What kind of Christmas present is this? The Consumerist is reporting that AT&T has stopped selling the iPhone in the New York metropolitan area, at least via the company’s website, due to high data congestion (or possibly due to online fraud). Update: While Consumerist’s post still cites ‘network congestion’ as the reason for the NYC sales hold, we’ve been told by other customer service reps that the real reason is a spike in fraudulent purchases; other sites have gotten the same story.

Stephen in Brooklyn says he made the discovery while shopping on AT&T’s website for an iPhone today:

I was on the AT&T Wireless website trying to get an iPhone. However, when I put in my zip code 11231, the site says the iPhone is unavailable. This seemed a little odd so I started punching in other famous zip codes: 90210, 60609 (spiegel catalog), 02134 (zoom, an old children’s show).
For theses cities, LA, Chicago, Boston, iPhone is available. Then I looked up some other zip codes: Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco. All those cities are ok. Then I started putting in more NYC zip codes: midtown, Staten Island, the Bronx…no iPhone available.

This is weird…AT&T has cut off New York City.

Laura Northrup at the Consumerist contacted AT&T Customer Service to check if the lack of iPhone availability in New York City was a website glitch or a planned disruption. The online rep she chatted with confirmed that the phone was indeed not being sold to New Yorkers via the website, although it remains available via the Apple store website and via both Apple and AT&T physical stores. Mashable, BoyGeniusReport, and Gizmodo have also verified with AT&T Customer Support that the iPhone is indeed not available through website order in New York City.

This is sure to piss off thousands of potential customers in NYC. Let’s just hope AT&T Media Relations releases a statement clarifying when the ban will be lifted and if it will happen in any other cities. In the meantime, just think of this as more fuel for the fire as to why Verizon should have the iPhone; and of course, NYC iPhone shoppers can continue to pick up iPhones at the Apple Stores or at the AT&T outlets in the city.

Via tuaw.com

Tags: amp, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, customer service reps, Dallas, iphone, Laura Northrup, Miami, network congestion, New York, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, spiegel catalog, St. Louis, Staten Island, Stephen, T Customer, T Wireless, website

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