Q: Apple ID Disabled & Lost Recovery Key (Two-Step Verification)
If you use Two-Step Verification:
If your Apple ID is disabled "for security reasons" AND you lost your Recovery Key ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST! Speaking from a recent, nearly devastating experience, I hopefully will provide some relief to others in the same boat...
After speaking to several customer service representatives who basically told me that without the recovery key, there was no way to access my account and everything would be lost forever, I finally spoke with a senior customer service representative that actually understood my issue (most thought I just forgot my password).
As it turns out, my account was locked due to too many incorrect PW attempts (not exactly sure how that happened). I was prompted to go to appleid.apple.com and when trying to log in, prompted to enter my Recovery Key. I couldn't get further than that. What I didn't realize and the other reps didn't tell me was after 8 hours, the account is unlocked. I was then able to log in at applied.apple.com and verify my account using a trusted device. I was then able to create a new recovery key (and print it out and put copies everywhere so this wouldn't happen again!).
Lessons Learned: 1. Don't lose the Recovery Key again! 2. When talking to Apple Customer Service, ask to speak with a senior customer service representative. 3. Wait 8 hours without trying to log in and your Apple ID is unlocked again.
Apple ID
Posted on Jan 28, 2015 12:29 PM