When is an iPhone 16e not an iPhone 16e?
AT&T customer gets burned as the phone he took home was not the one he bought.
The iPhone 16e is different than the previous low-priced iPhone line, the iPhone SE. The latter featured smaller screens, and the last of these releases, the iPhone SE 3, was based on the iPhone 8. That means it used Touch ID instead of Face ID and had a single camera on the back panel. The iPhone 16e's design is based on the iPhone 14, even though it is powered by the 3nm A18 application processor (AP) and carries 8GB of RAM.
The iPhone 16e looks different than all other 2025 iPhone models
Apple gave the phone the same AP that powers the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus and 8GB of RAM, the same as on all iPhone 16 models, for one reason and one reason only. Apple wanted its Apple Intelligence AI initiative to be available across the entire 2025 iPhone line, and that meant equipping the iPhone 16e with at least 8GB of RAM. And while the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max run Apple Intelligence using a 3nm A17 Pro AP, Apple felt better giving the iPhone 16e the A18 chipset.
With the notch in front and a single camera in back, the iPhone 16e is unique among 2025 iPhone models. | Image credit-Unknown
The iPhone 16e is also the first iPhone to employ the tech giant's homegrown 5G modem chip, the C1. It also sports a single 48 MP rear camera. As a result, the iPhone 16e is the only phone in the iPhone 16 lineup with a single rear camera and it is the only 2025 model that has the notch in the front. Whether looking at the phone from the front or back, it stands out against the other 2025 models. So when an AT&T customer went to an AT&T Store to buy an iPhone for his son and to add a line to his account, there should have been no confusing the lower-priced iPhone for any other model in the iPhone 16 series. But we are getting ahead of ourselves a little.
The two AT&T reps helping the father suggested that he buy his kid an iPhone 16e because of a promotion. The phone would be $6 per month,and the line would be $25 per month. When the father and son arrived back at home, the kid drops the phone. The father decides to drive to an Apple Store to buy him a case. When he gets there, the Apple employee tells him that the phone he bought for his son was an iPhone 16, not the iPhone 16e.
The father, confused, called the AT&T Store as soon as he could and was told that he could not replace the iPhone 16 with the proper model because it had been dropped. Even worse, he was now being charged for the price of an iPhone 16, which was $23.99 a month, compared to the $6 per month he agreed to pay for the iPhone 16e he was supposed to receive. He says that he calls AT&T nearly everyday, and AT&T's customer service team seems to only make suggestions that will cost him more money.
The AT&T saleswoman who sold him the phone no longer works at the AT&T Store. The other rep who assisted on the purchase agreed with the father that he was supposed to get an iPhone 16e, but apparently he can't or won't get involved to help out. And to make matters worse, the transaction was created digitally instead of on paper. Everything agreed to in the store didn't match a printed invoice that the customer was sent after he requested it.
One thing that the father can do is send an email to John Stankey, the Chairman and CEO of AT&T. There are three email addresses that he can try:
- j.stankey@att.com
- john.stankey@att.com
- js9991@att.com
In the email, he should explain everything that happened, give dates and times, and include the address of the store. The father should also send an email to the FCC at fccinfo@fcc.gov and start the letter by including the name of the carrier (in this case, AT&T) and his account number.
This FCC website is known to get results for customers of U.S. carriers
The FCC website has been known to help customers who have been wronged by AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and others. To check out the website and lodge a complaint, the father should tap on this link or go to consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us.
When you purchase a new phone from a store, make sure that the box shows that the device you are taking home is the one you ordered. It is a strange that after nearly three weeks, AT&T has not helped its customer correct a mistake that is forcing him to pay almost $18 a month more than he was supposed to. In addition, he received the wrong phone! If we hear more about this, we will update the story.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: