In response to other mobile carriers shipping pre-orders of the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge from Samsung, AT&T has jumped into the bandwagon and started shipping pre-orders to its customers, but it's not without a few setbacks in the form of the devices not turning on upon unboxing.
PhoneArena reports that an AT&T employee sent the website a screenshot of a memo sent from upper management warning employees of a "packaging procedure" that may cause the smartphones to not turn on right out of the box. It's easy to understand if customers go through the roof once they realize that their expensive new gadgets are seemingly sleek, shiny bricks, but AT&T says there is an easy workaround.
AT&T says the box was designed in such a way as to cause the handsets to turn on inside the box, so when customers receive their devices that won't turn on, they simply have to charge their phones using the charger that comes with the device. Also, AT&T says if the phone's battery is completely drained, customers will have to wait a few minutes before the phone responds and shows a charging icon on the screen.
"Samsung has identified a packaging procedure that may cause the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge to be powered on in the box during shipping," AT&T says. "This can cause the device's battery to drain before it reaches the customer."
It is unclear if the issue is limited only to AT&T versions of the new Galaxy smartphones, since PhoneArena says the memo has fine print that says it is for AT&T proprietary use only. Still, customers eagerly waiting for their packages from other mobile carriers, including T-Mobile and Sprint, which both announced early shipping for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, could find the information useful, since AT&T says it was Samsung that discovered the packaging problem.
AT&T did not announce early shipping of Samsung's new smartphones, but a Reddit thread confirms that customers have seen their order status switched from "Pending confirmation" to "Shipped."
"I placed my order 10 p.m. Pacific (Time) March 26th. The premier order status shows 'Pending confirmation.' But when I logged into the normal AT&T wireless website, it shows shipped via FedEx with an expected delivery date of Tuesday, April 7th!" says one gleeful user by the nickname of Beerbongbeau. "It's already been 'picked up' in Fort Worth, TX."
Others have not had their order status changed to shipped, but since AT&T seems to have started early shipping recently, it might only be a matter of time before customers start receiving their shipments ahead of the official launch by Samsung on April 10.
With all three of the Big Four already shipping the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, only Verizon customers will have to wait until the official launch date to start ordering the new smartphones.
