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Buying An iPhone 3G Was Surprisingly Easy. Activating It Was Not.
By 7.11.08
As Consumerist’s resident Apple fanboy, I spent the last few hours standing outside an AT&T store waiting to buy the iPhone 3G, then waiting for it to activate in iTunes. Here’s what went down.
Some New iPhone 3Gs Sport Yellow Tinge
By 7.11.08
Reports on the MacRumors forums and Gizmodo comments assert that some of the new Apple iPhone 3Gs look distinctly iJaundiced. Needless to say, the owners are pissed. Did you get one of these banana phones? Send an email with a pic to tips@consumerist.com or let us know in the comments.
Limited New iPhones At ATT Stores, Latecomers Pay Extra To Have Phones Shipped
By 7.11.08
Only the first lucky clutch of people in line today at AT&T stores will walk out with a new iPhone 3G in-hand. There were only 30 phones available in total at the the biggest AT&T store in Waterbury CT, at the Brass Mill Center, according to a store employee. Reporting from the line, reader Kevin says that everyone else was given an option to buy a slip of paper for $226.79 (see a scan of it posted inside), have the phone shipped from the warehouse to you, then you come back to the store to activate the phone. Customers will have to pay for the shipping charges for this favor.
National iPhone 3G Activation Failure Due To Apple's "Short Tether" System?
By 7.11.08
When I heard that the iPhone activations were completely borked, I thought, man, that’s what you get for partnering with the Death Star. But from what reader Justin heard from an ATT rep, oh-so-pristine Appple might actually be the one with blemishes. He writes,
iPhone 3G Activations Fail Nationwide
By 7.11.08
A nation-wide epic fail of the iPhone activation systems has gutted the release of the new iPhone 3G. Here’s an account from reader Tyler:
Don't Live Near A Big City? Here's Something You Should Know Before Upgrading Your iPhone
By 7.11.08
The new iPhone is 3G–but AT&T’s 3G network isn’t exactly “nationwide,” so you might want to check the coverage map to make sure that there’s a 3G network in your area.
Want The New iPhone? Here's How To Escape Your Current Cellphone Contract ETF-Free
By 7.10.08
As the second coming of the Jesusphone 3G draws near, we wanted to remind customers of other wireless carriers that there are ways to escape your existing cellphone contract free of early termination fees, and trade your piddling Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile bills for hundreds of pages of gloriously itemized AT&T charges. Or just switch carriers.
Both Dell And AT&T Cash Checks Not Made Out To Them, Cause Much Sadness
By 7.10.08
It’s sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we’d always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn’t cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong!
By 7.10.08
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The Senate passed the FISA bill today, which effectively puts an end to any chance of legal repercussions for telcos who helped the government spy on citizens. Senator Obama voted for it, Senator McCain didn’t vote, and Senator Clinton, for what it’s worth, voted against it. Find out how your senator voted here. [TechCrunch]
Leaks: Need ID And Social To Buy iPhone 3G?
By 7.7.08
An Apple store insider has leaked to us what they say will be some limitations and barriers on buying the iPhone Apple and AT&T stores will apply to the new iPhone 3g that goes on sale this Friday:
With The New iPhone On The Horizon, Now Is The Time To Threaten Your Cellphone Company
By 7.3.08
With the debut of that new super iPhone thing only a few short days away, now is the time to threaten your current cellphone company. What’s that? You have no intention of switching cellphone companies for the iPhone? Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon’s retention reps don’t know that. Do they?
Stop Making Fun Of Me: Confessions Of An Early iPhone Adopter
By 7.2.08
Those of us who bought iPhones when they came out haven’t been very popular over the last year. We’ve been viewed as impulse-buying fanboys who got suckered into paying to beta-test an incomplete product on an inferior network. Then Steve Jobs sold us out. Now our co-workers won’t stop making fun of us. I bought my iPhone on June 29th, I still love it, and I can’t wait to buy a new one next week. Inside, my reasons why.
Help! AT&T Wants A $750 Deposit, But I Really Want An iPhone!
By 7.1.08
Dana’s divorce left her with crappy credit and now AT&T wants a $750 deposit! She’s wondering if anyone has any advice for avoiding such a large deposit…
NCIC Airport Payphones Are A Ripoff
By 6.30.08
Reader Victor wrote to alert us to NCIC payphones which are charging outrageous rates and fees in various airports across the country. At first, Victor used some spare change in an NCIC payphone and received a reasonable long distance rate of about $1 for 4 minutes. But Victor ran out of change and used his credit card to make 3 more quick calls. When Victor received his bill he discovered that he’d been charged $11 per call. He directed us over to ripoffreports.com and as far as we can tell, he got off easy. We read numerous reports of customers being charged exorbitant rates for local and long distance calls. The amounts that their customers are being charged vary so wildly that we’re not even sure what NCIC’s rates are supposed to be. Victor’s letter, inside…
AT&T Turns That Whole Warrantless Wiretapping Thing Into A Hilarious Marketing Joke
By 6.28.08
Meet Ms. Suspicious, a member of the “Online Liberation Movement.” According to AT&T, Ms. Suspicious “has nothing to hide,” so she certainly won’t mind when AT&T and their traitorous telecom buddies trash the Constitution and violate her right to privacy!
Graph: Which Cellphone Company Has The Best Early Termination Fee Policy?
By 6.27.08
Discounting or pro-rating the early termination fees that cellphone companies love to tack on to their contracts is becoming more common, so we thought we’d make some graphs that show the strengths and weaknesses of the different policies. As you can see, T-Mobile 2-year ETF doesn’t make any discounts until fairly late in the contract period — and their ETF of $200 is higher than either of the other two companies that offer discounts. (Sprint does not pro-rate or discount its ETF.) T-Mobile’s ETF does, however, reach a point where their discounts are steeper than Verizon and AT&T’s pro-rating.
