AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday, April 8

[YoYoMa]

when did you request an unlock?

Requested it on the first day (Sunday morning). Was told to fax my info within 48 hours, but the line was busy so couldn't get the fax through. Then this afternoon I got the email.

On my friends iPhone, I got the email right away, but told her to hold off until I verified it was working properly. Anyone else running into unlock issues after receiving the emails from AT&T??

 

[fullmanfullninj]

Has anyone found their iPhone to be unlocked BEFORE receiving a confirmation email? i.e. plugging the phone directly into iTunes and checking before receiving any sort of confirmation.

 

[aschmano]

Has anyone found their iPhone to be unlocked BEFORE receiving a confirmation email? i.e. plugging the phone directly into iTunes and checking before receiving any sort of confirmation.

i think no way to get it unlocking without getting the e mail, i submitted my request on Monday 09.04 10AM and still no luck even i was trying with itunes since then, what I'm really afraid of is the rep that taking emails and IMEI typo a letter or number then it'll be a mess , if he/she mistaken the email i can try from time to time till its gets unlocked but what if he mistaken the IMEI

 

[powerbookduo]

I called AT&T to get a confirmation code. The rep was very helpful and said my previous unlock claims had indeed been put into a "review" stage. She then said that indeed some people were receiving unlocks sooner than others, but that mine would go through by the 16th.

 

[ctmwn]

AT&T just sent me an email asking for proof of purchase. Thing is, I bought it from the AT&T website!!!! I paid an ETF so I no longer have an account with them, and I called and they have no record of my purchase. They refuse to unlock it without proof of purchase. Any ideas?

(I cannot get any credit card statement with the purchase because I closed my bank account it was attached to).

 

[geoca77]

i think no way to get it unlocking without getting the e mail, i submitted my request on Monday 09.04 10AM and still no luck even i was trying with itunes since then, what I'm really afraid of is the rep that taking emails and IMEI typo a letter or number then it'll be a mess , if he/she mistaken the email i can try from time to time till its gets unlocked but what if he mistaken the IMEI

i`ll asure you that the rep cannot mistake the IMEI, she/he is verifying it right away,with you on the phone or on LIVE chat,otherwise it wont show up as eligibile(good for unlock).It is my experience

 

[aschmano]

i`ll asure you that the rep cannot mistake the IMEI, she/he is verifying it right away,with you on the phone or on LIVE chat.It is my experience

i was insisting to repeat it twice to be sure , lets hope they don't with a bigger hope to process my unlock at the end of this waiting period

 

[cacophony555]

and did it worked ? you were able to unlock it well ?

Yes, following the restore I got the "Your iPhone has been unlocked" message in iTunes.

 

[geoca77]

i was insisting to repeat it twice to be sure , lets hope they don't with a bigger hope to process my unlock at the end of this waiting period

right, if you give or if she/he recive the IMEI wrong, then it will pop up like nonexistent in the System,then she/he`ll tell you that isnt in their system...so belive that ..does it make sense now?

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Yes, following the restore I got the "Your iPhone has been unlocked" message in iTunes.

me2!! i am in HEAVEN

 

[YoYoMa]

I got that email this afternoon, but did not get the "Congratulations" message after restoring. Has anyone else run into an issue like this? I told a friend of mine overseas to go ahead and update, as Apple and AT&T both said it should unlock, but if it goes wrong like this over there as well, she'll be stuck without a phone!

Well, I went to a T-mobile store to try it out, and the phone is in fact unlocked. Never got the iTunes "Congratulations" message, but I'm good to go. Whoop!

 

[wonlilaznboi]

Well, I went to a T-mobile store to try it out, and the phone is in fact unlocked. Never got the iTunes "Congratulations" message, but I'm good to go. Whoop!

when did you request the unlock?

 

[veeem33]

From my experience, I do not think you have to wait for the (generic) email to unlock your iPhone. I have yet to receive any emails but have successfully unlocked 2 of them by restoring the iPhones 30 minutes or so after my conversation on Sunday afternoon.

