I cancelled an iPhone within the 30 days buyer’s remorse period recently and learned something interesting. Before AT&T will let people who bought their iPhones from Apple cancel service, they want you to return the phone first. They also want proof it was returned. They also want you to print out this proof and take it physically to an AT&T store and show it to them. Returning the phone, I have no problem with. But trekking out to a store to show someone in person a printout of an email?Madness.

Part of the problem is that AT&T and Apple’s systems are not hooked up. The other part is fraud prevention, I suppose. That this helps suppress the number of successful cancellation is probably just like an unexpected bonus for AT&T. It wasn’t a big deal, though, as I was able to push past this—mocking them for previously telling me I would get an automatic email letting me know my service was cancelled after Apple got the phone I mailed back to them did the trick somehow—and get them to just let me fax in the return receipt without ever having to leave my blog cave (thank you, faxzero.com).

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