I've gone through the Archives, and spent a few weeks online, trying to figure this out. In a nutshell--
-I got an iphone 5 as a gift from a friend of the family who has AT&T, and who got a newer IPhone a few months ago. She says she wiped it. (but not request an unlock... she has no idea about these things)
-It's off contract
-It's paid for
-she is in good standing with ATT
-Clean IMEI
-I went thru ATT Unlock Portal and got an approval and an unlock code
-The iTunes backup/restore didn't work
-ATT cs-rep told me on the phone to re-apply (it seemed to be still locked)
-I re-applied, got another approval and code
-I've tried the backup/restore thing about twelve times over the last 3 weeks
-I've made sure Find My IPhone was off
-I'm using the correct SIM
-my Tmobile SIM gets rejected by the phone
-The ATT unlock request form DOES HAVE a provision for non-ATT customers
-ATT cs-reps tell me different things every time, like I must be original owner(wrong), or that they have changed their policy (please, ATT, publish it?)
or I must open an account with ATT to use this phone(wrong), or that I should re-apply again... I now have three unlock grants and an ATT status report (status: Unlocked!")
-I use T-mobile, and they say it's locked, and I should call Apple..
-I call Apple and they swear they have NOTHING to do with unlocks (a lie)
-Apple charges me $30 to tell me that the IMEI shows that it is locked..
-The Orignal owner called ATT to get through all this, and they told her to have me call them and they will unlock it for me..
-I call the number they gave her, but no, they won't help me unlock it.
-I used a service for about $10 and it didn't work; that guy swears it's unlocked (T mobile, Apple, and ATT say otherwise) and he won't refund me.
-ATT cs reps have no answer for why I am getting unlock approvals if my phone is still on the unlock list; one of them said it's Apple's fault
So.. maybe I am not "completing" the unlock process properly at home?
Apple (for the $30 they charged me) did not exactly walk me through it.
I explained step by step the backup/restore/whatever with them and they said I was doing it right (although I learned about turning off Find My IPhone a bit later)... I have all the instructions printed out, from Apple, ATT, and other forums online..
Did I mess up the process early on by doing it wrong? O was I never on the Unlock list to begin with? I'm about to give up here. It's a very nice 32 gig phone, but I really don't care about it anymore. I'm about to just get a
non-Apple, non-ATT phone and resume my life.
-also, the more times I call ATT, the more dismissive or rude the reps become.
They just make stuff up now.
If I am not eligible, or there is a problem with the account-- why didn't they just deny me outright? Why all these approvals? If the original owner must fill out the ATT unlock portal form, then I'll have to wait until she gets around to it. (she thinks the whole thing is silly)
The mystery of all this is why I can't put the thing down... I like mysteries.
But not this one anymore. My next step is another unlock service recommended here, and I would hope that it will cost less than $100.
Oh well.. any thoughts would be appreciated!
sr
-I got an iphone 5 as a gift from a friend of the family who has AT&T, and who got a newer IPhone a few months ago. She says she wiped it. (but not request an unlock... she has no idea about these things)
-It's off contract
-It's paid for
-she is in good standing with ATT
-Clean IMEI
-I went thru ATT Unlock Portal and got an approval and an unlock code
-The iTunes backup/restore didn't work
-ATT cs-rep told me on the phone to re-apply (it seemed to be still locked)
-I re-applied, got another approval and code
-I've tried the backup/restore thing about twelve times over the last 3 weeks
-I've made sure Find My IPhone was off
-I'm using the correct SIM
-my Tmobile SIM gets rejected by the phone
-The ATT unlock request form DOES HAVE a provision for non-ATT customers
-ATT cs-reps tell me different things every time, like I must be original owner(wrong), or that they have changed their policy (please, ATT, publish it?)
or I must open an account with ATT to use this phone(wrong), or that I should re-apply again... I now have three unlock grants and an ATT status report (status: Unlocked!")
-I use T-mobile, and they say it's locked, and I should call Apple..
-I call Apple and they swear they have NOTHING to do with unlocks (a lie)
-Apple charges me $30 to tell me that the IMEI shows that it is locked..
-The Orignal owner called ATT to get through all this, and they told her to have me call them and they will unlock it for me..
-I call the number they gave her, but no, they won't help me unlock it.
-I used a service for about $10 and it didn't work; that guy swears it's unlocked (T mobile, Apple, and ATT say otherwise) and he won't refund me.
-ATT cs reps have no answer for why I am getting unlock approvals if my phone is still on the unlock list; one of them said it's Apple's fault
So.. maybe I am not "completing" the unlock process properly at home?
Apple (for the $30 they charged me) did not exactly walk me through it.
I explained step by step the backup/restore/whatever with them and they said I was doing it right (although I learned about turning off Find My IPhone a bit later)... I have all the instructions printed out, from Apple, ATT, and other forums online..
Did I mess up the process early on by doing it wrong? O was I never on the Unlock list to begin with? I'm about to give up here. It's a very nice 32 gig phone, but I really don't care about it anymore. I'm about to just get a
non-Apple, non-ATT phone and resume my life.
-also, the more times I call ATT, the more dismissive or rude the reps become.
They just make stuff up now.
If I am not eligible, or there is a problem with the account-- why didn't they just deny me outright? Why all these approvals? If the original owner must fill out the ATT unlock portal form, then I'll have to wait until she gets around to it. (she thinks the whole thing is silly)
The mystery of all this is why I can't put the thing down... I like mysteries.
But not this one anymore. My next step is another unlock service recommended here, and I would hope that it will cost less than $100.
Oh well.. any thoughts would be appreciated!
sr
