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markf
join:2008-01-24
Scarborough, ON

markf to buckingham

Member

to buckingham

Re: [iPhone] iPhone Unlock

They could be refusing to unlock it if they believe there is a contractual obligation.

Just like the OP would probably say "then sue me", so will AT&T.

AppleGuy
Premium Member
join:2013-09-08
Kitchener, ON

AppleGuy

Premium Member

See, that is the confusing part, even if she has a contract of sorts with AT&T, contract is with the phone number, not iPhone. I'd be escalating this through AT&T, right of to the office of the president.
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

said by AppleGuy:

See, that is the confusing part, even if she has a contract of sorts with AT&T, contract is with the phone number, not iPhone. I'd be escalating this through AT&T, right of to the office of the president.

It wasn't purchased at AT&T it was purchased at apple for full retail.

AppleGuy
Premium Member
join:2013-09-08
Kitchener, ON

AppleGuy

Premium Member

said by tdumaine:

said by AppleGuy:

See, that is the confusing part, even if she has a contract of sorts with AT&T, contract is with the phone number, not iPhone. I'd be escalating this through AT&T, right of to the office of the president.

It wasn't purchased at AT&T it was purchased at apple for full retail.

Point is, though, if contract exists, it's still with AT&T, not iPhone. I could see a 30 day cancellation fee, since the contract should not have an ECF because no subsidized phone. These are corporate scum these people are dealing with.

TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Verizon FiOS
Ubiquiti NSM5
Synology RT2600ac
Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

TamaraB

Premium Member

said by AppleGuy:

These are corporate scum these people are dealing with.

I agree! This entire debacle started when AT&T lied her into changing her plan to a "cheaper" plan costing more money!

I get a sushi meal out of this I will eat at least $52.00 of celebrity raw fish and give AT&T the finger between slurps! She gets her nice piece of hardware activated and provisioned on another carrier, and we both will NEVER deal with AT&T again!

The other lies she was told by AT&T was that they would not release her phone number nor her phone. So, of course, the first thing she wanted to do was rescue her long-standing phone number, which for her was more important than the phone itself.

That part was easy. She went to Verizon, got a cheap pre-paid flip phone, and they ported her number to it immediately. All she had to do was provide her AT&T account number and prove who she was. Verizon told her that phone numbers can NOT be held hostage to a carrier. They were correct. T-Mo told her the same thing yesterday; porting her number to her iPhone would be quick and easy once she got it unlocked.

She was furious when she thought she could lose both her number and expensive phone unless she paid a ransom. If all this works, as it appears it will, there is no obstacle to moving both phones and numbers between carriers despite what a carrier claims or threatens.

You would never know this was possible unless you did a lot of searching. Then we found such a plethora of unlock-sites, most of which looked like scams.

I will post again when/if the transfer to T-Mo is accomplished.

Thank you all for the great help on this. At times it looked impossible to do, now, not so much.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

I wouldn't have paid for an unlock service....

If the phone was bought from Apple retail or online as unlocked, you should have proof of it either via physical or email invoice, and should have been registered to an Apple ID. If the defective swap somehow locked the device (maybe a mistake by the Apple Genius), there should be proof of this swap with serial numbers in Apple's records, as well as a genius bar receipt for the swap.

You should have gone to an Apple store or called Apple to get an answer.
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

said by HiVolt:

I wouldn't have paid for an unlock service....

If the phone was bought from Apple retail or online as unlocked, you should have proof of it either via physical or email invoice, and should have been registered to an Apple ID. If the defective swap somehow locked the device (maybe a mistake by the Apple Genius), there should be proof of this swap with serial numbers in Apple's records, as well as a genius bar receipt for the swap.

You should have gone to an Apple store or called Apple to get an answer.

I said that last night

TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Verizon FiOS
Ubiquiti NSM5
Synology RT2600ac
Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

TamaraB to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
said by HiVolt:

You should have gone to an Apple store or called Apple to get an answer.

Yeah, perhaps I was a bit hasty. We were too focused on AT&T since the hassle originated with them. It was reinforced yesterday when T-Mo said to get AT&T to unlock it. My GF is very busy, and works late every night. I am retired, have time, and so took on the job. Finding all the bits of paper will not be quick, so, for now, the $50.00 seems like the path of least resistance. Contacting Apple is something she, the owner, has to do, I can't do that for her.

