Two Apple Store customers told Channel 2 Action News that local stores refused to sell them merchandise after hearing them speaking Farsi.
Sahar Sabet, a U.S. citizen and University of Georgia student, said an Apple Store employee at the North Point Mall in Alpharetta refused to sell her an iPad on Thursday after hearing her and her uncle talking.
"When we said, ‘Farsi, I'm from Iran,' he said, ‘I just can't sell this to you. Our countries have bad relations,' " Sabet told Channel 2.
A manager at the mall later showed Channel 2 Apple's policy, which states that the exportation, sale or supply from the U.S. to Iran of any Apple goods is strictly prohibited without the U.S. government's authorization. A State Department representative also told Channel 2 that it is illegal to travel to Iran with laptops or satellite cellphones without U.S. approval.
"I feel like this is a bit of racial profiling against Iranians and I'm appalled," Zack Jafarzadeh, who is from Virginia, told the TV station. He said he was denied service at the Apple Store in Perimeter Mall while trying to help a friend buy an iPhone. He said his friend is from Iran and is studying in the Atlanta area on a visa.
After her "very hurtful, very embarrassing" experience, Sabet said she called corporate customer relations and an apologetic employee told her she could buy an iPad online.
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