As Jon Stewart put it during a recent iPhone skit on The Daily Show, “Our long national nightmare is almost over” -- that is, Verizon Wireless will begin accepting preorders for the iPhone 4 from existing customers one week from today.
MacRumors is reporting that Verizon Wireless is notifying existing customers that they’ll be able to preorder an iPhone 4 next Thursday, February 3, beginning at 3am EST -- a full week before everyone else can get their orders placed. Verizon has started sending e-mails to existing customers notifying them of the preorder date next week.
“On February 3rd at 3am EST, Verizon Wireless will allow our current customers to order upgrades or new lines to their accounts through your My Verizon online account (make sure you have registered before the 3rd),” the e-mail reveals. “Make sure you have your My Verizon self-serve account set-up online. Orders can only be placed through your my Verizon account. You can register/setup your account at... myaccount.verizonwireless.com.”
To no one’s surprise, Verizon is notifying preorder customers that inventory is limited -- if the carrier sells out during the pre-sale, existing customers will have to wait until February 10, when the iPhone 4 goes on sale to everyone else.
Additionally, Verizon Wireless is offering current AT&T iPhone customers to trade in their device for a credit towards the purchase of a Verizon iPhone 4, ranging from $60 for the original iPhone to $105 for a 16GB iPhone 3G, $160 for a 32GB iPhone 3GS or even $360 for the most recent 32GB iPhone 4.
“Customers, of course, could do better selling their iPhones themselves, though this could provide a relatively low-hassle way to switch carriers,” MacRumors concludes. “The prices listed here are higher than Verizon's normal tradein program. New Verizon iPhones will be shipped 2 day FedEx by default or optionally next day air.”
So who’s planning to stay up late to preorder their Verizon iPhone 4?
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
