Tutor
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7 Messages
AT&T have effectively stolen my FULLY PAID FOR AND UNLOCKED PHONE
I about to post the following on various social media but thought I would first come here and see if anyone in a position to put this right will respond.
Dear ATT&T
Both my wife and I hold Go Phone accounts with you and have done since 2012. We choose to buy our phones outright because we travel internationally a number of times as year and need them to be unlocked from day one.
We recently bought new Iphones. Neither of these phones were previously registered to any network and were not locked at the time of purchase. Now they are - to you. WHY?
What right do you have to appropriate our property?
We are currently in the UK where we both have a series of important meetings. In my case I am dealing with my late fathers estate and have numerous meetings arranged with people who expect to be able to contact me on my UK cell number. They can't because my phone is locked to a US network, so is effectively useless to me. A fact I only established on arrival.
I called your off shore customer service on Monday and when, eventually, I spoke to a Manager, David (after first being told it would take 3-5 days to unlock) he was very appologetic and I was told my issue would be resolved within 24 hours. 24 hours later we recieved two emails which stated that as our phones were less than 6 months old they would not be unlocked. Again, what right do you have to attach this to other peoples property? I regard it as a form of stealing.
To add insult to injury when we again tried to speak with your off shore call center customer service, my wife this time, was outrageously patronised. As if how long we had owned the our phones for was relevant in the first place, she was told to "count on her fingers" if she needed to be clear how many months she had owned her phone for. The person, who identifed herself as the most senior person in the building, Noel, employee #NGV3YG2 spoke with me afterwards (I will admit I shourted by this stage) and refused to give me any further redress by way of who at AT&T could address my complaint. She stated such information was "against protocol" to reveal. Noel is very keen on talking about your "Portocols".
Perhaps somewhere in your terms and conditions there is something which allows you to undertake the practise of disabling a phone to which you have no ownership. If this is the case I find it outrageous and would ask you to refer me to what legal grounds you rely on.
As a result of this incident I have wasted a great deal of time that I do not have while I am abroad. My wife has borrowed a phone from a co-worker. I have been forced to buy a handset so as to be able to make and recieve calls. I shall look to you for reimbursement.
I invite your comment on this.
Tim & Dione
Gary L
ACE - Expert
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16.5K Messages
7 years ago
@TimAndDione Phones get locked to GoPhone for 6 months when you activate with GoPhone, if you paid full price you should qualify for an exemption and not have to wait the 6 months.
Unfortunately, you didn't know this until you got there so now you are messing with it while on vacation. Sorry.
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deenalove08
Guru
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901 Messages
7 years ago
I am sorry to hear about your issue, but yes you need to have the phone active and paid for at least 6 months before they will unlock it. When I bought my prepaid phone for $30, it costs more than that to make the device, so for AT&T to make money off the sale you have to have service on that device before they will let you unlock it and use on another carrier. If carriers were to sell these phone for this price and not have this rule, they would be losing a lot of money. Here is a link which shows you what you need to do and how to unlock the phone.
https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM1108214
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TimAndDione
Tutor
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7 Messages
7 years ago
Right - but the very helpfull people in the call center don't accept that. They say nothing can be done - oh and that is set by Apple not AT&T, which of course it is not. Adding lies to compound the nonsense of the situation. I would argue that I should not qualify for an "exception" if I bought my phone outright, that implies I should have to do something to prevent this when there should simply be no such practise. If I bought a phone from an AT&T store or from AT&T at all, I could at least start to understand how this happens, but that AT&T lock phones unilaterally that were never theirs, stinks.
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TimAndDione
Tutor
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7 Messages
7 years ago
@deenalove08
Please see my previous response. Not sure I can make it any clearer. I paid nearly $800 for a unlocked phone free of any network. I did not buy it from AT&T. I pay up then front for any use of their network. AT&T HAVE NO RIGHTS TO MY PHONE
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
7 years ago
Not possible. If the phones were truly unlocked, it is not possible for ATT to lock them. You must have bought phones already locked to ATT. If you paid full price for those phones, you can get an exception to the 6 month policy. Send a private message to @ATTMobilityCare.
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Busternutt
Professor
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3.2K Messages
7 years ago
While you certainly are inconvenienced, your phones aren't "useless". Until you get this issue sorted out, you could get an international (passport) plan, turn on the pay per use feature and be able to make/receive calls (be sure international data roaming is OFF). I realize this isn't the best solution, but considering the important nature of your visit, it is a solution by giving you communication ability.0
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
7 years ago
@Busternutt
you missed the part where they have GOphone for service.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.1K Messages
7 years ago
@sandblaster Is correct. Send a private message requesting an exception.
In the future, purchase an unlocked phone direct from Apple or Best Buy. During the first few weeks of release, you cannot purchase an unlocked iPhone. Keep this in mind an expect to wait until the unlocked version is released. (The unlocked iPhone 7 was not sold until Mid October )
The ONLY carrier that doesn't sell phone locked out the the box is Verizon. ATT, Sprint, T-mobileand other carriers all sell phones locked out of the box.
The carrier lock is placed on the phones by Apple (or by other manufacturer). The idea that ATT opens all the boxes and adds a carrier lock is not logical.
When you request an unlock, the carrier sends a request to Apple to unlock from Apple server. You then must complete the unlock with iTunes.
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
7 years ago
@lizdance40
the lock is tripped by the simcard on apple phones. There activation server does it all and all the unlocks.
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TimAndDione
Tutor
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7 Messages
7 years ago
@lizdance40
In the future, purchase an unlocked phone direct from Apple or Best Buy.
I bought it from BEST BUY.
During the first few weeks of release, you cannot purchase an unlocked iPhone. Keep this in mind an expect to wait until the unlocked version is released. (The unlocked iPhone 7 was not sold until Mid October )
I bought unlocked Iphone 6s plus.
The ONLY carrier that doesn't sell phone locked out the the box is Verizon. ATT, Sprint, T-mobileand other carriers all sell phones locked out of the box.
The carrier lock is placed on the phones by Apple (or by other manufacturer). The idea that ATT opens all the boxes and adds a carrier lock is not logical.
No it is not logical and I never suggested it. If you are going to bold text you should know your facts. The phone is not locked by Apple - confirmed with Apple who also thought this situation outrageous. They are locked by AT&T after using our sim cards in them.
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