Customers who purchased an iPhone 4 from China Unicom found the words "LePhone" displayed upon turning it on.
Mr. Lu went to the China Unicom Lock Times service hall, originally intending to prepay 4990 yuan for a mobile phone plan and purchase an iPhone4. However, he found that the service hall had experienced an electrical fault. As a result, he followed the notice posted on the glass and headed to an electronics company near the Beichen Shopping Center. Under the recommendation of the salesperson, Mr. Lu spent an additional 1000 yuan to prepay for his phone plan and bought an iPhone4, which allowed for separation of the SIM card and device. However, when Mr. Lu turned on his phone, he received a text message saying "You are using a LePhone mobile phone," making him feel as though he had been deceived.
Mr. Lu mentioned that following the notice, he arrived at an electronics company named "Kaiyuanhong." After seeing the China Unicom logo hanging outside, he felt reassured. Mr. Lu proposed participating in the 4990-yuan phone purchase promotion. The salesperson who greeted him recommended another iPhone4 promotional offer: prepaying 5990 yuan would get him an iPhone4, along with the ability to separate the SIM card and device.
As a result, Mr. Lu spent an extra 1000 yuan to buy this package. When he got home and turned on his phone, he received a message saying, "You are using a LePhone mobile phone; if you need help, please call ×××××." Feeling something was off, Mr. Lu immediately returned to the electronics company and requested that the salesperson issue a supplementary agreement. "At the time, she took a long while fumbling behind the counter before issuing the agreement. Upon inspection, I saw it stated that the phone purchase promotion I participated in provided a LePhone model 3G customized mobile phone. That's when I realized they had swapped out the packages," Mr. Lu said. He explained that the iPhone4 prepaid phone plan could not allow for SIM-card separation, meaning that if this phone used another number, it would automatically lock. Therefore, the salesperson sold him a standalone phone and switched the number originally bundled with the LePhone phone to him without informing him.
Recently, reporters posing as ordinary consumers visited this electronics company, proposing to prepay 4990 yuan to purchase an iPhone4. The salesperson emphasized that this package did not allow for SIM-card separation while recommending the 5990-yuan package, stating that it would enable SIM-card separation. When questioned why paying an extra 1000 yuan would allow for SIM-card separation, the salesperson did not provide an explanation and made no mention of the LePhone. The reporter also noticed that inside the communications company, there were logos from China Mobile. Regarding this, the salesperson said that this was because the back counters also handled China Mobile services.
China Unicom customer service confirmed that starting from December 1st of this year, purchasing the 4990-yuan iPhone4 package does not allow for SIM-card separation. After two inquiries, it was found that the electronics company Mr. Lu visited was not on the list of China Unicom cooperative service halls, and China Unicom has not launched an iPhone4 prepaid phone plan that allows for SIM-card separation. Regarding Mr. Lu's experience, the staff expressed that they would record it and feedback to the relevant departments.
