AT&T Community Forums

Unlocking an IMEI-locked device replaced by Asurion

my step son gave me a phone he paid off and it is carrier locked to att and it is a iphone8 plus. we went to the web portal but get the error “Looks like the IMEI number you entered doesn’t match an AT&T device”. called customer care and they could not help went to our local store and the employee said we have to go online to do it. they did ask if the phone was replaced and it was they said that might be part of the problem that it was not added to his account and that is why its not allowing us to unlock it and giving the error. but seems no one can help get it fixed @ATTCares any help would be great thank you.

Responses

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

dwill05

ACE - Master

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9.1K Messages

3 years ago

Is the phone you are trying to unlock the original phone you had replaced, or the replacement phone? It’s only the original phone that was replaced that is now owned by the insurance company and can’t be unlocked.

The replacement phone can be unlocked, assuming all of the eligibility requirements are met. The problem may be that the IMEI of the replacement phone was never registed in AT&Ts database. You have to call AT&T Tech Support to get it added to the database.

1

formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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113.3K Messages

This 👆.
When a device is replaced by an identical device, the IMEI is often not corrected in At&t system. The only IMEI that AT&T has is the one that was related to the phone actually purchased from AT&T and originally registered on the account.
Once you correct the IMEI, which your son probably will have to do because it was his phone in his insurance claim, then the phone can be unlocked.
Of course this is assumes that the phone is locked at all

🐾 I don’t work for AT&T or any carrier. Never have, never will. My replies are based on experience and reading content available on the website. If you posted personal information, please edit and remove.

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*I am not an AT&T employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Like

3 years ago

0

Constructive

Former Employee

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32.9K Messages

3 years ago

if it was an insurance replacement phone then the insurance company owns it not you or your son.

2

P

papa152

New Member

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5 Messages

thank you for your reply. even though he paid it off and its been two years. its theirs and not his ?

Like

3 years ago

0

Constructive

Former Employee

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32.9K Messages

correct. Think of it this way. You pay your car off. It gets stolen. Insurance pays you out or replaces the car. Car is found 2 years later it’s not your car anymore it’s the insurance companies

-------------------INCLUDED IN EACH POST FOR CLARIFICATION______
While AT&T employees do look at forum posts from time to time, we are here to represent the forum with our experiences as customers and do not represent AT&T in any official capacity with our responses and do so on our own time unpaid and off the clock. As employees we are not rewarded nor compensated to participate in these forums This forum is comprised of regular customers to communicate with other customers to offer advice and share experiences same as any other user Although there is a small team of customer care specialists that monitor the forums the sheer volume of posts are simply too many posts for these agents to respond to each one of them.

Like

3 years ago

0

P

papa152

New Member

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5 Messages

3 years ago

thank you to every one we got it unlocked thanks again for all your help and work

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yatharsana

New Member

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2 Messages

3 years ago

I am going through the same issue. Asurion replaced my device and Trying to unlock my paid device with ATT for the past 3 months. No luck at all. I am on call with customer service every day for an hour explaining the whole issue. Store does not help at all.
I filed a dispute with ATT and now waiting for 30days before I reach to AAA.

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dwill05

ACE - Master

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9.1K Messages

3 years ago

AAA?

American Automobile Association?

0

Y

yatharsana

New Member

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2 Messages

3 years ago

American Arbitration Association

0

formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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113.3K Messages

3 years ago

Did you tell them it was Insurance replacement and have them correct the IMEI and your account?

0

NittanyBrittany1

New Member

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2 Messages

9 months ago

Dealing with this same issue now. For those who have had success with unlocking an insurance issued phone, can you tell me the steps you took to reach success? Dealing with customer service has not been super helpful. Thanks!

0

formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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113.3K Messages

9 months ago

@NittanyBrittany1

Did you read the solution post and do as suggested?

0

NittanyBrittany1

New Member

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2 Messages

9 months ago

@formerlyknownas Hi - I'm new here, so forgive me if I'm not following properly. I have read each response in this thread, but unsure which is considered the solution post (there seem to be a few options). I have called ATT, ATT Tech service, Asurion, and ProTech (Asurion tech service). No one seems to know how to unlock the device. ATT has no record of the IMEI (even though it was on ATT network); Asurion said that they can see the device is not blacklisted, but that it is currently locked and no other details about the phone are provided. So I'm not sure if there is something else I can say to fix it. I've explained that it's an ATT phone issued under an insurance claim by Asurion. So far, no luck getting it unlocked.

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1
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papa152

Unlocking an IMEI-locked device replaced by Asurion

dwill05

formerlyknownas

Constructive

papa152

Constructive

papa152

yatharsana

dwill05

yatharsana

formerlyknownas

NittanyBrittany1

formerlyknownas

NittanyBrittany1

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