David ordered a refurbished iPhone from AT&T. What he received was a brand new empty plastic bag. Apparently, AT&T has 500 backorders for refurbished iPhones, so for some completely unknown and nonsensical reason, they’ve decided to start shipping empty plastic bags. Let’s join David as he tries to track down the iPhone he ordered…

David wanted a refurbished unit to test-run iPhone applications he was developing for work. AT&T gave him a a mishmash of conflicting information after he placed his order. One CSR said the unit would ship that day. Five days later, another CSR said the unit would ship within 3 days, but that was also wrong, and the package shipped that night with DHL.

DHL delivered the package the next day:

My wife calls to tell me she found the DHL delivery, but it’s not a box. It’s a shipping envelope. She asks if she should open it. I tell her please do.

“It’s just a bag.”
“It’s a what?”
“It’s a bag. It’s an empty plastic bag.”
“Well, um, er, is there anything else in the package at all? A note or anything?”
“There’s a shipping label. But this is just a bag like you’d get if you bought something in their store.”

When David called for an explanation, a supervisor explained that “there was a memo telling him that refurbished iPhone shipments had a technical glitch in shipping and would be delayed for a few days.”

David isn’t alone. AT&T’s heavily moderated forums are littered with similar complaints. When David tried to post contact information for AT&T’s executive office (877-734-0766,) he received the following reprimand:

Hello,

We’d like to ask that you not post contact info for the Office of the President in posts or PMs until an AT&T moderator can PM you. Failure to follow moderator directions can result in loss of posting privileges.

regards

David only wants the iPhone he ordered. The applications he designed just don’t work the same on AT&T’s Empty Plastic Bag ®.

AT&T is shipping empty plastic bags to iPhone customers [Where’s My iPhone?]

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