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Carrier Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus - Some Locked against International Use

I have news!!!!!! I just got off phone with verizon rep. History-----Friend bought Verizon iPhone 6 off swappa.com to take to Brazil to keep and use there in Brazil. Tried phone out here in USA with vzw and Tmobile sims after we bought and used both with no problem. Also, never had problem with past verizon iPhone 5's once arriving in Brazil. Anyways, upon arrival in Brazil, she is getting the sim lock message. Verizon rep says there is a bulletin out about this problem and it is known. They will ship you new phone for free (even international) and you return old phone for free. But maybe the shipping was free because I'm a verizon customer. Not sure about that. They said the new phone will work. Phone probably has to be less than 1 year old I think. But first before shipping new phone, she said to try this.



1. make sure phone is on newest Apple software update. (Can update over wifi or connect to computer on iTunes))

2. If don't have phone backed up (on iCloud or iTunes) connect phone to iTunes and back up

3. Erase all content and settings on phone. (Make phone new). Can erase under settings on iPhone or erase on iTunes when phone is connected to computer.

4. Restore iPhone from backup.

5. May take 24 hours to recognize SIM card.

Leave foreign SIM card inside phone during entire process.
 
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The phone is still under the 1 year manufacturer warranty. Not sure if that's why they said would replace for free or not. But they said this international sim problem just started a few months ago and they don't know what's causing it. Probably one of apples genius software updates is bricking the phone
 
Cessna2100 said:
The phone is still under the 1 year manufacturer warranty. Not sure if that's why they said would replace for free or not. But they said this international sim problem just started a few months ago and they don't know what's causing it. Probably one of apples genius software updates is bricking the phone
Click to expand...

Definitely didn't just start few months ago, its been going on since pretty much post 1 month of launch. I've been aware of it but obviously its starting to hit mass level where LOTS of people are having a issue and I'm sure the # is probably getting bigger as Verizon is one of the largest US carriers. that is why they have a bulletin now for it.

All-in-all I am glad they are doing something about it and solving the problem for these customers because really some people and absolute NO WAY OUT.

PS. All iPhone 6/6+ are under warranty right now as it has not been 1 year since launch.
 
Hello, have u been able to resolve the issue or are they any solutions to the problem?
 
I have been having the exact same issue for the past three months. Problem started when I was in Iceland in July when my wife's iphone 6 could take any of two international SIM cards but my iPhone 6+ had the exact same SIM card activation error that was reported with everyone else. I spent 8+ hours of my vacation speaking to Verizon and Apple senior tech people resetting networking settings, resetting the phone as new with the international SIM card but had no success. My original Apple case ID was 838746106 and my second master Apple case was 950369058. When I got back to the US Apple gave me a brand new retail phone (not refurbished) under the Apple care program. Since I was in the US for the next month I assumed the new phone fixed the issue and I went along with my day to day life.

I was in Asia last week at the end of September and my new iphone 6+ would not take any of two different SIM cards. I spent another 5 hours on the phone with Verizon international support who swore that none of their phones came locked and was never able to make the international SIM cards to work even though they all worked fine on my iPad and my co-workers iphone 6+ overseas.

When I got back to California this week I booked another appointment with the Genius bar at the flagship store in SF. They claimed it was a Verizon issue and gave me substantial notes proving that on their activation server I was listed as being locked internationally. I then went back to Verizon with these notes and they stuck with their formal policy which is that all phones come from Verizon fully unlocked.

At this point I was extremely frustrated and called up the senior Apple tech who I was working with and I asked him to change my activation policy on their end. Once they did that I reset my phone up as a brand new phone and then tested the international SIM card which to my surprise actually worked. I then restored my phone from my original backup and the international SIM card still worked.

Unfortunately this then bricked my iMessage account which after 24 hours is still not working. This has been an incredibly frustrating experience.

