iPhone 5s - Sprint problem

[hpereznoble]

Hi guys, can anyone help me with this short story.
Mi ancle was at the US the 20th September. She entered to a store and asked for a couple of phones, asking for an unlocked iPhone 5S.

The sales man, (who was having a crazy day) didn't realize and give my ankle a Contact Free iPhone 5S form sprint. Back in our country, we cant unlock this phone and we cant return it to the Apple store to have our money back. Any idea how can we unlock this iPhone? to work as a factory unlocked.
Please help.


Thanks a lot,
Homer

 

[eyoungren]

Hi guys, can anyone help me with this short story.
Mi ancle was at the US the 20th September. She entered to a store and asked for a couple of phones, asking for an unlocked iPhone 5S.

The sales man, (who was having a crazy day) didn't realize and give my ankle a Contact Free iPhone 5S form sprint. Back in our country, we cant unlock this phone and we cant return it to the Apple store to have our money back. Any idea how can we unlock this iPhone? to work as a factory unlocked.
Please help.


Thanks a lot,
Homer

Sprint's unlock policy:
1. You must be a customer with an active line for a minimum of 90 days.
2. Your bill must be paid on time and in full for those 90 days.

If you meet those requirements Sprint will unlock the iPhone for international use only. Sprint's policy is NEVER to unlock a phone for domestic US use.

Unless you or someone you know can become a Sprint customer for 90 days and pay the bill on time then it will be impossible for you to unlock the phone.

No offense, but a little bit of research before purchasing might have saved you a lot of time, money and frustration. Only Verizon iPhones come unlocked completely when purchased at full price. What you bought was a no contract Sprint iPhone, not an unlocked Sprint iPhone. Sprint does not sell unlocked iPhones at full price or otherwise.

 

[hpereznoble]

No offense at all eyoungren. I always do research, but my ankles call saying she is at the store on the release date, totally got me by surprise.

She showed my message to the salesman "iPhone 5s, 16gb, space grey, factory unlocked". We got the 5s, the colour, the storage and "contract free phone" instead of the unlocked. A good sales man should have said, "Sorry, unlocked phones are not shipping yet!"

I can get some one to activate the phone for 90 days, but will this mean the phone will be unlocked for ever in other countries? Maybe activate and just let it there for 90 days. Please let me know


All the best,
H.

 

[eyoungren]

She showed my message to the salesman "iPhone 5s, 16gb, space grey, factory unlocked". We got the 5s, the colour, the storage and "contract free phone" instead of the unlocked. A good sales man should have said, "Sorry, unlocked phones are not shipping yet!"

Well, sorry to say but you are dealing with Sprint. The culture at Sprint is to lie to make a sale. If English is somewhat of a barrier (or even if it is not) then it's easier to lie. There are few honest Sprint employees because keeping your job is based on either selling or solving the customers problem. However a Sprint employee has to do that, Sprint does not care. Sprint does not and will not in the future sell any unlocked phones. You get it unlocked and then you have to call them to unlock it.

I can get some one to activate the phone for 90 days, but will this mean the phone will be unlocked for ever in other countries? Maybe activate and just let it there for 90 days. Please let me know

Yes. Once unlocked for international use it's unlocked for all countries outside of the US permanently.

 

[apollo1444]

you are screwed for the time being, try selling it on ebay U.S. sale exclusively good luck

Sure sprint can unlock it but that will be impossible unless you meet sprint requirements which I doubt you do.

 

[eyoungren]

you are screwed for the time being, try selling it on ebay U.S. sale exclusively good luck

Not really. The OP mentioned that he has a way for it to be activated on Sprint and that the phone can be active for 90 days. If true, doesn't sound like the OP is screwed to me.

Sure sprint can unlock it but that will be impossible unless you meet sprint requirements which I doubt you do.

See my comment above.

If the OP can get it international unlocked then out of the country he should be golden.

 

[hpereznoble]

This was bought at the Apple store at Miami Lincoln road. The sales employee should have messed with so many people buying phones that day.

I called Apple from Uruguay, the can do nothing, I also said a friend of mine is traveling to the us this week. Can he return it and have the refund back on the original credit card? Apple said my ankle should you. That means a 3.000usd ticket, no way, she cant do that.

Has anyone returned someone else staff at an apple store?
Do you think we can easily sell this phone at Ebay? price?


Thanks for your help guys
H.

 

[eyoungren]

This was bought at the Apple store at Miami Lincoln road. The sales employee should have messed with so many people buying phones that day.

I called Apple from Uruguay, the can do nothing, I also said a friend of mine is traveling to the us this week. Can he return it and have the refund back on the original credit card? Apple said my ankle should you. That means a 3.000usd ticket, no way, she cant do that.

Has anyone returned someone else staff at an apple store?
Do you think we can easily sell this phone at Ebay? price?


Thanks for your help guys
H.

Yeah, the Apple employee might have been uninformed. Sprint is only a recent carrier with Apple and since it is the only carrier with this specific unlock policy it's likely that the Apple employee would not have been aware and just ASSUMED. Also, Apple won't help you because it is up to the carriers to unlock phones. Apple does not have any part in that.

Back in the day (like when I was a teenager) you could get away with using a family member's credit card (I used to have a note from my parents). But now, with identity theft and terrorism I very much doubt Apple is going to refund the money to someone other than the credit card holder.

If you cannot get someone to be a Sprint customer for the necessary length of time I think your only option is eBay. Please if you go this route, make your problem known and why. Too many people on eBay are selling Sprint iPhones to the unwary and those buyers end up purchasing iPhones they can't unlock. It just passes your problem on to someone else.

You could also try a Gevey SIM interposer, but that will cost more money to buy it.

 

[hpereznoble]

I´ll first try the Gevey SIM. I think I can get one here at Uruguay. The problem is my friend is going back to the states tomorrow. I have almost no time


H.

 

[hpereznoble]

My cel IMEI sims unlocked on a lot of sites. Anyway it doesn't work with other carriers. Why?

 

[apollo1444]

Sprint no desbloquea telefonos para uso global a menos que seas cliente de ellos por al menos 90 días en un plan de servicio que requiere numero de seguro social o tarjeta de credito, sin esto no tienes manera de activarlo.

tu mejor solución es venderlo en linea con ebay o mercadolibre y comprar alguno desbloqueado de fabrica o algun modelo at&t que es el que mas se amolda a las redes latinoamericanas GSM. Los modelos de at&t se pueden desbloquear por 5 dolares en ebay.com

 

[hpereznoble]

Gracias Apollo, ya inicié esa gestión!
Thanks to everyone for the advice.

All the best,
H.