Crazy AT&T gets $150 refurb'd iPhone 3G in stock, will club a baby seal if you don't buy one
By Paul Miller 
posted December 16th 2008 11:57AM
posted December 16th 2008 11:57AM
If Walmart's $197 iPhone 3G had you salivating, wait until you get ahold of this deal: AT&T has refurbished iPhone 3Gs in stock for a mere $150, effectively doubling your rice and ramen budget for the month should you take the plunge. AT&T claims the refurbs were returned within the 30 day trial period, are quality tested, and might be just a little scuffed up. If you're really feeling wild, there's also a 16GB refurb available for $250. Apple and AT&T are being a little shady on the warranty, stating "90 days or more," as opposed to the standard one year, but that's a risk you and your growling stomach are just going to have to take.[Via Cnet]
Umm... No. Here in Canada, we have high rates, and we were still able to buy 6gb of data per month for $30. Not $50.
Acutally, my plan includes 500mb, 10000 text messages, visual voice mail, caller ID, Unlimited calling to 10 people, 200mins, 500incoming, and 6pm early weekends and evenings for $65 including tax and service charge.
Thats why I love unlocked jailbroken 2g Iphone with T-mobile with Tzones plan!
to quote a bastard 'i' don't like this idea.
Must... save... baby... seals...
yes, it's absolutely absurd. but these things will sell hotcakes to mactards.
I assume you can still buy AppleCare for it?
but it's Apple, we all know its Engadget's favorite brand.
Am I missing something here? Why are people acting like the data plan is optional on the refurb units? If you buy brand new, you still have to pay for the data plan; in other words, YOU ARE STILL SAVING $50 over the lifetime of the phone. The only person that made since was the guy who said that it isn't worth saving $50 to loose 9 months on your warranty.
Does this price really seem that good like the OP makes it out to be?!
$50.00 cheaper for a Refurb phone does not sound very good.
Especially, if you're paying about $80-100 monthly plan with ATT..
I must pay an extra 30 a month if i get this phone in order to club baby seals. Its part of the package
How many baby seals will they club if I don't buy 2?
One observation if I may - these aren't actually refurbished.
If these were returned and maybe "a bit scuffed up" - they're open box. There's a difference. These units were basically sent back to AT&T for "whatever" and AT&T is turning around and selling them back again.
@Tony
"Refurbishment (restoration) is the process of major maintenance or minor repair of an item, either aesthetically or mechanically."
AT&T is reselling them in retail form, they aren't new which means they have to be sold as Refurbished. Open box usually refers to something that is taken back to a retailer and sold as is, it never makes it back to the original manufacturer.
@kal326: Exactly my point. If they're being sold with blemishes or other damage, that's not refurbished - that's open box. They're not going back to the manufacturer, they're going back to AT&T (the retailer) and they're turning them around for resale.
rib off pffffffff
Phones in the UK come free with the service plan, like the T-Mobile G1. Infact, the iPhone seems to be the only exception to this rule (and then you have the £soul/mo data plan.)
Derp, America.
iPhones still suck. Hey how's that non-speaking GPS working out for you fanboys? If I wanted to look down at my cell phone every 8 seconds when I got lost driving in the city, I might as well just printed a google map. Although it's understandable that apple doesn't want to give you a decent GPS or live TV -- your battery life is too paltry and can't be swapped out anyway. Get the Sprint Instinct, which at least has the decency to come with a second battery and separate charger.
Buy a one pay as you go and get a o2 simplicity card......
I've heard good things about Apple refurbs. For one thing, they actually have to go through quality control instead of just being pumped off the assembly line into the shiny box. I've heard many people that have better experiences buying refurbs from Apple instead of new products.
heads up to all. I am trying to get this as an upgrade. Apparently they forgot to tell their employees that they were offering referbs online and have made it near impossible to purchase as an upgrade. To do this I had to call 3 customer service numbers and finally got someone not in India who gave a call to the e-store employees and said this,"We handle all orders but the Iphone." so we waited to talk to the supervisor of the call center to see if he had heard anything about purchasing Iphones as an upgrade that have been refurb'd. They said they really didn't know and they could credit my account $50 and I could just buy a new one!!! A new one for $150!!!! Jump on it now, if you can handle the endless elevator music while they talk about it.
Also as a tech shout to all the people who are mocking the Iphone faults know this. As a culture and technology student at Georgia Tech, I can tell you that the down falls of the Iphone are not problems, they are revising the way that our culture will use these new devices. They understand that we will not use a 25 Megapixel camera on our phone. We only need 1.3 to snap contact pics. we don't need to mms, we can post to our personal website. They are selectively picking how they want the user to interact with the technology. They are not just forgetting to put stuff in. As far as the price, welcome to America, get a lame job and get a cool phone.
dee,neodirian,cmetom,kash007,joe23251,iloveapple,broli.,let me first start off by saying are some broke a$$ mofos.,there is a reason u dont own one,step 1 try to upgrade your pay grade,this phone is not intended for minimum wage earners,your more than welcome to pay $600-700 for it.20$ or $30 month for unlimited full html 3g data.there is a reason y vzw charges 15$ mth for weak vzw data,on non full htmal phones like samsung glide,venus,env2 etc it sucks. as far as brainwashed no one is holding a gun to your head n saying buy this phone,there are more entry level remedial phones out there for people like you. chocolate,razr,shine,palm,or 8 year old nokias. there is a reason.
update... because I spent 2 hours online I got an extra $50 dollars off.... You heard right a 8 gig for $100 and a 16 for $200... do yourself a favor call quick before they figure this out and get you a big DEAL!!!
You people have no idea what you are talking about. All those of you who are saying that there is a 2 year plan are wrong. The iphone is $199 dollars for an 8gb with or without the contract. However, you do have to add the extra iphone data plan and visual voicemail for 30 dollars. I think most people are getting mixed up with the difference of a PLAN and a CONTRACT two totally different things. You have to have a plan to use your phone on a network, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE SIGNED TO A CONTRACT.. Please people do your research before you start giving advice.
I returned my 8gig iPhone 2 weeks ago - work got the phone for me and I decided I could handle paying $100 to upgrade to a 16GB, plus a $20 restocking fee.
Save $50 and get my 8 - it's not scuffed but I did browse the web onb the can a few times.
BTW love the iPhone. I always had Verizon in the past in in my experience, the AT&T coverage is better. The phone itself is phenomenal. Just needs cut and paste.
Why does no one care about the clubbing a baby seal line in the title of the story. I linked to this story from my Gmail just because it said that and pissed me off, you would think the animal rights people would be all over something like this, and for it to be allowed to be posted with AT&T's name referenced as well as Apple referenced it seems like a little but of bad press to me.
It seriously fu*ked me off. Paul Miller is a pri*k!
Making a joke about the fact that so many seal pups are clubbed to death and often skinned alive is unforgivable.
They are desperate. Sales are not going well...
What does clubbing baby seals have to do with this?
I will never pay $100/month for a cell phone bill for my own personal use. I leave that for the gadget freaks who feel better about themselves only if they have the latest tech toy.
Everyone wants to be a cool geek these days, losers.
Paul Miller. what a great job you have done on this article. it is hilarious as well as informative. the part about the rice and ramen part is so freaking funny. very funny and a great read!
These are clearly aimed at the t-mo unlocking crowd. I realize T-Moers won't get to use 3G. Still, it's a good deal for a T-Mo phone.