Question

iPhone Unlock Problem (Moved to Another Carrier)

  • 27 December 2022
  • 11 replies
  • 485 views
M
Badge

Hello.

 

I have recently switched carriers and ported my number over. I had purchased an iPhone 12 Pro Max from T-mobile and have recently paid off the final bill, which includes the remaining balance on the phone. This is after I have switched carriers and ported my number to the new carrier. 

 

I realized, unfortunately, that I am unable to login to my T-mobile account because the associated number(s) is no longer with T-mobile. I reached out to a rep regarding this issue and was told that I would receive a confirmation around 24-48 hours via email regarding the unlock request. This did not happen. 

 

I reached out to support via chat and basically after an hour of talking, nothing can be done online. All I got was just to a generic link provided on how to unlock the phone, which brings me to the page on to login to my T-mobile account, which is not possible.

 

I had my account PIN stored away in my notes but it seems to be lost. I was told by the agent on chat I would need to visit a store nearby and bring the phone that needs to be unlocked. The dilemma is that my work hours conflicts with the store hours. 

 

Questions are;

 

  1. Any way to do this online, like at all?
  2. Are authorized users able to bring to store to get it to be unlocked?
  3. How long does unlocking take? 

 

Thank you for any advice! Happy holidays

11 replies

gramps28
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

According to the unlock requirements once the phone is eligible to be unlocked you will receive a text letting you know its unlocked.

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/policies/sim-unlock-policy

Have you tried contacting Tmobile support using messenger on one of tmobile's social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter to see if they can help you they also are a higher tier of support.

syaoran
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

Makes me wonder if the issue is that the account that has met the criteria is no longer active (person is no longer a customer) and the device might have met the unlock requirements after the account was closed.  T-Force on Facebook or Twitter is definitely the best option to try.

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
M
Badge

According to the unlock requirements once the phone is eligible to be unlocked you will receive a text letting you know its unlocked.

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/policies/sim-unlock-policy

Have you tried contacting Tmobile support using messenger on one of tmobile's social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter to see if they can help you they also are a higher tier of support.

I never did receive a text. Mind you, during the time I switched carriers I was only 2 payments away from payoff. I will definitely give it a try. Thank you!  

Makes me wonder if the issue is that the account that has met the criteria is no longer active (person is no longer a customer) and the device might have met the unlock requirements after the account was closed.  T-Force on Facebook or Twitter is definitely the best option to try.

 

According to the elligility requirements, the phone was elligible for unlock quite a while ago since prior to changing carriers I only had 2 payments to make. 

syaoran
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

According to the unlock requirements once the phone is eligible to be unlocked you will receive a text letting you know its unlocked.

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/policies/sim-unlock-policy

Have you tried contacting Tmobile support using messenger on one of tmobile's social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter to see if they can help you they also are a higher tier of support.

I never did receive a text. Mind you, during the time I switched carriers I was only 2 payments away from payoff. I will definitely give it a try. Thank you!  

Makes me wonder if the issue is that the account that has met the criteria is no longer active (person is no longer a customer) and the device might have met the unlock requirements after the account was closed.  T-Force on Facebook or Twitter is definitely the best option to try.

 

According to the elligility requirements, the phone was elligible for unlock quite a while ago since prior to changing carriers I only had 2 payments to make. 

iPhone's aren't eligible for automatic unlocks though.  T-Mobile must be contacted to request it.

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
gramps28
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Heaven said in another thread it will automatically unlock but even if the iPhone is eligible they would receive a text letting them know its eligible.

 

M
Badge

Heaven said in another thread it will automatically unlock but even if the iPhone is eligible they would receive a text letting them know its eligible.

 

 

Wow I must fall under the unlucky ones then. I never received any sort of notification regarding unlocking or such. 

gramps28
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

I received mine 40 days after purchasing my Pixel 6 telling me my phone was unlocked.

The problem with yours is that you should of paid off the EIP and unlocked the phone before porting. It seams like your request is in limbo.

M
Badge

Hi guys, here to provide an update: 

 

So I reached out to T-mobile on FB and they requested that I visit a local store, or an authorized user so that the store rep can identify and verify the authorized user and to give customer care a call. So I did that and once the store rep called them, he said they “flagged” my account # & former T-mobile # (that was on the phone) and then I reached out to FB once more and provided my IMEI and it was immediately unlocked. All I had to do was restart my phone.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! 

G

Never try to port your phone without getting it unlocked first.

T-Mobile systems and porting policies (such as porting your number without verifying it is unlocked first, which results in your phone being unusable) are not straightforward and in my situation where my account had other numbers associated, and only one number was ported, resulted in that phone being inoperable, though fully paid.

The only recourse is to call  and in 30 mins or so they will answer (and they will tell you to wait 48 hrs - even heart surgery takes only 1 hr). So I did wait 48 hrs and called again . Another 30 mins, but this time I insisted on waiting on the line until it is manually unlocked by a ‘supervisor’, and am stiff waiting and facing the music..  Will update what happened here.

G

After another 30 minutes of music and another 5 minutes of talk, the supervisor comes into the call, and another 15 minutes of talk and background noise (no music this time..glad) and the supervisor is going to help (actually very helpful) and hopefully my phone will be unlocked in the hours to come..

 

tidbits
Rank
Userlevel 6
Badge +12

iPhones need a token from Apple to unlock.  Carriers don’t have the ability to push the token like other devices.  Apple does have troubleshooting in case your device doesn’t unlock on their Knowledge Base.

 

If you device is part of the Reflex seller policy(Bought from BestBuy, or even Apple) There’s additional steps as they do not get the IMEI from them.  They only have the IMEI of what was given to them directly.  Have your receipt and Contact T-Mobile Help on X or Facebook and they can help get your IMEI into the system.

If you ever exchanged your device for warranty then you may need to do above as the IMEI of the unit you have may not be in the system.  Contact T-Mobile Help on X of Facebook.

 

If everything is correct then you may need to Restore to Factory and it may unlock.

Reply


New badge winners

Show all badges
Terms & Conditions