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AT&T doesn't accept cash? LAME..

goosnarrggh said:
That's because when you're paying your bill, you're paying off a debt that you already owe - and since cash is legal tender for all debts public and private, if a company refused your genuine offer to pay off the debt with legal tender, they might be interpreted as having effectively forfeited their right to collect the debt at all. (The US Supreme Court has had mixed positions on this issue in the past, but IIRC this is one of the positions they've taken.)

An up-front purchase, on the other hand, is different from a debt. You don't own the phone - and thus you haven't incurred any debt - until after the transaction is complete. If the store doesn't want to accept cash for the transaction, then they have every right to stop the purchase in its tracks and prevent you from taking ownership of the phone.
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The legal analysis doesn't seem entirely correct. For one, since the purchase of an iPhone ties you (in AT&T's eyes) to a voice and data plan, purchasing it is not simply a matter of an offer to treat and the exchange of goods for appropriate payment, but is also an agreement to future service to be provided and agreed payment to be made in return. The one is inherent to the other, not least because at the subsidized price, the on-going contract represents partial payment for the device.

The question of what is, or isn't, legal tender does not impinge on any seller's right to accept or refuse any specific means of payment for just about any reason. AT&T (or indeed any entity) can refuse to do business with anyone, and while there are some circumstances where this could be interpreted as legally troublesome (such as refusing to sell to a person of a particular racial origin) there is no legal implication inherent in refusing to sell to someone who wishes to pay in cash.

Not that it makes much sense to me that AT&T refuse to accept cash for payment of an iPhone, unless they are perhaps concerned from a corporate standpoint to ensure they have a valid credit card on file from which they might recover an unpaid debt if the customer were to immediately renege on the contract.
 
Stunod7 said:
To me it seems foolish that they wouldn't take cash. You still have to tie the phone to an account to use if there were any account problems it could be taken up with the person on the account side rather than the sales side. Pay cash then you instantly have it.
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It could be as simple as ATT has had issues with their stores and handling cash and trying to minimize the amount of cash coming into a store.

Now one could argue that people paying their bills in the store (can you pay in cash? or just via card? I've never done it) are paying cash - but what do you think is the AVERAGE bill?

Also - especially in this first month when there is such a demand, accepting cash could mean a ton of cash in a store making them a higher target for a robbery.

Another reason could be the accounting system/inventory control is carefully controlled and they want/require a paper trail. i.e. if you come back and return the phone - most companies prefer to give you a credit or chargeback on the phone vs having to give cash. Stores don't like to put themselves into a position of being an ATM.

Yes I know this is all speculation and I know Apple takes cash (or so I've heard) for the iPhone. But perhaps they have different accounting processes.

Not to bring up a sore subject.. but does Sprint take cash for the Pre?
 
I had the same issue when purchasing my 3G. Brought the cash, AT&T said they needed a credit card...I said, "this is America Right? cash is still an acceptible form of currency" He wouldn't accept it and said it was their policy. Shocked me!
 
This is good to know, I'm glad I came across the thread. You see, I know I paid cash for my 3G because I remember handing the 300 large over to the BB employee. But I guess when it comes to getting the 3GS I'll just have it in my bank account instead.
 
cwwilson said:
This is good to know, I'm glad I came across the thread. You see, I know I paid cash for my 3G because I remember handing the 300 large over to the BB employee. But I guess when it comes to getting the 3GS I'll just have it in my bank account instead.
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Boy, you really got ripped off if you paid $300,000 for an iPhone.
 
za9ra22 said:
The legal analysis doesn't seem entirely correct. For one, since the purchase of an iPhone ties you (in AT&T's eyes) to a voice and data plan, purchasing it is not simply a matter of an offer to treat and the exchange of goods for appropriate payment, but is also an agreement to future service to be provided and agreed payment to be made in return. The one is inherent to the other, not least because at the subsidized price, the on-going contract represents partial payment for the device.

The question of what is, or isn't, legal tender does not impinge on any seller's right to accept or refuse any specific means of payment for just about any reason. AT&T (or indeed any entity) can refuse to do business with anyone, and while there are some circumstances where this could be interpreted as legally troublesome (such as refusing to sell to a person of a particular racial origin) there is no legal implication inherent in refusing to sell to someone who wishes to pay in cash.
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I'm not entirely convinced that your points are phrased in such a way that they directly respond to the statements I had made. But the general meaning is well taken, and, at least in the case of entering into a new business arrangement before any debt has yet accumulated (which is what's being discussed here) I think it's fully compatible with what I had meant to say (even if I didn't say it clearly).

