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att sanctioned unlock

T

trungthiendo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 15, 2008
101
0
so i finally got att to unlock my iphone 4,

then the wifi stops working (grayed out). So i did a out of replacement warranty...asked apple genius if the replacement would be unlocked, he said it would be multiple times.

bring it home its not unlocked...

looked on receit, the replacement has the same IMEI number as the one that i gave them, is that how it is? i thought IMEI coudln't be the same or duplicated.

the receipt also says the replacement is supposed to be an INTL edition
 
So far as I know the lock state is kept by apple based on IMEI, so if they are identical activating it should leave you with an unlocked phone.

You can ask any phone its IMEI to be sure by telling it *#06#.
 
nvm i read the receipt wrong,

they gave me a freaking att usa version, and its locked, now i have to go through the same loopholes again...

apple is really failing me big time lately
 
trungthiendo said:
nvm i read the receipt wrong,

they gave me a freaking att usa version, and its locked, now i have to go through the same loopholes again...

apple is really failing me big time lately
Click to expand...

Just go back to Apple and have them switch it for a factory-unlocked one.
 
As I understand it the phone you got as a replacement can take a little while for the paperwork to be processed. You can view that by checking into the warranty status right now, the serial number likely won't be found for several days after you get a replacement phone. If we extrapolate that we could say that the IMEI lock status could take a bit to transfer as well. There have been some posts in the past that unlocked status does transfer, I don't recall reading about a time frame for it though.

Total guess on my part. If you are SOL at the moment I would take it back to them and say WTF. They will of course exchange like for like so your getting the AT&T phone is correct.
 
MaxBurn said:
As I understand it the phone you got as a replacement can take a little while for the paperwork to be processed. You can view that by checking into the warranty status right now, the serial number likely won't be found for several days after you get a replacement phone. If we extrapolate that we could say that the IMEI lock status could take a bit to transfer as well. There have been some posts in the past that unlocked status does transfer, I don't recall reading about a time frame for it though.

Total guess on my part. If you are SOL at the moment I would take it back to them and say WTF. They will of course exchange like for like so your getting the AT&T phone is correct.
Click to expand...

In other countries it happens instantly from what I heard.
If you bring a locked to a specific carrier iphone the replacement gets the same properties etc...
You shouldnt have to wait at all to be able to use your phone.
 
I don't know if this will help, but I've had to restore my phones for the unlock to be active when ATT unlocks them.

Maybe try restoring the phone through itunes (save you shsh if you want to downgrade). It might be factory unlocked after the restore
 
I think if I have to get any of my unlocked iPhones replaced, I'll just bring it in with a T-mobile SIM. If it doesn't activate, then I'll know right then and there
 
let me clarify the situation

att unlocked the phone, wifi issue grayed out, replaced at apple store, asked genius multiple times if i would get an unlocked one back he confirmed yes

he swapped the phone, but could nto activate phone due to no sim card, i lent him my att sim card he activated it,

i then asked again will it be unlocked if i plug in a tmobile sim when i get home he said yes.

went home plugged in...nothing invalid sim sim faliure etc...restored countless of times over the last 3 days still nothing

i called apple, they said it takes time i asked how long they said couple of hours for it to transfer...i said i did this on friday at 1 and today is monday

he said bring it in, i said can he just verify that the phone is unlocked? he couldn't either.

so from what it seems like it doesn't matter if the phone is att sanctioned unlocked, if its att version, u get att version...then u have to run through the same loopholes again.
 
Are you restoring it with the AT&T SIM inserted? If so, put the T-Mobile SIM in and restore it that way, that is how it's supposed to work. Otherwise, call AT&T and make sure they have your replacement device's IMEI number.
 
yes restored using no sim and t mobile sim only

yes and i have contacted att about this issue, they are looking into the situation because its unusual...

they also stated over and over once a phone is unlocked it is unlocked...they ddint get the message that this isn't the same phone and it is a replacement.

i will update and let u guys know how it all pans out
 
In all honesty, this really isn't Apple nor AT&T's Fault. Its the partnerships fault. No matter how you put it, unless the carrier and the phone provider is the same company, then your going to have issues when contacting them about issues.
 
trungthiendo said:
yes restored using no sim and t mobile sim only

yes and i have contacted att about this issue, they are looking into the situation because its unusual...

they also stated over and over once a phone is unlocked it is unlocked...they ddint get the message that this isn't the same phone and it is a replacement.

i will update and let u guys know how it all pans out
Click to expand...


Then I would do these two things in order. 1) Call Apple and make sure that the replacement device is listed as the replacement of the original, not completely separate, 2) Call AT&T and make sure of basically the same thing, that they have the replacement devices IMEI as the active one and not still using the original.
 
