I received an invitation letter from Maxis too and I made my booking last Sunday. Here are the details of the invitation/rebate:
- purchase the iPhone 3GS 16/32GB outright
- no contract involved, stick back to your current iValue plan
- no deposit required for booking
- RM500 cannot be deducted from RRP.
- Pay full RRP price but the RM500 will be credited to your account over 5 months
- 1 month waiting time or less (they will sms/call for collection, but if more than 1 month just show up to collect)*

I don't know about the last point but the personnel who served me told me in a very consistent voice that if I receive no calls in one month time, I can show up to collect it. Seems to me they have stock but aren't releasing it. Just reserved for potential 'profitable' customers.

Yes, stocks are definitely growing by the day. Its almost the end of August now. So I recommend people to plan a trip to your booking centres and ask about it. No harm if you're doing shopping at the same time hehehe...

For me I have to wait for about one month before making some noise hehehehe... but I'm fine since I am using the iPhone 3G already.

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Added on August 25, 2009, 9:29 amI only know connections are super erratic at certain places ever since I upgraded to iPhone OS v3.0. I get a weak 3G signal. Then it will drop to Edge. When I make a call, it'll drop E and then show O (GPRS), then signal will drop. Call quality will suffer. When I finish my call, the signal bar goes back up. Hahaha! Damn!

But it only happen in my office and never in other places. Weird.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Aug 25 2009, 09:29 AM

Awww.... congratulations! I'm still patiently waiting for mine. Its only over a week but its already felt like more than a month hehehe... I had to admit I tried one of these 'tricks' but it didn't work for me. But I was given a tip over the counter. The maximum days are 30 days (Priority Delivery, ones who receive the invitation card). But its usually 2-3 weeks and you will get a call. That explains why people who have waited 2-3 weeks can just collect it. Maybe mine is a little premature.

There have been reports that the supply has improved so the wait time is no longer as long. This only applies for Maxis Centers and I have no idea about participating stores.

Probably he mean have to make booking or something... and probably he went with expectations of getting it immediately?

Yes, that is what I have heard too minus the free casing. Its roughly 2 weeks now but most people will stick with the 1 month thing to control expectations.

I think you can export contacts from SE to Google Contacts. I am not sure which program but there is one. Another way is to export from SE to Windows Contacts. Edit and correct entries there. Then you're good to sync it to Google Contacts. Then set iTunes to sync from Google Contacts. Done.

For me, I do it manually over Google Contacts. At least I can use my keyboard than typing on the phone.

Yeah I saw that too. I was gonna latch that data plan to my supplementary line and get another 3GS. Looks like they're shutting all forms of 'cheap routes' to get into the iPhone craze.

Dang! I was so excited when I receive a call from Maxis. However, I was shot down as it was only a call to confirm my collection location. Hahaha!

I booked mine on the 23rd August and received this call today, 3 September. I guess that means the phone is already present and allocated to me. Only the matter of transporting it from their supply to the collection centers? I hope so. So that means another week? Sigh... this agony of waiting haha!

Yeah, I would assume that the HQ has allocated the phone. I was wondering if I should tell them that I can go straight at the HQ. I presume it is Maxis Tower? Instead I asked if there's any location where I can get it sooner. The guy just said its the same everywhere and its typically one month from booking period.

I guess I'll just stick with the Maxis Gardens. The reason why I anticipate 1 week is due to processing of documents, waiting for the rest of the applications, passing of the stocks between hands, actual transportation, incoming processing of documents at Gardens and the rest of those protocols + adding buffers to manage own expectations . I guess thats about a week?

Yes, I hated the auto-correct feature so much. Sometimes I applaud it because it seems to fix a lot of mistakes. Its a love hate relationship really...

Fall in line soldier!

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Added on September 3, 2009, 4:59 pmThats weird. Cause I see some people not receiving any calls (of where would they like to pick up their phone) and still get it within 2-3 weeks. Some receive this call and still get it within the same time frame. Some receive this call and thats it. Nothing happens.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Sep 3 2009, 04:59 PM

Which is why I advise not to be too excited about my report on the calls. It doesn't mean anything. Some who receive this kind of call, still had to wait the typical turnaround time. Some who receive this kind of call could get it earlier (I wonder whether it involve cheating hehehe) and some don't receive any call getting it earlier. Too much variation. I wonder how Maxis manage it.

One suspect is that the HQ is doing it right. Cause once the phone has been allocated to you, the stocks will move from 'somewhere' to the respective pickup locations you choose. Once the stock reaches those locations, its up to that particular Maxis Center's management. And the management of one Maxis Center differs from one another I suspect. Thats why we see different levels of service delivery performance. I'm sure they have some sort of standard procedures but lets not suspect whether they are followed or not.

Err none of us has gotten any yet. We're still waiting.

Nope, no receipt for me because I booked mine via the Maxis invitation card. I am using the iPhone 3G with iValue plan already. No deposits were required for me so naturally they didn't give me any receipt. But I have the booking number and some documentations.

Yes, as long as its already one month (starting from booking date) just proceed to the store and collect it. Maxis has been telling me consistently to go straight if its more than one month. If you still have a couple of days to full one month, it makes no difference. Just go. Hehehe...

I say don't do it. Its suicide Wait for the iPhone 3GS. Seriously its not too long a wait.

I might as well join in the fun

Location: Maxis Center, The Gardens
Date of prebook: 23rd August 2009
Call/SMS: Yes on the 3 September 2009, just to confirm pick up location (not sure what it means)
Model: Iphone 3GS 16GB Black
Date of collection: 30 days as briefed by Maxis customer executive

Is it the same model? I heard the 32GB stocks are more than 16GB due to different demands for each of those variants. Most people would settle for 16GB variants.

I don't think there's a restriction with iPhone 3GS. Its more like we're reaching a holiday season and also the holy month, so processing might be a little slow.

Yes, which is why I am anticipating a new remake of the iPhone OS with multitasking. I am very confident a new iPhone will be released next year during WDC together with a new OS. And iPhone 3GS owners will get it for free, and hopefully iPhone 3G too. But seeing iPhone 3G has so little free RAM after bootup, thats gonna be a little risky. Which is why I am aiming for 3GS. I have the 3G already, and believe me its slow due to the low RAM.

Maxis is currently advertising on major newspaper with the statement, "Book now to avoid disappointment". Probably to target the upcoming festive season. At the current rate of distribution, that sounds like a FUD. It'll never be able to meet that kind of demand. I wonder why they still advertise. On the optimistic side, probably THERE IS a large batch coming. So people who pre-ordered within the month of August should be able to get it before Raya. Lets see...