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Carrier IMEI unlocking service down? 10/3/13

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Respa said:
Unfortunately I'm not a customer of AT&T, I bought the Iphone from a private seller. Is unlockiphonevip.com considered reliable? I'm willing to pay 90$ but I'm afraid of being deceived, Has anyone used their services recently? Can they really unlock the 5s at this time?

Thanks!
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the best service provider at this time, i would say visit www.chronicunlocks.com
 
ipodlover77 said:
What exactly was the cause of the meteoric rise in unlock prices? It was like 2 dollars two weeks ago.
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Simple: It's the tragedy of the commons.

Once upon a time, AT&T had lax policies for permitting their CS staff to unlock iPhones, trusting they'd follow policy. Then, a few of those staffers had an idea: they could earn cash on the side by "selling" their unlock services to people who technically didn't qualify under AT&T policy to unlock their phones, and they would do it under the table. There were of course middlemen between the unlockers and those buying the unlocks (the people who run the websites).

Competition and the sheer ease of doing bulk unlocks drove prices way down, but there was a recent massive crush of iPhone 5s sales, combined with LOTS of those people buying the 5s wanting to turn right around and unlock their newly-bought devices, even though they were still under contract. Rather than trying to close the floodgates a bit to preserve their revenue stream, the people involved got greedy and simply tried to cram the excess requests through their normal channels. The sheer number of IMEIs submitted to the unlock database in the days following the 5s launch crashed the system.

The crash affected "legit" unlock requests as well, and this got AT&T's attention in a HUGE way. So, they clamped down on who had access. Hard. People who could easily push through hundreds, thousands of IMEIs in the past every day are now completely shut out, and AT&T is far more strictly enforcing their policy on who can request iPhone unlocks, and whether those requests are honored.

Result: Supply extremely low, but demand is extremely high. Prices soar.

Now unlock websites are likely forced to use approaches like enlisting the help of willing active-duty servicemen with AT&T accounts who can push through some unlock requests now and then, or at least their account info. Maybe other willing AT&T account holders are also selling "slots." But each of these accounts can only unlock 5 per year, and the results aren't always guaranteed, sometimes requiring multiple tries and multiple calls. So "slots" are low, turnaround time unpredictable, and reliability is down because of this. I imagine anyone employed or associated with AT&T who tries to aid this process in any way risk losing their jobs if caught, further making this risky and thus, expensive to make it worth their while.

Disclaimer: This is pieced together from veiled references and notices posted here and on unlocker-service websites. I don't have firsthand knowledge of this, but I'd say I'm pretty sure this is close to what actually happened.
 
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scaredpoet said:
Simple: It's the tragedy of the commons.

Once upon a time, AT&T had lax policies for permitting their CS staff to unlock iPhones, trusting they'd follow policy. Then, a few of those staffers had an idea: they could earn cash on the side by "selling" their unlock services to people who technically didn't qualify under AT&T policy to unlock their phones, and they would do it under the table. There were of course middlemen between the unlockers and those buying the unlocks (the people who run the websites).

Competition and the sheer ease of doing bulk unlocks drove prices way down, but there was a recent massive crush of iPhone 5s sales, combined with LOTS of those people buying the 5s wanting to turn right around and unlock their newly-bought devices, even though they were still under contract. Rather than trying to close the floodgates a bit to preserve their revenue stream, the people involved got greedy and simply tried to cram the excess requests through their normal channels. The sheer number of IMEIs submitted to the unlock database in the days following the 5s launch crashed the system.

The crash affected "legit" unlock requests as well, and this got AT&T's attention in a HUGE way. So, they clamped down on who had access. Hard. People who could easily push through hundreds, thousands of IMEIs in the past every day are now completely shut out, and AT&T is far more strictly enforcing their policy on who can request iPhone unlocks, and whether those requests are honored.

Result: Supply extremely low, but demand is extremely high. Prices soar.

