Apple iPhone inexplicably unavailable for NYC via online orders

By on Dec 27, 2009 at 6:54 PM
News December 27, 2009

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This one has us scratching our heads. When attempting to order the iPhone for zip codes in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities, everything seems perfectly fine. However, NYC zip codes, more specifically Brooklyn, removes the iPhone as an option for online sales. We called several stores in the NYC area, including one in Brooklyn, and the sales reps said stock was perfectly fine. So we chatted up online sales and they told us it wasn’t available in that area and, as noted by the image below, they couldn’t tell us why:

Consumerist has a slightly different twist in this story — the rep they spoke with said it’s because NYC isn’t ready for the iPhone. That’s fine and most New Yorkers would agree, but that doesn’t explain the sufficient stock available in stores throughout that area. One Consumerist reader wrote a comment saying that “Due to massive fraud in online ordering, iPhones are not available online only.” Now that is definitely interesting, but you can order an iPhone online if you have a non-NYC zip code. We’re digging deep and trying to sort this one out for you guys and we’ll definitely bring the updates as they come.

[Via Giz]

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  • http://www.facebook.com/Drummer85 Wendy’s Spicy Chicken

    We live in a world that will eventually bite the hand that feeds it. New Yorkers will bite a couple of fingers off in this case. AT&T is sadly on the decline, and will be for the forseeable future. Once VZW rolls out LTE, AT&T will be a thing of the past. AT&T, you are the modern day AOL! Hahahahaha!!!

    • WowReally

      Really? Just because4 you don’t liek a company.. You don’t wish for over 300,000+ people to be out of work. What a spiteful hating persoin you are…

  • sonia

    i might be in a minority, but i have no issues with my iphone or the att network. at least for now. i’ve had the same linr since cingular came on the market after giving up on verizon, tmobile and sprint. yeap tried them all. verizon offers employees at my hospital 20% off to switch to their services. a few of my fellow residents did and got the android, which they returned for the blackberry or att. there is a part of the hospital and parking area verizon service drops. they both have good and bad, it seems you really can’t have everything!

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Chris

    I love how people comment without actually reading the article.

    “We called several stores in the NYC area, including one in Brooklyn, and the sales reps said stock was perfectly fine.”

    “Due to massive fraud in online ordering, iPhones are not available online only.”

    AT&T is still selling iPhones in NY. Just not online, and there’s a good chance it has to do with the $22 million in fraud over that passed few years. And yet, the people who don’t read and just say “AT&T sucks” get their comments upranked because BGR is so full of AT&T hate.

  • crashoverride

    Hey Chris,

    Take a chill pill….ATT is planning to pay customers to NOT use their data features (as they admitted in a press release). This is not hating at all!

    BGR jocks any carrier who is not pulling weight
    -like Sprint with their high churn rate
    and VZW with their high smartphone ETF fees….

    WTF? “Full of ATT hate”….seriously?

    • mitch35883

      “ATT is planning to pay customers to NOT use their data features (as they admitted in a press release).”

      _______________________________

      Wait wait wait… since when does *Charging you more for using more data* = *Paying you for using less data*.

      Absurd. They are not paying people to use less data, they are simply charging MORE to those that want to use their data plan to its capacity.

  • Chris

    I think I’m pretty chill. And yes, I’d say they’re full of AT&T hate when almost all of my comments saying anything positive about AT&T are downranked. Yes…seriously.

    But you just ignored the rest of my comment. Don’t agree a lot of the people here need to learn to read an article before commenting on it?

  • WowReally

    What a group of people we have here…

    You all were mad when you considered the serivce sub-par…

    AT&T sound like they decided to take action and you shot them down as well.

    You NYC and Verizon fanboys need to get a life, some dude was saying he is ‘praying’ for the iPHONE to come to Verizon… Do me a favor and use prayers for something better than a stinking cell phone.

