When Apple's newest cell phone model was first announced, I had no intention of replacing my trusty 4S. It may have been pushing the limits of its memory and been slowing down a tad, but that's nothing I wouldn't be able to live with. After all, I did have a flip phone for nearly seven years.
It was only after a conversation with someone next to me at the bar at Iron Hill Brewery in Phoenixville that the seed to upgrade was planted in my head. He showed me his 5S, and I liked the feel and speed. Since the 6 was on the verge of release, I went with the new model, not needing the larger 6 Plus because I already have an iPad mini. I finally pulled the trigger on September 30 so that I could take advantage of AT&T's offer of a $200 promo card for my old phone. It would be a couple of weeks, but I had no problem waiting.
What I did have a slight problem with was the delivery window being shifted from the end of October to the first two weeks of November. I was beginning to get antsy. Finally, last Friday, I got the email that my phone had shipped. Bad news: despite being shipped 2nd day air, it would need four days to reach me. Good news: like myself, UPS was working on Veterans Day, so I got it on Tuesday, exactly six weeks after placing the order. The process of bringing over my data from a backup was seamless. And the phone is as excellent as advertised, especially the new features like Touch ID.
When I went to start the trade-in process on AT&T's website, the promo code I'd been given failed to work. So yesterday, I went back to the store and talked to the sales rep again. I waited patiently as he spent nearly an hour on the phone with AT&T corporate, talking to at least five different people. Finally, he got a promo code, which I wrote down as he repeated it back. I left the store relieved... only to have my aggravation re-ignited when the code didn't work when I got home. When I called the sales rep again, he did a smart thing - he texted me the code. This alerted me to the fact that it contained two dashes that I didn't know existed. At long last, I was able to print out a receipt and label, and ship back my old phone.
It was an arduous ordeal, but I came out the end of it with everything I wanted. At the end of the day, that's the most important thing.