Help unlocking 1520 and 2520

[OliverK]

I have a 1520 and 2520 here in the UK that are locked to AT&T.

I would really appreciate someone on this forum who is on AT&T helping me out to get me the unlock codes.

I am happy to pay for the trouble but I can't do it myself as I do not live in the US.

Please PM me as I don't want this thread to turn into a discussion of that.

It would be fantastic if in the spirit of community of this forum that those on here would help out those of us who have locked 1520s after all we are all enthusiasts for WP and friends and so why not?

 

[OliverK]

UPDATE

The online unlocking sites do either not have unlock codes or can't confirm that they can unlock before they charge for the service.

I understand what I need is someone who is an AT&T customer for at least a year, in good standing and is happy to say that they purchased the phone and tablet for themselves to use as their phones and they would like an unlock code as they are travelling to Europe for a few weeks.

If someone can do that I am happy to pay for the service. We know you can get unlocks from AT&T in those circumstances. Thanks.

 

[Kha Bui]

UPDATE

I understand what I need is someone who is an AT&T customer for at least a year, in good standing and is happy to say that they purchased the phone and tablet for themselves to use as their phones and they would like an unlock code as they are travelling to Europe for a few weeks.

Do you think it works by doing this?

 

[luv4life]

Hey OliverK - I'm in the same situation! If you get a second individual who is interested in doing that, please let me know. I'm willing to pay too.

 

[Daniel_15]

Same here. I can provide a copy of the AT&T receipt to the person making the call if required.

I think there is a limit of 5 unlock codes per person per year, so a current customer could get the unlock code for all of us at the same time.

 

[Nokia1520]

You should see my first post. If you paid full price for the devices and have the receipts, you should be golden, follow the steps and realize it is a bit arduous, but totally worth it!

 

[Nokia1520]

You don't need to be a AT&T customer man, trust me. I am not, although I did express that I do want to! I actually do when I go back home to the US, but all you have to do is read my first post, it may help.

 

[BDBDBD]

You should see my first post. If you paid full price for the devices and have the receipts, you should be golden, follow the steps and realize it is a bit arduous, but totally worth it!

In theory, you should be able to get your phone unlocked by AT&T but reality seems to be much different. If you look at various threads here, people that purchased the phone from AT&T at full no-contract price have not been able to get their phones unlocked even though they meet all the points on the contract. The website they send you to says it's unavailable and AT&T reps also say their are prevented from unlocking the phones. Sure, you could open a court case with AT&T but I'm sure you have bigger problems to worry about. For now you'll just have to wait for a third party unlocker to provide help or otherwise wait for AT&T to change their policy.

 

[SS956]

After 2 weeks of nonsense from ATT I was finally able to unlock the phone. You will hear a lot of myths from them but non of it is true. Here are the most common ones:

1. We don't have an unlock code, please contact Nokia - Big fat lie, I have an email from Nokia stating that ATT has the code
2. We can't unlock it unless it was activated at some point - I got the code and my phone wasn't on ATT network for a second
3. You have to meet certain requirements (i.e. 2 months/ 6 months for go phone ATT customer) Got the code, not an ATT customer and will never be
4. Miscellaneous: contact the seller, return the phone, join ATT (barf)

I realized one thing, ATT intentionally won't unlock the phone, their primitive strategy (which is effective) is to make your experience miserable, so won't have any desire to do it again or even try to return/get rig of the phone. Here are the steps that you need to follow:
1. Make sure that you have a receipt stating that the phone was purchased for full price. If it's from craiglist or ebay, this may be complicating as they use another excuse: ATT fights black market of stolen phones, not true but at least it's a logical excuse. So if it's from BestBuy, Microsoft, ATT, etc, you should be good.
2. Call ATT 800 301 0500, they will open a case for you, tell them that you can provide a proof of payment. You should receive an email from ATT stating that you need to fax proof of payment as well IMEI code and other stuff to this fax number 214 782 6442. First time I was told that I need to email the receipt at deviceunlockreceipt@att.com, yeah, I called them 6 times, about 20 emails and 2 faxes, horrible experience...
You may receive another email stating that the request was rejected because you are not an ATT customer. Regardless, this will not unlock your phone but you have to follow these steps in order to file a complaint. I also emailed attcustomercare@att.com and explained everything, wanted to have something in writing. They used all of the above excuses, so I felt it was time to file a complaint with BBB, there is a link on ATT site. Explain everything in your complaint, that you paid full price, didn't do anything wrong and had reasonable expectation that the phone will be unlocked. After, you should be contacted by ATT, in my case I got the code, which was more like a "just stop ********". I also filed complaints with FCC and bureau of consumer protection. BBB is the best, but I just felt that it wont hurt letting everyone know that ATT is simply tying their service to the phone.
It's funny but FCC and White house wants phone unlocking, you can google it. White house petitioned FCC to make the phone unlocking easy, and FCC's position is the same: FCC to wireless carriers: agree on phone unlocking policy or face rules | Reuters
If you are not in US, it's very unfortunate, but I would recommend to ask your US friend(s) to follow these steps and act as (s)he bought the phone. Let them know in advance that it will be frustrating, but it's possible. As for the Nokia lumia 1520, it's so awesome, 20mbps on T-Mobile, great device!

 

[Nokia1520]

My experience was much different. It was a 4 day process max. I started my conversation like so "I am not a AT&T customer but I bought an AT&T phone for full price from Microsoft. I have tried your online unlocking method, but I don't meet the requirements but I have and brand new AT&T branded Nokia 1520 bought at full price. I've called Nokia and Microsoft and neither has the unlock code, which is tied to the IMEI number. I should be able to get it from you. After that spiel I was able to get her to open up a customer care case. I think it'd be easier if folks are overseas like I am you just have to be creative persistent and patient. If you are going to TMobile I can see their beef with it. It isn't right, especially if you paid full price, but I get it. I will say again there should be no reason to pay for a code, pay for it by effort.

 

[SS956]

It's either I was extremely unlucky or you should be playing lottery . I spoke to 6 CS reps, 1 manager and 1 mutant which kept telling my that I need to be an ATT customer. I got the code only after I filed a complaint with BBB. Att can do whatever they want but they can't tie their service to smartphones. If they get exclusive deals with smartphone manufacturers, then they shouldn't be selling phones to non-att customers. Hopefully folks can use our experience and unlock their phones less painfully than I did.