[dsjr2006]

I remember when I bunch of places did this for the iPhone launch and when they showed up on launch day found out that the lists couldn't not be honored.

[beret9987]

My store has 6 coming in and I have reservered 2 for my mother and I. Gonna get there nice and early. So I'm settled! Just need to ask if they can manage a instant rebate...

[ronlongo]

I seem to have secured myself one at a local non-corporate store. I contacted the advocate at the store who stated they will have a very small number of phones in stock for Saturday (Less than 10). He said they were taking names for a list but only new Sprint customers (I'm currently on Verizon) were being listed. Once he gets his delivery of phones (which he expects on Friday) he will call the people on the list to schedule appointments for them to come setup their phone. I initially got onto the list on Friday. I called again tonight to verify that I'm on the list. I'm 5th on the list. For those they don't have enough phones for he'll give them the option of "direct shipping" or waiting for subsequent deliveries to the store.

Here's to hoping they get enough phones so that I can get one on Sat.

[patchs]

Today, I stopped at my local third party mall kiosk, they had giant cardboard Pres, so I knew then they would be selling them, lol.
Anyways, the woman told me, no early (Friday) sales, no waiting list, they will open at 8 and they've had a bunch of requests.
She doesn't know how many they're getting (since we're a small town, I expect not many) and they will not be in until Friday.
I forgot to ask about accessories and whether they will do instant rebate.
I will stop in again on Friday to have a better idea of how early I need to be there.
So close, 4 more days, 4 more days.

[ShadowFox19]

I contacted my nearest non-corporate Sprint store and they said they're taking pre-orders...but for new activations only. What a croc of you-know-what!

[seekis]

my store is corporate and fcfs. they did not tell me how many phones they would get, but they did say that it wouldn't be many. guess im gonna have to camp out for at least a little while to make sure i get one. sb sprint store here i come.!

[pullbangdead]

my store is corporate and fcfs. they did not tell me how many phones they would get, but they did say that it wouldn't be many. guess im gonna have to camp out for at least a little while to make sure i get one. sb sprint store here i come.!

"sb" as in Santa Barbara, CA?

[Rino808]

Okay guys i went ot my local corprate store here in Hawaii. The sales person told me that they had a list and you have to sign up on the Sprint web site to get on the list. Have any of you heard of that. I have searched on the Sprint site and couldnt find anything about a list for the pre....

[nerdtalker]

Ugh, I seriously hate this waiting list garbage. We need first come first served so the lines are long and the hype is huge, then we'll get some media attention and scare the hot air out of WWDC.

[anon(45821)]

On the list at my local non corp store. I'm already a Sprint customer 9 months out of contract.

[dfine1966]

Just called my local non corporate store, and got on the list. I am number 3. She said they are getting 10 of the PRE's. I did this after I called my corporate store and they just decided to change the hours from 8 AM opening to 10 AM. My schedule is really tight on Saturday (Daughters birthday Party, and I needed to be done by 10AM). The only thing the non corporate store won't have any of the accessories right away. Did anyone ask if there store was getting the accessories. I know the corporate stores were, but are only some non corp stores not getting accessories right away?

[CJDynasty]

Are the non-corporate store abiding by the $100 MIR? So, will it still be $299 out the door at these stores as well?

[anon(45821)]

Yes

[notabun]

When you search on Sprint using their store locator, the corporate stores will just say Sprint. The non-corporate stores will say Spriny by xxx.

This isn't true. When I search for Grand Rapids, MI, I get a few stores that just say "Sprint Store" in the results. When you call them though, they say they are not corporate stores. In fact, the closest corporate store to me is in Kalamazoo.

Just wanted to share this because you pretty much have to call a store to verify if they are corporate owned or not.

[Synthe]

The date the Pre launch was announced, I called the closest non-corporate store to my house and got put on a list to be contacted when they had more info. A few days after that, I stopped into that store to see if they had a demo model yet, and spoke with a different sales guy. They didn't have a demo, but offered to put me on their list (a spiral notebook). I let him know that I had called in earlier and was already on the list, and he verified (and I saw) that yes, my name was #1 on the list.

Today after reading this post and seeing that some stores were doing deposits, I called and talked to the manager of that store. Evidently that first list wasn't to hold anything, but just for notification of store hours for Saturday and whatever. In any case, she told me it would be "first come first served" but if I wanted to come in and fill out the paperwork ahead of time, it would make things faster on Saturday. I beelined it to the store, and asked for her by name. She remembered my name and that she had just talked to me, and handed me the paperwork to fill out. Another customer who was there waiting asked for the same paperwork for the Pre, so he got a couple pages also. This other gentleman didn't know when the release was, and when told it was Saturday, he stated he wouldn't be in town for the weekend and would be back on Tuesday. Stephanie the manager told him that was OK, with this paperwork she would hold one for him until Tuesday.

