Company Defective Business Phone Apple ID Locked.

[Thepoobear]

To be honest, I wouldn't go unlock their phone either if I was fired. Nor would I tell them my Apple ID and password. Especially so after being FIRED.

Now if I had I known it was company policy, I would have cooperated. If my paycheck was withheld? I'd get the government involved.

Might be their phone, but MY Apple ID! Their responsibility to make me aware of Activation lock BEFORE I used my personal credentials on it.

Makes this termination seem hasty and planned poorly.

Edit: in the end, this phone isn't worth the trouble or $$$. Withhold his pay and he'll probably get law involved.

 

[acfusion29]

To tell you the truth, I highly doubt that. Their computers tell them everything about a device and I'm pretty sure it would tell them if it is locked....

i love ignorant people. i have seen what they see. they have your info and the info on the device (IMEI, serial #, lock status, things like that). if the phone is water damaged, they can't pull ANY information about the software on the device.

 

[GoCoogs]

If they can tell the lock status. Why have I seen stories of thieves turning in stolen phones for replacements?

It just irks me that I hear stories about that. Yet I can't get help with a legitimate phone

 

[Asuriyan]

To be honest, I wouldn't go unlock their phone either if I was fired. Nor would I tell them my Apple ID and password. Especially so after being FIRED.

Now if I had I known it was company policy, I would have cooperated. If my paycheck was withheld? I'd get the government involved.

Might be their phone, but MY Apple ID! Their responsibility to make me aware of Activation lock BEFORE I used my personal credentials on it.

Makes this termination seem hasty and planned poorly.

Edit: in the end, this phone isn't worth the trouble or $$$. Withhold his pay and he'll probably get law involved.

So he locked the phone remotely... accidentally?

 

[AlterZgo]

Withhold his/her last paycheck until he/she unlocks the iCloud activation lock.

This is the way to go. You don't pass out last paycheck until the employee has returned all company property. Since the ID lock keeps the company from using it, the ex-employee still has control of company property.

Just take the cost of a new phone out of his last paycheck and let it go at that. If the ex-employee has already been paid, file a claim against him.

This is bad advice. Many states have laws requiring employers to fully pay employees on the day of their termination. Withholding or not paying their last paycheck would likely violate some labor law and subject the OP's company to a lawsuit and legal liability.

As an employer, you have recourse for getting company property back. Withholding a paycheck is not a wise strategy. If you are sued, it is unlikely your business liability coverage would cover or pay for the legal expenses in defending you for withholding pay.

 

[sxiss]

If you have the invoice for the device, than just call AppleCare and they will unlock it

 

[gnasher729]

To be honest, I wouldn't go unlock their phone either if I was fired. Nor would I tell them my Apple ID and password. Especially so after being FIRED.

Now if I had I known it was company policy, I would have cooperated. If my paycheck was withheld? I'd get the government involved.

Might be their phone, but MY Apple ID! Their responsibility to make me aware of Activation lock BEFORE I used my personal credentials on it.

Makes this termination seem hasty and planned poorly.

Edit: in the end, this phone isn't worth the trouble or $$$. Withhold his pay and he'll probably get law involved.

I'd say that if my phone is locked with your ID, and I can't use it because you refuse to unlock it, then we'll meet in court and you will get a nice bill from your lawyer.

 

[Brian Y]

If they can tell the lock status. Why have I seen stories of thieves turning in stolen phones for replacements?

It just irks me that I hear stories about that. Yet I can't get help with a legitimate phone

Apple *can't* replace a phone with an activation lock. The system will not allow it. If you have to get service, you remove the lock from either the phone or iCloud.com - no exceptions.

So much FUD spread about this. Personally, I'd just write it off. £500 for the phone is a small expense compared to recruiting a replacement.

 

[question fear]

This is bad advice. Many states have laws requiring employers to fully pay employees on the day of their termination. Withholding or not paying their last paycheck would likely violate some labor law and subject the OP's company to a lawsuit and legal liability.

As an employer, you have recourse for getting company property back. Withholding a paycheck is not a wise strategy. If you are sued, it is unlikely your business liability coverage would cover or pay for the legal expenses in defending you for withholding pay.

Yup, many states will say you aren't released from employment until you receive that paycheck. I know when I worked in MA and we had to fire someone from a retail store, we had to wait two days for HR to approve us paying him what he was owed, down to the cent, in cash (he was a disturbed individual and we needed to fire him ASAP). We had to present him his final pay calculated to include the hour he came in to be fired, and without that he was suspended but not fired.

OP, I would see if your company has a legal department...it might be as simple as having them send a letter to the former employee explaining that in the event the phone cannot be replaced under warranty the former employee is responsible for the replacement cost (assuming that's the company policy). Most people will respond really quickly to a formal letter from an attorney, and if your company has in-house counsel it's not going to cost much, if anything, to dash off a quick letter.

