iPhone 15 Preorder Thread

I’m going to share my pre-order experience with the hope that it helps someone else either now or in the future.

I have JOD and am upgrading from the 14 Pro 128GB to 15 Pro Max 256GB.

Typically the 14 Pro 128GB is $249.99 down plus tax and $28 monthly. So, I was in for a bit of sticker shock when I learned that the 15 Pro Max 256GB is $449.99 plus tax and $25 monthly. For some reason I was expecting it to be $100 more up front and $100 more for purchase option price at the end of the 18 months lease, but I was wrong.

Once I got over the sticker shock and decided to proceed, everything went smoothly, albeit slow due to system overload, which is not surprising on pre-order day.

A couple of key takeaways for me during the process:

1. When I first called, I was routed to customer service in India.. No bueno.. their training and language skills are lacking and they are so verbose, had I continued with the sweet but inefficient rep, I would have never been able to complete the order. After 2 minutes of her babbling and NOT taking my information (which I always have handy to expedite the process), I requested to be transferred to a US based rep. And she did.

2. Unlike last year when I pre-ordered the 14 Pro on JOD, and was disconnected 2 times (luckily the 2nd rep called back), the phone stayed connected despite being placed on hold several times. This was an improvement.
3. I was quoted a price including down payment and tax by the rep, and there were no shipping fees or service charges for using their phone service. I gave him my credit card and after processing it, I received the email to read the agreement, provide and electronic signature to complete the order. I intentionally kept the rep on the line (normally they would thank you, ask you if they could help with anything else and end the call) just to be sure that there were no surprises in the e-document, and I'm so glad that I did. There was a $35 service connection fee charge on the e-doc! I explained to the rep that there should be NO additional charges beyond the down payment and tax. He spoke with his supervisor and said that it's automatically added by their system. He then said that he would apply a $35 credit to our account to offset this charge, and I verified that he did.

In the old days, despite the free (2 day?) shipping, I've always received the phone on release day. My order says expected ship date is 9/22, so we'll see. If it doesn't arrive until Monday or Tuesday, I really don't care. I just need to be here to sign and make sure that the porch pirates in Los Angeles don't beat up the UPS driver. What a world.

Anyway, I hope that sharing my experience will help someone reading this. And I hope that you all enjoy your new iPhones. 😀