SlashGear Japan
If you had been an Apple employee for more than a year prior to the launch of the iPhone, you were doing pretty good. There’s not much better than getting a free iPhone. Then came that nice $100 rebate for early adopters, which you may have found out you could get away with redeeming. Seems like a great deal, a free iPhone and $100 worth of credit, just for showing up to work.. Well, if you took advantage of that rebate, you won’t have to worry about showing up for work anymore.
According to sources, around 800 Apple employees took advantage of the $100 for the iPhone that they received for free. These workers are now looking for new jobs, as Apple doesn’t take kindly to thieves.
Sure, taking the rebate might seem pretty harmless, and maybe not grounds for termination. However, those employees would have known better than anyone that they were not eligible for the rebate (plus it’s in the rebate terms), so they willingly scammed Apple for a hundred bucks. While it may cost Apple more than $100 per employee to train new employees, these people have just shown that they’ll steal if the opportunity is presented, and Apple is better off without them.
Don’t get me wrong, I know how much retail can suck, I spent several years working for people like Staples, Best Buy and CompUSA. I can sympathize with anyone that wants to “stick it to the man,” but scamming them for $100 isn’t the way to do it. Especially not after they just gave you a free iPhone.
800 Apple Store Employees joining the unemployment line [via MYiTablet]
10 Responses to “Apple cans 800 employees for cashing in on iPhone rebates”
e October 19, 2007
I don’t buy it…..
-2When I got my rebate, I had to enter my serial # and phone # and it verified I was eligible. I would imagine that the same thing would have happened if I was an Apple employee. The only thing I might believe is they may have tried to see if they were eligible, and were denied. I doubt that would be sufficient to be fired. I would love to hear from someone who actually got fired for this, and we have heard none yet. Time to stop spreading this rumor.
apple employee October 19, 2007
the serial number check bounced employee serial numbers back as ineligable
this rumor is false
-1mark October 19, 2007
lol, that’s hilarious!
-1another apple employee October 20, 2007
This rumor is unfounded. We were ineligible on that website based on our serial number. It would have been impossible to do. I recommend slashgear remove this story because it’s propogating too fast across the web.
-2Ty October 20, 2007
Wow that would terrible and plus how would they have said anything against it.
+1Dan October 20, 2007
The employees who said that their serial numbers were kicked back as ineligible when they entered them into the rebate website obviously TRIED to do it. If I TRY to rob a bank and get caught, I still get punished for trying.
+2Ty October 20, 2007
Yea, I would be curious to find out if this is just a remour or if Apple really did do this.
+1Warren October 21, 2007
$100 bucks? This mean they were all probably poorly payed in the first place…
NeutralJim October 21, 2007
Why is this article still up? What nonsense.
Btw, testing the system is a lot different than cashing in the rebate. I might have tested my serial number if only to confirm that it’s properly denied.
– Yet another Apple employee
NeutralApple Insider November 6, 2008
This story is true and I know 3 employees who this happened to. They were idiots and they got what they deserved. Steve Jobs actually spoke to the over 800 employees in person and reportedly slapped each and every one of them across the face repeatedly until they admitted to being “stingy, retarded thieves.” He was rumored to have spared the slapping of pretty female employees, but allegedly raped them while talking on his new iPhone 4G.
Neutral