Spectacular Apple Locking Conundrum

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Talkiet

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#196247 24-May-2016 15:47

So here's a great situation.... Currently happening to a friend of mine.

Her boss has an iPhone. It broke and was replaced (in NZ) under Apples repair program. No problems so far. Boss goes to Europe, puts in his local SIM (He travels a lot there). Phone complains that it's locked.

No, that can't be the case, iPhones supplied for VF in NZ aren't locked are they? Well... It's not that simple.

Sometimes the replacements Apple supplies ARE in fact locked... But surely you could just use the VF unlock page thingy? Well, If the VF system believed the IMEI was from a locked phone then yes, that might work. Does VF believe the replacement phone is locked? The people do, but their systems don't.

Resolution? There doesn't seem to be one.

Currently "Buy new phone" seems the easiest.

(On the other hand if someone actually knows how to sort this quickly, it would be much appreciated)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

wellygary

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#1558771 24-May-2016 15:58

Find an apple store in Europe and plead a case to the genius bar,

Talkiet

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#1558777 24-May-2016 16:04

wellygary:

Find an apple store in Europe and plead a case to the genius bar,

Literally no Apple stores where he is... (Cyprus)

CHeers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

antoniosk

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#1558787 24-May-2016 16:17

Talkiet:

wellygary:

Find an apple store in Europe and plead a case to the genius bar,

Literally no Apple stores where he is... (Cyprus)

CHeers - N

Get proper coffee. Get some mezes and a lovely view. Get access to a phone.

Call Apple on Cyprus 800 92433

Explain what's happened.

________

Antoniosk

Talkiet

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#1558791 24-May-2016 16:25

I'm curious - do you really think that would help? The phone was purchased in NZ, and the replacement sourced from Apple in NZ. Could Apple unlock a phone from a different jurisdiction? Also, my friend is here in NZ and doesn't speak Greek/Turkish... The boss is not a technical man.

I think this is a screwup that is not fixable until he gets back to NZ. Which is a shame.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Talkiet

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#1558792 24-May-2016 16:27

Heh - it gets better.. Now Apple are saying the phone has an "International Lock" which is not a "carrier lock" and so far VF don't have a clue what this is.

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

LennonNZ

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#1558812 24-May-2016 16:46

Talkiet:

Heh - it's gets better.. Now Apple are saying the phone has an "International Lock" which is not a "carrier lock" and so far VF don't have a clue what this is.

N.

This has NOTHING to do with Vodafone but with Apple and their Activation Services.

See : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7382181?start=0&tstart=0

Batman

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#1558816 24-May-2016 16:50

I have icloud on 2 systems. Phone and iPad. iPad broke 2 years ago. 3 months ago iPhone won't let me into the icloud. Says send verification code to my ipad ... umm ... it's in afterlife ...

I really hate some technology.

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Talkiet

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#1558817 24-May-2016 16:51

LennonNZ:

Talkiet:

Heh - it's gets better.. Now Apple are saying the phone has an "International Lock" which is not a "carrier lock" and so far VF don't have a clue what this is.

N.

This has NOTHING to do with Vodafone but with Apple and their Activation Services.

See : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7382181?start=0&tstart=0

Yep - that seems to be exactly the issue they are experiencing... What a nightmare for a non technical user on the other side of the world.

:-(

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

antoniosk

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#1558818 24-May-2016 17:01

Talkiet:

I'm curious - do you really think that would help? The phone was purchased in NZ, and the replacement sourced from Apple in NZ. Could Apple unlock a phone from a different jurisdiction? Also, my friend is here in NZ and doesn't speak Greek/Turkish... The boss is not a technical man.

I think this is a screwup that is not fixable until he gets back to NZ. Which is a shame.

Cheers - N

It sounds like a cockup in the replacement device. Shift happens.

I'm also confident that the call will be transferred to a general purpose call centre somewhere that speaks all languages. Anyway, it's a free call while inside Cyprus which is pretty good, but if he can wait then all good

________

Antoniosk