agershun

Q: I bought iPhone 6s without the contract. When I tried to activate it, I cannot, because "The SIM is not supported...". Apple support denies to help me even to say what company locked my new legally purchsed iPhone. What to do? I

I bought the new iPhone 6s at Target Store without the contract. When I put my SIM card, iPhone infomed me that it can no be activated,

The phone is new, legal, covered by Apple's warranty accroding it's database.

 

I called to Apple support two times, they said that it was locked by someone, but even can not say the name of the company, who locked it and why.

 

So, Apple support just reccomended me nothing. NOTHING! They even did not provide me the name of the manager who can help me in such situation.

 

I called to T-Mobile, thay said that they didnot lock this device.

ATT even did not answer on all my requests.

 

Now I got dead  gold iBrick. What to do?

 

PS. I am totally disappointed with Apple policies and it's support. It is terrible that the company with such brilliant products has such terrible attention to it's legal customers.

iPhone 6s

Posted on Jan 22, 2016 3:01 AM

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Q: I bought iPhone 6s without the contract. When I tried to activate it, I cannot, because "The SIM is not supported...". Apple suppo ... more

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  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Jan 24, 2016 9:44 AM in response to salavatkh
    Level 9 (59,358 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 24, 2016 9:44 AM in response to salavatkh

    salavatkh wrote:

     

    "No one but you is responsible for your current predicament, having purchased a dubious phone from a dubious source it is now yours."

     

    I think OP said he has bought iPhone from Target. If that is a dubious source, then only Apple Store is a legitimate one. Apple should stop selling from dubious source to maintain quality of customer service.

     

    "Locking/unlocking is not an Apple decision. "

     

    I cannot agree with this statement. It is Apple who enables or disables locking of the phone through centralized database (like stolen ones cannot be activated at all). Carrier only decides whether to sell locked or unlocked phones and orders appropriate ones from Apple.

     

    I think you brought important point though in your post - "Many pay full price for a locked iPhone, it is simply not bound to a contract or the buyer is not eligible for a subsidy from the carrier." - it appears that iPhone is CONTRACT FREE, but not SIM FREE, which means it is still LOCKED to a first used carrier.

     

    Well again - this conclusion is not valid either - how to predict which carrier customer is going to use then?  Logically, it sounds like it is contract free, but lockable iPhone, locking to the first carrier. But again - why so much mess with different locking options while selling iPhone at full price (I mean full - you can buy truly unlocked iPhone for very much the same amount around the globe)?

     

    I think it is a mess. And probably Apple who should clean it a bit for the sake of customer satisfaction, as it always thought to serve.

    Target is a legitimate reseller, however, they do not sell unlocked phones. Paying full price for a phone in the US does not guarantee that it is unlocked, it just means that it is not subsidized. Many of the US carriers still have locked phones, despite the person paying full price. Phones in the US also do not lock to the first carrier used. Phones are locked, despite the SIM used. They are locked to a specific carrier, and if you try to activate it with another carrier, the first, second or thirtieth time, it will still give you the same error your friend has received, unsupported SIM. The fact that the device was contract free means just that, it is contract free, but it is locked to a carrier. I can go anywhere tomorrow and purchase an AT&T phone, contract free, pay full price for the phone, but that does not make it unlocked. It is still locked to AT&T. That is what you really need to understand. If I took that phone and put a T-Mobile SIM in it, it would not work, and I would get an unsupported SIM error, because the device is locked to AT&T. That is what needs to be understood. To purchase an unlocked phone in the US, for the most part needs to be done at the Apple Store.

     

    While Apple holds the database for locked phones, when they sell stock to carriers and resellers, they are all indicated as to what they are. Carrier get phones locked to their network. Resellers, in the US, like Target, Best Buy, Walmart, get devices locked to the carriers they are authorized to sell for. The biggest issue here is the fact that someone purchased a phone they were unaware of what the rules are here in the US, then took it to another country to use. The device is regional for North America, is locked to a carrier, and the warranty is only valid in the US. While it may be difficult to purchase a device in your home country, and it may be expensive, when you purchase a device from another country, you are accepting the risk of not all things working like they would with a phone sold for your particular location. The other thing is understanding the terminology used when describing devices in the US differs from how people describe them in other countries, as well as the fact that in many countries all phones are unlocked. That is not the case in the US.

