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Sunday December 27, 2009
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 AT&T today stopped selling iPhones online to New York metro-area customers through their att.com Web site because of "increased fraudulent activity in that area when ordering the iphone," an online customer support representative named Timothy told me this evening in an online chat.
Now, that's not what online customer support rep Daphne told the blog The Consumerist, but it's what Timothy told me. According to a Consumerist post, Daphne told their writer "New York is not ready for the iPhone" because the city doesn't "have enough towers."
Although AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega has previously admitted that the company needs to "do better" with their network in New York City, I suspect Daphne's career with AT&T may be short lived from here on out.
Timothy told us that iPhones are still available at AT&T stores in the New York metro area. Apple's Web site had no problem selling me an iPhone for use in New York City online, so if you want to buy online, try apple.com.
I've asked AT&T for further clarification.
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December 28, 2009 12:10 AM
Even if the reps were supposed to be using the fraud line when customers called them quite frankly the rep that blamed the lack of towers is probably telling you the truth. The truth her corporate overlords don't want her to tell but still. I used to work for a cell phone company in sales and blaming something on fraud when you are really "protecting" the network is pretty standard. No one can really argue against fraud and I'm sure ATT could pull up a few cases to back them up. I seriously doubt the numbers for fraud are significantly higher in NY than other major cities though.
This has more to do with the coverage issue than anything else. Boy it sure is a good thing ATT and Verizon dropped those lawsuits or this would look pretty bad if Verizon brought this up in court isn't it? Of course Verizon strutting its stuff is funny too since they don't have any phone that has mobile usage with comparison to the iPhone. I actually hope that Verizon gets one too (maybe when LTE launches) so that their network can crash too.
December 28, 2009 2:03 AM
cause att blows!!!!! they cant handle the iphone
December 28, 2009 2:14 PM
And this is why I just switched to T-Mobile. AT&T's coverage is horrendous and their customer service is non-existent. Never again!
December 29, 2009 2:15 AM
this is all just a lot of speculation about a bug? Surely it is possible the database that drives offers by ZIP code got fat fingered.
June 16, 2010 5:58 AM
better i dont buy in AT&T