Why will they only sell me 2 phones

I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some pay-as-you-go
mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was only allowed to
buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a bit odd as surely
they're in business to sell the things.

It would seem that I could buy as many as I wanted provided I was
prepared to buy 2, go out of the store, come back in and buy another 2
and so on.

Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
similar rule applies in Argos stores?

It seems very stupid to me!

--
Alasdair.

---

› See More: Why will they only sell me 2 phones

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:17:56 +0000, Alasdair <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some pay-as-you-go
>mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was only allowed to
>buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a bit odd as surely
>they're in business to sell the things.
>
>It would seem that I could buy as many as I wanted provided I was
>prepared to buy 2, go out of the store, come back in and buy another 2
>and so on.
>
>Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
>similar rule applies in Argos stores?
>
>It seems very stupid to me!


It's to stop terrorists buying them, go figure
--

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no real use but it makes you smile when they fall down stairs!

Thus spaketh BORG:
> On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:17:56 +0000, Alasdair <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some
>> pay-as-you-go mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was
>> only allowed to buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a
>> bit odd as surely they're in business to sell the things.
>>
>> It would seem that I could buy as many as I wanted provided I was
>> prepared to buy 2, go out of the store, come back in and buy another
>> 2 and so on.
>>
>> Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
>> similar rule applies in Argos stores?
>>
>> It seems very stupid to me!
>
>
> It's to stop terrorists buying them, go figure

Go figure what?

Thought this was a UK forum not a yank one!

{{{{{Welcome}}}}} wrote:

> Thus spaketh BORG:
> > On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:17:56 +0000, Alasdair <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some
> >> pay-as-you-go mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was
> >> only allowed to buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a
> >> bit odd as surely they're in business to sell the things.
> >>
> >> It would seem that I could buy as many as I wanted provided I was
> >> prepared to buy 2, go out of the store, come back in and buy another
> >> 2 and so on.
> >>
> >> Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
> >> similar rule applies in Argos stores?
> >>
> >> It seems very stupid to me!
> >
> >
> > It's to stop terrorists buying them, go figure
>
> Go figure what?
>
> Thought this was a UK forum not a yank one!

The pay as you go market in the UK is very heavily subsidised where the
phones are almost free. The Telco makes up for this with very high
charges for the calls. There is a big problem for the telco's with
people buying the phones, never registering them, then unlocking them
and sending to a market where the phone is worth far more (Hong Kong
being one of them). As many a 1/3 of sets sold as PAYG never get
registered.
Restricting people to two phones at a visit is to make it difficult for
these people to buy up large quantities at one go. They would buy 100
boxes if they were allowed.

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some pay-as-you-go
> mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was only allowed to
> buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a bit odd as surely
> they're in business to sell the things.

Indeed, but box breakers are out in force this Christmas, buying cheap
phones and then selling the handset and SIM separately, on eBay for
example. This loses the networks money so Woolworths (along with
everyone else) are under strict orders. By sending you out of the shop
and back again it will be untraceable, and the shop Manager will not get
into trouble from his/her auditors.

> Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
> similar rule applies in Argos stores?

It's not a law, it's a policy.

> It seems very stupid to me!

If you were in the industry you would understand.
--
Regards
Jon

"Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] declared for all the world to hear...

> Indeed, but box breakers are out in force this Christmas, buying cheap
> phones and then selling the handset and SIM separately, on eBay for
> example. This loses the networks money so Woolworths (along with
> everyone else) are under strict orders. By sending you out of the shop
> and back again it will be untraceable, and the shop Manager will not get
> into trouble from his/her auditors.

I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box breaking,
where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks money. If the
sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not? The
network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only a sim
sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both parts sold
separately.

Simon

Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > [email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
>
> > Indeed, but box breakers are out in force this Christmas, buying cheap
> > phones and then selling the handset and SIM separately, on eBay for
> > example. This loses the networks money so Woolworths (along with
> > everyone else) are under strict orders. By sending you out of the shop
> > and back again it will be untraceable, and the shop Manager will not get
> > into trouble from his/her auditors.
>
> I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box breaking,
> where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks money. If the
> sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not? The
> network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only a sim
> sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both parts sold
> separately.

However, the SIMs rarely get used - box breakers only do it for the
phone.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Fiat Marea 20v HLX - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1h71js4.wqx98x1647874N%[email protected]...
> Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> "Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > [email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
>>
>> > Indeed, but box breakers are out in force this Christmas, buying cheap
>> > phones and then selling the handset and SIM separately, on eBay for
>> > example. This loses the networks money so Woolworths (along with
>> > everyone else) are under strict orders. By sending you out of the shop
>> > and back again it will be untraceable, and the shop Manager will not
>> > get
>> > into trouble from his/her auditors.
>>
>> I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box breaking,
>> where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks money. If
>> the
>> sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not? The
>> network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only a sim
>> sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both parts
>> sold
>> separately.
>
> However, the SIMs rarely get used - box breakers only do it for the
> phone.

Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.

Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:

> >> I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box breaking,
> >> where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks money. If
> >> the
> >> sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not? The
> >> network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only a sim
> >> sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both parts
> >> sold
> >> separately.
> >
> > However, the SIMs rarely get used - box breakers only do it for the
> > phone.
>
> Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.

The networks aren't going to make money if the SIM is never registered,
are they?

So they're selling a subsidised phone, but never making the money back
on calls.

It's even more complex that that, though, as retailers only get paid
their commission on phones that are registered - given that commission
is the only margin in most PAYG sales you can see why they'd not want to
sell bulk quantities to people who aren't going to register the SIM.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Fiat Marea 20v HLX - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1h71kvo.6pgulp3km2cyN%[email protected]...
> Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> >> I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box
>> >> breaking,
>> >> where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks money. If
>> >> the
>> >> sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not?
>> >> The
>> >> network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only a
>> >> sim
>> >> sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both parts
>> >> sold
>> >> separately.
>> >
>> > However, the SIMs rarely get used - box breakers only do it for the
>> > phone.
>>
>> Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.
>
> The networks aren't going to make money if the SIM is never registered,
> are they?

Ermm, Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.

Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:

> > The networks aren't going to make money if the SIM is never registered,
> > are they?
>
> Ermm, Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.

Oh, ffs!

If the SIM is never registered or used then the network doesn't make any
money...... you're saying that if the SIM is sold separately and used
then the network isn't going to lose out. I'm saying that a large
proportion of box breakers don't even bother doing anything with the
SIM, so they've had a cheap phone subsidised by the network, but the SIM
for that phone has more than likely been binned / put on a shelf
gathering dust.

Why is that so hard for you to understand?
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Fiat Marea 20v HLX - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

> If the SIM is never registered or used then the network doesn't make any
> money

So all they do is register SIM and then put it straight in the bin...

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 11:27:43 GMT, "DMac" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> If the SIM is never registered or used then the network doesn't make any
>> money
>
>So all they do is register SIM and then put it straight in the bin...
>

I doubt they even bother registering the sim - why would they


Chris P Bacon

"Mozzer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> {{{{{Welcome}}}}} wrote:
>
>> Thus spaketh BORG:
>> > On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:17:56 +0000, Alasdair <[email protected]>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> I went into a Woolworths store the other day to buy some
>> >> pay-as-you-go mobile phones as Christmas pressies but was told I was
>> >> only allowed to buy two phones per visit to the store. That seems a
>> >> bit odd as surely they're in business to sell the things.
>> >>
>> >> It would seem that I could buy as many as I wanted provided I was
>> >> prepared to buy 2, go out of the store, come back in and buy another
>> >> 2 and so on.
>> >>
>> >> Is this the law of the land since I have since been told that a
>> >> similar rule applies in Argos stores?
>> >>
>> >> It seems very stupid to me!
>> >
>> >
>> > It's to stop terrorists buying them, go figure
>>
>> Go figure what?
>>
>> Thought this was a UK forum not a yank one!
>
> The pay as you go market in the UK is very heavily subsidised where the
> phones are almost free. The Telco makes up for this with very high
> charges for the calls. There is a big problem for the telco's with
> people buying the phones, never registering them, then unlocking them
> and sending to a market where the phone is worth far more (Hong Kong
> being one of them). As many a 1/3 of sets sold as PAYG never get
> registered.
> Restricting people to two phones at a visit is to make it difficult for
> these people to buy up large quantities at one go. They would buy 100
> boxes if they were allowed.
>

That's an issue for the telco not Woolworths surely?

At the end of the day when they count up the takings from the till, the same
amount's gonna be in there whether the phones were bought in bulk or trickle
sold throughout the day?

Simon Watkins wrote:
> "SteveH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:1h71kvo.6pgulp3km2cyN%[email protected]...
>> Simon Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>>> I see this sort of thing said a lot. Never understood how box
>>>>> breaking,
>>>>> where phone and sim are sold separately, loses the networks
>>>>> money. If the
>>>>> sim is sold and subsequently, the network makes money does it not?
>>>>> The
>>>>> network is never going to make any money from a phone sale. Only
>>>>> a sim
>>>>> sale. And that happens, even if the package is split with both
>>>>> parts sold
>>>>> separately.
>>>>
>>>> However, the SIMs rarely get used - box breakers only do it for the
>>>> phone.
>>>
>>> Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.
>>
>> The networks aren't going to make money if the SIM is never
>> registered, are they?
>
> Ermm, Yes, I quite agree. But that wasn't what was being said.

Not very bright are you?