Like many Apple fanboys in this country, I was among those who had been anticipating the arrival of the iPhone 4 to our shores.
As far as Apple products are concerned, the Philippines are among the last to get their latest staff, which to my mind has it's own advantage. By the time the new stuff gets here, all of the best and comprehensive reviews had been released, giving the prospective buyer a good idea if that product is truly right for him. In addition, whatever software or OS bugs that had "escaped" their quality control would have been fixed by the time the product is released here.
That said, in spite of the myriad of options in which I could have gotten my hands on one, whether it be the grey-market, relatives coming home, or eBay, I decided to get the official Globe release... even though it is around Php 10,000 more expensive than in Hong Kong or the USA. There are however two glaring advantages (and one other disadvantage, aside from the price) in getting the Globe release. One, you have a one-year iron-clad warranty that you can claim in this country. The iPhone is the only Apple product that has NO international warranty and must be claimed in the country it was purchased from. Two, you can buy it via a 0% interest credit card scheme. The other disadvantage is that it is sim-locked to Globe, but then I can always jailbreak it if and when I need to, when I go abroad. However, how often do you really need an open-line phone abroad? Only if you're staying a long time (say 2 weeks or more) and you need a full data account, which to me happens very rarely.
Thus, like every Pinoy Apple fanboy, when Globe announced that they were accepting "intent to reserve" requests last August, your truly was one of the first to register in their website. Saturday, September 18, they sent email and SMS messages to us that the launch was on September 24 for Business accounts and the 26th for Personal accounts. They also asked what model (16 or 32g) and plan (New Post-Paid, Loyalty/Retention, or Pre-Paid) we wanted. I wanted to retain my present plan but NOT really wanting to have myself in a 2-year lock-in if I go for a Retention Plan, I requested for a Pre-Paid Kit. I then received a confirmation email that my request will be processed and I will receive an email or an SMS in 3 working days.
Wednesday, no email or text. Thursday, no email or text. This went on until Saturday the 25th. When I was looking at accounts in Philmug, sure enough, many of them were saying that they received their, so-called, "e-stub" via SMS. But then most, if not all, were New Post-Paid Plan clients. Apparently, Globe was prioritizing these clients, 2nd were the Loyalty/Retention, and last were us Pre-Paid Kit clients. According to some at Philmug, Globe will be sending SMS e-stubs until midnight of the 25th. Midnight came and I stopped waiting and forgot all about it.
September 26, 7:27 pm the text came...
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