WE MADE IT! Even though we had our backs up against the wall,...and they told us we were never gonna get it all....
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Welcome to another edition of the never-ending saga of the NZ iPhones. I just got back from Auckland, after all the cloack-and-dagger and smokescreen being put out(read my last sig), to sway the "malicious parties" from further spoiling the already compromised Tumpang thread. The mission is a partial success, I shall come to that later.

Let's start from the beginning. After the disastrous start, thanks to the "jealous and malicious forces", mainly associated with this 2-million-dollar-sales arsehole, and the resultant removal of the Tumpang thread, relegated by the ever-so-"hardworking" Powers-That-Be here, the Tumpang effort were mainly circulated among PMs in here, as well as phone calls and SMSes and IM message exchanges. Just to reiterate, I have done 2 previous Tumpangs, one from NYC and another from Osaka, with no disturbance, nor a peep from the Powers-That-Be around here, including the very same iPhone-related Tumpang from NYC. Why this NZ Tumpang drew the jealousy from the sellers here and biased judgment from the "governing body" around here, God only knows, but I can venture a guess. My Tumpang was probably either undercutting these cutthroat folks with their cutthroat prices, so much that it jeopardizes their cutthroat sales of their own iPhone 3Gs. How much more cutthroat , you ask? RM2,780 against RM4,200 and up to RM5,500 even! Now it is not so weird to see why it happened eh? As for the moderators and the governing body around here, to keep things short, I am already branded a villain by you lot, even before a single post was typed in here, thanks to the nature of these folks only listening to select fews and not wanting to approach the affect parties to get a more balanced view, in this case, the general populace's perspective of me. It also didnt help that those that I have loudly criticised around here are also those who later grew up into holding the moderator status, hence spreading the already skewed view of me, and that view and word, is taken as Gospel. How do I gather these intels? Safe to say that, even in a corrupted body of governance, there are those who chose to remain partial and dont hold the same views as these already "biased" people of power. Sad really, since as a common forum member, we all hold these people as the shining beacon of hope and an exemplary of balanced governance, and unbiased discretions. Anyone see the analogy here, with what's going on in the country right now? Let your eyes be open of this, and let the words of Guy Fawkes be spoken loudly in this case, in which he utters:-



I leave it to you to ponder those words and draw the analogy from which, of who I refer for "people" and "government" here.

That said, let's move on to the Tumpang efforts. The date was set on 7th of August, the destination Auckland, New Zealand. Why NZ iPhones? Because they are fully unlocked.Upon arrival into Auckland International and to the Citylife Hotel, I was met with the ever-so-helpful Psyeo, and we went head-first with our mission. Beforehand, I have made phonecalls once I arrived into Auckland to check on the stock levels, and they are not encouraging. From previous efforts, I could still rely on non-Vodafone stores like First Mobile to get my stocks, but now looks like the game have changes. Thanks to a slip-up by an employee at First Mobile, this reported by Cocklea, a sum of SIX iPhone 3G was sold outright to a Mainland Chinese buyer. This of course triggers bells and alarms inside Vodafone NZ and investigations by them have shown unusual amount of foreign interest in their iPhones particularly from foreign buyers. The end result? First Mobile, and even most probably other Vodafone Retail partners have tightened up the rules of purchase, and restricted them to ONE per customer, for iPhones bought outright without contract! My mission just got from hard to Mission: Impossible!

Nevertheless, we never let that fact disheartened us, and soldiered on. The fist two units are already secured from Cocklea, but down from EIGHT to just TWO, all thanks to that previous fiasco with that Mainland Chinese vendor. The Vodafone store at the entrance of the hotel had SIX units, all 16GB White. I managed to drag myself, Psyeo and my fellow colleague(co-pilot, not the Captains) to each get one, therefore totalling THREE. Psyeo offered help by asking his younger brother, also in the same University he's studying, to get another unit, but that only will happen at 1330, once his class finishes. While waiting, me and Psyeo catched up on the current events, and our plan of attack. 1330 rolled by and together with Psyeo's brother (bless his heart for helping me!), we went to the Vodafone store at Citylife Hotel to get another unit. Guess what? SOLD OUT!

Time to explore other possiblities. Luck was finally on our side, when I managed to get hold of Vodafone in Lynnmall, New Lynn. Remember, all other First Mobiles, our other options, are either pressured to push contracts on us before they agree to sell one, or had long waiting lists, like the one in the same store Psyeo went to get his own iPhone and mine. Vodafone Lynnmall have SIX units, all BLACK!

