UK Company Sells Apple iPhone 3G 8GB For £262?

If you've got your hands on today's Metro newspaper (London edition) and turned to page 31, you will find a quarter page advert from a little known company, Arash Ltd, selling the iPhone 3G 8GB for £262.34.

There are no details whether the item is actually unlocked. In comparison, the 8GB version of the iPhone 3G is on sale at Play.com for a whopping £550 while O2 sells the PAYG version for £342.

The company claims to buy its electrical goods from the factory and being a "major importer from Europe, Asia and the Far East" and offers dozens of other electrical at seemingly unbeatable prices.

Arash Ltd further says that all the goods are brand new, boxed and sealed. The company also apparently sells many highly desirable electrical products like the Nintendo Wii, the Sony Playstation 3 or the Acer Aspire One A150X at ridiculously low price.

The firm appears to be playing by the rules saying that the prices include VAT and is a Trust UK approved trader. Products once purchased should arrive by next day delivery.

Article continues after advert

However, there are a few things that made us slightly doubtful. We tried to contact the company this morning but found out that both of their phone numbers were constantly busy - which is not really a surprise given that their prices must have attracted some serious attention.

Googling the company name, we came up with a list of documents include one station that the company had been dissolved via voluntary strike-off. Arash Ltd does not have a website or an email address. Is it a case of too good to be true then? We will keep you updated.

But there's more... below is the email of one reader who actually got in touch with Arash Ltd...

Hi,

I also noticed the advert in the Metro today for the very cheap prices of electrical goods being advertised by Arash Ltd. 

Intrigued by this I phoned the company up and managed to get through as I am in search of an iPod Nano. They quoted me £71 for the product (cheapest I have found is £97 on Amazon.com). 

However, when enquiring about payment and delivery, they said I will have to go to a Halifax branch and transfer the money into the company account!? I found this very peculiar as the 'agent' proceeded to give me the account details. 

I then enquired about the manufacturers warranty (which is also advertised in the paper) but was told the 1yr warranty given was not actually a manufacturers warranty but a warranty provided by Arash Ltd. 

At this point I had heard enough to safely say I am sceptical about purchasing anything.

Name and Email Provided