Quick question to those that can help: do you need an AT&T SIM card to restore and activate your iPhone so that it can be unlocked? The 3GS I gave to my sister, who lives overseas, is said to be unlocked by the AT&T and Apple's system but the iPhone gives an error message that "the SIM card is not installed." Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[wonlilaznboi]

From my experience, I do not think you have to wait for the (generic) email to unlock your iPhone. I have yet to receive any emails but have successfully unlocked 2 of them by restoring the iPhones 30 minutes or so after my conversation on Sunday afternoon.

Quick question to those that can help: do you need an AT&T SIM card to restore and activate your iPhone so that it can be unlocked? The 3GS I gave to my sister, who lives overseas, is said to be unlocked by the AT&T and Apple's system but the iPhone gives an error message that "the SIM card is not installed." Any insight would be appreciated!

were the two phones both 3gs? or were they iphone 4?

 

[cacophony555]

From my experience, I do not think you have to wait for the (generic) email to unlock your iPhone. I have yet to receive any emails but have successfully unlocked 2 of them by restoring the iPhones 30 minutes or so after my conversation on Sunday afternoon.

I put in the unlock request on Sunday morning. Tried a restore on Sunday evening and got no indication of an unlock. Tried another restore on Monday and got no indication of an unlock. Finally got email this afternoon, and tried restore and got the "congrats you're unlocked message". So in my case at least, I did need to wait for the email.

 

[wonlilaznboi]

I put in the unlock request on Sunday morning. Tried a restore on Sunday evening and got no indication of an unlock. Tried another restore on Monday and got no indication of an unlock. Finally got email this afternoon, and tried restore and got the "congrats you're unlocked message". So in my case at least, I did need to wait for the email.

jwing do you know what they check for after they go into the "review" process when they put in the request? because what would make them reject the request? Because you have to be eligible for the unlock request first off..

 

[veeem33]

were the two phones both 3gs? or were they iphone 4?

One was a 3GS, the other an iPhone 3. The only difference in the process of unlocking both phones is that the 3GS does not have an AT&T SIM card. I'm not sure what the problem is; has anyone unlocked an iPhone without a SIM or one that isn't AT&T's?

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I put in the unlock request on Sunday morning. Tried a restore on Sunday evening and got no indication of an unlock. Tried another restore on Monday and got no indication of an unlock. Finally got email this afternoon, and tried restore and got the "congrats you're unlocked message". So in my case at least, I did need to wait for the email.

Were you "in good standing" as it were? Perhaps I was lucky, but I don't understand this "case number" deal. If your iPhone is eligible for unlocking and you meet the requirements, they should turn the information over instantly to Apple but I may be wrong. Btw, I called AT&T today and mentioned how I have yet to receive the emails and, for what this information is worth, the agent told me that the emails have not been sent due to a high volume of unlock requests.

 

[cacophony555]

Were you "in good standing" as it were? Perhaps I was lucky, but I don't understand this "case number" deal. If your iPhone is eligible for unlocking and you meet the requirements, they should turn the information over instantly to Apple but I may be wrong. Btw, I called AT&T today and mentioned how I have yet to receive the emails and, for what this information is worth, the agent told me that the emails have not been sent due to a high volume of unlock requests.

Yes, account was in good standing. I think the inconsistencies are probably explained by poor training, technical incompetence, and having to deal within the constraints of legacy systems.

 

[kentsommer]

I was just told by an ATT rep that because I bought my 4S off ebay I do not need proof of purchase... Something feels off with that answer, oh well, case is submitted lets see what happens.