My phone was originally listed as:
US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy = Domestic Unlock / International Lock

What it should have been listed as:
US Verizon LTE MM N61/N56/N51/N48/N42 = Fully Factory Unlocked for US + Worldwide usage.
 
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I just created a MacRumors account here to journalize my experience. Just as the user above reported, I had a rude awakening when I traveled to the Middle East recently as my AppleCare+ replaced Verizon iPhone 6 was giving the dreaded "SIM Not Valid" error. The fix? This is clearly a Apple matter and NOT Verizon.

Here is Verizon's position: To be proactive with the LTE band related FCC guidelines, they made all devices sold with LTE to be unlocked for worldwide use. This began in 2014 and concluded in 2015. ALL of the iPhone 6/6+ sold in the USA that are Verizon are unlocked for worldwide use. Apparently the method/process Verizon had for unlocking smartphones was phased out and is no longer available in their toolkit. I had a senior level rep from Verizon on the phone and stood strong that even if he was forced at gunpoint, he could not submit my old and new IMEI numbers to Apple to force an unlock - they do not have the methodology anymore to do so.

Here is what a senior Apple tech told me: The replacement device I received met the minimum specifications to operation in the United States of America for Verizon. He claims that it is buried in the AppleCare agreement that they are only obligated to ship a device that will work for the system it is coming off of. He confirmed that my device was locked to Verizon only. He was very insistent that Verizon submit a request to unlock the device. I had to almost fight with them via chat to convey the message that Verizon was not going to initiate an unlock request because they do not have the capability anymore.

I advised them that there are several blog postings scattered on the internet that this issue is resolved by Apple engineers almost all of the time - it is an issue with the activation policy and it must be revamped. The senior level advisor then agreed to forward a request to the engineers. About an hour later I received an email from him noting that some changes have been made and to restore the iPhone via iTunes WITH the foreign SIM inserted. Keep in mind that I am 8000 miles from home so I definitely am international. The problem was resolved.

Apple support ticket: 956863964

This is clearly an issue with the AppleCare department as they are shipping these devices locked. I am perplexed why they would do this. I'm assuming it would be an easy fix if the correct people knew about this and could phase out the locked activation profile for Apple devices. That is up to Apple management though. The scariest part is how I started reading threads on this that began around January 2015 yet this is still a serious issue (I received my AppleCare+ replacement device approximately 8 weeks ago). It does not portray AppleCare's quality management system to be a high priority.
 
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I had these experiences as well. It was miserable. I tried to have the apple adviser reference other cases that you all have mentioned.. but they cannot open someone elses case to view.
 
I had this issue and Apple was able to get their "engineers" to fix it. After the Apple rep was unable to help me via chat, stating that Apple did not unlock iPhones, I simply asked to talk to a 2nd level technician. The technician informed me it was activated under the wrong policy.

"No problem! The mix up sadly happened as we don’t unlock devices, but you received a replacement device with an incorrect activation policy. I will be getting this submitted to the Engineers to fix it up. They say “24” hours to fix it, but I have seen anywhere between 30minutes to 2 hours till it fixes."

Apple is aware of this issue and they should be able to correct it.
 
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drollin said:
I have been having the exact same issue for the past three months. Problem started when I was in Iceland in July when my wife's iphone 6 could take any of two international SIM cards but my iPhone 6+ had the exact same SIM card activation error that was reported with everyone else. I spent 8+ hours of my vacation speaking to Verizon and Apple senior tech people resetting networking settings, resetting the phone as new with the international SIM card but had no success. My original Apple case ID was 838746106 and my second master Apple case was 950369058. When I got back to the US Apple gave me a brand new retail phone (not refurbished) under the Apple care program. Since I was in the US for the next month I assumed the new phone fixed the issue and I went along with my day to day life.

I was in Asia last week at the end of September and my new iphone 6+ would not take any of two different SIM cards. I spent another 5 hours on the phone with Verizon international support who swore that none of their phones came locked and was never able to make the international SIM cards to work even though they all worked fine on my iPad and my co-workers iphone 6+ overseas.

