Okay, sorry to all the non-USians, but this one is only for US residents. My MC needs to buy a cell phone, specifically a top-of-the-line iPhone, with a maxed-out unlimited contract (voice and data) for someone whose name he doesn't know. Think of it as blackmail, but it's urban fantasy, so he's actually magickally Bound and Compelled to get said instrument for the (teenage) witch in question. Carrier is up to him, but he's on a tight time limit, and doesn't have much cash in hand. Is it possible in the US to get a phone that one person will be paying for with the activation (iTunes ID and such) being left until later, or is this something that takes place in the store? He's free to lie to the salespeople at the store, tell him it's for his niece or something, but does he need to have her full name (he only knows a diminutive of her first name) or can he just say "I'll let Cassie set it up later" without causing any problems? Would he need to put money up front on the purchase of the phone? I just bought a fairly expensive phone this week, but I was an existing customer changing phones, not adding a new one, so here in Japan I was able to just sign for the fact that I'd be paying it off for the next several years, no credit card or downpayment needed. Finally, about how much would he be in for, monthly, on the purchase of an iPhone X with unlimited (or max available) data and calling? He's got no choice in the matter, and the financial stress is going to be one of the major story drivers, so... Thanks for reading.
Well for the iphone X alone it will cost you $1500-1850. It depends on whether it is the 64 Gig or the 256 Gig. Though it says that US carriers offer a monthly payment of $42 a month. Yes you would have to put money down on it. http://www.techradar.com/news/iphone-x I think plans are still up around 120$ monthly at the low end, and have no idea what they are at the high end. Since the phone is not released there is no way to definitively answer the data package question yet. I feel sorry for your guy, as it will cost him quite a bit.
It depends on who is paying. That person requires a credit card or some way of maintaining the contract. Id, home address, stuff like that, but I see no reason you couldn't lie about any of that. If you are charging it, a credit check will usually result. You don't need to assign a name to a phone before doing anything, iPhones are connected to iCloud accounts, which can be set up later. I've bought multiple phones for nieces and nephews and didn't know who was getting which phone at the time.
Yes, you would need money. How much, that depends. Going to a major carrier and getting a plan would probably keep the cost down up front. You can, however, go and buy a non-major carrier iPhone and pay for the phone up front, and you'd be able to go and set it up at home on your computer. That's what I did. If you mean Apple ID, to buy music/iBooks/apps, etc., I think you will always have to set that up yourself. I've never heard of anyone having their Apple ID being set up in store.
Another angle to consider: If he buys an iPhone via a dodgy credit card and doesn't keep payments up, there is probably a way for Apple to disable the phone so it can't be used. So this ploy might work short-term, but maybe not for long. I'm not sure about this, but I suspect it. Apple can disable a phone if it's reported stolen. All of my new computers have been Apples, and I've bought them all from the Apple store in Glasgow (ever since it opened) I can confirm that you don't need an Apple ID to buy the computer. When you first turn on your device, you go through a setup process, in which you set up an Apple ID that is usable on that machine. I have no idea how contracts work, though, as I don't have a SmartPhone at all. (Just a StupidPhone with a Pay-As-You-Go deal with O2. I don't use a phone when I'm out very much at all.) Is it possible that your character could buy the iPhone from another dealer, such as Amazon? I've bought iPod Shuffles via Amazon, as well as an iPad (both brand new.) This would result in being able to buy without a face-to-face contact. However, of course he'd need to have an Amazon account. And get some sort of contract going. Is it 'real' magick? If so, he could do a 'these are not the drones you're looking for' trick, lifted from Obi Wan Kenobi, when it comes to setting up the account.
I'm not sure how it works in the States, but prepaid might be an option. Though, as the name implies, it's pretty much all cash upfront. The bonus being, however, that it wouldn't actually be that hard to get a hold of one (up here we always have them at Walmart) with someone else's credit card, you can set it all up online after you get it yourself, and they're hard to track.
Will this work for an iPhone, though? I suspect, from the context of the OP's question, that the teenaged witch in question wants a top-of-the-line iPhone. I think Apple phones don't do prepaid, but I could be wrong on that. However, I was under the impression that you need to set up an ongoing contract to use them, and that they're very easy to track. One of the things about smartphones is that they DO track you, isn't it? Isn't that the whole reason for having them? GPS and all that?
I have an iPhone 5 on prepaid right now, but I'm also in Canada, so I don't really know how this works in the States. And yeah, the phones do have GPS and all that, but you can turn that off. I know there are concerns that they can be used to spy on people, but for the government (again, coming from a Canadian perspective I haven't been in the states for about 6 years) to use that against someone would require court orders and that involves a crime and suspects and motivation and all that junk. TBH, if the government access had to this information and they haven't been able to use it against some of my local drug dealers, then I'm pretty sure a teenaged witch should be safe.
You know more about this than I do, for sure. I don't have a smartphone at all, and I live in the UK. I will just go away now.
First, there are prepaid iPhones in the states and you can have an unlimited call & data plan for roughly $45 a month. There are these weird Walmart type carriers that piggyback off major carriers, like with StraightTalk the red mark means Verizon, the blue means Sprint, et cetera. (I'm guessing the colours—I haven't done a Walmart phone plan for couple years now). It's a simple month to month contract, but my biggest issue is they often changed my phone number every month or so. Which was a hassle because I had to relearn my phone number & contact all my friends that I had a new number again. It's one of the biggest reasons I switched back to a standard carrier—yeah, more than $45 for unlimited everything, but less constant hassle for weird quirks. Also, the Walmart phones you can technically pay everything in cash & not leave any billing address. They even sell "gift cards" in store for the plans that you can pay cash for. Like a card for StraightTalk unlimited plan, and it could be good for $45 or more. And then you just use that card to pay for the next month or whatever. So less paper trail, if that's what someone wants. (Mostly it's for people without credit cards or in need of financial help, but shady businesses totes take advantage too.) Second, you can totally buy an iPhone for another person without ever designating the other individual. You can buy the iPhone without a plan through the Apple Store. You can buy it from one of the carriers. You can pay it all up front. You can pay it off monthly. You can get some sort of deal where the carrier pays most of it in exchange for a certain length of term contract where they can add certain fees monthly that makes them their money back. Usually you set up your phone at the place of purchase—if only to be sure that the phone is working as it should, because NO ONE enjoys going back to say that something isn't happening or it's operating the wrong way. If you set it up where you bought it, then they have to figure things out with you or explain whatever it is you're not understanding. You also can order a phone and have it shipped to you and do everything from home. But in these other methods, I always had to provide my name, credit card, and billing address. It doesn't have to be the person who ultimately gets the phone, but someone has to be on the hook for paying for it and to be hunted down if they are failing to do so. My mom bought my sister an iPhone. My best friend got an iPhone from her father because he bought one for his mistress and then got one free. Et cetera. Hope this helps.
Thanks to everyone for all the help, looks like he's in a little deeper financially than I thought he was, but I can adjust his income accordingly. Not for workshopping, but here's where he's at now: It is real magic(k) (haven't decided on the "k" or not yet) That would be good, but he's on a tight timeline, got a day to accomplish this:
