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Andemad12

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 15, 2008
1
0
Hi.

What is the procedure for buying a apple iphone in the USA?
Do they ask for ID or can you just buy it with a credit card without signing up for anything?
 
I went into my at&t store and said I want an iphone.
He said ok what plan are you interested in.
I say prepaid.
Guy says you can't do iphone prepaid.
I say yes you can.
His co worker says yes you can.
He hands me a phone, I pay for it, and walk out laughing.
Activate at home via itunes.
 
  • Drive to Apple Store
  • Enter Apple Store
  • Buy iPhone
  • Leave Apple Store
  • Drive Home
  • Activate Phone
 
Well I heard you can't buy an iPhone with cash and you can't buy it with a foreign credit card.

This sucks for me, because i want to buy one when i go back to the states...and I only have foreign cards...guess i'll just use a friends credit card...there is always a way.
 
they can ask you for ID even if its signed. Back when I was in retail, everyone thought that signed card=no id needed. Its really up to the retailer.
 
One of the reasons you sign your card is so the salesperson can check that signature against a valid government id (drivers license etc). How else do you know the card isn't stolen.:D

I never sign my credit cards. I write PLEASE ASK FOR ID in the signature space. Most of the time they never even look tho. But that way if I do lose it or it is stolen maybe I have a littel breathing room before I cancel the card.
 
So is this an isolated incident and his co-worked was just on your side, or can you do this in any store?

I don't want to go in and wind up getting into an argument about this and leave with nothing.


I went into my at&t store and said I want an iphone.
He said ok what plan are you interested in.
I say prepaid.
Guy says you can't do iphone prepaid.
I say yes you can.
His co worker says yes you can.
He hands me a phone, I pay for it, and walk out laughing.
Activate at home via itunes.
 
I never sign my credit cards. I write PLEASE ASK FOR ID in the signature space. Most of the time they never even look tho. But that way if I do lose it or it is stolen maybe I have a littel breathing room before I cancel the card.

I always ask and people are always surprised. Once I had a man get angry when I asked for his ID even though he wrote "SEE ID" on the back of his card. Why would you write it there if you don't want people to ask for your ID? It's also kind of awkward when people don't HAVE identification on them...

But yes, writing that on your credit cards is always a good idea because some people do check. (Sorry, this was a totally off-topic reply for an iPhone forum.)
 
I bought several iPhones with 2 int credit cards and had to problem.

I also saw a guy buying at least 50 iPhones at the same store. They even got him a little cart to carry the iPhones.
 
I always ask and people are always surprised. Once I had a man get angry when I asked for his ID even though he wrote "SEE ID" on the back of his card. Why would you write it there if you don't want people to ask for your ID? It's also kind of awkward when people don't HAVE identification on them...

But yes, writing that on your credit cards is always a good idea because some people do check. (Sorry, this was a totally off-topic reply for an iPhone forum.)

I hate to be a pendantic wanker, but as a card accepting merchant who actually follows the rules (and gets yelled at by many a fine customer in the process) I have to verge a little further along the off topic road...

Writing "SEE ID" is actually not acceptable according to Visa/Mastercard and a Merchant should demand that you sign the card in front of them before they process the transaction. Of course you are free not to sign the card, but then the merchant should not accept it.

The reason is that signing the card indicates acceptance of the cardmember agreement, and without doing so you and the card issuer have never really formed a contract. Look on the back of your Visa/MC and it will say "Not Valid Unless Signed" which means signed not "See ID".

The tricky part of this is that if you write SEE ID and your card is ever stolen, and Visa finds out that you wrote SEE ID instead of signing it, they could refuse to cancel fradulent charges due to your failure to sign the card. Or even worse, from my perspective, they could hold the merchants accountable for the fraudlent charges since they accepted an invalid card.

See the following links for more details...

http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html (go to the very bottom of this page)
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6787955

/RANT
 
  • Drive to Apple Store
  • Enter Apple Store
  • Get ticked off at the long lines/sold-out iPhones
  • Leave Apple Store
  • Drive to AT&T Store
  • Buy iPhone
  • Drive Home
  • Activate Phone
:D
 
What do you mean with get a ticket off?
Can I get a discount on it?

