Mobilecom
Complaint 84524 Details

My two sons and I visited Manahttan New York between 27 December and 3 January 2012. We spent three and a half weeks abroad and our holiday included some time in Cancun and San Francisco. My sons (aged 14 and 17) had saved their money for some time with a view to purchasing i phones in the US. We visited the Apple store in Soho but they were all out of phones. We found I phone 4S phones at Mobilecom at 566 Fashion Avenue New York . The store looked legitimate and the salesman told us that they were an agent for AT&T. He sold us two iphones plus accessories, to the value of $1998.00. He assured us that the phones were unlocked and could be used in Australia. We even purchased additional warranties for them and he supposedly registered them in my children's names. Yesterday we visited Optus, a carrier here in Australia. We signed up for a 12 month contract on one of the phones.When the Optus salesman put the new simcard in the phone, it did not operate. The phone was locked. This monring I spent an hour and a half on the phone to the US - I phoned Apple, AT&T and then Sprint as the Apple people told me that the phone was actually locked by Sprint. The Sprint lady was very helpful, however unable to do anything to unlock the phones as they were never activated in the US, we don't have a US account or US identity. I tried calling the store but it just keeps ringing out. I google searched Mobilecom and there are numerous complaints about the store and many people from o/s being scammed by them. My children have spent $2000 of their pocket money and savings and have phones that are useless to them. I feel totally sickened by this experience and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I have never been scammed anywhere in the world and did not expect this to happen in the US. We are devastated by the experience. I have a a receipt, the phones were purchased at 2.14pm on 1 January. They were brand new, sealed - there's nothing wrong with the phones, we just cannot use them.