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O2 Employees Spanked for Reselling Discounted iPhones

Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 AM - by

Several O2 employees are on the hunt for new jobs after getting fired for reselling iPhones they purchased with their company discount. The former employees were able to purchase the iPhones at a 20 percent discount and then resold them on eBay for a tidy profit, according to Contractor UK.

Apparently employees reselling cell phones isn't new, but O2 doesn't seem willing to put up with the activity any longer.

"O2 is cracking down on the practice in a sign that mobile firms are no longer prepared to turn a blind eye," one company insider said. "The days when this kind of scam could be ignored are over."

Now that O2 is actively pursuing employees for abusing discount policies, other cell carriers may well follow suit. If so, it's going to get a little more difficult to pick up new iPhones, and other cell phones, on eBay.

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geoduck said:

member since 30 Dec 2003 with 1922 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:45 am

Quote:
The days when this kind of scam could be ignored are over.

I can't fault them for cracking down on this; it's cutting into O2s profit. I do question the use of the work 'scam'. It's not like the employees were selling fake or stolen iPhones. The employees purchased them at a discount and were selling them at a profit. The customer is getting a working iPhone. To me 'scam' implies something illegal. It may have violated a company policy, but it wasn’t criminal.

'Scam' seems a bit harsh, bordering on hyperbole.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:32 pm

It's a scam because the discount is for personal benefit only. You buy it to use it by yourself. Those people buy with the intention of reselling at a higher price, which is considered illegal in some company policies.

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