Unlock iPhone

[BrianfromNO]

Thanks for your service, but exactly how is this anti-soldier?  The US military is an ALL-VOLUNTEER one, so you weren't drafted or conscripted into the service.  AT&T has gone to what some may believe are excessive lengths to protect their exclusivity, but in the absence of a legal mandate otherwise they are allowed to do so.

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IDtheTarget wrote:

Well, I can tell you this:

I'm in the National Guard.  My wife and I moved to AT&T when I got back from Iraq because I wanted an iPhone.  I'm deploying to Afghanistan next year.

I've been debating whether to upgrade from my iPhone 3G to the 4G or whatever they're going to call it when it comes out in a couple of months.  But if AT&T won't unlock it so that I can take it with me to Afghanistan and buy a sim card there (There's NO WAY I'm paying $4/minute using AT&T while I'm over there!), then I will have to look at going with another carrier and purchasing Android phones instead.

It's sad, because I'd been looking forward to some of the improvements of the 4G, but if AT&T is going to be anti-soldier in this way, I won't support them with my money.  I'm sure that I can find another carrier that will be more supportive of us soldiers.

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[BrianfromNO]

{ Please keep it courtesous } .  By the time any lawsuit was certified as a class action, adjudicated or settled, AT&T would probably be unlocking iPhones because their exclusivity would have expired years ago, you'd get a $5 credit to your service (or something equally worthless), only the lawyers would get anything of value, and our prices would probably go up to accommodate the legal costs.  

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dfg wrote:

Maybe it is time for a bit of class action legal work. 

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 Mod note:   Please make sure that you are not detracting from any other user's experience.  Your opinions are always welcome, but personal attacks in the Forum are not acceptable.   Thank you

[IDtheTarget]

Okay, perhaps I went too far when I said that it was anti-soldier.  And yes, you are correct in that I'm a voluteer.

Perhaps it would be better to say that T-Mobile offers service that, as a soldier, I find more appealing.  I have been with AT&T for several years, and if they were willing to unlock my phone just for my deployment I'd probably stay with them.  However, since they are not, and since my contract is up this October, AT&T will be losing me and my wife to T-Mobile.

The funny thing is that if they allowed the unlock codes for cases like this, instead of trying to bilk me for the $5.00/minute roaming charges to Afghanistan, they'd still have my $169/month family plan the whole time I was gone.  Now they're losing that.  I suppose it's a classic example of short-term greed losing them their long-term gain.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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IDtheTarget wrote:

Okay, perhaps I went too far when I said that it was anti-soldier.  And yes, you are correct in that I'm a voluteer.

Perhaps it would be better to say that T-Mobile offers service that, as a soldier, I find more appealing.  I have been with AT&T for several years, and if they were willing to unlock my phone just for my deployment I'd probably stay with them.  However, since they are not, and since my contract is up this October, AT&T will be losing me and my wife to T-Mobile.

The funny thing is that if they allowed the unlock codes for cases like this, instead of trying to bilk me for the $5.00/minute roaming charges to Afghanistan, they'd still have my $169/month family plan the whole time I was gone.  Now they're losing that.  I suppose it's a classic example of short-term greed losing them their long-term gain.

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no matter what the circumstances it is a hard fast rule that the iphone is not unlocked, period. this is well documented in the faqs for the phone, they do not make exceptions.

If you that unhappy, best bet is to start the t-mobile contract now, then cell the iphone to pay for the etf on your current contract. since your contract is up in october the sale of the iphone wil more then cover the cost of the etf, even one months bill should cover the etf with out and issues.

[IDtheTarget]

I've thought of that. 

Now that AT&T has raised their ETF's, and I only have the 3G, I doubt I'd make enough to cover the cost.  No matter, I deploy early next year so I'll have time to get everything switched over before I leave.

The truly hilarious part of all this is (1) I could jailbreak and unlock the phone myself, but I refuse to do so since it breaks the terms of the agreement I signed, and (2) I made the very big mistake of upgrading my 3G to iOS 4, and now it's practically unusable anyway.  I have an app that frees memory (I got it before Apple pulled it from the App Store), and it shows that where I used to have 40MB free, I now can't get more than 20.  Which I suppose explains why my phone is now soo slow that I often can't even text my wife.