Now unlock websites are likely forced to use approaches like enlisting the help of willing active-duty servicemen with AT&T accounts who can push through some unlock requests now and then, or at least their account info. Maybe other willing AT&T account holders are also selling "slots." But each of these accounts can only unlock 5 per year, and the results aren't always guaranteed, sometimes requiring multiple tries and multiple calls. So "slots" are low, turnaround time unpredictable, and reliability is down because of this. I imagine anyone employed or associated with AT&T who tries to aid this process in any way risk losing their jobs if caught, further making this risky and thus, expensive to make it worth their while.

Disclaimer: This is pieced together from veiled references and notices posted here and on unlocker-service websites. I don't have firsthand knowledge of this, but I'd say I'm pretty sure this is close to what actually happened.
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Seems plausible.

Hopefully the prices will even out in the coming weeks. Its crazy seeing something go from 100 dollars to 2 dollars then back to 100 dollars.
 
impatient?

Respa said:
Hi,

I'm new here. I would appreciate if you can recommend me on a reliable place that can unlock an AT&T Iphone 5s, I feel helpless and I'm willing to pay 100$+ for the service. Is it even possible to unlock at this time? Is AT&T permanently closed the option to unlock through third party? What the hell is going on?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

guess you couldn't just wait a few more weeks HUH? Get a "real" unlocked phone. With a warranty.

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Raibyn said:
One option is to return the phone and buy an AT&T 5s for full retail directly from Apple. That phone will be unlocked.
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this person is dead wrong
 
scaredpoet said:
Simple: It's the tragedy of the commons.

Once upon a time, AT&T had lax policies for permitting their CS staff to unlock iPhones, trusting they'd follow policy. Then, a few of those staffers had an idea: they could earn cash on the side by "selling" their unlock services to people who technically didn't qualify under AT&T policy to unlock their phones, and they would do it under the table. There were of course middlemen between the unlockers and those buying the unlocks (the people who run the websites).

Competition and the sheer ease of doing bulk unlocks drove prices way down, but there was a recent massive crush of iPhone 5s sales, combined with LOTS of those people buying the 5s wanting to turn right around and unlock their newly-bought devices, even though they were still under contract. Rather than trying to close the floodgates a bit to preserve their revenue stream, the people involved got greedy and simply tried to cram the excess requests through their normal channels. The sheer number of IMEIs submitted to the unlock database in the days following the 5s launch crashed the system.

The crash affected "legit" unlock requests as well, and this got AT&T's attention in a HUGE way. So, they clamped down on who had access. Hard. People who could easily push through hundreds, thousands of IMEIs in the past every day are now completely shut out, and AT&T is far more strictly enforcing their policy on who can request iPhone unlocks, and whether those requests are honored.

Result: Supply extremely low, but demand is extremely high. Prices soar.

Now unlock websites are likely forced to use approaches like enlisting the help of willing active-duty servicemen with AT&T accounts who can push through some unlock requests now and then, or at least their account info. Maybe other willing AT&T account holders are also selling "slots." But each of these accounts can only unlock 5 per year, and the results aren't always guaranteed, sometimes requiring multiple tries and multiple calls. So "slots" are low, turnaround time unpredictable, and reliability is down because of this. I imagine anyone employed or associated with AT&T who tries to aid this process in any way risk losing their jobs if caught, further making this risky and thus, expensive to make it worth their while.

Disclaimer: This is pieced together from veiled references and notices posted here and on unlocker-service websites. I don't have firsthand knowledge of this, but I'd say I'm pretty sure this is close to what actually happened.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. The demand is too high so that the few suppliers that can still unlock it can raise the prices sky high. I am working on a solution, but it is not ready yet. $100 is definitely way too much and it is almost a crime :)
 
The demand was high as well last year, but I did not have any problem to unlock the 5 on the first week.

