Filed under: Retail, Odds and ends, iPhone
$10,000 worth of iPhones stolen from Lancaster, PA Apple Store
Not that it'll probably do anything but get them in trouble. All of the phones are already entered in a crime database, and they were removed from the store without SIM cards, so any attempt to officially activate them will probably raise flags somewhere. Of course, from my time in retail I know that most retailers just usually write losses like this off, as it's just cheaper to eat the loss than deal with going after whoever stole the units. But you never know -- the police apparently have video and everything, so if the kids are caught, maybe they will face the music.
Moral of the story: don't leave your iPhone lying around an Apple Store? On the other hand, the warehouses aren't safe either, at least not in Belgium...
[ via @esposimi]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jordan said 7:40PM on 12-11-2009
Well...given that they were able to grab 17 iPhones from the store, in the middle of the day, and walk out, I would say Apple deserves this one. Were they not locked up?
Talk about Apple products being secure...
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Charli said 8:52PM on 12-11-2009
they were apparently the displays, which should be alarmed if they are like the stores here in LA. so someone clipped the cords and ran.
also, those phones, at least here, have Sims. probably dealer sims which means unlimited everything until they are turned off. there are stories here in LA about folks just digging out the Sim cards because of that.
mmoore8480 said 1:44AM on 12-14-2009
and the sim trays are typically glued in so replacement of that sim is near impossible without destroying the phone in the first place.
I feel sorry for the people that buy these phones on the street.
sterling said 7:40PM on 12-11-2009
They just write it off?
Jerry : So were going to make the Post Office pay for my new stereo?
Kramer : It's just a write off for them.
Jerry : How is it a write off?
Kramer : They just write it off.
Jerry : Write it off what?
Kramer : Jerry all these big companies they write off everything.
Jerry : You don't even know what a write off is.
Kramer : Do you?
Jerry : No. I don't.
Kramer : But they do and they are the ones writing it off.
Jerry : I wish I just had the last twenty seconds of my life back.
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Scott said 8:19PM on 12-11-2009
Here’s a bit of additional info:
The display iPhones in Apple Stores DO have SIM cards in them. They are fully functioning iPhones pulled from inventory, activated to a special demo account Apple has with AT&T (in the US.) There is a database of every inventory item in the store. Those iPhones were bricked before the thieves got home.
Display iPhones (MBs, MBPs, iPods, etc.) have alarm units affixed to the back with a cable that helps prevent theft. Pull hard enough and the cable disconnects and the very loud alarm under that table sounds.
Apple Stores have surveillance cameras everywhere but the restrooms.
Apple Store employees will typically be terminated immediately for chasing after anyone stealing from the store. It is considered a liability to allow anyone but the contracted security personnel to detain a customer.
On more than one occasion during my employ I witnessed the police take away someone in handcuffs for stealing from the Apple Store, to the applause of customers in the store. They do get caught, and Apple does prosecute.
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Olly said 8:29PM on 12-11-2009
Feels for the Apple Store employees - tough when there is nothing you can do but watch :-/
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Charli said 8:54PM on 12-11-2009
if they are anything like when I worked at Borders, the rule is that way because it's cheaper to lose even a 17 inch laptop than pay the lawsuit when you are shot or knifed by the guy you are chasing.
punkassjim said 9:41PM on 12-11-2009
Not sure why you'd feel for the employees. None of them should feel bad about it, and are actively discouraged from doing anything about it.
Overall, Apple Stores have extremely low "shrink." It's amazing that stories like this don't come up more often than they do.
JR said 8:30PM on 12-11-2009
There were 17 iPhones on display???
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Charli said 8:55PM on 12-11-2009
if local store is one of the smaller ones and they have 6 phones on each of the front two tables, 3 on the wall in the iphone zone, 8 more in the display speaker docks right off the bat. plus I think 10 more on the other two computer tables (those could be touches)
Johnny said 8:53PM on 12-11-2009
no app for that.
JR- have you been to the larger stores? i.e. Stockton St. SF, "glass box" NYC store, etc. well over 17 phones on display...
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JR said 9:16PM on 12-11-2009
I guess I've only been to ones in malls. Seen maybe 10 iPhones/Touches combined on display. And I still don't understand how they got them if they were secured properly. Wire cutters? I'd love to the see security cam footage.
waiownsyou said 8:53PM on 12-11-2009
Again, TUAW? As a business owner, I can tell you they won't be writing it off. They'll have their insurance pay it off.
Research, confirm, post. That's the way to blog.
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MRCUR said 9:24PM on 12-11-2009
Interesting, hadn't hear about this until I saw this post. The local news outlets, except I suppose for the paper, didn't report on this. I'm surprised by that since getting an Apple Store was a "big deal".
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Charles Martin said 11:35PM on 12-11-2009
Of course, the worst part about this is that they'll probably sell them off through eBay or Craigslist and other buyers will be stuck with stolen goods that won't get activated.
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alansky said 2:19PM on 12-12-2009
Actually, AT&T's attitude toward stolen iPhones is that it's not their problem. They will cheerfully activate any iPhone for anyone and have absolutely no interest in preventing the activation of stolen phones. When my friend's iPhone was stolen, AT&T said to him: "How do we know that your iPhone was really stolen?" That's pathetic.
Mike Eliss said 10:01AM on 12-12-2009
It's a criminal matter. Apple won't try to stop the criminal investigation or prosecution.
And I doubt that Apple, with its deep pockets, would find it wise to insure the contents of its stores. They certainly don't like to lose $10,000, but it's low value. It isn't like they can't afford to replace those 17 demo units.
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MikeWard1701 said 10:22AM on 12-12-2009
Do US networks blacklist the IMEIs of stolen phones like they do in Europe?
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PlanetaryGear said 11:45AM on 12-12-2009
So.. there is a way to track when they are activated if they are stolen? Thats not what AT&T told me when ours was taken. They said there was nothing that they could do to stop some jerk from stealing my iPhone and turning around and reactivating it. They were not interested in my transmitter ID number or anything else. Nothing they could do, sorry. Happy to turn around and take the activation fee and contract from the guy doing the stealing though aren't they.
I guess they are wrong huh? AT&T will track ones stolen from the store, just not from individual people?
Something stinks here.
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Charli said 8:13PM on 12-12-2009
i doubt ATT is tracking the ones from the store either. that store probably has the serials and ICCID numbers off the box so the store calls and has ATT cut that SIM card. and then they put the serial in their own repair system so when the dude that bought it off ebay bricks it by unlocking it and tries to get it replaced they know where it came from.