The second notion I got was because they started talking to those of us waiting individually about a Vodafone plan that we could sign up for worth iPad 2. At first they said this doesn’t mean they will be getting an iPad 2 but if they were (and they claimed they would only know at 5) then these customers would be a priority for them. As you became more and more interested they seemed to spend more time talking to you and not the new customers. At one point I told an employee that I would sign up to the plan if it guaranteed I would be leaving the store with an iPad 2. He said ok and walked off to talk to who I assume was his superior.

A few minutes later I saw him motion to me from across the store to come see him. At this point there was a fair number of people waiting for iPads. I went to see him, not worrying about the being at the front of the mob because they kept insisting there would be no line. He said they would be getting iPad 2s but they really didn’t know how many, all he knew was they would have 64GB iPad 2 3Gs that they were told they had to try sell with this plan. The other configurations he didn’t know anything about, in fact he didn’t even know how many of the Vodafone plan models they would be getting. He asked for my drivers license and said that as long I was ok buying a 64GB 3G iPad 2 he could start setting me up on the plan and then in would be his first customer when 5 o’clock rolled around. This was fine by me so he took my drivers licence to go start that process and told me to go wander around the store.

I went to go check out the MacBook Airs, wondering at the 11.6” Air until he walked past and nonchalantly placed my licence next to me as he kept walking.

By this time the store was full of people wanting iPads and the staff kept asking people to move away from the store entrance and to wander around the store. I obliged, nobody else did.

Around quarter to 5 I looked around to see what was happening and noticed that everyone who had been waiting had just moved to the other side of the store and formed a line. A new employee had surfaced and made this change, later I found out this was the manager who had probably spent the last hour doing iPad 2 stock take.

I walked over to the line and joined it, confused but still sure I would be walking away with an iPad. I figured this was their way of getting people away from blocking the store entrance. Unfortunately I noticed the employees talking to the manager and starting to look concerned. I started to doubt whether I would be walking away with an iPad 2 or not.

At 5 o’clock the manager procured some cards from his pocket and announced that each card represented an iPad. He would start at the front of the line and ask what iPad the person wanted and either give it to them or tell them no such configuration was available. Having a card was a guarantee for that iPad.

My heart sunk, I was about 30 people back from the front of the line and at the mention of one iPad per person some of the men got their families who were waiting to elsewhere to join them in the line. I wondered whether I should leave and try to join a line at the Dick Smith store which I had heard were also selling iPads but I stayed.

The iPads ran out just before me. The family in front of me swiped the last of them, the last available one was my preferred configuration too, 32GB wifi in black! The manager apologized, said we could come back Tuesday when he expected more stock to arrive. The employee who I had given my licence to motioned me to come speak to him. I gained some hope that would only be crushed as he too apologized.

The manager had changed the way they would handle the launch without telling them. He was extremely sorry and he would take my number and call me when new stock arrived. He offered the same deal to carry over but I said that I was only interested in that deal if I could walk away with an iPad 2 today. He nodded and I left, running to first Vodafone who did not stock iPads and then Dick Smith who also ran out shortly after I arrived. Final stop was The Good Guys but they only said they could order one and it would arrive in a month. So could I.

I made my way back to JB Hifi, determined to see if I could guarantee an iPad 2 on Tuesday. I asked the same employee if I could pay for an iPad now and pick it up when it arrives. He said they don’t normally do it but he would speak to his manager though I should know the launch had put his manager in a bad mood.

The manager to deal with a bunch of other angry line waiters including the guy who didn’t get an ipad despite the fact that he had arrived just after me, so he should have been second in line if they had one from the start! The other employees came to ask me which iPad I ended up getting and were shocked to discover I had not got one, despite getting there first.

After about 20 minutes the first employee returned and asked how badly I wanted an iPad in black. I said it depends and he said they have a 64GB 3G but in white, not black. I really didn’t want a white one but impulse took over and I said I’d take it. He wouldn’t say how they managed to still have an iPad out back.

I filled in the contract and left the store to go talk to Vodafone about my new contracts.

When I returned to JB Hifi the employee came up to me with a huge grin on his face and asked me how much I loved him. I replied very much since he had managed to make an iPad appear out of thin air and he replied that he managed to get it swapped for a black one.

I was ecstatic. I gladly paid for the iPad and left the store, all the employees who had been with me since 4 congratulating me.

Sadly the micro sim I was given is saying “no signal” constantly which suggests it’s an old one and must be replaced. That’s today’s mission!

Final note, the percentage indicator on the iPad 2 should be turned off by default. Seeing the percentage dropping doesn’t instill confidence of long battery life! I have turned it off!

PS. This is entire post was written on an iPad 2. I have had no experience on virtual keyboards other than owning an iPhone since they debuted but this keyboard is sooo easy to use!

Update 12:06pm 26 March

Just returned to JB Hifi ti sort out the SIM card issue and it turns out that last night they received another shipment of iPads, I overheard that there were 4x 32GB iPad 2s that arrived last night. They were selling the last one as I arrived, also on contract.

Posting this from 3G.