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AT&T cannot unlock iPhone 6S plus bought from Apple
I bought an unlocked certified refurbished iPhone 6S plus 32gb from Apple.com last year. I first used this sim-free unlocked phone with an AT&T sim card on a family mobile share post-paid account for 1 year. The balance always being auto-paid in full and account in good standing.
Now we switched our lines and ported our phone numbers to another carrier. When I try using the other carrier's SIM card, the iPhone shows a" SIM not supported" error (cannot hit home button or exit SIM activation screen). The other carrier's sim works on another unlocked phone, and the iPhone works without the SIM card (can use home screen and wifi).
The IMEI for my phone does not show up on the online device unlocking website. I had to call AT&T support (>1hr), and get escalated with a Case # and got a response emailed back with no way to reply.
Subject: Subsidy Device Unlock RequestThank you for contacting AT&T Customer Care about unlocking your AT&T Mobile device:
CASE: ###
IMEI: ###
Thank you for contacting AT&T about unlocking your mobile device.
Unfortunately, your unlock request was denied because:
- You haven’t completed 6 months of paid service as a Prepaid/GoPhone® customer.
You can submit a new request once you complete 6 months of paid service.
This response is completely incorrect. This is not a "subsidy device unlock request", there is NO subsidy by AT&T as I purchased the phone directly from Apple.
I only used it on a Post-paid family plan line, not on Prepaid/Go-phone. And the iPhone was used on AT&T for over 1 year. The last subsidy phone bought from AT&T on my specific line and number on the family plan was in 2012, and was paid off fully as well. I have already ported the line to the other carrier and cannot use my factory unlocked iPhone. Why should I have to pay AT&T 6 months of prepaid service?
I called again (>2hr) where I had to re-explain my issue and my case, and the outcome of my case. and got assigned another case number. Enough with the cases, unlock my iPhone!
How can AT&T LOCK my FACTORY-UNLOCKED iPhone? That I can't use it with any other carrier, because I used AT&T SIM card first?
I use AT&T for their wireless service only, they have no right over my hardware. This is unethical and illegal under FCC and CTIA policy.
No Responses!