Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Here you go, it's pretty cut and dry. Fall into the catagories listed and get your iPhone unlocked. If you don't fall into any of the catagories, well why would a business help someone who is not, or was not their customer.


General Eligibility Requirements for Unlocking iPhone
AT&T will unlock an iPhone under the following circumstances:

The person requesting the unlock is: (i) a current AT&T customer; or (ii) a former AT&T customer who can provide the phone number or account number for the account.
The iPhone was designed for use on AT&T's network;
All contract obligations, including any term commitment, associated with the device to be unlocked have been fully satisfied; and
The iPhone has not been reported lost or stolen.
Current customers will be allowed five (5) unlocks per account, per year, so long as their account is in good standing with no past-due amount or unpaid balance and has been active for at least sixty (60) days.

Former customers will be allowed five (5) unlocks per former account so long as they owe AT&T no Early Termination Fee or other unpaid balance.

In addition, AT&T will unlock an iPhone for: (i) an active and deployed member of the military who is a current AT&T customer in good standing and is able to provide AT&T with deployment verification; and (ii) a person who purchased the iPhone from an authorized location at the "no commitment" price and can provide proof of purchase.

AT&T reserves the right to deny any unlock request that it concludes would result in an abuse of this policy or is part of an effort to defraud AT&T or its customers. AT&T further reserves the right to alter this unlocking policy at its discretion without advance notice.
 
Last edited:
Here you go, it's pretty cut and dry. Fall into the catagories listed and get your iPhone unlocked. If you don't fall into any of the catagories, well why would a business help someone who is not, or was not their customer.


General Eligibility Requirements for Unlocking iPhone
AT&T will unlock an iPhone under the following circumstances:

The person requesting the unlock is: (i) a current AT&T customer; or (ii) a former AT&T customer who can provide the phone number or account number for the account.
The iPhone was designed for use on AT&T's network;
All contract obligations, including any term commitment, associated with the device to be unlocked have been fully satisfied; and
The iPhone has not been reported lost or stolen.
Current customers will be allowed five (5) unlocks per account, per year, so long as their account is in good standing with no past-due amount or unpaid balance and has been active for at least sixty (60) days.

Former customers will be allowed five (5) unlocks per former account so long as they owe AT&T no Early Termination Fee or other unpaid balance.

In addition, AT&T will unlock an iPhone for: (i) an active and deployed member of the military who is a current AT&T customer in good standing and is able to provide AT&T with deployment verification; and (ii) a person who purchased the iPhone from an authorized location at the "no commitment" price and can provide proof of purchase.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but all of the guidelines that you quoted are not what I take issue with. AT&T is well within their rights to change policies as they see fit.

My only gripe is that I submitted my unlock requests well within the timeframe when THEY WERE UNLOCKING IPHONES FOR ALL NON-CUSTOMERS. I was told repeatedly after the policy changed (April 28) that my requests would be honored because I submitted them well before the policy change. They were all denied.

Is it AT&T's right to deny my request? Of course it is. Were they doing non-subscribers a favor by unlocking their iPhones? Indeed. But that doesn't mean that they can't be in the wrong for going against their word (repeatedly telling me that my unlock requests would be honored even AFTER the policy change).

And you ask why would a business help non-customers. Shouldn't you ask AT&T that? They were the ones who started it that way. It isn't like people rallied to get it done--again, the business was the one who initiated it. The real question is why would they renege on that practice. My personal answer to that question is that they were overwhelmed with requests and instead of doing the right thing and honoring all requests (and subsequently having to devote more man hours of work), they decided to make it exclusive to certain AT&T subscribers in an effort to keep costs down. Is that within their rights? Yup. Is it kinda ****** for those of us who got the run around? Without a doubt.
 
just wondering... where does an iphone that was received from warranty stand in this category? will it be unlocked?
 
I can't speak for anyone else here, but all of the guidelines that you quoted are not what I take issue with. AT&T is well within their rights to change policies as they see fit.

My only gripe is that I submitted my unlock requests well within the timeframe when THEY WERE UNLOCKING IPHONES FOR ALL NON-CUSTOMERS. I was told repeatedly after the policy changed (April 28) that my requests would be honored because I submitted them well before the policy change. They were all denied.