Needless to say, I am getting mixed messages here. Maybe "First Come First Served" means the first people with filled out paperwork get it? I know that the store opens at 8AM, so I'll be there around 7:30 or earlier.

[dsrtdog]

I have been with Sprint since 98 or 99. I have a contact in my area that is on the BtoB side of the business. After similiar confusion (see below), I went in this morning and paid $100 deposit (receipt shows non-refundable deposit for Palm Pre available for pickup 6/6/09 after 8am). Since my contact was at the store at the time I am confident I will have one Saturday morning.

Yes I will go through the whole "set up" exercise since I want to be sure I am productive by Monday morning (i.e. I will use this thing for business).

I was informed that this store will only have 13 phones available on Saturday and that they had ordered as many as they could/were allowed. (Non-Corp. Store).

I posted this in a couple other threads, but just to add to the info here ...

I called three stores and below are the responses I got.

Store #1 Response (NOT Corporate)

He told me he would definitely run out. He said that he had 377 people on the waiting list, and then he asked me to guess how many they are sending him. I guess 50 and he laughs and loudly tells me 25! He said that he could take my order and it would be fulfilled in 3-5 days. I thanked him and asked him if they had one in store. He said no, but he was trained on it and said it was beautiful and worked really well (responsive, etc.).

Store #2 Response (Corporate)

We are not sure how many we are getting in yet, and we do have a list, but to be honest with you our store is not going to even use the list or give people with a letter preferential treatment. It would be too difficult. If we get 50 phones we will let the first 50 have them, so if there is more than 50 in line the 1st 50 will get them. I suggest you just be here before 8 and wait in line Saturday. By the way, she said they would let a person purchase two for a family plan as long as they were activated in store.

Store #3 Response (NOT Corporate)

Come in and pre-pay (no pun intended) or put a deposit down and I'll hold it for you. Just stop in Saturday and pick it up at your leisure. I told him I would be p***ed if I paid for or put a deposit on one and it turned out he didn't have one available. He assured me he would.

The bottom line is I still have no idea what to believe. I definitely think there will be quite a difference in how corporate and non-corporate stores can/will handle it though.

[f1nzup#WN]

I stopped by a non-corporate store this morning and they put me on a list that will give me 24 hours to pick up the phone, so basically any time on Saturday. The only catch is that this guy owns 5 stores and is only getting around 50 Pres, and because he has 5 different lists being generated they will check all of the lists on Friday morning to confirm the first 50 people on the different lists, so I won't be 100% sure I am getting one until Friday, but still in time to let me know whether I have to get in line on Saturday morning or not.

Also, he had one in the store and gave me about a 45 minute demo on many of the features and just how to navigate through everything. This did NOT help me with the "I want it NOW" syndrome I am going through already.

I also got to use the keyboard for a few minutes. I would say it's going to take some getting used to, but I did not experience any problems with the lip above the top row of keys. The problem I had was that the keys weren't as "plump" as I thought they would be, and that is what will take some getting used to, but I will still like it better than the virtual keyboard on my Instinct I currently have.

[hitman-_-45-_-]

The rep said they were getting 25 in today and that I could stop by and confirm it. So I intend on stopping by on my way home from work today. And I'll check the list to make sure I'm still #13.

[My Precious]

I called several stores and they don't let me secure one, pay for it, fill out paperwork, NOTHING! all they told me is that it'll be 299 and they have a rebate. Why can't it be 200 out the door?
we're signing a long term commitment worth thousands of dollars, don't play stupid games with rebates hoping I forget to mail mine!

I can't stand in line for a cell phone with 2 small children, this is frustrating

I hate these stupid viral campaigns full of hype, just offer a phone, advertise the price and stop the dumb games already, this is worse than iphone hype.

[pullbangdead]

I did my deposit on the 29th at the Santa Maria, CA store. The other advantage is non-corporate stores can hold an event on Friday if they want - such as this one. They will be re-opening at 6PM and staying open till midnight. And of course just to make sure, I still have one ordered through work - you can NEVER be too safe!

I can confirm that the lead salesperson at this store told me the exact same thing (well, except one small detail: she said they were starting to sell/give out the pres after 6pm on Friday, which agrees with firefinder24, but she didn't think they would be staying open past 8:30, which is slightly different, but doesn't matter to me at all).

Supposedly, one is reserved on my name, and it'll be there waiting for me at 6pm on Friday. If it ends up not true, well then there's always Saturday!

Woot!!!

Another funny thing though, other non-corporate stores that are owned/operated by the same company (one in Oxnard, for example) aren't doing the same thing, so it really is store-by-store, not even company-by-company.