tablet locked out-apple refuses to help

i bought a tablet for my son and made him an appleid etc. long story short i thought he lost his tablet so i locked it. i found it days later and attempted to unlock it. the unlock didnt work it just continued to show a loading circle for hours while i left my phone sitting there. i then attempted to erase it thinking that would help but it did not but only made it worse. the tablet seemed to have been erased but still shows on the phone that it hasnt. when i use the email and password to log onto the now "factory reset" tablet and it will not log in saying its the wrong user or password. this isnt true as i use the same password for other things.

ive gone to the apple store where they directed me to a apple link for lock out help. i did everything they asked like providing proof of purchase from bestbuy but they responded with "we weren't able to complete your request to remove activation lock for this device" "we wont be able to review additional requests or documentation associated with this device"

honestly that sounds extremely lazy of them and really put me off from buying any apple products in the future.

does anyone know how i can fix this table?

Posted on Dec 22, 2025 1:49 PM

Reply
12 replies

Feb 2, 2026 7:46 AM in response to isthisuseless

This Apple response sounds like you bought a pre-owed iPad that was improperly prepared for resale:


ive gone to the apple store where they directed me to a apple link for lock out help. i did everything they asked like providing proof of purchase from bestbuy but they responded with "we weren't able to complete your request to remove activation lock for this device" "we wont be able to review additional requests or documentation associated with this device"


Apple obviously spotted something that was "off." If they ran the serial number and that showed it previously activated, that could explain their response washing of hands. It may have been a demo unit at BB.


You need to have a deep conversation with Best Buy.


Apple policy:

Activation Lock for iPhone and iPad - Apple Support


PS: Lawrence is not a bot. I know him and he is quite real, a nice guy, and a darned good helper.

Feb 2, 2026 8:46 AM in response to isthisuseless

isthisuseless wrote:

are you a bot? Everyone on every message board regurgitates the same thing. I’m unable to log in…

Perhaps that’s because it is the right answer. It may not be the answer you want, but it is the only possible answer.


Without the Apple ID and password the iPad is forever useless. However, Apple gives you several ways to recover the Apple ID, which I already posted links to. Have you tried those links?

Feb 3, 2026 3:34 PM in response to Allan Jones

i bought it brand new from best buy. straight from the glass case. it wasn't a demo version either. honestly i believe its because its stuck in the infinite erasure loop. they might not be able to anything since its in the middle of erasing but not actually erasing.

i only asked if he was a bot because everyone is replying with things i already stated in my op (i cant log in)

thank you for taking the time to read my post and give an alternate perspective and non robotic response.

tablet locked out-apple refuses to help

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