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Advice - ordered 1 iPhone 5 received 2?

kring

kring

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
217
98
Connecticut
Ok, so I'm on AT&T and I ordered an iPhone 5, and two arrived separately, both in my name under my account. I was charged the $299 for both so it's not like I got it for free, just given the discount price. I have no sympathy for AT&T or Apple on this so my advice ask is not moral, but technical, what can I do? I don't care about the $300, but can this thing even be activated? Can I give it to my girlfriend who has a 4S on AT&T without issues? Or is it useless? Do I need a new SIM? Or should I have this thing unlocked and sell it?
 
Just grab a SIM and it should work. If it wasn't put through the authentication servers, one may even be unlocked.
 
kring said:
Ok, so I'm on AT&T and I ordered an iPhone 5, and two arrived separately, both in my name under my account. I was charged the $299 for both so it's not like I got it for free, just given the discount price. I have no sympathy for AT&T or Apple on this so my advice ask is not moral, but technical, what can I do? I don't care about the $300, but can this thing even be activated? Can I give it to my girlfriend who has a 4S on AT&T without issues? Or is it useless? Do I need a new SIM? Or should I have this thing unlocked and sell it?
Click to expand...

Do what you want with it, you paid for it. Asking about ethical tells me that it doesn't bother you because you know the right thing to do. You should not need to ask. When I find something the first thing I do is to try and return it, and not ask people what I should do. Don't be surprised if AT&T find the mistake, after all you signed for both packages indicating that you did recieve them.
 
Are you sure that you haven't started an additional contract for the 2nd phone?

If you were to sell it, then it could come back to bite you in the ass.
 
And they'll have no sympathy for you once you sell stolen property lol...

What are you going to say when they catch on? You signed for both. Going to lie? Or just tell them you think they make too much so you deserved it.

Thieves always think they'll get away with it. Always. Or they wouldn't try in the first place lol...
 
itjw said:
And they'll have no sympathy for you once you sell stolen property lol...

What are you going to say when they catch on? You signed for both. Going to lie? Or just tell them you think they make too much so you deserved it.

Thieves always think they'll get away with it. Always. Or they wouldn't try in the first place lol...
Click to expand...

Exactly. He signed for two phones and if AT&T finds the mistake he will be on two contracts or return the phone.
 
Ethically: return it to them and get $300 back
Unethically: give to Gf and get a SIM card, or sell on ebay for $600 haha

Your choice.
 
itjw said:
And they'll have no sympathy for you once you sell stolen property lol...

What are you going to say when they catch on? You signed for both. Going to lie? Or just tell them you think they make too much so you deserved it.

Thieves always think they'll get away with it. Always. Or they wouldn't try in the first place lol...
Click to expand...

It's not theft, they have purchased the product. That doesn't mean it's legally or morally right though.
 
Since you asked for technical advise. You should just be able to take the phone to an Apple store and ask for a free nano sim. Then call AT&T and have them activate without ever going into their store.

I paid for my phone at Apple with no commitment price and they gave me a spare SIM. Just called AT&T on my way to work to activate the SIM and was all set.

That said, even though you didn't ask I'd say return it.
 
same thing happened to me. Just that they were both on back order.

Called the store I pre-ordered it from and cancelled the one I didnt want.

Working a minimum wage job, I didnt want to get bit in the ass and get charged the full 675$ or so price tag for the extra iphone.
 
itjw said:
And they'll have no sympathy for you once you sell stolen property lol...

What are you going to say when they catch on? You signed for both. Going to lie? Or just tell them you think they make too much so you deserved it.

Thieves always think they'll get away with it. Always. Or they wouldn't try in the first place lol...
Click to expand...

Do you actually read the first post? No where does it say this was stolen. If Apple or ATT sends it to him by mistake for free, then ethically he should inform them. In this case, he was charged for it – $300. This isn’t theft, it is simply a computer glitch. He can either sell or give to someone because he paid for it – making it his property.
 
Just return it for credit before you get banged full boat.

The ball is in your court
 
OneMike said:
Since you asked for technical advise. You should just be able to take the phone to an Apple store and ask for a free nano sim. Then call AT&T and have them activate without ever going into their store.

I paid for my phone at Apple with no commitment price and they gave me a spare SIM. Just called AT&T on my way to work to activate the SIM and was all set.

That said, even though you didn't ask I'd say return it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the technical advice. I'm not a scumbag and I've given AT&T over $30,000 over the course of my contracts so they have made $29,900 in profit over the years. I've been screwed over by them at least a dozen time so I feel little remorse for a company that fleeces its customers. I have little real use for the phone but wasn't sure if this is worth the hassle. I'll probably return it in the end but wasn't sure if this thing will even be usable.
 
kring said:
Thanks for the technical advice. I'm not a scumbag and I've given AT&T over $30,000 over the course of my contracts so they have made $29,900 in profit over the years. I've been screwed over by them at least a dozen time so I feel little remorse for a company that fleeces its customers. I have little real use for the phone but wasn't sure if this is worth the hassle. I'll probably return it in the end but wasn't sure if this thing will even be usable.
Click to expand...

I see no reason as to why it will be unusable. Once you have a nano - sim from , activating will be a walk in the park.
 
Each phone is attached to a phone number.

One is the for the phone number you ordered, right?

What number is the other one? If the same number, you are going to have a problem using it.

I would sit on it for a few days and wait for a call. No matter how morally correct it is to send it back, wait until they are ready to handle it correctly. Some idiot could easily turn off both phones.
 
nostresshere said:
Each phone is attached to a phone number.

One is the for the phone number you ordered, right?

What number is the other one? If the same number, you are going to have a problem using it.

I would sit on it for a few days and wait for a call. No matter how morally correct it is to send it back, wait until they are ready to handle it correctly. Some idiot could easily turn off both phones.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts, yes the first one is all setup and working, I haven't touched the other but the paperwork says it is setup for the same line but a different order number. So it's not a duplicate, it's actually a second order on my account. I am premier and I believe all those are manually done so the agent must have accidentally double ordered on my account. I am guessing like how the first iP5 upgrade went on Friday in that once I turned on the new phone it activated it and immediately bumped my old iphone4 off the network. My thoughts are if I just toss out the SIM without ever turning it on it probably won't bounce my new phone?

I'm 75% leaning on returning it at this point but just wanted to make sure I understand what is happening.
 
He paid $299 for each phone, he did pay for them. They charged him the wrong amount - At&t's fault

itjw said:
And they'll have no sympathy for you once you sell stolen property lol...

What are you going to say when they catch on? You signed for both. Going to lie? Or just tell them you think they make too much so you deserved it.

Thieves always think they'll get away with it. Always. Or they wouldn't try in the first place lol...
Click to expand...
 
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