iPhone Will Be Locked Down To A Single SIM Card, AT&T To Charge 10% Restocking Fee

If you're up in the air about purchasing an iPhone, you might want to wait before you buy one on a whim. I'm thinking that the iPhone will be great, however, it is not without its faults, so you might want to wait a bit and talk to someone that has been using it and see what they think. Why the caution? Because AT&T has changed their return policy just for the iPhone.

Usually with AT&T you have 30 days to check out a phone and see what you think. If you return it within that time, no harm no foul. However, you will be limited to 14 days with the phone and you will be charged a 10% restocking fee. If you thought buying the iPhone was expensive, just wait until you try to return it!

Maybe instead of returning the phone and taking a hit, you'll just sell the phone on eBay? People will be paying top dollar for the coveted phone, right? Wrong. The extra features such as Visual Voicemail, internet access and even your iTunes account will all be tied directly to the SIM card of the individual who purchased the phone new. So if someone else sticks in their SIM card, they will not have access to those features.

While it sounds like a bad idea at first, I'm really thinking that this was a good move on Apple/AT&T's part. The reason is twofold; first it will cut down on theft of the iPhone. If it has no resale value, why steal it? Second, the phone will have little to no value on eBay, so this will deter people from buying the phone to simply resell it. That will mean that more iPhones will be available for customers that want to purchase it for their own use.

Testing out the iPhone will cost you 10% restocking fee, more SIM details [via MYiTablet]