iPhone 3G Hong Kong Scam...

I am convinced that the THREE mobile deal on the new iPhone is a scam... not the bait and switch kind of scam, or the Three Card Monty kind of scam,  but rather the 'its actually a horrible deal' scam...

So on my way to work I stopped by the three store near my house.  I wasn't planning on getting one anytime too soon, but maybe in the next month or two, my Sony Ericsson P990i (trouble as it is), is almost 2 years old, so I've been thinking about a replacement for a while.  the iPhone addresses some of the problems I had with it (no 3G, no apps, etc).  it also has GPS, more RAM and some other nice features now.

So I went down and checked it out.  unlike Narom's bad experience w/ the iPhone deal, I had a separate bad experience.... Although  I found the one at the store in Hung Hom actually had a demo model set up and I played with it for a few minutes.  Its not bad,  the chinese character writing is kind of hard w/ your finger tip, but I think I could get used to it....

So I asked the lady the details, terms and costs...

turns out there's three stupid things:

1) as narom mentioned, you need to sign up online and wait 2-3 weeks to get one (none in stock today basically).

2) apparently you HAVE to sign up for 1 value added service when you get it.  the ones the clerk mentioned to me were '2mb data' (useless for the iphone, since it comes with 500mb),  the hello ring (who the hell needs that?)  or the 'SMS pack' which boasts 'free intra-network SMS'... someone forgot to tell them that the iphone deals already come with that too...so its useless), so all you get is 40 SMS for HK$18,  hardly much of a savings...    So the HK$268 deal is really more like $283-$293, depending on which useless feature you choose. :-P

3) Most importantly, I asked about the cancellation policy.  The iPhone 3G on Three requires two things - you PREPAY the entire cost of the phone (HK$4680 = ~US$600) - and get a 24 month plan - depending on the monthly plan you choose (anywhere from HK$188 - 498 / month), you get some or all of that back at the end of your 24 months.  (assuming you make it).

BUT there's also a penalty if you try to cancel early... in the US this is usually a fixed penalty that makes up for the cost of subsidizing the phone cost... but not so at THREE HK!   basically the 'cancellation fee' = the entire remaining monthly charges for your 24 month contract.  Which means if you cancel after 1 month, you're charged the remaining 23 months, PLUS they don't give you your 'rebate' of the original $4680 purchase price.   

So let's do the math,  you cancel your $498 plan after 1 month (let's say your job relocates to another country) -   your cost in 'penalties' = HK$11454 (which is about ~US$1500!),  plus you're also out the $4680 you paid for the phone (for a locked phone you can't use anywhere else!)

so total cost would be like $16000 HKD (US$2k+) :-O

Even at the cheapest end of the scale by the time you include their taxes and 'mandatory options' you'll have to pay about $220 / month, which means a 'cancellation fee' of HK$5k on top of the phone cost...   

Talk about a straight jacket!  You better like the phone, cause you're going to be stuck with it for 2 years... 

is there an upgrade policy? (what happens if you lose your phone half way through?)

I think I'd rather wait a few more weeks until the industrious fellows in Mongkok gettheir hands on the unlocked version(or even a locked version is fine, I use 3 pre-paid already...)

otherwise i'll just go and buy an HTC...  :-P