O2 Cans iPhone eBaying Employees

by Eric March on June 16, 2008 at 9:52 am

You may recall at the beginning of the month that O2 discovered that some of the employees at their London-based retail oulets were abusing their 20% employee discounts on the iPhone and flipping them on eBay for a tidy profit. Having completed their investigation, O2 have decided to chuck the six emploeees they had initially fingered for the caper out on their ears. (Presumably the other 20 they had investigated were cleared, or their cases are still pending; there’s no word either way.) This signals a new, firmer resolve that the carrier will no longer stand for such shenanigans and will take serious action — even despite the fact that the iPhones they were selling are discontinued. It’s the principle though, I’m sure.

I’d also expect the publicity this case has gotten to influence other carriers into monitoring their employees more carefully for this sort of thing as well. Not that it will really matter for the 3G model, since one will need to sign their life away just to obtain one — but it’s possible that the new requirements to buy the next Jesus phone might just make them even more desirable (and therefore worth more) in an unlocked capacity, which may in turn result in shrinkage while the devices turn up on eBay or Craigslist. (Sellers would probably have to be pretty dumb though considering that any 3G iPhone sold online, at least for the next little while, is either going to be hot, or sold by someone who doesn’t mind paying through the rest of their iPhone-specialized contract.)

(Source: Cellular News, via Engadget Mobile)