Tutor
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9 Messages
Unfair policy —not Unlocking my iPhone so I may use it abroad
I'm a long time & loyal AT&T iPhone using customer. I'm travelling to Europe this Summer —starting July 1— and would like my iPhone unlocked so I may use it abroad. There seems to be a policy in place where AT&T won't unlock phones under contract, which mine is and customers are forced to pay $100s in a termination fee "in order to recoup the money from subsidizing the phone."
This policy doesn't make sense from the information I've been told and the following is why. At some point —since I'm under contract— I'll either have to fulfill my contract or pay a termination fee —both of which will pay for the subsidized phone— so making me pay a termination fee to unlock my iPhone doesn't make any sense except to make me very upset since at some point AT&T is going to recoup my subsidized phone cost because I'm under contract. Also, there are plenty of 3rd party unlockers, but that will cost me $50 that I really would like to not spend, especially when the company that I've been a loyal customer to —AT&T— can easily & without cost to them, unlock my iPhone for free just so that I may use my phone abroad for a few months.
Please help me unlock my iPhone so that I may use it abroad starting this July 1. I will be most grateful.
GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
9 years ago
the 3rd party is the only way your going to get it unlocked. They follow the unlock policy very ridgid.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
9 years ago
I don't think ATT will change their stance on unlocking. As long as your are under contract, you are not eligible. However, I just want to point out you do not have to have your phone unlocked in order to use it in Europe. The phone will work just fine, you will just have to pay international roaming rates and unless you plan to make many phone calls or use alot of cellular data, an international Passport plan may not cost much more than buying a local sim card. When I traveled to England several years ago, I had an unlocked iphone but the cheapest local prepaid plan I could find cost more than the international plans ATT had then and today's international plans are less than what they had back then.
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Busternutt
Professor
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3.2K Messages
9 years ago
You realize why ATT MUST do this, right? Otherwise, one could make a very good business of getting a contract phone, getting it unlocked, stop paying the bills, and shipping it overseas for sale in a foreign country. Same for foreign students who are returning home soon. The phone would be black listed on US carriers, but so far, there is no world wide blacklist.
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Busternutt
Professor
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3.2K Messages
9 years ago
deleted to comply with forum Guidelines.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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118.4K Messages
9 years ago
Your only option on contract is to use the passport plan.
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zooeybuddy
Tutor
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9 Messages
9 years ago
false pretense because no one would do this to their own credit. Then -I'm
pretty sure- you have to have the account for 60-90 days before you can
unlock. Even if this is not the case, it is a lot of hassle to get the
credit cards, open an account, find buyers, and ship the phones. That's a
lot of man power and you'd have to do this a lot to make it worth it.
Doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason to not unlock.
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Busternutt
Professor
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3.2K Messages
9 years ago
OK then. I thought I'd heard somewhere that credit card fraud was big business as well as cell phone fraud. My mistake.
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zooeybuddy
Tutor
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9 Messages
9 years ago
a complicated system to perform. Maybe it's not & completely worth it.
Either way, no one at AT&T has sited this as a reason for their policy and
if they look at my long time customer record, I'm guessing they'd be
fairly certain
that I'm not going to do this for many reasons.
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zooeybuddy
Tutor
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9 Messages
9 years ago
Unfortunately I'd have to pay my Domestic plan (a waste as I wouldn't be
using any of my Donestic plan) and the International plan with AT&T's
ridiculous rates, which adds up to a ton of money. If I'm forced I'll do
what I did in Spain years ago and get a cheap phone for ~€20 that comes
with minutes and top up when I must. Much more reasonable than AT&T's
international rates.
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JohnRam
Former Employee
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41 Messages
9 years ago
AT&T unlock policy is set in stone, the systems will not allow a unlock of a device under contact, other options would be to buy a cheap flip phone for your travels or unlock a old device. As you already know you could always pay the ETF also.
*I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s position, strategies or opinions.
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