Need help unlocking phone from carrier (AT&T)
Quick background: wife inherited an iPhone 8 plus from a recently deceased relative. Said relative used to have AT&T, wife and I do not. I was hoping to possibly use this phone on an upcoming international trip but it would need to be unlocked from the carrier first so I can put a new sim card in it. (Just to be clear, I don't mean getting into the actual phone, we've already saved the few photos and messages that were on there and reset the phone to factory settings). Tried doing the automated process on the AT&T website and it was denied immediately, no explanation given. Tried calling them and the automated system straight up hangs up on me because I don't have an account with them. So lastly we tried taking it directly to an AT&T store where they directed us to either call the number that keeps hanging up on us, or to "take it to one of those places at the mall that can unlock it for you". Useless.
I've done some research on this and seen various solutions online. Most of those solutions I have already tried (like calling the number or trying the online portal thing) or their situations don't apply to my case (like having purchased a new phone or having an account already with AT&T). One thing I've seen mentioned multiple times that seems to get results is to file a complaint with the FCC, so I went to do that and welp... government is shut down. FCC not accepting any complaints at the moment.
Another thing that I thought of was jailbreaking the phone, but I haven't done that to a phone in many years and am not even sure if that would resolve the issue of it being carrier-locked. But surely if 'those places at the mall' can unlock them without going through AT&T, then I might be able to as well. Hence I came here asking for help.
Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?
I have done hundreds of these - best advice is to use this website: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/unlockstep1.
As long as the above is followed, it should go through without a problem. Make sure you use the /unlockstep1 address, not the other that they tend to funnel you through. When they ask if you have an ATT account, say NO.
Edit: Updated link to the proper link and to mention to say NO..
Edit 3: Jailbreaking won't change a thing, this is on the carrier side for the most part. There are also a number of third party online resources you can typically pay to get it done (about $20 for the most part) if the portal is not productive.
Are these third-party services just bribing people at the carrier or something? Do they have backdoor in the carriers' systems?
Phone locks are database-based. The carriers have a share database of IMEI numbers and whether or not they're allowed to be on other carriers. The third party sites somehow or another have a way to write entries to the database, whether that be by bribery or by setting up a shell carrier.
Typically it won't help if the IMEI is blacklisted, though (for reported thefts or non-payment).
This.
There are a number of different ways as well the most common are likely these three:
some cashlunch and client enticement.devicesIMEIs are blacklisted or locked due to debt, and just as you can with any debt, you can purchase it at a steal. Get enough IMEIs together, and you can buy the lot, and release as you want, as you can forgive the debt.You can get IMEIs unblacklisted using the above as well, harder, but possible.
Have you used any before that you would recommend specifically? I saw your comment below and it seems like this is a market rife with scam potential. But you seem very knowledgeable about this subject so if you have any recommendations I'll definitely check them out.
I tried the link you provided, it was the same one that I tried yesterday but I figured maybe that extra /unlockstep1 thing might help. But nope, it rejected it immediately saying "We can't unlock this device until the former owner removes it from their AT&T account." Which might be hard to do considering the former owner is now deceased.
Can I just rant for a moment? This isn’t helpful to you at all, but I just recently had some annoyances with carrier locks.
I just helped my family upgrade to the latest iPhone using a really good Verizon deal. In the fine print, Verizon locks devices for 60 days. That didn’t annoy me much, since we don’t have any overseas travel planned. But the reason they gave annoyed me. Their reason was “to prevent device theft”. Wtf? How on earth does a carrier lock prevent stolen devices? The phones aren’t locked to a particular Verizon account. Anyone with Verizon can use these devices. Take a look at swappa. The prices aren’t meaningfully different for locked devices, at least for the large carriers like Verizon. And even if they were, a thief only has to wait two months and can then sell the stolen device as unlocked. Just say what it is really for: to prevent you from switching carriers. You already hide it in the fine print. Just don’t lie about the reason.
As someone who has worked on the tech/sales/supply side of this, its two fold.
To lock users in for the legally maximum amount of time to increase the chance of long term customer retention (they see users who join on a promotion, ditch soon after, as stealing as they are typically selling their service and phones at a loss). This legally maximum time was not a thing before the Obama administration enacted and required it for the sake of the consumers.
It does allay some of the supply chain stealing effects, as the devices are locked to accounts, they can't be stolen somewhere in the supply chain as easily as they require them to be unlocked, or to be held onto for 60 days. Most people in the supply chain looking to "misplace" will want to flip any contents they have over as soon as possible, forcing them to hold any merchandise for any amount of time opens up a lot of problems, devaluing of property, time for the device to be noticed as stolen, etc.
Yep, that is what I expected. Thank god for some customer protections. But I don’t buy your later reasoning. I think it’s probably what the company executives tell themselves, but I think it is bad reasoning. Verizon explicitly allows you to cancel immediately after getting a carrier deal. Before you can use their service, they check your credit score. Their device promotions are given as bill credits over a few years, and if you cancel before that, you have to pay the remaining device cost. If you don’t, they will happily send you to collections and block your device imei. The 60 day lock doesn’t change anything. This is like your bank saying you can’t refinance your mortgage with another bank for the first 10 years, and saying it prevents people defaulting. No, repossession and debt collections prevent defaults.
That part actually makes sense, and I hadn’t thought about it. Again, I feel like it would be better handled with inventory controls and imei blocking, but the slight deterrent here makes some sense.