Unlocking the iphone same day possible?

[kettlecorn]

I'm looking to buy an iphone 4 from a craigslist user. This guy is the original owner with box and receipt and is willing to meet at the At&T store.

I am looking to use on Tmobile. To do this, can we just meet up at a local At&t store and get it unlocked and working with my Tmobile SIM card right away? Or is it a process that takes a long time?

I don't want to buy this phone and then have to rely on him to verify or confirm emails and stuff and be left with a phone that I can't use.
For anyone who has experience unlocking their iphone, I'd love to hear advice. I don't have At&t nor an iphone so I'm kind of out of the loop.


I could also ask him to do it over the phone or live chat if that's faster but can't imagine it being faster than in-store.

Any help appreciated.

 

[blueroom]

If you need an unlocked phone you're better off just to buy a factory unlocked one. If the seller could have got it factory unlocked it's odd they didn't as it greatly increases the resale value.

 

[Shadowbech]

As mentioned above, it is better for you to just buy an unlocked iphone directly from the apple store.

If the seller's iphone is still under contract, it may not be easy to get it unlocked. He can try but most likely AT&T would reject that. If you previously had an AT&T account with good standing, you can try requesting an unlock and cannot guarantee that they will unlock it. Also requesting an unlock may take right away to few days depending on the processing time. When I requested an unlock to my iPhone 4, it was unlocked 2 hours later. The rep. even said it would take that time.

 

[ixodes]

Due to the fact that I've been a long time AT&T customer in good standing, I can place one call to them & get it done right then. I've done both mine & my wife's since we travel internationally often. They do our Androids as well also. It generally takes a total of 45 minutes on the phone with them.

 

[kettlecorn]

Due to the fact that I've been a long time AT&T customer in good standing, I can place one call to them & get it done right then. I've done both mine & my wife's since we travel internationally often. They do our Androids as well also. It generally takes a total of 45 minutes on the phone with them.

Thank you.

So it turns out, it is actually 1 month away from the 2 year contract expiration so it cannot be done.

I just spoke to an ATT rep who said that if I have the receipt and phone, I can do it myself when the time comes even though I am not the original owner. I am also not with ATT. For some reason, I feel like she is mistaken but she assured me that is the case.

Worse case scenario, could I have one of my friends that are with Att call in with the original receipt and get it unlocked? It seems like a yes but just want to be safe.

 

[Shadowbech]

Thank you.


Worse case scenario, could I have one of my friends that are with Att call in with the original receipt and get it unlocked? It seems like a yes but just want to be safe.

Yes, if you were never with AT&T before, your friend could call AT&T and have them unlock the phone for you. Just as long as you have that original receipt.

 

[eastercat]

FYI, the process also takes a minimum of three to five days. There is no same day turn around for unlocking.
Follow the above advice and get a factory unlocked phone.

 

[ixodes]

FYI, the process also takes a minimum of three to five days. There is no same day turn around for unlocking.
Follow the above advice and get a factory unlocked phone.

You brought up an excellent point. For regular customers that don't have a twelve year multi smartphone relationship with AT&T, the beauty of going the conventional way & buying the more expensive unlocked model, is it ads to Apples profits & in turn it drives up the value of my Apple Stock. A win win for everyone. It's great to be a long time shareholder.

 

[kettlecorn]

Looks like it'll take a week to go through. Ended up getting the phone. As I understand, there is no current way to unlock the baseband 4.12.01 correct? I was directed to a SAM method but I don't know if that will work.

Also I was mistaken, the contract already expired as the seller renewed with AT&T and this iphone is off the leash. Hopefully there are no problems.

 

[blueroom]

You pays your money and takes your chances.

 

[kettlecorn]

You pays your money and takes your chances.

Yep, risk doesn't bother me when its calculated.

The stars aligned.. the seller was upfront and transparent about everything, great guy, didn't hesitate to meet at the location and time of my choosing, gave me the original receipt, the device itself was checked thoroughly at the ATT store, IMEI all matched up. Worse case scenario, at the latest it will be unlockable by me in 1 month sometime in August when the purchase date indicates but he renewed his contract w/ At&t so this Iphone is no longer under any contract. Best case scenario, his request for unlock goes through early and gets unlocked sometime this week.

Any way, I'm very happy with this purchase. Hopefully it will all work out.

 

[kettlecorn]

Update:
Seller was told by email to wait until sometime next week to get a confirmation email about unlocking. I checked dev.mk a few times today and it said unlocked so i cut up my tmobile sim and tried. Works perfectly. Unlocked!

And nowwwww, I understand antenna gate. I need a case for this cause the reception disappears in my hands. Unless I grasp it with the ends of my finger tips.

 

[Wrathwitch]

Not sure HOW possibly different it is in the USA, but here in Canada, I got my iP4 unlocked by my carrier, it takes a maximum of 30 mins and you have to hook it up to iTunes to complete the process. Mine worked.

It took a bit longer to get it unlocked due to the tech having some software issues, but when I went into Future Shop and popped a Fido card in, it worked (I was on Telus carrier previously).

OOPS! Missed your last post there OP! Glad it works for you!

 

[kettlecorn]

Not sure HOW possibly different it is in the USA, but here in Canada, I got my iP4 unlocked by my carrier, it takes a maximum of 30 mins and you have to hook it up to iTunes to complete the process. Mine worked.

It took a bit longer to get it unlocked due to the tech having some software issues, but when I went into Future Shop and popped a Fido card in, it worked (I was on Telus carrier previously).

OOPS! Missed your last post there OP! Glad it works for you!

Haha yeah thanks. I actually did restore and it didnt tell me it was unlocked nor did I get a confirmation email but i saw it on dev.mk so figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Guess the unlock works before they tell you it's been done.

 

[zaxdude]

I've been an AT&T customer for about three years. I hopped on the online chat thing once my contract was up and asked them to unlock it. I received the email within minutes of the chat ending, and I had it unlocked very shortly thereafter.

This was about 2 weeks ago.