pre order nightmare. save yourself and run as far away from this store as you can

i wish it were possible to give a 0 star review. 1 star is far too generous.

like many other people, i preordered the iphone 16 pro max, a week before the launch date. my current phone is quite literally on its death bed, and so i specifically placed a pre order to ensure that my new phone would arrive as soon as possible, on launch date.

1 week later, launch date comes, and surprise surprise, i get a message saying that my phone won't be arriving on time, but that it will DEFINITELY be arriving by the end of the following week. i'm a patient and understanding person, and i know that things happen, so while i was disappointed, i figured that 1 extra week wouldn't kill me.

i spent that entire week buzzing with excitement for my new phone. i figured that it would probably arrive on friday, as there was a public holiday on tuesday, and friday is the end of the week, which is when i was promised my phone would arrive. i was so excited that i already ordered some nice phone covers for my new phone, and started getting my old phone ready to be traded in. during this week, i kept trying to make contact with the istore to get more details about my order. i wanted to know when it would be coming so that i could make sure someone is at home to receive it.

each time i reached out to an agent, they were extremely rude and unhelpful, which left a very bad taste in my mouth.

thursday comes around, and according to my message from the istore, my phone would be coming any time now. but nothing. i spent the entire thursday trying to contact the istore to find out if my phone would be coming on friday, 90% of my attempts at contact were just straight up ignored, and the few times i actually did make it through to an agent, they were just super rude, and basically said "i don't know when it's coming but it'll come by the end of the week"

i spend the entire friday in anticipation. after all, my phone was supposed to be coming today. i specifically had to work from home to ensure that i could receive my phone. i was practically sitting by the window like a dog waiting for the mail man. but NO ONE CAME.

now at 5pm, i get a message from the istore saying that my phone will only be arriving in 1-2 weeks. just to recap, this means my phone will be arriving THREE WEEKS after it was supposed to and A MONTH after i pre ordered it. and that's if it even arrives in 2 weeks. they might send another message in 2 weeks time at 5pm on a friday saying that it'll only arrive in a month.

all they keep saying is that they don't know when the shipment will arrive, and there's no way that's true. are we in the fairytale about the shoe maker and the magical elves that fix shoes over night? is this shipment company just a bunch of magical elves that come by unexpectedly and drop some phones off every now and then? HOW ON EARTH do you not know when a shipment is coming?? i think this would be a bit less frustrating if i could just get a date or an actual answer rather than the vague "ahhh we don't know when it's coming haha". surely if your shipment company functions on faith trust and pixie dust you should find a shipping company that's more reliable and doesn't just drop phones off whenever they feel like it?

also hey man, maybe ORDER MORE PHONES next time?? if this is an issue every year, like i keep being told, then ORDER. MORE. PHONES. and it won't be an issue anymore.

this has been the most unprofessional thing i've ever seen, from rude agents to total incompetence when it comes to planning. i'm fuming. and judging by the thousands of other 1 star reviews here, a lot of other people feel the same. this experience alone is genuinely enough to make me never want to use an apple product again.

i am frustrated by the lack of planning, the rude agents, the incompetence. everything.

if you are reading this, save yourself the hassle and never buy anything from this excuse of a shop. trust me, it isn't worth it. i literally feel like i'm being ****** from. worst R30k i've ever spent.