I even paid Unlock Fusion to unlock 1 of my iPhone 2G, I had unlock another one through at&t as well.

FlyUnlock.com said:
Yes, you are right. The demand is too high so that the few suppliers that can still unlock it can raise the prices sky high. I am working on a solution, but it is not ready yet. $100 is definitely way too much and it is almost a crime :)
Click to expand...
 
I don't mind to pay 100 dollars, it saves me 100+ on roaming. But I ordered unlock with unlockfusion and waiting. Att pushes me to go VZW or T-mo and buy a phone there.
 
If you're going to spend $100 on an unlock, why not sell or return your phone and get an unlocked version? I understand the T-Mobile (unsubsidized) version is unlocked.
 
Exactly, I ordered a fully unlocked version from day1(like 9amEST), it will be here next Tuesday...

If I knew the IMEI unlock is this tough this year, I would go for the unlock version and jump to Tmobile next year.

imlynxy said:
I don't mind to pay 100 dollars, it saves me 100+ on roaming. But I ordered unlock with unlockfusion and waiting. Att pushes me to go VZW or T-mo and buy a phone there.
Click to expand...


----------

The stock is an very serious issue this year. As I have mention, the fully unlocked version took a month+ to ship...

techiegirl said:
If you're going to spend $100 on an unlock, why not sell or return your phone and get an unlocked version? I understand the T-Mobile (unsubsidized) version is unlocked.
Click to expand...
 
what about the unlock sellers from eBay? anyone has had success on unlocking with them in the last two days? should i consider using them?
 
i give up.. have an order left with one more website, lets see what they tell me by Monday. After that i'm just going to resell the at&t iphone and get a tmobile iphone. Lol.. tried to save $50 by buying an at&t iphone to use on t-mobile. Purchased it from ebay the day this whole at&t thing went down so was kinda too late to even try to attempt to cancel the order being ebay and all... should have just bought a tmobile one instead... lesson learned the hard way... Can't afford to pay these crazy high prices with no guarantee of a turn around time.. At this moment, smarter to just buy for the carrier I need then wasting another week using a nokia 6610 because the phone i need is locked to at&t... lol.. nobody's fault except mine.. just venting..
 
dinkey said:
i give up.. have an order left with one more website, lets see what they tell me by Monday. After that i'm just going to resell the at&t iphone and get a tmobile iphone. Lol.. tried to save $50 by buying an at&t iphone to use on t-mobile. Purchased it from ebay the day this whole at&t thing went down so was kinda too late to even try to attempt to cancel the order being ebay and all... should have just bought a tmobile one instead... lesson learned the hard way... Can't afford to pay these crazy high prices with no guarantee of a turn around time.. At this moment, smarter to just buy for the carrier I need then wasting another week using a nokia 6610 because the phone i need is locked to at&t... lol.. nobody's fault except mine.. just venting..
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Check your PM
 
Well just to update everyone, I ordered an unlocking service, and 6 days after ordering they refunded my $45 unlock order! So no unlocking g
 
1rottenapple said:
Well just to update everyone, I ordered an unlocking service, and 6 days after ordering they refunded my $45 unlock order! So no unlocking g
Click to expand...

do you mind telling us which one it was or could you pm me the name please? i bought one last monday as well for $39.. fingers crossed, but really unsure..
 
really sux... I'm from Greece and i recenlty purchased an iPhone 5 (ATT) due to 1$ unlocking service... lucky me...:apple:
 
Yanni said:
really sux... I'm from Greece and i recenlty purchased an iPhone 5 (ATT) due to 1$ unlocking service... lucky me...:apple:
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I can understand your pain, I have to go Europe and I don't want to be in roaming, my boss covers prepaid sim there. Where should I stick a prepaid sim in? .... You are right!!! :)
I better stick the phone back to Att's.... ssssstore and allow them to play with it as they imagination allows them. Going to open 36 dollars dispute with credit card, just in case to make them busy.
 
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