For all of you in line reading this on Thursday the 15th of January, YAHOO!!!! You made. welcome to the real iPhone experience, no longer is it a dream… you are on the threshold! For those of you still sitting on the fence, here is what the other’s are seeing, sans (without) iPhone as these shots were taken yesterday.
For those of you who have not been in yet, Unicel is no more. On Monday all Unicel Corporate stores opened as at&t stores.
Here is what it looks like now…
Any of you with photos of the iPhone waiting line or of your new iPhone, or anything, please post them here and I will post them on this blog today and over the next few days.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
January 15, 2009 at 6:47 am |
Hurray! Now there will be mad rushes to AT&T stores all over Vermont! I hope they publish some statistics on how many iPhones are really sold, so we can figure out how much the demand was. Well, it is finally here!!
So…. now I just need money. A lot of money.
~Wayfarer
January 15, 2009 at 6:53 am |
Can someone post what the cost of the plan is for owning the iPhone when they get signed up?
January 15, 2009 at 8:27 am |
interestingly, the attwireless.com site doesn’t recognize my zip as being valid… get the same “we’re expeanding our coverage every day..” message as before.
Any idea when ordering online will be an option?
January 15, 2009 at 9:22 am |
Whats the “scene” like at the stores? I want to get one, but don’t really feel like waiting in a line.
January 15, 2009 at 9:33 am |
thought I could avoid the 50+ mile drive to an AT&T store by calling AT&T wireless this morning. No go – the rep said they don’t do iPhones over the phone.
Has anyone here migrated from an existing VT Unicel plan? Did they waive the connection fee?
- neil
January 15, 2009 at 9:45 am |
Drove by the Dorset Street store on my way to work this morning. There were at least 5 cars idling in the lot. No one was standing “in-line” at the door. Funny, it is not that cold!
January 15, 2009 at 10:02 am |
While AT&T buying Unicel is the best of the available options, as a current Unicel customer who isn’t willing to fork over the cash for an iPhone (and its especially expensive minimum plan) I am worried about a large increase in plan costs.
My current Unicel plan is $35/month ($39 with ‘taxes and fees’). It includes 300 ‘any-time’ minutes, free nights and weekends, The best part: ALL incoming calls are free. Even with heavy use as my only phone, I can’t use up those 300 minutes as they only get docked for peak out-going calls. Similarly, text-messages are 10c to send and FREE to receive.
I am really not looking forward to loosing free incoming calls and have my text-messaging rate go from 10c out to 20c each way.
My question to this crowd, anyone know if AT&T will be converting plans or keeping the Unicel terms for existing customer?
January 15, 2009 at 10:43 am |
Adam,
This article indicates that you can stay on your current plan for the next year. After that I think you’ll be forced to choose a new plan.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090104/BUSINESS/90103020
- neil
January 15, 2009 at 10:45 am |
All pricing is shown at both Apple and AT&T sites. What they DON”T show you is a little known secret allowing a $40 plan for those who decide after a contract that they will have to dump the plan all together… it is NOT publicized, so I will look for it for y’all.
The other thing to note is that you are paying $30 for unlimited data (vs. Unicel’s $45 for unlimited data)… that is a great deal… you will be ALL OVER data on this device. So your call plan on the basic is just $39… that’s not bad really… think it through.
January 15, 2009 at 11:04 am |
Radmacdaddy, could you elaborate? I am not sure what you mean … I am a Unicell customer out of contract now…. do you mean I tell them I am not going to stay with AT&T and then they will offer the $40 plan?
sorry to be dense here…
January 15, 2009 at 11:56 am |
NO luck so far for ordering online. Although at the store they said it would be available at the same time as in store, it is not. Has anyone been able to order online yet?
January 15, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
Just tried the website again, no dice.
January 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm |
Got mine!!
Arrived at Williston store at about 8:20…was second in line. Doors opened at 9:00.
Took 55 minutes to buy three phones: 1 iPhone and 2 flip phones. Ported 3 phone numbers over from Verizon. Process is slow, sales people are on steep learning curve.