Without thinking further, we rushed to Lynnmall. If you care to look at the map in Vodafone.co.nz, you'd see how far this mall is from Vodafone Queen Street, which is basically where I stayed at. Taxicab ride results in cabfare of equivalent to RM100 alone, but we had to do it because of fear of stocks being raided by others before we get there. It is a race against time here , people!

Arriving to Lynnmall and founding the store, we managed to grab all SIX of the units, but not without further sleuthing and more hurdles in our way. The first employee there, a Maori, refuses to sell more than ONE per person, and there are three of us, which makes it possible to get all SIX. After deliberation with another employer there, we managed to get TWO each, coming to a grand total of SIX, and SELLING OUT the store itself!

By this time, it is already 1530, and stores in Auckland would be closed by 1700. Not wanting to give up, I managed to get through to Miselle of First Mobile in Westgate, the same First Mobile branch that I get my own iPhone 3G from (with help of a colleague and Psyeo). I called earlier and were told that possible new stocks would be arriving on this day but after 1500. Being an eternal hopeful myself, I gave Miselle a call. Hope turns to despair as Miselle came back to me with the news that new stock refresh will only happen on Monday.

Dejected, we called off out search for the other iPhones. I was already dead tired, from not getting my rest, and already feeling bad for dragging poor Psyeo and his brother around, his brother not even had his lunch! We then convened to the food court there and grabbed the bus ride back to my hotel.

Done the maths yet? 11 iPhones , folks......all 16GB. I am really sorry for folks in my Tumpang list waiting for the 8GB, especially for friends who would be coming down from Sungai Petani, Kedah empty-handed. I am sorry bro, it is out of my hands.

To those with the 16GB in my list, feel free to contact me to arrange pickup of your "baby". Neekun and Zaakath have already picked their when they met me at the KLIA today, and I salute Harmeet15 for being there as well, I'm sorry Harmeet15 bro, I cant get a unit for you.

The journey was arduous, filled with many hurdles, barriers and sinister plans to thwart the outcome of this Tumpang. I was lucky I was not held by the customs in KLIA, in fact there were'nt any customs at all on the crew lane!

I end this first post to this new thread, with two things.

1. I would like to wish a big "fcuk you" to those who were thwarting the success of this Tumpang thread, particular the arsehole-with-two-million-sales who reported it. I flip "the middle finger" too to the moderators for their lack of vision, and discretion, and their eager willingness to hear only the bad about people, and not wanting to even give a chance for good things like this to happen. I still stand by my principle that my Tumpangs are not a sale, a bulk or a trade f any kind, it is just an avenue , a hand extended to help those who need my help to get items unavailable locally or at a reasonable rate. My passion to help was further rekindled by the fact that iPhone 3G sellers here are without regard or remorse to their fellow Malaysians, slaughter them with their ridiculous prices. May you rot in hell for your greedy ways!

2. I leave you with this analogy of a story akin to the movie Dogma. I leave all of you to your thoughts to intepret what I'm trying to convey here, no matter if you agree with me or not. Here it is:-



To the guys with their new iPhone 3Gs, I hope you enjoy it, and make full use of it. Please post your findings impressions, and discoveries here. To those waiting to pick up your "baby", please post when you are free here, for date/time and venue as well. To those wanting to still get the 8GB, I have a proposition for you. I can either refund you back your funds in its entirety, or you could still trust me with it, and I will try my best to get them myself either next week,if I get called out of my standby to do another Auckland flight, or next month, should I get another Auckland again. I leave it up to you, it is your choice.

Peace, out. I need to get some rest.........

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 12 2008, 01:06 PM

To those asking me if there will be another Tumpang, please understand that I will not do another until the rest of the 15 in my first list gets theirs first. I feel obligated to help them get theirs before any more new participants are added. I dont like long, sad faces, and I especially dont like disappointing people who believed in me and are behind me through thick and thin, and these folks are just that. They trust me to get their iPhones, and I dont want to disappoint them.

Also, doing the Tumpang in the background, through PM, IMs and phone calls/SMS is so much more problematic, than posting a single post in a thread in here. Since the current "policy" is that Tumpangs = sale/trade, I will most probably will not do another until this is revoked. They have their principles, and I have mine.

8GB guys, you know who you are. I got 4 confirmations that they want to hold their purchases until I get another Auckland, 1 already refunded, and 1 status unknown. Please let me know your status, for the one without the status confirmation. Otherwise, I will hold your funds until you contact me back.

Updates:- All 16GB accounted for, and all except one already collected. The last unit is set to be collected tomorrow. I hope all you guys enjoy your iPhone 3G, congratulations to Neekun, Zaakath, Ken6800, Xero800, Roger(Psyeo's friend), Crxr, and Tishaban. The rest are outsiders, and my own brother's unit. Ken6800, Xero800, Crxr and Roger was here with me just now, and we have done the activation together, zero hassles. Congratulations again!

