Okay, so I decided a few months ago that I would get the new iPhone 3G as soon as it was available. What I didn't count on was the level of stress that would be involved in purchasing a phone.

I've had an iPhone since last Christmas when I received one as a gift. I love it. There are few words that I can think of to express my love for this device. I wanted GPS, 3G Internet browsing speeds, and third-party applications via the new App Store, so it only made sense that I would sell my iPhone and get the iPhone 3G when it arrived in stores.

The iPhone 3G, Steve Jobs told me, would be available on 11 July 2008. Since I was scheduled to be away on vacation that week, from 5 July through 11 July, I had to put together a plan for getting my new iPhone. I listed my first-generation iPhone on eBay on 4 July 2008 with a starting bid of $299, and scheduled the auction to start on 5 July at 9:00 PM Eastern Time. By the time I would be driving home the next Saturday afternoon, I figured, I would have a buyer and be able to justify spending $299 on the new 16GB white iPhone 3G.

I received no bids all week. I was on vacation, but I was periodically checking (and by periodically, I mean about ten times each day) the eBay auction. Nothing. I was driving home on Saturday afternoon, at about 12:00 PM, and was 30-minutes from home. I had decided that I would not get the new iPhone until my current iPhone had been sold. I checked the eBay auction again. Finally, someone started the bidding, and I had my $299.

The Apple Store in Marlton, NJ was closest to me. I called. No iPhones in stock. The Cherry Hill, NJ store had just opened in the mall, so I called them. I spoke to someone on the phone who seemed, at best, frustrated. He told me that they had 16GB white iPhones in stock, but there was a line. I asked how many he had in stock. He replied that he could not tell me that. Weird, but whatever. He said that I should get there as soon as possible. I was ten minutes away.

I walked into the Cherry Hill store 20-minutes later. Parking is a real pain at that mall. Someone should really do something about that. The line had about eight people in it. The guy in front of me told me that the Apple store employee had already told the people in line that he only had enough iPhones for about six people, but that we could all wait and see if someone's "credit card is declined" or if there was another problem. The employee came by a few minutes later and repeated this again. Had the person with whom I spoke on the phone 20-minutes early told me this, I would have skipped the store and not wasted my time there.

There was a MacBook Pro next to me on display. I went to the retail page on Apple's Web site and found the phone numbers of two more stores. I called King of Prussia, PA. Another annoyed Apple employee answered the phone and told me that the line in his store was probably longer than the one in which I was standing. He told me not to bother (at least he was honest and didn't waste my time). Ardmore, PA was next. The line there was going out the door, according to the employee who answered. Don't bother.

AT&T was selling iPhones, right? Sure, if you could find a store that had not sold out yet. The biggest product launch, for any company in the United States, this year, and neither the manufacturer (Apple), nor their authorized reseller (AT&T) had any in-stock on Day 2. I called about four AT&T stores in the area, using my first-gen iPhone to search them out on a map. Nothing. And by the way, AT&T should go ahead and not list fax numbers as store numbers. I called about three fax machines. I know, they are a telecommunications company, right? I don't want to set the bar too high for them, though, so I'll give them a break.

I decided to go home. On my way, I saw an AT&T store on Haddonfield Road, just outside of the mall parking lot. I figured it was worth a shot. I had called so many stores, I was not sure if I had called this one. I go inside and am told to sign a sheet of paper. "What am I signing?", I ask. I am told that they are out of iPhones, but they will take my money and order one for me. It's the fastest way to get one, I'm told, unless I can find an Apple store that still has them. I'm told that AT&T stores are pretty much all sold out.

At this point, I ask the price, just to be sure of what I'm going to pay. Here's where it gets fun, and by fun, I mean the kind of fun one gets from poking oneself in the eye with a knitting needle. Two AT&T store employees told me that the prices for the phones were $399 and $499 (8GB and 16GB, respectively), unless I was eligible for an upgrade. I explained that I had received my iPhone as a gift this past Christmas, so I had just re-signed a contract with AT&T for two additional years six months ago. "You would not be eligible for the upgrade pricing", I was told. Yes, both of these geniuses said the same thing to me. I left the store a little more than angry.