Big sucking sound over at Verizon today with everyone porting phone numbers to ATT.
Just received a text from ATT saying that porting is complete…took about 2 ½ hours.
Good luck all.
January 15, 2009 at 1:13 pm |
dorset st is out of 16gb phones.
online still not working for me.
January 15, 2009 at 1:27 pm |
Has anyone tried the Rutland store? Was there a line there this morning? Do they still have phones?
January 15, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
Burlington Mall store is out of 16GB White
January 15, 2009 at 2:03 pm |
How long is the wait at the burl mall?
January 15, 2009 at 2:20 pm |
I didn’t wait.. I’ll go back on Sat to see if the white models are in…
Drew Says:
January 15, 2009 at 2:03 pm
How long is the wait at the burl mall?
January 15, 2009 at 2:53 pm |
Just got back from Burlington Mall, took exactly 20 minutes to activate, waited 20 minutes in line. I chose NOT to port my number (yet), will do at future date. Prob 15-20 minutes wait right now.
ohh yea, it’s cold out
January 15, 2009 at 3:06 pm |
Does anyone know if the Middlebury store is open??? I’ve call the unicel phone number but not answer.
January 15, 2009 at 3:11 pm |
I called the Middlebury store this morning. They are not one of the corporate stores, and do not carry the iPhone in the store, but you can order it there. The guy tried hard to talk me out of an iPhone (no 3G network, no cut & paste, etc.), which was a bit annoying.
January 15, 2009 at 3:20 pm |
Thanks… guess I’ll go to Burlington or Williston.
January 15, 2009 at 3:28 pm |
Where is the Williston store? Still NO luck with the website.
January 15, 2009 at 3:39 pm |
According to the Free Press article it’s at 121 Connor Way, Williston. I think it’s one of the stores around the central green in the new Maple Tree shopping place.
AT&T really needs to get their website updated for the VT zips though, it’s getting annoying.
January 15, 2009 at 3:50 pm |
Anyone have a phone number for the Rutland store? (web site shows (111) 111-1111 )
Also, is there a store in Montpelier?
January 15, 2009 at 4:02 pm |
@DL
“he guy tried hard to talk me out of an iPhone (no 3G network, no cut & paste, etc.), which was a bit annoying.”
How do you know if 3G is available or not?
January 15, 2009 at 4:09 pm |
I got a 16GB white at the Montpelier store a couple hours ago. They said it was the last white one. Took close to an hour to deal with one number port to the iphone and getting two additional lines setup on my account.
January 15, 2009 at 4:46 pm |
got two this morning at Essex (white and black 16gb). They said they had 120 in, but only 4 white.
January 15, 2009 at 4:55 pm |
Just another data point–my wife tried calling AT&T today (wanted to know if it’s easy to buy one phone here, another from Amazon-with-the-mandatory-contract) and then combine them on a family plan–short answer: he had no idea). In any case, the AT&T guy insisted that they don’t support VT yet, that they’re not done readdressing the towers from Unicel to AT&T. This is obviously not quite true, since you buy phones and plans if you go to a store
But I’m guessing that his system and the consumer web site are synchronized, so I’m not sure that bodes well for being able to order online any time soon. Hope I’m wrong…
January 15, 2009 at 5:30 pm |
Williston was definitely the place to be this morning. I was first in line with Lew (hi Lew!) and got two 16g black phones. Had to go back this afternoon and finish the porting process (long story) but they still had them in stock as of 2:30 pm.
Porting took about 2 hrs.
January 15, 2009 at 5:43 pm |
New 16gig for me. Waited until after lunch hour in Essex -told my boss I had an eye doctor appointment – bout a half hour wait – bout a half hour to do the deal. Easy Peasy.
January 15, 2009 at 5:43 pm |
Hi Lisa,
Did you get everything set up? I went upstairs to visit my son in law and saw you still in line at about 10:15 when I left. Sorry it took so long for you.
Needless to say, I’ve been setting everything up on my iPhone as well as the two flip phones. The iPhone is something else.
