Some background first. All of the AT&T stores in southern Idaho and northern Utah are sold out of iPhones. Most of them sold out last Friday morning when the new 3G iPhone first became available. I suspect that because AT&T’s 3G network is not available in this area (and probably never will be because whatever 4G is going to be will come out first), AT&T didn’t think they needed as many iPhones in those stores as in areas where the 3G network is available. I stopped into the local AT&T store and asked the clerk if they had any iPhones (“No”). Will there be any anytime soon (“No”). While I was there I overheard this conversation between a mother, her teenage son, and a very young AT&T store clerk:

Clerk: The best I can do for an iPhone is for you to do the paperwork today, pay for the phone, and we’ll put you on the personalized delivery program. When you phone arrives, we’ll call you and you can come in to activate it and pick it up.

Teenager: Well, how long will that take?

Clerk: At least 20 to 30 days and might be longer.

Teenager: That’s just insane!

Mother, pointing to a Nokia handset that was at least $120 cheaper than the 8gb iPhone: Well, you can always get this one that you were looking at. It can do everything you want, like texting and has a camera and stuff. Besides, you can take that one home today.

Teenager to clerk: Well, can I upgrade the phone when the iPhones are available?

Clerk: Of course! When you can upgrade, the iPhone will be a whole lot better as well.

Teenager to mother: Well, then can we get a phone today?

Mother: Sure.

Mother to clerk: We’ll take that one.

And the clerk went to the back to get the Nokia phone box and to start the paperwork. It was all I could do to not step into the conversation because two very critical questions were not asked nor answered.

1. When can I upgrade?

2. What will an upgrade cost?

The clerk obviously didn’t want to volunteer the answers because he’s trained very carefully to only answer the question that is asked and also to do nothing to derail a sale.

The mother also wasn’t interested in those questions because she didn’t want to spend a whole lot more money on an iPhone if her son was willing to take a different, much less expensive phone.

The teenager didn’t know to ask.

The questions were important because they are closely related. Upgrading the phone before the upgrade period starts (18 months after purchase) means starting a new contract and paying full price for the new phone. After the upgrade period, the price of the new phone is prorated. In any regard, the cost of the iPhone is significantly higher in an upgrade situation rather than doing the purchase as the clerk originally suggested and waiting for the phone to finally arrive in the store.

Knowing what questions to ask comes from experience. Experience, unfortunately, comes from not knowing the questions to ask. I’ve been there too many times.

Yesterday was the Big Launch Day for the 3G version of the Apple iPhone. Twitter, FriendFeed, the blogosphere, and the news media were all about the millions of people who stood in line to buy the new iPhone. I heard on Twitter from people who had stood in line for hours and others who stood in line and were sent home because they wouldn’t get into the Apple store in time to complete the process that day.

I really want the new iPhone as well. I’ve been a Sprint customer since we came back to the United States from Japan in 1998, but Sprint has a poor lineup of phones with *maybe* a phone that might challenge the iPhone in September or October. It’ll be short, I’m sure, since none of the carriers have yet to figure out what people really want in a mobile device. Apple has it pretty well nailed, though.

So, this fine Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning and early afternoon on yard work, I decided to wander down to the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho (that’s where I live) to see if they had any iPhones in stock and what the individual and family pricing plans would be. My contract with Sprint has expired, as has Nina’s, so we can easily move networks.

But, the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho was mobbed with people. People buying iPhones! One of the big draws for the new iPhone is that it works on AT&T’s 3g network whereas up-until-now, the phone has only worked on their Edge network. Mind you, the 3G network is not available in Pocatello and might never be part of our landscape. Edge is the best that it gets around here. That apparently didn’t matter to the mob in the AT&T store. It doesn’t matter to me, either, since a good part of our travels puts us in 3G land.

Even more interesting is that the AT&T store here is sold out of iPhones. When I finally worked through the line and got to talk to a sales agent, the first thing he told me was, “We’re sold out. We’ve been sold out since before noon yesterday.” Further, he had no idea when they would get another shipment in, “but it’ll be at least a week.”

In response to my question about why so many people were in the store buying iPhones, I learned that they were setting up the contract and paying for the iPhone today. They were then put on a queue for the next shipment of phones and would be notified when their shiny new iPhone actually arrived. They would then come into the store for activation and to pick up the phone.

I wasn’t planning on buying an iPhone today. I was mostly interested in the pricing, particularly the family plan pricing if both my wife and I bought new iPhones. I did get some of that information, but because I wasn’t buying, he wanted me to go to the website instead so he could wait on someone who was going to buy.

As I left the store, I twittered: “Stopped at the AT&T store in Pocatello. The place is mobbed with people buying iPhones. The store is is out!” When I got home, my wife asked me if I had stopped anywhere. “Not really,” I replied. With a big grin she said, “Really? You didn’t stop anywhere?” Snagged. I told her I had stopped at the AT&T store for some info. “A secret spy told me you were in that store,” she told me. I thought through who was in the store that she would have talked to. Turns out it wasn’t anyone in the store…. My favorite brother had called from Green River, Wyoming and mentioned that I had been in the AT&T store looking at iPhones. No only would I have had to pay in advance, my wife knows about it well before I get home. Twitter tattle tales!