Tutor
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7 Messages
AT&T Prepaid has seemingly locked my Verizon iPhone 8
So a few months ago I hopped on AT&T Prepaid with an iPhone SE. It was a good phone, but I decided to upgrade to an iPhone 8 when it was released. So I went to Best Buy and purchased the Verizon model iPhone 8 at full price, inserted my prepaid sim, and all worked well.
Fast forward a couple months, and I had to switch my service to Verizon, and I took advantage of a deal that they had on a Pixel 2. Preparing to sell my iPhone 8, I popped in my now Verizon sim to verify it's still working. Says the sim is incompatible. I verified once more that I had indeed purchased the Verizon model of the iPhone 8, then put in for an unlock request with AT&T. The rep was very nice, and assured me it wouldn't be a problem. Yet, it was almost immediately denied, because the device was "associated with fraud." What?!
So, I contact AT&T support again. The rep I spoke to was very nice, and assured me the phone would be unlocked by their "backend" team. I offered to provide proof of purchase for the phone to combat the fraud claim, but they said it was unnecessary, and it would be unlocked in 24 to 48 hours. Ok then.
A couple days later, I received an email saying my request had been denied again, because I hadn't been a prepaid customer for 6 months. Huh?! It's not even an AT&T phone! AT&T had absolutely nothing to do with the purchase of the phone. Why on Earth would my length of service matter?
At this point, I have no idea what to do. AT&T just keeps giving me the run-around. I'm pretty sure AT&T's actions in locking a phone to their network that wasn't even purchased through them is illegal.
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
6 years ago
Best Buy sells one iPhone, and it’s universal and locks to the first carrier used. Had you use it and register on Verizon first, you would have this problem, but all other carriers lock phones.
You can get help unlocking by providing proof of purchase and you account and contact information by private message here @ATTCares. Response time seems to be 2 weeks.
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Cronogear
Tutor
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7 Messages
6 years ago
2 weeks to even get a response? That's absolutely insane. Particularly when all my previous attempts at unlocking with AT&T have been met with responses containing seemingly random reasons why it cannot be unlocked.
This is just ridiculous. There are literally zero reasons I should be getting denied an unlock.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
6 years ago
We agree. But that is the way Apple produced the phones.
The Support group is under a heavy post holiday backlog and I am not seeing replies done in less than 2 weeks. You can call and ask for tech support and see if you can jump the line, but I’m not optimistic.
The only way to buy a truly carrier free iPhone, is a sim free Direct from Apple (perhaps that is the point).
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Cronogear
Tutor
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7 Messages
6 years ago
It's not about how Apple built the phones. The fact is: my phone needs to be unlocked. There is no reason it shouldn't be unlocked. And AT&T has denied me that unlock. Twice.
Don't deflect blame to Apple when it's AT&T who refuses to do something they are legally obligated to do.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
6 years ago
No one is defecting blame and we’re agreeing that the phone should be unlocked. @lizdance40 Was just trying to explain why it got locked in the first place. That is Apple’s doing. They came up with this lock to first carrier scheme. ATT isn’t really refusing to unlock, you just haven’t gotten ahold of someone who can actually make it happen. The problem is the unlock portal is automated and the frontline reps you speak to can’t do anything to override it. The rep that told you it would be done by the backend team at least knew what they were talking about. Now why that backend team didn’t follow through, who knows. The problem is you call again and you get another rep that can’t help. The @ATTCares team can help. They will follow through and get the phone unlocked, once they get to you, that is.
Now if you want to complain about poor communication and how disjointed customer support is, you’ve got a valid complaint. If you want to actually get the phone unlocked, follow the advice. Two weeks is better than having to complete 6 months of service.
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Cronogear
Tutor
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7 Messages
6 years ago
My apologies, but I don't think it's unreasonable to be extremely frustrated at this point.
I'm being told to get in contact with a team that I've apparently already been in contact with, wait two weeks, and hope they don't give me another response that indicates they only gave the tiniest glance at my case before giving a response. And if they do? Try again, and another two weeks to hope for a different response?
Don't get me wrong, I will follow the advice here. And I appreciate the attempt at offering some help. But I am absolutely livid right now.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
6 years ago
@Cronogear Again we agree. And I wish we had a better solution for you.
And under normal circumstances the advance support team could reply in a couple of days. They are under and unusual load of work. Typically the portal does the job in 1 to 2 days without all this fuss. You have a right to be angry, we just want you to have all the facts so you can avoid this particular problem in the future.
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Cronogear
Tutor
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7 Messages
6 years ago
3 weeks on, no reply from @ATTCares.
This is completely unacceptable.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
6 years ago
File an FCC complaint. Document everything, proof of purchase, etc. It shouldn’t be the first choice, but something has to give.
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Cronogear
Tutor
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7 Messages
6 years ago
Well, after several unsuccessful attempts to contact @ATTCares and several calls to AT&T customer service, as well as attempted contact on with their customer service on Twitter, nothing has changed. I've filed complaints with both the Better Business Bureau and the FCC.
It's funny, as my intention was to go back to AT&T Prepaid after a time (the cell service was actually quite good, and the prices were reasonable). Now? I will never touch any AT&T product or service again.
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