January 15, 2009 at 6:04 pm |
Got to the Burlington Town Center store this morning at 9:20… maybe 15 people in line but it was warm and the people there were being very nice and organized. But then the “learning curve” problems took over and things started taking longer. More clerks only partly helped as the out of town AT&T staffers there to assist were working hard to overcome problems transferring accounts, backing out of minor errors (their sales software seems to suck… not the fault of the store staff), and dealing with transferring accounts to AT&T.
We waited about 90 minutes to get to a sales staffer (they kept a list in order) and then it took over two hours to get our two lines transfered and set up! Porting took a few hours after we left until a message appeared saying it was working for incoming calls.
Not the smoothest, though the AT&T store staff were very nice and clearly annoyed with their support center people who were apparently being “snippy” to the sales crew, and not as helpful as they could have been, requiring multiple calls to do what one should have accomplished. No idea what possesses people to act that way to their fellow employees.
So, we knew what we were getting into going on the first day, but I must say the phones look and work great, so all’s well that ends well, I guess.
January 15, 2009 at 6:06 pm |
Yeah, any news on the Rutland Store? As the commenter above said, the number on the site is all ones… IT DOES list the iPhone as being available at one of the two stores though! I couldn’t make it there today… better pray there not all sold out!
January 15, 2009 at 6:57 pm |
Got 2 16gb phones today, 1 white 1 black. Arrived at the church street mall at 8am store opened at 9 am was number 6 in line and got out of there at 10:30 am. They only started out the day with 4 white 16GB iphones. Got the family plan 700 for 129.99/month. Get a discount for working for the feds so it will be 110-/month without texting options.
A couple special notes of interest. I asked them if we would accrue charges talking with other “Unicel” customers as some family members are not switching yet, they told me that we could call unicel customers and they could call us, so att members will not be charged but unicel customers will be charged. Probably another incentive to get people to switch.
Also, if anyone did not buy the apple care plan, you have up to one year to purchase it.
They also said they had plenty of inventory and did not expect to run out.
January 15, 2009 at 7:48 pm |
<>
The 3G icon will light up on the iPhone (or any other device that supports 3G)
For now, it’s just E.
January 15, 2009 at 7:51 pm |
Other phones will display “U” or “H”, mainly prevalent on Win Mobile devices.
January 15, 2009 at 8:40 pm |
Hi Lew –
I did get everything – it was just a little convoluted. Unicel/ATT staff members were awesome, patient, and I felt they did everything right on such a big day.
I’m still getting used to things – will play with it more tomorrow. I’m tired now!
So nice to meet you. If you ever decide to join twitter, you can folllow me at @lisawood.
January 16, 2009 at 7:29 am |
I am a Unicel customer and confusion reigns. Called ATT to inquire IF iPhones were available at Montpelier store. They do not have a Montpelier store. Nor is there one in Burlington. And, there is no record of my number “in the system.” I asked that if I new get a bill from AT&T, since I am not a customer, I should just disregard the bill? NO, I should pay it to avoid being cut off. So, do I drive 1-2 hours in hopes of finding an iPhone? Will I have to port my Unicel number over since AT&T now owns Unicel? Yes. It appears that the transaction will be treated as a completely new customer, not an existing customer just replacing a phone…
Called UNICEL. They said they are now AT&T, so I should call them. And no, they do not have a phone number for the Montpelier or Burlington stores.
Tried on the AT&T website. My ZIP code is not valid in their system, “…we are expanding our system every day…” Tried ZIP codes for Montpelier and Burlington. Same message.
On-Line chat feature: My number is not in the system, so I will have to go to a store…
Congratulations to those who braved the cold and took it on faith that there would be an iPhone waiting for them.
Too bad AT&T/Unicel did not take care of the housekeeping – merging the databases and customer service stuff.
Still waiting in Lyndonville…
January 16, 2009 at 7:42 am |
Website is up! VT zipcodes work.
January 16, 2009 at 7:44 am |
The ATT website recognizes the Burlington 05401 zip now!
