Just bought an iPhone 5 in second hand and it seems that i need to have the Apple ID from the first owner to use it… Any advice?

trajan1 wrote:

Nobody is talking about buying anything stolen! Sheesh! You just dont get it. If i bought a car from a guy and he forgot to give me the keys or he lost the keys. I can go to the dealer and get a new set of keys for the car. The manufacturer will help me. Now Apple is helping nobody!! Their Found My iPhone feature has a huge flaw in it and is a black eye for iOS7. Its as simple as that. Can you understand that? Do you have a solution to the problem or not?

While I hate to jump into this dispute, I just wanted to mention that that example actually happened to me. I bought a used car and the owner forgot to give me the trunk keys and I couldn't locate him afterwards and so went over to a dealer for that car and they checked my received title and created keys for me.

I think the issue here is "what is reasonable?"

Obviously nobody wants their stolen iPhones taken to Apple and hijacked with the help of the Apple Store.

On the other hand, reason can also prevail, and in an emergency it is probably possible for Apple to dot their i's and cross their t's and somehow determine proper providence and assist a person who is locked out of a legitimate purchase due to neglect of the seller.

doug

All sound reasonable. You got the received title, so it's not exactly what happened here.

Unless he got the original iPhone receipt from a supported store Apple or otherwise, he can claimed what he wants. Does thief tells the truth?

Anyway, enough said, I am out of here.

The difference here, Doug, is that cars are titled by the State. There is a clear chain of custody and transfers of ownership must be legally witnessed. Phones are not. Apple will assist a person who is locked out of a legitimate purchase. All they have to do is provide the original proof of purchase for the phone from an authorized seller. That is, the first sale. Not their ebay reciept, or amazon invoice, or a handwritten letter from the guy they bought it from on craigslist. If they can't do that, then Apple won't get involved.

Dude! we are talking about iPhones that are registered to Apple with an email linked to an Apple account. How clear of a chain of custody do you need? What good does it do to only accept a receipt from the original owner?That makes no sense. We are talking about phones that are second, third , forth ...who knows how many hands have owned these phones? Apple most likely knows cause they activate every phone ** IMEI. Dont tell me that Apple cant help. They control everything about iPhones. Apple easily knows if an iPhone is stolen or not. Dont tell me that they dont know. Dont understimate Apple. Apple CEO Tim Cook can and has unlocked users iPhones even when the carrier would not. So dont say that Apple cant do something about this problem. You just dont understand the problem.

Dude. Get over it. The original purchaser got a receipt. Now let's say they get robbed by their drunken bum of a brother in law, who sells the phone to his heroine dealer, who sells it to a pawn shop, who sells it to some greasy scumbag who sells phones on craigslist. You call the craigslister, meet him in the parking lot of your local Wally World, and buy the phone, for which he gives you a receipt.

You take your receipt to Apple along with the activation locked phone. They laugh at you and tell you to go away.

You've been trying to argue this for weeks. Your arguments are just as ridiculous now as they were when you started. More so actually, since the "unlocking" you're referring to is carrier locked phones and has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO with the topic at hand.

Apple won't do anything about it. It's not their problem.

It's only a problem if the buyer and/or seller are a) criminals, or b) ignorant/incompetent. Usually, it's a combination of seller=a and buyer=b.

Ok here you go propping up the same old tired criminal/drug dealer/pusher argument. In your mind everyone that buys a second hand iPhone is either a crook or an idiot for making a mistake. We all have heard that before.. Obviously you have no solution to the problem and dont you know that there is a database of stolen phones? Apple knows what phones were stolen or not. Find My iPhone will not get you your stolen phone back. it is up to the thief wether or not you get your phone back. Find My iPhone is trying to deter the phones from being stolen in the first place but along the way it is snagging legitimate buyers in a big way and bricking perfectly good iPhones in an evironmentally irresponsible way when there is a simple solution to the problem. Its akin to blowing up your car if it gets stolen as a theft prevention measure. Thats whats stupid and ridiculous!

Apple already knows the IMEI number of stolen phones and can blacklist them. If you go on ebay to buy an iPhone you know a phone is stolen because the seller will say that the IMEI number is bad.

Anyway im tired of talking about stolen phones. What is Apple going to do about people that are legitimately locked out of using their iPhones? Blow them up and have them buy new ones.. or help? Apple's response to this issue will say a lot about the direction that their customer service is headed.

The "solution" is buy a phone from a legitimate source, or at least have the basic common sense to check and make sure that Find my iPhone is turned off on the phone BEFORE you buy it.

Apple can NOT blacklist phones. You have no idea what you're talking about. CARRIERS blacklist phones.

If you are an example of the kind of customer Apple is going to lose, then I don't think they'll be to upset.

Just so you point out, if you buy a used iPhone, you are NOT an Apple customer. The person who bought the phone originally was. You are just buying a used phone.

If you are trying to activate an iPad or iPhone and it is asking for the original owners Apple ID and password, you have encountered the Activation Lock. This is a security feature that prevents thieves from setting up and using a stolen or lost iPad or iPhone. You have no alternative. No must contact the original owner to get permission to use the device. If you cannot contact the original owner return the device to where you bought it and get a refund. You will never be able to activate the device and no one can help you do it.

There is no problem. Activation Lock is working just like it was intended to. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean it needs another "solution".

trajan1 wrote:

Ok so what is the point of activation lock ? And while you are at it can you tell me why Apple sends me an email everytime something changes on my Apple account? Why does Apple do that?

Ya know... I thought we were talking about solving a problem. Do you have a solution to the problem or not?

"if you buy a used iPhone, you are NOT an Apple customer"

Something about what you said sounds so wrong! I wonder what type of iPhone owners would make a statement like that? So im not entitled to any support from Apple cause i bought the iPhone used... right? Ha ha!

You are not an Apple customer if you buy a used phone.

Apple received no money from you for the device.

You are delusional, as verified by your ridiculous posts.

So if i buy Apps and accessories from Apple for my second hand iPhone that i own im not a customer.. right? If i take the iPhone into the Apple store i cant see a Genius.. right? Or i could not trade it in for some credit to buy a new iPhone.. right? Or i cannot get it to update from the Apple servers thru iTunes cause im not a customer.. right? I cant get an Apple account or pay iCloud services cause im not a customer.. right? Only the original owner can do anything with the iPhone.. right? I cant believe how wrong some of you people think. Sheesh!

Go away, troll. You've lost the argument. You are wrong. Activation lock was put in place to defeat thieves like yourself.

You lost the argument when you resorted to attacking me. Thats the definition of a troll.

Unfortunately, your 'logic circuits' are broken. You don't understand anything else. As you've been told multiple times. It is what it is. If you don't like it, too bad. This is NOT the place to debate Apple policy. Read the TOS.