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Best Buy iP7/7+ Models are Subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy

JulesJam said:
You need to make clear to them what happened - Best Buy sold you a device that they said was a Verizon device. You paid full retail price for it and used a TMobile SIM to do the initial activation - now the device is locked to TMobile. This is because Best Buy did not inform you that the device would lock to the whichever carrier's SIM was used for the initial activation. Had BB told you this, you would have used a Verizon SIM for the initial activation.
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No they didn't say anything , it was just "unlocked by Verizon " and I didn't even get any sim with it... So my thought its unlocked , and for airport issues she had to put sim card in it
 
C DM said:
The fact that people who buy the phones outright for their full price can even end up in situation where they are locked is rather ridiculous.
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Problem is no matter how much I mail them.. Unless and until many people ask them they won't take it under consideration...only the people who are suffering are mailing them.. Rest people should also stand behind and support
 
Shreeaunsh said:
Problem is no matter how much I mail them.. Unless and until many people ask them they won't take it under consideration...only the people who are suffering are mailing them.. Rest people should also stand behind and support
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Unfortunately it's more like unless and until there's regulation around that which would actually be enforced.
 
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C DM said:
Unfortunately it's more like unless and until there's regulation around that which would actually be enforced.
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In some countries where I phone costs a fortune like India ... Minimum wages are 5k and phone costs 70k m not saying m in minimum wages but it still costs fortune for me too...
To make it enforceable ... Many people should consider mailing concern people about it.. Then they'll at least think about it..its unfair I feel paying in full and even then not able to use the phone
 
Thanks Guys for all your help , i was able to unlock it .. and it was pretty simple actually....
i just logged into iTunes and turned find my iPhone off , factory reset ...and done. now m able to use it with my local carriers as well
 
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Shreeaunsh said:
Thanks Guys for all your help , i was able to unlock it .. and it was pretty simple actually....
i just logged into iTunes and turned find my iPhone off , factory reset ...and done. now m able to use it with my local carriers as well
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Did you not have to contact T-Mobile? This is very interesting if not...
 
JulesJam said:
This is worth repeating - Best Buy is selling the iP7/7+ models that are SUBJECT TO THE US RESELLER FLEX POLICY!!!! Walmart and Target always have sold these.

What this means is that the phone will follow the SIM card locking policy of the carrier whose SIM card is in the device when it is initially activated - i.e., the very first time it is activated out of the box.

So if your plan is to sell an unactivated iPhone purchased from Best Buy, Walmart or Target, you are likely better off activating these phones with a Verizon SIM - either an active Verizon SIM or an inactive Verizon SIM over WiFi - so that the phones are carrier unlocked before you sell them.

Note that if the SIM card is not inside the phone when you buy it, unless it is a SIM free model sold directly by Apple then it is subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy. In the future even the iP6s/6s+ that Best Buy will sell are going to be like this.
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which one of the stores (bb, target, walmart) will allow me to purchase an iphone 7 in-store under att payment plan unactivated? i know if purchasing online you can get the phone shipped unactivated. however, i want to take advantage of the instore GC they are giving during BF. that way i can have an unlocked iphone while still being under installment
 
JulesJam said:
This is worth repeating - Best Buy is selling the iP7/7+ models that are SUBJECT TO THE US RESELLER FLEX POLICY!!!! Walmart and Target always have sold these.

What this means is that the phone will follow the SIM card locking policy of the carrier whose SIM card is in the device when it is initially activated - i.e., the very first time it is activated out of the box.

So if your plan is to sell an unactivated iPhone purchased from Best Buy, Walmart or Target, you are likely better off activating these phones with a Verizon SIM - either an active Verizon SIM or an inactive Verizon SIM over WiFi - so that the phones are carrier unlocked before you sell them.

Note that if the SIM card is not inside the phone when you buy it, unless it is a SIM free model sold directly by Apple then it is subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy. In the future even the iP6s/6s+ that Best Buy will sell are going to be like this.
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I assume that since I'm using my Verizon upgrade(2-year contract price) to purchase the iPhone 7 from Best Buy, the phone will be unlocked?
 
