iPhone Unlock unactivated Replacement iPhone 5S

[caremail0]

Hi, I bought an AT&T iPhone 5s 64GB on craigslist from the original owner. I tried to get it unlocked using AT&T unlock request online since I am a previous AT&T member. I submitted a few requests because I was having issues getting a confirmation email so now it keeps denying me an unlock because it says "We cannot complete your request because this account has reached the maximum number of unlock requests allowed during a given period"

I called AT&T and they are no help because they say the cannot find my number in the system. The original owner also tried to do the request and got the same message as me. AT&T said its because there were too many request on the imei of the phone. The original owner says AT&T said the iPhone is out of contract.

The iPhone has warranty on it and I got a Replacement one through apple which has a new imei number. The new iPhone I got is unactivated. I want to unlock it to use for Tmobile. I tried putting a tmobile sim in it to activate it but it didnt work.

My question is, Should I activate it with my friend's AT&T sim card and have my friend submit the device unlock request for this replacement iPhone? (Not sure if it will unlock for sure)

Or should I not activate the iPhone so it will be easier to unlock it a different way?

 

[dhlizard]

AT&T will only unlock 5 phones per year per account.
You are at the mercy of AT&T
No one here can accurately predict their actions in your case.

 

[caremail0]

AT&T will only unlock 5 phones per year per account.
You are at the mercy of AT&T
No one here can accurately predict their actions in your case.

My question was, Should I activate the iPhone using an AT&T simcard or leave it unactivated to try and unlock it a different way?

 

[darricksailo]

My question was, Should I activate the iPhone using an AT&T simcard or leave it unactivated to try and unlock it a different way?

the other way is probably the grey market unlocking business

you should still activate it using an AT&T sim card so you can at least use the phone like an iPod

 

[caremail0]

AT&T will only unlock 5 phones per year per account.
You are at the mercy of AT&T
No one here can accurately predict their actions in your case.

the other way is probably the grey market unlocking business

you should still activate it using an AT&T sim card so you can at least use the phone like an iPod

I was afraid if I activate it using an AT&T sim card it will be harder to unlock? Any thoughts on this?

 

[dhlizard]

Here are your choices:

A) pay an after-market vendor to unlock it so you can use any sim to activate and as a carrier for it
B) continue and try to get AT&T to unlock it
C) buy an AT&T sim to activate it, sell it and buy one already unlocked or a T-Mobile phone

It really makes no difference to unlocking what sim you use to activate it.