    So, since it is just after Christmas i am going to solve your problems. Go to Times Square, go to one of those rat hole electronics stores, buy a jailbroken iPhone for 500 bucks or so and take it to TMOBILE… No one cares…

    And when Verizon, has enough REAL smartphone hitting their network you will see it has to do with usage…

    • Bdizzah

      Do you have any idea how many blackberries verizon runs on its network? And, ahem, NYC fanboys? I would call them residents and not fanboys. The iphone is a quality product, but at&t was not properly prepared for the hipster i love iphone mania that hit their network. The best way to say it is, it’s all about what works best for you. I have Verizon, my GF has at&t. As we live in different areas (me in NYC and her in Nassau county) it’s all about the service we experience in our areas. I hated at&t when i had it (first gen iphone), when i went to verizon, i experienced better over all service. I would never trash a carrier with out first using their service.

      • Scott

        while I’ll agree that Verizon probably does have more BB’s on their network vs att. But, BB’s don’t consume as much data as an iPhone or Android phone. Blame it on their sub-par browser or business stature, but they just don’t use as much data (unless you count those who tether).

      • WowReally

        AT&T has many many more smartphones and is the world’s number one BB carrier.

      • GlockBuster

        @WowReally
        Please do your research, VZ is the Nations #1 BB Carrier and Supporter. AT&T may ‘offer’ the Largest BBerry Lineup, but they are certainly NOT the Largest # of BBerry Users.
        Also, VZ basically provides about 75-80% of different Branches of the US Government with their BBerrys. Hence why up until 2 years ago Verizons Blackberrys DID NOT have Cameras offered with them.
        and Lastly, CDMA may not be ‘Faster’ in your opinions, but it certainly is more SECURE…which will ALWAYS beat out GSM when it’s being used by a Company or Program that uses ‘sensative’ information.
        If you don’t believe me just read the post on how GSM was ‘cracked’ and now all calls and/or messages could be(with the right user)monitored.

  • Diabl0

    That’s why AT&T should call Luke Wilson for help! Closing online sales to one of USA’s biggest iPhone Online shoppers? Wow, AT&T is getting smarter every minute!

    Well to pacify the situation here’s luke wilson’s headless vid that really looks good on him: http://bit.ly/luke-wilson-headless-ads-worst

    • WowReally

      Get the facts – it was due to FRAUD…. But i am sure you have zero interest in facts and want to turn into a Verizon hug fest…

      Stupid post and name too :)

  • Rob

    I wonder what is being talked about in Cupertino board rooms right now?

  • biasedboygenius

    Just go to a store…..Hey BGR you biased mothers……cover that huge ETF fee cuz Verizon has higher churn than AT&T had the past 2 quarters.

  • Chris

    put in zip code 11201 , 11210 brooklyn inside the attwireless site and it still has iPhone for sale.

  • Fyrfyter

    Duh, It’s the network!

    Like we all plainly know, the iPhone is destroying AT&Ts network; Brooklyn must be in heavy use….. :-P

  • Dale McNamee

    To All of the AT&T Haters,

    I challenge you to design the network that you fantasize about. Raise the money in the financial markets, purchase the equipment,hire the personnel to operate and maintain it.

    Next, attract handset makers and figure out how much of a subsidy you should apply to the purchase price.

    Then, attract subscribers. And all of this before you “turn the switch”.

    As for data usage,how should it be priced ? Why shouldn’t those who use 10+ GB pay more than those who use less ?

    They are bogging down the network,and data usage at those levels will slow down ANY NETWORK ! Just like rush-time traffic greatly affects speeds on the local roads and highways…

    As for “jailbreaking” phones…Isn’t that actually an act of fraud and theft of services ?

    Speaking of theft & fraud…How would any of you like having $22,000,000 stolen from you ?

    As for not being able to buy an I Phone online in the Brooklyn area… Well, that happens when a few try to rip-off a phone company…and the innocent suffer for their crime unfortunately.

    But,you can still go to the stores…

    And if that’s not pleasing to you ,might I suggest Cricket, Boost, Jitterbug, Virgin Mobile, Helio, Kajeet, & Firefly ?