Is it AT&T's right to deny my request? Of course it is. Were they doing non-subscribers a favor by unlocking their iPhones? Indeed. But that doesn't mean that they can't be in the wrong for going against their word (repeatedly telling me that my unlock requests would be honored even AFTER the policy change).

And you ask why would a business help non-customers. Shouldn't you ask AT&T that? They were the ones who started it that way. It isn't like people rallied to get it done--again, the business was the one who initiated it. The real question is why would they renege on that practice. My personal answer to that question is that they were overwhelmed with requests and instead of doing the right thing and honoring all requests (and subsequently having to devote more man hours of work), they decided to make it exclusive to certain AT&T subscribers in an effort to keep costs down. Is that within their rights? Yup. Is it kinda ****** for those of us who got the run around? Without a doubt.

I also read your previous post.

Thank you. This is what I've been trying to explaing the whole day and I even put in a logical and business beneficial aspect but none of the AT&T fanboys seemed to understand any of it...

If these fanboys think that AT&T shouldn't waste time unlocking non-eligible peoples phones(This eligibility issue makes no sense in this case buy anyway) then AT&T should unlock all their locked devices at once except the ones that still have contract and the ones that have been reported as lost or stolen.

Fanboys, wouldn't this solve the whole problem overnight? No more money spent on customer representative? Is this what you want? Why not? Wake up, your AT&T device is unlocked without you asking and wasting CSR's time? Is this any good to you, fanboy? Saving your company's time & money? This is what you want?

Oh if you think there's no room for that and if you want to segregate between "AT&T customers" non "AT&T customers" then you are discriminating. We call it being bias. Either they are current/former or non-AT&T customers; their devices ARE LOCKED TO AT&T and this is the case here. AT&T locked device, not current/former/non-AT&T customers. You fanboys fail to understand this somehow and still brag about discriminating customers...

You see now?



They, obviously didn't think about costs, if they did then they would have offered the service for let say $10 or whatever. They just wanted to offer something which they should've years ago.

But they lacked planning and management and to cope with the overwhelming request, they broguht in bias decisions.

Why did they unlock randomly at the beginning? Doesn't this show that they had no issue with the non AT&T customers in the first place? So if the non-AT&T customers were not the issue, then it is bias to use them as a sacrifice to cope with overwhelming requests.

You, fanboys don''t seem to understand this.

And as I said, had they unlocked our mobiles as well, this was in their benefit to please and attract potential customers. Anyone who deals with you regardless of the deal, they have dealt with you; they are potential customers. Again, you guys failed to understand this. Instead of amending policies, instead of replying back to the same reject 10 times, they could've spend that time serving other customers. Again, you guys fail to understand this.

Mind, I don't really believe they "cust costs" or time by rejecting "non AT&T customers" in fact, they spent overtime and showed their lack of management and critical decision making which we call it damaging your reputation. Again, fanboys failed to understand this.


P.s. I got to drop this one...

Do you know what? I buy an AT&T iPhone, second hand. I am not eligible for unlock.

Well, I can buy a second hand o2 or Vodafone mobile and I can have them unlocked.

Well, who's the fail here (customer wise as you fanboys seem to brag about this) ?

Now I'm I not an "non-Vodafone" customer? Well according to you fanboys yes; I'm not a Vodafone customer. REGARDLESS, I get it unlocked as long as its not reported lot or stolen and has no outstanding contract. But can I get it at AT&T? No. Because I am not an "active AT&T customer". Well its not Vodafone that we or thousands of people criticising here, its AT&T and matter fact they are getting hammered in ever foreign iDevice forum... Now who's the fail? AT&T or xxx operator?

Epic fail.
 
Last edited:
@applejuiced, now you understand it but how can you say this?

Wether right or wrong or unfair it's up to them to unlock AT&T locked iPhones according to rules they set and can change at any time.

Fail.

A company of 100m customers HAS TO OFFER FAIR AND RIGHT service. There can't be anything else to this.

BTW, yes they "set up rules" which no other carrier have. Discriminating between former/current NON-AT&T customers when the whole case is about LOCKED AT&T DEVICES and not the current owner of those locked devices.