When I got back to California this week I booked another appointment with the Genius bar at the flagship store in SF. They claimed it was a Verizon issue and gave me substantial notes proving that on their activation server I was listed as being locked internationally. I then went back to Verizon with these notes and they stuck with their formal policy which is that all phones come from Verizon fully unlocked.

At this point I was extremely frustrated and called up the senior Apple tech who I was working with and I asked him to change my activation policy on their end. Once they did that I reset my phone up as a brand new phone and then tested the international SIM card which to my surprise actually worked. I then restored my phone from my original backup and the international SIM card still worked.

Unfortunately this then bricked my iMessage account which after 24 hours is still not working. This has been an incredibly frustrating experience.

My phone was originally listed as:
US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy = Domestic Unlock / International Lock

What it should have been listed as:
US Verizon LTE MM N61/N56/N51/N48/N42 = Fully Factory Unlocked for US + Worldwide usage.
Click to expand...



chipjumper said:
I just created a MacRumors account here to journalize my experience. Just as the user above reported, I had a rude awakening when I traveled to the Middle East recently as my AppleCare+ replaced Verizon iPhone 6 was giving the dreaded "SIM Not Valid" error. The fix? This is clearly a Apple matter and NOT Verizon.

Here is Verizon's position: To be proactive with the LTE band related FCC guidelines, they made all devices sold with LTE to be unlocked for worldwide use. This began in 2014 and concluded in 2015. ALL of the iPhone 6/6+ sold in the USA that are Verizon are unlocked for worldwide use. Apparently the method/process Verizon had for unlocking smartphones was phased out and is no longer available in their toolkit. I had a senior level rep from Verizon on the phone and stood strong that even if he was forced at gunpoint, he could not submit my old and new IMEI numbers to Apple to force an unlock - they do not have the methodology anymore to do so.

Here is what a senior Apple tech told me: The replacement device I received met the minimum specifications to operation in the United States of America for Verizon. He claims that it is buried in the AppleCare agreement that they are only obligated to ship a device that will work for the system it is coming off of. He confirmed that my device was locked to Verizon only. He was very insistent that Verizon submit a request to unlock the device. I had to almost fight with them via chat to convey the message that Verizon was not going to initiate an unlock request because they do not have the capability anymore.

I advised them that there are several blog postings scattered on the internet that this issue is resolved by Apple engineers almost all of the time - it is an issue with the activation policy and it must be revamped. The senior level advisor then agreed to forward a request to the engineers. About an hour later I received an email from him noting that some changes have been made and to restore the iPhone via iTunes WITH the foreign SIM inserted. Keep in mind that I am 8000 miles from home so I definitely am international. The problem was resolved.

Apple support ticket: 956863964

This is clearly an issue with the AppleCare department as they are shipping these devices locked. I am perplexed why they would do this. I'm assuming it would be an easy fix if the correct people knew about this and could phase out the locked activation profile for Apple devices. That is up to Apple management though. The scariest part is how I started reading threads on this that began around January 2015 yet this is still a serious issue (I received my AppleCare+ replacement device approximately 8 weeks ago). It does not portray AppleCare's quality management system to be a high priority.
Click to expand...



cheetos said:
I had this issue and Apple was able to get their "engineers" to fix it. After the Apple rep was unable to help me via chat, stating that Apple did not unlock iPhones, I simply asked to talk to a 2nd level technician. The technician informed me it was activated under the wrong policy.

"No problem! The mix up sadly happened as we don’t unlock devices, but you received a replacement device with an incorrect activation policy. I will be getting this submitted to the Engineers to fix it up. They say “24” hours to fix it, but I have seen anywhere between 30minutes to 2 hours till it fixes."

Apple is aware of this issue and they should be able to correct it.
Click to expand...