I decided on the way home that I would keep my current iPhone. I would just try to cancel the eBay auction. Was that possible? Would I get negative feedback? Now I'm sweating a little. I didn't want to screw someone else out of the iPhone they had just won, fairly, on eBay.

I had read all the reports that the upgrade pricing ($199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model) would be available to all current iPhone owners, regardless of when they renewed their contracts with AT&T. I hadn't read anywhere on the previous day that this was incorrect, or had changed. I decided to call AT&T. I didn't know the number, so I called 866-CINGULAR. It still works. The woman who answered said, "yes, you are eligible for the upgrade pricing", and checked my account, just to be sure. I'm really annoyed now. I asked to speak to a supervisor. Darren S. confirms what she said. He was very nice and tried to be as helpful as possible given my frustration.

I explained to Darren that I wanted him to call the store I was just at and talk to someone there. He called, spoke to a manager, explained what happened, and asked the manager to check my account. Yep, I was eligible. Sorry for the inconvenience, Darren told me. I explained that I had had enough. He gave me a $50 credit on my next bill, and the numbers of the two closest AT&T stores where I lived.

I called the two AT&T stores and decided I'd go to the one located in the Deptford Mall, in Deptford, NJ. I was telling someone else about all this, and he said, "have you called the Atlantic City store?" He explained to me that it was only about 45-minutes away, and we could drive there. A road trip. Just what I wanted. The store couldn't possibly have any iPhones in-stock. "It has to be a high traffic store", I said. I called them anyway.

Someone answered. I think his name was Mike. He was the nicest person I'd dealt with at Apple all day. He said that they were out of the 16GB black models. I told that I wanted the white model and that I was about an hour away. He said that the line was short, and they had plenty of iPhones. I left my apartment, jumped into my car, and sped down Route 42. I got to Caesars casino in about an hour. My GPS was mocking me the whole way, increasing my arrival time by a minute ever 10 minutes or so. I made excellent time. Screw you, GPS.

I walked up to the door of the Apple store, and a woman greeted me (and everyone else entering). "Hi, are you here to buy an iPhone or just browse?", she said. Couldn't she tell from the look on my face, and sweat on my brow, that was there to buy an iPhone? She asked me to get in line. I didn't see a line. There were ropes up outside of the store entrance, but no line. I was first in line! My heart is beating faster. She handed me a little card. I have no idea what was written on it. Who cares? It could have had "You're a Fanboy Moron" printed in bold letters, written in the blood of an infant and I wouldn't have noticed. I wanted my damned iPhone.

Another woman came to the front of the store. More people were forming the line behind me. I was literally at the edge of the store doorway. No one was getting ahead of me. "Back off!", I wanted to say. Didn't they know what I'd been through already? So the other woman at the door takes my card and asks me what model iPhone 3G I want. I tell her the white one. She walks away and comes back with a small white box with an iPhone pictured on it. "Follow me", she says.

She takes me to a guy with a name tag that says "Scooter". Scooter asked me for some information. I gave him my driver's license and my credit card. Charge it up and let me be on my way. "Do you have any corporate discounts associated with your AT&T account?", he asks. No, I said. My heart dropped into my stomach. When I signed up with AT&T, years ago, I received a corporate discount. It was gone, right? When I got the first iPhone and renewed my contract in December, I was told that I could not carry over the corporate discount. AT&T had removed the code from my account, right?

Scooter told me that he could not proceed. I would have to get my iPhone from AT&T. The authorization servers set up between Apple and AT&T prevented him from registering the iPhone on AT&T's network. He took me to a MacBook Pro and we brought up my AT&T account. He showed me the code he was talking about. Yes, it was there. "How can I get it removed?", I asked. He called AT&T and handed me the phone.

Now I'm standing in the middle of the packed Apple store, talking to another AT&T support rep. She says she will remove the code, but that it will take up to "four or six hours". Insane. I ask for a supervisor. She tells me it will take ten minutes to get one. I told her that I was standing in the middle of the Apple store. I had already explained my previous encounter with AT&T sales reps earlier in the day, and asked her to get a supervisor immediately. She got one. Isn't it amazing how fast they can get someone if they just try a little?