They did the job right in the first phase of their new "unlocking service" but failed once the bias policy was set up. This is our point...

----------

Total fail ? I got 2 unlocked so far with 3 more unlocks available . How about yourself?

I just can't believe why you don't seem to understand a basic discussion point and keep talking about something which is irrelevant to the topic...


Do you know what? I believe you have a good life and you don't live on AT&T's RSS feeds. But let me update you if you haven't heard this recently;

Doesn't matter if you're an AT&T customer; if the device you want to unlock is not associated with your account (e.g. didn't use your simcard on the device) then that device is not yours so therefore cant be unlocked...

What AT&T is saying is that if you have an AT&T device and if you want to unlock it you either have to be the original owner or you have to get in touch with the original owner and ask him to unlock it for you.

Who keeps their phones for years? Who doesn't sell their phones? Who goes after the seller and ask them to unlock the device? WHY DOES AT&T THINK THIS IS FAIR? WHY DO WE HAVE TO COPE WITH THIS? CAN'T AT&T JUST UNLOCK THEIR DEVICES ONCE A REQUEST HAS BEEN MADE? Do they have anything to lose? If the device has no contract issues and not reported lost or stolen, then why not unlock it? I mean how does this protect your welfare or avoid abuse of the system? Why discriminate between AT&T locked device OWNERS when the whole point is about LOCKED DEVICES and NOT their OWNERS?

Dude, please...

Fail.

Fail.
 
I got transfer to Costa Rica... so.. is not an option... and at&t does not have any store or support line in here.....


And now you're out an additional $165 on top of the full price of the phone.
I would have gone back to the store that you bought it from and demanded an explanation.



Depends. You need to find out if the phone is still under contract or not.
Usage is irrelevant to the contract.
But if it's no longer under contract, then yes, they can have it unlocked for you.
 
I just got unlocked, no AT&T account no nothing.

Key is to call their tech support, I recieved instant unlock within 2 hours of my phone call, if they wanna hang up because you don't have AT&T number, just ask for supervizor, and they will submitt case no questions asked. :D
 
@applejuiced, now you understand it but how can you say this?



Fail.

A company of 100m customers HAS TO OFFER FAIR AND RIGHT service. There can't be anything else to this.

BTW, yes they "set up rules" which no other carrier have. Discriminating between former/current NON-AT&T customers when the whole case is about LOCKED AT&T DEVICES and not the current owner of those locked devices.

They did the job right in the first phase of their new "unlocking service" but failed once the bias policy was set up. This is our point...

----------



I just can't believe why you don't seem to understand a basic discussion point and keep talking about something which is irrelevant to the topic...


Do you know what? I believe you have a good life and you don't live on AT&T's RSS feeds. But let me update you if you haven't heard this recently;

Doesn't matter if you're an AT&T customer; if the device you want to unlock is not associated with your account (e.g. didn't use your simcard on the device) then that device is not yours so therefore cant be unlocked...

What AT&T is saying is that if you have an AT&T device and if you want to unlock it you either have to be the original owner or you have to get in touch with the original owner and ask him to unlock it for you.

Who keeps their phones for years? Who doesn't sell their phones? Who goes after the seller and ask them to unlock the device? WHY DOES AT&T THINK THIS IS FAIR? WHY DO WE HAVE TO COPE WITH THIS? CAN'T AT&T JUST UNLOCK THEIR DEVICES ONCE A REQUEST HAS BEEN MADE? Do they have anything to lose? If the device has no contract issues and not reported lost or stolen, then why not unlock it? I mean how does this protect your welfare or avoid abuse of the system? Why discriminate between AT&T locked device OWNERS when the whole point is about LOCKED DEVICES and NOT their OWNERS?

Dude, please...

Fail.

Fail.


I don't get the point of your lengthy rants. No one cares. Policies are policies and they are there for a reason. Either work and get enough money to get an unlocked one or shut up. People like you and your sense of entitlement make me laugh.
 
I just got unlocked, no AT&T account no nothing.

Key is to call their tech support, I recieved instant unlock within 2 hours of my phone call, if they wanna hang up because you don't have AT&T number, just ask for supervizor, and they will submitt case no questions asked. :D

Who gave a negative vote? Look, you have to keep calling tech support and ask your phone to be unlocked. As long as your out of contract or not have a restricted-iphone, you should be good to go.
 