  • by imobl,

    imobl imobl Jan 24, 2016 10:50 AM in response to agershun
    Level 5 (7,128 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 24, 2016 10:50 AM in response to agershun

    Neither link guarantees a response from Apple. However, Apple does read

    all messages sent via those links.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 24, 2016 11:03 AM in response to imobl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 11:03 AM in response to imobl

    Thank you.

     

    Just received information from my friend, he just returned from Target: store and their answer - they sell only AT&T phones (good news) and there are only 14 days for return (so, it too late - bad news - now I have only one way).

     

    Good news: now I know the name of the carrier.

    Bad news: AT&T did not answer me earlier.

     

    I do not want to close this issue until I finally solve the problem.

     

    Guys, thank you again for support and all discussion we had here. Definitely, all of us on the good side

  • by imobl,

    imobl imobl Jan 24, 2016 11:05 AM in response to agershun
    Level 5 (7,128 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 24, 2016 11:05 AM in response to agershun
  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 24, 2016 11:13 AM in response to imobl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 11:13 AM in response to imobl

    Yes, thank you, I followed this procedures in advance two weeks ago.

     

    The bad thing: they do not follow their own instructions:

    Requests will take up to five business days to complete.

    This is AT&T related thing, and I will contact them separately.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 24, 2016 9:07 PM in response to agershun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 9:07 PM in response to agershun

    BTW I still have not sure which company (AT&T or T-Mobile) locked the phone (due the lack of any reaction from AT&T).


    Is there legal way to get this information?

  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Jan 25, 2016 6:14 AM in response to agershun
    Level 9 (59,358 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 25, 2016 6:14 AM in response to agershun

    If you purchased an AT&T phone, it was locked to AT&T when you purchased it. No one locked it after your purchase. AT&T is slow to react to non-customers regarding devices. But, at some point, you should receive some information.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 25, 2016 6:29 AM in response to ChrisJ4203
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 6:29 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

    @ChrisJ4203 Thank you!

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 26, 2016 6:27 AM in response to agershun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 6:27 AM in response to agershun

    1. The phone is locked by Virgin. I do not know how...

    2. Virgin claims 50/75 dollars for unlock http://www.virginmobile.ca/en/support/faq.html?q=048&province=ON&geoResult=faile d

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jan 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to agershun
    Level 9 (56,295 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to agershun

    If it's locked to Virgin Mobile in the US, you're out of luck. Virgin in the US does not offer unlocking. The page you linked to is for Virgin Canada, which operates separately and has different policies.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 26, 2016 6:59 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 6:59 AM in response to KiltedTim

    I just talk to Virgin support operator, and he said that this is not their phone.

  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Jan 26, 2016 7:00 AM in response to agershun
    Level 9 (59,358 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 26, 2016 7:00 AM in response to agershun

    agershun wrote:

     

    1. The phone is locked by Virgin. I do not know how...

    An interesting turn of events. Unfortunately for you, at this time, it seems your gripe is now with Target, as to how you ended up with a Virgin Mobile Phone. Let them explain that.

     

    Considering what you would have to do to get through all of that, you may be better of trying to sell that device via eBay or something like that to someone in the US that could use it, and then use the proceeds of your sale to purchase an unlocked phone much closer to where you currently reside, if you cannot purchase one in your home country. At least that way, the warranty work is much closer, and regionally, it should support the LTE bands where you live.

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jan 26, 2016 7:16 AM in response to agershun
    Level 9 (56,295 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 26, 2016 7:16 AM in response to agershun

    At this point, I'd write it off as a loss... and a life lesson. Go buy a phone you can use.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 26, 2016 7:19 AM in response to ChrisJ4203
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 7:19 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

    The things are much more intersting.

     

    Just talked to Virgin support. They said this EMEI is not in their database.

     

    Than I called to Apple again. Now they said me that this phone was activated by T-Mobile, therefore it has to be locked by T-Mobile (earlier the support guy guy from T-Mobile support said that this phone was not locked by them).

     

    Now I will try to call again to T-Mobile...

     

    Chris, thank you, I will definitely follow you reasonable advice about e-bay, but a little bit later. I want to try to resolve this problem with the companies.

  • by agershun,

    agershun agershun Jan 26, 2016 7:21 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 26, 2016 7:21 AM in response to KiltedTim

    Write-off losses - already did it. Santa give it - Santa take it back

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