Note that I'm not posting here just to complain.  This is the only forum I believe that I have to try and affect how AT&T deals with customers.  I would much rather keep AT&T, because they're the only carrier that covers Camp Gruber, a training area that we go to at least two weeks a year, and often much more than that.  I like to think that we militry folks are a large enough population that AT&T would like to keep our business.  And I'd like to think that they'd re-think how they do business, making it more customer-friendly and thereby keeping more business.

Ah, well, I know that it's a naive wish, but one can hope.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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IDtheTarget wrote:

I've thought of that. 

Now that AT&T has raised their ETF's, and I only have the 3G, I doubt I'd make enough to cover the cost.  No matter, I deploy early next year so I'll have time to get everything switched over before I leave.

The truly hilarious part of all this is (1) I could jailbreak and unlock the phone myself, but I refuse to do so since it breaks the terms of the agreement I signed, and (2) I made the very big mistake of upgrading my 3G to iOS 4, and now it's practically unusable anyway.  I have an app that frees memory (I got it before Apple pulled it from the App Store), and it shows that where I used to have 40MB free, I now can't get more than 20.  Which I suppose explains why my phone is now soo slow that I often can't even text my wife.

Note that I'm not posting here just to complain.  This is the only forum I believe that I have to try and affect how AT&T deals with customers.  I would much rather keep AT&T, because they're the only carrier that covers Camp Gruber, a training area that we go to at least two weeks a year, and often much more than that.  I like to think that we militry folks are a large enough population that AT&T would like to keep our business.  And I'd like to think that they'd re-think how they do business, making it more customer-friendly and thereby keeping more business.

Ah, well, I know that it's a naive wish, but one can hope.

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One correction - if you obtained the phone before the new etf went into affect you are not affected by it, is only new contracts.

Might want to do a factory reset on your phone, upgraded my personal and all the corporate phones to OS4 and have had 0 complaints about things being slow.

[BrianfromNO]

T-Mobile also doesn't have exclusives quite like the iPhone.  They would be protecting that like a squirrel with a nut if they had an exclusive on a device like that, and I'm guessing you'd be complaining in their forum.  AT&T will unlock any other phone, so I'm not sure why this is a big deal.  As the Stones sang, you can't always get what you want.

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IDtheTarget wrote:

Okay, perhaps I went too far when I said that it was anti-soldier.  And yes, you are correct in that I'm a voluteer.

Perhaps it would be better to say that T-Mobile offers service that, as a soldier, I find more appealing.  I have been with AT&T for several years, and if they were willing to unlock my phone just for my deployment I'd probably stay with them.  However, since they are not, and since my contract is up this October, AT&T will be losing me and my wife to T-Mobile.

The funny thing is that if they allowed the unlock codes for cases like this, instead of trying to bilk me for the $5.00/minute roaming charges to Afghanistan, they'd still have my $169/month family plan the whole time I was gone.  Now they're losing that.  I suppose it's a classic example of short-term greed losing them their long-term gain.

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[redblue44]

I had to pay full price for my iPhone 4.  I upgraded on first day to the previous versions.  This time no subsidy.  Since I paid full price, why can't my phone be unlocked?  I know the rules, but the question for me is if it is my phone and I paid the full price how does ATT justify forcing me to use their service when I am overseas?  How can we organize for some action?

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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redblue44 wrote:

I had to pay full price for my iPhone 4.  I upgraded on first day to the previous versions.  This time no subsidy.  Since I paid full price, why can't my phone be unlocked?  I know the rules, but the question for me is if it is my phone and I paid the full price how does ATT justify forcing me to use their service when I am overseas?  How can we organize for some action?

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Becaue ATT does NOT unlock the Iphone, this is stated. It is within 30 days, take the phone back and get a different one. Or purchase a unlocked one when you are overseas, there is another poster here that claims that works

[IDtheTarget]

Might want to do a factory reset on your phone, upgraded my personal and all the corporate phones to OS4 and have had 0 complaints about things being slow. I tried going through Apple Tech support, and no joy. I ended up having to back down to 3.1.3 to make my phone usable again. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

[jiminflorida]

I'm currently stationed in Germany.  AT&T will unlock any phone other than iPhone for service members heading overseas, and also provides the option of suspending your account/service if you so desire (not sure if they'll let you completely cancel contract without fees, however).