    I travel to NYC from time to time and my Motorola RAZR v3 on AT&T ( GO Phone) works fine,no dropped calls and my Peek Pronto works fine as well.

    Finally, nothing says “Rob Me” like an I Phone, especially here in “Bodymore, Murderland”.

    • Ryan

      well actually jailbreaking isn’t theft or fraud. you bought the device and can do whatever you would like to it. don’t see any fraud or theft in that. all it does it allow you to use your iphone to it’s full capacity cause apple limits what you can and can’t do. mines jailbroken and I love what it can do now.

  • LOLsALOT

    …but wait theres more!! “Its not the network that is making the internet slow its gotta be the iPhone!”-AT&T lol good going on building that billion $ company stronger and reliable!

  • josh

    Hey BGR someone else said it and i’ll say it too. Why do you gotta bash att all the time? I mean come on no network is perfect and it can’t be. Verizon has a $350.00 ETF fee and can have poor service in some areas, but yet theres not big deal made about that. i do not have an iphone i have a blackberry and with att and i’ve had att for years and have had little problems and i know lots of people with verizon who have trouble doing anything in the area of ohio where we live. It all depends, again no network is perfect, it’s all in what you want and the area you live in.

  • josh

    Additional to that Gizmodo did tests showing that ATT does have a far faster network than verizon and other independent companies are doing tests as well showing that att has far faster upload and download times that exceed verizon in all the major cities. So before you bash att check your facts first and or compare yourself using the two and see what you think!

    • AlephNull

      I’d just like to point out that Gizmodo may not be the most unbiased source you could cite. I remember going to their site about a week ago and seeing bright orange AT&T advertisements all over the place. Between that and the fact that there are always ways of skewing test results… I’d just prefer a true unbiased test.

      • Chris

        Guess you don’t know how advertisements work. AT&T bought that spot on Gizmodo. They’re not advertising AT&T for free. HTC has bought ad space before. So has Sprint, Palm, and many other companies. Right now, the movie 9 is being advertised. Don’t see how they could be biased to the movie 9 when they’ve never even mentioned it before.

      • AlephNull

        Guess you don’t know how business works. When an advertiser provides significant enough revenue to a business that uses an advertising based model, the website or publication can be pressured by that revenue to ensure that information puts the advertiser in the best possible light. As I am sure you understand why it would be futile to post an ad for my new “Infinity Ray DVD Player” beside a hardware review that blasts my product, AT&T undoubtedly understands this principle also. All it takes is a call stating “We’ve seen a lot of negative press from your site lately and are considering pulling our advertising from it.” I’m sure that would hold some sway in the content being published.

  • RJ

    And I care why?

  • Janice

    I ported 7 lines to AT&T with 3 iPhones in Albany and didn’t have any problems. I dropped all kinds of calls with Verizon. I just had to have an iPhone.

  • E55

    BGR…. How much did Verizon pay you to post this? There’s got to be something better to write about. I’m sure even Verizon’s online site run’s out of a particular product or has issue with online orders. Maybe I’ll come back to this site when it’s a little less biased. After all that’s what good reporting is all about.

  • http://www.cellphones-reviews.com/ Cell phone Reviews

    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.

  • Prophet

    I just bought 5 iPhones for $49,,,

    • Chris

      With whose accounts? lol

  • http://(null) kreepin

    none of those bailouts would have been necessary if it weren’t for bush… can’t blame him for a mess he walked into…

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Boynton Beach-Delray Beach Atlantic Ocean

    • Ryan

      and no-bama isn’t doing shit

  • g

    its FRAUD

  • http://bilgili.web.tr murat

    thanks that good
    Bilgi|Maxi|td

  • Simon’s Friend

    Brooklyn fraud ring…same deal that happened at Sprint…unauthorized dealers.

  • http://www.louisvillecolorado-realestate.com Andrea

    Yet another proof of AT&Ts service being unreliable. Of all places to not offer service, New York.

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