If you tried to pre-order the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus through AT&T, you may remember the process being a mess. Apple announced 4 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours, but behind that big number were a lot of people stuck refreshing pages, waiting on hold, and wondering if their order was actually real.
For me, this was the worst iPhone pre-order I had gone through up to that point. I had ordered every iPhone since the original, usually more than one, and this one still managed to turn into a multi-day customer service project.
Quick Answer
The short version: the Apple Store was down for hours, AT&T upgrade eligibility checks appeared to be failing, and even after I placed my iPhone 6 Plus orders through AT&T directly, my bank flagged the charges as fraud more than once. That caused payment failures, long phone calls, confusing order status changes, and one charge I had to dispute.
If you were seeing delayed ship dates, changed order dates, or payment problems during the AT&T iPhone 6 pre-order, you were not alone. The most useful things I learned were to confirm the order status with a real AT&T representative, make sure every support call is documented in the notes, and not treat the estimated shipping window as final until an actual tracking number appears.
The Apple Store Was Down
Like a lot of people, I was ready about 15 or 20 minutes before the midnight pre-order launch. I had the Apple Store website open and was also trying the Apple Store app on iPhone and iPad.
In previous iPhone launches, the app sometimes worked when the website did not. This time, that workaround did not help me. The Apple Store itself was essentially unavailable, and pre-orders were not going through.
From what I saw, the iOS Apple Store app came back before the website did, and a few people were able to get orders placed there. But for anyone upgrading through AT&T, the process still seemed to hit eligibility problems.
AT&T Looked Like The Main Problem
My read at the time was that AT&T’s systems were a major part of the problem. When I got far enough into the process, the issue seemed to land around upgrade eligibility. People placing new orders or not tied to existing AT&T upgrade checks appeared to have fewer problems.
That matched what I was hearing from others. I had people on Verizon who were able to get in around 12:05 a.m., place the order, and finish in about five minutes. Meanwhile, AT&T customers were still fighting with websites, eligibility checks, and order errors.
The Apple Store website did not come up for me until around 2:45 a.m., almost three hours after the so-called midnight launch. After waiting close to an hour, I gave up on Apple’s site and went directly through AT&T.
The Orders Finally Went Through
I ordered two iPhone 6 Plus models: one 64GB in black and one in gold. I could not add them to the same cart, so I had to place two separate orders.
That made the process more stressful because each order had to survive on its own. When one order goes through and the other does not, you start worrying about whether the second phone will be delayed by weeks.
At first, both orders seemed fine. The confirmation email showed a 14 to 21 day shipping window. I thought I was done. I was not.
Then The Bank Flagged AT&T As Fraud
The next morning I received an email saying AT&T could not charge my card. After calling US Bank, I found out the bank had flagged AT&T as fraud.
I cleared it up with the bank and then called AT&T. That meant another long hold, around an hour and a half. AT&T’s phone system was also having trouble, with messages about technical difficulties and requests to call back later.
That is the last thing you want to hear when a pre-order is time-sensitive and shipping windows are already slipping into late October and November.
The Fraud Hold Happened Again
The following morning, I woke up to another message saying AT&T still could not charge my card. I called US Bank again and found out AT&T had been flagged as fraud a second time, even after I had already talked to the bank.
US Bank told me the fraud system was automatic and there was not much they could do to permanently stop it. After talking with other people online, it sounded like a lot of buyers were running into the same issue.
That meant another call to AT&T and another long wait. This time I reached a very helpful representative who worked through the orders with me.
One Order Got Stuck
AT&T was able to push one order through, but the second order became a bigger problem. Their system showed an issue that looked like insufficient funds, even though the account had more than enough money available.
I called US Bank while I still had AT&T on the phone. The bank said both charges had gone through from their side, but AT&T could only see one successful order.
I asked if we could cancel the stuck order and place it again so I would not lose my place in line. That turned into another problem because the bank needed an authorization code from the seller, and AT&T did not have one because the order had not fully completed in their system.
In the end, I had to change the card on that order and use a different credit card. The order finally went through, but I still had a $479 charge tied up that I had to dispute and wait to get back.
The Shipping Dates Were Confusing
After all of that, AT&T told me my original place in line had not changed. The manager said my 14 to 21 day shipping window still started from my original order date, September 12.
I also asked whether AT&T was waiting on more iPhones from Apple or whether the phones were already in AT&T’s warehouse. I was told that November orders would likely be part of another batch from Apple, but my 14 to 21 day order should already be in AT&T’s warehouse and just needed to be packed and shipped.
Then I received another email that made things even more confusing. My order date appeared to change from September 12 to September 15, and my ship date moved into November. At that point, I was close to canceling and switching to Verizon.
When I called AT&T again, the representative said her screen still showed the original September 12 order date and the 14 to 21 day shipping window. She had someone else on the floor verify it, and they told me not to worry about the email.
What I Learned
The biggest lesson from this pre-order was that the email status and online status page were not always telling the same story as AT&T’s internal system. That is a problem because customers make real decisions based on those dates.
Another lesson: always ask customer support to leave detailed notes on the account. A good representative should already be doing that, but when you are dealing with multiple calls, payment problems, and shipping windows, those notes matter.
The final thing I learned is that an estimated shipping date is not the same as a tracking number. Until the tracking number is issued, the date can still move. But once the phone ships, canceling becomes harder or impossible, which puts customers in a frustrating middle ground.
- Ask AT&T to confirm the order date and shipping window from their internal screen.
- Make sure every support call is documented in account notes.
- If a card is declined, call the bank and the carrier before placing a duplicate order.
- Watch for fraud holds on large phone purchases, especially if ordering more than one device.
- Do not assume a changed email ship date is final until AT&T confirms it.
Key Takeaways
- The Apple Store was down for hours during the iPhone 6 pre-order launch, and the Apple Store app was not a reliable workaround for everyone.
- AT&T upgrade eligibility appeared to be one of the biggest pain points for existing AT&T customers.
- Large iPhone pre-order charges were being flagged as fraud by some banks, including my US Bank card.
- Separate orders created extra risk because one phone could process while the other got stuck.
- AT&T email updates and internal order status did not always match, so calling support was necessary.
- A tracking number mattered more than any estimated shipping window.
Watch the Video
The video above above for the full walkthrough of how the AT&T iPhone 6 Plus pre-order unfolded, including the payment issues, support calls, and shipping-date confusion.