Good to know though, if this doesn't work, Apple can still be the last resort. Probably should have been the next step: My bad
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

No worries, if it was only $50 for the 3rd party imei lock, might be worth it not having to hassle

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff

MVM,

/Unsolicited off-topic preaching

Getting the phone unlocked isn't the hassle. The hassle will be when AT&T wants its ETF money. And they won't be using small claims court to get it.. they'll just ruin the OP's girlfriend's credit by sending it to a collection agency.

GuruGuy
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Atlanta, GA

GuruGuy

Premium Member

said by Thinkdiff:

/Unsolicited off-topic preaching

Getting the phone unlocked isn't the hassle. The hassle will be when AT&T wants its ETF money. And they won't be using small claims court to get it.. they'll just ruin the OP's girlfriend's credit by sending it to a collection agency.

I'll second this. This seems to have been forgotten. AT&T is still going to want their ETF for the two year plan.

TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Verizon FiOS
Ubiquiti NSM5
Synology RT2600ac
Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

TamaraB to Thinkdiff

Premium Member

to Thinkdiff
said by Thinkdiff:

/Unsolicited off-topic preaching

Getting the phone unlocked isn't the hassle. The hassle will be when AT&T wants its ETF money.

Don't know about that. Her daughter is an attorney and has already contacted AT&T. She is planning to sue if they don't correct the situation. A subpoena demanding the phone recording of the scamming rep might shut the scumbags up. We shall see. In the mean time she will have her phone back.

GuruGuy
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Atlanta, GA

GuruGuy

Premium Member

said by TamaraB:

said by Thinkdiff:

/Unsolicited off-topic preaching

Getting the phone unlocked isn't the hassle. The hassle will be when AT&T wants its ETF money.

Don't know about that. Her daughter is an attorney and has already contacted AT&T. She is planning to sue if they don't correct the situation. A subpoena demanding the phone recording of the scamming rep might shut the scumbags up. We shall see. In the mean time she will have her phone back.

That's funny. Good luck suing AT&T with their deep pockets.

buckingham
Doylstown Pa
Premium Member
join:2005-07-17
Buckingham, PA

buckingham to TamaraB

Premium Member

to TamaraB
said by TamaraB:

Don't know about that. Her daughter is an attorney and has already contacted AT&T. She is planning to sue if they don't correct the situation. A subpoena demanding the phone recording of the scamming rep might shut the scumbags up. We shall see. In the mean time she will have her phone back.

The contract only allows arbitration, AFAIK. I don't believe she can sue even if she wants to.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

said by buckingham:

said by TamaraB:

Don't know about that. Her daughter is an attorney and has already contacted AT&T. She is planning to sue if they don't correct the situation. A subpoena demanding the phone recording of the scamming rep might shut the scumbags up. We shall see. In the mean time she will have her phone back.

The contract only allows arbitration, AFAIK. I don't believe she can sue even if she wants to.

Correct.

TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Da Bronx
·Verizon FiOS
Ubiquiti NSM5
Synology RT2600ac
Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

TamaraB to buckingham

Premium Member

to buckingham
said by buckingham:

The contract only allows arbitration, AFAIK. I don't believe she can sue even if she wants to.

She did not sign a "contract". She made a phone call. I fail to see how a contract can be entered into by one party without the consent of the other. That is troubling!

All that aside. Sunday afternoon, Mother's day, she received an email informing her that the iPhone had been unlocked. She followed the 4-step procedure outlined in the email, and when she plugged it into iTunes received the message "Congratulations, your phone has been unlocked". Putting the IMEI into the unlock site returns an unlocked phone. She will be going over to T-Mo soon to active it.

Her lawyer daughter had already sent AT&T a formal letter asking nicely that her mother's account be zeroed out. We shall see what transpires on that score.

The problem seems to be solved. It cost $50.00 due to my haste, but that's a small price to pay to rescue a $700.00 piece of technology.

We really want to thank you all for the help and valuable suggestions offered in this thread.

buckingham
Doylstown Pa
Premium Member
join:2005-07-17
Buckingham, PA

1 recommendation

buckingham

Premium Member

said by TamaraB:

She did not sign a "contract". She made a phone call. I fail to see how a contract can be entered into by one party without the consent of the other. That is troubling!

It would be good for you to read the terms of service/contract. One doesn't have to "sign" (as in a physical signature) to ascent agreement to the terms of service. Merely making a phone call can seal the deal legally. Your friend's attorney daughter would know about that. This is the way so many things are today...merely by using a service, you agree to the terms and conditions for that service, whether it be a wireless service, an Internet service, an EULA (End User License Agreement) for software, etc. That last one actually applies when you break the seal of the package in many cases...

Please don't shoot them messenger here. We are all just trying to help.