SoftBank Computer Glitch Halts iPhone 4S Sales and MNP

The opening day of iPhone 4S sales in Japan did not start well for Softbank. According to the Wall Street Journal, the operator was forced to suspend the sale of all smartphones, including the new device from Apple, at 0200 GMT this morning after a computer glitch affected customer registrations.

The issue was fixed three hours later with the operator optimistic that it did not cause any loss of sales.

I was at au/KDDI from 0300 GMT to approximately 0700 GMT and I assure you the supposed computer glitch was not fixed three hours later. We left empty handed and were asked to wait for a call. We received that call at 8:30pm - four hours after leaving au/KDDI - and were asked to come back the following morning at 1000 when the shop opens.

When we arrived at au/KDDI we first had trouble obtaining a mobile number portability (MNP) reservation number from SoftBank’s automated system due to high demand. This took roughly 45 minutes before we were finally off and running. It was at this point that everything fell apart.

The au/KDDI shop clerk, who was very helpful, was having trouble with the MNP process. This part of the purchase requires au/KDDI to touch SoftBank’s computer systems, to validate the MNP reservation number and account holder’s name and number for accuracy. This entire process kept repeatedly failing. Unfortunately, the clerk was uncertain of the specific reason.

It was at this point that I decided to walk three blocks down the street to the SoftBank shop to find out what was going on. As usual, the SoftBank clerks were somewhat clueless. All the one clerk could tell me was that their system was down so she was unable to print my account information. As I was about to walk away, another clerk mentioned to a customer that their systems were down and she would not be able to deliver pre-ordered iPhone 4’s until tomorrow, when system restoration was expected.

Are you kidding me?

I walked back to au/KDDI and told the clerk. She decided to try a few more times just to see if she would be able to deliver our phone that day. While I was waiting I called SoftBank customer service and asked them what was happening. The kind lady on the other end of the phone told me the same thing - SoftBank was experiencing a catastrophic systems failure so new sales and MNP would be impossible until the next day.

I spent a little over four hours in au/KDDI trying to secure my wife’s iPhone 4S to no avail, all thanks to SoftBank and their not being prepared for the exodus to their rival.

I am unsure where TNW got their information but it sure does not match my experience. It is worth pointing out that existing au/KDDI customers upgrading their existing handsets to an iPhone 4S were unaffected. The only customers affected were existing SoftBank customers who were upgrading or trying to port their number to a different mobile carrier.