 

[khushboo1011]

Dane Spencer: Thank you for contacting AT&T technical support. How may I assist you today?
You: Hello Dane
I want to unlock an iPhone
Dane Spencer: I'm happy to assist you today. May I have your mobile number please?
You: I bought this iPhone on Novemebr 2010 in the USA, I was on a trip, I Live in Brazil
I bouth on BestBuy , an AT&T locked one
bought*
Dane Spencer: May I please confirm the IMEI of the phone? You can get this by tapping on Settings > General > About > IMEI.
You: sure
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dane Spencer: I'll be able to submit an unlock request. I'll need to enter your information into our systems in order to do this. May I have a phone number please?
You: 0xx51 xxxxxxxx
or 55 51 xxxxxxxx
Dane Spencer: I'll need an e-mail address to send the unlock instructions to.
You: xxxxxxx@xxxxx.com
Dane Spencer: I've submitted a case to have the phone unlocked. Your case number is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please allow 24 - 48 hours in order to receive the unlock instructions. Was there anything else I can assist you with today?
You: Thanks Dane, a lot
Have a nice day

So far, somebody got this e-mail?

Hi, how did you get to the chat rep? It keeps asking me to select an account and I dont have one

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i have an account with at&t, how could i help you?

Hi geoca, will you be able to help me? It would be great if you can!!

 

[khushboo1011]

I am willing to help. Send me a private message with IMEI as well as an email address for them to send the unlock info to.

Hey kentsommer, would you be able to help me?

 

[punkyhunk]

AT&T just sent me an email asking for proof of purchase. Thing is, I bought it from the AT&T website!!!! I paid an ETF so I no longer have an account with them, and I called and they have no record of my purchase. They refuse to unlock it without proof of purchase. Any ideas?

(I cannot get any credit card statement with the purchase because I closed my bank account it was attached to).

Escalate the call to a supervisor. I had two iphone 4's that I put in for unlock on Sunday and 1 came back with wanting proof of purchase because it was an Apple replacement phone after having a dead pixel issue. After chatting with Apple and them being unable to provide me with any type of proof of purchase, I spent a half hour in chat with AT&T trying to resolve this issue to no avail. I then called them, told the tech support rep of my unhappiness and that I wanted to speak with a supervisor. After being on hold for 20 minutes I got a supervisor that was more than willing to help me unlock my phone. He even had it unlocked as I was on the phone with him and sat with me while I restored it to verify the unlock.

To sum up - don't waste your time with AT&T chat, go straight to a supervisor. Be forceful but still polite and they'll probably help you out.

 

[Nawizo]

Ok I am curious. I am from Zambia (in Africa) and i had a friend last year visit the US and buy me an iPhone 4 network locked to AT&T around may at the full price and not on contract on Amazon. AT&T however could not unlock it at the time and so I have had to use a GEVEY sim. I wana know how I can unlock it because I clearly didn't get my phone on contract. Anyone who can tell me what to do

 

[dread]

Ok I am curious. I am from Zambia (in Africa) and i had a friend last year visit the US and buy me an iPhone 4 network locked to AT&T around may at the full price and not on contract on Amazon. AT&T however could not unlock it at the time and so I have had to use a GEVEY sim. I wana know how I can unlock it because I clearly didn't get my phone on contract. Anyone who can tell me what to do

You probably can't as you were never an AT&T customer. If your friend has an AT&T account ask them to help.

 

[thesaint580]

I had submitted the request Sunday evening and got the case number then. I got the email this morning and I first synced with iTunes to see if it will work. It didnt. So, went ahead and restored the phone and got the "Congratulations...." message. Put in a T-mobile SIM card to check and it works!!

 

[ctmwn]

Escalate the call to a supervisor. I had two iphone 4's that I put in for unlock on Sunday and 1 came back with wanting proof of purchase because it was an Apple replacement phone after having a dead pixel issue. After chatting with Apple and them being unable to provide me with any type of proof of purchase, I spent a half hour in chat with AT&T trying to resolve this issue to no avail. I then called them, told the tech support rep of my unhappiness and that I wanted to speak with a supervisor. After being on hold for 20 minutes I got a supervisor that was more than willing to help me unlock my phone. He even had it unlocked as I was on the phone with him and sat with me while I restored it to verify the unlock.

To sum up - don't waste your time with AT&T chat, go straight to a supervisor. Be forceful but still polite and they'll probably help you out.

Did you call the regular 1-800-331-0500 or did you get a different one for tech support. I have been talking with regular customer service reps.