The supervisor gets on the phone. I tell my full story again. I tell her that AT&T should have removed this code from my account six months ago. She says that it has been removed, but that Apple's servers won't be updated for "up to four hours". I said, "So it will not take longer than four hours, correct?" She said, "Sir, it can take up to four hours." I said that was too long. I explained that I was not going to sit in the Apple store for four hours because AT&T made yet another mistake. She basically told me that she was sorry, and there was nothing she could do.

I thought that my iPhone would be ripped out of my hands and given to someone else, but Scooter told me that he would hold it until the end of the day. He told me that it probably wouldn't take more than 30-minutes for Apple's servers to sync with AT&T's servers, and that I should take a walk around the mall and kill some time. He even wrote my name on the iPhone box and gave me a little card with my mobile number written on it. Thank you, Scooter.

I walked out to the boardwalk. It was hot, and I was out of cigarettes. I found a store that sold them. I had no lighter, so I had to buy one of those as well. $10 later I was still walking around. I went back to the mall, bought a drink, and decided to go back to the Apple store. It had been about an hour.

I walked in, checked my AT&T account on one of Apple's computers in the store, and the code was gone. I grabbed a store employee (Scooter's shift was up, so he was leaving) and gave him my card. He looked puzzled, but he went into the back room and came out a few minutes later with my iPhone. He wanted to leave the store about as much as I did. He activated it, handed it to me, walked me over to a row of iMacs, and told me to plug the iPhone into one of them and finish the setup process. What a pain. Before I plugged the iPhone into the iMac, I noticed it had a dead pixel. Are you kidding me? The store employee told me to activate it and we would deal with the dead pixel issue afterward.

He took my iPhone to the in-store Apple Genius at the Genius Bar. I saw them talking. Then, the sales rep walked into the back room and came out with another iPhone. We exchanged it, which involved going through the whole process of registering it on AT&T's network and setting it up on the iMac again. This time, the Apple employee asked me to fill in my own information on his little handheld device. Whatever. Just give me my phone. I'm this close, so I suppose your laziness will have to bother me some other time.

The iPhone was activated. I looked at cases, but they were all terrible. iSkin is finishing their 3G version of the Revo case, so I figure I'll wait a bit and use an old case that I purchased for my original iPhone. I left the store.

Later that night, the eBay auction for my first-gen iPhone went up to $405. Not bad for a phone that cost $400 six months earlier.

I'm sure that some people will say that if I really wanted an iPhone 3G I could have gotten one on Day 1, instead of finishing my vacation and trying on Day 2. Yes, that would have worked. However, both Apple and AT&T knew what the demand was going to be for over a month. They should have planned to have more iPhones available. I own several Apple products, and have been an AT&T customer for years. The level of effort required to purchase a product from Apple, and renew my AT&T contract in the process, was the most frustrating shopping experience of my life, and it could have been avoided.

By the way...

During the activation of the first iPhone (with the dead pixel), the Apple employee told me that their system was showing that my monthly AT&T bill would increase by $35. At that point in time, I would have paid him $35 to speed the process up a little, so I figured I'd call AT&T (again) later. I called them today and was told that this was incorrect. I knew that the 3G data plan would be an additional $10 per month. That seemed fair to me. When I called AT&T today, the representative told me that my bill would not go up $35 (big relief), but that it would increased by $15. The extra $5 was a result of the new plan not including any text messages. It used to come with 200 free text messages per month, but now those same 200 messages would cost me an additional $5. I cannot see how this is justified at all, considering that they weren't charging me for the 200 messages before. I guess they just needed a way to make a few more dollars off their customers and snuck that in there. The fact that the Apple employee had no idea that this was even happening, and had told me that my bill would be even more expensive than it actually turned out to be, was par for the course.

So now I have my new iPhone 3G. I love it, despite what I went through to get it. I'll remain an Apple customer as long as they continue to offer great products, but their product launches could be improved greatly with a little more help from their store employees and better overall planning.