Scalpers have been a huge nuisance for Apple in China. When a few days ago Apple had plans of launching iPhone 4S in it’s Beijing store, the same scalpers gathered in front of the store and created such an uproar that Apple postponed the release. Now Apple is selling the phone through it’s online store and through other retailers. The scalpers are equally efficient online too. They keep pinging Apple’s servers whole day and as soon as Apple starts accepting reservations, their bots go for it within minutes. To avoid this, Apple has introduced a new system to reserve an iPhone.
This is how this new system works: Apple will open the reservations on it’s website every day for three hours. During this time windows, users can apply for the reservation of an iPhone. To do so, users will require government-issued photo ID and full details. This is done essentially to thwarts the scalpers who try to grab as many iPhone devices as possible.
Once the users have applied through the reservation windows of three hours, Apple will sort the applications and will notify the users who have been successful in reserving the device by 9 p.m. each day. The official statement from Apple read thus,
“Due to high demand, we are accepting a limited number of iPhone reservations per day. To request an iPhone reservation, please choose your store and the iPhone you want. If we have an iPhone reservation for you, you’ll receive a confirmation email by 9:00 p.m. tonight that includes the time when you can pick up your iPhone tomorrow. A government-issued photo ID matching the name and ID number on your reservation is required for iPhone purchases. If you don’t receive an email, we were unable to reserve an iPhone for you, and you can try again another time. Only those who receive an email confirming their reservation will be able to purchase an iPhone; we will not be selling iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S to walk-in customers.”
Image courtesy IvanWalsh.
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