EDIT: Haha, I understand now. Get tickeD, yeah. So AT&T store have them in stock but not Apple Store?
Anyone knows the updated New York stock?
 
I hate to be a pendantic wanker, but as a card accepting merchant who actually follows the rules (and gets yelled at by many a fine customer in the process) I have to verge a little further along the off topic road...

Writing "SEE ID" is actually not acceptable according to Visa/Mastercard and a Merchant should demand that you sign the card in front of them before they process the transaction. Of course you are free not to sign the card, but then the merchant should not accept it.

The reason is that signing the card indicates acceptance of the cardmember agreement, and without doing so you and the card issuer have never really formed a contract. Look on the back of your Visa/MC and it will say "Not Valid Unless Signed" which means signed not "See ID".

The tricky part of this is that if you write SEE ID and your card is ever stolen, and Visa finds out that you wrote SEE ID instead of signing it, they could refuse to cancel fradulent charges due to your failure to sign the card. Or even worse, from my perspective, they could hold the merchants accountable for the fraudlent charges since they accepted an invalid card.

See the following links for more details...

http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html (go to the very bottom of this page)
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6787955

/RANT

The best solution would be to sign the card in the appropriate space and write with a felt tip pen or Sharpie "Please ask for ID" next to the signature box or in another location on the back of the card.
 
I hate to be a pendantic wanker...

Writing "SEE ID" is actually not acceptable according to Visa/Mastercard

I think this is true, at least on VISA/MC. I do know for a FACT That AmEX allows "See ID" as your sig. Note the back of an AMEX says "Customer Signature" not "Not Valid Unless Signed".
 
Yup, it's as easy as that. One of the best buying experiences I've ever had.
 
What if I don't intend to use AT&T? What are the chances they won't sell the phone to me at the Apple store?
What about an AT&T store? I've heard they started basically making you activate in the store.
 
I hate to be a pendantic wanker, but as a card accepting merchant who actually follows the rules (and gets yelled at by many a fine customer in the process) I have to verge a little further along the off topic road...

Writing "SEE ID" is actually not acceptable according to Visa/Mastercard and a Merchant should demand that you sign the card in front of them before they process the transaction. Of course you are free not to sign the card, but then the merchant should not accept it.

The reason is that signing the card indicates acceptance of the cardmember agreement, and without doing so you and the card issuer have never really formed a contract. Look on the back of your Visa/MC and it will say "Not Valid Unless Signed" which means signed not "See ID".

The tricky part of this is that if you write SEE ID and your card is ever stolen, and Visa finds out that you wrote SEE ID instead of signing it, they could refuse to cancel fradulent charges due to your failure to sign the card. Or even worse, from my perspective, they could hold the merchants accountable for the fraudlent charges since they accepted an invalid card.

See the following links for more details...

http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html (go to the very bottom of this page)
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6787955

/RANT

This is among the many reasons I wish someone would start using hand-scanners like my college dorm had (in the 1990s!!!) instead of signatures. Sure would make fraud a lot tougher!
 
they can ask you for ID even if its signed. Back when I was in retail, everyone thought that signed card=no id needed. Its really up to the retailer.

While we are being pedantic, according to Visa a merchant may *ask* for id but he may not *require* it as a condition of sale. This of course applies to properly signed cards.

A.
 
Well I heard you can't buy an iPhone with cash and you can't buy it with a foreign credit card.

This sucks for me, because i want to buy one when i go back to the states...and I only have foreign cards...guess i'll just use a friends credit card...there is always a way.

Isn't this something to do with a Homeland Security directive aimed at counter terrorism activity and co-ordination?

I mean can you imagine if Bin Laden walked into the Apple store on Prince Street NYC and pulled out a load of afghanis to pay for an iPhone then started download tunes at random....imagine the chaos this would cause.
 
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