Dan Warne29 November 2007, 1:45 AM
Staff at an Apple reseller have been told they will lose their jobs if they discuss the iPhone with customers -- even outside business hours.
Apple has threatened its "Premium Resellers" with losing their accreditation if they speak to customers about the iPhone, which is not yet officially available in Australia.
"Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE is anyone to offer any form of support to customers for the iPhone, either inside or outside of business hours," one reseller told its staff in an email.
"Doing so is in breach of our Apple Premium Reseller agreement.
The reseller said staff could be subjected to disciplinary action "including termination" if they helped a customer with an iPhone, even in their private time.
Apple Australia did not deny it had threatened resellers with retaliation if they helped customers with iPhones.
Spokesperson Fiona Martin said, "As with any concerns that users have with Apple products we recommend they contact us directly on 133 622 for resolution. This holds true for iPhone issues which we are able to re-route support needs to their country of origin should they have support needs whilst travelling with their iPhone."
APC queried why it was necessary to exclude resellers from helping customers if they were able to, and Martin responded, "The iPhone does not have telecommunications certification in Australia at this time. Until certification is granted support must be handled by the country of origin."
Despite Apple Australia's official explanation, the real reason resellers are being banned from helping customers with iPhones is more likely to do with the difficulty Apple is having in stopping iPhones being sold to unlockers and used freely on any network.
The company is engaged in a cat-and-mouse battle with hackers, made harder by the fact that unlocking has become a thriving black-market business for mobile phone shops and electronics retailers.
Apple's latest move against accredited retailers is probably an attempt to ensure they don't do anything to help customers unlock their iPhones. Each unlocked iPhone deprives Apple of hundreds of dollars of extra profit, in the form of kickbacks from their official telco partners when a customer activates a mobile contract.