Thanks That is some Good News ..!! :)



I have bought a replacement iPhone 6 - 128gb from ebay from a seller that claims it's factory unlocked ..

an IMEI checking through a couple of websites show that it is LOCKED to Verizon and some show that it is LOCKED to AT&T


So I tried unlocking it from AT&T's official IMEI unlock request website but they told me after 3 days of the request :

Thank you for contacting AT&T about unlocking your mobile device.
Unfortunately, your unlock request was denied because:
The IMEI number XXXXXXXXXXXXXX you entered does not match a device compatible with the AT&T network.
Click to expand...


So I went and bought an IMEI unlock service for both AT&T and Verizon from two different trustworthy third party sellers which both didn't work !!
they all told me that it is not locked to the carrier I requested the unlock to .


So I requested a GSX report to be sure, and the GSX report Showed :
IMEI: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
S/N: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Model: SVC,IPHONE 6,MM,128GB,SLVR,WUR
ICCID: 8XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Activated: Yes
iOS: 8.4
First Activation Date: ....
Last Activation Date: ....
Warranty Ends on: ....
Purchase Date: ....
Bluetooth Mac Address: XXXXXXXX
WiFi Mac Address: XXXXXXX
Find my iPhone: OFF
ZIP/SSN Required: NO
Initial Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy
Applied Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy
Next Tether Policy Details: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy
Lock Status: Locked


after a long long looong research I have found this great thread explaining my exact same problem with some solutions from some customers contacting Apple customer support ..


So I contacted apple asking them to forward my issue to the engineers to figure it out but the senior representative keeps asking me to contact AT&T as it is locked to them and ask them to unlock it for me as I bought it from a third party and I didn't replace the iPhone myself from apple So they can't unlock it for me !! :(

I kept telling her that I already contacted AT&T but no solution, and I explained exactly the situation that it was fixed by Engineers as it is related to the Activation Policy Server and it has nothing to do with AT&T .. She told me that she will keep in touch with me and that's how it ended till now ..


I hope that she will forward my problem to the Engineering department and they will hopefully figure it out for me ..
 
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Has anyone experienced this issue with the 6s/6s+ yet? I typically travel internationally a few times a year. I have been paying Verizon's rip off international rates but am considering getting a sim for an upcoming trip. I just bought a new 6s through the iPhone upgrade program that was activated on my Verizon account. Wondering if I will have this issue...
 
ethant said:
Has anyone experienced this issue with the 6s/6s+ yet? I typically travel internationally a few times a year. I have been paying Verizon's rip off international rates but am considering getting a sim for an upcoming trip. I just bought a new 6s through the iPhone upgrade program that was activated on my Verizon account. Wondering if I will have this issue...
Click to expand...

Check your IMEI GSX Record and you'll get the information you need ..
It'll show you valuable information for just ~ $2 ..
Search eBay or google and you'll find some trustworthy sellers that provide such a service ..
 
Hi everyone,

I'm one of the ones who also have this exact same problem.

The IMEI GSX Result says that the phone is locked to Verizon:

IMEI: 35XXXXXXXXXXXX94

S/N: F9XXXXXXXXXJ

Model: SVC,IPHONE 6 PLUS,MM,64GB,GRAY,CI/AR

ICCID: 89XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX8

Activated: Yes

iOS: 9.0.2

First Activation Date: 2015-09-21

Last Activation Date: 2015-10-16

Warranty Ends on: 2016-10-08

Purchase Date: 2014-10-09

Bluetooth Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

WiFi Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Find my iPhone: OFF

ZIP/SSN Required: NO

Initial Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Applied Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Next Tether Policy Details: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Lock Status: Locked


So I called Apple about the Issue and they told me that the phone was indeed LOCKED but to AT&T, and in order for me to unlock the phone, i needed to contact AT&T, So i fill a unlock request and after 2 days, I got this response

Thank you for contacting AT&T about unlocking your mobile device.