For those looking for ATT locations the store locator on the site also appears to be working although it lists dummy phone numbers still. http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store
January 16, 2009 at 9:42 am |
I went after work yesterday, around 4pm to the Dorset street store. I got the black 16gig, didn’t seem to have a shortage of stock at that point in the day. Process was very painless to port my Verizon number over, I think it was about 2 hours later that it was complete.
I’m curious to see the iPhone sales number in VT; see what ATT was missing for the last year and a half of business.
Congratulations to everyone that got one.
January 16, 2009 at 9:44 am |
So, according to a prior article in the Burlington Free Press, Unicel customers will get the activation fee waived when moving to an AT&T plan. Is there any way to do this on the website? Or do I need to go to a store to do this?
- neil
January 16, 2009 at 10:28 am |
Interesting…they apparently don’t support the cheapest family plan (550 minutes) that’s available online when you buy in-store. Guess I’m buying online after all.
January 16, 2009 at 10:31 am |
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090115/BUSINESS/90115019#pluckcomments
January 16, 2009 at 12:14 pm |
Essex AT&T store is out of the 16GB iPhone as of 9:30 am Friday. She said it would probably be “a few days”.
January 16, 2009 at 4:26 pm |
Spoke to ATT customer service concerning the website and activation charges. She said that the charges would be credited after the account had been set up.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
January 16, 2009 at 4:43 pm |
On line order is complete, now just waiting…I did the Family Talk 550 with a free Sony Ericsson phone for my wife.
January 16, 2009 at 5:03 pm |
I went by the Dorset AT&T store this afternoon at 2:00, but after seeing the crowd in the store, decided to wait for a quieter day… To bad I can’t order them online… Wife and I both want iPhones. What is AT&T thinking limiting online sales to ONE iPhone? John, don’t you love your wife? Why does she get stuck with the Sony?
January 16, 2009 at 5:20 pm |
Note for Mark (or anyone trying to get 2 iPhones while ordering online): if you qualify for AT&T Premier, you CAN order more than one iPhone. “Qualifying” basically means that you have access to an email address from a company or school that has a relationship with AT&T. The web site to get access to Premier is https://www.wireless.att.com/business/authenticate/
HTH
January 16, 2009 at 5:56 pm |
Online order today took all of 5 minutes. Not much after the big build up! I expect delivery by Wednesday, latest. 2 things to note: apparently, even if you get a new number, you can port another number over within 30 days for free. Also, I ordered through live.com’s cashback program and expecting to get a 25% rebate within 60 days. Let’s see if that really comes through, but it sure can’t hurt to try to get $75 back on a 16GB (and also on applecare and anything else you buy) Live.com/search att wireless/click the sponsored site ad at the top for AT&T Wireless that says live search cashback…follow instructions…
January 16, 2009 at 7:46 pm |
Mark,
My wife said, “get me a free phone, like my last free phone”. While it may be hard to believe on this blog, she does not want an iphone. She uses here phone as an extension of the home phone. As the family CFO, she cannot justify the second iphone….
January 16, 2009 at 8:52 pm |
so, is it true that you cannot get the Family Talk 550 Plan in the store?
- neil
January 16, 2009 at 9:03 pm |
Neil–I can only speak for my experience. My wife went to the Williston store this morning, and they said they weren’t allowed to offer the Family Talk 550 in-store, even after she said that would force her to go home and order online (which she did).
January 17, 2009 at 7:31 am |
I went to the Williston store hoping to sign up for the 550 family plan. I was told it was not available in the store so I bought the 700 minute plan.
Yesterday I called ATT and they switched me over to the 550 plan with no problem at all.
January 17, 2009 at 9:29 am |
Does anyone know if the Rutland store is open? I’d prefer not to drive to the Burlington area.
January 17, 2009 at 9:40 am |
Dmac –
http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store/
Enter Rutland as the city, or use the zip.
Rutland is listed and there is a telephone number for the store.
Online has free shipping. No need to get cold….
January 17, 2009 at 9:51 am |
Only the “Wireless for Less” telephone number shows up and i was told by the Middlebury store that they are not carrying the iphone (maybe it’s just that one store, but i doubt it). I guess that i’m going on a road trip today. Anybody have a number for an at&t store so i can check to see if they’re open and have iphones in stock?