 

[Brian Y]

If you have the invoice for the device, than just call AppleCare and they will unlock it

Lol, no, they won't.

 

[Thepoobear]

I'd say that if my phone is locked with your ID, and I can't use it because you refuse to unlock it, then we'll meet in court and you will get a nice bill from your lawyer.

Oh yea, an iPhone is SOOO worth paying the lawyer for...

As has been said, he has labor laws on his side. Unless company policy holds him accountable for the Activation lock, he's in the clear.

Id expect and engineering company would have enough experience dealing with laws for permits and whatnot to also see this isn't worth their time or money on.

Edit: If Apple isn't going to help, and someone has some free time, id sell it for parts.

 

[blarivee]

This is bad advice. Many states have laws requiring employers to fully pay employees on the day of their termination. Withholding or not paying their last paycheck would likely violate some labor law and subject the OP's company to a lawsuit and legal liability.

As an employer, you have recourse for getting company property back. Withholding a paycheck is not a wise strategy. If you are sued, it is unlikely your business liability coverage would cover or pay for the legal expenses in defending you for withholding pay.

Well then the company will have to resort to suing him/her, after sending him/her multiple compliant letters and he/she still refuses to comply (which sounds like this may be a disgruntle employee). He/She will get judgement against him/her (may even have his/her wages garnished) and the attorneys aren't going to just ask for the cost of the phone alone.

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Oh yea, an iPhone is SOOO worth paying the lawyer for...

As has been said, he has labor laws on his side. Unless company policy holds him accountable for the Activation lock, he's in the clear.

Id expect and engineering company would have enough experience dealing with laws for permits and whatnot to also see this isn't worth their time or money on.

Edit: If Apple isn't going to help, and someone has some free time, id sell it for parts.

Company policy may not have exact wording for "activation lock" but I am pretty sure there is wording for returning an item back in "working" order. A phone that cannot even be used to make a phone call is hardly in working order.

It sounds like you are advocating for disgruntle ex-employees to go around breaking company property.

 

[saberahul]

Your company could also look into the BYOD program for the future. It will reduce quite a bit of hassle.

 

[C DM]

Well then the company will have to resort to suing him/her, after sending him/her multiple compliant letters and he/she still refuses to comply (which sounds like this may be a disgruntle employee). He/She will get judgement against him/her (may even have his/her wages garnished) and the attorneys aren't going to just ask for the cost of the phone alone.

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Company policy may not have exact wording for "activation lock" but I am pretty sure there is wording for returning an item back in "working" order. A phone that cannot even get past the start screen is hardly in working order.

It sounds like you are advocating for disgruntle ex-employees to go around breaking company property.

Just about what I was going to write. Well put.

 

[akron0488]

i love ignorant people. i have seen what they see. they have your info and the info on the device (IMEI, serial #, lock status, things like that). if the phone is water damaged, they can't pull ANY information about the software on the device.

You must love yourself then. Btw I never got that form of sarcasm, "I love....." It's dumb.

anyways you're beyond wrong. If you have the serial/imei and present it to them they'll be able to tell if Find my iPhone was turned on last time or not. Further, you can remove the device from your iCloud account by visiting their website. So even if it is water damaged, they'll be able to see the activation lock.

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Lol, no, they won't.

Yes, they will. They have a department for that now. I actually spoke with them last night about an Activation Lock issue. Got it fixed this morning by speaking with the original owner though. Not sure why people like you post garbage like this with no proof other than your ignorance.

 

[GoCoogs]

You must love yourself then. Btw I never got that form of sarcasm, "I love....." It's dumb.

anyways you're beyond wrong. If you have the serial/imei and present it to them they'll be able to tell if Find my iPhone was turned on last time or not. Further, you can remove the device from your iCloud account by visiting their website. So even if it is water damaged, they'll be able to see the activation lock.

I've heard conflicting things on this. I've seen people saying what he is saying, and that apple just pulls up basically what you see when you type in the IMEI on apple.com. So i really don't know in this case.


As for the rest of the thread, someone brought up a good point with all the legal issues that come with it, and we do pay our employees when they are termed if it was a planned one, if it was on the spot then its usually the next day or so. Had a meeting today about this, and we're no longer ordering apple products for our business lines, it's just too much of a headache and possible things, as to where with an android we wouldn't have to worry about it. Only about 30% of our business lines are iphones or data ipads. so it's not as huge as it could have been an issue, but it's just easier not to deal with the headache down the road. We wrote off the phone and my boss said throw it away. Guess i'll just hold on to it and sell it for parts or something.

 

[blarivee]

Keep in mind, politicians are pushing for other manufacturers to implement the equivalent of activation lock on their systems due to rising crimes involving smartphones. It would only be a matter of time before Android also have an activation lock (or kill switch).