I just got unlocked, no AT&T account no nothing.

Key is to call their tech support, I recieved instant unlock within 2 hours of my phone call, if they wanna hang up because you don't have AT&T number, just ask for supervizor, and they will submitt case no questions asked. :D

nope not working! the supervisor said he cant do anything! what did you say from where did you get the iPhone? and frankly speaking the super visor asked me alot of questions:/
 
So I finally decided to get my 4S unlocked through the business chat site. I acquired my 4S through Craigslist and before finalizing the transaction I called ATT to make sure the phone was not reported stolen or lost. The rep said the phone is clean and ready to activate on my account.

Fast forward to today and the rep was asking me for proof of purchase. After I told them I could not provide the receipt he checked the IMEI and told me the phone was reported lost in January and that it has used different sims before mine.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of taking my phone to the Genius Bar because the signal drops when I hold it without a case, a la iPhone 4. Weird, I thought that issue was fixed. Perhaps they will give me a new one and I can try with that IMEI number?
 
when buying a second hand iphone , is it possible to check if the iphone is out of contract?? how would you check
 
when buying a second hand iphone , is it possible to check if the iphone is out of contract?? how would you check

if you are an AT&T customer i think you can give them a call and tell them the IMEI number and they can tell you!
 
So I finally decided to get my 4S unlocked through the business chat site. I acquired my 4S through Craigslist and before finalizing the transaction I called ATT to make sure the phone was not reported stolen or lost. The rep said the phone is clean and ready to activate on my account.

Fast forward to today and the rep was asking me for proof of purchase. After I told them I could not provide the receipt he checked the IMEI and told me the phone was reported lost in January and that it has used different sims before mine.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of taking my phone to the Genius Bar because the signal drops when I hold it without a case, a la iPhone 4. Weird, I thought that issue was fixed. Perhaps they will give me a new one and I can try with that IMEI number?


If the phone is reported lost/stolen at Apple, I think they return it back to the original owner.

BTW, you're holding it wrong.
 
I am pretty sure Apple will not seize the device if I take it for repair. Last I heard they do not track/blacklist iPhones.

How am I holding it wrong? I'm holding it the same way everyone does. Putting the bumper alleviates the attenuation but I thought the 4S was not suppose to have this issue. My brother's CDMA iPhone 4S does not suffer from the same issue.
 
I don't get the AT&T unlock rules. I understand what they are, but not why.

I am under contract. I'll be traveling to the UK for 2 weeks in June. If I use a bunch of data and make a bunch of calls and send a bunch of texts, it would be cheaper for me to pay the ETF, get my phone unlocked, and buy a cheapo UK PAYG SIM than it would be to pay AT&T's silly international roaming charges.

And by that logic, it would be cheaper for me to just switch to Verizon, then have Verizon unlock my phone, hassle free, for any future traveling.

I called AT&T and pointed out that by refusing to unlock my phone while under contract, they are essentially telling me they'd rather I take my business elsewhere.

"Sorry, we can't unlock your phone while you're under contract. Those are the rules."

"But if you unlock my phone now, I'm still under contract. I haven't gone over my minutes since 2007. I have unlimited data and unlimited texts. Unlocking my phone now will not change what I am paying you monthly for the duration of my contract. What are you afraid of? It will be cheaper for me to pay the ETF and switch to Verizon than to pay your international rates for 2 weeks abroad. If I do that, we have no relationship at all, never mind a relationship where you're scared of unlocking my phone in-contract. Is that what you want?"

The CSR had no answer for that.

Do they really think I'm going to pay $100 for 200mb of data overseas, or $1/min for voice? I'll get a Gevey SIM before I do that.
 
I am pretty sure Apple will not seize the device if I take it for repair. Last I heard they do not track/blacklist iPhones.

How am I holding it wrong? I'm holding it the same way everyone does. Putting the bumper alleviates the attenuation but I thought the 4S was not suppose to have this issue. My brother's CDMA iPhone 4S does not suffer from the same issue.

It was a joke....

in reference to the old news..
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/apple-responds-over-iphone-4-reception-issues-youre-holding-th/
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.