MaxBurn said:
As I understand it the phone you got as a replacement can take a little while for the paperwork to be processed. You can view that by checking into the warranty status right now, the serial number likely won't be found for several days after you get a replacement phone. .
Click to expand...

Wrong. it's active as soon as you put in your AT&T sim card and activate it. Here is what I would do:

Contact AT&T, explain it to them and say you have paperwork to prove it. They'll check and likely unlock right there. Besides, the receipt that the genius bar gives you (the ultra environmentally friendly 8x11 inch paper one) says the issue on it and the imei of the old one and the replacement. Worse comes to worse, you'll have to fax it to them. I've gotten a few unlocked and all but one have been over the phone.
 
1 IS DONE
2 IS PENDING

att is looking into my "claim" and they will resolve it my date of resolution is may 22...

i'm not mad at apple just peeved that the genius would confirm when he had absolutely no idea...and i even told him att unlocked it not a factory unlocked
 
trungthiendo said:
i'm not mad at apple just peeved that the genius would confirm when he had absolutely no idea...and i even told him att unlocked it not a factory unlocked
Click to expand...

Though technically that doesn't matter (once unlocked, they are identical), I find it's best to leave such information out. You should've said 'unlocked' and not mentioned AT&T.

Of course now it's too late for that, so just go back, explain what happened and ask them to replace the phone with a factory-unlocked one. (Or unlock this one, but since it's AT&T-locked, they probably won't do that.)
 
CyBeRino said:
Though technically that doesn't matter (once unlocked, they are identical), I find it's best to leave such information out. You should've said 'unlocked' and not mentioned AT&T.

Of course now it's too late for that, so just go back, explain what happened and ask them to replace the phone with a factory-unlocked one. (Or unlock this one, but since it's AT&T-locked, they probably won't do that.)
Click to expand...

They're not quite identical. The factory unlocked models don't give a congratulations screen; the carrier unlocked ones do. At the end of the day it makes no difference to the end user, but it does show something is different behind the scenes

The weird thing though is that the warranty replacements are the same whether it's AT&T or factory unlocked. The activation status of whatever phone you turn in is supposed to be transferred - this is why you sometimes end up with weird things like US phones locked to Canadian carriers. Sounds like someone screwed up the paperwork to me
 
okay after spending more time on the phone with apple this is the end results

apple wanted me to pay 29.00 dollars for phone tech support even though my replacement has a 90 days warranty, i told them to pound sand, and gave transaction number to verify that it was just indeed a replacement, so they went ahead and helped me. They state that the phone unlocked or not does not matter to them. It is a like for like replacement, if its an att version you get an att version and have to settle up with att. Looks like the paperwork was "slow" because it did not show my phone as being the replacement on their computer until i gave them a transaction number.

ATT processed my claim from my previous claim number and i had to fax them my receipt showing it was indeed a replacement, so they went ahead and processed the unlock for me

granted apple should've given me an unlocked version but i could also understand why they gave me an att version. I just wished the genius knew what they were talking about ahead of time and not give me false answers that led me to chasing apple and att around.


for future reference: keep all your paperwork and case numbers ATT will ask for proof.

att unlocked or not, you will get a locked att version back.
 
trungthiendo said:
okay after spending more time on the phone with apple this is the end results

apple wanted me to pay 29.00 dollars for phone tech support even though my replacement has a 90 days warranty, i told them to pound sand, and gave transaction number to verify that it was just indeed a replacement, so they went ahead and helped me. They state that the phone unlocked or not does not matter to them. It is a like for like replacement, if its an att version you get an att version and have to settle up with att. Looks like the paperwork was "slow" because it did not show my phone as being the replacement on their computer until i gave them a transaction number.

ATT processed my claim from my previous claim number and i had to fax them my receipt showing it was indeed a replacement, so they went ahead and processed the unlock for me

granted apple should've given me an unlocked version but i could also understand why they gave me an att version. I just wished the genius knew what they were talking about ahead of time and not give me false answers that led me to chasing apple and att around.


for future reference: keep all your paperwork and case numbers ATT will ask for proof.

att unlocked or not, you will get a locked att version back.
Click to expand...


So conclusion is you needed to apply for an unlock ....or did they just do it for you on spot. and the turnaround time involved ?
 
i had to call att back with my first unlock request and informed them of the situation,

then i had to send in proof that the phone was swapped, then they gave me a case number and issued a new unlock.

there's a turn around time since att has to process another unlock request
 
Maybe there is something broken with the service at the moment, this is the first time we're seeing AT&T unlock phones and then people exchanging them.

Maybe the people in other countries can chime in on how swapping a phone works for their unlocked phones that were previously locked.
 
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