Unfortunately, your unlock request was denied because:

The IMEI number 35XXXXXXXXXXXXX94 you entered does not match a device compatible with the AT&T network.

If you think this is an error, recheck your IMEI number by dialing *#06# and submit a new request.

Questions? Please call 800.331.0500, or dial 611 from your AT&T wireless phone.
Click to expand...

And basically im now in a loop where:

APPLE: says the phone needs to be unlock
AT&T: the IMEI doesn't belong to AT&T Network
VERIZON: The phone is unlock (And they cannot do anything because they dont even have a tool to unlock 4g lte phones) ("All phones sold by us are globally unlock")

And no one can't help me. it is really really fustrating. I've call all of them more than 10 times with no luck, multiple chats, phone calls and everything.

So, please if anyone knows or have resolve this problem.. please let me/us know

NOTE: what did the guys who were able to get their activation policy changed, Told to apple? in order for them to do that. It's seems impossible.

Any help, Thank in advance
 
gsd07 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm one of the ones who also have this exact same problem.

The IMEI GSX Result says that the phone is locked to Verizon:

IMEI: 35XXXXXXXXXXXX94

S/N: F9XXXXXXXXXJ

Model: SVC,IPHONE 6 PLUS,MM,64GB,GRAY,CI/AR

ICCID: 89XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX8

Activated: Yes

iOS: 9.0.2

First Activation Date: 2015-09-21

Last Activation Date: 2015-10-16

Warranty Ends on: 2016-10-08

Purchase Date: 2014-10-09

Bluetooth Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

WiFi Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Find my iPhone: OFF

ZIP/SSN Required: NO

Initial Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Applied Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Next Tether Policy Details: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Lock Status: Locked


So I called Apple about the Issue and they told me that the phone was indeed LOCKED but to AT&T, and in order for me to unlock the phone, i needed to contact AT&T, So i fill a unlock request and after 2 days, I got this response



And basically im now in a loop where:

APPLE: says the phone needs to be unlock
AT&T: the IMEI doesn't belong to AT&T Network
VERIZON: The phone is unlock (And they cannot do anything because they dont even have a tool to unlock 4g lte phones) ("All phones sold by us are globally unlock")

And no one can't help me. it is really really fustrating. I've call all of them more than 10 times with no luck, multiple chats, phone calls and everything.

So, please if anyone knows or have resolve this problem.. please let me/us know

NOTE: what did the guys who were able to get their activation policy changed, Told to apple? in order for them to do that. It's seems impossible.

Any help, Thank in advance
Click to expand...





THAT'S THE EXACT ISSUE I'M HAVING !!!
EXACT RESPONSE FROM APPLE AND AT&T !!
ENDLESS LOOP !!

My only hope right now is R-SIM 10

s-l225.jpg



I know it's not a factory unlock, but at least it's an unlock and I hope it works
(ordered it and it's on the way to me) ..

it's sold at eBay for ~ $8
 
I Just found a website that claims they can unlock such devices ..

is that true ?
is that even possible ?

They Claim :
US GSM / VZM 2320 IPHONE 4/4S/5/5C/5S/6/6+/6S/6S+
IF YOU SWAP YOUR DEVICE WITH APPLE PLEASE CHOOSE THIS SERVICE
Click to expand...
 
Battel said:
I Just found a website that claims they can unlock such devices ..

is that true ?
is that even possible ?

They Claim :
Click to expand...

That is not possible, besides wasting yours and anyone's time for sake of website traffic, please remove the link to that site from my thread as I do not want to confuse people anymore than they already are with this issue.

ONLY APPLE CAN FIX THIS ISSUE AS THE ISSUE IS WITH POLICY ASSIGNING FROM THEIR SERVERS AND NO 3RD PARTY WEBSITE CAN HAVE A FIX FOR THIS.
 
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gsd07 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm one of the ones who also have this exact same problem.

