Off-Topic: New Apple Store Policy Requires Credit Card for Purchase of Two or More iPhones
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
A very odd thing happened to me today. I was in the Apple store buying an iPod touch for myself when not one but two men trying to buy “a couple of iPhones” were told about a brand new Apple Store policy, effective as of 10am today (10/25/07), that stated that customers wanting to buy two or more iPhones must pay by credit card.
What made this odd besides the fact that Apple felt the need to institute this policy was the reaction the guys had when informed of the policy. They flipped out and walked out after berating the manager. Later, I encountered both jabbering on their cell phones out in the mall. Clearly, some business model was being disrupted.
Now, a two things are odd about this:
- Why the heck is Apple so keen to put the kibosh on people reselling the iPhone? Money’s money, right? Now, I can understand them objecting to a guy unloading an iPhone or two that just happened to “fall off the back of the truck,” but these guys were paying full retail plus tax. Who cares if they eBay them?
- Speaking of which, who the hell were these guys reselling the phone to? Again, they were paying full retail plus tax, which implies that somewhere down the line, some poor sucker is willing to pay more than that. So I ask again, who the hell is this poor sucker.
Anyway, this was odd. If you have insight into this, I’d love to hear it in the comments below.
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