Martyn Glanville

Buying an iPhone in Denmark - the truth

YOU can't buy an iPhone from a 3 shop in Denmark if you aren't Danish.

Let me explain. Just the other day I went into my local 3 shop to join the iPhone bandwagon. As usual I had done weeks of research because I was buying some that cost more than a Pepsi and needed to be sure what I was doing.

Matey behind the counter remembers me from a previous investigative visit and smiles knowingly - "Ah ha! I have you!" he thinks.

And he does. He gets my phone and we begin the tedious paperwork process. But before pen hits paper, he asks, "Do you have any Danish picture ID like a passport or driving licence?"

No, and no. I'm English, see, so I have British passport and an EU driving licence.

"I can't sell you the phone," he says. "Our system needs that information for the subscription."

"Do you lose a lot of business?" I asked. He nodded sheepishly.

Anyway, I left the shop, went home and bought it from 3's website (for less, I might add) with the only inconvenice being a two-day delivery wait.

What a strange company.

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Chipper

Image via Wikipedia

THE LOCAL COUNCIL here in Copenhagen has started a nifty scheme for bike owners concerned about theft.

Free of charge, they're issuing microchips you place inside your bike. In the event your bike is stolen, you report it and the chip's ID is tagged as stolen.

Kindly traffic wardens walking the streets carry a gizmo that beeps when in range of a bike containing a chip tagged as stolen.

So while it's not quite a tracking device, it's a sort of alert device, giving you some hope of getting your bike back.