So let’s begin our story on Friday the iPhone launch day… I got off work a bit early and while I was driving home I stopped by an AT&T store only to find out that they didn’t have any more iPhones in stock. I went home and ate my lunch and then called Kelly to see if she wanted to try our luck after she got off work. I headed over to our dog grooming shop to help her clean and wait for all the customers to pick up their dogs. We then headed to the Apple Store in Costa Mesa at the South Coast Plaza. I had been checking updates regarding how busy stores were throughout Southern California and this particular store was never mentioned and although I know it’s one of the biggest malls in California I decided we would check it out. To our disappointment there was a line, a very very very very long line. One that I came to find out was well over 4 hours long, so we went home defeated instead. Then on Saturday I dropped Kelly off for work and after getting some breakfast and having my cars oil changed I decided to check out the line for the apple Store again, since it wasn’t supposed to open till 10. I discover what appears to be a long but managable line, probably about 100 people deep, one of the workers predicted about a 2 hour wait, which wasn’t bad but I wasn’t sold on it yet. As I walked back to my car I called Kelly and asked her if she thought I should wait and she said yes. So i went back to the line, now 105 people deep and proceeded to spend 5 hours in line slowly making my way to iPhone heaven. Fortunately I had great linemates both in front and behind me who i talked with all 5 hours as we stood and waited. Let me say that again…. 5 HOURS! A lot longer then I expected. While in line Apple Store reps offered us free coffee and also they shared information and answered any questions they could. After about 1 hour of wait (an moving 5 feet) one of the reps came out told anyone that had a discount on their bill that they might have issues getting an iPhone today and that the wait could be 4-6 hours if that was the case. I had called AT&T earlier in the week to make sure everything would be fine on my account and they said it wouldn’t be a problem, but just to make sure I immediately cancled my discount to make sure I had no issue once I reached the store. The experience was a bit frustrating but I have to give it to the Apple Store in SCP they really did all they could themselves to make the experience somewhat plesant. So now both Kelly and I are proud owners of 3G iPhones. I have to admit I really love this phone so far.
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