Filed under: iPhone
iPhones: 2 per person and no cash, please
All the Leopard news might have made you forget about the iPhone, you know that other thing Apple does. Fret not because the iPhone is back is making headlines again thanks to a new policy in Apple Stores. The NY Times reports that Apple is no longer accepting cash for iPhones; if you want to buy an iPhone you'll need to use a credit or debit card. Also the limit of iPhones purchasable in one visit is now 2, down from the previous limit of 5.Apple says this new policy has been enacted to combat resale of the iPhone.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
illutionz said 7:14AM on 10-27-2007
And this will combat the resale how exactly?
I will bring 5 other people to the shop and it's 10 per shop and not to forget shop hopping especially for people who are in metro area such as NY or Chicago...
Sometimes I just don't understand these policies...
Reply
Mike said 7:28AM on 10-27-2007
No cash? Hmmmm, this would be highly illegal here in Australia.
Reply
Karl Otto Henriksen said 7:57AM on 10-27-2007
An easier way would be to sell the phone unlocked at a higher cost and in other countries i.e.. Norway! :D
Reply
Ty said 8:08AM on 10-27-2007
Yeah, I ran into this the other day. Drove to Buffalo, NY from Toronto to pick up a few phones.. I wasn't going to resell, they were for my family, but the staff at the store were quite rude.
Reply
2shae said 8:11AM on 10-27-2007
The only reason for this is that they don't want them to be sold on eBay internationally, because that will spoil the big introduction of the iPhone in other countries, which I guess will happen somewhere in 2008.
Reply
John Harlow said 8:12AM on 10-27-2007
Is it legal here in the US to refuse to accept the legal tender?
Reply
Callum Lawson said 8:34AM on 10-27-2007
Well, as far as I'm aware...In the UK, you make an offer to purchase an item, and the shop can legally refuse this "offer of purchase". I don't know what it's like in the States though..
Reply
bugmat said 8:44AM on 10-27-2007
The apple is getting rotten at the core - it may be legal (I hear in the US it's only debt payment that requires legal tender, not services) but they are definitely becoming even more elitist (as if everyone has credit cards) and alienating more and more customers.
Reply
Todd Bernhard said 8:52AM on 10-27-2007
Yes, we must prevent people like Steve Wozniak from buying multiple iPhones as gifts.
"Wozniak says he probably purchased about 20 iPhones for himself and his friends and has not gotten a single refund back on his own although some of his friends have gotten their refunds."
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/61818,apple-legend-woz-blasts-iphone-price-drop-and-refund-policy.aspx
Apple is trying to have it both ways. They want to sell at retail, "unsubsidized" and also to get recurring revenue from AT&T. They should either just stop selling it at Apple stores or have an AT&T rep in their stores, and in either case, require instant activation like any cellphone.
But refusing cash sounds illegal. My wife gave me $600 cash specifically to buy my iPhone for our anniversary. I happened to choose to use my AmEx card instead, which was a great idea. AmEx refunded me $200+tax after the price drop.
Reply
Rob said 8:53AM on 10-27-2007
If the Apple stores are refusing cash, it won't be long before someone launches yet another lawsuit against Apple. Even if it is foud to be legal in the US (which I doubt), it will create a lot of bad press for Apple. Is Apple really that stupid? I though Apple was good at PR.
Reply
mkorablin said 9:02AM on 10-27-2007
Looks like it is legal: http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml
Reply
yacoub said 9:32AM on 10-27-2007
Just another step in the direction increasingly totalitarian Apple is heading. They want to control you.
Also to the person who said, "the employees were rude". That's just normal for Apple store employees.
Reply
congested said 9:47AM on 10-27-2007
But how are drug dealers supposed to buy iPhones now?
Reply
makesense said 10:00AM on 10-27-2007
a conspiracy with the credit card companies?
Reply
dagamer34 said 10:02AM on 10-27-2007
Someone's going to sue just for the purpose of bad PR. Most people would consider it crazy that you can't use cash to buy anything. Just goes to show you that Apple's a puppet to AT&T and they'll soon become the next Sony.
Reply
bugeyedearl said 10:26AM on 10-27-2007
Apple = the next evil empire
Reply
Rubbinz said 10:41AM on 10-27-2007
This is just beyond retardation. Will they soon expand this to the entire product line? After that, will they just outright refuse U.S. currency and create Apple Money like the MS Points?
Reply
koreyel said 10:51AM on 10-27-2007
#15 has got it right with the puppet comment.
Jobs must be doing a slow burn.
Obliging ATT on this one like swallowing someone else's bile.
It leaves one wondering:
How much of ATT's stomach acid can he swallow?
We are going to find out.
I suspect Steve is near his meltdown point right now.
But hey...
Make a deal with the devil and you've got to dance when he fiddles.
Reply
Daniel said 10:58AM on 10-27-2007
Whilst I'm not going to get into a slagging match about how eeeevul Apple is, I can say that recently they have forgotten their core policies and operate more like Redmond did a few years back.
Firstly we all know that the US telco market is the nastiest little monopoly around, besides AT&T selling out to the NSA, they also have a pathetic network infrastructure and when countries like Kenya has a far more advanced GSM network, you have to wonder.
What happened to the "Think Different" slogan? Why the hell should I have to pay with my credit card? Cash is cash, who is Apple to determine how I should give them money?
I think we might have reached a turning point. Apple can adopt the nasty policies which alienate the customer base which made them who they are (anyone disagreeing with this, think back to when Apple's share price was a joke) but making the fat corporate cats like AT&T happy with a mediocre iPhone offering and very damn annoying policies.
Apple, you have a good market share, don't forget how you got there and let's not act like some other hardware companies out there.
Reply
DistortedLoop said 11:03AM on 10-27-2007
#13 - "But how are drug dealers supposed to buy iPhones now?"
LOL. Good joke.
But they'll just use prepaid credit cards or debit cards that can't be traced back to a purchaser. The mall that my Apple Store is at sells Amex and other gift cards at a kiosk 100 feet from the Apple Store. Then of course these "drug dealers will just use a prepaid Go Phone sim card.
Apple is becoming ridiculous. This is just like DRM copy protection, software serial licenses, and door locks on glass doors in your home. The only people any of those inconvenience are honest people that you don't need the protection from in the first place. A burglar will smash a window to get in the house, a software pirate will use a keygen programmer, a music sharer will find non-DRM music, and yes, an iPhone reseller will easily find a way around this policy.
Reply