Namely: if AT&T doesn't want to do business with you, they normally have every right to choose not to do business with you. If the criteria they use to decide not to do business with you is the fact that you want to pay for a purchase using cash, then that's just fine too.
 
cwwilson said:
Well what can I say, money literally grows on trees for me :cool:

No I meant large bills. I had 3 Benjamins plus tax. So i'm guessing only Best Buy accepts cash?
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Haha, I knew what you really meant, but typically "large" means "thousand". So "300 large" = $300,000. I was just being a dick...
 
This thread has become ridicuous..

the bottom line here is that I thought it was odd that they wouldn't accept cash, but I still got my phone and nobody got mad or fired..

so its all good :)
 
thelumpya2 said:
I had stopped at the ATM on the way, I hate using my card)"
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You're happy to queue for an ATM and use your card in that.... but not use the card in store? Seems a waste of time and effort.

If AT&T are trying to discourage drug dealers from purchasing iPhones, then what a good policy. Most people spending several hundred dollars on a purchase will use a card. It's generally old people and drug dealers that love the cash.
 
iPetey said:
You're happy to queue for an ATM and use your card in that.... but not use the card in store? Seems a waste of time and effort.

If AT&T are trying to discourage drug dealers from purchasing iPhones, then what a good policy. Most people spending several hundred dollars on a purchase will use a card. It's generally old people and drug dealers that love the cash.
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I Like the cash because of the way I manage my account, just makes it easier for me to keep track of..

not to mention there's no pending transactions that way.. once its gone.. its gone..



also, the theory that only drug dealers and old people use cash is a bit flawed.. what about waiters/waitresses and strippers? ;)

also, small business owners love the cash too :)
 
Well I could think of a lot of reason why they will not accept cash.

One is they do not want the cash on site. It is a safety issue because if people were able to buy the phones in cash that means thousands of dollars are going to be in the store for some one to steal.

They do not have to deal with huge transaction in cash. With Credit and checks those are completely worthless to try to steal. Credit because it is already in the account. Check because it can only go to one account (AT&T's)

I am not surprised a lot of places are doing that because they do not want to mess with the hassle of cash. Plus with cash they have to pay an armored trucking service to pick and and take it to the bank. Sorry no employee is going to go to a bank with 10+ grand in there pocket. Add to this they have to keep a huge amount of cash on hand at the store for change.

If they accept cash for smaller things that means less on hand but starting to accept it for phones means huge amounts of money that they just do not want to mess with.

My advice WRITE A CHECK.
 
SFStateStudent said:
Yeah, AT&T can be a stickler when it comes to cash; but when you need to pay your BILL, cash is acceptable....:p:p:p
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Cash is the only thing they will accept from me now that I filed a billing complaint against them. They will not let me pay with check or card. It has to be cash, and has to be in person, all because I complained about one month they overcharged me.

They even admitted there was a mistake on the bill, but yet try to punish me by forcing me to drive 40 miles each way to the at&t store each month to pay in cash. I cannot even pay at an authorized AT&T store, it HAS to be a corporate store.
 
Stunod7 said:
To me it seems foolish that they wouldn't take cash. You still have to tie the phone to an account to use if there were any account problems it could be taken up with the person on the account side rather than the sales side. Pay cash then you instantly have it.
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Exactly. Good thing the store in Canada accepted cash. I don't have a credit card yet. It felt awkward counting 20s in front of the salesman, but hey, that's how the ATM pays me :cool:
 
Personally, I think it has to do with proving your identity. In other words,
that you are not getting service on someone else's account just to get
a subsidized iphone. Matches up who you said you were to a valid working credit card
with the same name.

And why are the white iphones so popular-they always seem sold out?
 
The general policy for no cash is because so many people bought the 2G with cash and shipped them overseas without any activation. AT&T gets their money from the activations and plans. So as a result of those people, credit cards must be used because they can be traced to the purchaser. Just thank the ebay people selling the phones for profit.
 
Foamer said:
Cash is the only thing they will accept from me now that I filed a billing complaint against them. They will not let me pay with check or card. It has to be cash, and has to be in person, all because I complained about one month they overcharged me.

They even admitted there was a mistake on the bill, but yet try to punish me by forcing me to drive 40 miles each way to the at&t store each month to pay in cash. I cannot even pay at an authorized AT&T store, it HAS to be a corporate store.
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iirc, they only do that when you bounce a check with them.. more than once.. There is no reason what-so-ever that they would do that otherwise.. at&t gets billing issues from customers on a daily basis.. most likely in the thousands.. some their fault, most not.. It wouldn't make sense to do that..Either way, they would no do that unless there was a bounced check involved.
 
lavinci said:
The general policy for no cash is because so many people bought the 2G with cash and shipped them overseas without any activation. AT&T gets their money from the activations and plans. So as a result of those people, credit cards must be used because they can be traced to the purchaser. Just thank the ebay people selling the phones for profit.
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I'm not sure if that's true... AT&T new about people shipping iPhone's overseas well after the 2G was out, yet they still allowed people to buy the 3G with cash.
 
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