The IMEI GSX Result says that the phone is locked to Verizon:

IMEI: 35XXXXXXXXXXXX94

S/N: F9XXXXXXXXXJ

Model: SVC,IPHONE 6 PLUS,MM,64GB,GRAY,CI/AR

ICCID: 89XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX8

Activated: Yes

iOS: 9.0.2

First Activation Date: 2015-09-21

Last Activation Date: 2015-10-16

Warranty Ends on: 2016-10-08

Purchase Date: 2014-10-09

Bluetooth Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

WiFi Mac Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Find my iPhone: OFF

ZIP/SSN Required: NO

Initial Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Applied Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Next Tether Policy Details: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Lock Status: Locked


So I called Apple about the Issue and they told me that the phone was indeed LOCKED but to AT&T, and in order for me to unlock the phone, i needed to contact AT&T, So i fill a unlock request and after 2 days, I got this response



And basically im now in a loop where:

APPLE: says the phone needs to be unlock
AT&T: the IMEI doesn't belong to AT&T Network
VERIZON: The phone is unlock (And they cannot do anything because they dont even have a tool to unlock 4g lte phones) ("All phones sold by us are globally unlock")

And no one can't help me. it is really really fustrating. I've call all of them more than 10 times with no luck, multiple chats, phone calls and everything.

So, please if anyone knows or have resolve this problem.. please let me/us know

NOTE: what did the guys who were able to get their activation policy changed, Told to apple? in order for them to do that. It's seems impossible.

Any help, Thank in advance
Click to expand...


Speak to a high level tech support and request they re-assign your Verizon policy. Only that will fix it, no other thing can fix it. Your iPhone clearly is Verizon and has no sim lock from AT&T what so ever as well as absolutely no relation to AT&T.

Yes the genius at Apple are good, but they are not 100% always, there are flaws in their knowledge and therefore I would personally recommend you speak to the highest level of tech support you can reach and have them re-assign the policy because 2023 is the incorrect policy.
 
I will tell you that I run into these phones frequently and can tell you how they come about to be locked this way (or at least how mine come locked this way). If you take a Sprint iPhone to the Apple Store and have it swapped, while you are in the store if you try to activate it while the phone is connected to their wifi, it will give you options to choose from to let you pick what carrier it is. If you pick Verizon, this is what you will get.
Congratulations, you just traded a sprint phone for a Verizon phone. Now with a couple of hours on the phone with tech support at apple you can likely convince them to change the policy further to unlock it for international use, like I am reading a lot of you have done. I have not personally done this, but I assume it would work. To show that I am not full of crap here is a link to one that I am selling on eBay and you can check my other sold items and see that I get them quite often:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291590970678

So if you have one of these phones locked to Verizon and you bought it off of Craigslist, that is likely how they acquired it.
 
[MOD NOTE]
Enough with the bickering and arguing. If people cannot be civil in this thread, it will be closed down.
 
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VERY GOOD NEWS...!!!!!!!!

After 15 failed tries of trying to get my policy changed, a good samaritan senior adviser gave me the oportunity to send my case to the engineers and before 12 hours they told me to restore my phone and PROBLEM WAS SOLVED.

Bottom line is, ALL the senior adviser will tell you that the process should be run through the carrier, but we all know that is not true! so keep digging until they agreed to send the request of your case to an engineer.

P.S: it was after 15 tries, 15+ hours on the phone, 10 days.....That I had it unlocked.
 
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gsd07 said:
VERY GOOD NEWS...!!!!!!!!

After 15 failed tries of trying to get my policy changed, a good samaritan senior adviser gave me the oportunity to send my case to the engineers and before 12 hours they told me to restore my phone and PROBLEM WAS SOLVED.

Bottom line is, ALL the senior adviser will tell you that the process should be run through the carrier, but we all know that is not true! so keep digging until they agreed to send the request of your case to an engineer.

P.S: it was after 15 tries, 15+ hours on the phone, 10 days.....That I had it unlocked.
Click to expand...
 
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