 

[acfusion29]

If they can tell the lock status. Why have I seen stories of thieves turning in stolen phones for replacements?

It just irks me that I hear stories about that. Yet I can't get help with a legitimate phone

because they're not doing what i said..

if you go into the store with the phone ON, then the genius bar will be able to see it's activation locked.

if you go with it off, and impossible for the phone to turn on, then they won't see anything and you can get it replaced for $269.

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You must love yourself then. Btw I never got that form of sarcasm, "I love....." It's dumb.

anyways you're beyond wrong. If you have the serial/imei and present it to them they'll be able to tell if Find my iPhone was turned on last time or not. Further, you can remove the device from your iCloud account by visiting their website. So even if it is water damaged, they'll be able to see the activation lock.

just stop talking..

 

[dave420]

As for the rest of the thread, someone brought up a good point with all the legal issues that come with it, and we do pay our employees when they are termed if it was a planned one, if it was on the spot then its usually the next day or so. Had a meeting today about this, and we're no longer ordering apple products for our business lines, it's just too much of a headache and possible things, as to where with an android we wouldn't have to worry about it. Only about 30% of our business lines are iphones or data ipads. so it's not as huge as it could have been an issue, but it's just easier not to deal with the headache down the road. We wrote off the phone and my boss said throw it away. Guess i'll just hold on to it and sell it for parts or something.

Did you try contacting Apple, or did you give up based on the responses here? Apple does have a procedure for dealing with this type of situation, though it may take a little work getting the right person on the line. I've never heard a success story, but it isn't a very common issue either. According to another poster you need "the IMEI, Serial, Proof of Purchase, User Info, Owner Info, and a Reason."

 

[Cergman]

Did you try contacting Apple, or did you give up based on the responses here? Apple does have a procedure for dealing with this type of situation, though it may take a little work getting the right person on the line. I've never heard a success story, but it isn't a very common issue either. According to another poster you need "the IMEI, Serial, Proof of Purchase, User Info, Owner Info, and a Reason."

I second this. Please give it a shot and let us know how it goes!

 

[GoCoogs]

because they're not doing what i said..

if you go into the store with the phone ON, then the genius bar will be able to see it's activation locked.

if you go with it off, and impossible for the phone to turn on, then they won't see anything and you can get it replaced for $269.
.

I might have to take that into consideration. But i think what you're saying is correct. my boss has already written off the phone. I asked him if i can keep it and he said do what you want with that brick.



as for the post above, It wasn't completely my decision. I had a good say in it, but we already have so much going on with phones and lines as it is. Adding another step or headache is just reducing productivity time that we could be using doing something else. If android does that, it won't be any time soon, and i highly doubt it will be to the extent of apple.

 

[acfusion29]

I might have to take that into consideration. But i think what you're saying is correct. my boss has already written off the phone. I asked him if i can keep it and he said do what you want with that brick.



as for the post above, It wasn't completely my decision. I had a good say in it, but we already have so much going on with phones and lines as it is. Adding another step or headache is just reducing productivity time that we could be using doing something else. If android does that, it won't be any time soon, and i highly doubt it will be to the extent of apple.

please submerge it in water to the point where it won't turn on, go to apple, pay the $269 (or get lucky? make a sob story lol) and report back

 

[GoCoogs]

please submerge it in water to the point where it won't turn on, go to apple, pay the $269 (or get lucky? make a sob story lol) and report back

I'd rather not use this for an example for thieves to try to take advantage of apple, but honestly i'm sure the second apple did the lock they've already thought of every possible way around it.


But since i do have basically a brick that the company has written off already, if its not against forum rules to post the results, i will try this.

1. The phone is already defective and wont always turn on anyway at times, so hopefully when i get to the apple store it wont turn on at all, in that case i'll see if they'll just give me a replacement right then and there since no water damage will appear.

2.If that doesn't work, i will submerge it in water and take it to apple and see what they say.

I'll post the results here and be the Guinea pig. If i do so this is STRICTLY for testing purposes to see how apple works with these things. Since we have two people here saying they both know how apple works with this.

 

[oldhifi]

sounds fishey..

 

[acfusion29]

I'd rather not use this for an example for thieves to try to take advantage of apple, but honestly i'm sure the second apple did the lock they've already thought of every possible way around it.


But since i do have basically a brick that the company has written off already, if its not against forum rules to post the results, i will try this.

1. The phone is already defective and wont always turn on anyway at times, so hopefully when i get to the apple store it wont turn on at all, in that case i'll see if they'll just give me a replacement right then and there since no water damage will appear.

2.If that doesn't work, i will submerge it in water and take it to apple and see what they say.

I'll post the results here and be the Guinea pig. If i do so this is STRICTLY for testing purposes to see how apple works with these things. Since we have two people here saying they both know how apple works with this.

cool thanks. quote me if you can in case i forget so i get a notification.