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Taisiya said:
I assume that since I'm using my Verizon upgrade(2-year contract price) to purchase the iPhone 7 from Best Buy, the phone will be unlocked?
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Verizon's LTE phones are unlocked. The only thing to keep in mind with those bought from Best Buy is to make sure they are activated with a Verizon SIM to make sure they still stay unlocked.
 
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Shreeaunsh said:
Thanks Guys for all your help , i was able to unlock it .. and it was pretty simple actually....
i just logged into iTunes and turned find my iPhone off , factory reset ...and done. now m able to use it with my local carriers as well
Click to expand...

Congrats buddy.
What a headache, I agree that you shouldn't have to go through all that for a device that you bought full price without a contract.
 
Follow up question: Do carrier models work this same way? For example, I have an IP7+ purchased from AT&T on a 2 year contract. If I put a Verizon SIM in it first for activation, would it be unlocked?
 
cooljw said:
Follow up question: Do carrier models work this same way? For example, I have an IP7+ purchased from AT&T on a 2 year contract. If I put a Verizon SIM in it first for activation, would it be unlocked?
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No, carrier models follow their carrier rules essentially.
 
Just an FYI. If you contact Apple, and you're able to provide the proof of purchase showing that you paid full price, Apple can apply an unlocked policy to your device. No need to use a Verizon SIM if you don't have one, or get all angry.
 
eww7633 said:
Just an FYI. If you contact Apple, and you're able to provide the proof of purchase showing that you paid full price, Apple can apply an unlocked policy to your device. No need to use a Verizon SIM if you don't have one, or get all angry.
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That is false.
If you paid full price for an iphone outside of an Apple store and its locked to a particular carrier you will need to contact that carrier, not Apple.
Then the carrier will approve the unlock and submit it to Apple to be unlocked.
 
so just a headsup. i bought 7 plus via bestbuy online and it got shipped today. my carrier is AT&T. its a sim free model as per best buy's page. So if i activate with AT&T will it be locked? Can i activate it with Verizon active sim and keep it unlocked??
 
MuGeN PoWeR said:
so just a headsup. i bought 7 plus via bestbuy online and it got shipped today. my carrier is AT&T. its a sim free model as per best buy's page. So if i activate with AT&T will it be locked? Can i activate it with Verizon active sim and keep it unlocked??
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Correct.
If you activate with AT&T sim it will lock to AT&T.
Then you will have to go to AT&T's iPhone unlock site and put a request for it to be unlocked.
Or do the first initial activation with a verizon sim card and you skip all that.
 
Applejuiced said:
Correct.
If you activate with AT&T sim it will lock to AT&T.
Then you will have to go to AT&T's iPhone unlock site and put a request for it to be unlocked.
Or do the first initial activation with a verizon sim card and you skip all that.
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Okay sounds good. Thanks
 
Applejuiced said:
That is false.
If you paid full price for an iphone outside of an Apple store and its locked to a particular carrier you will need to contact that carrier, not Apple.
Then the carrier will approve the unlock and submit it to Apple to be unlocked.
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Haha, not false. I'm in a position to know, and I've been involved in more than one of these. This applies to US Reseller
flex only.
 
Applejuiced said:
Again, the carrier has to submit the unlock request once they verify that you paid full price and the device is not under contract.
You have to go to them not Apple directly.
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Still, you're wrong. In this specific scenario, the carrier doesn't have to do anything. If you work for Apple, let me know, and I'll tell you where to find this information. If not, I kindly suggest you stop telling me I'm wrong when I have literally done this process more than once.
 
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eww7633 said:
Still, you're wrong. In this specific scenario, the carrier doesn't have to do anything. If you work for Apple, let me know, and I'll tell you where to find this information. If not, I kindly suggest you stop telling me I'm wrong when I have literally done this process more than once.
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Bypassing the carrier all together?
I'd like to know the process of Apple submitting the imei unlock.
 
so if i activate the iphone with AT&T sim can i submit the unlock request right away?? or i have to pay off the phone first to unlock it?
 
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