anonymoustache
September 22nd, 2007, 03:24 AM
I don't live in America, I live in Japan. I have a friend in America at the moment who is coming to Japan in a few days. I asked him to buy an iPhone for me before he leaves. Because I'm in Japan I won't be using an iPhone as a phone, only an iPod. I don't want an at&t account.
My friend in America tells me that he went to an at&t store and two Apple stores and all of them said that he can't buy an iPhone without signing up for a 2 year at&t contract at the same time.
I specifically told him to tell any sales people that he would sign up for an at&t account using iTunes and that he doesn't want to sign up for an at&t account in the store at the time of purchasing the phone. My friend says that they wouldn't allow him to do that and that his only option was to sign up for an at&t account at the same time as buying the iPhone.
From everything I've read over the months about people buying an iPhone it sounds like these sales people are just lying to him to try to get him to get an at&t account.
Has anybody else experienced this or does anybody know of a way to get the staff to allow you to buy a phone and get the at&t account later? Have the rules changed? Why does iTunes have an option for online at&t activation if it can't be used (except perhaps for iPhones bought through the online store)?
Another thing that surprised me is that two of the Seattle Apple stores said that they don't stock iPhones and that he would need to go to an at&t store to buy an iPhone. I thought that all Apple stores stocked iPhones. Am I wrong?
My friend in America tells me that he went to an at&t store and two Apple stores and all of them said that he can't buy an iPhone without signing up for a 2 year at&t contract at the same time.
I specifically told him to tell any sales people that he would sign up for an at&t account using iTunes and that he doesn't want to sign up for an at&t account in the store at the time of purchasing the phone. My friend says that they wouldn't allow him to do that and that his only option was to sign up for an at&t account at the same time as buying the iPhone.
From everything I've read over the months about people buying an iPhone it sounds like these sales people are just lying to him to try to get him to get an at&t account.
Has anybody else experienced this or does anybody know of a way to get the staff to allow you to buy a phone and get the at&t account later? Have the rules changed? Why does iTunes have an option for online at&t activation if it can't be used (except perhaps for iPhones bought through the online store)?
Another thing that surprised me is that two of the Seattle Apple stores said that they don't stock iPhones and that he would need to go to an at&t store to buy an iPhone. I thought that all Apple stores stocked iPhones. Am I wrong?