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Added on August 10, 2008, 6:17 pmI have no status update on if I want to do another Tumpang or not. My main priority here is to make our 8GB brothers happy again. Until then, no further Tumpangs. This, compounded with the mod restrictions around here, makes me weary of even starting another Tumpang.

The next Auckland trip, will only be for our 8GB brothers.(Or if they want to top it up to 16GB). If you do want to top it up, I will arrange another meet, with the amount NZD for the top up. Exception will be for friends since he is in Sungai Petani, Kedah. If you dont feel like continuing with this Tumpang, please arrange for time/venue to meet.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 10 2008, 06:17 PM

Things may become more relaxed a bit once the whole "Mainland China vendor bought 6 iPhones one shot" episode dies down, and Vodafone decides not to impose that crazy "ONE per person" restrictions. We have the advantage in this case, with the presence of brother Cocklea in the system. Psyeo may be up to it as well, if it is not too much trouble to him, since his University and his place of stay is very close to Vodafone Queen Street. I am eternally thankful these two are on our side.

I have to thank Psyeo and his bro, and Cocklea for a great time while I was there. First time I had a meal at BurgerFuel, with colorful-labelled menu like the B a s t a r d Burger (I am not kidding! ), and Cocklea for joining us later for Gloria Jeans and The Dark Knight :The Imax Experience later. The Dark Knight on IMAX is bloody awesome, and it is in High-Definition, not like the Times Square version. The very first scene where the camera swoops close to the building already make a few people in the theater quesy because it DOES LOOK like we are flying too CLOSE to the building! It was'nt a coincidence that Christopher Nolan included lots of aerial and close quarter shots in the movie. Dont get me started with the sound.......earth shattering! Thumbs up IMAX Auckland!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 10 2008, 06:49 PM

They are still playing around with the Aifontriji, I guess. If you want pics, I have the lone unit here, left for my colleague to pick it up.

@Neekun

Ahahah, I see the N95 taking the pics of the Aifontriji. Time to tell the N95 that its time is up.

Also, time for the new owners to holler up Ioriamd, to update your Aifontriji into the populace.

More shots and/or videos, guys!

Bro, that's still not entirely accurate. You would need to turn that circular crosshair into a single pulsating blue dot. Then only it is using the GPS onboard. After you get a blue dot, the blue circular shaded area around that dot represents the GPS accuracy, the smaller it is, the more accurate your position is.

No future Tumpangs until :-

1 - The last 5 participants get their units

AND

2 - My Tumpang no longer considered a sales or trade thread of any kind. You know who to look to for that.

It is not easy doing things on phone calls, SMS, and IMs.

You're welcomed, Ken. May it blossoms into marriage and a happy family!

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Added on August 13, 2008, 9:34 pmYeah, the only to show those people is to make them see what they did and beat them to that. Your motto in life too?

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 13 2008, 09:34 PM

My pleasure, bro. We couldnt have done this without your help, and Psyeo's.

Dont have to counter-belanja lah bro, that was promised for the phones what? How's the stocks looking like now? Still in demand? Still stuck to ONE per person? I need to settle 5 more for the rest of the Tumpang folks.

Why would it a problem for the stores? They themselves are representing Vodafone NZ, and are bound by law to sell them, even if they limit them by their own rules. My only concern was only the possible sabotaging by "malicious forces" here should they tip the customs about the purchase.

Other than that, the new is out, but believe it or not, even up till now, not many knows about the nature of NZ iPhones. Even here, everybody still seem to think, that the best location to get an iPhone, is still the States. I'd rather like that, let them go on their wild goose chase to the US , while stocks remain available for me to get in NZ.

Vodafone is anal because they want others to subscribe to their ridiculous plans rather than buying them outright. Their motto is "Come suffer with Us!"

Me? Bus driver.

Errrrm, that's "widebody" bro. Not whitebody. Some of the "busses" we "drive" are hideously dirty.

No, it is either widebody, or narrowbody. These names do not accurately reflect our body sizes Although the 747 guys are maintaining big bellies for "rotation" stoppers.

God this is getting OT. 10 years already.

No Tumpangs until I settle the last 5 and until the mods here clarify the definition of Tumpang (as a non Sale/Trade thread).

It shouldnt be, but who would want to do that? Must be someone really good to you to sign his life away.

But I thought plan subscriptions are more expensive than any buy-outright prices? How are you planning to pay him ONLY 3K?

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 20 2008, 01:03 PM

Good luck then.