Sprint shutting down June 5th Pre pre-sales? 12
Fri, 29 May 2009 2:03 pm EDT 
If Boy Genius Report is to be believed (they’re running about half-and-half with Palm Pre rumors thus far), Sprint corporate has decided to put the kibosh on the handful of stores that decided that they were going to sell the Pre on the Friday before the June 6th launch.
While the ten Sprint Premier parties will still have Pre phones on hand for night before sales (and many lucky folks in our forums are going), those other rogue stores have been roped in and told to hold their Pre stock until Saturday morning. We're still hearing reports of people being told that they can buy the Pre on the 5th, however, so as is sadly typical with Sprint launches, the exact situation isn't 100% clear.
In any case, it's clear that Sprint and Palm are worried about the number of Pre phones they’ll have on hand, so holding all available units for the 8 AM Saturday launch will let them keep it all in check.
Thanks to Reminiz in our forums for the tip!
12 Comments
They have already done this at my Sprint store. When I called about a week ago the manager got on the phone and told me that if I wanted a Pre, I could come in on Friday after 6pm, and get one until midnight. But when I called yesterday, he said they weren't doing that any more, and that they would be open at 8am on Saturday.
Last week I posted and said that the Terra Haute store was gonna be selling the Pre on Friday night June 5th from 6-10pm. My husband called yesterday to double check and was told that "No" they will not be opening at 6pm June 5th. They will be opening 8am Saturday June 6th. Go Figure!!!
A manager of a local Sprint store said they'd open at midnight here... who knows, though.
If they only had the quantity....
Just been from a local Sprint store. No more June 5 pre-launch sale here either.
Every couple of weeks since CES I've been making regular visits to the largest Sprint store here in Eau Claire, WI. While I can't speak for other areas, here's what I found out yesterday.
The store will definitely be getting Pre stock for launch, however they still don't know how many units they will have on hand. They don't expect to find out until a day or two before launch (presumably when the shipper delivers them.)
Pre's will *not* be available until Saturday morning at 8am, they won't be making early sales to Premiere customers or anyone else.
The stock will be sold on a first come, first served basis. While I don't think there will be much of a line in this area, I still plan to get to the store early just in case.
At this particular store, they have been taking phone numbers for a 'call list' of people who want to know when they can come in and get the Pre. On Saturday morning, anyone in line will get first crack at the stock on hand. After that, they'll start calling people on the list.
Not trying to nit pick but you have a typo in your post "Sprin and Palm"
"Rogue Sprint stores"??? The idea I was getting was that it was a corporate thing in the first place, hence an e-mail being sent out BY Sprint to those people who had signed up for it. So maybe Sprint has changed their mind, but I thought the "rogue stores" thing sounded odd.
BGR has been half and half? Huh? They exclusively broke the release date with that leaked memo, they exclusively broke the pricing of $199, they exclusively broke the fact that there would be shortages, and they're the first blog to actually have the Pre. What's the other half?
How about Best Buy having an exclusive trial launch on June 7th? And the out of contract price being $999?
I stopped by my local Sprint store today and they said no more early sales on June 5th. Come by when we open on June 6th (or line up early). They had not received their stock, so no idea how many will be available.
I spoke to my local Sprint store just this morning, and they said the same thing... Not selling any early, and they would close early Friday for the early opening on Saturday morning, AND they were going to be doing "1st come 1st served" for sales.