January 17, 2009 at 2:33 pm |
Stopped by at the Rutland corporate stores at Main street and Diamond run mall in today. They both have the Iphone and plenty stock of both 8 and 16 gig. The agent store Wireless for less does not sell the Iphone. If you’re not looking for an Iphone the Radioshack online store has some of the best deals. Much better than the corporate stores…
January 17, 2009 at 8:50 pm |
went to the store in Concord NH today and had a very smooth transaction. i was even able to sign up for the family 550 plan. the total transaction including a new phone for the wife (not an iPhone).
one thing I have noticed tonight however, is that the reception is not as good as the Razr I gave up – or the new Razr I got for the wife today. Here in the house, the Razr has a full 5 bars, and the iPhone has been fluctuating between 2 bars and ‘no service’. Anyone have similar experience?
January 17, 2009 at 11:20 pm |
Yeah Dmac, I just got mine from the store on South Main yesterday. It was a freaking ZOO. And none of the ladies behind the counter knew what they were doing… it took use 2 hours to get our three iPhones… but they were really nice. You couldn’t be mad at them because they were super stressed and had been working like crazy for days…
January 18, 2009 at 5:29 pm |
anyone know if the montpelier store still has any 16GB in stock? I can’t find their # anywhere, and am loathe to make the trip in the cold if i don’t have to
January 19, 2009 at 8:33 pm |
Hey neil,
I found a technical article that discussed how different manufacturers use different algorithms, some not very accurate or at least cursory, to calculate the number of bars that should be displayed for a particular strength of signal. The long and the short of it was, ignore the bars as they are notoriously inaccurate (even purposefully inflated by some manufacturers) and see how they function with actual calls.
Hoping to get mine soon…
Mark
January 20, 2009 at 11:17 am |
Mark,
After I posted that message, i’ve seen my reception get progressively better over the last few days. I now seem to have parity between the iPhone and the Razr here in the house.
And just an FYI – when I picked up my phone at the Concord NH store, the rep said that they had a meeting earlier that morning where they learned that 3G would be turned on in VT in about 3 – 4 weeks.
- neil
January 21, 2009 at 9:46 am |
“3G would be turned on in VT in about 3 – 4 weeks.”
That’s good news if it’s true. I had heard from a number of sources that we wouldn’t have 3G until 3rd quarter of 2009 at the earliest.
January 21, 2009 at 9:23 pm |
My 16g arrived via UPS today. Pretty easy porting. 5 minutes on the phone.
yeah!
January 24, 2009 at 10:50 am |
IMPORTANT TIP for anyone porting to AT&T: After spending over 4 fruitless hours online and on the telephone with AT&T (only to have my order cancelled) I finally travelled to the former Unicel, now AT&T store in Rutland. After a mere 45 minutes, I left with 5 new sim cards and a smile on my face.
The reason you CANNOT perform this feat online or over the telephone is that AT&T maintains a database of “actual places” which it uses when processing your porting order. This may have something to do with e911. If your physical address doesn’t show up in their database, your order is summarily cancelled. Problem is, there are only a few entries in the database for “actual places in Vermont.” Chances are your home is not among them.
Only if you go to the store in person (and get an above average intelligence agent) will you be able to substitute the STORE ADDRESS for your physical address. The agent in Rutland told me that they already have 2,865 “virtual residents” of their kiosk at Diamond Run Mall.
If you aren’t making progress at the store, ask for the manager who is more likely to be up to speed on the Uncel > AT&T conversion.
Best wishes…
January 24, 2009 at 2:28 pm |
It might help you to know that the telephone number of the AT&T kiosk at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland is 802.786.2379
The store manager’s name is Andrew.
January 30, 2009 at 11:19 am |
The AT&T coverage map has been updated to include VT.
http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/
June 1, 2009 at 4:37 pm |
I moved back to nh from vermont last september and was with unicell. I was told that i would not be charged to port over to at&t and get a nh cell number i am furious that i havent been able to do this i would like to speak to a manager please frustrated customer