In my experience, particularly if you receive your service through one of the specific Armed Forces corporate discount deals (can find info via google) and deal with their corporate customer support, they have been very supportive... but the iPhone has alway been a no-go.

[8Limes]

I heard on the news that there is a class action law suit going on due a secret 5 year exclusive contract instead two between apple and at&t, which made the iphone, even after mandatory contract time was over, useless. They will have to unlock them or even pay a penalty when they loose, which I think will be the case. Maybe I should look into it on how to add my name to the law suit as well.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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8Limes wrote:

I heard on the news that there is a class action law suit going on due a secret 5 year exclusive contract instead two between apple and at&t, which made the iphone, even after mandatory contract time was over, useless. They will have to unlock them or even pay a penalty when they loose, which I think will be the case. Maybe I should look into it on how to add my name to the law suit as well.

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/rofl you might see a required unlock code when the Apple Iphone 45 comes out. It is a crass action suit that can be tied up in the courts for years. The 5 year contractis nothing"secret" it is the lenght of the agreement between apple and att for being the only carrier to have the Iphone, nothing secret or hush-hush about it.

Just got a not in the mail concerning a crass action suit over the cost of ram - original file of the junk was 2005

[ashtyster]

Hi 8Limes!

Were you able to get your iPhone unlocked? Did you at least hear anything back from AT&T?

I have an iPhone 4 which I bought in the US at full price ($599). Although I didn't sign a contact with AT&T, my phone is locked. I would like to know whether it makes any sense at all to try contacting AT&T and asking them to unlock the phone.

[Neihn]

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ashtyster wrote:

Hi 8Limes!

Were you able to get your iPhone unlocked? Did you at least hear anything back from AT&T?

I have an iPhone 4 which I bought in the US at full price ($599). Although I didn't sign a contact with AT&T, my phone is locked. I would like to know whether it makes any sense at all to try contacting AT&T and asking them to unlock the phone.

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It wont do you any good. Neither Apple or AT&T will unlock a US iPhone and it does not matter if you paid full retail price or it was subsidized. No matter how much pleading and begging you do the end answer will still be no they wont unlock it.

[Neihn]

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8Limes wrote:

I heard on the news that there is a class action law suit going on due a secret 5 year exclusive contract instead two between apple and at&t, which made the iphone, even after mandatory contract time was over, useless. They will have to unlock them or even pay a penalty when they loose, which I think will be the case. Maybe I should look into it on how to add my name to the law suit as well.

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Sorry to burst your bubble but they wont lose. There are no laws saying any carrier or manufacture must unlock a phone at the end of the contract or within a reasonable time. And exclusive agreements are legal so I dont see much standing in the case. And Wing is also correct CALS can last for YEARS before they are won/lost/settled. I got a notice about a CALS notice for a lawnmower I bought several years ago. The original filing date of the lawsuit? 1998.....yup 12 years later.

[GeekBoy]

A couple of times, I have seen on-line vendors selling new, unlocked iPhones in the US, but they were charging about $999-$1299 for them.  One vendor I saw was buy.com,  and I seem to recall that they were available for a short time through Amazon, but I don't know if that was direct from Amazon, or through a third-party only listing through Amazon.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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GeekBoy wrote:

A couple of times, I have seen on-line vendors selling new, unlocked iPhones in the US, but they were charging about $999-$1299 for them.  One vendor I saw was buy.com,  and I seem to recall that they were available for a short time through Amazon, but I don't know if that was direct from Amazon, or through a third-party only listing through Amazon.

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Have never seen that, there is no legitimately unlocked Iphone avaialbe through ANY US vendor

[x1tymez]

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GeekBoy wrote:

A couple of times, I have seen on-line vendors selling new, unlocked iPhones in the US, but they were charging about $999-$1299 for them.  One vendor I saw was buy.com,  and I seem to recall that they were available for a short time through Amazon, but I don't know if that was direct from Amazon, or through a third-party only listing through Amazon.

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Yes. Some website sell it around $950 black version (sim free). It always spendy to buy unlock phones.

[Caretaker]

Thank You for your comments and opinions related to this topic. This topic has been thoroughly discussed and is now being closed. Should the OP need additional assistance please feel free to open up a new thread.